haineshisway
Senior HTF Member
What an absolutely amazing time it is for Blu-ray collectors right now, and we should revel in it and enjoy it for all it's worth - so many releases of so many interesting films in transfers ranging from stunning to, well, less than stunning. Here's what I've been watching for the past two days.
Love With the Proper Stranger - one of my all-time favorite movies, I was thrilled to give the world the world premiere of its gorgeous Elmer Bernstein score - in fact, the first score I asked for at the beginning of what turned out to be a wonderful relationship with Paramount. But this film - this film has never gotten its due from them. It had an open matte VHS release, someone here (I think) said it was on laserdisc, but I have no memory of that, and it never had a DVD release. In the few times it was shown it was always open matte. So, it's a thrill to finally have it in its proper ratio. I wish I could rave about it or even give it the pass it's getting from just about every site where it's been "reviewed" - it certainly has its moments in the close-ups, but it's never really detailed enough in medium or long shots, there's almost no grain to speak of - contrast is fine. The packaging touts "newly re-mastered in HD." Really? Everything on Blu-ray has been newly remastered in HD so what does that even mean? Clearly here's what it's NOT re-mastered from: the camera negative. It's also just as clearly not a new internegative off the camera negative. It's easy to know that since they haven't quite removed all the burned-in changeover cue marks, which is a bit shocking in this day and age. Had a new internegative been struck, those cue marks would not be there. So, this is just an HD transfer of whatever their last internegative was - it's not terrible by any means, but it really should look better. All those caveats aside, I give it my highest recommendation because it's widescreen, it's Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen at their absolute best - you just don't see star wattage like that anymore - the writing is wonderful, and Robert Mulligan was a great director back then. And the score - gorgeous. I love this movie.
Now, if you want to do the instant comparison of what a black-and-white film of that era can and should look like, look no further than the new disc of Suddenly, Last Summer, a gorgeous transfer with incredible detail and contrast - made three years earlier than Proper Stranger. But that's Grover Crisp for you - you know what you're getting when Sony has put their seal of approval on a new transfer. The film is so strange and wacky and Mankiewicz was such a good director that it's mesmerizing. Taylor, Clift, and Hepburn - well, exactly. Funnily, I've only seen snippets of the film before, never the whole thing. What really surprised me (in a good way) was the score by Buxton Orr and Malcolm Arnold - really good. A wonderful presentation of a seriously nutty film.
Kid Galahad - a rather charming Elvis Presley film directed by Phil Karlson. It's got a really good cast, including Charles Bronson, Gig Young, and Lola Albright, and it moves right along. As everyone knows, whether it's Twilight Time or Kino or whoever, with MGM/UA transfers you get what you get. Twilight Time is a little pickier about what they will and will not issue, which is much appreciated. This transfer is one of the better ones - in fact, it looks quite good, with good color and sharpness. No real complaints, actually.
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef - holy smokes - my jaw dropped when the main titles came on. I could not believe what I was seeing, actually. Stunning color, incredible sharpness, and glorious Herrmann music in stereo in WIDE 2.55. Schawn Belston, like Grover Crisp, really knows his stuff and this transfer is AMAZING. Matt reviewed it here, so I don't need to say more, other than but it now.
The Adventures of Captain Marvel - again I'd read very good notices, and the package touts "new 4K transfer" - well, anything can be transferred in 4K, but it, as always, depends on WHAT is being transferred. The quality here is really variable - sometimes it looks fine (but never great) and sometimes it just looks baffling, with some sections so dark you can't even see what's going on. They don't really tell you what elements were used but whatever they were, they've seen some wear and tear. This happens to be my favorite serial (well, it's a tie with the Commando Cody serial with George Wallace) - I saw it in 1954 at the Picfair Theater - they always showed a serial, a Stooges, cartoons and a double feature for the kiddie matinee - that kept up until about 1957. If you love serials, there's such a dearth of them on Blu-ray, that you'll probably need this, just as I did.
Gun Fury - I don't have 3-D so I watched the 2-D and it looked very good - the opticals in this one are really opticals - for example, in 12-Mile Reef the majority of the opticals are cut in short but even the main titles in that film look amazing. Here we get much more typical opticals but the minute you're out of them, it's very sharp and detailed, and the color is very pleasing. The film is fun - Raoul Walsh and all, and I imagine it looks great in 3-D.
Finally, The Long, Hot Summer - beautiful transfer that actually gets better after the first trial scene - but I thought it all looked pretty splendid. Again, what a cast - we just don't have these kinds of actors anymore. And guess what? NONE of them mumble or whisper - they speak up, you can hear every word clearly, and yet they are subtle and real - whoever is teaching and/or allowing this generation of actors to do what they're doing should be run out of town on a rail.
