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A Few Words About While we wait for A few words about...™ The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

rsmithjr

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Robert Smith
I have a question for those who think that the "blue" look of The King and I is OK. Please help me understand.

On what basis do you believe that it is ok? Here are some possible reasons:
1. "This is what the original prints looked like theatrically." If so, tell me your evidence.
2. "This is what Mr. Shamroy (or other creators) wanted." Again, evidence please.
3. "I like it this way." Ok, if that is your reason, good enough.

I have been through all of my materials, and what I can find elsewhere on this film. Nothing ever had this blue color balance.

Most of the materials have a predominately gold look as a matter of fact. No 35mm print that I saw was ever blue in the ways this Blu-ray is. The most recent print that I saw was very beautiful (2 years ago and it was quite new.)
 

Tom Logan

Second Unit
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May 23, 2003
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259
Will Krupp said:
See, that's why I'm thinking something HAS to be "off" but I can't for the life of me figure out what. I researched your projector but JoshZ beat me to the punch that it can't be frame interpolation as your projector doesn't have that option.
I'm similarly nagged. (And thanks for looking up my projector. Good Guy!)

Hmmm...maybe it's my receiver? Heck, I'm going to fool with that for awhile...
 

JoshZ

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Tom Logan said:
I'm similarly nagged. (And thanks for looking up my projector. Good Guy!)

Hmmm...maybe it's my receiver? Heck, I'm going to fool with that for awhile...
Frame interpolation can only be added at the display. There are many things your receiver can do that might mangle the image, but that isn't one of them. I'd think that any other bad setting at your receiver or Blu-ray player would affect everything you watch, not just this one movie.

You are probably just very sensitive to the high frame rate look.

Tom Logan said:
Are there any other major catalog releases at a different frame rate?

I don't believe so. The Hobbit movies were shot at 48 fps, which cannot be so easily adapted to 60 Hz, so the studio just forsook HFR and encoded the discs at the traditional 24 fps.
 

Tom Logan

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Thanks, for your help, Josh. As you predicted, nothing on my new receiver's (Denon AVR E-400) settings seems to diminish the hyper-smoothness, though there are a lot of different Video/Output settings (Video Mode, Video Conversion, i/p Scaler, Resolution [HDMI], Progressive Mode). Perhaps there's some combination of those settings and Blu-ray player settings that would make a difference, but I didn't stumble on it.

Guess I'm just hyper-sensitive. On the plus side, I can perceive ultraviolet and infrared waves as well as dog-whistles, so I guess it all balances out. :)
 

Steve Tannehill

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Another day passes by with nothing delivered by the USPS. This is what I get when I cancel Prime.
 

bujaki

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Steve,
I just got my R&H today (one day late with Prime), but I got an extra month of Prime out of it after my complaint.
 

Jefferson

Supporting Actor
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Apr 23, 2002
Messages
979
It has been a long while since I posted anything. This warrants it. My two cents as briefly as possible:

Oklahoma Todd-AO--beautiful resolution, as reported but the sound has been processed with great "oomph", but to me in sounds a bit muffled and not as crisp as the lasderdisc and previous dvd releases.

Oklahoma Cinemascope- Same picture and sound as previous release, but in HD.

Carousel--Looks very dark and dreary, color leaning toward the browns, especially skin tones. Sound seems identical to dvd release.

State Fair--Nice resolution, but color palette leaning toward the cherry reds and browns, which may have been intended, who knows.

I won't remark on Sound of Music or South Pacific, as they have already been released.

Finally, worst for last,
The King and I---this is the worst release I have on blu-ray. I have never seen a worse transfer of a classic film by a major studio.
All the blue "wash" look you have seen in the above screen grabs in the thread are accurate. My nonprofessional description is "it looks atrocious".
The sound seems identical or very similar to the dvd mix.

King and I is very nearly unwatchable to me and the sadness behind that statement is that I always looked at the dvd and said, "this would look gorgeous in HD". Well...it would have had the color palette not changed this drastically. It seems like an error.

So, there is my opinion, not that you asked for it.
I would never have spent money on this had I known.
 

