Timothy E
Reviewer
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2007
- Messages
- 1,521
- Real Name
- Timothy Ewanyshyn
A
Originally Posted by John Hodson
I have to say that it isn't one of my favourite Wayne films - hamstrung possibly by Curtiz's health problems - but it looks, and sounds, a peach. A job well done by Fox; bravo.
Tim mentions the abundance of HD clips in the 'Wayne at Fox' documentary (and it's great to see Fox offering supplements in 1080p), The Undefeated looks to be even crisper than The Comancheros, but, man alive, if anyone here thought the 'Grandeur' The Big Trail looked spectacular on DVD, the HD clips reveal that a BD would be positively jaw-dropping.
Equally, it was quite sad to see upscale clips of The Alamo, knowing that Robert Harris is battling to save the film (and a BD release seems further away than ever).
I hope this sold well for Fox, I really do; I want more...
Originally Posted by Mr. Pacino
Saw "The Comancheros" a few days ago. The film wasn´t good at all.
I think that John Wayne made many better movies-such as "The Searchers", El Dorado, Rio Bravo, The Shootist, True Grit, Red River etc....
Hopefully the studios will release other John Wayne movies as well on Blu-ray.
Like Scott Calvert, I saw the documentary "The Duke at Fox" as well and can also say that the clips from his other movies(The Undeafeated, North from Alaska etc...) looked excellent in 1080p.
You say po-tay-to and I say pah-tah-to One man's goofy is another's yechh! Your info does confirm the movie he was in. Is Pedro Armendáriz Jr. any relation to Pedro Armendáriz who was Kerim Bey in From Russia with Love?JoeDoakes said:I liked him in that movie. He was kind of goofy, but I thought it worked..
Originally Posted by Ed Lachmann
I have the Soul Media Danish BDs of THE CONQUEROR, NORTH TO ALASKA and THE BARBARIAN AND THE GEISHA. They look really good in my estimation (and I am notoriously picky). The prints may have some technicolor shifting here and there and occasional soft shots, but the grain is natural and contrast surprisingly good. After all, the elements are what they are and I've never seen these look better. Just recently a BD of THE BIG TRAIL was released in France. I'm still waiting on that one, as I fear it may suffer from "French forced subtitle syndrome" like the recent EXODUS. Glad to report that the Soul Media BDs give you a no subs choice right at the get go. Fox is obviously letting these out in hi def to some markets. Wonder if we will see them soon in the USA. Oh, and Pedro Armendáriz plays a mean Jamuga to John Wayne's Temujin in THE CONQUEROR, which is a hoot and quite beautiful in BD. The Victor Young score for this one is magnificent.
Originally Posted by Johnny Angell One man's goofy is another's yechh! Your info does confirm the movie he was in.
Is Pedro Armendáriz Jr. any relation to Pedro Armendáriz who was Kerim Bey in From Russia with Love?
The Universal DVD version of THE CONQUEROR in the "John Wayne An American Icon" set mislabelled it as mono on the box but it is actually stereo.jim_falconer said:Thanks for the info on the Danish BDs of those John Wayne films. Do you need a special player to play them in the USA, or are they region free? Also, could you tell me if all the soundtracks on those 3 blurays are in stereo? I agree with you about Victor Young's score of THE CONQUEROR...simply beautiful. Goodtimes first released the film onto DVD with stereo tracks intact. However, when Universal released it in a box set with other John Wayne films, they used a mono soundtrack (which is why I never discarded my Goodtimes version).
THE CONQUEROR BD is in stereo and does sound great. The other two I've only looked at bits of, but the sound is rich and full so I would say they are. These are Region B BD's, so you will need an all region player. I also picked up ALEXANDER THE GREAT and DAVID AND BATHSHEBA, the latter I know Doug had some disappointment with. It seemed to me that the film had a certain visual softness in sections because of the print they had to use, in the same way as the recent Kino STAR IS BORN used the best they could find, but the grain was good and the colors rich. The ALEXANDER is stunning but does have a tad of anamorphic thinning of material at either side. Still, it is better than I have ever seen it before. To my taste, they are pretty damn good. I'm used to being burned occasionally with the stuff I get overseas, most recently a hideous blurry video master DVD of THE TUTTLES OF TAHITI from Spain which is unwatchable. So, I do like Soul Media all in all, and will be watching eagerly for what they put out next.jim_falconer said:Thanks for the info on the Danish BDs of those John Wayne films. Do you need a special player to play them in the USA, or are they region free? Also, could you tell me if all the soundtracks on those 3 blurays are in stereo? I agree with you about Victor Young's score of THE CONQUEROR...simply beautiful. Goodtimes first released the film onto DVD with stereo tracks intact. However, when Universal released it in a box set with other John Wayne films, they used a mono soundtrack (which is why I never discarded my Goodtimes version).
Originally Posted by Ed Lachmann
THE CONQUEROR BD is in stereo and does sound great. The other two I've only looked at bits of, but the sound is rich and full so I would say they are. These are Region B BD's, so you will need an all region player. I also picked up ALEXANDER THE GREAT and DAVID AND BATHSHEBA, the latter I know Doug had some disappointment with. It seemed to me that the film had a certain visual softness in sections because of the print they had to use, in the same way as the recent Kino STAR IS BORN used the best they could find, but the grain was good and the colors rich. The ALEXANDER is stunning but does have a tad of anamorphic thinning of material at either side. Still, it is better than I have ever seen it before. To my taste, they are pretty damn good. I'm used to being burned occasionally with the stuff I get overseas, most recently a hideous blurry video master DVD of THE TUTTLES OF TAHITI from Spain which is unwatchable. So, I do like Soul Media all in all, and will be watching eagerly for what they put out next.