Your thoughts on Kino-Lorber Blu-rays (5 Viewers)

[Malcolm R]

I wish they'd add more filtering/sort options. I'd probably end up buying more if I didn't have to trudge through 500 sale titles page-by-page. Most times I get so frustrated I just close the site without buying anything.

 

[Paul Penna]

I wish they'd add more filtering/sort options. I'd probably end up buying more if I didn't have to trudge through 500 sale titles page-by-page. Most times I get so frustrated I just close the site without buying anything.

Seven filter options: Format, Genre, Director, Cast, Country, Decade and Price. Ten sorting options including variations for Price, Title, Director and Year. That and having the title in text in addition to the thumbnail is just what I was hoping for.

 

[Malcolm R]

Seven filter options: Format, Genre, Director, Cast, Country, Decade and Price. Ten sorting options including variations for Price, Title, Director and Year. That and having the title in text in addition to the thumbnail is just what I was hoping for.

These are available within the "sale" screens? Not just the entire Kino inventory?

 

[Paul Penna]

IMHO it's only a marginal improvement, if at all, over the prior incarnation. Neither is all that good.

For me the filtering and sorting options, plus having the title in text along with the thumbnail is just what I was hoping for. A big improvement.

 

[Paul Penna]

These are available within the "sale" screens? Not just the entire Kino inventory?

If those filtering and sorting options aren't, they ought to be. Maybe it's a work in progress.

 

[Capt D McMars]

I see on the newly revised website that my wish list has completely vanished.

 

[RobertMG]

For me the filtering and sorting options, plus having the title in text along with the thumbnail is just what I was hoping for. A big improvement.

Also a lot of street dates added to releases that have been announced

 

[Garysb]

THE CRUSADES (1935) Starring Loretta Young

The film was made directly after "Call of The Wild" so Loretta Young was pregnant with Clark Gable's daughter during the production of this film. Guess you will have to look close to see if noticeable on blu ray.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Rest in peace, William “Bill” Olson (CODE RED), aka the notorious and infamous Banana Man. Bill was a legend in the home entertainment industry and will be sorely missed. In his memory, we will continue to acquire films he loved and hoped to release through Kino Lorber.

Banana Man pictured here with horror legend Robert Englund

 

[Camps]

Just received my Diamond Wizard disc and am watching it now. I'll have more to say about it after I've had a chance to take in the commentary and extras but here's an initial take:

It's spectacular!

A remarkable restoration from admittedly imperfect source material. Yes, there's some graininess visible in certain scenes but if you've seen the 4:3 print used on Netflix a few years back you will find this a revelation. Joyously entertaining depth and separation in a number of instances, especially the laboratory scenes.

This is certainly better than this title has looked at least since its original theatrical screenings (which, IIRC, were not even in 3D).

I've pined for this disc for a while; it checks a number of boxes for me:

- Classic 3D: Check
- Noir elements: Check
- Proto-James Bondian elements: Check
- Sci-fi elements: Check
- Oscars-worthy scripting and direction? Who cares??! I'm having fun watching it!!

The first UK 3D feature and I am so glad to have this little piece of history now in my grubby paws.

Now we have blu rays of my two most-desired MGM 3D classics -- this and the breathtakingly stunning Gog restoration -- with a third, Bwana Devil (the one that started this all...) on the way next year.

Can't wait for more.....

 

[Kaskade1309]

I just received my first Kino 4K Blu, Escape From Alcatraz (prior to this, I only purchased one other disc from the label, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three on 1080p Blu-ray), and while the transfer and audio were acceptable, I was put off by the fact that there were no chapter selections authored onto the disc. The only other time I experienced this was when I picked up the Mill Creek Blu-ray of 2011's The Thing prequel -- it really becomes something of a pain when you leave off at a certain place the night before on a disc, and then have to physically skip to find the spot the next evening (or whenever you finishing viewing it).

 

[Robert Crawford]

One minor quibbling. Just want to know what happened to the transfer on Pool of London. It looks like it was sourced from an old VHS copy, riddled in edge effects, digital noise, etc. Chroma bleeding too. Contrast - feeble. Dirt, damage etc. - everywhere! I know this was a port over from StudioCanal but even then, the quality here is well below par for what we are used to seeing either from Kino or StudioCanal. It really was a letdown for such a fine film.

Unfortunately, I think from time to time we're going to experience some substandard releases due to the number of titles Kino releases per month and digging deep into some studio catalog libraries. Thanks for the heads up as this will be one of the first titles I watch next week when my big order of 15 titles is received by me. I love Kino, but, I know going in that most of their releases are not going to match the quality of Warner Archive releases.

