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This one tonight blu-ray using the Epson VP, excellent picture with Dolby Digital 5:1 sound. It was nice change to take a step back in time to 1969. I like the line..... "shut up and drink your gin"
Tonight blu-ray on the VP was once again "Aliens" 1986. I was just thinking its been 35 years since we first watched it as a double feature, the other being the "The Fly", being the first of the double feature, that was a long night that I do remember.
Regarding the blu-ray of "Aliens" I would certainly recommend watching the "extended special edition" at 157 minutes. There is a introduction by James Cameron who states that this was the version that he wanted to release, but was unable to at the time, due to restrictions placed on him regarding the cinema running time.
Thankfully that extra footage was never thrown out, as it now completes the story far more, than the initial 137 minute cinema release way back in 1986.
another screening of "JoJo Rabbit" blu-ray on the VP
Some of the cast of "Jo Jo Rabbit"...I remember Scarlett Johansson in the film "Lucy" and Sam Rockwell in "The Way Way Back" both are good movies and well worth a watch.
Last weekend I got to see an advanced copy of the upcoming Kino Lorber/3D Archive release the 1977 3D Chinese martial arts film Dynasty. The film is a lot of fun. The Bluray maintains the original widescreen “scope” aspect ratio and the original film quadraphonic magnetic stereo sound which was flawlessly transfer to the appropriate DTS channels. There are 3 versions of the film on the disc, the standard Bluray 3D which requires a 3D Bluray player and 3D display, an anaglyph versions that will play on any Bluray player and display with red/cyan glasses (1 pair included), and a 2D version. I watched the standard Bluray 3D version. The special features include a short documentary on the Super 3D lens system, 3D Slide Shows of 1950’s/1960’s 3D advertising and a 3D slide tour of a huge department store. The final extra was a 3D animated music video.
As to the restoration and transfer, the original film source elements either no longer exists or are not available (not sure which). This transfer was made from mixing and matching the best theatrical reels from the film, cleaning them up, and restoring the color. The color restoration was fantastic. You can see how faded those reels originally looked by watching the special feature on the Super 3D process which has some pictures of the actual 35mm film. Watching the film itself, you cannot tell they were ever faded.
The only negative things I could see, and they are all from the source material, and could not be cleaned up (they tried), is that some (not all) of the long shots had soft focus and/or slight vertical jitter. In spite of that, it was never bad enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the film. I highly recommend this disc as a must have for anyone who is a fan of 3D and/or martial arts films.
This bluray will be released on April 13, unfortunately region "A" locked.
Dynasty color correction before/after pictures, courtesy of the 3D Archive:
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI on blu ray with its glorious black and white and all the shadows and dutch angles and Rita Hayworth absolutely luminous! This is 1.37 to 1 and mono sound. Some Academy Format blu ray releases are still 1.33 oddly enough.
Vintage 9-5 sound film scans at 2K now on BR Very detailed and spotted things in the background I've never noticed on the projected films. The 9-5 prints used were at least 70+ years old. It will be on sale later this year.
This would be the first time I have watched "Chariots of Fire" on blu-ray projected using the Epson VP. The quality of the transfer is really outstanding in both picture quality and DTS-HD 5:1. Its hard to take in, that its been 40 years since I first watched "Chariots of Fire" at the little Roxy cinema down the road from where we live about 1981-82 .
In later years I managed to come across a nice 16mm print, which to this day, I still have mounted on two very full 2200ft reels. The 16mm print is still in excellent condition with no fade at all.
However watching the blu-ray I can now fully appreciate the outstanding Vangelis soundtrack, which at the time, was most popular in LP form. I had been putting it of watching the blu-ray, simply because of the 16mm print which I still watch every so often. Last night it was a real joy, to just sit back and watch once again take in this Academy award winning film, including best picture for 1981.
Only survived the first half excellent picture and sound transfer. Now the downside to this blu-ray and hopefully one you wont encounter. The blu-ray player froze at the Disc one top menu... went black. Tried a few times, more the same thing happened. Disc two, no problem at all. Tried a Panasonic player on Disc one, it worked, later tried another Panasonic player it froze in exactly in the same place as the Pioneer did.
I checked the internet to see if anyone else has had this problem of freezing up, and discovered I was not alone. This is the first time I have had a disc do this, as I have received discs eg, from France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the UK ,region free from the US. None of those discs played up, so this is a first for me.
If you do buy "Cleopatra" you might not have any problems, depending on your player hopefully reading it, however its something you might want to remember, that it might be a possibility to have a problem with the disc, not your player.
Now for the movie, first its long and I do mean long. The sets looked great as with the costumes. However to be honest that was all the good points I can think of and that was only the first half. Rex Harrison acted like he had just come of the set of the brilliant "My Fair Lady" and all he had done was to change costumes. The point of no return for me, was long drawn out entrance of Cleopatra played by Elizabeth Taylor to Rome. Boy did that go on and on, way over the top for me. Hope I have not offended those that might like this epic.
I asked my better half, second opinion, who at the start was really keen to watch it, what did she thinkas she was thinking, I asked was it worse than watching 2001 at the cinema?, Yvonne replied no its worse, wait a minute, how can it be worse than 2001, you slept through that one.
Anyway each to there own certainly the blu-ray box cover looked good
Just a pity that "Carry on Cleo" doesn't seem to be available on Blu Ray. With that you could have seen the full splendor of the sets built in Britain for Cleopatra before they moved production.
Graham, what you are describing is usually caused by outdated firmware in your player. New copy-protection schemes often require firmware updates in order to play. You might try using MakeMKV to convert the disc to an MKV you can play on any PC.
As for the movie, Cleopatra was made to be released as two movies, not one. Unfortunately part two is truly a piece of crap. In other words, when "Intermission" appears, the movie is over.
blu-ray using the Epson VP, excellent picture with Dolby Digital 5:1 sound. It was nice change to take a step back in time to 1969. I like the line..... "shut up and drink your gin" 
since we first watched it as a double feature, the other being the "The Fly", being the first of the double feature, that was a long night that I do remember.
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