Olive Films thread - Page 4

Target built a store like this in Madison, WI to take advantage of a pre-existing retail spot with nowhere to put parking except underneath. You take the escalator or elevator up to the main floor of the store. I don't go there very often but they have a decent supply of Blu-rays.

Well, it'll be more expensive -- and probably won't have any of the extras on there.

Monster Squad had a full documentary, deleted scenes, commentary. Highlander 2's extras were arguably much more entertaining than the movie. I'd expect both to be features-less on Olive's releases, in which case the Lionsgate discs will become even more in demand among fans. Cujo doesn't have any of its extras on the Olive release either (though they are adding a new commentary instead. Not sure if that makes it worth another $20 over the $5 you can find the Lionsgate disc for).

The Running Man observations... Here is a comparison between the OLD Lionsgate Blu-ray release and DVD: http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergl...ch=running_man

As can be seen, the Lionsgate Blu-ray is practically an up-convert.

Now take a look at these...

Olive Films: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screen...06&position=16

Lionsgate: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screen...308&position=8

Look at the street, the rocks, the light posts, etc. Lionsgate is soft and looks like a DVD up-convert. Further, check out the purple lights which shine green! Absolutely wrong color timing.

Now the Olive Films' release is a true HD transfer. TONS of details can be seen everywhere compared to the Lionsgate. The purple lamps actually cast purple light.

The Olive Films version is also framed differently, so it's a new transfer indeed. Probably a fresh modern telecine to HDCAM. It looks completely unmolested and we also get a lossless original audio track. The more I think about it, the more excited I get for this release.

If you flick the images I've linked to above and look at the bottom left corner (as that's the only static place in that shot), the difference in detail is night and day.

I was ready to write off this release thinking that Olive will use the same garbage transfer, but surprise, surprise. A new transfer for us!

We are finally getting a TRUE HD transfer for The Running Man. The difference is huge.

Both look like they stem from the same older mediocre scan, but Olive brightened it up a bit.

Saying the Lionsgate looks like an upscale, is the height of pish.

A big slate for April. Fans of the Duke should be in seventh heaven, though none of these are ranked among his peak work:

Champion (1949, w/Kirk Douglas)
City That Never Sleeps (1953)
Copocabana (1947, w/Carmen Miranda and Groucho Marx)
The Fighting Seabees (1944, w/John Wayne)
Flirt (1995, dir. Hal Hartley)
Magic Town (1947, w/James Stewart and Jane Wyman, dir. William Wellman)
Meanwhile (2011, dir. Hal Hartley)
The Red Pony (1949, w/Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum, dir. Lewis Milestone)
Santa Fe Stampede (1938, w/John Wayne)
Wake of the Red Witch (1948, w/John Wayne)
War of the Wildcats a.k.a. In Old Oklahoma (1943, w/John Wayne)

They've been announcing these piecemeal over the last week, so it's possible there may be more to come.

More (!!!) April announcements:

Cloak and Dagger (1946, w/Gary Cooper, dir. Fritz Lang)
The Enforcer (1951, w/Humphrey Bogart, ghost-directed by Raoul Walsh)
Hoodlum Empire (1952)
The Lonely Trail (1936, w/John Wayne)
The Miracle of the Bells (1948, w/Fred MacMurray and Frank Sinatra)
Night of the Scarecrow (1995)
Pals of the Saddle (1938, w/John Wayne)

Olive has now announced or released all of their pre-Stagecoach Waynes except The Oregon Trail (1936). That one is considered a lost film, so if Olive/Paramount have actually dug it up somewhere--and I'm not convinced they have--it would be big news (though the film itself probably ain't so hot to judge from Wayne's other work in this period).

EDIT:

Three more April announcements. Even assuming that April is a one-off and later months won't be so packed, is it really a good idea (from a business POV) to unload so much so quickly? I hope Olive isn't biting off more than they can chew. Anyway, I'm not gonna be making any new posts for April releases, because god knows where it would end:

The Men (1950, w/Marlon Brando, dir. Fred Zinnemann)
Three Faces West (1940, w/John Wayne)
The Unbelievable Truth (1989, w/Adrienne Shelly, dir. Hal Hartley)
Edited by Dan Average - 2/28/13 at 7:24pm

I watched She Devil last night ,some scenes look spectacular others are quite poor. It really varies around different film reels.

Art

I've never done a count but, honestly, I'm not even sure if WB has released as many B&W films on Blu-ray as Olive. Olive's B&W Blu-ray output is staggering. just this morning, I got CHINA GATE and THE ATOMIC KID. Looking at my amazon history, I've gotten NINE B&W films from Olive in the last 90 days..and just ONE (Grand Hotel) from WB.

I actually got impatient and watch CHINA GATE already. The transfer is excellent. There is some problem with the source material. There are bouts of speckling and scratches. I notice a dropped frame or two. But the overall quality of the transfer itself is very good. And I really enjoyed the movie. I was quite surprised by Nat King Cole whom I'd never seen in a dramatic role before. He had some real acting chops.

Workers of the World Unite!

When the Karl Marx Brothers ruled!