International VEG/Shock's "Hollywood Gold" series upgrades titles to Blu (Australia) (1 Viewer)

[Doug Bull]

I was worried that they might have been of Asian origin, as I've seen similar type titles selling at temporary stalls set up in Shopping Plazas around town.

But if they're originating from Europe and are actually utilising HD masters then that sounds much better.
I might take a chance on one next time I'm in JBs.

Thanks for the info Byron.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I doubt these would be the Asian-originated transfers.

It's a pretty decent quality label, as far as I've seen (having purchased over 40 of the DVDs and a few of the Blu's with an eye towards the three exciting September discs).

 

[classicmovieguy]

Doctor Dolittle interests me, but I will need to see some decent reviews before I part with the hard earned.

As far as "Doctor Dolittle" goes, it's probably safe to say it will be the same HD master that was used for the German Blu release. It's on my "to buy" list.

The standard DVD edition of "Dolittle" from the 'Hollywood Gold' series was passable - though it was squeezed onto a single-layered disc and cut out the Intermission & Entr'acte sequence.

 

[Doug Bull]

I visited their web site and was a bit concerned that some of the blu-rays are listed as Widescreen while others were listed as 16:9.
Are those listed as Widescreen only 4:3 letterbox?

"Lifeboat" is listed as Widescreen, now that does concern me.

I will not be purchasing "Doctor Dolittle" if it's missing the extra music, plus it's one of the titles listed as Widescreen, is the Hollywood Gold DVD 16:9?
I'm guessing the German blu-ray is 16:9 but does it contain the extra music?

Doug.

 

[classicmovieguy]

The standard "Dolittle" DVD is 16:9. Print-wise it looks exactly the same as the older Fox DVD. The transfers for the Blu's have been really good so far, so I'm looking forward to picking up "Dolittle" in September.

 

[Doug Bull]

Any word on the Blu-ray quality of "Man of the West" or "Bandolero"?

If I come across one of these I'll probably give the brand a try.

 

[Doug Bull]

In answer to my own question, I've just come across reviews for both fore-mentioned blu-rays over at the Beaver site.
Both are European releases and therefore probably the same as the Australian releases.
"Man of the West" looks pretty ordinary quality for a blu-ray but "Bandolero" looks quite good, so it will be the latter for me if I can find a copy locally.

Can't really go wrong at $14.95

 

[classicmovieguy]

LOL - I'm glad you managed to find an answer, as I'm not a big fan of westerns.

 

[jseabough]

Just got the Australian import blu ray of EXODUS. I believe it's the same that was used on the HDNet Movies broadcast several years ago. No, it's not in the original screen format 2.2:1. The ratio is 2.35:1 but the image is so much better than that awful standard release. Has the intermission title card too. Happy to finally have this. Got this on amazon.com for about $25.00 from a place in Lexington, Ky called DeeVeeDee.

 

[ajabrams]

Got this on amazon.com for about $25.00 from a place in Lexington, Ky called DeeVeeDee.

I think it's called DaaVeeDee.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I'm selling my copy of "Exodus". It's a good quality disc, to be sure, but really not my kind of movie.

 

[Brian McP]

I got "The Boston Strangler" on bluray and it is an excellent release -- many of these titles were originally repackaged under the 'Hollywood Gold' banner on dvd for AU$9.95 and hope that most end up also on bluray.

The title from that group that I'm holding out for is "Marty" and this would be it's world premiere on bluray if it was released in this format down here. Ernest Borgnine was a true legend in this neck of the woods and a number of his pictures have been released down here first before going out in the rest of the world on home video -- this group of releases have been a mixture of Fox and MGM titles, many of them UA. "The Night of the Hunter" is not a patch on the Criterion release but at $14.95 down here for a bluray, nobody seems to be complaining.

 

[lionel59]

The recently released blu ray of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER/CENTRE OF THE EARTH by Shock is a great transfer with DTS 4.0 sound. It has an isolated score track and trailer so I believe it is the same transfer released by Twilight Time in the USA (and now selling for small fortunes by ebay and amazon sellers).
The Shock disc is around $14 and well worth buying if you have a multi-regional Blu Ray player.(It is encoded for Region B)

 

[Alan Tully]

The recently released blu ray of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER/CENTRE OF THE EARTH by Shock is a great transfer with DTS 4.0 sound. It has an isolated score track and trailer so I believe it is the same transfer released by Twilight Time in the USA (and now selling for small fortunes by ebay and amazon sellers). The Shock disc is around $14 and well worth buying if you have a multi-regional Blu Ray player.(It is encoded for Region B)

A huge favourite from my childhood. I was put off buying the TT release, as reading about it online it didn't seem that much of an upgrade from the DVD, well that was obviously wrong, as it was on the telly in HD a couple of weeks ago (Film Four UK) & I thought it looked great, sharp picture, solid colours (& mono! I'm sure a transmission mistake), so I'll be buying this, great cover too.

