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Author
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Topic: Bluray woes ...
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 12, 2018 11:59 AM
OK ...
recently I wrote that i was very happy to finally find "Somewhere in Time", a beloved favorite of my wife and I, (and A very rare optical super 8 sound film which I am still looking for).
We got the bluray and I was absolutely horrified!
All the faces looked orange-ish or brown. I was thinking that this can't possibly be right, so i pulled out my DVD of this and sure enough, the DVD release had perfect spot on colors.
Now, the bluray was largely devoid of lots of grain and was exceptionally sharp, but I can't understand how the very company of origin would put out a bluray of a film and have such poor quality control! It actually looks like they used an archival negative that was quite possibly a Kodak SP print that was on the very beginnings of fade, (the facial tones are the first thing to really go with Kodak SP).
This isn't the only "studio of origin" bluray that has looked really bad. Warner Brother bluray of "The Neverending Story" is a very bad color scheme, where some scenes are so off that it's literally an orangish brown mess, (when the creatures are told that the empress is deathly ill) ...
The very funny thing is that another bluray has come out from a master print by "Constantin" films, and that bluray have perfect spot on color?!
I'm amazed that they (studios) would put out such horrid bluray copies of these films! I tossed "Somewhere in Time" in the bin and kept the DVD copy!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Thomas Murin, Jr.
Master Film Handler
Posts: 260
From: Lanoka Harbor, NJ, USA
Registered: Sep 2009
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posted July 14, 2018 05:19 PM
Osi, SIT on Blu looks the way it's supposed to.
From the Somewhere In Time website:
SIT was the first film to be photographed using two different film stocks, for the purpose of enhancing the contrast between two different time periods. Present scenes were shot using Eastman/Kodak stock for its realism, and 1912 scenes utilized Fujifilm stock, for its softer, almost sepia tones, suggested by Cinematographer Izzy Mankofsky. A pastel palette was used exclusively for past scenes to enhance this effect. Also, 1912 scenes favored the use of wide angle lenses, whereas present shots used longer lenses (telephoto). Director Szwarc felt this, too, would enhance the time period variations.
No one screwed up the video transfer. This is the first home video release of the movie to accurately represent the original photography.
The DVD used the 1981 laserdisc transfer but with widescreen formatting. That transfer has been widely critised for it's poor quality.
The Blu-Ray was from an 2K scan of the interpositive. Director Jennot Szwarc supervised and approved the transfer and final mastering.
Not to say, a new 4K scan couldn't get better results but, like the 1978 Superman, SIT will always remain a soft and hazy experience.
Colorwise, the 1912 scenes are not meant to look "realistic" but are meant to invoke an era long gone.
I can't believe you threw away the Blu! It's the DVD you should've tossed!
Anyway, I hope this helped you understand what the makers of SIT were going for.
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My crummy Deviant Art account. Read my poetic tribute to the internet comic strip Ozy & Millie and view my crappy attempts at art.
http://cougartiger.deviantart.com/
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 17, 2018 12:15 PM
I love ya all too! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Just because we don't all agree on everything, doesn't change the awesome time I always have on here.
Yeah, it wasn't my old school TV we were watching it on either. I put it on my PC with the bluray and i still noticed the same thing, but i did notice a difference between the two film stocks on the bluray ...
and, ya know, if I could find that super 8 optical sound feature, even if it was a little faded or not by now ...
I'd still buy it!
I was so impressed with this film when it first came out and I'm still just as impressed with it! It is so unabashedly old school romantic and not a bit apologetic about it! It was so refreshing to see and honestly, I ersonally feel that I haven't seen another film that is this beautifully romantic since it came out.
I wonder if that is why Teresa Wright (one of the actresses) did the film, as she was one of the better actresses of the 40's. She always had a soft spoken way to her (I think she was at her best in "The Best Years of Our Lives"), and this was a film that could have just as easily been made in the 1940's!
Even the soundtrack by John Barry is absolutely spot on!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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