Are There Specs on "Once Upon a Time in the West" Yet? (1 Viewer)

[Walter Kittel]

I will never tell somebody else how to spend their money, but there is no way this BRD is not clearly superior in every way to the SD DVD.

I completely agree. Everyone's discretionary income is at their discretion, not mine.


Also agree regarding the improvements of the Bd over the SD DVD. Viewing The Big Country a little while back and now Once Upon A Time in the West on a Front Projector via Blu-ray has been HT nirvana. Like a dream come true.

Looking forward to The Outlaw Josey Wales next week. Three of my favorite Westerns in such close proximity to each other on Blu-Ray. Just terrific. Also plan to watch the new version of True Grit (first viewing in the coming week) to continue my Western viewings.


- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Also, I'm hearing that Target is selling this BRD release for $10 this week. I seriously doubt that have many copies of it so for those interested in it, you might want to act quickly.









Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel


Also agree regarding the improvements of the Bd over the SD DVD. Viewing The Big Country a little while back and now Once Upon A Time in the West on a Front Projector via Blu-ray has been HT nirvana. Like a dream come true.

Looking forward to The Outlaw Josey Wales next week. Three of my favorite Westerns in such close proximity to each other on Blu-Ray. Just terrific. Also plan to watch the new version of True Grit (first viewing in the coming week) to continue my Western viewings.


- Walter.

Walter,


You're going to love the Josey Wales BRD. Warner did a fine job with it.


As to True Grit, I'll be interested in seeing your comments about it since it's your first viewing of the film.








Crawdaddy

 

[Walter Kittel]

As to True Grit, I'll be interested in seeing your comments about it since it's your first viewing of the film.

I just watched the John Wayne version about a month ago, so it will be interesting to compare the films - although to be fair to the new release I am going to have to try to view it on its own terms and only consider the comparisons after the viewing has been completed.


(Anyway, I think that is it for me tonight on the forum. Glad to hear that Warner Bros did a nice job on The Outlaw Josey Wailes.)


- Walter.

 

[montrealfilmguy]

dvdbeaver comparison is up,


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/onceuponatimeinthewest.htm


well its confusing to me,under the four covers,the bitrates are listed.


the first three have an average bitrate number around 6 mb/second,but the Bluray has a Total video bitrate number ( ??? ) of 24 Mbps


is that the same,just in different terms ?

 

[Cinescott]

Originally Posted by montrealfilmguy


well its confusing to me,under the four covers,the bitrates are listed.


the first three have an average bitrate number around 6 mb/second,but the Bluray has a Total video bitrate number ( ??? ) of 24 Mbps


is that the same,just in different terms ?

24 Mbps is mb/second. I'm not sure why they call it a "total" bitrate. That's not correct; it's an average. So as you see, the average bitrate on the Blu-ray is 6x that of the DVD and it does make a difference. Almost 38 Gb reserved for the feature film on the Blu as opposed to a fraction of that on the DVD. I realize that file sizes aren't the only unit of quality here, but that's a significant difference. Also, OUATITW is a pristine example in my opinion of where screen caps just do not do a transfer justice. You have to see and hear this Blu-ray feature in motion to appreciate the quality. The caps demonstrate the color shift pretty well, IMO, but that's about it.


Also, there is haloing on the DVD which is not visible on the screen captures. The sharpness on the DVD has been electronically pumped up and there are visible signs of that.


I'll agree that by DVD standards, this title is exceptional in that format compared with other DVDs; the Blu-ray, though is in a superior league of its own.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

but there is no way this BRD is not clearly superior in every way to the SD DVD.

I want to clarify my statement here about the difference between
the BD and SD versions of the film.


I do agree that the BD is superior to the SD DVD. It should be.

I mean, one of the most impressive moments from last night's

viewing is when, during the final confrontation between Harmonica

and Frank, the camera moves in very tightly on Harmonica's face.

There is incredible detail in his face. You can see his pores and

sweat coming from it. This is the kind of imagery you won't see

in standard definition.


However, that being said....


If I ever immediately switch from a Blu-ray source to a SD DVD

source to make a comparison, I am always disappointed. One

usually sees the addition of image noise, and loss of detail.


In the case of OUATITW, it wasn't nearly as bad as anything

I have compared before. I looked at the older DVD copy and

was rather surprised that the warts usually associated with

this downconverted comparison did not leap out in my face.

As has been said many times before, that SD DVD raised the

bar on how great a film could look in 420p (and my player is

probably upscaling it to 720p).

Also, OUATITW is a pristine example in my opinion of where screen caps just do not do a transfer justice. You have to see and hear this Blu-ray feature in motion to appreciate the quality

Scott, I wish we could take that statement and place it

up as a welcome banner to everyone that comes to this

forum.


Nothing disheartens me more than people who rely on
screenshots to make a determination of how good a

transfer is. We have discussed this time and time again --

you cannot judge a transfer by a single screenshot. I realize

our friends over at DVD BEAVER are providing a great
service by doing these compares, but more than often,
they have caused unneeded outrage across the communities

from people who have attempted to judge a film before

actually seeing it, only to find out that the screenshots were

not a true representation of the entire transfer.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My wife and I watched this over the weekend. I was surprised I was able to get her to watch this film with me, as it has two strikes against it from her -- it's a western (not her cup of tea), and it's a longer film. She did like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, though, so that was enough to get her to try this one. Needless to say, she really enjoyed OUATITW. She was still talking about the film the next day.