Well, I finally watched the "Pool of London" Blu-ray and didn't think it was that bad. It's not pristine, but nothing took me out of the movie as I was totally engrossed with my first viewing of this fine movie. I'll listen to the audio commentary on my next viewing of this Blu-ray and will pay closer attention to the video presentation.

 

[Camps]

Received my Kino blu ray of the late great Henry Silva's 1967 Eurospy outing Assassination and am very happy to jettison my old Japanese DVD.

Excellent picture and sound quality on what is one of the more intelligent and competent titles in the genre. An enjoyable commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson -- coincidentally taped within hours of the news of Silva's passing -- provided me some fresh insights to the '60s Euro film industry. I'm actually partial to multi-party commentaries; I like the conversational approach.

Anyway, I recommend this to any fellow Eurospy fans and I hope Kino can secure more such titles.

 

[Gerani53]

Well, I finally watched the "Pool of London" Blu-ray and didn't think it was that bad. It's not pristine, but nothing took me out of the movie as I was totally engrossed with my first viewing of this fine movie. I'll listen to the audio commentary on my next viewing of this Blu-ray and will pay closer attention to the video presentation.

I agree about Warner Archives, Robert... remarkable releases, and they have the resources to make them special events (the recent WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM restoration, for example). That said, Kino has been delighting fans with quite a few negative scans lately, in some cases prepared by the parent studio. Kino's current version of Paramount's VistaVision THE RAINMAKER is astonishing, right up there with the best WAC releases. And the 4Ks on the Leone westerns are absolutely breathtaking, the best I've ever seen these movies look.

I just want to request that "The Unseen" (1945) be one of those 1940s film. I've never seen this follow-up film to "The Uninvited" by the same director and studio. A Paramount title that Universal now owns has never been released on disc in the States.

I saw the movie years ago, on WNEW-TV in NY; it was in the same syndicated MCA-TV package as THE UNINIVITED. It's not a bad film, and there are some atmospheric touches. But the absence of a supernatural element reduces events to traditional murder-mystery levels.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Just received my Diamond Wizard disc and am watching it now. I'll have more to say about it after I've had a chance to take in the commentary and extras but here's an initial take:

It's spectacular!

A remarkable restoration from admittedly imperfect source material. Yes, there's some graininess visible in certain scenes but if you've seen the 4:3 print used on Netflix a few years back you will find this a revelation. Joyously entertaining depth and separation in a number of instances, especially the laboratory scenes.

This is certainly better than this title has looked at least since its original theatrical screenings (which, IIRC, were not even in 3D).

I've pined for this disc for a while; it checks a number of boxes for me:

- Classic 3D: Check
- Noir elements: Check
- Proto-James Bondian elements: Check
- Sci-fi elements: Check
- Oscars-worthy scripting and direction? Who cares??! I'm having fun watching it!!

The first UK 3D feature and I am so glad to have this little piece of history now in my grubby paws.

Now we have blu rays of my two most-desired MGM 3D classics -- this and the breathtakingly stunning Gog restoration -- with a third, Bwana Devil (the one that started this all...) on the way next year.

Can't wait for more.....

ok. How good of a film is it? Does the plot hold together?

 

[Robert Crawford]

ok. How good of a film is it? Does the plot hold together?

I plan to watch my Blu-ray later on today.

 

[Camps]

ok. How good of a film is it? Does the plot hold together?

One of the many nice aspects of Diamond Wizard is that it has an intelligent, even somewhat intricate plot (with the occasional twist), that requires the viewer to pay attention -- which can be challenging when you're immersed in the strong 3D. The acting and pacing are solid, and it can be an eyeful to look at in parts.

If you're a fan of classic 3D -- or even a non-3D-equipped fan of '50s British mystery or action films, you'll be happy with this purchase.

 

[RolandL]

One of the many nice aspects of Diamond Wizard is that it has an intelligent, even somewhat intricate plot (with the occasional twist), that requires the viewer to pay attention -- which can be challenging when you're immersed in the strong 3D. The acting and pacing are solid, and it can be an eyeful to look at in parts.

If you're a fan of classic 3D -- or even a non-3D-equipped fan of '50s British mystery or action films, you'll be happy with this purchase.

$19.78 on eBay with free shipping.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Mr Insider, is Away All Boats (1956) in the pipeline?

 

[Richard M S]

Doesn't Kino have a Black Friday sale? Can we expect an announcement this weekend?