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Weird stripe down the middle of the screen on "Goodfellas" SE (1 Viewer)

Christopher*KH

Stunt Coordinator
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Dec 26, 2002
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118
Well let me throw in my 2 cents. But first I want to say I am happy to own this film now, I never bought the "Flipper version".

Now my Gripe It took Warner Bros. ALLL this time to release this "2 Disc special edtion" for it to have all these "blemishes".

This is first I have heard about this scratch but during the scene where Henry's father is whipping him for not going to school, it has that brief image pause while Ray Liotta is speaking there is several specks of dirt popping up

For the cost(SRP) they charge for DVDs they should at least put forth better effort into the Quality of the image. This goes for ALL DVD films and etc. We hear that we can speak our minds by not spending our money, but studios won't care for a few hundred people that won't buy their product cause for every hundred that won't a thousand will.
We are the consumer "THEY DONT CARE". sorry for the soapbox
If they come down the line with a NEW REMASTERED this and that spotless image I would buy it again for GOODFELLAS yes I would. But I am happy to add this film to my collection, just wish it was flawless. Also the DVD didnt have any kind of insert or collectiable booklet for THIS FILM. I am rather suprised with that. Other films have something and they arent nothing next to GOODFELLAS. ....*sigh*
 

ArthurMy

Supporting Actor
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Jul 27, 2004
Messages
590
Specks of dirt. A four-second emulsion line. Supposedly high price. I must be living in a different universe because the nitpicking that goes on in some of these threads is so alien to me I just don't get it. No disrespect intended to anyone, but really, don't you think that Mr. Scorsese approved this transfer and is happy with it?
 

Carlo_M

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Yes a line has to be drawn somewhere. Do you get mad when you see cigarette burns or flecks, specks, pops and hiss at your local movieplex? Do you demand your entry fee back? How often are you successful?

Basically, without a pure digital transfer (i.e. film shot on digital, DVD created from that master) you will always have some form of blemishes or spots. I don't mind a fleck or two of dirt here, a speck there, it reminds us we're watching film which is an imperfect medium.

However the four-second emulsion line is a rather large error that, given digital technologies available today, could have been fixed at a relatively low cost.
 

Britton

Screenwriter
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Jun 3, 2001
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I read about this stripe down the middle of De Niro's face before I got the DVD, but I didn't even notice it while watching the movie because I was so deeply engrossed in the film. I'll be on the lookout for it next time I watch it.
 

Patrick McCart

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It's called an "optical." Opticals tend to have a little bit of dirt.


Also, I'm surprised about the comment on the DVD being "expensive." Warner usually prices everything insanely cheap (Their 9-film Hitchcock set, for example, has an SRP cheaper than the normal discount price of one of Universal's 8-film sets). Goodfellas is around $18 at most places. Does a few blemishes REALLY devalue a DVD to where $18 is too much?
 

Todd Robertson

Second Unit
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Dec 18, 2002
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293


I really do understand this...I'm the same way. however, I dont see how anyone could not see that....engrossed or not. I was totally having a sweet time with this film...again....but this time it just really hit me in the face and for 5 seconds...I was saying WTF?

yes....it's still a great dvd and a great film.
 

ArthurMy

Supporting Actor
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Jul 27, 2004
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"I really do understand this...I'm the same way. however, I dont see how anyone could not see that....engrossed or not. I was totally having a sweet time with this film...again....but this time it just really hit me in the face and for 5 seconds...I was saying WTF?"

I guess what is so fascinating about this sort of minutiae is that it is wholly a product of the DVD era. Suddenly a bunch of "new" movie fans are buying DVDs and they somehow expect every film from every era to be flawless. Well, they weren't always flawless on their initial release - the minute a print had been run once or twice, they got scratches or dirt and we never, never once, sat in a theater and said, "Gee, look at that five second line down the screen." We didn't say it for laserdiscs, either, and that was a true collector's niche market. But DVD, for whatever reasons, has made everyone into an expert on what films should look like, what transfers should and shouldn't be and it's just mind-boggling sometimes to read this stuff. Why would anyone say "WTF" looking at a five-second emulsion line? Again, it's fascinating to read these posts and I mean no disrespect to anyone here, but it's just baffling that these things become such huge topics and such huge deals - whether it's a speck of dirt (I mean, really, who cares) or if it's cover art that's not to someone's liking. I, on the other hand, sit here and think "Did I ever imagine a day when I'd be able to see and own some of my favorite classic films looking as wonderful and sharp as the day I first saw them?" (and yes, that includes the occasional dirt speck, grain, and the odd scratch.) It is interesting that people have sat in movie theaters for ninety years and counting and never complained of these things. I mean, do you complain when you see a changeover mark in the theater? Does that take you out of the movie when it happens twice every twenty minutes (or maybe they don't do them anymore now that these things are on big cores, but they certainly did them up to a few years ago)?
 

Britton

Screenwriter
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Jun 3, 2001
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Well, I was watching the movie in a 27" set, so that may account for me not noticing it. Frankily, I doubt it would have caused me to get off my couch kicking and cursing at the screen.
 

Tony-B

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Are we talking about the thing that runs down the right side of this picture? If not, then I can't see any flaws in it.
 

Patrick Mirza

Supporting Actor
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Mar 12, 1999
Messages
877
That line has been there ever since the beginning. I saw it during the theatrical run (and I saw Goodfellas 8 times when it was first released), it was there for the laserdisc, it was there for the cable showings and it's here again. Frankly,it's become part of the movie for me. I actually expect to see it there!

And by the way, amen to you ArthurMy. You said everything I was thinking. You rock!
 

GeorgePaul

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
274
I don't know what inspires this nitpicking about transfers either, Arthur. Besides the film reviewers on this site, I don't know a soul who has a display big enough or digital enough for such a scratch to interfere with the viewing experience of GoodFellas in any way.

But then again, most of the time I don't notice edge enhancement either--I'm just happy and grateful to have a cleaned-up special edition of a great movie. Go figure.
 

Robert Anthony

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Aug 31, 2003
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I just want to note, since I brought it up in the SE thread--I wasn't really complaining, and I'm not calling for the heads at Warner, or Scorcese's eyebrows or anything. I just noticed it and wondered if anyone else had seen it. Hell, I didn't really catch it until the very end of the scene, because I'm still a projector newbie and I'm so used to lines when I go to the theater, my mind just accepted it. I'd forgotten I was watching a DVD--

--which is actually a good thing :)
 

Joe Karlosi

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Nov 5, 2003
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Well said, Arthur. I think DVDs as they are now make a film look even BETTER than it did when projected theatrically; more often than not, at the movies there are more imperfections that are not in evidence at home on DVD.

I'm as picky as they come. Nobody's as sensitive to film imperfections as I am. I see little visual annoyances that nobody elese does when I'm watching something with others. Yet this complaining over a five second line is baffling.

We've got to get back into watching the movie, folks...
And I never lose sight of the fact that it's incredible simply to be able to actually own such pristine and convenient home libraries for my pleasure whenever I desire to watch a film.
 

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