Important Announcement regarding 60th Anniversary Edition of A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Alastair Sim) (1 Viewer)

[Todd Mattraw]

Having finally watched this Friday night, I have to agree that it's pretty much a mess; I wouldn't buy it again if I had it to do over. I might paraphrase Leonard Maltin by saying this movie is "Too Good to be Distributed by VCI". Those digital jumps mentioned by Eric are all over the place; I thought they were at their worst in the first scene with Jorkins and Fezziwig, for anyone who wants to take a look. Also, Mrs. Dilber is missing a line of dialogue, on both the mono and 5.1, during the scene at Old Joe's.
I dug out my 2007 DVD edition this morning, just to compare, and it's a shame, because the blu-ray has so much more detail and much better contrast, yet the old DVD at least didn't have those digital glitches that become so distracting, and Mrs. Dilber's line was complete (though parts of that scene on the 2007 DVD almost appear at times to be from, perhaps, a video source rather than a film one --- just an uneducated guess here).
I assume VCI will have a new version of this out in another 2 years, telling us all that it is "New and Improved", and inevitably that one will be flawed as well --- Jorkins, at least, would be proud.
Todd

 

I wish some other company could get a hold of this title. Too bad that Criterion can't. These re-releases are a joke. VCI has been claiming for over a decade that the most recent release has been restored from original 35mm elements, and yet none are without major flaws. I mean, how many times does it take to get it right? It's embarassing.

 

[John Hodson]

Having finally watched this Friday night, I have to agree that it's pretty much a mess

Having finally watched it through myself today, I have to agree with that; it's not so much the jumps, there are brief passages during fast action where there's some unaccountable ghosting; it's very odd and pulls you out of the moment.
It certainly does demand a better transfer - and parts are undoubtedly breathtaking - but, despite this huge lost opportunity, I would buy it again.

 

[David Mahlan]

Eric -- do you have a Samsung player by any chance? I've been unable to watch the 60th Anniversary edition because the entire film is jumpy/jittery -- as if every second or third frame has been removed throughout. The Maltin intro and other extras look great - it's just the film itself that has this problem. A reviewer on Amazon reported the same problem and theorized it was an incompatibility between VCI titles and Samsung players because he had the same problem on another VCI bluray.
EDIT TO ADD: The firmware on my player is fully up-to-date, so if it is a Samsung issue, they haven't fixed it. I don't have access to another brand player on which try the bluray out as a comparison.
I submitted an inquiry on VCI's website and received the following (very prompt) reply:
=========================
Hello,
Thank you for your email. I had forward this on to two directors
here at VCI to see what they had to say. Some of what they said was
this; they believe the problem may be with Samsung. We are authoring to
the Blu-ray spec, and there should be no other special tweaks that we
have to perform on our Blu-ray discs. This is a known issue with the
Samsung BD players. We have submitted our Blu-ray disc for testing and
there is no authoring or encoding bugs that we are aware of that would
cause this problem, only on Samsung player. We will continue to monitor
this situation, however at least for now; I think this is more of a
Samsung problem.
Thank you,
Penny Brokaw
VCI Customer Service Rep
800.331.4077
www.vcientertainment.com
=========================
It's a shame - I was really looking forward to this release.

 

[Mark-P]

Ghosts? In A Christmas Carol? Unbelievable! Merry Christmas.

...where there's some unaccountable ghosting

 

[Harry-N]

I regret that the glitches are indeed real, but don't regret the upgrade at all. I've spent the usual $10-$20 upgrading this, as I have in many years past. It's almost been a lifelong hobby of its own trying to obtain the best that this film can be, and it seems that each year there's at least a new package design, and every couple of years a new remastering job.

Knowing what I know about the movement glitches, i'd buy it again in a heartbeat to get the upgrade in image quality.

