Best Looking Catalog DVDs

And here's another nice Paramount Blu-Ray that I watched this morning: "The President's Analyst".

 

The fascinating 1934 Technicolor short "Star Night At The Cocoanut Grove" has glowing colours that put me in mind of a 70's-era colour TV, a bit fuzzy and oversaturated but very pleasing. This short, along with another mesmerizing 1934 Technicolor short "Show Kids" that has some registration problems but similar qualities otherwise, is on the DVD of "The Gay Divorcee". I won't spoil any surprises about the content of these two 20-minute musical productions, but they were mind-boggling to this unprepared viewer. I was Googling for context as fast as my computer would open, let me tell you.

 

The DVD of "Roberta", the next Astaire/Rogers movie after "The Gay Divorcee", has another in what seems like a series of 20-minute Technicolor musical shorts with special guest appearances by big Hollywood stars. This one is called "Starlit Days at the Lido", and it's beautifully transferred. The renowned Ray Rennahan was the cinematographer on all 3 of the shorts on the two DVD's, and the production values on them are first-rate. When the Astaire/Rogers movies make their way to Blu-Ray (and the DVD's look good so I'm hopeful it'll be soon), these Technicolor shorts could be a real treat if they're transferred properly.

 

I'm very pleased with the Warner Archive DVD-R of Return Of The Frontiersman.

The colors are superb, the focus is fairly sharp and the grain is not too intrusive. Julie London, still quite young in 1950, looks gorgeous.

(I tried to upload a screencap but the new system makes that too problematic. The old system was much better in that regard)

 

I don't know if it's been mentioned before but the current DVD of "Love Me or Leave Me" looks very nice upscaled... a wonderful 'Scope presentation with strong colour. I wouldn't be surprised if WA released it on Blu-ray.

 

It's been some time - too long in fact - since I last watched that DVD. I'm not working this week so I'll have time to make amends.

 

I've just watched the Universal Vault DVD-R of The Appaloosa. This is an exceptionally good DVD with very clear images and good color. It would look even better in High Definition but that's not likely to be offered to us soon.

 

Among the DVDs I have, "Glengarry Glen Ross" (the anniversary edition) looks beautiful in SD; a case of where the lighting and tones hit the "frequency range" of standard DVD just right. The "Superbit" edition of "Das Boot" has a great organic look to it that showcases its film origins.
The included DVD of "Singin' in the Rain" in the Blu-Ray box set looks phenomenal upscaled; you could well cheat someone into thinking that was the BR

C.

 

I have that SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) Blu-ray/DVD box set! One of these days, I'll have to do a Blu-ray/DVD visual quality comparison!

CHEERS!

 

Yes "The Climax" is a treat. I don't know what the pricing situation is now, but a few months ago I was able to buy that Boris Karloff set on Amazon for a fraction of the price it would be to purchase the single MOD of "Climax".

 

I watched Marriage On The Rocks this evening. This is a superb DVD with exceptionally good, clean images.

I chose to watch this film because I've just started reading a book about Joi Lansing, whom I've always found interesting. (Joi Lansing has a small part in the film, but she's very noticeable) I don't know if this book is to be trusted - at present, I'm extremely sceptical - but I hope to learn a few things about her career and her personality.

 

I was exceptionally impressed with the 2-disc set of the restored King Kong (1933), released just ahead of the second remake. The A/V is superb and to this day I think it one of the most complete DVD packages of any film I own. The BD digibook is my default viewing choice nowadays but even on a 106" screen, in terms of detail there's no real qualitative difference between that and the DVD. The screenshots at Caps-a-holic bear this out.

 

The DVD of "Can-Can" (colour fluctuations aside) looks crisp and beautiful on an upscaling player. If Fox can fix those intermittent blue flashes and colour issues, it would look smashing on Blu-ray.

 

For some reason, I never got around to buying the DVD. I very much hope Fox do a 4K transfer of Can Can. I'm sure it would look superb.

 

I had a 35mm Technicolor/Scope print of MOR in the 1990s. Joi even looks better on a 20-foot screen! Quite a physical specimen to say the least. I have the DVD now.

 

The Paul Walker-starrer, Joy Ride aka Roadkill (2001) stands out as a quality DVD, though I've picked it up on BD recently. Likewise with Breakdown (1997), a Kurt Russell vehicle which covers similar ground. It's a great-looking disc which projects really nicely, though I'd still welcome a BD of it.

 

I watched A Lady Without Passport last night, and I'm pleased to say that this is a superb DVD with sharp focus. I wouldn't be surprised if Warner Archive decided to release this film on Blu-ray disc.

 

I find that recent BBC TV series look very good on DVD. Not much different from blu-ray.