Jaws - Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

Originally Posted by montrealfilmguy


We think that's a pretty damn serious list of great films ! And we also think it firsmly crushes and puts the lie to these silly reports

that have appeared in the "mainstream" media in recent months that the Blu-ray format either hasn't hit its stride yet,

has failed to go mainstream,or is soon to be relegated to the great format graveyard.We'd bet the titles listed above are going to sell a LOT

of discs and a LOT of players over the next 12 to 24 months.Niche format,my ass. ; )

Hunt has been singing this same refrain for at least the last three-4 years, and it never seems to get old "just you wait- big stuff is coming next year!"

I'm sorry, but even the first half of 2011- which was supposed to be the 'big breakout year' for catalog, is still amounting to little more than a smattering compared to the depth of quality material still languishing (not just big 'name' catalog). 6 years into the formats release before we get more than 2 R&H musicals? 6 years before we finally get Jaws (so I guess this means it will be 7 years before I can get the first sequel as well)? 6 years before we finally get the rest of the Bond movies? A $130 msrp Superman set where more than half the material is still only in standard definition? And he's making the case this is a thriving, vital format that has already hit its stride. Is that reprinted from The Onion?

I could rattle off dozens of titles off the top of my head that are still nowhere in sight.

And the counter argument to that is inevitably -"well sure they could release them with crappy a/v just to get them out there, but wouldn't you rather they take their time and do them up to the standards this format deserves?" I might buy that argument if month after month we didn't still get so many releases that are still well below what this format is capable of as far as simple a/v goes.


Look it's great that MGM is finally kicking out some interesting stuff, and with proper audio and video quality- but a lot of this is simply catch-up because they were AWOL for so many years.

Nothing I am seeing is convincing me that Bd isn't just niche format for enthusiasts -as far as catalog goes.


Anyways, good news about Jaws. Maybe by next year Universal will have learned how to consistently put out higher A/V quality releases, without the digital noise reduction and EE.

 

[Cinescott]

It's likely been established that there are catalog titles that will never see the light of day on Blu-ray. Our beloved format will not ever have the depth of titles that were enjoyed on DVD. It's not an ideal situation, but it's far from a "niche" format. There are millions upon millions of players out there and look at the titles that have been confirmed for this year: The Star Wars Saga, The Superman Anthology, The Jurassic Park Collection, Scarface, etc. We're just reaching 5 years into this format, with what was no doubt a slow start. The confirmed titles will help Blu-ray's cause; there's no question about that and in my opinion, it is indeed better late than never. Sure there are unreleased catalog titles everyone can mention, but there are tens of thousands of titles out there!


I think about the titles, both catalog and not, that I currently have in my collection (at about 100 discs and growing) and it seems pretty impressive to me: The Godfather I, II, and III, The Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind, North by Northwest, Braveheart, Gladiator, The Man With No Name Trilogy, The Shawshank Redemption, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Superman I and II, Star Trek TOS Seasons 1-3, Star Trek Movies 1-4, Dances With Wolves, Once Upon a Time in the West, How the West Was Won, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (All Versions), The Alien Anthology, Blade Runner Ultimate, Gandhi, The Ten Commandments, A Room With A View, Howards End Criterion, The Searchers, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, The Deer Hunter, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, The Natural, Out of Africa, Pride and Prejudice, The King's Speech, The Silence of the Lambs, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Avatar, The Rambo Trilogy, The Rocky Collection, The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage to India, Back to the Future Trilogy, etc., etc., etc.


My point is not to list every title I own, but to point out we currently have 3,300 titles now available on Blu-ray as of a year ago. That seems like pretty many to me and we are getting a lot more in the near future. Personally, I couldn't handle too many more "must haves" in the near future; my budget's pretty tied up with the titles already there. This is a fun hobby to me and it gets to be more fun with every passing month.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by montrealfilmguy

Started a new savings account for the 2012 titles.

 

[TravisR]

Personally, I don't want to see wires that I wouldn't have seen if I had went to the film on opening night.  But if those wires were visible in those original prints, then I would agree that they've always been part of the experience of seeing that film, and should be preserved in any and all future formats the film is released in.  I want the film warts-and-all as it was originally presented, but I don't want any extra warts that are new to the HD version of the film.  I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there can't be one rule to govern all of these decisions; these things really do need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

I saw a 35mm print a few years ago and the wire was there. It's there on the VHS, laserdiscs and the first DVD. Personally, I'm not bothered by its removal and it's probably something that very few have ever even noticed. I just find it odd that I see some people say they want the theatrical version of a movie for the sake of history but then they don't mind things being changed like wires being removed or the original soundtrack not being included. Like I said, if someone says they want the original, they should want the defects too. If you want the original with some things 'fixed', you don't really want the original.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Originally Posted by TravisR

I saw a 35mm print a few years ago and the wire was there.

