Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

Discuss North American DVDs and Blu-rays or other DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#601 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:12 pm

Seeing those caps for The Birds make me actually want to upgrade to UHD, god help me

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EddieLarkin
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am

Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#602 Post by EddieLarkin » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:15 pm

Those caps give a better impression of what the discs would look like via UHD player converted to SDR for playback on an older TV.

They show none of what the HDR and WCG will add to the contrast and colour on a modern TV. In other words, if you think they look good there...

There is one unfortunate problem though: the original mono has been ditched on Psycho. The 2.0 track is just a downmix. Meaning it's all the crappy new effects described here no matter which option you choose. The original mono was on the Blu-ray.

A great deal of Blu-ray.com users have apparently contacted Universal for an exchange program (it is likely a mistake, as the mono on Vertigo is the original mono, and not a downmix).

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domino harvey
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#603 Post by domino harvey » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:27 pm

Is this an issue with the new Blu-Ray as well?

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Drucker
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#604 Post by Drucker » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:28 pm

Yes I'm quite shocked those are new restorations, especially given how Harris apparently pleaded in 2011/2012 to do a better job on Vertigo. But glad to hear these films, at least, got the proper treatment.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#605 Post by EddieLarkin » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:55 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:27 pm
Is this an issue with the new Blu-Ray as well?
Yes.

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denti alligator
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#606 Post by denti alligator » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:40 pm

Who‘s sitting on Easy Virtue? Isn‘t that only one of the silent years restorations that hasn‘t appeared on Blu-ray?

EDIT: No, I think Pleasure Garden is the other. I would love to see the restoration of that with the extra footage.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#607 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Thu Sep 10, 2020 6:24 pm

Elephant released the Easy Virtue restoration in France, under the title Le passé ne meurt pas. The French subs are forced (but not hardsubbed, so they can be removed with the right software) and it has no score despite the packaging's claim to the contrary. The picture quality is said to be quite poor, but unavoidably so as the only surviving elements are Nth-generation 16mm release prints. It's also missing about a quarter of the original film that nobody's been able to locate. The restored Pleasure Garden (which apparently looks quite good) hasn't been released anywhere; the composer of the new score was (as of last year) attempting to raise €30,000 to record the score for a future release from Network, but I don't know the current status of that effort, or why he hasn't tried the usual crowdfunding avenues.

EDIT: To answer your question about ownership, ITV owns the films Hitchcock made for Gainsborough: The Pleasure Garden, The Lodger, The Mountain Eagle (if it exists anywhere), Downhill, and Easy Virtue. I don't know why Elephant released Easy Virtue and the other surviving Gainsborough silents, but not The Pleasure Garden. The Pleasure Garden is also the only one of those films that can't be booked through Park Circus.
Last edited by The Fanciful Norwegian on Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:08 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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RitrovataBlue
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#608 Post by RitrovataBlue » Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:37 pm

It’s unfortunate that the original audio mix is missing from Psycho, because the 4K looks lovely in motion. The music is roughly 30% too quiet in this mix (to my ears, anyway, and I’ve seen the film enough times to have memorized most of the dialogue), and the effects are occasionally very clearly new. Still, this is by far the best the film has ever looked. From the texture of Martin Balsam’s skin to the clearly legible “40,000” on the scrap of paper Sam Loomis sticks in his wallet, the detail in this release is remarkable.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#609 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:20 am

FWIW, Robert A. Harris (who gave the set a glowing review) didn't know the mono soundtrack on Psycho was a downmix of the remix, but he was quickly informed by hometheaterforum users. Later on in this thread, he says "No need for anyone to address anything. I’m certain the studio is aware. When the subject arose, I checked inventories on the subject, and confirmed that the orig monaural survives." So I guess we'll see what happens next.

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jsteffe
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#610 Post by jsteffe » Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:12 am

RitrovataBlue wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:37 pm
It’s unfortunate that the original audio mix is missing from Psycho, because the 4K looks lovely in motion. The music is roughly 30% too quiet in this mix (to my ears, anyway, and I’ve seen the film enough times to have memorized most of the dialogue), and the effects are occasionally very clearly new. Still, this is by far the best the film has ever looked. From the texture of Martin Balsam’s skin to the clearly legible “40,000” on the scrap of paper Sam Loomis sticks in his wallet, the detail in this release is remarkable.
The black and white tonal range in Psycho is really nice! It reminds me of seeing a new 35mm print projected with new bulb. The highlights gleam in a way that isn't usually evident in standard Blu-rays of black and white films. It's a great argument for going through the expense and trouble to upgrade to an HDR-capable TV.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#611 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:17 am

