DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: Vertigo Special Edition - Highly Recommended (1 Viewer)

[Ockeghem]

Kevin EK,

Thanks for the review above.

I am one of those who did not as well.

I love Hitchcock, and have been collecting his films on video for many years. I have moved rather cautiously through the DVD waters. Your review (and your recommendation) helps to unmuddy the waters a bit for me, although I am still gathering information before making any substantial purchases. I appreciate your efforts.

 

[BillyFeldman]

I simply do not understand anyone who loves Hitchcock who did not purchase the Masterpiece Collection - I would say, especially at the time of release, it was essential for any Hitchcock lover and it wasn't as if the set didn't get great reviews. But that's just me.


No, no firing squad - some of us would just like the record straight on this release - then people can make up their own minds. Your willingness to fact check is commendable.

 

[David Von Pein]

This YouTube video of the opening scene in "Vertigo", with the proper (and much better) mono sound, also has better-looking video too (less dark than the 2008 release). I'm not sure what the person who uploaded this clip to YouTube did to "lighten" up the opening scene (if he/she got this clip from the 2005 DVD set), but it's definitely lighter than the '08 release. Perhaps this clip was derived from a pre-'96 print. ~shrugs unknowingly~

Anyway, the restored version of the film is way, way too dark in some scenes, IMO. You can barely see what's going on.

Why in the world someone thought it was a good idea to make everything ridiculously dark in the opening scene and the bell-tower scene remains a mystery to this writer:



To add one more voice of displeasure with respect to the audio debate: My Legacy DVD positively has no 2.0 Mono track. It's definitely STEREO. And it sounds almost identical to the 5.1 on my 2-channel set-up, btw.

Another "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD ANYONE WANT TO DO THIS?" notation --- The Menu music for the '08 Legacy "Vertigo" disc is just awful (IMO). Why not just loop the great Herrmann music for the menus? But, instead, some generic music (which has no connection with anything in the film) is looped continuously on all Menu screens (save the "Scenes" sub-menu).

Universal did the same silly thing with the music for the menus of the other 2 Legacy DVDs too. Here we have fabulous music scores for all three films (esp. Psycho and Vertigo), and the music accompanying the DVD menus has none of the films' music at all.

Universal must have taken a page out of the Paramount/Fugitive musical rule book -- i.e., replace music even when it's totally unnecessary to do so.

Absolutely ridiculous.
IMO.

 

[Kevin EK]

Robert Harris has graciously answered my questions regarding this DVD.

He was not involved with this edition (the Legacy Series), and has not seen it.
He agrees that the color for the title sequence was badly transferred as noted.
He notes that there are no good quality copies of the original mono mix at this time - only 5th generation copies from used 35mm optical prints. He agrees there was no reason to not include the original mono mix.

I am discussing this matter with Ron as far as adjusting the review and the recommendation for the disc.

I still believe that the current disc is a better one than the 1998 edition in terms of the anamorphic transfer, and that people who only have that edition will benefit from the better picture.

 

[David_B_K]

Ah, yes the menu music. Uh...who cares? Seriously, the menu music is a big deal to you?

 

[David Von Pein]

Who said it was a "big" deal?

 

[BillyFeldman]

Well, you have all the answers, and one would hope that Ron would concur that it's best to at least include the information in your review - just for the record. You can still recommend the disc, and yes, in terms of the transfer it's better than the ten year old DVD, save for the wrong tint on the main title. Appreciation to Robert Harris for answering, although I'm not sure why he thinks an optical track on a print is fifth generation, or even if somehow it was fifth generation, why an optical track on a print could not be spruced up. I understand there's the original recording (first generation), then the mix (I suppose that's another generation), then the mag track, then the optical, so that's four, but about three years ago I was lucky enough to be shown a 35mm Technicolor print of Vertigo and the optical track sounded great, and the color was pretty amazing.

 

[Carter of Mars]

Nothing was done to lighten up the clip. It's from "The Masterpiece Collection".

 

[WilliamMcK]

I don't disagree. Choosing between the original release and the current Legacy edition is a no-brainer; but it's possible that there are those out there who might have been holding off on the boxed set thinking they'd be able to get the original sound mix to Vertigo when it was released individually. So it should be noted that the only way to get the original mix of this film (albeit in a deteriorated fashion) is through Masterpiece Collection. (And that those who wish to have the credit sequence in it's appropriate color scheme should still hold on to their old non-anamorphic releases).

 

[David_B_K]

Your breathless post about it gave the impression that it was a big deal to you.

