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

[Matt Hough]

If I'm not mistaken, Cliff had already portrayed Charlie in a television program (The U.S. Steel Hour) and won an Emmy for it, so I suspect folks were very familiar with him in this role (in addition to his being a really good guy and a fine actor).

 

[Mike Boone]

If I'm not mistaken, Cliff had already portrayed Charlie in a television program (The U.S. Steel Hour) and won an Emmy for it, so I suspect folks were very familiar with him in this role (in addition to his being a really good guy and a fine actor).

Thanks for your response and information, Matt.

BTW, it's off the subject, but since I see that you live in Charlotte, I must mention that my late father grew up in Charlotte, and every summer, when I was a kid, my family would drive from our home on Long Island, down to North Carolina, to spend my dad's vacation at my grandmother's house.

My grandmother lived on a little street called Mimosa Avenue, and her home was about 5 houses from a boulevard which was called The Plaza. Then, after my grandmother's death, we used to stay at my aunt's house which was on Lexington Ave, and was much closer to downtown Charlotte, in what was known as the Dilworth neighborhood.

Hope that my brief digression down memory lane isn't too out of line here, but since I'm the only one of my family who's left, sometimes an occasional need to think about things that once were, and briefly acknowledge those who are now silent memories, is a compulsion that gets a hold of me.

 

[Charles Smith]

Speaking of the stage play, remember that the original Henry was the Music Man himself, Robert Preston.

Yes, and I'd kill to see a clip of him in that.

Rosemary Harris was his Eleanor, and King Philip of France was played by none other than Christopher Walken...a decade before he made his mark in ANNIE HALL. (The mind boggles at that one.)

 

[davidmatychuk]

I just watched the new Blu-Ray. It's the best home video version I've owned, and I've owned it on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD.

And I could also have used those exact words in 2011 to describe the CBS/Paramount Blu-Ray of "My Fair Lady". Was it enough of an advance over the previous home video versions to spend money on at the time? Yes, if barely. Was it permanently eclipsed a few years later by the superb 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray? Yes, yes, 50 times yes.

So today's new "The Lion In Winter" Blu-Ray is worth owning, in my opinion. And I hope that history repeats itself.

 

[Matt Hough]

BTW, it's off the subject, but since I see that you live in Charlotte, I must mention that my late father grew up in Charlotte, and every summer, when I was a kid, my family would drive from our home on Long Island, down to North Carolina, to spend my dad's vacation at my grandmother's house.

My grandmother lived on a little street called Mimosa Avenue, and her home was about 5 houses from a boulevard which was called The Plaza. Then, after my grandmother's death, we used to stay at my aunt's house which was on Lexington Ave, and was much closer to downtown Charlotte, in what was known as the Dilworth neighborhood.

It's a lovely reminiscence and thanks so much for sharing it. WHile I live on the other side of town from there, I'm very familiar with The Plaza and DIlworth, have had friends that lived in both areas, and even know Mimosa Avenue! And in ironic contrast, we used to drive to New York City once or twice a year in the 1950s and 1960s. Once I discovered airplane travel, I started preferring 90 minutes to get to NYC rather than a day or two there and back!

And to get the conversation back on topic, I never got to see The Lion in Winter on Broadway. Ironically, as big a hit as the film was, the play flopped on Broadway only managing a three month run.

 

[Robert Harris]

Thanks for your response and information, Matt.

BTW, it's off the subject, but since I see that you live in Charlotte, I must mention that my late father grew up in Charlotte, and every summer, when I was a kid, my family would drive from our home on Long Island, down to North Carolina, to spend my dad's vacation at my grandmother's house.

My grandmother lived on a little street called Mimosa Avenue, and her home was about 5 houses from a boulevard which was called The Plaza. Then, after my grandmother's death, we used to stay at my aunt's house which was on Lexington Ave, and was much closer to downtown Charlotte, in what was known as the Dilworth neighborhood.

