Blu-Ray Review: Woodstock

1970 - Warner Brothers
Directed By Michael Wadleigh



The cultural landmark of the 60's generation meets the high tech 21st century.


The film looks as good as it possibly can. It was entirely shot in 16mm and never looked amazing blown up to 35mm. Like a Bob Dylan song... the voice is not pretty, but what the voice says is what's important. The blu-ray makes it look as good as it ever did.


The disc includes the 1994 Director's Cut along with some cool bonus features.

Instead of one long documentary covering the festival, the making-of documentary is chopped up into about 15 different segments (totaling about 1 hour and 20 minutes) on one topic (like the concert lineup, cameras used, production problems, the legacy.) This makes it easier to go through. Included is a Hugh Hefner interview of director Wadleigh on the TV show Playboy After Dark

One of the highlights of  Criterion's amazing Monterey Pop box set was the inclusion of roughly 30 performances not included in the original film. Woodstock's blu-ray follows this model and doesn't disappoint. 18 never-before-seen performances are included... with performers that never appeared in the original film (or director's cut) like Creedence Clearwater Revival (3 songs!) Paul Butterfield, Johnny Winter, and the Grateful Dead (a 37-minute take on Bobby 'Blue' Bland's "Turn On Your Lovelight.") Additional performances by bands in the film include The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joan Baez, Country Joe McDonald, Canned Heat, Sha Na Na, Joe Cocker, Santana and Mountain. These can be viewed separate from the film and YOU can arrange and watch them in any order that you want!

A fluff piece on the Museum of Bethel Woods is also included... a museum that chronicles the 60's and the Woodstock experience.

For anyone who was there... or wishes they were... this blu-ray is the best way to live the Woodstock experience today.

Blu-Ray Review: The General

1926
Directed By Buster Keaton + Clyde Bruckman

One of the greatest of all silent films was one of the very first to make the leap to blu-ray.... and the transfer is amazing.
The added clarity of blu-ray adds so much to The General. The film has been the victim of poor, cheap public domain releases for decades. The first time I saw the film some of the nighttime sequences were so dark, you couldn't tell what was going on at all, while during the day, the focus was muddy or the film was brutally scratched up. Kino International's print cures ALL those ills.
 There is NOT ONE scratch on the film the whole way through. There are small white speckles throughout the print but they are minor and not distracting. What is distracting, is the added clarity and sharpness draws your eyes away from the action to stare at the beauty of the surroundings! (This is NOT a complaint!)

Accompanying the film is your choice of three completely different musical scores and several extras:

--- The General was based on an event during the Civil War known as the 'Great Locomotive Chase' when Union operatives stole the locomotive and several southerners raced to get it back. You can learn this history and get a tour of the real General, which resides in a Georgia museum. This is the longest special feature and runs nearly 20 minutes.
---'A brief tour of filming locations' is also included, though the 'tour' is just a few of black and white photos interspersed with footage of the film. At a scant 4 minutes, it barely scratches the surface.
--- Two filmed introductions of past TV airings are also included, one by Gloria Swanson, the other by Orson Welles.
--- A 5 minute montage of Keaton's many humorous uses of trains from his shorts and other feature films.
--- And last and probably the rarest, a minute of home movies taken of the making of the film. I doubt much behind the scenes footage exists from the silent era, so it's great to see this brief glimpse.

The extras are not exhaustive, but provide excellent support for this classic. Due to the high esteem the film has, I'm surprised there is no audio commentary by a film historian that could shed more insight on the making of the film. Did the various musical scores take up too much space on the disc?

This is the best possible way to see The General, until time machines are invented so we can see it pristine on opening day.

Blu-Ray Review: Bambi

1942 - Walt Disney Pictures
Directed By David Hand



Disney once again outdoes itself in bringing one of its greatest classics to high def.
The jaw-dropping animation has never looked better... from the opening pan through the forest, to the spring, to the winter snow, to the climactic fire. The fifth Disney animated feature build upon the previous four in quality and technical precision. The blu-ray highlights this astounding achievement.