If it was there and visible in the 35mm print, it should be there on the Blu-ray - we're in complete agreement there.

 

[Douglas Monce]

It still fits the description of tinkering if you ask me but I understand his motivation in this case.

 


 

I don't. Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

Digital tinkering is a debate with no real right answer. Directors have every moral right to do it, but the preservationists have a right as well to see the movie they remember. With the exception of extremes ala Star Wars, I don't have much of an issue with it. If a director wants to remove wires because of the high resolution of Blu-ray, that's fine. If the director takes a hard line and says he won't do it, that's fine with me too. Wires and matte lines don't bother me, nor do I agree with what Richard Donner was implying recently that Blu-ray creates problems with visible lines, etc. If the transfer is a true representation of the master, then it's fine in my book. No problem.

The problem is that video, because of its somewhat limited contrast ratio, (nothing that a high contrast ratio TV can fix) things in the image can be reveled that were not visible on film. The garbage mattes in Star Wars for instance are NOT visible when projected on film, but stick out like a sore thumb on video because the black level is so close to visible on video. The same is true of wires which on film may not be able to be seen at all, but jump out on video. So realistically, seeing the wires may NOT be how people really saw it on film, just how they have gotten used to it on video. Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

Personally, I don't want to see wires that I wouldn't have seen if I had went to the film on opening night.  But if those wires were visible in those original prints, then I would agree that they've always been part of the experience of seeing that film, and should be preserved in any and all future formats the film is released in.  I want the film warts-and-all as it was originally presented, but I don't want any extra warts that are new to the HD version of the film.  I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there can't be one rule to govern all of these decisions; these things really do need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

I saw a 35mm print a few years ago and the wire was there. It's there on the VHS, laserdiscs and the first DVD. Personally, I'm not bothered by its removal and it's probably something that very few have ever even noticed. I just find it odd that I see some people say they want the theatrical version of a movie for the sake of history but then they don't mind things being changed like wires being removed or the original soundtrack not being included. Like I said, if someone says they want the original, they should want the defects too. If you want the original with some things 'fixed', you don't really want the original.

The wire was likely NOT visible on a Technicolor IB print in 1939. Assuming of course that you are still talking about The Wizard of Oz. Doug

 

[TravisR]

The wire was likely NOT visible on a Technicolor IB print in 1939. Assuming of course that you are still talking about The Wizard of Oz.

I was referring to Jaws. I should have been more specific since we're talking about multiple movies.

 

[Bryan^H]

"A movie is never finished, only abandoned."
George Lucas


Of course, I don't agree with this. Way to go Spielberg!!

I wonder if the much talked about, rarely seen 2 1/2 hour documentary "The Shark Is Still Working" will be included on this? Hmmmm.......

 

[Douglas Monce]

"A movie is never finished, only abandoned."
George Lucas


Of course, I don't agree with this. Way to go Spielberg!!

I wonder if the much talked about, rarely seen 2 1/2 hour documentary "The Shark Is Still Working" will be included on this? Hmmmm.......

I believe The Shark Is Still Working is a fan product and has no connection with Universal at all. My understanding is that it is playing the film festival circut at the moment., so unless it is picked up for distribution by Universal, I think it is unlikely that it will end up on the blu-ray. Doug

 

[montrealfilmguy]

Ever since Lucas stated that and then went ahead and made changes in A new Hope,well...how do i put it..i lost hope in Lucas


The scene where Luke,Ben and the 2 droids are questioned by stormtroopers was first a scene

filled with tension,now with the addition of a cutesy flying droid whizzing by the stormtroopers heads,it

simply killed the tension.


Warts and all is warts and all,period.


Is the scene with the spinner car from Blade runner going up without wires now really that much better ?


Like me,i'm sure that at an early age,you fellas all saw cheesy flicks filled with monsters,crazy scientists,aliens and vampires.

And most of them were filled with wires,evident matte lines,men in suits,and screaming girls who all sounded like a reject

from the Blow-out movie.


We didn't care,not that we didnt know better,but our brains simply said :i'm looking at a monster on another planet and

how freakin cool is that ?