Moving on: the thing that gets me about this is why didn't they simply release the Masterpiece Collection titles separately? Billy Feldman does not "understand why anyone who loves Hitchcock did not purchase the Masterpiece Collection". I didn't because I had already bought separate issues of Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, Shadow of a Doubt and Saboteur. I was pleased with the original anamorphic release of Rear Window, and really only wanted to replace Vertigo and Psycho. The remaining films in the collection are movies I do not want to own (except maybe The Trouble With Harry). I guess that makes me not a "true" Hitchcock fan, but I can live with that.

I still cannot see why Universal would not release the movies from the set individually. Then, all of us (even "non-true" Hitchcock fans) could have had a copy of Vertigo with the mono soundtrack (albeit with improper credits).

 

[JohnMor]

Thanks for the review Kevin.

And just to point out for those that are unsure, the Legacy edition IS remastered and is a noticeable visual improvement over the Masterpiece Collection. Save for the tinting on the title sequence (which is of minor consequence to me), this is the best this film has ever looked on home video. Except for those who have a major issue with the new soundtrack, I can't imagine any fan of the film not wanting to upgrade to this edition.

 

[Craig Beam]

They actually have made the titles available individually. If I'm not mistaken, the only one still outstanding is The Birds.

 

[Kevin EK]

I'd love to know if the Masterpiece Collection Vertigo is in fact available as an individual purchase. It had been my understanding that it was a title that was only available as part of the set, even if some of the other titles were made available on their own.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The SE you reviewed is the first standalone R1 release of Vertigo enhanced for 16:9. The Masterpiece Collection disc was never released separately. I never understood why, though, since it was not one of the titles like "The Birds" or "Psycho" that had its supplements sharing space on the bonus disc and would not have to have been re-authored.

Regards,

 

[Matt Hough]

I don't think so because I've been looking for an anamorphic replacement for my non-anamorphic original copy for awhile, and the only thing I ever found individually was another nonanamorphic release prior to this new remaster. I had bought all of the Universal-Hitchcocks before the Masterpiece Collection was issued, and I was not interested in buying them again even for the upgrades to picture quality which most reviews said the discs in the Masterpiece Collection boasted.

The only reason I've held off on these three Legacy releases is my hope that they'll be the first Hitchcocks released on Blu-ray. No announcements on that, unfortunately.

 

[Kevin EK]

Thanks guys. I was starting to think I had completely missed something. The whole basis for my recommendation starts with the fact that I couldn't find an anamorphic copy of the film available as an individual purchase. (Not counting finding one in the UK and importing it!)

 

[rich_d]

No. It is the same master as the Masterpiece Edition given, slightly tweaked. Calling it a remaster over the Masterpiece edition is incorrect.

The differences between the Masterpiece and legacy editions of Rear Window are noticeable. Vertigo differences are quite minor.

This is just another shot at taking some sucker's cash before moving to Blu-Ray.

 

[Robert Harris]

1. Original magnetic recordings
2. Individually mixed elements
3. Three track DME
4. Optical soundtrack negative
5. 35mm print


As all of this was analogue, the loss of information and frequency was huge in comparison to what can be accomplished today. A simple comparison of the stereo music track for the main title sequence compared to that on the old DVD (mono) is night and day, with a major loss in high frequency information and overall sonic detail.

A 1950s optical track can sound quite smooth and appropriate when played back on suitable equipment, and without direct comparison to original elements. As to sprucing up, quite like 4k down-rezzed to 2k, once information is gone... it's gone.

RAH

 

[WilliamMcK]

However, for those of us with tin ears (I guess) who prefer the original mono, our problem (at least, my problem) with the Masterpiece Collection track was the snap, crackle, pop (heard mostly over the opening credits) and the crackly distortion that fell at the end of each spoken syllable during the first reel of the film. Without knowing anything about it, it seems to me Universal could have done something to clean this up. If nothing else, couldn't they have just ported the LD sound track?

All of this is irrelevant to this thread since the discussion revolves around the new Legacy edition which does not include Hitchcock's sound track in any condition.

Personally, I find it disheartening that a movie as important as Vertigo is so hard to see as in its original version... even if that version is not in the condition it was in 1958. The reluctance on Universal's part to make the original track available (and including it on only one of their three releases... and that one as only part of an expensive boxed-set... does warrant the word reluctance) is frustrating. One can only hope that an eventual Blu-Ray release will be different. (Not to mention any future theatrical distribution).

 

[Patrick McCart]

Did Rear Window require sourcing from a 35mm print's optical track for the restoration?