To accompany the film, Bambi has an entire forest-worth of special features.
Two new (but not actually completed) cut scenes are included, along with a modern recording of a deleted song. Interactive Galleries let you look at production drawings and others... in a far more advanced way than those terrible photo galleries in the early days of DVD.

Inside Walt's Story Meetings is like taking a DVD commentary to the next level. Actors reenact the actual transcripts of story meetings between Disney, his animators, and writers right along with the movie. Plus, bonus content (like 2 Mickey Mouse cartoons) can be accessed when a pop-up message appears.

The disc also debuts the studio's new Second Screen feature which can sync a laptop or iPad to the film to provide even more bonus content. Not having either, I can't attest to how successful it works.

Yet more features include games and activities for kids.

And on top of all that, the extras from the previous DVD return, including a making of feature, trailer, 2 other deleted scenes, and more.

To take all of that in in one sitting would be beyond exhaustive... and that's why a disc like this is such a great deal... and a great celebration of a true classic.

Blu-Ray Review: The Wild Bunch

1969
Directed By Sam Peckinpah

Warner Brothers delivers another superior catalog title and the notoriously violent western has never looked better at home.

The disc features the 1994 director's cut of the film.
Despite the blu-ray's budget price, it doesn't skimp on extras.
It features commentary by 4 Peckinpah biographers and documentarians that shed light on the making of the film and the filmmaker.
In addition the disc includes 3 documentaries. Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade looks at the director and focuses mainly on the westerns he made during his too-brief career and his self-destructive behavior.
The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage provides insight into the film's production with behind the scenes film and photos.
Plus, there's a 20 minute excerpt of A Simple Adventure Story:Sam Peckinpah, Mexico and the Wild Bunch that revisits many of the film's iconic locations like the opening robbery and climactic battle and we see what they look like today.
Though the 3 documentaries cover much of the same ground they never seem to repeat each other, so you could sit and watch all three back to back without getting bored.
Trailers for The Wild Bunch and several other Peckinpah films are also along for the ride.
As for the film, the colors are dynamic during the day scenes even with the grainy film stock used to convey the gritty atmosphere. At night the film is excessively grainy, but that's the way it was shot. The film was remastered with 5.1 audio.

If you've never seen this epic western, this disc is the best way to view Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece.

Blu-Ray Review: Being There

1979
Directed By Hal Ashby

If you've never seen Hal Ashby's amazing Being There, stop what you are doing and go see it. The film contains one of the best lead performances of all time delivered by Peter Sellers. He's best known for over his top Inspector Clouseau... yet here he is the complete opposite... so understated. He is amazing to watch.

On Blu-Ray, the film is also amazing to watch. The transfer is so good... every time Jack Warden appeared I though to myself "why didn't anybody think to trim his nose hairs?" The film lacks any flashy visuals that would stand out in high-def, but the film shines by itself.

The trailer, two cut scenes and an inferior alternate ending are included as special features. The gag reel that plays during the films credits is also included by itself ... but stay tuned for some funny hi jinks after it plays out.

The disc also has a 15 minute look back at the film. This features actress Illeana Douglas, who visited the set to see her grandfather Melvyn Douglas (who costarred and won an Oscar.) It's pretty much a fluff piece, but entertaining.

I wish there were a commentary track that went into detail on the making of the film. That would have sealed the deal as this being a perfect package for Being There... instead it's just a good package.

Blu-Ray Review: The African Queen

1951
Directed By John Huston

When a studio owns a film it didn't make, it treats it much like the cliched red-headed stepchild. There are few exceptions to this rule (Warner Brothers owns the MGM and much of the RKO libraries and treats them with respect) but every other studio seems to follow this adage.
The African Queen was an independent production that wound up being owned by Paramount Pictures. Fox Video gave it a VHS release in the early days of home video and repackaged it a few times over the years before Paramount acquired it. When DVD came on the scene in the late 1990s, the film frequently could be seen in "Why Isn't This On DVD?" lists... but never on disc... despite being the only film featuring the pairing of two of Hollywood's all-time great stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. By 2009, the film needed major restoration and Paramount ponied up the money to put the classic out in high-def.


