UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Rope -- in 4k UHD (2 Viewers)

[Robert Harris]

Hitchcock's 1948 Rope was a continuing experimentation that was used sparingly with Under Capricorn. Rope is in full 10 minutes reels, usually ending with someone walking in front of the camera to momentarily black out the image.

It's a film that has looked adequate on home video, as masters were produced from Eastman Color dupes.

Universal has restored the film for this release, returning to the original 3-strip nitrate negatives for the first time in aeons, and the results are superb.

Color, densities, black levels are all finely tuned, and grain appears natural.

For more on long takes, consider Russian Ark.

The slip is a similar image to what is inside, but is elegantly glossy with silver highlights.

Image – 5 (HDR10)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 2.0)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 6

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Absolutely!

Worth your attention - 10

Slipcover rating - 3

Highly Recommended

RAH


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[Josh Steinberg]

Perhaps my favorite Hitchcock. Glad to hear it finally has a presentation as good as the film itself is.

 

[jim_falconer]

Rope is an amazing film on so many levels

 

[Dr. Lejos]

Actually UNDER CAPRICORN followed ROPE, using the long take concept in more integrated fashion.

Love ROPE, looking forward to the 4K … also love CAPRICORN, tho alas that esteem not widely shared, except apparently by certain French critics (even somewhat dismissed by its creator). Theoretically it should/could LOOK as good as the restoration for ROPE, shot in Tech by Cardiff, but because its something of an orphaned film, it never got much respect from the labs for later releases, up to and including the blu-ray.

I wonder if Mr. Harris knows if the surviving elements are capable of a decent restoration?

 

[Robert Harris]

Actually UNDER CAPRICORN followed ROPE, using the long take concept in more integrated fashion.

Love ROPE, looking forward to the 4K … also love CAPRICORN, tho alas that esteem not widely shared, except apparently by certain French critics (even somewhat dismissed by its creator). Theoretically it should/could LOOK as good as the restoration for ROPE, shot in Tech by Cardiff, but because its something of an orphaned film, it never got much respect from the labs for later releases, up to and including the blu-ray.

I wonder if Mr. Harris knows if the surviving elements are capable of a decent restoration?

Absolutely. And thanks for the correction. My mind is going. Used to have a 35 safety dye transfer on UC. It was gorgeous.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Watched this one late last nite, and it’s in my top 3 Hitchcock films.

It looks glorious.

 

[PMBen]

Is there enough resolution in the original negatives to take advantage of 4k vs. HD?

 

[Robert Harris]

There is. Which is one of the potential problems with 3-strip and 4k scans. There is sometimes a problem of exposing details meant to be unseen, and covered by the dye transfer process.

 

[Dave H]

Not to derail too much, but question.

I own the Hitchcock Vol 1 4K set. Really enjoyed all of the films.

I've not seen any of the movies on Vol 2 and Vol 3 (including Rope).

Are the others safe blind buys?

 

[Robin9]

Not to derail too much, but question.

I own the Hitchcock Vol 1 4K set. Really enjoyed all of the films.

I've not seen any of the movies on Vol 2 and Vol 3 (including Rope).

Are the others safe blind buys?

Yes, definitely. If you have the money spare, go for them!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Not to derail too much, but question.

I own the Hitchcock Vol 1 4K set. Really enjoyed all of the films.

I've not seen any of the movies on Vol 2 and Vol 3 (including Rope).

Are the others safe blind buys?

I feel like there are more lower tier Hitchcocks in the later volumes - the question is kinda, are you the kind of movie fan who feels a mediocre Hitchcock film is better than most other filmmakers good films? If so, buy with confidence, if not, maybe rent first or wait for the price drop that will inevitably happen a year from now.

Movies like Topaz, Marnie, Frenzy, Family Plot, Torn Curtain, I don’t find them very rewatchable. I’m happy to have seen them but there’s never a moment where I’m like, “I am dying to watch Topaz!” I only end up revisiting them if I’m binge watching Hitchcock films in a marathon.

None of the movies are outright terrible, none are unwatchable, each has at least one sequence that’s very well done, but I think there came a point in Hitchcock’s career where the medium of film evolved past him, and he was mostly content to continue working as he always had rather than evolving with the times, and I think that holds the films back. It’s not dissimilar to watching Chaplin’s last round of films.

 

[SteveB651]

It'd be fascinating to learn how Universal's approach to digitally recombining the Technicolor negatives compares to Warner's.

 

[Robert Harris]

It'd be fascinating to learn how Universal's approach to digitally recombining the Technicolor negatives compares to Warner's.

I believe things have gotten reasonably standardized. And it’s not just 3-strip, it also involves alien layers, as in MKWTM2.

 

[SteveB651]

I believe things have gotten reasonably standardized. And it’s not just 3-strip, it also involves alien layers, as in MKWTM2.

Ah, ok. I remember reading about Warner's patented "Ultra Resolution" 3-strip technique. Now I see that it was around as early as 2004. Time flies.

 

[cadavra]

Not to be picky, but the last time I saw, it seemed closer to ten eight-minute reels than eight ten-minute reels. Has anyone ever attempted a breakdown?

 

[Anthonydasher]

Hitchcock's 1948 Rope was a continuing experimentation that was used sparingly with Under Capricorn. Rope is in full 10 minutes reels, usually ending with someone walking in front of the camera to momentarily black out the image.

It's a film that has looked adequate on home video, as masters were produced from Eastman Color dupes.

Universal has restored the film for this release, returning to the original 3-strip nitrate negatives for the first time in aeons, and the results are superb.

Color, densities, black levels are all finely tuned, and grain appears natural.

For more on long takes, consider Russian Ark.

The slip is a similar image to what is inside, but is elegantly glossy with silver highlights.

Image – 5 (HDR10)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 2.0)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 6

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Absolutely!

Worth your attention - 10

Slipcover rating - 3

Highly Recommended

RAH

One of my favorite movies! Grateful for this release.
I always wanted a copy of the small blue painting they discuss. Ive never been able to identify it, probably just a prop.

 

[Lord Dalek]

So

Not to derail too much, but question.

I own the Hitchcock Vol 1 4K set. Really enjoyed all of the films.

I've not seen any of the movies on Vol 2 and Vol 3 (including Rope).

Are the others safe blind buys?

Volume 3 is about 80% high tier Hitchcock.

The other 20% has its fans.

 

[Robert Harris]

Not to be picky, but the last time I saw, it seemed closer to ten eight-minute reels than eight ten-minute reels. Has anyone ever attempted a breakdown?

Quite correct. I was generalizing. As you know, a ten minute reel is 900 feet, making the average double mounted reel of print, 1800 feet. The film was conformed to 30 reels of OCN, making prints 1AB-5AB.

Therefore, we can presume that there are joins approximately every 900 feet or 8 minutes.

 

[Christian D66]

My fave Hitchcock -- not saying it's the best -- and this is best I've ever seen it. Superb. I was grinning through the whole thing.

 

[Robert Harris]

My fave Hitchcock -- not saying it's the best -- and this is best I've ever seen it. Superb. I was grinning through the whole thing.

Grins are warranted. This 4k has at least twice the resolution as an original nitrate 35mm print, and possibly more. With no downsides.