- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,424
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
I might have begun this piece with the words... "It would have been wonderful to see what this brilliant film would have looked like with an image harvested from either the original nitrate negative or a quality fine grain..." But I don't have the need. Somehow, in that mess at Fox, with employees set upon destroying the library, this production -- an important one -- has come through relatively unscathed. I've not asked, so I don't know if somehow in that mid-1970s orgy of nitrate blood-lust, someone made a huge error and made a timed fine grain master, or whether the team at Fox, led by the inestimable Mr. Belston, has taken a merely adequate element, and turned it into something very special. It doesn't matter. What does, is the the new Blu-ray from Fox is as gorgeous as it can get without an original negative. And that's beautiful. Grain structure, gray scale, and (generally) the balance of black and whites, works very nicely toward the creation of a quality product. For those who've not seen it, How Green Was My Valley is a monster of a film. A mini-epic from Mr. Ford, with young Mr. McDowell at the fore. For all of you who only know him from that vampire film, be warned, and prepared to have your hearts broken in the generic and wonderful Ford manner. A extraordinary film. A beautiful Blu-ray from Fox. Image - 4 Audio - 4 Highly Recommended. RAH