DVD Review HTF Review: The Martin Scorsese Film Collection (1 Viewer)

[Bryan Tuck]

Very good review, Jason; thanks. I'm not sure if I'm going to get the set or not, but the price is certainly reasonable.

One little thing on New York, New York; I don't understand why MGM still insists on putting out non-anamorphic transfers of 1.66:1 films. I guess it's not that big a deal, considering all that is in this box, but it still puzzles me. It really makes no sense.

Anyway, I may just get Raging Bull, but again, we all really appreciate the review, Jason. Thanks!

 

[TonyD]

Raging Bull, watching this movie for the firs time ever right now.
i was alitte worried in the credits because they looked awful.
tons of mosquito noise and edge enhancement or ringng around the letters.

also it had bars on the sides.
normally i dont see any bars due to over scan on my tv, so i was wondering why i saw the bars.

then the movie started and the bars were gone, so i guess the credits were a different A.R.

NOW WHEn vickie first appears we get a closeup of her face.
she appears to have alot of freckles but its hard to tell because more noise/artifacting of some kind.

not liking the image so far.

 

[Reagan]

I finshed watching Raging Bull and the documentaries (which are by a certain Frenchman).

First the good. The docs are great. If the first four had been lumped into one long one, it would be equivalent to the Taxi Driver documentary in terms of length, scope, and quality. They even feature new interviews with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Joe Pesci looked healthy, which is a relief to me since he hasn't been in a movie in six or so years (1998) and didn't do any new interviews for the Goodfellas SE. Basically, I was getting worried about him.

As for the feature, the audio (both mixes) is simultaneously among the best and worst I've heard. It's great in the ring (fight scenes), but dialogue outside the ring alternates from clear to whisper quiet with loud background/ambient noices - in the middle of a scene. Maybe it's just me, but I kept having to adjust the volume to hear things.

With that one caveat, I love this DVD.

-Reagan

 

[Michael Boyd]

The set is $30 at Fry's thru Tuesday I believe. Got a nice price guarantee match with my receipt from Best Buy today. Only watched RB so far. Sweet deal.

 

[Simon Howson]

I think this relates to how the film was shot and audio recorded. Schoonmaker says in the commentary that Scorsese insisted on using a lot of location audio that most Hollywood films would junk and revert to looping.

This sort of recalls the John Cassavettes aesthetic of some parts of the film. That it is about location, and improvisational acting etc. I actually really like the audio track because of this dichotomy between the dour realism of the location shooting, with the intense stylisation of the fight scenes.

 

[Brian W]

I saw NY,NY last night and I was shocked that Martin Scorsese would approve of this transfer. Mosquito noise, very soft, lack of detail I felt as if I was watching a copy of a VHS tape. Colors were vibrant and nice but the transfer I would consider really poor, not to mention it being non-anamorphic. I could have lived with that but the quality is so poor it is unwatchable when zoomed in to the
1.85 frame, plus a good deal of the frame is cut.

Excuse my sarcasm, here yet is another outstanding transfer by MGM! I sure wish Warners would by out all their UA titles. I hold by breath every time I pick up an MGM DVD.

 

[Reagan]

Simon,

Point taken. I'll not judge it harshly.

-Reagan