The Tall Men (1955) - German Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[John Hermes]

I just received this disc today from Amazon Germany. It's called "Drei Rivalen" on the cover and disc label. It is put out by Koch Media and looks and sounds excellent. 4.0 English track is available from the menu with directional dialogue and great stereo. Subtitles are not forced. Best news: REGION FREE!

 

[kingofthejungle]

I agree, it's a nice looking disc. I just ordered a big shipment from Amazon Germany, and this was one of the highlights. These Koch media releases seem to be a bit of a crapshoot though. The Tall Men, Man of The West, and Yellow Sky are excellent. Ox-Bow was okay, and The Last Sunset was an unwatchable mess of an upconvert. I wish they were a little more consistent.

 

[John Hermes]

I agree, it's a nice looking disc. I just ordered a big shipment from Amazon Germany, and this was one of the highlights. These Koch media releases seem to be a bit of a crapshoot though. The Tall Men, Man of The West, and Yellow Sky are excellent. Ox-Bow was okay, and The Last Sunset was an unwatchable mess of an upconvert. I wish they were a little more consistent.

Thanks for the info. I have The Way West pre-ordered and hoping it's one of the good ones. Warlock is on my list too.

 

[kingofthejungle]

If the Warlock on your list is the French one, I would advise skipping it.
I love the film, but the Blu-Ray has serious issues. I don't think it's an upconvert, but the difference in detail between the DVD and Blu isn't all that noticeable, the colors on the Blu are awful, and it has forced subs. I really wish Fox would do a good HD master of this one, so that Twilight Time or somebody could pick it up. Of the other great westerns on French Blu - (all have forced subs) Broken Arrow has far too much DNR, and Broken Lance looks fairly good, but certainly not great.
I hope you'll share your thoughts about The Way West with us when you get it. I've had my eye on that one as well. I love seeing classic westerns in HD. It's too bad there isn't a Region 1 company showing more of an interest in the genre.

 

[John Hermes]

If the Warlock on your list is the French one, I would advise skipping it.
I love the film, but the Blu-Ray has serious issues. I don't think it's an upconvert, but the difference in detail between the DVD and Blu isn't all that noticeable, the colors on the Blu are awful, and it has forced subs. I really wish Fox would do a good HD master of this one, so that Twilight Time or somebody could pick it up. Of the other great westerns on French Blu - (all have forced subs) Broken Arrow has far too much DNR, and Broken Lance looks fairly good, but certainly not great.
I hope you'll share your thoughts about The Way West with us when you get it. I've had my eye on that one as well. I love seeing classic westerns in HD. It's too bad there isn't a Region 1 company showing more of an interest in the genre.

Warlock is a German release but who knows if they will use the same transfer. Maybe DVD Beaver will review it as he does a lot of these.

 

[kingofthejungle]

I sure hope so. It would be nice to get a good HD version of Warlock.

 

[John Hermes]

I hope you'll share your thoughts about The Way West with us when you get it. I've had my eye on that one as well. I love seeing classic westerns in HD. It's too bad there isn't a Region 1 company showing more of an interest in the genre.

I received The Way West today. It is Region B locked. The picture is sharp with pretty nice color. Sound is loud mono. Overall, I am happy with it.

 

[kingofthejungle]

That's good news. Did you get the German Warlock? How is it?

 

[aHorseofCourse]

That's good news. Did you get the German Warlock? How is it?

Just got the German version of "Warlock" (it's from EuroVideo) and did a quick comparison with the French version. I think it compares pretty well. First, the good news: there are two audio tracks, German and English, and unlike the French release, there are no forced subs when you select the English track (German subs are optional). Second, the good or bad news (depending on your point of view): it appears to be from the same print - there are scratches over the title sequence that are identical and the colours look the same to my eye. The German version might have a lesser bit rate (it fits on a single-layered disc whereas the French feature took up 33GB or so) but may actually look ever so slightly better than the French release. As far as I can tell there is no edge enhancement on either version but the German version may have benefitted from a little less digital cleaning and looks to have a little more grain. It's not a huge difference but there you go.
So, if you like the film and have been considering the German option, take it. Definitely not a stellar transfer but still a nice step up over the DVD.

 

[kingofthejungle]

Thanks for that.
Sounds like an overall better issue than the French release (which almost looks like an upconvert to me). If it has no forced subs, that's a definite improvement.
How are the colors on this release? The french one looks unnaturally bright and garish to me.

 

[aHorseofCourse]

The colours are very similar, although in some scenes the German version may look a little darker. It does look "thicker" overall.
It's funny, but going back and looking at both discs I was surprised that the French disc looked much better than I remembered. Obviously it's not a restored print and there's a softness in parts that's hard to overcome, but it's definitely not an upconvert.

 

[Danny_N]

The colours are very similar, although in some scenes the German version may look a little darker. It does look "thicker" overall.
It's funny, but going back and looking at both discs I was surprised that the French disc looked much better than I remembered. Obviously it's not a restored print and there's a softness in parts that's hard to overcome, but it's definitely not an upconvert.

The French disc looks soft because it has been treated with some heavy dnr. The German release on the other hand has been left alone by the grain police and looks very good with excellent colour and detail.

 

[Alan Tully]

Speaking of German releases, has anyone ordered the new release of ,The Rains Of Ranchipur yet? I don't want to do TT out of a sale, but if this release passes muster I might buy local (Europe), & it would be a lot cheaper!

 

[Lromero1396]

Speaking of German releases, has anyone ordered the new release of ,The Rains Of Ranchipur yet? I don't want to do TT out of a sale, but if this release passes muster I might buy local (Europe), & it would be a lot cheaper!

I'll second that for The Rains of Ranchipur. I would also like to ask if anybody knows if the European Blu-ray releases of Warlock contain the original 4-track stereo mix with directional dialogue or at least a 2.0 mixdown with directional dialogue. The Fox region 1 DVD release had a fake stereo mix and a mono track. Reportedly, Warlock has been shown on television in stereo, but it has not been specified if it was the original mix derived from the 4-track magnetic elements as opposed to a modern stereo job sourced from an optical mono track.
I would also like to know the same for the European releases of Garden of Evil, Broken Lance, and The Rains of Ranchipur

 

I'll second that for The Rains of Ranchipur. I would also like to ask if anybody knows if the European Blu-ray releases of Warlock contain the original 4-track stereo mix with directional dialogue or at least a 2.0 mixdown with directional dialogue. The Fox region 1 DVD release had a fake stereo mix and a mono track. Reportedly, Warlock has been shown on television in stereo, but it has not been specified if it was the original mix derived from the 4-track magnetic elements as opposed to a modern stereo job sourced from an optical mono track.
I would also like to know the same for the European releases of Garden of Evil, Broken Lance, and The Rains of Ranchipur

I have GARDEN OF EVIL and BROKEN LANCE. GARDEN OF EVIL is a 2-track mixdown with very direction dialogue and stereo music. BROKEN LANCE is the same except it seems as if the dialogue is not always directional. I noticed it being directional near the end for sure. It seems centered most of the time.