Official Macbeth R1 DVD coming!

[Roger Ryan]

Thanks for the correction, Jay. I was actually aware that Olive was doing some work on THE QUIET MAN master, so I should have remembered that they do have a hand in creating new masters when necessary.

[mteal]

Funny, in the month since it was released, I have yet to see the MACBETH Bluray in any store that I've been in, even though I did see plenty of other older movies in those same stores.

[Roger Ryan]

Funny, in the month since it was released, I have yet to see the MACBETH Bluray in any store that I've been in, even though I did see plenty of other older movies in those same stores.

I don't think Olive Films does much in the way of brick-and-mortar distribution (I've never seen an Olive title in any store either). Their discs are available via Amazon and other on-line retailers.

[tonyw]

Olive is now bringing out hitthertoo unavailable films such as TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING, CHINA GATE, and JOHNNY GUITAR. Under its new regime, it is a nuts-and-bolts operation but we should be glad of its existence and not mourn about the lack of extras. To have MACBETH and other films available is very welcome in today's increasingly limited market.

[mteal]

It's about time a good DVD of JOHNNY GUITAR came out. I thought we would get one for the film's 50th a few years ago, but nothing happened. I'll bet that Trucolor looks amazing in Bluray.
http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Guitar-Blu ... ar+blu+ray

And here's a repeat of the MACBETH Bluray Amazon link that Dark Horse posted:
http://www.amazon.com/Macbeth-Blu-ray-O ... ds=macbeth

[tonyw]

The problem with Blu-Ray is that it gives a false sense of what the original films supposedly looked like. Restorations of CITIZEN KANE where one can see everyone in the news screening room is one esuch example.

[Roger Ryan]

The problem with Blu-Ray is that it gives a false sense of what the original films supposedly looked like. Restorations of CITIZEN KANE where one can see everyone in the news screening room is one esuch example.

But the format is not to blame for this; it's all in the way the film is treated during the restoration phase (if necessary), the transfer and the encoding. I believe the Blu-ray of KANE is considerably better looking than the DVD which, as you say, was definitely too bright and featured too much digital clean-up. The reality is that I never saw a decent looking film print of KANE or, at least, one that I felt resembled what a new print in 1941 probably looked like. The Blu-ray edition seems to come closest to replicating what a first generation print would have looked like prior to all the wear-and-tear. Despite some questionable choices Warner Home Video has been making over the past decade, I have to commend them for acknowledging the mistakes with the KANE DVD issue and correcting them for the Blu-ray.

Of course, not all films are treated equally. While I've not seen the JOHNNY GUITAR Blu-ray from Olive, quite a few fans have commented on being disappointed with the transfer, although everyone seems to agree it's the best representation on home video (since previous releases have been far worse).

[LostOverThere]

Restorations of CITIZEN KANE where one can see everyone in the news screening room is one esuch example.

As Roger Ryan says, that's not a problem of the format but instead of the restoration process. But as far as Kane goes, the Blu-Ray is significantly darker than the 60th Anniversary DVD. You can't make out people in the news room in the new edition.

[tonyw]

At least, somebody finally got it right.

[mteal]

I don't think this has been posted here; a nice little write up of the MACBETH Bluray at DVDTalk:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s3971macb.html

Slant Magazine's take:
http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/macbeth/2433