International UK releasing (5) Randolph Scott Westerns on Blu-ray. (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Dave, did that email specify the rescheduled date? Amazon.uk and the powerhouse product page both currently report 28 May as the release date:

http://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/pr...etticher-randolph-scott-at-columbia-1957-1960

Estimated arrival date June 8-13.

 

[skylark68]

Bummer, looks like I'll have to wait a little longer for this one.

 

[Mark-P]

The Beav has screenshots up. With this being limited to only 6000 units, I think I’m going to have to order it sooner rather than later.

 

[haineshisway]

Since I know all these will eventually be coming out here in new transfers, I can wait. Indicator is a little disingenuous in their blurbs - from what I know none of these are new transfers and all were done for the DVD box. While those may be fine, they're obviously not good enough for Grover Crisp to allow Twilight Time those older transfers - he just won't do that. And since In Grover I Trust I can be perfectly patient.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Since I know all these will eventually be coming out here in new transfers, I can wait. Indicator is a little disingenuous in their blurbs - from what I know none of these are new transfers and all were done for the DVD box. While those may be fine, they're obviously not good enough for Grover Crisp to allow Twilight Time those older transfers - he just won't do that. And since In Grover I Trust I can be perfectly patient.

Perhaps, but for $51.90 I rather see them now in 1080p than wait until then. If TT releases them with new transfers then I'll buy them again whenever that might be.

 

[Keith Cobby]

There are some films I can wait for but not these. Just a great set of great westerns and for this fan, Randolph Scott is up there with John Wayne. Also, unlike most contemporary films, these are short, economical, and without any padding.

 

[haineshisway]

Make no mistake, I love these films. But just a glance at the Beaver's caps will tell you these are the exact same transfers as the DVD - since I have that I'm fine until the new transfers come. I did bite on the German Commanche Station, which also is the same older transfer that's in this Indicator set - it looks okay but not stellar, as all these will.

 

[Member 323668]

Since I know all these will eventually be coming out here in new transfers, I can wait. Indicator is a little disingenuous in their blurbs - from what I know none of these are new transfers and all were done for the DVD box. While those may be fine, they're obviously not good enough for Grover Crisp to allow Twilight Time those older transfers - he just won't do that. And since In Grover I Trust I can be perfectly patient.

My order has been dispatched today, expecting to get delivered by Tuesday. Well, even after "our" disappointing experience with the French releases of IRMA LA DOUCE and MIRAGE, I can't be patient to wait any longer for these most wanted films to arrive on Blu.

The only recent transfer of the box set seems to be RIDE LONESOME, scanned in 2K, with the other films beeing older plain 1080p telecines made for DVD and HD TV. I've seen them on TV and while it's obvious that they are not state-of-the-art transfers, they are not bad at all.

Definitely will buy them again when new scans are done.

As concerns Mr. Grover Crisp, senior VP for asset management, film restoration and digital mastering: Sony can be proud to have their assets being managed by such wonderful professional people like Mr. Crisp and his team. I've never been let-down with any HD transfer done under supervision of Grover Crisp. Absolute showcase productions, a tribute to the HD format, are the Sony transfers of SECONDS, EXPERIMENT IN TERROR and 3:10 TO YUMA, just for example. A living picture with perfectly intact and resolved grain structure, breathtaking depth and texture, just pure perfection.

No other major studio gives us such consistency in quality as Sony under Mr. Crisp.

Warner Archive released some incredibly perfect transfers recently, like SUSPICION and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, but also some disappointing ones, like HARPER and THE DROWNING POOL. The latter ones, though pleasing to the eye, beeing almost completely de-grained.

I don't want to presume the right to give RAH any suggestion how to review and rate the picture quality, but my idea would be to introduce a third category of quality assessment: The category "DNR, grain management and digital manipulation".

 

[OliverK]

Since I know all these will eventually be coming out here in new transfers, I can wait. Indicator is a little disingenuous in their blurbs - from what I know none of these are new transfers and all were done for the DVD box. While those may be fine, they're obviously not good enough for Grover Crisp to allow Twilight Time those older transfers - he just won't do that. And since In Grover I Trust I can be perfectly patient.

I am pretty sure that Twilight could release them if they wanted to. Agreed on Grover Crisp, Sony can be proud to have him.

 

[haineshisway]

No, OliverK - from my understanding, Mr. Crisp only gives Twilight Time the new stuff, which is why the other Sony titles with older masters have gone elsewhere (save for Criterion and a couple of stray others). If it's a Twilight Time release, new master.

 

[OliverK]

No, OliverK - from my understanding, Mr. Crisp only gives Twilight Time the new stuff, which is why the other Sony titles with older masters have gone elsewhere (save for Criterion and a couple of stray others). If it's a Twilight Time release, new master.

Maybe TT can answer this one in their thread but knowing Grover Crisp a little I would assume that he would point that they have older masters let us know in their thread.
While the Boetticher westerns could be better they are certainly not worse than what TT has released from other studios.

it could also be that they simply are not too fond to release them in the first place. They have mentioned before that many titles from the 50s do not sell that well and with these they could not even add the selling point of a new 4k master.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Maybe TT can answer this one in their thread but knowing Grover Crisp a little I would assume that he would point that they have older masters let us know in their thread.
While the Boetticher westerns could be better they are certainly not worse than what TT has released from other studios.

it could also be that they simply are not too fond to release them in the first place. They have mentioned before that many titles from the 50s do not sell that well and with these they could not even add the selling point of a new 4k master.

