Re: The spoiler-filled, enter at your own risk, we mean it now, Dark Knight Rises thread

[Seamaster]

I bought the set for Halloween last year. It's what you'd expect for 1930- and 1940-era film on Blu-ray, but I was impressed with the restoration, as Universal did not go overboard and each scene appears to be delicately restored in each of the films. I have read that people would have liked Dracula to have been restored to a higher standard, but I think that would have been a mistake and would have made it look fake and overprocessed. But I'm probably in the minority with that film. You will have to let me know what you think.

Even the audio is nice, as Universal did not try to create a pseudo surround track, but instead remastered the original audio tracks. Incidentally, the intro music to Dracula and The Mummy -- they're the same score -- was created by merging the intro score from the American Dracula and Spanish Dracula. Both were damaged, but the sound engineers were able to take the best of both, layer in the various clips and we're left with a nice crisp score.

I love these films, so I'm probably overly forgiving. I'm just pleased to be able to own these films on Blu.

[Iago]

I intended to get the Universal set on day one, but there was too many other things in the pipeline, so I waited for an irresistable price. Apparently $80 is my breaking point. I whore out pretty cheaply these days.


Universal has received much justifiable criticism for their overuse of DNR for catalogue titles, but most of the reviews for the Monsters set have praised them for NOT overusing the DNR. I would much rather have some flaws in the transfer than have the detail killed along with it, so I am very happy if they are moving in the right direction. (Both of their catalogue releases for Jaws and E.T. kept the DNR to a minimum, but presumably Spielberg had a bit to say in regard to those titles.) So I think that I am going to be quite happy with the set!

Speaking of music and Dracula, did they include the alternate score composed by Phillip Glass that was on the DVD release?

Incidentally, Kino is releasing the classic White Zombie, and it appears that they tried to please everyone with that release. There are actually two seperate versions on the disc, one of which has been slathered with DNR to remove defects and grain (as well as the inevitable detail) and the other which has been left alone, including all of the damage. All told, that is not a bad way to handle it, as a smaller company like Kino cannot afford to do a frame-by-frame restoration like Universal can, so the only tool in their arsenal is something like DNR. So for those who cannot handle grain and print damage, you can go with the smoothed-out version, but if you prefer maximum detail and can handle the defects, you are not left out in the cold.

[Seamaster]

Yes, the alternate score by Glass is included, also as 2.0 mono.

I'm looking forward to White Zombie. I will definitely be picking that one up. Speaking of zombies, have you watched The Dead? Is it worth checking out?

[Iago]

I have read very good things about it, but have yet to pick it up. I should get that done.

Kino has released some fantastic stuff on Blu-Ray, like all of Buster Keaton's features (and shorts as well,) other great silents like Metropolis (both the recent restoration AND the Giorgio Morodor version!) and Das Nibelungen. They even released a complete set of all the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films.

Phillip Glass composed that score for Dracula since the film has no underscore of its own, with the intention of performing it "live" during a screening of the film. He did something similar with the Cocteau version of Beauty and the Beast; in fact, that is a full opera which was performed with the movie playing silently in the background.

[Seamaster]

Yes, Glass's score was met with mixed criticism. Some really like it; others not so much. I think the latter crowd are unaware of the intentions with which it was written.

I will need to check out more of the Kino library.

Incidentally, how are you finding stock levels for Blu-rays in brick-and-mortar stores near where you live? Over the last six months or so, I have found the pickings slim. In-store offerings seem to include recent releases and some back titles, but that's about it. I'm finding it harder and harder to just go out and buy physical media. Instead, I'm having to opt for Internet purchases. It's too bad really because if what I'm experiencing is representative of elsewhere in North America and around the world, physical media purchases well very much become a niche thing. I have to assume that downloads, streaming and Netflix rentals are creating a situation where people do not have to leave their house; therefore, there is no need for stores to carry stock.

[Iago]

Well, "near" where I live includes nothing but Wal-Mart and Target, and they have not changed their stock levels too significantly, but it was never that good to begin with. I still stop by Best Buys in the Twin Cities and they are unquestionably reducing their inventory levels on all physical media, and have been doing so for some time. But Best Buy seems to be in the process of "adapting" themselves, but they are adapting themselves right out of business. With less software to browse, the likelihood of people like me stopping by gets smaller and smaller, and it is not like I am going to ever shop for hardware there!

