UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - North by Northwest -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

Has anyone noted yet that the 4k version of North by Northwest is only $4.99 for purchase on iTunes?

Yes in the digital deals and bargains topic

 

[Robert Harris]

Yup. The red line shows the framing of the new 4K version compared to the Fluechiger 35mm frames---even when you put a screen capture of the UN effect shot on top of the 35mm frames, 1.85:1 is correct for the body of the entire film.

View attachment 239258View attachment 239257

Original 16mm prints, the set was revealed in the close-ups on the ground in the cropduster sequence.

 

[cda1143]

I’m almost finished with North by Northwest. Wow! I’m actually more impressed with the Dolby Atmos sound track than the 4K/HDR video presentation.

Total agreement. As gorgeous as the image is, and it is gorgeous, the work that's been done on the soundtrack is absolutely stunning. I can't think of another recreated soundtrack that comes close.

 

[titch]

For over the past 10 years, Barbara Fluechiger has been capturing images of Technicolor prints for part of her “Timeline of Historical Film Colors “ page---I’m not going to start questioning how she is capturing these frames; however, it is fascinating to look at the images on some level. Presently, she has 97 photos from two IB prints from North By Northwest---here you can see how the film was hard matted, how some of the effect shots were matted, very slight framing differences, and, of course, color.

North by Northwest (1959) | Timeline of Historical Colors in Photography and Film

is a comprehensive resource for the investigation of film color technology and aesthetics, analysis and restoration, developed and curated by Barbara Flueckiger since 2012. In 2024 Sylvie Pénichon joined the Timeline as a co-curator for still photography.

filmcolors.org

This is a fascinating reference. Also came in very handy a couple of years ago, when nitwits were claiming that Criterion had got the colours all wrong on the Three Colors trilogy.

 

[Sam Favate]

Watched this last night. It’s every bit as good as everyone here has said. So gratifying to see one of my favorite films looking so good.

 

[Brett Lovett]

Total agreement. As gorgeous as the image is, and it is gorgeous, the work that's been done on the soundtrack is absolutely stunning. I can't think of another recreated soundtrack that comes close.

On my system (not Atmos capable), I found the Dolby TrueHD from the Atmos audio to be somewhat harsh and distracting, and abandoned it before completing my first viewing. I'll probably try the Atmos again at some point, but I'm very thankful for the inclusion of the original theatrical monaural which sounds better than I was expecting. I find it a bit difficult to express my preferences in this regard, but I like the OT mono for preserving the work and design of the original movie makers, and I also like the Blu-ray's 5.1 for bringing through more of Bernard Herrmann's wonderful score.

 

[titch]

I’m almost finished with North by Northwest. Wow! I’m actually more impressed with the Dolby Atmos sound track than the 4K/HDR video presentation.

I've never heard an old soundtrack remastered so superbly before! It was absolutely thrilling to hear how much fidelity and dynamic range there was - the music was akin to listening to a newly recorded concert. Rumbling bass, which got my subwoofers all excited, no harshness or clipping on the mid-range or treble, even when I cranked the volume waaaay up. It wasn't just the music either - dialogue and effects were all extremely well-balanced. I've seen North by Northwest on every video edition, since the initial Criterion LaserDisc, and once at a repertory screening theatrically, but this was like seeing the movie for the first time! Visually, all the matt shots and rear projection shots were so well integrated, they didn't distract either. It's the first time I didn't think "Well, it wasn't bad for something made so long ago!". I had way more fun tonight, than I've had at the cinema, all year!

 

[Reed Grele]

Well, my purpose in posting was a hope to understand why that particular anomaly is present, alternating between dissolves as it does through that particular section of the movie, rather than debate and evaluation of whether it should be dismissed as insignificant or unimportant. I believe in this forum that there is a better understanding of the restoration process than I personally have, and particularly after the discussion regarding the alignment between the MGM logo and the green overlay (to which I didn't see any replies suggesting insignificance or dismissal) I thought it might bring about some good discussion that could help explain it.

I too was taken aback by the misalignment issues of the opening MGM logo! A strange error on an otherwise perfect transfer.

Even the final roar of Leo the lion seems to have been somewhat muted.

Very odd that my older BD transfer has neither of these issues.

 

[Brett Lovett]

I too was taken aback by the misalignment issues of the opening MGM logo! A strange error on an otherwise perfect transfer.

