Any reviews for "Halloween" yet....????? (1 Viewer)

[JohnPhi]

I read aomewhere that the new version on disc is actually closwer to the print from the seventies. That the blue was increased for that particular dvd release and having seen it on tv recently, I think I agree. Maybe we need to start asking ourselves which dvd is actually closest to the theatrical vision of Carpenter. I can't remember where I read this stuff, but I thought that Cundley was brought in for the THX version and he himself cranked up the blue for it, so in effect, that version is not true to the original cut.

 

[Dave Mack]

JohnPhi, I agree completely. I watched the new disc for the 1st time last nite and that's exactly what it looked like. Perhaps Cundey was riding the color saturation knob a bit on the last release, (which I also own). I doubt that anyone would even bother to deliberately desaturate just one color on only certain limited shots, (and it it really is just a few shots...). What would be the point? Who would waste the time? It sounds like they just ran the print through the dang telecine.
Also, the detail on this version is AMAZING.... Miles ahead of the other disc. And no EE...!!!!

Just my 2 cents, but what do I know...


I thoroughly enjoyed watching it last nite.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Perhaps Cundey was riding the color saturation knob a bit on the last release, (which I also own). I doubt that anyone would even bother to deliberately desaturate just one color on only certain limited shots, (and it it really is just a few shots...).

There is no doubt that Cundey and/or colorist Adam Adams rode the color correction knobs at the telecine bay in the 1999 release, just as some uncredited person did the same for the DiviMax release. Different choices, different people behind the knobs.

And I don't have the time to do more screencaps - anyone want to start a shot-by-shot comparison website?? - but I totally disagree that only a few shots are affected.

And no EE on the DiviMax? I disagree as well. Look at the screen cap a few posts up.

Ok folks, I'm off to other things. At least it's nice that we all care about the look of a film on DVD!

Take care,

 

[Jim_K]

I also think there was a bit of color revisionism going on with the THX version.

I've seen Halloween many, many times over the years & I just don't remember the colors being that overly saturated as it is on the THX version.

BTW- the new set is fantastic. Glad I bought it.

 

[Robert Harris]

I finally took a look at this new release, comparing directly to the previous SE.

The THX had quite a bit mosquito noise or "digititis."

After sampling several scenes, I'm seeing precisely the same amount of noise in precisely the same areas.

It appears to be the same base transfer digitally amended.

To my eye, if one already owns the THX release and has no need of the new ancillary materials, there is no reason to "upgrade."

RAH

 

[Dave H]

Robert,

Don't you think this new version is much cleaner - virtually no dirt or specs - as well as being sharper? I thought the THX release just looked too "dirty."

Regarding the blues, as I said before, I really wish we could hear from one of the filmmakers. I think that's the only way this will be put to rest.

 

[Robert Harris]

Dirt can digitally removed via automated processes from the base transfer.

 

[JohnPhi]

No I was not just taking into consideration a version I saw on tv. I looked at my old vhs and like I said I read it somewhere as well. Carpenter has had nothing to do with Halloween for years and certainly not the 99 THX release, so Cundley acted on his own. I am not saying it was bad, but what I am saying is the puritsts out there need to be sure on what they are talking about. I also personally think the shot above witht he two houses reveals way too much blue in the older release.

 

[Matt Stone]

Well, to reitterate...what we think about how the transfer "should look" doesn't necesarily matter. The only transfer that has been approved by Cundey or Carpenter to this point has been the 99 THX transfer. That's not saying that the new one wouldn't be approved, or that the old one was correct. But it is the closest thing we have to go by.

 

[ScottR]

On my monitor, the 99 version looks much sharper than it does in those screenshots, and I like the blue look....I'm not going to give it much more consideration because the 1978 prints probably looked worse anyway....I remember films from that period....they were grainy, often washed out prints.

 

[Dave H]

Well, I'm going to hold on to both versions until I hear a definitive word.

 

[Richard Kim]

The only transfer that has been approved by Cundey or Carpenter to this point has been the 99 THX transfer.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the Criterion LD supposed to be approved by Carpenter himself, and is similar in appearance to the 25th anniversery DVD?

 

[Damin J Toell]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the Criterion LD supposed to be approved by Carpenter himself, and is similar in appearance to the 25th anniversery DVD?

The entire LD package had a "Director Approved" sticker on the outer wrapper, but there was no mention about any actual direct approval of the transfer. I know this might be splitting hairs, but Criterion is usually pretty specific about making mention of having had a particular person actually approve the transfer itself. They make no such mention of Carpenter having approved the transfer itself. Remember also that the Criterion LD was taken from a very well-worn negative, while the 99 disc was sourced from a newly-discovered original negative, which may have been better suited for proper color correction.

