Blu-ray Review Duel in the Sun Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Matt Hough

Duel in the Sun Blu-ray Review

King Vidor’s Duel in the Sun is one of the more notorious epics of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and Kino Lorber’s Studio Classics line of releases brings the roadshow edition of this classic with most of its Technicolor splendor intact to high definition with some informative bonus material.

[review]

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well, I'm kind of disappointed in your review grading. I didn't expect a 5.0 grade, but I'm hopeful that my viewing experience is more rewarding than a 3.5 grade. Thanks for the review as I look forward to comparing my thoughts to yours.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For better or worse, that seems about on par with the other ABC/Disney titles that Kino licensed. Of those released so far, I only have Paradine Case, and while it was completely watchable, it did not look as good as it could have.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Is this worth a blind purchase?

 

[Thomas T]

Is this worth a blind purchase?

This is a very polarizing film. There are those who consider it just awful and those that consider it a masterpiece of its kind. There's almost hardly ever middle ground. So I'd suggest borrowing or renting it rather than a blind buy. For what it's worth, I think it's a great film.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Is this worth a blind purchase?

I wouldn't recommend this film to you. Like Thomas stated, it's a very polarizing film. Personally, I like this film a lot, but I first viewed it when I was about 12 years old so I didn't mind some of the plot angles.

 

[Lord Dalek]

It's an older recombine so the registration is not going to be all that great. But at least the muted pallet here seems more accurate to the film than the rather lurid image Anchor Bay gave us 17 years ago.

 

[warnerbro]

The more I watch this film, the more I realize it's terrible. And this transfer is disappointing.

 

[PMF]

This is a very polarizing film. There are those who consider it just awful and those that consider it a masterpiece of its kind. There's almost hardly ever middle ground. So I'd suggest borrowing or renting it rather than a blind buy. For what it's worth, I think it's a great film.

Perhaps this title should be renamed as "Duel in the Polar-Rising Sun".

 

[Robert Crawford]

Perhaps this titles should be renamed as "Duel in the Polar Rising Sun".

That title reminds me of Lust in the Dust with Divine, Tab Hunter and Cesar Romero a take off from Duel in the Sun.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Any idea how to get a video review of the new Carlotta release, billed as a new master?

 

[Joe Caps]

in the 90s LA county museum ran a nitrate tech print of Duel in the Sun.
The color was, definitely not , Low key.

 

[ABaglivi]

in the 90s LA county museum ran a nitrate tech print of Duel in the Sun.
The color was, definitely not , Low key.

The color on the blue-track 16s (with overture) was also alarmingly vibrant.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Any idea how to get a video review of the new Carlotta release, billed as a new master?

a Google- translated review of the Carlotta release:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https://www.westernmovies.fr/dvd/testdvd-920-duelinthesun-kingvidor.html&edit-text=

"
In the vein of Gone with the sale , the film was shot in Technicolor with 3 bands of colors. A complete restoration of the film would require scanning 3 films for a huge cost.
The publisher has recovered a copy similar to the American Blu-Ray (edited by Kino Lorber in 2017) and has slightly tweaked the copy.
The extra cleaning provides an even cleaner copy and rid of the majority of stains and blackheads. The definition gains in precision with a signed David Mackenzie encoding. The brightness is more consistent with well-supported blacks.
The colors are solid: between the colorful exteriors or the bright yellow dress of Jennifer Jones.
The original grain helps maintain the filmic appearance.

On a few rare occasions, there will be a misalignment of the three bands of Technicolor (around the 23rd minute: the serape of Jennifer Jones and then in the 25th minute between Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones) which according to Robert A. Harris (film restorer) affected already the original film.

The set remains quite remarkable and Carlotta signs to date the best world edition in Blu-Ray. "

 

[alistairKerr]

a Google- translated review of the Carlotta release:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https://www.westernmovies.fr/dvd/testdvd-920-duelinthesun-kingvidor.html&edit-text=

"The publisher has recovered a copy similar to the American Blu-Ray (edited by Kino Lorber in 2017)…..
……….
The set remains quite remarkable and Carlotta signs to date the best world edition in Blu-Ray. "

Does anyone know if the Carlotta has removable subtitles? I can't play Region A discs here in the UK but would spring for the French Carlotta release if the English soundtrack had a way to remove the French subs.