The image quality varies but is never bad. Between 50-75% of the footage was shot on location in Africa. The daytime shots are the best looking of any in the film. The colors and image clarity are as vivid as any modern film, yet it still has that classic Technicolor look.
The rest of the film was shot on sound stages in England. The images are far grainier and lack the pop of the sun's light.
The African Queen also featured early green-screen work that was glaringly bad in the original release, which has been painstakingly fixed to make it palatable to modern audiences.
Though the on location/studio footage is definitely noticeable, it is not distracting enough to pull you out of the film.

Included is a new hour-long documentary detailing the making of the film.

It is great to finally have one of the great classics in high-def, looking better than ever.















There is also a more deluxe version that contains a reproduction of  Katherine Hepburn's book on the making of the film and a few other goodies.

Blu-Ray Review: Fantasia/Fantasia 2000

1940/1999 Walt Disney Pictures

Fantasia exists as probably the pinnacle of film animation still to this day, more than 70 years after it's release.

Fantasia is the third of Walt Disney's animated features. The audio/video bar was set very high with the company's release of its first two, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio... and Fantasia kicks those already stellar discs butts.
The image transfer rivals any modern day film on blu-ray. It's a definite upgrade from the already-stunning quality from the previous DVD release of the film.

Fantasia 2000, the latter day sequel, also looks great in 1080p, but the film as a whole pales in comparison. It's animation lacks the sophistication of the original. Largely using computer animation, 2000 lacks the shear beauty of the painted cels of the original, and its missing the older film's cohesive feel that joined the wildly different animation techniques into a whole. 2000 recycles the famed Sorcerer's Apprentice segment from the first film and it is noticeably more beautiful than what precedes and follows it. The sequel is also nearly an hour shorter.


The host segments in the original were very dry like you were in a music appreciation class... but that suited the long-hair material. In 2000, each segment is hosted by a celebrity (many of whom are trying to be funny and falling flat on their face,) which gives the film a very cheap TV-special feel.
The music, however, is top-notch.

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio were loaded with special features. The same can't be said for this one. A 15 minute feature on a recently discovered book detailing some of the special effects techniques is the ONLY making-of feature of either film (apart from commentaries.) I remember there being a making-of doc on the earlier DVD. That nor any other previous special feature from that edition is included.

UPDATE: I've discovered these earlier special features as a part of the disc's Disney Vault BD Live function. They're only available with an internet connection.

There are other new features: one on a scrapped 1970s sequel called Musicana and another that looks at the Disney Family museum in San Fransisco.

The highlight of the special features is the inclusion of Destino, an abandoned 1946 short by Disney with Salvador Dali that was finally completed in 2003. In addition to the beautiful 5 minute short, there is an exhaustive 90 minute documentary that traces both unique visionaries, their friendship, collaboration and falling out, and the ultimate completion of the project. The inclusion of Destino does make up for the lack of other features.

Though it's not a perfect package, having a flawless-looking Fantasia on blu-ray is cause enough to celebrate

Blu-Ray Review: Battleship Potemkin

1925 - Russia
Directed By Sergei Eisenstein

 Battleship Potemkin, about the 1905 Russian Revolution, remains revolutionary to this date. Popularizing the use of montage, it's hard to think of any film since that doesn't owe at least a small debt to this classic.

It's been a favorite of mine and I was eager to see how a film of it's vintage would look in hi-def.

I was pleasantly suprised to see how strong and vivid the images are, despite being 85 years old.
Sure, there are several heavy lines that do crop up in the film and heavy grain throughout (as it was made) but the film has never looked better. The quality of the new transfer shows vastly more details than any beat-up old print you'd see in a film class or on some budget DVD.

