New Films on DVD!

"Gone with the Wind" . . . do we really need another version?"

Well, welcome back, wh! Not that high up on my list of favorites but the advanced restoration is news because it will mean a lot of classics will benefit from the process. I assume those marketing new DVD's believe it will be a big seller -- haven't checked Amazon or Variety to find out yet. What films would you say have been offered on TV, video tape or DVD in less than acceptable quality and you'd like to see in close to their pristine original form? I just saw "The Big Country" with a very good 35MM print on hi-def (VOOM satellite) and it was amazing. The blurry pan-and-scan days are at last over. Of course, GWTW was conventional ratio although there was a release many years ago in a wide screen version which only cropped the top and bottom of the image. On my wide screen TV, I'm not sure I'd want to see it in the stretched mode (where the edges of the image are distored to fill the screen).

I've had "White Heat" on my list of "must have" dvds for a long time, and I was searching through Amazon.com (filling up my holiday gift list) when I found this: Warners Gangsters Collection. Six classic Warner Bros. gangster movies, including: "The Public Enemy;" "White Heat;" "Angels With Dirty Faces;" "Little Caesar;" "The Petrified Forest;" and "The Roaring Twenties."

Getting just "White Heat" in a newly restored version is cause to celebrate, but getting these six films, in one package, is absolutely divine. All of these films need restoration (especially "Little Caesar"), and all have, to my knowledge, either not been released on dvd or have been out of print. Unfortunately, this collection won't be released until January 25 -- not in time for Christmas -- but it's at the top of my wish list.

Excellent news! Only film buffs will likely recognize that even black-and-white benefits greatly by these new restoration processes. The new DVD of "Metropolis" is awesome.

The classic "M" is probably the longest awaited Criterion restoration. The previous prints have been somewhat choppy and blurry prints so appreciating the grandaddy of all serial killer movies was diminished. If it's as good as the restoration of "Metropolis," it will be a great addition to any library of classic films.

"The Bourne Supremacy" is a spy thriller right up there with the best so at least it is definitely worth renting for lovers of the genre. It's resemblance to "Three Days of the Condor" is forgiven.

As an owner of the previous Criterion edition of "M," I'm not altogether happy about the news of a new edition. According to the review I read in the NYTimes, Criterion issued the previous edition without realizing that the correct aspect ratio of the film was a strange German 1.19:1 rather than the standard Hollywood 1.33:1. That would mean that in the previous edition, which had a standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio, some image was lost at the top and bottom of the screen. Now, the difference between 1.33 and 1.19 is not huge, and frankly I don't recall ever thinking that there was any obvious cropping -- but I'm sure I'll be looking for it from now on.

Anyway, I'm satisfied with the previous edition, and I'm not going to run out and buy the new one -- especially since Criterion discs can be rather pricey. I just wish they had gotten it right the first time around.

This is a high defintion digital transfer which is the major advancement in the new edition plus many extra features:

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=30§ion=feature

It's a list price of $39.95 but I'm sure one could find it for less.

I haven't found any major critics reviewing the new set, however there are several reviews of the older "restoration" and they're not good. Apparantly a lot of scratches on the negative and flickering. Digital transfer can clean all these problems up so I may rent the disc before I buy it.

LW: The question, then, is do I hate the scratches and flickers on my old Criterion edition of "M" enough to plunk down $30-40 on a new edition? I don't think so. "M" is an old movie; I expect imperfections.

I will, however, pay whatever is needed when a competent company (like Criterion or Kino or Image) comes out with a fully restored series of early Marx Bros. films. I mentioned elsewhere about Universal's release of the first five Marx Brothers' films. Unfortunately, there was no attempt whatsoever to restore the prints that have been in general circulation for years (the lambasting that this collection has received from Amazon.com reviewers is, to my mind, totally justified). It's nice to have these movies in my possession, no matter what shape they're in, but I'll continue to wait for the day when they are fully restored.

I wasn't aware that the latest collection of Marx Bros. was not up-to-par. That is reprehensible considering Universal certainly has the bucks to do digital hi-def restorations (although the hi-def is reduced in resolution to DVD, it's still a better method of reproduction). I did go ahead and rent the movie only "M" disc from NetFlix and may order the second disc of extra features. I'll report what improvement there is as I did rent the Criterion disc several years ago and remember the quality of the print and sound.

"The Bourne Supremacy" is the best of the Ludlum adaptations. They got the storytelling and pacing right this time and what a car chase! The location shooting really gave the film a you-are-there quality.

The Bourne Supremacy
Good news that The Bourne Supremacy is a hit. There seem to be so few new good movies of late. What else do you recommend from the past 6 months or so, Lightwiz??

I'd personally recommend from what I've recently seen, "Saved!" on DVD and "Finding Neverland" in theaters. There are a lot movies out right now with some outstanding critical response -- see the Critic and Film thread. I guess I should add the DVD review links to this thread!

I see thatt Overboard will be released next week.

Are you sure you don't mean "Open Water?" I don't see "Overboard" on any list, even the complete lists and there are even two movies with that same title, one with Goldie Hawn and one a TV movie based on a novel.

yeahh, sorry. Overboard waS THE OLD gOLDIE hAWN MOVIE . yEAH,---- OPEN WATER---- WAS THE TALE ABOUT 2 PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND WHILE ON A SCUBA TRIP. SORRY, I HAVE TO SEE THAT MOVIE, ANYTTHING ABOUT BEING ON THE SEA ALONE IS FOR ME.

I just enjoy the hell out of farmerdude's posts.

It's not even so much what he says (which is usually classic) as it is how he says it.

His caps lock gets stuck sometimes so he's not really shouting. gOLDIE hAWN would love it.

my office computer is packed away while Im getting some cabinet work done. This laptop has a glitch in the keyboard that, causes the surprise caps and double letters.

I often want to take it outt and shoot the damn thing in the screen , just to see what comes out.
But that would leave me dependent on others computers and , in our family , everyone uses complex passwords (except my wife who uses "password", probably the most used password in the world)

We saw Bourne SUpremacy. It was ok, not a nail biter but good enough that nobody left till it was over. We even shut it down because somebody had to let the doggies out to make wee wee.

Suiggest getting some canned air and blow out the keyboard -- that's the most common cause of that type of malfunction. I found "The Bourne Supremacy" more suspenseful than the first one but "Three Days of the Condor" is still my favorite as well as "The Parallax View" and, of course, "The Manchurian Candidate."