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International BARABBAS (1 Viewer)

OliverK

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Doug, thanks for the photos - I actually trust those more than I do caps. And as OliverK says, one has to wonder why anyone would post the caps they did when they have zero color in them - they should have SOME color so they were obviously taken poorly or something is screwy somewhere. There's natural color in the images you posted and I would feel much more comfortable buying this now. Is there a link somewhere.

BTW, there are several bad reviews of this disc on amazon.fr.

I doubt you will be happy. This has been confirmed by Sony to come from a very ancient master and you can probably expect something that looks similar to El Cid or Fall of the Roman Empire. So better than the DVD and best there is on home media but that does not mean much.

As Ken has pointed out it has been around on iTunes and I believe Amazon streaming, too.
 
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Paul Rossen

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I doubt you will be happy. This has been confirmed by Sony to come from a very ancient master and you can probably expect something that looks similar to El Cid or Fall of the Roman Empire. So better than the DVD and best there is on home media but that does not mean much.

As Ken has pointed out it has been around on iTunes and I believe Amazon streaming, too.


Still awaiting a good blu ray for EL CID which IMO is a much better film than Barabbas.
 

john a hunter

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Thanks for the link Doug. I noticed they have Sign of the Pagan. Not wanting to disrail this thread, but has anyone checked this out?
 

OliverK

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John, you can find more info about it here:
http://www.cinefaniac.fr/dvd/testdvd.php?i=730
As you can see you would have to have very low expectations to be happy with this kind of quality.

They also have a review of The Long Ships:
http://www.cinefaniac.fr/dvd/test-761-thelongships-jackcardiff.html

and of course Barabbas:
http://www.cinefaniac.fr/dvd/test-760-barabbas-richardfleischer.html

I browsed the site and it is quite shocking to see that so many really bad looking Blu-rays of classic films have been released this year.
I guess that some distributors are now scraping the bottle of the barrel with regard to master quality.

Too bad, as it would be great to have them in decent quality and they often have really good extras at least if you speak French, this also goes for Barabbas.
 
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OliverK

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Simon, for rare French releases you will often only find user reviews on Amazon.fr and as I mentioned above screencaps and a review on these websites:
http://www.westernmovies.fr/
http://www.cinefaniac.fr/
I prefer these as I like being able to decide with the help of checking screencaps.

Pity about Sign of the Pagan - I would love to see Jack Palance in this but not in DVD quality.
 

Simon Lewis

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Oliver, thanks for those links, I must remember to check those sites for future orders from France.

I wish I'd seen those screen caps of Sign Of The Pagn, before ordering !
 

Malcolm Bmoor

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This message won't go down well as there are always people who have a strong affection for a film despite what some other people may think, not to mention its reputation.

I saw BARABBAS on original release in 70mm as my father and I would see all the big pictures at a marvellous (long gone) cinema with a huge screen.

I'm sorry but we hated it. Occasionally, over the years, I've tried to watch fragments on tv and although the presentation was dreadful, (aspect ratio and picture quality), what was strongly apparent was that I retained the views I'd formed at the age of 14.

The problem is that it's an Italian film with entirely replaced dialogue and there's no comparison in the quality of production between it and other large scale American and British pictures of the period.

So if you love this film I wish you joy of any re-Mastered version that may be on the way but if you've never seen it I'll warn that you could just possibly be disappointed. For completists only.
 

Robin9

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This message won't go down well as there are always people who have a strong affection for a film despite what some other people may think, not to mention its reputation.

I saw BARABBAS on original release in 70mm as my father and I would see all the big pictures at a marvellous (long gone) cinema with a huge screen.

I'm sorry but we hated it. Occasionally, over the years, I've tried to watch fragments on tv and although the presentation was dreadful, (aspect ratio and picture quality), what was strongly apparent was that I retained the views I'd formed at the age of 14.

The problem is that it's an Italian film with entirely replaced dialogue and there's no comparison in the quality of production between it and other large scale American and British pictures of the period.

So if you love this film I wish you joy of any re-Mastered version that may be on the way but if you've never seen it I'll warn that you could just possibly be disappointed. For completists only.

