GYPSY (1 Viewer)

[Rob W]

I'm assuming that these MOD transfers are the ones prepared for HD TV distribution to cable and broadcast channels, which often do not have any digital clean-up performed but can often look very good.

 

[Rick Thompson]

I'm rather partial to Tyne Daly as Mama Rose, who I saw in the last stop before the 1989 revival hit Broadway. I went into the show cold, knowing vaguely that it was about strippers. I laughed long and hard during You Gotta Get A Gimmick.
Doesn't the movie have the original Broadway strippers?

Never got a chance to see Merman, and while I like Tyne Daly's work, the best Mama Rose I've seen is Angela Lansbury. And Zan Charisse was perfect as Gypsy.

 

[Matt Hough]

I certainly love Angela's cast recording of Gypsy. That (and a couple of performances of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" at the Tonys) are as close as I've ever gotten to Angela's Mama Rose.

 

[Matt Hough]

My copy came today, and even though I'll be in the middle of watching/reviewing the next boxed set of The Simpsons, I will take two hours of time tonight to watch this. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[OliverK]

I don't think they're lying. But I seem to remember Mr. Feltenstein saying this was a fresh transfer for Blu-ray. I don't think a decade old master would look this good.

I read somewhere that it was done 2009 so certainly the potential is there for it to look very good.
It seems to me that the idea behind these Blu-Ray is that Warner wants to see how sales will be with these titles and then they might consider to get a bigger percentage of the sparse money that is made with these classic titles. If it leads to more high quality classic releases it would be good for both Warner and us.

 

[haineshisway]

I was there opening night for Angela in LA and it was fantastic in every way. Sitting in back of me were Jule Styne and Marvin Hamlisch. When the overture began, Hamlisch could be heard loudly saying to Jule, "Greatest overture EVER!"

 

[MatthewA]

Bette Midler's version was the first I ever saw, and I rented this version after its original broadcast. I liked it, but it underwhelmed me in comparison. But over the past few years, I have started to appreciate it much more. Seeing it on film recently helped that. The cinematography is great (and I am looking forward to reviews with cautious optimism), and I think Natalie Wood is perfectly cast as Louise. I still wish Karl Malden's singing parts had been left in. He's not that good a singer, but I have never seen any version where Herbie could sing particularly well.

 

[JoHud]

"Important: This title has been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available and has not been remastered or restored for this DVD/Digital Download release."

They use that disclaimer for any title that wasn't remastered specifically for WAC use. So if a high quality transfer was made a year or two prior, that disclaimer is added as a technicality.

 

[Scott Calvert]

Because on the Warner Archives page for this title, it reads:
"Important: This title has been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available and has not been remastered or restored for this DVD/Digital Download release."
I don't know why they'd put that disclaimer unless they're using an old LD or dvd transfer (I've never seen the dvd). The same disclaimer does not appear on the "Deathtrap" page, which makes me think that that one was remastered especially for the blu. So they're either lying, mistaken, or that old LD transfer was really damn good and still holds up for a decent blu-ray release (which hasn't happened very often; most LD masters look poor when used for blu-rays). We'll have to get some people to compare with their old copies. But it is possible--it could have just been a really good master that didn't need much engineering, so they used it???

Huh? What LD master has EVER been used for a bluray? I can't think of a single LD that came from an HD master.

 

[MarkA]

It does look very good. I'm a bit disappointed that there are no scenes selections, especially for the musical numbers. I just tapped the chapter forward button on my remote to find them.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched the first hour this afternoon and was completely thrilled by the picture quality. I think it looks better: warmer and sharper than The Music Man (another Technirama production from 1962) on Blu-ray with far deeper blacks.

Yes, it should have had scene selections, but the DVD Archive selections don't have them, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. The sound is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo. When decoded by Prologic IIx, it gives a pleasing surround ambiance that it just right.

I can't wait to finish it when I go back downstairs after leaving HTF this afternoon.

 

[haineshisway]

It looks so much better than The Music Man, which is a yellow mess - I'm praying they go back to The Music Man for the Archive, redo it, and give us the transfer it deserves.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Huh? What LD master has EVER been used for a bluray? I can't think of a single LD that came from an HD master.

Just about every Sony LD from the last few years of the format came from HD masters. Said so right on the packaging...

 

[Larry-Bender]

Just finished watching this. What a great looking release! Thank you so much Warner.. Keep the releases coming.

 

[Garysb]

Currently there is a $5 off coupon that works for this release. SAVE5 will get you this for $15 shipped. Plus tax in certain states.

 

[babsdude]

I'm not a fan of the Rosalind Russell movie, so I might not check out this Blu-ray.
Regarding the Streisand film version: Joel Silver is producing; they have all the rights and permissions (Arthur Laurents signed before he died); Julian Fellowes ("Downton Abbey") was hired and announced as their screenwriter in March this year. No director has been announced. From what I hear, Silver/Streisand's "Gypsy" is still on for Universal Pictures .... just not imminently going before the cameras. Streisand even sang "Some People" and a bit of "Roses Turn" in her recent concert tour.
IMHO, Natalie Wood is the best (and only good) thing about the movie version; Bette Midler's was stagebound and not cinematic and she yelled through the whole thing, which was a bit hard to take ---- a new version with Streisand would be welcomed!

 

[haineshisway]

I'm not a fan of the Rosalind Russell movie, so I might not check out this Blu-ray.
Regarding the Streisand film version: Joel Silver is producing; they have all the rights and permissions (Arthur Laurents signed before he died); Julian Fellowes ("Downton Abbey") was hired and announced as their screenwriter in March this year. No director has been announced. From what I hear, Silver/Streisand's "Gypsy" is still on for Universal Pictures .... just not imminently going before the cameras. Streisand even sang "Some People" and a bit of "Roses Turn" in her recent concert tour.
IMHO, Natalie Wood is the best (and only good) thing about the movie version; Bette Midler's was stagebound and not cinematic and she yelled through the whole thing, which was a bit hard to take ---- a new version with Streisand would be welcomed!

This movie, were it to happen, which it won't, would be two years away from actually being made, at which time, Miss Streisand, talented as she is, would be seventy-two. I don't think so. Reality is reality, I'm afraid and it's Mama Rose not Grandma Rose. There is no way a seventy-two year old can be a mother to two young children. Yes, she looks good, but c'mon - I know you're "babsfan" but, well, c'mon.

 

[Ethan Riley]

We should make a list of musical roles Babs SHOULD play, while she's still got some life in her.

 

[Rob_Ray]

She's the right age to play Dolly Levi, for one.

 

[Marco S]

Sunset Blvd.