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Barry Lyndon and Lolita - show your support here. (1 Viewer)

Powell&Pressburger

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According to the news posted in the previous post this is without a doubt the laziest Blu-ray release ever. Besides having a handsome Digibook release for A Clockwork Orange, no more thought to the film lover has gone into these film re-issues. No sale, I may import Barry Lyndon, and Lolita from Europe. Meaning they will see a lot of sales of the titles being imported to the US.
 

dana martin

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now i am not comparing apples and oranges, but two years or so ago WB was doing so great with just about everthing GWTH,WoO, and now with this "Major" release as stated it's like taking the cheap way and looking to see if it will work, for god sake it's Kubrick, his following is rabid, so you cant just halfass it, but that is sort of what is happening here.Criterion did there own transfer of Easy Rider for the BBS box set, so WB couldn't readress Spartacus? would it have been that difficult to hold out on this till everything was perfect, and that means, all in HD including the supplementals.
 

Robert Harris

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Quote:

Originally Posted by dana martin

Criterion did there own transfer of Easy Rider for the BBS box set, so WB couldn't readress Spartacus? would it have been that difficult to hold out on this till everything was perfect, and that means, all in HD including the supplementals.

Did they? Columbia's Grover Crisp had just recently completed a gorgeous transfer. As to Spartacus, it isn't a WB title, and the cost to prepare a proper transfer

would be prohibitive to this project.


RAH
 

dana martin

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Mr Harris,

i will defer to your statement, while i truly love that film, part of that is in due to your work in the restoration of it, one of the fond memories of my ex-wife, was that she surprised me with tickets. So i have a fondness for that film, especially; and i stand corrected.



But going from the posting at Criterion


[*] New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography László Kovács (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack and optional DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)

[*]

[*] slight variances make me assume that it is a different transfer
 

Brandon Conway

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I think Criterion did some minor increases in bitrate and maybe some minor extra digital tinkering on Easy Rider for their release. Nothing so substantial to do more than split hairs over, IMO.
 

Robert Harris

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Originally Posted by dana martin

Robert, just re-read your statement five times and was completely floored, by two words "Proper Transfer"

You can make that "proper, easy transfer, that would not be cost prohibitive." The film element is ready and waiting for scanning. All it needs is digital clean-up, color and density.


The cost would be a pittance based upon income from all sources world-wide.


RAH
 

Jeff Ulmer

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I could see this box being worth it if all the titles got new book packaging (for consistency), even with existing discs, but simply boxing what has already been available for ages does seem more than a bit lazy. Hopefully BL and Lolita get an individual release shortly after this box if not concurrently with it. Unfortunately WB did this set the wrong way around, having it released first with individual titles following would be understandable, but bundling existing titles with a couple of of new ones isn't going to go over well.
 

Brandon Conway

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Individual releases now up for pre-order at amazon.com!


Lolita - http://www.amazon.com/Lolita-Blu-ray-James-Mason/dp/B001AQMBJG


Barry Lyndon - http://www.amazon.com/Barry-Lyndon-Blu-ray-Ryan-ONeal/dp/B001AQT0OU


No release date yet, so I can see an exclusive window for the box set prior to these releases, but kudos to Warner for listening to the complaints and releasing these individually. This is the right move.
 

Scott D S

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The back cover artwork is up on Amazon and it appears that there are no extras apart from the trailer, which is very disappointing.


I was hoping they'd include the Channel 4 documentary "Stanley Kubrick's Boxes" as an extra but even if they couldn't, there's still material they could've used without having to create new extras. Specifically, there are additional interviews from the "A Life in Pictures" documentary (and I recall reading that Marisa Berenson's interview was cut for time).
 

Christian Preischl

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What's more troubling to me is that the back cover art says that Barry Lyndon will be 1.85:1 when even Warner Brothers' own Kubrick FAQs say that the correct aspect ratio of this is 1.66:1. This is one film where the extra height is very important and clearly intended.
 

Brandon Conway

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Warner generally releases 1.85:1 films as 1.78:1. This is a minimal enough difference that no one bats an eye. However, 1.78:1 vs. 1.66:1 is a notable enough difference that it does matter. A Clockwork Orange is properly 1.66:1, as is (apparently) the upcoming release of Lolita. It's possible that Barry Lyndon was shot to accommodate both the UK 1.66:1 and US 1.85:1, but since the DVD is 1.66:1 it's a bit odd to have it be 1.85:1 on the BD (if true). Of course, The Shining is definitely 1.85:1 and that was made just five years later, so Barry Lyndon is kinda right there between A Clockwork Orange and The Shining and may have been OK'd for both.
 

Christian Preischl

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Here's the link to Warner's Kubrick FAQs I mentioned above.


http://kubrickfilms.warnerbros.com/faq/general_faq.html


Note the section about aspect ratios:


A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon were shot and released in most theaters in the matted 1.66 : 1 widescreen ratio, and The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut were shot open-matted (or full-frame) and framed for a theatrical release in the American standard ratio of 1.85 : 1.
 

dana martin

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This makes absolutely no sense what so ever, who at WB is making this mistake? Especially when there own site states plainly what the correct aspect ratio is. For years they have been so good at promoting and keeping true to Kubrick’s' legacy. How are they going to handle the rabid fan base that complains that Barry Lyndon is framed incorrectly? Has something changed at WB, they used to be consistently outstanding with regards to there catalog titles. But then I am reminded that Horror of Dracula DVD was improperly framed.



Prior to the release this should be fix correctly, it should not become and issue of sending out a replacement disc because enough people complain that the framing is wrong.
 

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