Facing the scissors of many censor boards through the years, Battleship Potemkin has gone through several versions.
Few records survive of the first cut of the film, or even its second official version showcased at its 1926 premiere in Berlin, so historians have painstakingly restored the film to make a close approximate of those early versions. The intertitles also changed through the years, and this version returns them to their originals.
The 1926 version featured its own original score performed by an orchestra and that is what you hear on the soundtrack. The music is very dynamic and newly recorded with slight adaptations to fit the pacing/editing of this new version. The score is vastly superior to any public domain version of the film with random music that doesn't fit the action.
You can learn about the music and film restoration from a 40-minute documentary included on the disc. Some photo galleries are also included showing behind-the-scenes photos and movie posters.

Battleship Potemkin is one of the best silent films and Kino International has done an excellent job steering it into this 21st century blu-ray world.

Blu-Ray: The Wizard Of Oz

The Wizard Of Oz
1939 - MGM
Directed By Victor Fleming



Blu-Ray Review

There are very few films out there that you're safe to say that everyone's seen... but The Wizard Of Oz is one of them. On Blu-Ray it's a completely new experience!

(Like with my recent reviews of North By Northwest and Gone With The Wind, I will toss aside any critical analysis of the film itself and focus on it's recent hi-def upgrade... this being the 3-Disc Emerald Edition of the film.)

When the film switched from its sepia-toned black and white to it's full Technicolor Oz, my jaw dropped. The colors are more vibrant than ever (and the film never looked bad in the first place.)

The 1080p transfer reveals many new details.

Watching when I was younger, I always though the Scarecrow's face makeup was particularly weak. The makeup people did a poor job matching his face to the burlap sack around his neck.
I was amazed to find on blu-ray that the makeup people actually did an outstanding and very detailed job. They completely replicated the burlap texture... just the audience wasn't able to see it in the previous lower-quality television and DVD transfers.
Heck, you can also see some of the Cowardly Lion's makeup lines and parts where some of the latex had started to peel away from his face!

The new clarity reveals the stunning detail in costumes and sets, especially in the crowd scenes in Muchkinland and in the Emerald City.

The special effects remain solid and benefit from the the transfer, especially the tornado and the wizard's floating head.

The audio was remastered for the previous DVD edition and is in Dolby 5.1 and it sounds as good as any modern release.

Disc 1 features the film and several extras.

You can also enjoy the film in new ways with commentary by John Fricke, a film historian, along with some old interview bits with the filmmakers, stars and/or their children. Also included is a sing-along version. The lyrics for the songs pop up as their sung so you can join in.

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: The Making Of A Movie Classic - a 1990 TV special detailing the film hosted by Angela Lansbury.

The Art Of Imagination: A Tribute To Oz - Modern filmmakers and actors pay their respects to the film.

Because Of The Wonderful Things It Is: The Legacy Of Oz - The effect of TV on the popularity of the film.

Memories Of Oz -The Munchkins, fans and other cast member's family reminisce in this Turner Classic Movies special.

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Storybook - Angela Lansbury reads a truncated and lightly animated version of the story.

Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration Of Oz - I believe this is a carry-over from the previous DVD edition covering the restoration of the film.

2-minute bios detail all of the major supporting cast members (even Toto!) These are narrated by Lansbury and feature clips from other memorable films.

Several audio-only extras include radio show versions of the film, promos, and the actual recording sessions for the songs.

A few outtakes and deleted scenes are included, some appear just in a series of still photos. Angela Lansbury is back, narrating intros to these.

Composer Harold Arlen also took some home movies of the set.

Trailers and still photos round out the disc.

Disc 2 features the brand-new documentary Victor Fleming:Master Craftsman that details the life of the director who not only brought Wizard of Oz, but all-time greats like Gone With The Wind and Captains Courageous.

A 30-minute documentary covers the life of author L. Frank Baum.

Another new documentary shows the Munchkins finally getting their star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2007. Several of the survivors appeared and are interviewed.

