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MGM Hitchcock on Blu-ray

post #1 of 84
1/11/12 at 10:18pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find any threads.

amazon have NOTORIOUS, REBECCA and SPELLBOUND up for pre-order for January 24th.

No extras listed but the DVDs had extras including commentaries.

Pretty cheap looking coverart:



Why do they never use the Criterion arkwork for Notorious? One of the most striking covers ever.

Also why not release them in a boxset? Getting all three movies is expensive - after shipping it's over $60.
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post #2 of 84
1/11/12 at 10:56pm
I sure hope they get nice transfers.
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post #3 of 84
1/12/12 at 4:44am
Don't like the cover art either. That style might work for North by Northwest, but looks pretty stupid on something like Rebecca (the only one I'm getting for sure.)
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post #4 of 84
1/12/12 at 5:02am
Great to see, I love Spellbound.


Art
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post #5 of 84
1/12/12 at 5:43am
*squeals like a girl*'

OMG...I'm like so there!

Can't wait. (I've been back on another Hitchcock kick recently, and those films are ones I was wishing would come to Blu-Ray).
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post #6 of 84
1/12/12 at 5:58am
watched rear window on DVD last night... I was wondering when they would get around to more AH releases.
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post #7 of 84
1/12/12 at 6:19am
Day 1 buys! Excellent Hitchcock!
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post #8 of 84
1/12/12 at 6:54am
Been waiting for these! Can't wait.
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post #9 of 84
1/12/12 at 1:42pm
They're catalog titles from MGM and Fox... don't expect the royal treatment like full restorations, brand new masters, etc. that they so richly deserve.
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post #10 of 84
1/12/12 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Hitchman View Post

They're catalog titles from MGM and Fox... don't expect the royal treatment like full restorations, brand new masters, etc. that they so richly deserve.

Fox are normally excellent, also MGM just look at mad max, Pelham and more
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post #11 of 84
1/12/12 at 3:35pm
Hope Vertigo is on the way soon.
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post #12 of 84
1/12/12 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Hitchman View Post

They're catalog titles from MGM and Fox... don't expect the royal treatment like full restorations, brand new masters, etc. that they so richly deserve.

Full restorations? Probably not, but I am more pleased with MGM latest catalog titles then say Universal (yeah I am kinda picking on them) pq wise.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dvdmike007 View Post

Fox are normally excellent, also MGM just look at mad max, Pelham and more

Mad Max does look very good, sure brand new scans at 4K would be even better but at $10 a great buy.
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post #13 of 84
1/12/12 at 5:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wuther View Post

Full restorations? Probably not, but I am more pleased with MGM latest catalog titles then say Universal (yeah I am kinda picking on them) pq wise.

MGM can go either way, but yeah, even their older masters usually look at least OK.

Compare Blue Velvet to Scarface for example, I believe both BDs use DVD masters from around 2002.
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post #14 of 84
1/13/12 at 12:26pm
Blu-ray.com's Spellbound review

I don't know, the screenshots don't look too bad. I guess there's not enough DNR for poor Jeffrey Kauffman.
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post #15 of 84
1/13/12 at 12:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rezpekt View Post

Blu-ray.com's Spellbound review

I don't know, the screenshots don't look too bad. I guess there's not enough DNR for poor Jeffrey Kauffman.

It doesn't bode well when the reviewer comments that the dvd has better contrast and black level. Or that this BD will do until Criterian gets a crack at it.
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post #16 of 84
1/13/12 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by egrady View Post


It doesn't bode well when the reviewer comments that the dvd has better contrast and black level. Or that this BD will do until Criterian gets a crack at it.

Reviewers lol
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post #17 of 84
1/14/12 at 3:09pm
Rebecca @ DVDBeaver
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post #18 of 84
1/14/12 at 11:36pm
Notorious @ blu-ray.com
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post #19 of 84
1/15/12 at 1:29am
Anybody know what film elements are used for these transfers? While the result looks like film the MTF is so much down that this must come from internegatives and "worse". I can only wonder what these films would look like if the camera negatives were used instead.
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post #20 of 84
1/15/12 at 4:38am
Maybe I'm wrong but they seem to look fairly similar to Criterion's The Lady Vanishes, which according to the booklet was from a fine-grain master positive.

