Blu-ray Review Miracle on 34th Street: 70th Anniversary Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

If anyone was like me and was disappointed that this left off the 50's tv version that's included with the DVD edition, I found the old DVD from a decade ago at Big Lots for $5 to complement the Blu-Ray.

I assume like the latest Blu-Ray is just a reissue of the 2009 edition, the 70th anniversary edition DVD that I see at my local Wal-Mart for $10 is the same as this one from 2006? Either way, it includes the tv version starring Teresa Wright.

So worth checking out the DVD rack at Big Lots, if you want this to make the latest Blu-Ray edition complete.

 

[Tony Bensley]

If anyone was like me and was disappointed that this left off the 50's tv version that's included with the DVD edition, I found the old DVD from a decade ago at Big Lots for $5 to complement the Blu-Ray.

I assume like the latest Blu-Ray is just a reissue of the 2009 edition, the 70th anniversary edition DVD that I see at my local Wal-Mart for $10 is the same as this one from 2006? Either way, it includes the tv version starring Teresa Wright.

So worth checking out the DVD rack at Big Lots, if you want this to make the latest Blu-Ray edition complete.

This might seem like heresy in these parts, but I find the visual quality of the above DVD to be quite satisfactory, although I don't doubt the Blu-ray is a noticeable improvement. It's great that the 2 DVD set is still so nicely priced!

CHEERS!

 

[Alberto_D]

It's a new transfer, and not the same tranfer used for the HD colorization by Legend Films.
The colorization for this specific film was not right, looking washed. Maybe that's the reason they didn't included it for this blu ray release.

It's sad kids today have a huge dislike for B&W.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

It's a new transfer, and not the same tranfer used for the HD colorization by Legend Films.
The colorization for this specific film was not right, looking washed. Maybe that's the reason they didn't included it for this blu ray release.

It's sad kids today have a huge dislike for B&W.

I don' t think it's fair to pin this on "kids today" - people of many age groups have disliked B&W for decades.

When did the colorization craze peak - 1980s or 90s? If anything, it feels like more people appreciate the original presentation of a film now than they have ever since a) it's easier to see movies as intended and b) people are more knowledgeable...

 

[BobO'Link]

It's sad kids today have a huge dislike for B&W.

I don' t think it's fair to pin this on "kids today" - people of many age groups have disliked B&W for decades.

While I do know people my age who dislike BW (very odd as we grew up in the days of BW TV and lived through the switch to color) my grandkids are not among the BW "haters." I've made a point to educate them as to why a film might be presented in BW and show how some can be better in BW than color. It's all because one day, while laying on the floor watching some 3 Stooges shorts and laughing so hard they could barely catch their breath, my oldest granddaughter made the blanket statement "Pa, this would be funnier if it were in color." so I felt compelled to inform her she was already laughing so hard she could barely talk and funny is funny, good is good, and it doesn't make a difference if it's BW or color. Surprisingly she said "You're right!" and has never complained again if I present them with a movie or TV show in BW. I've even won over a younger (late 20s) coworker in the past year by insisting she borrow and watch some classic BW films from the 30s-60s. She, too, no longer asks if it's color or BW.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Dug this one back up because I just purchased the available Blu-ray for MO34thSt (1947). One I didn’t yet have.

One item that folks who posted here earlier might find interesting are the Amazon reviews in which a rather sizable number of folks were wanting the known colorized version of this film. In fact some were rather put out that when they received the Blu, it was only in B&W and the colorized version was not included (it was apparently released earlier as part of a dual disk DVD package).
I’m sure some folks here such as @Robert Harris would attribute this outpouring of affection for the colorized movie as there being too many people in their confined psychiatric hospital rooms having access to the internet and Amazon.

Of course being the HTF Film Colorization Heretic that I am, I’m quite interested in this colorized version, even if only on DVD. Of course I’d love a HD color version on Blu or even a new 4K version.

Which dovetails into my next angle. Will there ever be a Criterion style 4K remaster & UHD/HD release of MO34thSt (1947)?
If there ever is, it will probably not include colorization though a new colorized 4K master would be interesting.

Merry Christmas

 

[Chip_HT]

AMC has been airing the colorized version this month.

 

[Rodney]

AMC has been airing the colorized version this month.

AMC shows movies?

 

[Matt Hough]

I thought the colorized version was one of the ugliest things I ever saw. The Macy's Parade sequence was mostly sepia (they hadn't bothered to color it properly) and was a brown sludge. The colorized version of 42nd Street had a similar color palette which I despised.

 

[Brent Reid]

Miracle on 34th Street has been colorized twice. The 1985 colorization, like most from the 1980s, is every bit as bad as Matt says. But it's only been released on VHS and LD, so let's forget about that.

The 2006 Legend Films computer colorization, however, is very well done, and has been released on DVD in the US and UK. I've even projected it a few times for family and friends – such heresy! But no one's guessed it 's been colorized until I tell them.

I'm pretty certain Legend's colorization was only carried out in SD, hence its non-appearance on BD. Unlike, of course, Legend's 2007 HD colorization of It's a Wonderful Life. For various reasons, it's extremely unlikely either film will be colorized ever again, so if they're your thing too, just enjoy the versions we have.

 

[RolandL]

Too bad it couldn't look like this:

or this:

 

[BobO'Link]

That still of Gwenn, O'Hara, and Wood is absolutely stunning!

 

[Matt Hough]

That still of Gwenn, O'Hara, and Wood is absolutely stunning!

It surely is! I wouldn't mind watching a colorized Miracle on 34th Street that looked like that!