7 earlier visits to Oz are included:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) - The 14 minute short is the first trip to Oz on the big screen.

His Majesty, The Scarecrow Of Oz (1914) - written and directed by L. Frank Baum. It runs about 1 hour.

The Magical Cloak Of Oz (1914) - 43 mins. - Produced by Baum

The Patchwork Girl Of Oz (1914) - 50 mins. - Produced by Baum. Future film producer Hal Roach played the Cowardly Lion. He met and befriended Harold Lloyd, who appeared in a bit part. Roach formed his studio the following year and made the films that made Lloyd a star.

The Wizard Of Oz (1925) - 80 min.

The Wizard Of Oz (1933) - a short animated version of the story. It featured a black and white Kansas and a Technicolor Oz... but no Cowardly Lion. The animation is not on the same level as Disney or Looney Tunes.

All of these earlier versions, of course, pale in comparison to MGM's masterpiece but they are interesting, especially how they are trying to be ambitious with very little budgets.

The disc also features the 1990 TV movie The Dreamer Of Oz - a biography of L. Frank Baum starring John Ritter. This is the only flaw of the entire set. The film literally looks like they just dubbed over a worn VHS copy. Watching it on an HD television makes it look even worse. It's terrible when a 1910 film has better clarity than one made in 1990!

And to top the whole package off... on Disc 3 you get the outstanding 1992 6-hour documentary miniseries detailing the entire history of MGM called MGM:When The Lion Roars, hosted by Patrick Stewart. It covers the films and the behind-the-scenes politics of the studio. The disc is a standard 'flipper' DVD.

The only word to describe all of these features is exhaustive!

In the DVD era, Warner Brothers (who now owns Oz) set the standard with it's extras-heavy 2-disc special editions of classics. In the Blu-Ray era, they've moved well beyond that and film fans everywhere are reaping the benefits. Hopefully many more films get this deluxe treatment.

This should be a welcomed addition to any movie collection.



Warner's also released an Ultimate Collector's Edition, which includes all of the above plus:
a Limited-edition 70th-anniversary watch
Original 1939 campaign book reproduction
Behind the Curtain of Production 1060: 52-page commemorative book
Replica of original movie budget

Blu-Ray: Gone With The Wind

Gone With The Wind
1939 - Selznick International Pictures
Directed By Victor Fleming



Blu-Ray Review

For many, many years I had intended to see this masterpiece of film, but hadn't for several reasons. The film's extensive length (just shy of 4 hours) and my dislike of costume dramas and chick flicks kept me from seeing this masterpiece, despite its reputation.

The arrival of the film on Blu-Ray helped me to change my tune.

Most people already know what the film is about and as for critical analysis, many have written books and made documentaries about this film and I feel that I could offer nothing new or original into discussing the film, so I will instead focus on the new disc. Needless to say, I found the movie to be everything great I'd ever heard about it.

I purchased the 'movie only' version of the film.
From the start of the film (following the opening overture) my jaw dropped at the stunningly beautiful transfer of the film. I'd seen bits and pieces of the film through the years on DVD and television, so I knew how beautiful the film looked already... but the amazing clarity that 1080p reveals is unreal. The colors are more vibrant and the shadows are more black than they've ever been (apart from a theatrical showing.)

There's literally never a dust speck or scratch to be seen anywhere in the film.

The natural film grain is also present and is not toned down in any way like many Blu-Ray transfers like to do, which tends to make the film look somewhat artificial. Here, it looks just like it was intended to back in the theaters of 1939.
Gone With The Wind looks equal to or better than many modern films released on the format. Warner Brothers (who now owns the film) deserves the highest praise for the transfer.

The audio is also great. The disc offers the film in its original monaural sound track. The dialogue, great music and sound effects are in perfect balance and never drown each other out. You hear the film as it was intended to be heard back in 1939.