Hope that my brief digression down memory lane isn't too out of line here, but since I'm the only one of my family who's left, sometimes an occasional need to think about things that once were, and briefly acknowledge those who are now silent memories, is a compulsion that gets a hold of me.

I love interesting digressions, and Charlotte.

As a bit of a numismatist, I think of Charlotte for its US Mint, which opened c. 1839, after the county’s first major gold discovery, which was naturally, in North Carolina.

Beautiful gold coins produced in Charlotte, until 1861.

 

[trajan007]

Just finished watching Kino's LION IN WINTER. I was very pleased with this transfer. I don't remember so much as a scratch on the print. Colors were pitch perfect. Black level were fine. I saw no sync issues with the dialogue. Sound had good depth. I am glad Best Buy sent the disc to me even after I had canceled. Thanks Kino.

 

[JPCinema]

Having suffered through the region B blu ray of LION IN WINTER with its awful sound, I was happily surprised with the new Kino Blu Ray. The sound on the Kino disc is great. I can now hear and enjoy the Oscar winning score and screenplay!! There were no sync issues with my disc and the PQ has not looked this good since its release . Thank you Kino for taking the time to fix the sound

 

[Dick]

Hope that my brief digression down memory lane isn't too out of line here, but since I'm the only one of my family who's left, sometimes an occasional need to think about things that once were, and briefly acknowledge those who are now silent memories, is a compulsion that gets a hold of me.

I empathize, Mike.

 

[Mike Boone]

I empathize, Mike.

I very much appreciate that. And feeling empathy seems like one of those abilities that's needed to allow any of us to be fully human.

 

[PMF]

If I'm not mistaken, Cliff had already portrayed Charlie in a television program (The U.S. Steel Hour) and won an Emmy for it, so I suspect folks were very familiar with him in this role (in addition to his being a really good guy and a fine actor).

No doubts to Cliff Robertson being a nice guy.
As luck would have it, I once rode on a motor boat with him to cross a body of water and - yes - a nice guy he is.
On the other hand, though, I am even nicer; as I politely withheld my biases and thoughts concerning his win.
After all, how could he personally be held accountable for the win? Yup, a nice guy, indeed.
Anyway, I am of the theory that Peter O' Toole and Ron Moody had split the votes; thus leaving a default opening for Mr. Robertson.
Sorry, Charly.

 

[Cineman]

No doubts to Cliff Robertson being a nice guy.
As luck would have it, I once rode on a motor boat with him to cross a body of water and - yes - a nice guy he is.
On the other hand, though, I am even nicer; as I politely withheld my biases and thoughts concerning his win.
After all, how could he personally be held accountable for the win? Yup, a nice guy, indeed.
Anyway, I am of the theory that Peter O' Toole and Ron Moody had split the votes; thus leaving a default opening for Mr. Robertson.
Sorry, Charly.

I guess I am not a subscriber of the "two other actors split the vote" concept. I mean, I don't see why it wouldn't be that THREE actors split the vote THREE ways and, sure enough, one of them had more than either of the other two...and his name was Cliff Robertson. btw, I do believe O'Toole gave the best performance of that year and he certainly would have gotten my vote. But even if "almost" twice as many Academy voters split their votes between Moody and O'Toole while Robertson still got as many votes as each of them plus, say, "1", that still means Cliff Robertson's performance was chosen more times by the voters than either of the other two. How would we know Robertson wasn't the second choice of enough Moody and/or O'Toole voters to still have won even if there were some defectors from their first choice?

Even if the popular Moody/O'Toole/Roberston scenario were shown to be factually, mathematically true, that Roberston did not get far and away more votes than any two other nominees, that he didn't win in a landslide, couldn't we argue just as factually that O'Toole lost because Moody and Roberston essentially "split the vote" except that Robertson got at least one more vote than Moody? Or that Moody lost because O'Toole and Roberston essentially "split the vote" except, again, Robertson got at least one more vote than O'Toole?