I disagree. It's not for completists only. Regarding wide screen historical films (aka epics) I'm not a completist. I think most of those made in the late 50s/early 60s are garbage, and I have no wish to watch them. I think Barabbas is a very good film and I'd love to have it on Blu-ray. I won't buy this French disc because of those sub-titles but if this sub-par transfer comes out in Germany, I probably will buy it. I agree with Douglas R: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 

OliverK

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Oliver, thanks for those links, I must remember to check those sites for future orders from France.

Strongly recommended in my opinion. Chances are that if it is only released in France it may look rather bad.



I wish I'd seen those screen caps of Sign Of The Pagn, before ordering !

I know how you feel as this happened to me more than once - after I got a shabby disc I always asked myself why couldn't I wait for reviews / caps...
 

john a hunter

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Sorry it appears not for you Malcolm.
It's a strange but for me very successful film from Fleischer .
An epic noir.
Rare among the usual entries in the epic Christian genre.
Bleak with no hallelujahs or any form of enlightenment at the end.
Oh, and the best arena sequences filmed.
 

Thomas T

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Yes, I have this and unfortunately its a DVD upscale. Most disappointed with this.

I have the French blu of Sign Of The Pagan and I'm quite content with it. Is it reference quality? Certainly not! But it's 16x9 and watchable. Is there a better version out there? No, and until there is, this will do fine for me. For some of us, it's about building a library of films we want, even if their presentation isn't perfect. I was quite content with the non-anamorphic Spanish (legitimate too!) wide screen DVD of Woman's World because there wasn't anything better and at least I could watch it anytime I wanted. I've since upgraded to the handsome recently released blu ray of Woman's World and until a better version of Sign Of The Pagan comes along, it will do.
 

OliverK

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I have the French blu of Sign Of The Pagan and I'm quite content with it. Is it reference quality? Certainly not! But it's 16x9 and watchable. Is there a better version out there? No, and until there is, this will do fine for me. For some of us, it's about building a library of films we want, even if their presentation isn't perfect. I was quite content with the non-anamorphic Spanish (legitimate too!) wide screen DVD of Woman's World because there wasn't anything better and at least I could watch it anytime I wanted. I've since upgraded to the handsome recently released blu ray of Woman's World and until a better version of Sign Of The Pagan comes along, it will do.

I would say that it depends if one really wants to watch a specific movie or not.

If you want to watch Sign of the Pagan getting the Blu-ray or a high quality streaming option is the best one can do but if there are other movies that you like as much and that can be had in better quality go for them first.
 

john a hunter

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Well my New Year present arrived and I wish I could report that everyone else was wrong and Barabbas is a terrific transfer .Unfortunately I can’t.
It is much better than the DVD but that’s saying little. That was unwatchable on my 96 inch Scope screen. This barely is.
Smeary, colour drained and then artificially boosted, it’s a mess. Six crosses at the crucifixion given the artificial sharpness boosting!

Some sequences seem much better; some of the entry into Rome looks good so you think things have improved, but then up comes a long shot and everything falls apart.

The one good thing is the sound. Not the 5.1 which sounds like the tracks have been remixed by a baboon but the stereo through Dolby Surround. Much better levels especially helpful to Nascimbene’s ground breaking score.

Not sure whether I can suffer watching it all the way through with my partner who hasn’t seen it or wait for someone at Sony to come to their senses.
Decisions, decisions.. :rolleyes:
 
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john a hunter

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And of course it doesn't not contain the Overture and Entr'acte music.
Unfortunately not, though Paul I recall an entr'acte at the intermission point but not an overture.
However I only saw it in 70 once, the other times in 35 so it may have been dropped for 35 presentations..
 

Paul Rossen

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As presented in it's original roadshow run( very short run at that) in NYC
Barabbas had an Overture and Entr'acte during the intermission. The music was the same for both and is available as the Intermezzo track on the original lp soundtrack.

While not one of my favorite of epics not available on Bluray I'd welcome a good transfer of the complete film. What is now available is short by about seven minutes but I don't know what's missing. Perhaps it's the music interludes?
 

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