If you do pick up White Zombie, be forewarned that the unaltered version is not available from the main menu, but is instead among the special features. If you just play the movie, it will default to the DNRed version. But yes, you need to check out some of their stuff -- if you have not picked up the restored version of Metropolis, that is an absolute must-own!

[Iago]

DVDSavant took on the White Zombie disc. Check out his review and judge for yourself:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4071zomb.html

[Seamaster]

Cool. I will check out his review.

Agree with you regarding Best Buy. They used to have rows of shelves filled with movies. There Blu-rays are reduced to one or two rows now. I don't buy many video games, but even those seem to be on less shelves.

[Iago]

The video game situation is far, far worse, especially if you are a PC gamer. In the old days, there was an entire section of PC games, properly merchandised, with the newer or bigger titles laying flat and some of the older titles bunched together with their spines facing out. Now there is only a couple of four foot shelves at the most, and the entire bunch is set spine out, which makes shopping a less than ideal experience.

We do have a chain of independent stores in the Twin Cites (though they only have a couple of locations now) which have a large variety of titles from which to select, both new and used. The catch with them is that everything new is straight SRP, so one is torn between wanting a good shopping experience and not wanting to pay full retail. Which once again forces you back to the internet. While I do watch out for sales, especially from places like Deep Discount and sometimes Barnes & Noble (in the latter case, their only really worthwhile sales are the 50% off Criterion sales,) I mostly just add anything that interests me to my wish list on Amazon and just scan it periodically to see if the price has dropped on anything. Some of the DVD/Blu-Ray sites also have useful trackers -- I spotted the Universal Monsters collection on the ticker at the top of the page on Blu-Ray.com before I saw it on Amazon.

And in a way, I really do not like giving my money to Amazon either, since the horror stories about the treatment of employees in their distribution centers are quite credible (search MotherJones.com for a few stories about them.) But I suppose I am guilty of explotation over price. None of of are saints!

[Seamaster]

Even dedicated video games stores are low on stock, I find. I can get new releases, but even stuff that's a year old is hard to find. What surprises me is that this shortage must be cutting off customers and therefore a fair slice of the market. I find it hard to believe that everyone has the bandwidth and patience to download titles that are gigabytes in size.

As I have admitted before, I don't get to play many video games, so I usually only get around to buying a handful of games each year. However, I felt an urgency last time I went looking because I couldn't find what I was looking for. Titles were simply not in stock, leaving Internet shopping to be the only option. I suspect the next generation of consoles will make it worse, as companies try to move toward pushing downloads in an attempt to squash piracy and the used market. Sad times.

I will have to check out MonsterJones for recent stories. I had heard that things weren't brilliant at Amazon.

[Iago]

MOTHER Jones. Of course, if there is a Monster Jones, they may have some interesting articles as well! But I will save you the trouble:

http://www.motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2011/07/ohio-warehouse-temps-unemployment

http://www.motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2011/09/amazon-warehouse-heat-shipping

Of course, I just placed my order from Amazon for Tuesday's releases The Quiet Man and Trust. Yes, I am an enabler.

In my defense, though, here is why I no longer buy Hormel products of any kind:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/hormel-spam-pig-brains-disease


I watched the disc for Dracula yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic. The transfer was absolutely wonderful, with most of the defects removed while leaving the grain structure beautifully intact. The only issues that I could see remaining were some slight contrast wavering in some shots, but it was very slight. Other than that, the only defects were present in the original photography, and SHOULD still be there, so I applaud them for not trying to fix things that should not be fixed. Compared to many of Universal's other catalogue releases, the transfer was a revelation.

I watched all of the extras yesterday as well, with the sole exception of the commentary with the writer of Dracula: Dead and Loving It. I may give that one a brief listen today, but unless he is a bigger genius than his screenwriting abiliities have demonstrated I doubt that I will finish it! But I did listen to the other commentary, which was quite good, while simultaneously watching the subtitled trivia track. That makes it a bit difficult to concentrate on both, but it saves time, of course. I even re-watched the movie with Glass's score, which I have never done before. I have owned his music on CD for years, but never watched it with the film as I did not pick up the previous DVD. I am a huge fan of Glass, and I like the score in general, but I was pleased at how well it works with the movie.