I saw Star wars,but for a while after,i still watched Godzilla,Skrull and Flash Gordon.The good thing is

you develop a critical view of films,but you can't shun the bad ones either.


I can understand Spielberg starting to become a dad,but instead of trying to shield violence,maybe he

should have just explained why the guns were a necessary evil.


I'm thinking a bunch of kids saw E.T. after that and thought " Oh no Elliot ! Those mean FBI men

are going to...hit you with a walkie-talkie ???

How much damage can that do ? "


When i was young,my mom had epilepsy,it is a form of epilepsy called "Le grand mal " and basically

the person goes into strong convulsions,high-pitched screams and rolling of the eyes back in the head.

Not a pretty sight.Dear old mom.


And my dad who didnt know better made it even worse by making look like she was possessed by the devil.

He would yell at us kids to look away and he would shut all the blinds.That's religion for you right there.


I guess what i'm trying to say is,most of the things in life we try to "fix " end up only like stuff we just tried to "fix".


Cause you know,that in a hundred years,cloning will be rampant,and some guy in Switzerland is gonna bring

back Da Vinci,and the first thing he's gonna say is maybe we could hide the smile by putting a mustache.


I'm re-reading myself and sometimes i feel like ranting a lot,but i'm not editing it one bit.Warts and all.


If it ain't broke....

 

[Bryan^H]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I believe The Shark Is Still Working is a fan product and has no connection with Universal at all. My understanding is that it is playing the film festival circut at the moment., so unless it is picked up for distribution by Universal, I think it is unlikely that it will end up on the blu-ray.

Doug

I think it would be wise if Universal did buy it, and put it on the Blu-Ray. It is narrated by the late Roy Schieder and covers practically the full spectrum of everyone that was involved in it(and still living). After all, this is JAWS so it should be a big deal with new special features. I can't think of a more fitting feature considering TSISW has never had a dvd release, and has been out since 2007. If Star Wars can cover fans dressing up as Storm Troopers in a feature, Jaws can certainly have a fan produced doc, with real substance.

 

The 2-hour documentary adds and loses footage from the short version. So neither dvd had everything. I don't know if the LD version contained everything.

 

[montrealfilmguy]

pretty sure it did,because i remember when getting the dvd,that i had lost an hour from the doc,and a friend of mine had made a copy

of the doc from the LD

 

[KMR]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein


But, as Kevin mentioned -- and something I have brought

up previously -- the first time I watched THE WIZARD OF

OZ on Blu-ray, particularly when Dorothy first steps into

Munchkinland, was "Oh My God! It's a soundstage."


I mean, naturally the movie was filmed on a soundstage

but up until seeing it in High-Def you never really were

taken out of the magic of the Oz landscape.

I have been aware of the "soundstage-iness" of THE WIZARD OF OZ since TV viewings in early childhood in the 1960s. It always looked like brightly-lit indoor sets to me. Actually, for me, that seemd to add to the "magic of the OZ landscape."

 

[Worth]

Originally Posted by Bryan^H

"A movie is never finished, only abandoned."
George Lucas

Apparently not. I only hope Lucas learns to abandon his films.

 

[Kevin EK]

Having watched the laserdisc documentary on "Jaws" multiple times, I can say that the documentary on the 30th Anniversary DVD appears identical to me. I think it was even marketed as such. As noted above, the earlier DVD just had half of the documentary on it - but the 30th Anniversary gave you the whole thing, in addition to some up-to-that-point unreleased interview footage of Spielberg back during production in 1974.

I have seen the E! True Hollwood Story piece on the movie, which seems to me to be pretty fair. If anything, it pulls less punches than the laserdisc piece, and has more updated interviews by almost 10 years. I don't know about the other piece. I tend to doubt that Universal would include either on a Blu-ray when they already have a perfectly good piece that has plenty of interview material with several people unfortunately no longer with us today - Roy Schieder, David Brown, and of course, Peter Benchley.

 

[TravisR]

Having watched the laserdisc documentary on "Jaws" multiple times, I can say that the documentary on the 30th Anniversary DVD appears identical to me.

It's been forever since I looked at the LD version of the documentary but wasn't there a montage of footage from the movie at the beginning of the doc that's not on the DVD? I don't know if I would call that an edit but I guess technically it is.

 

I thought that the dvd doc (long version) omitted the story Roy S. told about ad libbing during the dinner table scene with his son.