First Blu-Ray releases from Legend Films...It's a strange one!

From Highdefdiscnews.com


In an early alert to retailers Legend Films has announced plans to bring their first two titles to Blu-ray Disc. The company specifies in the HD restoration, colorization and even 2D to 3D conversion of films. The two titles that are going to be released on September 14th are the 1975 film Mandingo and the 1934 film March of the Wooden Soldiers (a.k.a. the original Babes in Toyland) starring Laurel & Hardy. The tech specs and bonus materials have not yet been announced for either of these titles but they both are already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with Mandingo carrying a $16.95 and March of the Wooden Soldiers carrying a $12.95 price tag. Stay tuned for more details on these releases.

Here's a customer review from Amazon for MOTWS



March Of The Wooden Soldiers Blu-ray Review (Legend Films), September 16, 2010
By Cloud Surfer - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: March of the Wooden Soldiers [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
I'm posting the following information for those who were taken by surprise (as I was) at the quiet release of this movie on blu-ray and were curious as to details. It looks like everything on the DVD version has been transferred to blu-ray (no additional features have been added). As far as quality goes, the movie does look sharper in some areas (set pieces, costumes) but still blurry in others (the straw on the Little Pigs hut, cave). So if you're looking for a substantial upgrade, you won't find one. But it is an improvement over the DVD version. If you like Laurel & Hardy and or have fond memories of this film, and have a large screen TV, it's worth the $9.49 upgrade.

"March of the Wooden Soldiers" is a re-issue of the 1934 film "Babes in Toyland." You'll need to search on the later title to find it on IMDB.

Blu-ray Stats: 1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 48khz, 192kbps, AVC (except Vintage Toy Commercials), 12 Mbps average.

Menu Choices: Play Movie In Color (01:17:30), Play Movie in B&W (01:17:31), Scene Selection (12), Special Features (12).

No subtitles.


Special Features:

Cartoon (Max Fleischer)(Technicolor)(08:28): Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer.

Theatrical Trailers(5): March Of The Wooden Soldiers in Color (02:08), March Of The Wooden Soldiers in B&W (03:27), A Christmas Wish (02:31), Beyond Christmas (01:48), The Shirley Temple Storybook Collection (03:19).

Laurel & Hardy Short (color)(Department of Agriculture, Forest Service)(4:45): The Tree In A Test Tube.

Vintage Toy Commercials (MPEG-2)(B&W)(08:53): Poor quality, but interesting.

Christmas Toy Shop (B&W)(09:18): Poor quality, low contrast.

Howdy Doody's Christmas Special (B&W)(07:18): Poor quality but better than the commercials.

Christmas '45 Theater Greeting (B&W)(00:53): Poor quality.

A Message From Santa (B&W)(00:36): Poor quality, low contrast.

Merry Christmas (1950)(B&W)(08:49): Poor quality, low contrast.

Jingle Bells (Color)(02:10): Poor quality, follow the bouncing ball and sing-a-long.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas (B&W)(08:05): Poor quality, low contrast.

The Little Rascals Happy New Year Greeting (B&W)(00:28): Poor quality, low contrast