Even the final roar of Leo the lion seems to have been somewhat muted.

Very odd that my older BD transfer has neither of these issues.

Based on the previous discussion, it appears that the "misalignment" has existed in every version except the BD transfer, and is what results when the elements creating it are correctly pin registered. Intentional vertical offset, or error? It's difficult to know for sure. Apparently for the purposes of the BD mastering it was assumed to be an error and was visually realigned, ignoring pin registration. I'm satisfied that the "misalinged" version on the UHD 4K matches what was seen during the original theatrical release, and even would have matched an original VVLA print showing had there been one. I can understand preference either way on this one.

As far as the final roar, it does seem to be as you describe on the Atmos track.

 

[Robert Harris]

I too was taken aback by the misalignment issues of the opening MGM logo! A strange error on an otherwise perfect transfer.

Even the final roar of Leo the lion seems to have been somewhat muted.

Very odd that my older BD transfer has neither of these issues.

No element aside from original film can ever serve as accurate reference.

 

[Reed Grele]

No element aside from original film can ever serve as accurate reference.

I see... Then I guess we're just...

 

[AlexNH]

I too was taken aback by the misalignment issues of the opening MGM logo! A strange error on an otherwise perfect transfer.

Even the final roar of Leo the lion seems to have been somewhat muted.

Very odd that my older BD transfer has neither of these issues.

Leo's roar is "somewhat muted?" Wow.

 

[Mike Boone]

Four Very different VVLA productions, with different styles and color schemes, which all look as they should. Have you not seen To Catch a Thief?

Sorry for this belated response to your question here regarding To Catch A Thief, RAH. But though I've seen that film as presented by the BD of it that we've had in our collection for 10 years, it's the only one of Alfred Hitchcock's 5 films shot in VistaVision that we don't have on 4k Blu-ray, and probably won't be getting. Since my wife & I feel it's one of Hitch's weaker films, though it has beautiful photography of France & Grace Kelly. And Mr Hitchcock, himself, seemed to share our opinion about the film. Because in the famous 1967 book "Hitchcock/Truffaut", where director Francois Truffaut interviews Hitch about each of the films he'd made by then, in discussing To Catch A Thief, Mr Truffaut asks this question "What do you think of the picture on the whole?" And Mr Hitchcock's terse response is "It was a lightweight story."

But, since North By Northwest's stunning VistaVision look is SO improved on 4k BD vs regular BD, curiosity
may finally force me to get the 4k of Hitch's 1955 film, to see just how good that France & Grace could look!

 

[Robert Harris]

Sorry for this belated response to your question here regarding To Catch A Thief, RAH. But though I've seen that film as presented by the BD of it that we've had in our collection for 10 years, it's the only one of Alfred Hitchcock's 5 films shot in VistaVision that we don't have on 4k Blu-ray, and probably won't be getting. Since my wife & I feel it's one of Hitch's weaker films, though it has beautiful photography of France & Grace Kelly. And Mr Hitchcock, himself, seemed to share our opinion about the film. Because in the famous 1967 book "Hitchcock/Truffaut", where director Francois Truffaut interviews Hitch about each of the films he'd made by then, in discussing To Catch A Thief, Mr Truffaut asks this question "What do you think of the picture on the whole?" And Mr Hitchcock's terse response is "It was a lightweight story."

But, since North By Northwest's stunning VistaVision look is SO improved on 4k BD vs regular BD, curiosity
may finally force me to get the 4k of Hitch's 1955 film, to see just how good that France & Grace could look!

I would urge you to do so.

 

[verneaux]

I am not in any way an expert in this. Could the vertical (as opposed to horizontal) misalignment of the copyright logo be due to the different way VistaVision runs through the camera/projector?

 

[Lord Dalek]

I am not in any way an expert in this. Could the vertical (as opposed to horizontal) misalignment of the copyright logo be due to the different way VistaVision runs through the camera/projector?

I always assumed Bass filmed the logo through a cut out stencil of the words and filmstrip ribbon and they simply weren't properly aligned.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Since VHS quality wasn't good enough...

 

[Lord Dalek]

In summation...

THIS IS CORRECT:

THIS IS INCORRECT:

If the 4k looks like the above cap, its correct.

 

[TonyD]

What do mean by correct?

 

[Lord Dalek]

What do mean by correct?

The previous blu-ray version was "corrected" which means its...actually a historical revisionism. Its not accurate to any previous release of the film.