I thought the video transfer was stellar, and the audio also was well done --except for a few loud pops in the very beginning that were most likely the fault of my player (this has happened a few other times recently with new releases -- time for a new player, I guess). After a few minutes, though, I stopped watching "the transfer" and lost myself in the greatness of the film. This is truly Leone's masterpiece.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know what I had completely forgotten about

this film? The inclusion of Jack Elam. I love him.

I had just recently watched two of my other really

favorite westerns, Support your local Sheriff and

Support your local Gunfighter (the latter being
really bad compared to the first) and I just got a

kick out of Elam's comic talents. Was really odd

to see him play a serious gunman in this film.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

You know what I had completely forgotten about

this film? The inclusion of Jack Elam. I love him.

I had just recently watched two of my other really

favorite westerns, Support your local Sheriff and

Support your local Gunfighter (the latter being
really bad compared to the first) and I just got a

kick out of Elam's comic talents. Was really odd

to see him play a serious gunman in this film.

He's also in Vera Cruz which I hope to be reviewing this week if the review copy comes in.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Matt,


Never saw that film. Might do so if recommended.


Surprising thing is, I was never a fan of westerns,
that is, until seeing some really great ones. My
exposure to them is rather limited, but here are

my favorites (somewhat in order):


Once Upon A Time in The West, Open Range,

The Searchers, Silverado, The Man Who Shot

Liberty Valance, High Noon, Shane, Support

Your Local Sheriff, Support Your Local Gunfighter.


(Oh...and any of Leone's Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns)


Thing is, with the exception of Silverado and

the Support Your... movies (which I watched

as a kid), I would have never discovered these

westerns on my own. Most urgings came from

Robert Crawford, and I credit Bill Hunt for urging

me to watch Once Upon A Time In The West.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

You know what I had completely forgotten about

this film? The inclusion of Jack Elam. I love him.

I had just recently watched two of my other really

favorite westerns, Support your local Sheriff and

Support your local Gunfighter (the latter being
really bad compared to the first) and I just got a

kick out of Elam's comic talents. Was really odd

to see him play a serious gunman in this film.

Watch some 1950's westerns and you will see Elam play some serious gunmen.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by MattH.





He's also in Vera Cruz which I hope to be reviewing this week if the review copy comes in.

My copy is on the way as I'm really interested to see what MGM did with this title which has been a problem child in prior video formats.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Ron,


Elam played some baddies in the following westerns:


Rawhide

Rancho Notorious

The Far Country

Man Without a Star

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Night Passage



There are others, but my favorite of the above is Rawhide. He was real nasty in that one.

 

[Cinescott]

Sergio Leone was famous for using actors who at the time were in down periods in their careers. Jack Elam is a great example of this. No doubt this was an effort on Leone's part to get excellent actors at a discount price, sort of like a 60s version of Quentin Tarantino. After all, he snagged a little known Rawhide actor in 1963 by the name of Clint Eastwood for A Fistful of Dollars, for which Eastwood raked in an enormous $15,000 paycheck.


Interestingly, Leone wanted the opening to OUATITW to be a metaphorical end to the Dollars Trilogy. In that scene, he originally wanted Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach to be the actors gunned down in the first few minutes of action. All but Eastwood agreed to do it.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

Matt,


Never saw that film. Might do so if recommended.


Surprising thing is, I was never a fan of westerns,
that is, until seeing some really great ones. My
exposure to them is rather limited, but here are

my favorites (somewhat in order):


[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 0)]Once Upon A Time in The West, Open Range,[/COLOR]

[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 0)]The Searchers, Silverado, The Man Who Shot[/COLOR]

[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 0)]Liberty Valance, High Noon, Shane, Support [/COLOR]

[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 0)]Your Local Sheriff, Support Your Local Gunfighter. [/COLOR]


[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 0)](Oh...and any of Leone's Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns)[/COLOR]


Thing is, with the exception of Silverado and

the Support Your... movies (which I watched

as a kid), I would have never discovered these

westerns on my own. Most urgings came from

Robert Crawford, and I credit Bill Hunt for urging

me to watch Once Upon A Time In The West.

Ron,


Based on your list of favorites, I would also highly recommend The Outlaw Josey Wales, which comes out on BD this week. This one will always be on my list of favorite westerns.


If you want to explore some non-Leone spaghetti westerns, an excellent place to start is with the BD release from Blue Underground of Django. The transfer looks great, and the film is one of the best of this genre.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Scott and Crawdaddy,


Thank You.


Have seen The Outlaw Josey Wales, but oh so many
years ago. It is on my short list of BD purchases.


Will look at Django over at Amazon now.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

Scott and Crawdaddy,


Thank You.


Have seen The Outlaw Josey Wales, but oh so many
years ago. It is on my short list of BD purchases.


Will look at Django over at Amazon now.

The Outlaw Josey Wales is my favorite Eastwood western, even moreso than Unforgiven.

 

[Cinescott]

I've been tempted to get the import for "Open Range." I think that's a highly underrated movie.

 

[Vincent-P]

I haven't had a chance to actually watch the film yet, but I just discovered that the "modern" trailer that was an easter egg on the previous DVD set has been carried over to the Blu-Ray. If you go to the special features menu, highlight the commentary & press "left," a horseshoe icon appears. Hitting enter while this icon is highlighted plays the "modern" trailer. Nice of Paramount to not neglect to carry that over.