The only special feature is a commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer. I only sampled his commentary but I know of his work and have seen him in many documentaries. He certainly knows his stuff and has a pleasant voice and speaks in a very conversational tone. It's much more pleasant than hearing a film class lecture, but I'm sure it's taxing if you're going to listen for the full 4 hours!

If you're looking to build your film library, Gone With The Wind is certainly an important disc to have... and it's never looked better!



Warner Brothers also released a deluxe version of the film. With Warner's exhaustive approach to the special features of their most prized and beloved classics, I have no doubt this is an amazing package. Included are a brand new documentary called "1939: Hollywood Greatest Year," a TV film "Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War," and the excellent 6-hour TV documentary/mini-series "MGM: When the Lion Roars' among the usual making-of documentaries and plenty more.

Blu-Ray: North By Northwest

North By Northwest
1959 - MGM
Directed By Alfred Hitchcock



SYNOPSIS

A New York ad exec Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for a non-existent government agent by a group of foreign spies and gets kidnapped. Their leader, Phillip Vandamm (James Mason,) tries to get rid of Thornhill several times as they pursue each other across the country
Along the way he falls for Vandamm's girlfriend (Eva Marie Saint,) who's really a government agent. Hero and villain clash on Mount Rushmore.



MY THOUGHTS

Much has been said and written about this legendary classic so I'll leave that to the experts, keep it short, and focus more on the 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray.

The film is usually ranked as one of Alfred Hitchcock's best and rightfully so. It is a perfect blend of all of Hitchcock's strengths as a filmmaker. Action, humor, suspense, intrigue are all there in equal portions, and many of his reoccurring themes are present. Hitch made this fun, breezy film between the much more serious and darker films Vertigo and Psycho.
Cary Grant strengths as an actor are all on display here. He's a tough action star, a romantic, and as silly as he was in his screwball comedies in the 30's all in the same film.

The Blu-Ray

When you see a classic film on Blu-Ray, it's like you're seeing it again for the first time. I've seen this film several times over the years. Seeing it now is like a whole new experience.
So much more detail is revealed than ever before. The notable set-pieces in the film (the crop-duster scene, the Rushmore battle, Cary Grant getting shot, etc.) looked great on TV, but on Blu-Ray with an HD television they look jaw-droppingly amazing. Hitchcock was a very visual director who knew how to fill the entire screen with his story and this becomes even more evident on Blu-Ray. Hopefully more of his films will be released soon.

Warner Brothers (who now owns the film) is known for stocking their classics on DVD/Blu-Ray to the gill with extras.. and North By Northwest is no exception.
The disc case is bound in a book-like format with 45 pages of information and photos arranged in a very appealing way.
The disc extras are exhaustive!

1. Cary Grant: A Class Apart - A 1:30 look at his life and career with extensive clips from dozens of his best films. It covers both his on-screen and off-screen lives.

2. The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style - Several film directors discuss their love of the master and the many reoccurring themes in his work. Hitchcock himself is also featured in some classic interviews

The only problem with this documentary is they only focused on films and clips that are currently owned by Warner Brothers. When they discuss his obsession/use of blonds I automatically thought of Vertigo (owned by Universal) and it wasn't even mentioned. Rights to show film clips cost money, but the documentary didn't even discuss his pre-Hollywood films which are practically all in the public domain and free to use.

3. North by Northwest: One for the Ages

4. Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest (from an older DVD release)

These two documentaries track the making of the film and its innovations as well as it's influence. Remarkably there is little overlap in information in the two. One For the Ages features new interviews with cast members Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau and screenwriter Ernest Lehman.

5. Ernest Lehman also provides commentary for the film.

6. An isolated music score. You can essentially watch the film as if it were silent, with Bernard Herrmann's amazing score playing without dialogue or sound effects covering it up.

You also get a stills gallery, the original trailer, (hosted by Hitchcock (see above)) a re-release trailer, and a TV commercial.


This is an absolutely amazing package and is definitely worth the money and the time to go through all the special features. Let's hope all classic films can have a Blu-Ray release as amazing as North By Northwest.