Back on March 11th, this was Nick Redman's reply to my question in the Twilight Time thread regarding this BD Boxset Release:

Nick,

Is there a chance any of these titles are coming out via Twilight Time? I know you can't answer directly, but. some of us will be jumping on this UK box set.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B62T...er-21&linkId=3e3da7f6f4f15f1d12051fe8f598f218

As of this time, although we do have the titles under license, Sony's asset management team have advised us the transfers don't meet their QC standards enforced in the U.S. Apparently the UK doesn't operate under such restrictions, but we do have to conform to those requirements under the guidelines of our license agreement here. This has affected our ability to release a number of other titles that are also out in other territories. We understand that many members will likely want to obtain this set, so they must do what they must, but we have no choice but to wait until such time in the future when better masters may be generated.

 

[Alan Tully]

Yup, it could be a long, l-o-n-g wait for Sony to get around to these westerns (& an even longer wait for Sony to re-visit their Hammer titles), so you wait hopefully or buy these, it's up to the individual. It seems to me that most Blu-ray releases are from older HD masters, some look great & some less so (older masters are the source of most of the catalogue stuff released in Germany). I think Indicator gets the very best out of what they're given.

 

[OliverK]

Back on March 11th, this was Nick Redman's reply to my question in the Twilight Time thread regarding this BD Boxset Release:


As of this time, although we do have the titles under license, Sony's asset management team have advised us the transfers don't meet their QC standards enforced in the U.S. Apparently the UK doesn't operate under such restrictions, but we do have to conform to those requirements under the guidelines of our license agreement here. This has affected our ability to release a number of other titles that are also out in other territories. We understand that many members will likely want to obtain this set, so they must do what they must, but we have no choice but to wait until such time in the future when better masters may be generated.

Thanks, I missed that one. In that case Sony has very high standards in the US and depending on how long it takes to release these in better quality people my find them a bit too high if itz means they have to wait another let's say 5 years.

 

[haineshisway]

Well, OliverK, Nick said exactly what I said, huh? I get my information from him, you know.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So,it would be wonderful if Grover Crisp and his team were working on these films. I badly want this box set but if there are better versions on the way I will wait.

 

[SAhmed]

Grover Crisp truly deserves all the praise that he and his team receive for their wonderful body of work to date and more to come. If and when we get the releases here I will double dip but for the moment this maybe the best we get for sometime. I went ahead and ordered. It was shipped today so should have it within a couple of weeks.
Regards

 

[Thomas T]

I'm a huge TT supporter and fanboy and look forward each month to their new releases. But I'm going to take the plunge and order the Indicator Boetticher set. It wouldn't be the first time I've ordered something from Europe only to have a U.S. release announced a few months after. But on the other hand there are the tons of extras on the box set that won't be replicated on the TT whose special features usually consist of an isolated score and if we're lucky, a commentary. Those features are sometimes the determining factor on if I'll go TT or Indicator. For example, I bought the Indicator Bunny Lake Is Missing rather than TT's because I wanted that Carol Lynley interview (it was worth it) and I'll get the Network blu of L Shaped Room rather than TT's because I want that Leslie Caron interview. But hey, that's just me. IF and that's a big IF, TT gets around to releasing the Boetticher titles, if they are marginally better I'll pass but if they're markedly superior, I'll double dip. But I'm not much on playing the waiting game. At my age, I may not be around for the TT release!

 

[Robin9]

I'm a huge TT supporter and fanboy and look forward each month to their new releases. But . . . . . At my age, I may not be around for the TT release!

Oh come on. You're not that old!

 

[lark144]

Exactly. "To each their own." These are some of my favorite films. I saw many of the Boetticher-Scott westerns when they were released as the second half of double bills at neighborhood theaters in Brooklyn & the Bronx when I was in my early teens, in long vanished palaces such as the RKO Fordham. I own the DVD box set, which I'm vary happy with and have viewed numerous times.

I bought the German Blu ray of COMANCHE STATION, which is from the same master as the DVD, and frankly, I wasn't especially pleased. To my eyes it looked electronic, with digital noise, and erratic sharpness that shifted back and forth through single shots. Very fuzzy looking and disappointing. And while the color was mostly spot on, the image itself seemed faded, a pale shadow of what it should look like if it was transferred from the negative or even a good print. I mean, it's watchable, but visually the German Blu is pretty substandard in my view, to the extent that I think it would be preferable to watch it on DVD. The lower resolution is much more pleasing. Unfortunately, with the higher resolution of Blu, you can see all the defects and digital tinkering on this older and somewhat tattered master., and for me, that's an experience I don't need to repeat. I'm assuming the other Boetticher-Scott masters are similar to the Blu of COMANCHE STATION, so I'm sticking with the DVDs.

Now, I'm certainly not telling anyone what to do, and it's very possible that we'll never see 4k restorations of the Boetticher-Scott films anytime soon, but if I was asked to give a recommendation, I would suggest sticking with the DVDs, which look great, as opposed to the evidence of the COMANCHE STATION Blu, which has a plethora of flaws that get in the way of my enjoyment of the film.