Either way they're quite decent so I'm going to get Rebecca on release, and maybe the other two if they drop below $10.
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post #21 of 84
1/15/12 at 6:15am
Unfortunately, the negative for Spellbound was lost to deterioration, and those for Rebecca and Notorious are partially missing and partially damaged beyond use. The current restorations, done in the late '90s, were sourced from combinations of the negatives (where usable), master positives, and prints (including Selznick's personal print of Spellbound).
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post #22 of 84
1/15/12 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Rebecca mouse over using DVDbeaver screenshot:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/103057
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post #23 of 84
1/16/12 at 1:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Average View Post

Unfortunately, the negative for Spellbound was lost to deterioration, and those for Rebecca and Notorious are partially missing and partially damaged beyond use. The current restorations, done in the late '90s, were sourced from combinations of the negatives (where usable), master positives, and prints (including Selznick's personal print of Spellbound).

The restorations should be redone digitally then. The old approach is really not optimal here since various elements need to be recopied and recopied and when a restoration negative is finally patched together it needs to be copied as well for preservation and prints. In the end you watch 6th generation material and beyond. With digital restoration on Blu Ray you can watch first generation for all first generation parts, second generation for all second generation parts and so on. No more generational loss beyond the best scanned elements.
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post #24 of 84
1/16/12 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LordAwesome View Post

Rebecca mouse over using DVDbeaver screenshot:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/103057

Very nice! Thanks for the link. I'm eagerly awaiting these releases, especially since I sold my Criterion DVDs (took a gamble).

Doug
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post #25 of 84
1/16/12 at 4:44pm
blu-ray.com Rebecca:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Rebecc.../34412/#Review
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post #26 of 84
1/16/12 at 4:50pm
Spellbound does look kinda sharpened (has a bit of EE in cap 18 around the characters) then the other two, not enough to deter buying though. All three are better then I expected and beat Psyhco for pq as far as I can tell.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mhafner View Post

Anybody know what film elements are used for these transfers? While the result looks like film the MTF is so much down that this must come from internegatives and "worse". I can only wonder what these films would look like if the camera negatives were used instead.

You mean modulation transfer function? Could you explain that more?
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post #27 of 84
1/17/12 at 12:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wuther View Post

Spellbound does look kinda sharpened (has a bit of EE in cap 18 around the characters) then the other two, not enough to deter buying though. All three are better then I expected and beat Psyhco for pq as far as I can tell.
You mean modulation transfer function? Could you explain that more?

Yes, MTF. Which is higher on Psycho. But Psycho has also too much processing for my taste.
One effect of copying film elements is that the MTF goes inevitably down and with it apparent sharpness and detail. Another that grain accumulates on top of each other and yet another that shadow/highlight and colour detail gets squeezed out of the images or distorted. The last can be minimised with careful copying, but accumulation of grain/noise and loss of MTF is unavoidable. Only with digital procedures you can patch a new restoration negative or positive together and have a minimal constant loss added to the quality of each element, but no element gets degraded further by copying.
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post #28 of 84
1/17/12 at 10:48am
Looking for a good deal on all three... wonder why they didn't do a boxset?
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post #29 of 84
1/17/12 at 5:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhafner View Post

Yes, MTF. Which is higher on Psycho. But Psycho has also too much processing for my taste.
One effect of copying film elements is that the MTF goes inevitably down and with it apparent sharpness and detail. Another that grain accumulates on top of each other and yet another that shadow/highlight and colour detail gets squeezed out of the images or distorted. The last can be minimised with careful copying, but accumulation of grain/noise and loss of MTF is unavoidable. Only with digital procedures you can patch a new restoration negative or positive together and have a minimal constant loss added to the quality of each element, but no element gets degraded further by copying.

So if I am reading you correctly you are talking about a well known printing effect. If you make a print copy of say a inked drawing the copy is a slightly degraded duplicate and if you make a copy of the copy the degrading is multiplied and so on.
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post #30 of 84
1/17/12 at 11:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wuther View Post

So if I am reading you correctly you are talking about a well known printing effect. If you make a print copy of say a inked drawing the copy is a slightly degraded duplicate and if you make a copy of the copy the degrading is multiplied and so on.

Yes. Multiplicative chain.
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