 

[lionel59]

Hi Doug. I wouldn't be concerned about LIFEBOAT. All Blu Rays are in 16:9 even when the film is shot in 1.37:1 (Academy ratio). There are black bars on the sides of the image for films made in that ratio. You actually see a little more on the sides that is cropped when they are transferred to a 'Full Frame' standard dvd.
i have read good reports regarding how LIFEBOAT comes up on Blu Ray and I'm sure Shock has the same master used in the UK. I'm not sure if there are any extras on the local Blu Ray release, but I can always hang on to my Region 1 Special Edition. The 'Masters of Cinema' Blu Ray release in the UK has a few more extras on it for memory. To check up on the extras and the quality of the image, go to www.dvdbeaver.com and search for the Blu Ray review and comparison.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I got the "Doctor Dolittle" Blu-ray a few days ago. Overall I'm very happy with the PQ. It hasn't been digitally manipulated, so that's a plus. Sound is good. The disc includes the Overture, Intermission and Exit music sequences. Extra is only a trailer.

One small quibble - I wish all the songs had individual chapters, like the original Fox DVD, other than that, for less than $15 I'm not complaining.

 

[classicmovieguy]

Hi Doug. I wouldn't be concerned about LIFEBOAT. All Blu Rays are in 16:9 even when the film is shot in 1.37:1 (Academy ratio). There are black bars on the sides of the image for films made in that ratio. You actually see a little more on the sides that is cropped when they are transferred to a 'Full Frame' standard dvd.
i have read good reports regarding how LIFEBOAT comes up on Blu Ray and I'm sure Shock has the same master used in the UK. I'm not sure if there are any extras on the local Blu Ray release, but I can always hang on to my Region 1 Special Edition. The 'Masters of Cinema' Blu Ray release in the UK has a few more extras on it for memory. To check up on the extras and the quality of the image, go to www.dvdbeaver.com and search for the Blu Ray review and comparison.

The Aussie "Lifeboat" Blu-ray has the following:

* Making Of featurette
* Hitch's short films "Bon Voyage" & "Adventure in Malgache"
* 1962 Hitchcock audio interview

 

[Doug Bull]

I just purchased the "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "Doctor Dolittle" Blu-rays both from Shock Entertainment.

Journey is clearly the better looking disc.
Sharpness, Colors and gray scale are all quite good.
The Bernard Herrmann subsonic score will really test out your subwoofer.

I tend to agree that this may well be the same source as the Twilight Time disc.
At around $13 this is a good quality, bargain priced disc of an enjoyable movie.

To me, Dolittle is a major disappointment.
Despite it being about 2.20:1 and therefore possibly coming from a 70mm source the image quality is mostly poor.
Colors tend to be washed out and the overall picture is brownish (sadly at times almost sepia)
Some of the island sequences show better color, but the majority of the movie stays brown.
The image has an unattractive Video look about it and is not at all film like.

On a couple of occasions purple (drop-out type) bars appeared across the image.(I checked the disc and there were no dirty marks or scratches anywhere)
When compared with other Blu-ray discs from 70mm sources like "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "South Pacific" then this disc is definitely not in the same league.

Despite all that criticism, it is still watchable and at the low price of around $13 you can't really complain too much.

I agree with Byron, why haven't they chapter stopped the songs?

Bottom line = When and if it ever gets a US release then I hope it's from a far better source than this one.

Doug.

 

[classicmovieguy]

The washed-out colours on "Dolittle" look about the same on the Fox DVD and the earlier 'Hollywood Gold' DVD (which I added to my 'For Sale' pile when I purchased the Blu-ray). This indicates, to me, that the print used has some colour fade and that a full-scale HD restoration from Fox itself should be undertaken. In the meantime, this Blu is quite watchable, but I'd double dip in a heartbeat if Fox came to the table with their own disc.

 

[Doug Bull]

At least it's not Pink, like 35mm copies of the Trailer and "The Making Of" short subject that I currently have access to.