I also watched the Spanish version, which I have not seen in years (and then only in a very inferior version.) With the exception of the lead actor, I actually prefer the Spanish version. It is much more polished and visually interesting than Browning's version. Full disclosure: I am not the biggest fan of the Universal Dracula. For one thing, I am a bit of a Stoker purist who has never been happy with all of the changes to the book made by every single Dracula movie (including the mis-named Bram Stoker's Dracula.) The only improvement made by the play on which Browning's version is based is involving Dracula more in the second act by making him less monsterous and more able to interact with human society. That is a very significant change, one which has influenced every other variation of the story and interpretation of the character, and it makes the both the character and the second act much more interesting. Otherwise, the play just makes a hash of the characters and their relationships. But the biggest problem for me is that Browning just never made the leap from the silent era successfully, and the movie is very static and stagey. There are a couple of interesting moving camera shots that must have been Freund's work while Browning was doing something else, but otherwise the film wastes one of the greatest cameramen of all time by nailing the camera down. There is also an overall sloppiness to the film, which the documentaries do a good job of pointing out.

Overall, I prefer the Spanish version and the underrated sequel Dracula's Daughter. That said, this disc was so gorgeous that I enjoyed watching the movie more than I ever have before, much of that because I was in awe of how beautiful it looked. I cannot wait to get to Freund's own The Mummy and of course Whale's undisputed masterpieces.

[Iago]

O.K., so I did break down and listen to the other commentary track as well. Steve Haberman certainly knows his Dracula (to be fair to him, he is an author as well as screenwriter so it may be a bit harsh to judge him solely on Dracula: Dead and Loving It.) Interestingly, he spends much of the commentary defending the Lugosi version of the film against those who prefer the Spanish version, and I do have to admit that he makes some good points.

I also started Frankenstein but did not get very far. The first chapter certainly looks pretty smashing.


By the way, speaking of Academy Award nominees, I took Eve to see Silver Linings Playbook on Saturday and it is very worthy of the nomination. In fact, Eve declared that it her favorite movie of all time!

[Seamaster]

The Spanish version is the more artistic film. I love the camera work in that version. I also like that the Spanish crew, who had less budget and had to film at night, were able to make such a decent movie and a longer one than Universal! Of course, the Spanish crew did benefit from watching the day staff go about their job. That said, I do feel that the Spanish version suffers from pacing. The extra length doesn't necessarily help the film, and I like Browning's take for overall pacing. I also thought Lugosi made the better Dracula, even though I admit that that Dracula is not faithful to Stoker. However, Carlos Villarias just doesn't do it for me. While his whimsical facial expressions are comical and entertaining for a while, I find it tiring after a while. On the flip side, Pablo Alvarez Rubio does an amazing job as Renfield.

You will enjoy The Mummy. It's next up after Frankenstein. Incidentally, the extras on Frankenstein are worth watching. One or two of the extras go into the respectful rivalry between Karloff and Lugosi. You probably already know the story, but it is entertaining to watch again.

[Iago]

Actually, the reason why I only got through the first ten minutes of Frankenstein was because I started by watching the main documentary first. No time to finish the movie tonight, sadly, but I will probably get to it Wednesday. I enjoyed the documentary on Bela Lugosi on the Dracula disc, so I expect that the Karloff feature should be just as good.

I absolutely agree about Villerias, and Lugosi alone makes the Browning version generally more entertaining to watch. I just enjoy the creativity in the Spanish version that helps overcome some of the staginess in Browning's version. I still think that he was a much better silent filmmaker -- though I must admit that I will be thrilled if they ever release Freaks on Blu-Ray. Despite its flaws, that is still one of the most amazingly transgressive films of all time, proving that you do not need graphic violence to utterly disturb viewers.

From what I have read, most reviews seem to rate the picture quality of The Mummy and Bride of Frankenstein the highest, with maybe Dracula, Frankenstein and The Invisible Man after that. Though for once I really do wish that I had a 3D setup; I have actually seen The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3D, and in the theatre no less, but unfortunately in anaglyph. I would love to see it again in a better presentation. (The reviews that I have read of the 3D version on the Blu-Ray complain about ghosting, but there was substantial ghosting with the anaglyph version that I saw, so that may be inherent in the source material.)

