Which Aspect Ratio(s) is your preference for "Shane" on Blu-ray? (2 Viewers)

[Everett S.]

Both.

 

[Brent Reid]

I have absolutely no interest in George Stevens Jr's digital jiggery pokery (it's the worst of both worlds), and I've attempted to see the film wide myself (via zoom); it wasn't pretty.

Hi John,


The above was the part of your post that led me to believe you weren't concerned about having the second disc. I see you are after all though and I hope you enjoy it. I'll still be waiting for the single disc edition.


As for others' opinions on the African Queen BDs: we've already hashed that one out in other threads relevant to those releases. We'll have to agree to disagree. Whatever one thinks of their feature video presentation subjectively, it's an unassailable fact that the UK disc bests the US in every other area objectively.

 

[Dr Griffin]

I'd like to see it in 2.76:1, just once.

 

[John Hodson]

For what it's worth, the US Warner disc is the stereo option. It's the mono option that is missing. This is a modern rechanneling as the stereo tracks from 1953 are lost.

Sorry Mark, but this has been bothering me a tad; every review says the DTS-HD 2.0 track on the Warner/Paramount disc is mono, and I cannot for the life of me hear separation in the track myself.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Sorry Mark, but this has been bothering me a tad; every review says the DTS-HD 2.0 track on the Warner/Paramount disc is mono, and I cannot for the life of me hear separation in the track myself.

Yeah, just because its encoded in 2.0 doesn't mean its actually in stereo. In fact its usually better to encode mono that way anyway (single channel tends to sound shriller to my ears).

 

[Mark-P]

Sorry Mark, but this has been bothering me a tad; every review says the DTS-HD 2.0 track on the Warner/Paramount disc is mono, and I cannot for the life of me hear separation in the track myself.

That's because all those reviewers are listening to it in direct mode with sound coming only from the left and right speakers. Engage pro-logic mode and you will hear dialog in the center and music and effects gently opened up into the rest of the speaker array. This is a Chace remix from the dialog and music & effects tracks, not the original sound stems, so there is no true stereo separation.

 

[John Hodson]

Ahhh...

 

[Mark-P]

Yeah, just because its encoded in 2.0 doesn't mean its actually in stereo. In fact its usually better to encode mono that way anyway (single channel tends to sound shriller to my ears).

For the record Warner's Shane label says "DTS-HD Master Audio: Engish 2S". The "S" standing for stereo, as opposed to say their label on All the President's Men which says "DTS-HD Master Audio: English 2M".

 

[Brent Reid]

Annoying when 'reviewers' don't know the difference between mono and stereo, don't bother to find out, and describe soundtracks incorrectly as a result. Basic stuff but it happens on pretty much every major site at regular intervals - even this one...

 

[Lord Dalek]

Regular intervals? Hell it happens with pretty much every non-5.1 review at Beaver now!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, my copy of Shane has dispatched from the UK.

 

[DVDvision]

Just received mine! It's a great package. Can't wait to dive into it.

 

[John Hodson]

Mine arrived a few days ago. For my money, the scene worst crippled by the original 1.66:1 framing is the final gunfight. I've never been one for pointing at 'caps showing heads clipped as the smoking gun in any AR controversy - sometimes heads are meant to be slightly cropped - but they are cropped here and egregiously so. That long deep shot with Brother Rufe in mid-frame, the bar tender at the top and the dog right at the bottom of the frame only just works wide, but it is *miles* better in Academy. Ladd struggles to keep in frame almost during the whole of the rest of this fast cut scene.

The cropping brings an unnecessary narrative claustrophobia to many interiors and leaves many gorgeous exteriors hamstrung. How Stevens must have struggled in editing to present a film shot in Academy to the panoramic screen that wasn't a total disaster. And a film that won Oscar to boot. You have to say 'bravo'.

And you have to say 'bravo' to Eureka for what is a fantastic package - stereo / mono (and make no mistake the film boasts a wonderful sound mix), Academy and both widescreen iterations (even though I stand by my view that, from a historical perspective - and this presentation is all about historical perspective - Stevens Jr's digital recut isn't worth a plug nickel). One of the best and most important westerns of all time gets the presentation it deserves; come home Shane...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, I'm still waiting on my package from the UK.

 

[Douglas R]

Mine arrived a few days ago. For my money, the scene worst crippled by the original 1.66:1 framing is the final gunfight. I've never been one for pointing at 'caps showing heads clipped as the smoking gun in any AR controversy - sometimes heads are meant to be slightly cropped - but they are cropped here and egregiously so. That long deep shot with Brother Rufe in mid-frame, the bar tender at the top and the dog right at the bottom of the frame only just works wide, but it is *miles* better in Academy. Ladd struggles to keep in frame almost during the whole of the rest of this fast cut scene.
.

Exactly what I thought John. That climactic gunfight looks absolutely wrong cropped to widescreen. The rest of the film works reasonable well in 1.66:1 but it's clear that the film was designed for Academy. Nevertheless, full marks to Eureka for a great package and for allowing us the opportunity to view how audiences saw the film when it first opened.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Mine arrived in California yesterday (12/9). I'm not technically region-free; I need the "trick" (discussed in other threads) for the LG (and Panasonic?) players to work on these discs.


Even if the "trick" does not work, though, I'll not regret getting the discs first, especially if they are genuinely a limited edition of 2,000. As they say: "Content is king". I figure I'll always have time to resolve hardware issues down the road, if need be.

 

[DVDvision]

Great package. This was a transitional film so this edition is the only one that can be regarded as definitive. Choosing to release only one format, esp. not the actual theatrical format goes against all the principles of home-cinema. Theatrical representation IS KING, especially when it has an historical reasonance like here.


So now we can enjoy Shane it all it's glory: the purist original 4/3 intended format, and the theatrical 1.66:1 (which gives me shivers because I can now put myself back in the original audience who discovered for the first time WIDESCREEN format shoes).


This is everything home-cinema should be.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, I'm still waiting on my package from the UK.

Mine finally arrived today, but still waiting on The Quiet Man which I ordered the same time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yesterday afternoon, I watched Stevens Jr. recut of the movie, but I was too caught up in the movie to notice any problems with its framing. Today, I'll try to revisit to watch all three versions again to the specific final gunfight scene.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

Here's some special insider information for your Christmas viewing.
Because Alan Ladd was so short it was decided to make the film in a wide ratio but the studio balked at 2:20. However, had they managed to cast Alan Ladd's preferred co-star, the equally tiny Veronica Lake, there was permission to work in 2:76.
But because Jean Arthur was cast instead 2:76 was abandoned and that's why there is controversey today about exactly what was intended.
Still, it's lead to many many happy hours of chat and discussion and learned disertation and experiments by members so it can't all have been a a complete waste of time. Or maybe it has. How much longer ??