GlennF

Supporting Actor
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Aug 11, 2013
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Toronto, Canada
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Glenn Frost
Well, this is all too depressing. After all the excitement people had and reading all the postings the last few weeks. I have been anxiously awaiting for these movies on HD for years. I would have ordered the set, but in Canada it never went below $159. Well, the good news is apparently I have saved a lot of money. The bad news it sounds like the King and I is ruined. I have seen it in the movie theatres with new prints and it has never been blue. The predominant colours are gold and burgundy, but not blue. What a shame. Like Jefferson I would watch the DVD and think, "This will look great in Blu-ray." I don't even have the VUDU option here in Canada. Carousel has never been my favourite, but a great transfer would have swayed me. I guess I now wait for the individual release of Oklahoma. A sad day.
 

Jefferson

Supporting Actor
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979
Mike, I am not smiling after sampling this release. I honestly have no precedent for it. I have never seen a major studio release of a classic look like this, or color palettes change this drastically from dvd to blu-ray. The King and I especially (though Carousel is a close second) just looks like an error. I realize the following is a slight exaggeration (not much), but some scenes have the color scheme of an old school film. I just don't have words, and I am very sorry that I spent this much money.
 

Doug Bull

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rsmithjr said:
I have a question for those who think that the "blue" look of The King and I is OK. Please help me understand.

On what basis do you believe that it is ok? Here are some possible reasons:
1. "This is what the original prints looked like theatrically." If so, tell me your evidence.
2. "This is what Mr. Shamroy (or other creators) wanted." Again, evidence please.
3. "I like it this way." Ok, if that is your reason, good enough.

I have been through all of my materials, and what I can find elsewhere on this film. Nothing ever had this blue color balance.

Most of the materials have a predominately gold look as a matter of fact. No 35mm print that I saw was ever blue in the ways this Blu-ray is. The most recent print that I saw was very beautiful (2 years ago and it was quite new.)
I saw "The King and I" several times during it's first run, I have projected it in 35mm, I have handled, repaired and even viewed individual frames from the 35mm film through a viewer, I have seen it on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and TV transmissions and it most certainly never had any emphases on BLUE.
The bluish moonlight sequence "Hello Young Lovers" is an exception. Blue was important to that scene.
Rich, warm and bright colours including GOLD was always the predominant look of the film.
I'm still waiting for my copy, but after seeing Deborah Kerr's skin tones in those "Getting to know you" scans I'm not looking forward to it.

Of course my comments at this time are only based on other member's views and scans, It should be interesting viewing when the disc arrives,

Did they actually paint those left over Temples from "The Egyptian" Blue for this film? ;)

Unfortunately my Parcel is going around in circles and after 4 days has not yet left the US. It's now in Ohio. :angry:
So much for the expensive DHL express 3-5 day service.

Doug.
 

John Maher_289910

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John Maher
Fox is the same company that gave us a beige STAR! on DVD, and had a colorist remove the golden hue in the opening credits of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Luckily, Robert Wise was still alive, and caught it. It's disheartening to think that they have no one who knows better, managing these transfers. I'm glad I didn't order this set. Sorry to hear about the sound on OKLAHOMA! I always thought it sounded great on laserdisc.
 

Mark Booth

Senior HTF Member
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Messages
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If anyone doubts that Todd-AO 'Oklahoma!' is encoded at 1080i, just go to the Extras menu and select Film Restoration.

i-2DPJmrg-X2.jpg



Mark
 

Noel Aguirre

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noel
Oklahoma- As gorgeous as the picture is, the sound disappointingly lacks- perhaps only noticeable on a full throttled system.
Is it because it's 7.1 and not 5.1? It's very weak.
And yes the THX Laserdisc was absolutely amazing.
 

Doug Bull

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Doug Bull
AnthonyClarke said:
My DHL simply says 'left the carrier facility' and 'in transit' but STILL not marked out for delivery. DHL is sitting on it.......
Anthony you can find the exact location of your parcel by clicking on 'tracking details' on your personal Amazon shipment tracking page.
Mine has just left Ohio, next stop? who knows.
Tell us how you get on.

Doug.
 

AnthonyClarke

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Doug Bull said:
Anthony you can find the exact location of your parcel by clicking on 'tracking details' on your personal Amazon shipment tracking page.
Mine has just left Ohio, next stop? who knows.
Tell us how you get on.

Doug.
Thanks Doug ... looks like we're in the same shipment. Mine now reads : April 30, 2014, 6:15 am, Cincinnati Hub OH US Package has left the carrier facility

So it's at last on the move. I'm on the move too, travelling to Algiers this evening ... courtesy of my old company Opera Australia (for whom I worked for 12 years after leaving The Age) and Rossini, at the State Theatre tonight .. 'The Turk in Algiers'. Not quite Oklahoma but should be fun.
 

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