East of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause preview (1 Viewer)

[DeeF]

These movies have been given very, very good DVDs, the best of their era, courtesy of Warner Home Video. I'll let others review the movies (East of Eden is astounding -- I never saw it before, and Rebel is right up there, too) but these 2 DVD sets provide the best value I have ever seen in a home theater product. Honestly, I can't imagine going to "Sith" when I can stay home and watch these very good movies, and all the extras, for essentially the same price, $20.

 

[DeeF]

One more thing I wanted to mention. We are very lucky that Warners has control over the largest collection of Hollywood product, the greatest and most popular films in film history, because Warners happens to be the studio that knows *BEST* what to do with these wonderful movies for DVD. I continue to be the biggest fan of this department at Warners, presumably under the direction of George Feltenstein. I can't say enough good things about them.

 

[Roger Rollins]

Thanks to DeeF for his comments.... They only increase my anticipation!

I have been anxiously awaiting EAST OF EDEN to come to DVD for years, and feared it would remain in its legal limbo for another dozen years. Not knowing of these problems, I never bothered to buy it on VHS or LD, and suddenly the film was gone forever. Truly a masterpiece. Lost to a generation due to withdrawl from release...

I have never even seen it in its proper OAR!

Now your comments have only increased my excitement for this release and the new REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. I already sold my old copy of GIANT on eBay so I could buy the boxed set of all three and save some bucks in the process.

What you say about WB is true. I know I sound like a broken record, but I am forever in their debt. Just this last month alone I have watched virtually nothing but the DVDs in the ERROL FLYNN, DORIS DAY, and CONTROVERSIAL CLASSICS boxed sets many times over. Particularly my favorites in the Day and CC collections. Simply astounding.

I have friends who are fortunate enough as DeeF is to get access to early release copies of titles. They too, have sung the praises of EDEN & REBEL, particularly because we have always seen them look so faded, grimy, yellow and brown. Apparently these new transfers are a revelation.

In preparation for my ownership of EAST OF EDEN, I'll just keep re-watching A FACE IN THE CROWD and marvel at the genius of Kazan.

 

[DeeF]

Kazan was a great genius, no question. He chose James Dean by the way.

Roger, what can you tell us about the legal problems of East of Eden? Why has this movie been in limbo?

About Warners: don't forget that *since January 1st of this year* we have had

Gangster Set
Musicals Set -- with The Band Wagon and Easter Parade
Errol Flynn set -- interviews with Olivia de Havilland!
Doris Day Set
Controversial Classics
James Dean

and coming up, Joan Crawford Set, and Bette Davis Set

And last Thanksgiving we got Gone With The Wind.

I mean, really... it's an amazing time to have a big home theater and love old movies.

 

[BrianRi]

DeeF,
Can you mention how the extras on Rebel differ from the extras on Warner's original dvd release?

 

[DeeF]

I haven't really looked at these, but I'll list them here:

On the original Rebel disk:

5.1 Soundtrack
Behind the scenes doc Rediscovering a Rebel
3 Behind the cameras docs
Production Notes (written out)

The new SE:

*Picture has been remastered* (a very important new change)
Commentary by Douglas L. Rathgeb, author of The Making of Rebel Without A Cause
5.1 Soundtrack
New 50th Anniversary Doc (it's this year) Rebel Without A Cause: Defiant Innocents
Vintage Documentary: James Dean Remembered
Additional Scenes (without sound)
New: 3 Segments from the Warner Bros. Presents TV Series including Dean's famous Drive Safely Commercial TV Spot
Rare Screen Tests: Wardrobe Tests

I'm guessing that those original docs from the previous disk are wrapped into the new doc (but I don't know this for sure).

There's another documentary about Dean on the East of Eden disk: Rebel Forever.

 

[Brent Avery]

I can only mirror those same thoughts from Deef and Roger - finally finished watching East Of Eden - what a great film and another excellent restoration from Warners.The colours are great and overall the picture was very nice and sharp. I could not see any dust or speckling etc. Anyone anticipating this film on dvd is going to be very pleased. The audio has been remixed to 5.1 and was a wonderful compliment to the movie. The score sounded great with plenty of detail and good dynamics - the low freqencies giving it a solid presence. The dialogue for the most part was quite directional - no complaints here. There is also an opening Overture.

As for the Special Features, Disc 1 has a Commentary by film historian Richard Schickel and the Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2 includes a new 50th Anniversary Documentary that includes interviews with Richard Schickel, Elia Kazan, Julie Harris, and Tom Steinbeck - John Steinbeck's son. Running time 19 min.15 sec. Filmed in 1:85 - not sure if it is enhanced as my monitor is not 16x9.