[Seamaster]

Freaks would be great on Blu. That film pretty much ended Browning's career. Still, it is respected today, and that gives hope that we could see it on Blu. On the other hand, I think MGM holds the rights to that one, so that does not bode well for a Blu-ray release.

I wasn't too bothered about missing out on The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3D, but the more people talk about it and 3D in general, I feel like I'm missing out.

[Iago]

Well, like any technology it has its virtues and its vices. I have seen some movies in 3D which were a complete waste in that format, and some that were not only worth seeing that way, but are disappointing in 2D. It all depends on the film and how that technology is used.

Freaks is still a possiblity despite the MGM situation, but any release would most likely be sublicensed to a company like Shout Factory (or their division, Scream Factory.) Speaking of them, did you ever pick up They Live?

[Iago]

DVDBeaver just weighed in on the White Zombie "controversy." There are comparison screenshots. I am definitely ordering it.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_58/white_zombie_blu-ray.htm

[Seamaster]

Cool. If only they could have pulled of something in-between the raw and digitally enhanced version. The raw does look quite dark, and while it is not washed out like the digitally enhanced version, it is quite murky, at least in the screen shots I was looking at. Nevertheless, I think I will also order a copy. Like the review says, it will make a great opener for a double feature. I could pair this with The Dead -- a movie I have yet to see.

I did pick up They Live. It, of course, is in my To Watch pile. Have you gotten around to watching it yet?

[Iago]

Well, yes, that is the disappointing thing about how they handled White Zombie. It is not like there is no point between the two diametrically opposed extremes. Even the "raw" version would have been improved by a very slight application of DNR. That is stil the version that I will choose, but it would have been nice to get something just slightly improved.

I keep seeing The Dead on the racks at Target/Wal Mart for $14.99, down from $19.99. I figure when it drops to $10 it will fly to my hand.


I devoured the entire They Live set. My only real criticism is that the features are primarily "talking head" interviews, and I would have liked to see a more dynamic presentation. And if the "Cripple Fight" scene or episode is on the disc as an Easter Egg, I have not been able to find it. That said, I did pull out my South Park sets and watched the episode after finishing the movie. It is really amazing how Parker and Stone did what they did.

It looks like Scream Factory is planning a new version of The Fog with a new transfer and supplements. Awesome.

[Iago]

Speaking of Dracula, check this out:

http://www.movie-censorship.com/news_en.php?ID=4698

[Iago]

And, check this out -- early word on part 2 of The Dark Knight Returns is quite good:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Batman-The-Dark-Knight-Returns-Part-2-Blu-ray/47884/#Review

[Seamaster]

I can't view the censorship piece. What's the gist?

Soon to be time for more Batman!

[Iago]

Well, the first part is pretty unquestionably one of, if not the, finest of the DTV DC animated movies yet, so if part 2 is as good as that review indicates, you have a slam-dunk. I would still argue that many of the greatest episodes of the actual series are better, but for features, those are going to be hard to beat. Pick 'em up and watch them so that you can tell me how much you loved or hated them!

The movie-censorship.com story was about the coming BBC Blu-Ray release of the Hammer Studios version of Dracula, with the recently discovered missing scenes restored. Maybe you can read the link to the Hammer website instead:

http://www.hammerfilms.com/news/article/newsid/462/dracula-on-uk-blu-ray

No word on a North American release, sadly.

[Seamaster]

Dammit. I want that Blu-ray release of Dracula.

Fear not, I will definitely be picking up The Dark Knight Returns.

[Iago]

I am off to pick up part 2 after I leave the coffee shop. I will definitely watch it this weekend and can let you know what I think.


I would love seeing more Hammer films on these shores, period. I know that Scream Factory is planning a release of The Vampire Lovers later this year, and I may pick that one up for Ingrid Pitt alone, but it is not in the class of the original Hammer Dracula or some of its sequels. And, of course, Hammer Studios finest film has not only not hit Blu-Ray yet, but is still only available in a disappointing non-anamorphic DVD:Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth. Not just my favorite Hammer film, but one of my favorite science fiction films, period. I would love to dump my old Anchor Bay DVD of that one!

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