FrauBlucher wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:34 pm
Beaver's The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection in 4K UHD reviews

Rear Window 4K UHD
The Birds 4K UHD
Vertigo 4K UHD

Awaiting the Psycho review
Here it is...
Psycho

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#612 Post by EddieLarkin » Sun Sep 13, 2020 11:11 am

Caps-a-holic really shows how poor the old BD transfer was. Praying a replacement programme is in the works for the audio.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#613 Post by Monterey Jack » Mon Sep 14, 2020 11:07 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:
Sun Sep 13, 2020 11:11 am
Praying a replacement programme is in the works for the audio.
It is. :D

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-t ... 91420-1300

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hearthesilence
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#614 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Sep 15, 2020 4:38 pm

If you contacted customer service by email, they should also respond via email with instructions too.

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domino harvey
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#615 Post by domino harvey » Tue Sep 15, 2020 5:33 pm

I used the form last night and haven’t heard anything yet

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Finch
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#616 Post by Finch » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:07 pm

Why are they only fixing the audio on Psycho and not including mono on the others?

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#617 Post by EddieLarkin » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:16 pm

The original mono is already present on the other 3. In the case of Rear Window and The Birds, it is the only track.

kekid
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#618 Post by kekid » Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:44 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 5:33 pm
I used the form last night and haven’t heard anything yet
Me neither.
If I don't hear from them for a few more days I may try the email option.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#619 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:04 pm

I filled out the form on the 11th. Patience.

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Finch
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#620 Post by Finch » Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:30 am

EddieLarkin wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:16 pm
The original mono is already present on the other 3. In the case of Rear Window and The Birds, it is the only track.
But is it the actual original mono on Vertigo? Gary's review gave me the impression it was a downmix and not the original mono.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#621 Post by EddieLarkin » Wed Sep 16, 2020 6:14 am

I saw that, but his wording seems to imply he thinks they are all "downmixes" because they are 2.0 mono tracks rather than 1.0. Which only demonstrates his ignorance on such matters.

Yes it is confirmed to be the original.

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MichaelB
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#622 Post by MichaelB » Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:19 am

Mono tracks are usually (indeed, pretty much invariably) presented as 2.0 on the rightsholder-supplied masters. Sometimes this is turned into 1.0 in the final encode, sometimes not - although as 1.0 takes up half the space of a 2.0 track, this can be a nifty way of economising on disc space if the size of the overall project is threatening capacity. This says absolutely nothing about the provenance of said track.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#623 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:30 am

MichaelB wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:19 am
Mono tracks are usually (indeed, pretty much invariably) presented as 2.0 on the rightsholder-supplied masters. Sometimes this is turned into 1.0 in the final encode, sometimes not - although as 1.0 takes up half the space of a 2.0 track, this can be a nifty way of economising on disc space if the size of the overall project is threatening capacity. This says absolutely nothing about the provenance of said track.
I would believe this is the case, but 2.0 mono tracks are never created with a stereo transfer of a mono soundtrack, and 1.0 simply uses one audio track and discards the other, correct?

I bring this up because this has been an issue in the vintage audio world. Mono master tapes often are played back on stereo tape heads, which can be okay (and even preferable as a way of dealing with certain types of tape damage/wear) except that both channels of the stereo transfer are often collapsed back into mono, which introduces horrendous phasing artifacts. It's a huge no-no, and frustratingly the same mistake happens over and over again, even with major label reissues of vintage music. The worst example I can think of is Desmond Dekker's "007 (Shanty Town)" from the soundtrack for The Harder They Come - it was one of the previously released singles licensed for that film. When it came time to create the soundtrack LP, they introduced some egregious phasing that was fixed for the original CD release, but when it was reissued eleven years later, Universal's staff engineer mastered it with that horrendous phasing again.

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MichaelB
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#624 Post by MichaelB » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:52 am

Absolutely - we simply ditch one of the tracks. There’s no point whatsoever fusing the two: that’s just asking for trouble.

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domino harvey
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Re: Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#625 Post by domino harvey » Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:42 pm

kekid wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:44 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 5:33 pm
I used the form last night and haven’t heard anything yet
Me neither.
If I don't hear from them for a few more days I may try the email option.
Just heard back today with details via email. You’ll need:

Your shipping address
• Daytime telephone number
• A copy of your sales receipt
OR a photo of the disc and the packaging

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