Next is a vintage Documentary from Warners made in 1988 entitled Forever James Dean ( Full Frame ) Running time is 59 min.36 sec.
Also included are Screen and Wardrobe Tests, Deleted Scenes
and the March 19,1955 New York Premier which shows its age but is entertaining just the same. Running time is 14 min.40 sec.

I really wanted to pick up Rebel Without A Cause as well but it will have to wait. Warners continues to impress with not just the quantity of their releases but most importantly
the quality - you owe it to yourself to purchase this important film and add it to your collection.

 

[Simon Howson]

Is it possible for anyone who has a copy of East of Eden to post a screen capture somewhere. I've been waiting for this DVD for so long, I'm glad I didn't buy one of the bootleg laserdisc ports that are all over ebay.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not Roger, but I thought it had to do with the John Steinbeck estate in which they had to negotiate the release of this film onto the dvd format.






Crawdaddy

 

[MichaelGH]

East of Eden is one of my top 5 favorite classic movies of all time. I've been pining away for years to see a nice dvd edition of this film come out and now it's just a week and a half away. Warners was already easily the studio of the year for classic movies but this new set just makes my year and will certainly be my favorite disc set of the year.

I don't think I've ever seen EoE in its OAR either so this is even more anticipated.

Michael

 

[Simon Howson]

I saw East of Eden at the cinema about 2 years ago. But the print was TERRIBLE. Not only was it faded, but It had died a death of a thousand splices and looked like a Kazan film re-imagined by Godard - jump cuts everywhere.

I wonder how old the print was? Surely not a 1955 print. Maybe the filmw as re-released in the 70's or so, someone may know?

But I tried to look beyond that, and it is a wonderful widescreen film. The one scene that I can't wait to see again is the shot where Dean runs and hides under a tree, the tree is in the middle of the frame, and there are three actors in a line with the tree. I can't completely remember it, but has to be one of the weirdest pieces of staging in a Hollywood film I've ever seen.

 

[Brent Avery]

Simon - I hope someone can post some shots - I don't have a camera or else it would have been a priority just to let others have an idea of what to expect. Anticipation is half the fun isn't it?

 

[Simon Howson]

Do you have access to a computer with a DVD drive? If so most software DVD players have a screen capture function.

I am pleasently surprised that even Rebel Without A Cause is getting a new transfer. I have the old R4 (Australia) DVD and think the quality is oustanding, even if there is only marginal improvement on that it will still be a great DVD.

I'm anxiously awaiting the East of Eden disc, there are so many great widescreen shots in that film... For example the shot from the top of the train is amazing. It is only a short shot, but it creates a feeling of authenticity about the period when the film is set.

 

[DeeF]

I can't get my DVD Capture to work, since I upgraded to OSX Tiger.

 

[Eddie W.]

You're really making 5/31 seem like a long way off.....

EOE is probably one of the worst examples of a film being ruined by pan & scanning ever. I have the widescreen LD, but the transfer is so lacking in detail that the nuances of Dean's performance are all but lost. I can't WAIT to see this in widescreen with razor sharp detail for the fist time.

 

[AndySvn]

"I can't get my DVD Capture to work, since I upgraded to OSX Tiger."-DeeF

I'm still using Panther-is Tiger doing anything to your programs? I'd like to know this in advance!

 

[oscar_merkx]

great news indeed

 

[DeeF]

Tiger did all sorts of crazy things to my system. They've already sent out a patch so that it will work better with iTunes!

Don't do it if you don't really need to.

 

[BrianRi]

DeeF and others,
Thanks for the feedback on Rebel's extras. I've got East Of Eden on pre-order; I'm undecided if I'll cancel that and sell my copies of Rebel and Giant to buy the box set. I really need something special on Rebel to convince me. I'm satisfied with the sound and picture on the previous Rebel release, and the Rediscovering A Rebel documentary is substantive and comes complete with the wardrobe test featuring Dean and the other cast members. The three Behind The Scenes documentaries are also included on that disc. What I'm really looking for is rare footage of Dean not included on the original release. I'm already fairly familiar with the making of the film, the cast members, and director Nicholas Ray, so the audio commentary isn't enough to sway me. Guess I'll wait to read more reviews.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i just sold off my copies of Giant and Rebel (and got about $20 towards the new editions for them), but i unwisely pre-ordered EOE alone.
it snagged me a 50% off dicount from Columbia House for a bunch of other titles, but i'm wishing i had just gone for the boxset now.
while the original edition of Rebel looked decent enough considering the films age, i did think there was some room for improvment.
the original extras i thought were perfectly fine though.
in the case of Giant, the main reason i wanted to upgrade was to get a keepcase.
i didn't think i would need to upgrade that one as quickly, but for some reason i now have a more burning desire to see it.

for anyone interested, Target is supposed to Have the set for $50 and Rebel alone for $17 (don't know if the others will be discounted or not- i expect they'll be $20 if they have them at all individually)