A Few Words About A few words about... Gone with the Wind (1 Viewer)

[Rob Tomlin]

Wow. Nice post Scott. Now my anticipation towards this title is even greater than it was!

 

[Roger Rollins]

ScottR's words are quite moving...and quite reflective of my own enthusiasm over this landmark DVD release.

 

[Robert Harris]

Unless Warner, or one of the other studios is going to top the GWTW release in the next 30 days, it appears that Warner Home Video's Gone With the Wind will be...

THE Classic film release of 2004.

In second position, Warner Home Video's, Meet Me in St. Louis.

Do I sense a trend here?

RAH

 

[Rob Tomlin]

In my opinion, Warner has been the best studio when it comes to quality DVD releases for several years now.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

Unquestionably true. The new GWTW is a magnificent achievement. An unparalleled DVD presentation.

 

[Will Krupp]

Martin Hart's American Wide Screen Museum has a great article on the original road show presentations of GWTW and how theatre owners were requested to present it.

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/wide...road-gwtw1.htm

Enjoy it, it should answers ALL questions about the original overture, intermission, etc!

 

[Jeff Job]

I've only had a chance to skim through all four disks. I found the audio on the "Making of a Legend" documentary terrible. It sounds as if a stereo/delay/reverb filter was applied resulting in almost no audio in the center channel. The narration is hard to hear above the music, and sounds as if it was recorded in a tunnel. I checked my VHS copy of the same program, and that was fine - with most of the music and all of the narration in the center channel. There are no other audio channels on the documentary, and the rest of the special features on the same disc sound fine.

On disc 4, the Vivian Leigh documentary sounds fine except for one piece of narration at 34:00. It has that same effect spread across the front speakers. When it goes next to an interview clip, the audio returns to normal. I've also noticed that the film clip audio on the Clark Gable documentary has a large amount of hiss, which is not present anywhere else.

I am have not seen this problem mentioned anywhere else, and am curious to see if anyone else has this on their set, or if this is just a problem with the Canadian version. I am sure it is not my DVD player or audio setup. I have not yet exchanged the set.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Very interesting! Thanks for the link!

 

[ScottR]

I noticed the Leigh doc audio weirdness on mine too.

 

[Steve...O]

Agreed. Warners has stood head and shoulders above the other major studios in terms of their output of classic films. Their reputation for excellence is well deserved and has led me to buy product that I might not have purchased otherwise because I knew it would be a first class presentation. The fact that they keep their releases very affordable is an incredible incentive to do such "blind" purchases.

With year end coming up, I hope the Warners Board of Directors approves a substantial bonus for Mr. Feltenstein. He certainly deserves one.

Steve

 

[GerardoHP]

Indeed, this is my only complaint on an otherwise spectacular set. I have the old LD and that sounds fine.

 

[Gil Jawetz]

I'd be curious to get Mr. Harris' thoughts on my review of the new transfer of GWTW, since I'm always looking to sharpen my analysis of these DVD releases. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=13219
I've got some screencaps there as well, comparing the two R1 releases.

As for another comer for the classic release of the year, perhaps "M"? I just reviewed that as well (I've included a bunch of caps there as well) and it's also pretty spectacular. Plus, for my taste, the extras are better. But both releases are unbelievably great.

 

[Robert Harris]

As requested, I've read Mr. Jawetz' review of GWTW.

Although I gave up grading others' writing a number of years ago, the piece is obviously well thought out and written, with a nice exploration of civil war period slavery and racism, neither of which should either be forgotten or swept under the carpet. One can only learn from the past if the past is there to examine openly. The same errors can never be allowed to occur again. This is why I'd love to see Disney release Song of the South.

I'll make one point in regard to three-strip Technicolor. The process was not always hyper-colorful. Technicolor could make a resultant print derived from the three negatives look virtually any way that they (or the filmmakers) desired. One could go from virtually monochromatic to brilliantly colored, and everything in between.

 

[Gil Jawetz]

Thanks for the comments. Point noted on Technicolor, although I won't edit the review (even though it's standard revisionist style on the internet to change published pieces, I don't believe in it unless there's a serious error, and even then only in a clear addendum.)

And, yeah Disney should definitely release SOTS. I can sort of see the point that they are going after the little kiddee market and not the film archivist market, but even so they should figure out some way to release it to the correct market and let people use it as they see fit.

Out of curiosity, have you seen the new "M" Criterion yet?

 

[Robert Harris]

I have seen the new "M" from Criterion.

I've never seen the film look this good. The technical staff at Criterion has obviously formed a pact with the devil.

Which is possibly why they always seem to have their feet covered.

RAH

 

[oscar_merkx]

high praise indeed.

Another film I look forward to

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Looks like "M" will be another double dipper for me!

 

[Roger Rollins]

With no dis-respect intended, I thought it important to bring this thread back to its topic...which is GONE WITH THE WIND...

I have no shame in hiding my enthusiasm for it as the most astounding DVD release of the year....or as Herb Kane said...maybe ever.

(...plus it's a pretty good movie, too, if you haven't heard!:wink: )

Seriously folks, if you haven't purchased this magnificent release yet, do not pass go, do not collect $200...GET IT!

If you think the old DVD will suffice, I guess it would..but as a cocktail coaster:b

 

[Lyle_JP]

I just got around to watching this documentary last night, and I agree, the audio is dreadful. It reminds me of the "artificial stereo" that local TV stations would add to all the old syndicated programming when they first started broadcasting in stereo. On laserdisc, I would have simply instructed the player to pipe only one channel through the stereo outputs. Alas, my DVD player has no such feature.

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Yeah, I think it was the original Dolby Pro Logic matrix from when the show was first edited. I pressed "effect off" on my Yamaha receiver and then it sounded fine.

Speaking of the audio of old TV specials, the voiceover track for the Gable doc included lip smacks, deep breaths and script page turns.

Question about the Academy Awards footage: the acceptance speeches were apparently staged after the event, when the crew could get the camera in close to the subject. Was that the normal procedure at the time?