 

[PMF]

I guess I am not a subscriber of the "two other actors split the vote" concept. I mean, I don't see why it wouldn't be that THREE actors split the vote THREE ways and, sure enough, one of them had more than either of the other two...and his name was Cliff Robertson. btw, I do believe O'Toole gave the best performance of that year and he certainly would have gotten my vote. But even if "almost" twice as many Academy voters split their votes between Moody and O'Toole while Robertson still got as many votes as each of them plus, say, "1", that still means Cliff Robertson's performance was chosen more times by the voters than either of the other two. How would we know Robertson wasn't the second choice of enough Moody and/or O'Toole voters to still have won even if there were some defectors from their first choice?

Even if the popular Moody/O'Toole/Roberston scenario were shown to be factually, mathematically true, that Roberston did not get far and away more votes than any two other nominees, that he didn't win in a landslide, couldn't we argue just as factually that O'Toole lost because Moody and Roberston essentially "split the vote" except that Robertson got at least one more vote than Moody? Or that Moody lost because O'Toole and Roberston essentially "split the vote" except, again, Robertson got at least one more vote than O'Toole?

Phew-w-w. You must be some kind of an accountant or odds maker.
As it is, I now have a splitting headache.

 

[Jimbo64]

After all the good things I’m reading about The Lion in Winter I’m going to purchase it. I watched my old MGM dvd last weekend and it’s got to be better than that one!

 

[Dick]

I haven't anywhere near the cinema eyes and ears of Mr. Harris, but for me, this is a 4.5 rating based on his scale. LION IN WINTER is one of my absolute favorite films, and I've been frustrated (downright pissed-off, actually) by previous imported Blu-rays, of which I bought two. Kino's transfer is quite lovely to my eyes (no cataracts yet) and ears. There are few or no visual artifacts and no aliasing that I could see. The color is simply ten times better (check out the reds). Black levels and contrast look fine. Audio-wise this is exponentially better than the copies I bought from Europe. It still seems a bit lacking in low-end, but it isn't shrill or strident on the high end, either. Totally happy, which is good, as we're unlikely to ever see better on disc.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I watched The Lion in Winter the other night and was very pleased with the presentation. I'd only seen the film once, on TCM probably about ten years ago, so it was like watching it again for the first time. A truly wonderful film.

 

[Konstantinos]

Just a clarification:
Which audio has the sync issues?
the mono or the 5.1?

 

[Charles Smith]

Someone, way back in the thread, or maybe somewhere else, mentioned the main title sequence looking a bit rough in some way. I was interested to check that out because I had a memory of something that had always struck me about it on the movie's first run. Sure enough, I absolutely recognized the little instances of jumpiness there, and it's one of those times I'm confident in saying it was there on day one. For what that's worth.

At any rate, in my spot check the BD is no disappointment on the plasma, and I look forward to watching it straight through on Reed Grele's 128" (or whatever it is, I always forget!) scope screen on Wednesday night.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Just watched it on my 104" wide screen and it was wonderful. Some of the close-ups will knock yer socks off. Thanks KL!

 

[Robert Harris]

Someone, way back in the thread, or maybe somewhere else, mentioned the main title sequence looking a bit rough in some way. I was interested to check that out because I had a memory of something that had always struck me about it on the movie's first run. Sure enough, I absolutely recognized the little instances of jumpiness there, and it's one of those times I'm confident in saying it was there on day one. For what that's worth.

At any rate, in my spot check the BD is no disappointment on the plasma, and I look forward to watching it straight through on Reed Grele's 128" (or whatever it is, I always forget!) scope screen on Wednesday night.

Any MT (original, nor remade) sequence from the analogue era, will have movement. Multiple dupes, combined with holdback mattes.

Since there is movement at different levels, one could potentially digitally stablize a single level - bg, type - but not all.

For the record, if one were to attempt to stable, the result would be the loss of the sides of the frame.

As you correctly note, been there from day one, and not a problem.