Sorry for the length of this, but what a great batch of movies.
Love With the Proper Stranger - one of my all-time favorite movies, I was thrilled to give the world the world premiere of its gorgeous Elmer Bernstein score - in fact, the first score I asked for at the beginning of what turned out to be a wonderful relationship with Paramount. But this film - this film has never gotten its due from them. It had an open matte VHS release, someone here (I think) said it was on laserdisc, but I have no memory of that, and it never had a DVD release. In the few times it was shown it was always open matte. So, it's a thrill to finally have it in its proper ratio. I wish I could rave about it or even give it the pass it's getting from just about every site where it's been "reviewed" - it certainly has its moments in the close-ups, but it's never really detailed enough in medium or long shots, there's almost no grain to speak of - contrast is fine. The packaging touts "newly re-mastered in HD." Really? Everything on Blu-ray has been newly remastered in HD so what does that even mean? Clearly here's what it's NOT re-mastered from: the camera negative. It's also just as clearly not a new internegative off the camera negative. It's easy to know that since they haven't quite removed all the burned-in changeover cue marks, which is a bit shocking in this day and age. Had a new internegative been struck, those cue marks would not be there. So, this is just an HD transfer of whatever their last internegative was - it's not terrible by any means, but it really should look better. All those caveats aside, I give it my highest recommendation because it's widescreen, it's Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen at their absolute best - you just don't see star wattage like that anymore - the writing is wonderful, and Robert Mulligan was a great director back then. And the score - gorgeous. I love this movie.
Now, if you want to do the instant comparison of what a black-and-white film of that era can and should look like, look no further than the new disc of Suddenly, Last Summer, a gorgeous transfer with incredible detail and contrast - made three years earlier than Proper Stranger. But that's Grover Crisp for you - you know what you're getting when Sony has put their seal of approval on a new transfer. The film is so strange and wacky and Mankiewicz was such a good director that it's mesmerizing. Taylor, Clift, and Hepburn - well, exactly. Funnily, I've only seen snippets of the film before, never the whole thing. What really surprised me (in a good way) was the score by Buxton Orr and Malcolm Arnold - really good. A wonderful presentation of a seriously nutty film.
Kid Galahad - a rather charming Elvis Presley film directed by Phil Karlson. It's got a really good cast, including Charles Bronson, Gig Young, and Lola Albright, and it moves right along. As everyone knows, whether it's Twilight Time or Kino or whoever, with MGM/UA transfers you get what you get. Twilight Time is a little pickier about what they will and will not issue, which is much appreciated. This transfer is one of the better ones - in fact, it looks quite good, with good color and sharpness. No real complaints, actually.
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef - holy smokes - my jaw dropped when the main titles came on. I could not believe what I was seeing, actually. Stunning color, incredible sharpness, and glorious Herrmann music in stereo in WIDE 2.55. Schawn Belston, like Grover Crisp, really knows his stuff and this transfer is AMAZING. Matt reviewed it here, so I don't need to say more, other than but it now.
The Adventures of Captain Marvel - again I'd read very good notices, and the package touts "new 4K transfer" - well, anything can be transferred in 4K, but it, as always, depends on WHAT is being transferred. The quality here is really variable - sometimes it looks fine (but never great) and sometimes it just looks baffling, with some sections so dark you can't even see what's going on. They don't really tell you what elements were used but whatever they were, they've seen some wear and tear. This happens to be my favorite serial (well, it's a tie with the Commando Cody serial with George Wallace) - I saw it in 1954 at the Picfair Theater - they always showed a serial, a Stooges, cartoons and a double feature for the kiddie matinee - that kept up until about 1957. If you love serials, there's such a dearth of them on Blu-ray, that you'll probably need this, just as I did.
Gun Fury - I don't have 3-D so I watched the 2-D and it looked very good - the opticals in this one are really opticals - for example, in 12-Mile Reef the majority of the opticals are cut in short but even the main titles in that film look amazing. Here we get much more typical opticals but the minute you're out of them, it's very sharp and detailed, and the color is very pleasing. The film is fun - Raoul Walsh and all, and I imagine it looks great in 3-D.
Finally, The Long, Hot Summer - beautiful transfer that actually gets better after the first trial scene - but I thought it all looked pretty splendid. Again, what a cast - we just don't have these kinds of actors anymore. And guess what? NONE of them mumble or whisper - they speak up, you can hear every word clearly, and yet they are subtle and real - whoever is teaching and/or allowing this generation of actors to do what they're doing should be run out of town on a rail.
Sorry for the length of this, but what a great batch of movies.