Harry

 

[Charles Smith]

Yeah, I'd buy it again to get it right, but VCI ought to be excoriated for releasing this very odd mess more than once. Speaking of which, I don't "know" VCI -- I think I have a couple of their DVDs, but this is the only BD. Is this typical for them? I'd say this film, especially, needs to be in someone else's hands.

Wish I hadn't given away my Roan Group LD of Scrooge a few months ago, thinking I'd never have reason to watch it again. I'm usually much more careful than that about letting things go, and it's the only Roan I've let escape from my clutches. Hardly the end of the world, but I'd sure like to pop that in again now for whatever comparison value there might be.

 

[Harry-N]

Originally Posted by Chas in CT /t/315183/important-announcement-regarding-60th-anniversary-edition-of-a-christmas-carol-alastair-sim/30#post_3881878

Wish I hadn't given away my Roan Group LD of Scrooge a few months ago, thinking I'd never have reason to watch it again. I'm usually much more careful than that about letting things go, and it's the only Roan I've let escape from my clutches. Hardly the end of the world, but I'd sure like to pop that in again now for whatever comparison value there might be.

I've had all manner of releases of this title - an ancient LD that had to be the worst example of movie mastering ever, and I had that Roan title too. Every time I bought one, I'd bring it home, hoping against hope that *this* one would be that pristine, sharp print that I'd been looking for all of my life. But VHS after VHS, LD after LD, and then DVD after DVD continued to improve only slightly from the edition before it.

That first LD looked like a bad 16mm print being shown on a third-rate TV station's film chain, with the worst audio I've ever heard on any film title. There was so much noise-reduction applied to get rid of hiss that it actually got rid of some of Richard Adinsell's score in the quieter moments. Miserable!

This 60th/Diamond Blu-Ray edition is so superior to some of those early releases I've slogged through, that I'll be able to live with these glitches. And yes, should they come up with yet another version that fixes these glitches, I'll be there.

Harry

 

I have a Sony player. And the Mrs. Dilber line missing is distressing...seriously.

 

[Marvin]

It looks like they're releasing it again this year???
http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carol-BLU-RAY-2012/dp/B008UY8FKK/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1345479317&sr=1-2&keywords=christmas+carol+2012
Anyone have any info on this one?

 

[Andrew Budgell]

It wouldn't surprise me. Something strange happened last year...it didn't ship on time, and then it was very difficult to find. Strange since they went to so much trouble adding some interesting new bonus features. I wish they had added the Patrick MacNee introduction. I grew up with that, and it's sort of strange not having it on the Blu.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Really?!?

C'mon. Maybe it's just the same as last year's release? At first glance, the features seem identical.

And, last year's can be had right now for $13.06!

I have already double-dipped on this title (in blu!). Not gonna triple dip! Am I?!?

 

This company needs to get it together with this title...every release has a different problem and from the same source! Last year, another line was missing. This is one title I am sad that Criterion isn't releasing.

 

[bgart13]

Eric, at what time is that line missing?

 

[Marvin]

This is my all-time favorite Christmas movie and I've always bought every new, supposedly improved edition as it's come out. But I think I'll wait to see if there's actually anything additional or improved before ordering this one. Maybe they finally figured out how to fix the picture jumps? (I doubt it.)

 

I forget which line now (it's been almost a year) but it's during the scene at Old Joe's.

 

[bgart13]

Thanks, Eric.
I posted an inquiry to VCI on Facebook about this "new" listing, and they quickly replied that it's the same content but they removed the 60th Anniversary banner.

 

Thanks for doing that..will save me some money. Their intentions are good, but their QC is awful. Last year, their Santa Claus blu-ray had a frame with numbers on it, like a barcode! They offered a replacement, but I didn't bother at the time. The contrast, framing, and overall look to CAROL is beautiful, but the odd jumps, ghosting, and missing line (or shots depending on the version you bought) are unacceptable.

 

[bgart13]

No problem, Eric. I've wondered if we'll ever see a proper UK bd of it, though.

 

[Charles Smith]

WTF! Are they going to at least FIX the digital video anomalies the current one suffers from?