Laurel & Hardy: The Flying Deuces (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[bigshot]

I've noticed lately that a lot of older movies that are released by different companies in different regions all derive from the same basic transfer. The differences are mostly a matter of disk authoring (bitrate) and extras, not necessarily the quality of the film elements. I have bargain European blus that have the same transfer as much more expensive Criterions. The source of the transfer is much more important than the company that presses and distributes the disk.


Since both versions of the disks contain the exact same supplements and are being released right around the same time, I would bet that the film elements are identical too.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I've noticed lately that a lot of older movies that are released by different companies in different regions all derive from the same basic transfer. The differences are mostly a matter of disk authoring (bitrate) and extras, not necessarily the quality of the film elements. I have bargain European blus that have the same transfer as much more expensive Criterions. The source of the transfer is much more important than the company that presses and distributes the disk.


Since both versions of the disks contain the exact same supplements and are being released right around the same time, I would bet that the film elements are identical too.

Hi bigshot!


From what source did you see the same extras listed for THE FLYING DEUCES' Network On Air disc? I ask this because I haven't seen any extras listed for this on either its Amazon or Blu-ray.com listing.


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Essanay Paul]

Hi all,


I'm the one with the VCI preview disc. Two things I would say about the DVD Beaver review:

1) I agree with them that it is not Blu-ray sharp, and the gray-tones are not all there. But it is a huge step above all other releases.

2) DVD Beaver doesn't like any Blu-rays from VCI because they encode in MPEG2 as opposed to AVC. And the bitrate is lower than some discs.


VCI used a 35mm release print as opposed to a nitrate camera negative like Casablanca, so that accounts for some of the softness. To be honest, I don't know if the 35mm camera negative survives on this independent film.


Is there room for improvement? Sure there is. If a better print with fuller gray-tones turns up. Since the PD copies have worse gray-tones I think this problem occurred early in the films life, possibly when Borris Morros was making his copies.


There is conflicting information about the Network Blu-ray. Some websites claim region "B" while Network's website claims region "ABC". When I contacted them about this they said it would not play in the U.S. because it was "PAL". I explained to their customer service that "PAL" is not a Blu-ray format. They did not reply.


The Network Blu-ray does not have any bonuses. I miss the "Flying Deuces" trailer that is on the Kino DVD, but that is all that I miss from that DVD.

VCI should have, but didn't, included it on their Blu-ray. Even if it was only a SD up-conversion, it would have been nice. What VCI did include only duplicated much of what we already have. So no loss if the Network Blu-ray is better and plays in region "A".

 

[Tony Bensley]

Hi all,


I'm the one with the VCI preview disc. Two things I would say about the DVD Beaver review:

1) I agree with them that it is not Blu-ray sharp, and the gray-tones are not all there. But it is a huge step above all other releases.

2) DVD Beaver doesn't like any Blu-rays from VCI because they encode in MPEG2 as opposed to AVC. And the bitrate is lower than some discs.


VCI used a 35mm release print as opposed to a nitrate camera negative like Casablanca, so that accounts for some of the softness. To be honest, I don't know if the 35mm camera negative survives on this independent film.


Is there room for improvement? Sure there is. If a better print with fuller gray-tones turns up. Since the PD copies have worse gray-tones I think this problem occurred early in the films life, possibly when Borris Morros was making his copies.


There is conflicting information about the Network Blu-ray. Some websites claim region "B" while Network's website claims region "ABC". When I contacted them about this they said it would not play in the U.S. because it was "PAL". I explained to their customer service that "PAL" is not a Blu-ray format. They did not reply.


The Network Blu-ray does not have any bonuses. I miss the "Flying Deuces" trailer that is on the Kino DVD, but that is all that I miss from that DVD.

VCI should have, but didn't, included it on their Blu-ray. Even if it was only a SD up-conversion, it would have been nice. What VCI did include only duplicated much of what we already have. So no loss if the Network Blu-ray is better and plays in region "A".

Hi Paul!


Thank you very much for your fair and balanced assessment of the VCI Blu-ray, along with clarification regarding the upcoming Network On Air Blu-ray Release!


I do for the most part, agree with Gary Tooze's visual observations of the VCI Blu-ray in of itself. It is his Non recommendation of what appears to be the best to date digital transfer of THE FLYING DEUCES that I fundamentally disagree with! Would he rather we purchase any of the other inevitably worse prints, then? That's what doesn't make sense to me!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Tony Bensley]

I've also got a pre-order for this on US Amazon, as Canadian Amazon pre-orders sometimes tend to get pushed back by 4 weeks at the very last minute! This is one release that I don't want to wait any longer to view than I absolutely have to!


Yes, I'm greatly looking forward to VCI Entertainment's THE FLYING DEUCES Blu-Ray Release on May 19!


CHEERS!

Well, it appears that my strategy of pre-ordering this on both Canadian & U.S. Amazons may have backfired a bit!


Because today is a Canadian Statutory Holiday, I had mistakenly assumed my Canada pre-order (Which also included Volume 1 of the Three Stooges Blu-ray Triple Feature set.) wouldn't have been billed until the scheduled May 19, rather than a day early.


WRONG!


Where this gets a bit more complicated however, is that both Amazons attempted to bill me within less than 30 minutes of each other (!), in the wee hours, of course! What's more, only later did I realize that the FD part of the U.S. Amazon order HAD gone through, though it wasn't immediately obvious! This meant that I had to cancel my Canadian order, with my eligible free shipping!


With the dust now settled a bit (Hopefully!), it appears to me that the U.S. Amazon order likely failed because the extra 20% rate of exchange I topped up with wasn't quite enough (Though with our CDN $ at 83 cents U.S, it should have been!). U.S. Amazon's prior "Your payment has been declined" message also wasn't very helpful, as that indicated to me NONE of the order went through, rather than merely a part of it!


