UHD Review My Fair Lady UHD Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

George Cukor’s My Fair Lady, one of the great screen musicals, gets an ultra high definition release that should likely be the last word for this screen version of the show on home video.



My Fair Lady (1964)



Released: 25 Dec 1964
Rated: G
Runtime: 170 min




Director: George Cukor
Genre: Drama, Family, Musical, Romance



Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Writer(s): Alan Jay Lerner (book), George Bernard Shaw (from a play by), Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay)



Plot: Snobbish phonetics Professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make flower girl Eliza Doolittle presentable in high society.



IMDB rating: 7.8
MetaScore: 95





Disc Information



Studio: Paramount
Distributed...

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[Angelo Colombus]

My only complaint about this release is the lack of the commentary that was on the older Blu-ray.

 

[MatthewA]

On the other hand, some of the extras are now HD including the videotaped 1994 documentary.

 

[roxy1927]

I just watched the production design Oscar win on youtube. Does Gene Allen accept Beaton's Oscar without mentioning him? Did he call him? Did he send it to him? Did Beaton tell him to accept it for him?
What a night for Beaton not to attend the Oscars. I wonder if there is a story behind it considering the enormous friction between Cecil and just about everyone else involved with the film.
CCC according to George.

 

[Robert Harris]

On the other hand, some of the extras are now HD including the videotaped 1994 documentary.

The doc was uprezzed in 2015

 

[MatthewA]

Ironically, that might not even be the case if WB still had the home video rights.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Continue reading...

Expect some others to disagree with your review, but I have little doubt that my opinion will concur with yours as we have the same OLED model. Thank you for your review.

 

[roxy1927]

Who did the photos of the flowers under the titles Beaton or Allen?

 

[AnthonyClarke]

It's a brave man who says this is its ultimate home video presentation. Same was said about audio when the switch was made from wax to shellac, and from acoustic to electrical recording, from shellac to LP etc etc. And same was said when switching from video to laser disc, to dvd, to conventional blu ray etc. I'd say 'the best thus far'.
But anyway, a great review, whetting the appetite. Can't wait to fire up my wind-up Columbia gramophone, insert a new steel needle and give the 4k disc a whirl. I just hope it's a compatible system.

 

[titch]

It's a brave man who says this is its ultimate home video presentation. Same was said about audio when the switch was made from wax to shellac, and from acoustic to electrical recording, from shellac to LP etc etc. And same was said when switching from video to laser disc, to dvd, to conventional blu ray etc. I'd say 'the best thus far'.
But anyway, a great review, whetting the appetite. Can't wait to fire up my wind-up Columbia gramophone, insert a new steel needle and give the 4k disc a whirl. I just hope it's a compatible system.

Yes - don't even have to go back any further than, say ten years, to see the blu-rays on my shelf from various companies touting "The Ultimate Hi-Def Experience", quite a few of them slathered in DNR and all. Recently, some have been released in 4K UHD (for "The Ultimate Ultimate Ultimate Hi-Def Experience"?).

The magnificent My Fair Lady laserdisc box was sold merely as the "30th Anniversary Edition". No "ultimates" there - although they could have called it an "Ultimate Collector's Edition", without being accused of wild hyperbole.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Thank you Matt. Looking for to this release in 4K and hopefully the other big format musicals are around the corner especially South Pacific to perhaps see those images fully realized burned into those color filtered frames.
But MFL will always remain for me a pinnacle of sorts as the first roadshow film I ever saw at age 8 in downtown Baltimore on a gigantic screen with a scrim those rose vertically before the film began. And then again in the early nineties at the Ziegfeld here in NYC restored so beautifully by RAH- while watching I welled up in tears in some sequences that’s how visceral to me they are. I can never thank RAH enough for this one- as many of us remember how terrible it looked on the old CBS laser disc.
And especially I’d like to mention an artist who’s rarely mentioned whenever MFL is reviewed or discussed and that is Harry Stradling who’s work here is astonishing- capturing that early 20-30’s film look in the opening Covent Garden scene that RAH has mentioned previously w the bloomin whites in the shirts against the black tuxedos and it doesn’t stop after that- a visually stunning film on top of everything else.
I cannot wait to receive this baby!!

 

[Robert Harris]

Thank you Matt. Looking for to this release in 4K and hopefully the other big format musicals are around the corner especially South Pacific to perhaps see those images fully realized burned into those color filtered frames.
But MFL will always remain for me a pinnacle of sorts as the first roadshow film I ever saw at age 8 in downtown Baltimore on a gigantic screen with a scrim those rose vertically before the film began. And then again in the early nineties at the Ziegfeld here in NYC restored so beautifully by RAH- while watching I welled up in tears in some sequences that’s how visceral to me they are. I can never thank RAH enough for this one- as many of us remember how terrible it looked on the old CBS laser disc.
And especially I’d like to mention an artist who’s rarely mentioned whenever MFL is reviewed or discussed and that is Harry Stradling who’s work here is astonishing- capturing that early 20-30’s film look in the opening Covent Garden scene that RAH has mentioned previously w the bloomin whites in the shirts against the black tuxedos and it doesn’t stop after that- a visually stunning film on top of everything else.
I cannot wait to receive this baby!!

Mr. Stradling was an irreplaceable genius. There was a moment when i was trying to figure out how to properly replicate some of his soft filtered shots, and Gordon Willis had the answer and how to handle it. Apparently, Mr. Stradling had purchased a roll of extremely fine black silk in Paris, and used it as a softening filter on Miss Hepburn.

There is never anything better than having people around that know far more than you do.

 

[RichMurphy]

There is never anything better than having people around that know far more than you do.

The Quote of the Day! (and so true)

 

[Drew Salzan]

Slightly off topic, but I finally had to replace my old Yamaha blu ray player with a Panasonic 4K one. I have not yet upgraded my Samsung 60” 1080p monitor, but my blu rays look great and play perfectly well. I am considering purchasing the My Fair Lady 4K disk with the intention of eventually upgrading my television to 4K. I know my television can only display up to 1080p, but was wondering whether the disc will play and look at least as good as the regular blu ray?

 

[roxy1927]

I think my TV only displays up to 1080p. It looks better than the bluray. Which in some ways as I have noted is not a good thing. But overall you get used to it and stop noticing things you shouldn't and it is a wonder.

 

[uncledougie]

Slightly off topic, but I finally had to replace my old Yamaha blu ray player with a Panasonic 4K one. I have not yet upgraded my Samsung 60” 1080p monitor, but my blu rays look great and play perfectly well. I am considering purchasing the My Fair Lady 4K disk with the intention of eventually upgrading my television to 4K. I know my television can only display up to 1080p, but was wondering whether the disc will play and look at least as good as the regular blu ray?

A quick online bit of research indicates some sources say that a downscaled 4K disc, having started with the extra resolution embedded on the UHD disc itself, will reveal a more detailed, better picture than the same film’s Blu-ray counterpart. However, one caveat is that certain “older displays” may have trouble and falter in this regard. So it may depend on the player/display interface, though if it’s working properly otherwise one would assume it’ll be fine. But personally I can only say that the My Fair Lady 4K disc is absolutely as good as or better than any 4K disc I’ve experienced on my home theater setup, with a stunningly beautiful, richly detailed picture and crystal clear sound. When you eventually do upgrade your television monitor, this is a title you’ll want in your collection without reservation.