Don't trust every prior video release or TV prints. They're usually meaningless as far as the correct color of a film goes. Listen to Joe Dante's commentary on The Howling (now present on the forthcoming SE DVD). He discusses how all video releases of the film prior to the LD on which he was commenting were color timed completely wrong. He never liked it, but he never able to do anything about it until the LD. For the SE LD from New Line/Image, he was finally able to correct the color back to what it originally looked like upon its initial theatrical release. No new invented color scheme, just how it always should have looked but prior video transfers failed to achieve. For the original barebones DVD, MGM paid no attention to Dante's correct color scheme and did something on their own.

Sadly, however, the new Howling disc appears to maintain the incorrect colors from the prior barebones MGM DVD and doesn't match the corrected LD colors. It's a shame, especially considering that Dante has spoken publically of his displeasure with the original MGM DVD. Dante's commentary track on this topic while playing over the incorrect transfer will probably mistakenly cause most people to think they're seeing the proper colors, while it will remain an ironic footnote in the film's release history for some of us.

With regard to Halloween, I find it funny that everyone praised the 99 transfer upon its release and continued to do so for years, and now 4 years later we're suddenly hearing tales about Cundey making up some brand new color scheme for that release (while also simultaneously hearing about Cundey not actually having any "involvement" in the color scheme of the 99 transfer).

Like The Howling (and many other films before and since), a proper transfer of Halloween requires the involvement (or approval or any other word that will forestall a semantic battle) of someone who actually knows what the film should look like. "Just" transferring the film from a print from the negative isn't enough. That "just" gives us whatever the telecine operator happened to think looked "nice." Like uncorrected transfers of The Howling and Lawrence of Arabia (and the untold number of transfers that we're blessed to not even realize are incorrect), these transfers can look very "nice." I could not care less about "nice." I want "right." Thus far, the 99 transfer is the only that carries such a tag with direct and explicit regard to the color of the transfer.

DJ

 

[Reagan]

Just wanted to add a few more items that I forgot on my earlier post.

1) I agree about the color saturation of the daytime scenes. This is one area in which the 1999 LE is uniformly superior.

2) The shorter documentary appears to use P&S on the fly (black sidebars are cutoff for 4x3 TVs). I say "appears" because I'm waiting for a new DVD remote in the mail and can't access the setup menu to verify. The 1999 version also did this for the docs. One of the very times I've seen P&S on the fly used. Sometimes the commercials on Disney DVDs also do this, but it' rare.

3) The documentary is almost brutally honest with regard to the sequals. Also very rare. Usually any negative comment is exorcised long before the public see the disc.

-Reagan

 

[Adam Tyner]

of the very times I've seen P&S on the fly used.

This is standard practice for Anchor Bay and their 4x3 extras.

 

[Matt Stone]

Yah, it's not P&S on the fly...It's just anamorphic P&S to aid those of us that have widescreen sets.

 

[Reagan]

Yah, it's not P&S on the fly...It's just anamorphic P&S to aid those of us that have widescreen sets

I'm a little confused. As far as I understand things, AB is adding black sidebars when the disc is encoded. When watching 16x9, you see the sidebars. But when you watch on a 4x3 TV, the DVD player slices off the side material. Am I right here?

-Reagan

 

[Adam Tyner]

Am I right here?

Absolutely. I believe it's accomplished in the same way as 16x9 menus, which display in their entirety on widescreen televisions, with some of that extra width removed on 4x3 displays. I've heard it said here, though I don't know if it's correct, that it is pan-and-scan on the fly at work, just center-cropping.

 

[Mitch Stevens]

I found a VERY old cassette tape that I had used to record Halloween from the TV about 15 years ago. I watched it, just to look at the colors, and I agree that it looks much closer to the new version than the '99 version. Of course, I have no idea what kind of print they used, when they showed it on TV, but I don't think that even a laserdisc print had been done at that time. Was the Halloween lasterdisc out 15 years ago?

 

[JohnPhi]

Here is a couple more ways to look at it.

How many people complain about what George Lucas did to Star Wars, in terms of not only effects, but also in changing Greedo to firing first. Now that is approved, by the director, but some people don't like it.

Also, just because Cundey came in and changed the color for the 99 release and approved it, does that make it approved by Carpenter. I seriously think it had too much blue in parts

Until I hear from Carpenter himself, who am I or anyone to say this new disc is off or wrong.