A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Great Escape -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[FoxyMulder]

I'm going back to VHS.

 

[Persianimmortal]

Grateful for this clarification from Mr Harris, and it also highlights the fact that I should pay less attention to reviews on that other site in the future. My copy has been ordered and I'll get to experience it myself soon.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'm going back to VHS.

Hmmn. VHS is analog, so it is closer to film in that respect.

You may be on to something here, Malcolm.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Thank you, RAH. Given this particular film's history on digital, I suspected that other reviews were much ado about nothing, given MGM's current managerial prerogatives. Glad to hear it's not the disaster it's made out to be. This'll be a purchase.

 

[DP 70]

I saw a 4K screening of this in Bradford and it looked
the best i have ever seen it with ALL the lovely grain.

The 2K version also screened in Bradford a few years ago had the worse Digital PQ I have ever seen.


The 4K version starts with the new Eye MGM Logo, the old 2K starts with the old MGM logo same as the Blu.

Does that tell us something...

 

[Robert Harris]

deleted

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

While all the old A list celebrities would have never considered going through this process as I understand it there is a very exclusive plastic surgery outfit that has been performing an outrageously costly procedure that involves "de-graining" many of the A listers of today to "improve" their appearance in today's high definition world...I won't drop any names here but it is pretty obvious who has had this procedure done and who has not.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

While all the old A list celebrities would have never considered going through this process as I understand it there is a very exclusive plastic surgery outfit that has been performing an outrageously costly procedure that involves "de-graining" many of the A listers of today to "improve" their appearance in today's high definition world...I won't drop any names here but it is pretty obvious who has had this procedure done and who has not.

I am in absolute agreement with you, Reggie.
There is still extensive plastic surgery being performed
on some of these Blu-rays with an existing mindset that
consumers want their movies to look flawless.

 

[Robert Harris]

I am in absolute agreement with you, Reggie.

There is still extensive plastic surgery being performed
on some of these Blu-rays with an existing mindset that
consumers want their movies to look flawless.

What makes this interesting, is the look of the final result. The Great Escape is a good-looking Blu-ray with a terrific track. It does not look like film, and certainly has no appearance of a newly produced 4k restoration.

As DP70 mentioned above, we may be dealing with two totally different image harvests toward two totally different final events. To my eye, the GE Blu-ray appears to be a 2k image harvest from an IP, with quite a bit of work performed to make it appealing (inclusive of de-graining and re-"graining") - which it is.

If there are actually two different paths that have been taken, I'm at a loss to understand why, other than the need to get an inexpensive partially timed image harvest from a wet-gate based element. If that was the case, there would have been no reason for a 4k harvest, followed by a 4k data stream, as the information on the film element is less than 2k.

If on the other hand, there was a 4k harvest from the OCN, why is it not being used for the Blu-ray.

Enquiring minds...

RAH

 

[trajan]

I picked up my copy today for 9.99 at Wal-Mart.

 

[Professor Echo]

The $5 U&S at Best Buy is only for in store stock which none of them have according to their web site.

Best Buy is notorious for having a very flawed site that rarely reflects what a store does and doesn't have in stock. I was going to buy the two disc CASINO ROYALE Blu from them and noticed on their site that not a single store near me had it in stock. I did an online chat with a Best Buy rep on the site and he told me that the item was no longer being carried by Best Buy and that no stores would have it. Ten minutes later I went to the Best Buy a block away and found eight copies of it on the shelf.

Thanks, RAH for your eagerly anticipated review. I wonder how many people who are giving this Blu a negative review ever saw it in a theater.

 

[BRAD1963]

I watched the disc last Sunday after reading the negative comments about the PQ, during the film I kept waiting for that awful transfer to appear and that never happened. It is not as perfect as some catalogs have been lately, but I found the film very watchable and the best I have ever seen it on any format. I'm happy to have it in my Blu ray collection at last. The Great Escape and I both turned 50 this year.

 

[haineshisway]

Best Buy is notorious for having a very flawed site that rarely reflects what a store does and doesn't have in stock. I was going to buy the two disc CASINO ROYALE Blu from them and noticed on their site that not a single store near me had it in stock. I did an online chat with a Best Buy rep on the site and he told me that the item was no longer being carried by Best Buy and that no stores would have it. Ten minutes later I went to the Best Buy a block away and found eight copies of it on the shelf.

Thanks, RAH for your eagerly anticipated review. I wonder how many people who are giving this Blu a negative review ever saw it in a theater.

That would be zero.

 

[John Hermes]

I skimmed through my copy of The Great Escape BD today. It's certainly softer than I would have liked, but I guess that can be blamed on what they had to work with.

 

[Persianimmortal]

I think part of the problem is the numerical scale system used for ratings. There's been some fuss and confusion over the fact that RAH has given this BD a 4.5 out of 5. To the average reader, this tends to imply superb image quality in absolute terms. That is, close to reference quality. This in turn conjures images of an Avatar-like flawless picture. Clearly, Mr Harris did in fact create his score with the notion of fidelity to source. He even ends his review with the phrase "the best we are apt to see", to drive home the point that given the current possibilities, this is not a bad outcome.

The real problem is that most people just look at the number, without reading the review itself. I know this is not a suggestion that's likely to be taken up by any reviewer, but it would be wonderful just to do away with the whole scoring system. The numbers are not comparable across reviews, even from the same reviewer, in absolute terms, and by removing them, it would encourage people to actually read the review and digest its meaning rather than looking for a quick good/bad take-away.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I like the numbers.Why alter to reward those who fail to read and understand?

 

[Persianimmortal]

I'm suggesting the opposite: remove something that only tends to encourage people to skip the body of the review and focus on the numbers.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think part of the problem is the numerical scale system used for ratings. There's been some fuss and confusion over the fact that RAH has given this BD a 4.5 out of 5. To the average reader, this tends to imply superb image quality in absolute terms. That is, close to reference quality. This in turn conjures images of an Avatar-like flawless picture. Clearly, Mr Harris did in fact create his score with the notion of fidelity to source. He even ends his review with the phrase "the best we are apt to see", to drive home the point that given the current possibilities, this is not a bad outcome.

The real problem is that most people just look at the number, without reading the review itself. I know this is not a suggestion that's likely to be taken up by any reviewer, but it would be wonderful just to do away with the whole scoring system. The numbers are not comparable across reviews, even from the same reviewer, in absolute terms, and by removing them, it would encourage people to actually read the review and digest its meaning rather than looking for a quick good/bad take-away.

How do you know that most people do that?

 

[Charles Smith]

Just finished watching (started last night, actually, knowing I wouldn't get through it all then), and it was a thrill. I hadn't watched this movie since getting the Criterion laserdisc. I do remember making a few false starts later on, but was just never able to "get into it" through the years with the DVDs. Well, the reason is clear now. It wasn't a matter of not really being in the proper mood. The previous versions were UNWATCHABLE. What a great, great film. and what a pleasure it is to have it looking this fine, thankyouverymuch.

 

[Nelson Au]

My copy arrived today. I have to say how disappointed I am by the.......case. I was surprised when I picked it up it seemed like the back was crushed in. I guess they are using these new cases now with the recycle symbol and the spoked rear part of the cover molded in that makes the case flexible. The disc seems okay.I'm looking forward to watching the film this weekend. I'm sure it's going to be a great disc.