In any case, my U.S. order for THE FLYING DEUCES is in the "being prepared for shipment" stage (A last ditch attempt to cancel this to salvage my free Canadian Amazon Shipping failed.), and I do look forward to receiving this eventually!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Mark-P]

Your strategy's lost on me. Was it a race and whoever shipped first would be the winner and the loser gets rewarded with cancellation?

 

[Tony Bensley]

Your strategy's lost on me. Was it a race and whoever shipped first would be the winner and the loser gets rewarded with cancellation?

Hi Mark!


In essence, yes it was. One issue with Canadian Amazon Pre-Orders is that the Release Dates sometimes get pushed back at the last minute (While the corresponding U.S. Release goes ahead.), and sometimes even several days afterward, in which case I've found is subsequent to a "Temporarily out of stock" designation occurring on the original Release Date! What prompted this particular double Pre-Order was the last minute pushing back of the Release Date for the Three Stooges Millcreek Blu-ray volumes that occurred on Canadian Amazon just last month!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Tony Bensley]

There is some hope that I might have this Blu-ray in my hands by the weekend, as the Canada Post Tracking for this Title indicates "Item Processed" in Mississauga!


CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

See my Review of VCI Entertainment's THE FLYING DEUCES Blu-ray on Amazon:


http://www.amazon.com/review/R51C8SXE05YAS/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00TPN7DEO&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=2625373011&store=movies-tv


Suffice it to say this Edition is at present, the Gold Standard for what is, in my opinion, a most enjoyable Laurel & Hardy Feature!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Why would anyone encode in MPEG2 these days?

 

[revgen]

For one reason only. Because they're cheap. Publisher's don't have to pay a license for using MPEG-2.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I feel it important to point out that, regardless of the Video Codec, this is I believe, the best Home Video version of THE FLYING DEUCES to date. If anything, I would like to have also seen a companion, or standalone DVD version Released by VCI for the benefit of those who haven't yet upgraded to the Blu-ray Disc Format.


CHEERS!

 

[JoHud]

For one reason only. Because they're cheap. Publisher's don't have to pay a license for using MPEG-2.

Yes, that's the reason. VCI continues to be very reluctant to dip it's toes into blu-ray as I imagine the company is just barely making ends meet and can't afford to entirely make the jump to blu-ray


It does continue to surprise me they hang in there considering their not merely a PD company but one that continues to maintain licenses to the British ITV catalog and others.


They generally don't feel their films don't have enough demand to warrant blu-ray releases so they resort to bringing the few American-made film in the PD that have good enough transfers to release in HD on blu-ray.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Yes, that's the reason. VCI continues to be very reluctant to dip it's toes into blu-ray as I imagine the company is just barely making ends meet and can't afford to entirely make the jump to blu-ray


It does continue to surprise me they hang in there considering their not merely a PD company but one that continues to maintain licenses to the British ITV catalog and others.


They generally don't feel their films don't have enough demand to warrant blu-ray releases so they resort to bringing the few American-made film in the PD that have good enough transfers to release in HD on blu-ray.

Hi Joe!


What you've posted above strikes me as being rather speculative. If so, in my opinion, it should be stated as such. On the other hand, if you have credible sources regarding VCI's "barely making ends meet" and their Films "lack of demand" stance, I'll gladly stand corrected!


How about instead of dwelling over the choice of codec, we celebrate the fact this is the best release of THE FLYING DEUCES to date?


I, for one (And I know that I'm not alone in this!) am quite pleased with this Release!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Tony Bensley]

I simply fail to get how Blu-ray.com only gives 2 Stars for THE FLYING DEUCES' Visuals? I'd hate to see what they'd give the previous PD Editions that actually DESERVE a low rating? Some of those appear as though they were projected on a Laundry Sheet!


If Reviewers feel they must in all conscience give the visuals for VCI Entertainment's THE FLYING DEUCES Blu-ray a low rating, they should at least also state this is nevertheless the best existing release to date, so that people aren't searching in vain for a better one that just doesn't exist on Home Video, and perhaps never will!


Come on folks, this represents a serious step up from previous versions! In my opinion, the Video for the VCI Blu-ray deserves 3 Stars, at least!


CHEERS!


Tony


P.S. The Aforementioned Review Can Be Seen Here: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Flying-Deuces-Blu-ray/116905/#Review

 

[CraigF]

On another scientific forum, people who work in the industry were saying how cheap it is to use the advanced codecs (re licensing), so it shouldn't be an excuse. It is politics, the skill-set of the people doing the encoding, tools available, etc. I think in fact it was the tools that are expensive, and/or the gear to run the tools...I forget the details, and don't know myself, just parroting. So yes, it would require some investment to use a more advanced codec.

 

[revgen]

^If that's the case, then I don't understand. I encode TV captures to H264/AVC all the time using free open source software. It's not expensive, nor is it that difficult to do.

 

[JoHud]

In that case, I imagine it's a simple lack of skillsets, knowledge and/or awareness in blu-ray encoding on their side.

 

[Tony Bensley]

 

[Tony Bensley]

Ironically, if this were a DVD only Release, Video Codecs wouldn't be the MAIN topic of discussion!


Regardless of whether the visuals for THE FLYING DEUCES could be improved upon, pending Network On Air's upcoming Blu-ray Release on June 15, the VCI Entertainment Blu-ray is the current Gold Standard for what has been a very hard to find even half decent visual quality version of Title!


By the way, for the record, here's a screenshot of the actual Post Credits:

Note: The www.savelaurelandhardy.com is merely listed, with no stated claim that they had anything to do with the version of THE FLYING DEUCES as it appears on the VCI Entertainment Blu-ray.


CHEERS!