Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[Drucker]

Apparently the Third Man limited edition, 4-disc set was truly limited and seems to be going for a pretty petty on Amazon.

May be worth picking up the Roeg set just for re-sale value.

Then again it doesn't look great at Caps-a-holic.

[hearthesilence]

Again, the brand new Studio Canal BD (not the previous crapola BD that Studio Canal put out after Criterion's went out-of-print) is really the one to get, and it's not too expensive either. Would have been nice if they had the two commentary tracks from Criterion release, but those have been ripped and uploaded in mp3 format in various places on the web (YouTube is probably the easiest place to find the Soderbergh and Gilroy one), so it's no big deal.

[rapta]

Apparently the Third Man limited edition, 4-disc set was truly limited and seems to be going for a pretty petty on Amazon.

May be worth picking up the Roeg set just for re-sale value.

Then again it doesn't look great at Caps-a-holic.

It's still available via HMV.com, albeit for £29.99, and seems like some people have already jumped on it though since it's already OOS. It's a beautiful set - I think I paid about £20 on release, and it was well worth it for one of the best British films ever made (if not the best).

Had a copy of Optimum's original The Man Who Fell to Earth release but sold it in anticipation for this 4K-restored version. My set arrived damaged though so I've returned it, and am currently deciding whether or not to order another one. It's apparent that the new disc has good and bad points, the bad mainly being the unstable encoding (the restoration itself looking like a lot of other 'controversial' 4K restorations of late which admittedly look far more impressive in-motion).

I reckon if enough people lobby StudioCanal we may get them to at least fix the bitrate problem and run a replacement program - they have done it before with enough complaints, but usually with more serious errors (such as The Fallen Idol, where the image was warped from shot to shot). However, since this is such a collector's item and Bowie is obviously close to everyone's hearts, they may well fold for such a blatant mistake.

[hearthesilence]

Watched The Fallen Idol - looks good, but I think the de-graining might've been occasionally too heavy, as a handful of moments had a video-like look to them.

[domino harvey]

Man Who Fell to Earth getting an American release in January

[rockysds]

Blu-ray of The Proud Valley in January.

[hearthesilence]

StudioCanal has announced a release date for a new BD of the 4k restoration of Mulholland Drive, to be released in the UK and Europe on May 1 following a theatrical re-release. Hopefully the encode will be better than Criterion's disappointing, artifact-ridden disc.

[dwk]

StudioCanal has announced a release date for a new BD of the 4k restoration of Mulholland Drive, to be released in the UK and Europe on May 1 following a theatrical re-release. Hopefully the encode will be better than Criterion's disappointing, artifact-ridden disc.

If you re putting your faith in a StudioCanal release having a better encode than anyone else, you obviously haven't seen or, at least, read about their 4k remastered Highlander Blu-ray or their 4k remastered The Man Who Fell it Earth blu-ray.

[hearthesilence]

Well, that's a buzzkill....

[Big Ben]

I've actually seen people say that the old Criterion Blu-Ray of The Man Who Fell to Earth is better than Studio Canal's new 4K Remaster Blu Ray. No joke. You'll have to forgive my lack of technical knowledge but the captures I saw of the latter Blu-Ray had artifact BLOBS in them. BLOBS.

[Drucker]

Fact check: True.

[tenia]

The encode isn't the only problem of the new 4K restoration, but its color timing leads to blown whites and it seemed to have been DNRed too.

[Big Ben]

I was just dropping more buzzkill but you guys double downed and brought pictures and facts! I adore this film and it's a damn shame to see it look like this. Anyone know if they could be pressured to fix it?

[hearthesilence]

If everyone stopped buying their products, that would work. But it's tough getting a mass group of individuals to collectively do something in their best interest.

[Drucker]

Bizarrely, I thought they had turned a corner, as many of their B&W releases have looked fine for years. The Third Man 4k looks pretty good, and Forbidden Games looks good as well.

[tenia]

But it's tough getting a mass group of individuals to collectively do something in their best interest.

That's quite a simplistic take. It's tough to anticipate a brand new 4K restoration from the OCN being worse-looking that an out-of-date IP-sourced HD restoration.

On top of that, the CE comes with the soundtrack and quite a bunch of extras. So yeah, it's not as if such a disappointed was expected, especially, indeed, when the previous movie that got such a treatment was The Third Man, which ended up getting a very good release (technically-wise). Highlander, encode aside, is also quite good looking, as was Ran and many other recent SC movies (I think their Vintage Classics actually is quite a success when it comes to the restorations).

[hearthesilence]

But it's tough getting a mass group of individuals to collectively do something in their best interest.

That's quite a simplistic take. It's tough to anticipate a brand new 4K restoration from the OCN being worse-looking that an out-of-date IP-sourced HD restoration.

When pre-release word-of-mouth gets around fast, I'm not sure if anticipation is really a factor. Even if you do buy one, if it looks shoddy, you could always mail it back to the manufacturer for a refund or credit, and that will probably get their attention a lot more than a non-purchase. Not sure what Studio Canal's policy is, but this has happened with other specialty labels, and it does shape what they do with future releases.

[tenia]

There hasn't been any pre-release technical word of mouth on that one. The first feedbacks available were after the release date, when the people (like me) who pre ordered it started talking about it. Sure, I could have waited but why should I ? I like a lot the movie, and there was no particular reason for the restoration to be disappointing. What you're doing here is judging through information people didn't have at the time of pre-order and early release days.

Again, most of their previous restorations were very good, why should I have been cautious about that one ?

Even if you do buy one, if it looks shoddy, you could always mail it back to the manufacturer for a refund or credit, and that will probably get their attention a lot more than a non-purchase

On which ground ? "Hey, the restoration is bad, I want a refund" ?

[kekid]

I have been reading with some interest views of various members on the StudioCanal restoration of "The Man Who Fell To Earth". There seems to be a fair consensus in this forum that the restoration is problematic. Therefore I was quite surprised to read a glowing review of the same in the February issue of Sight and Sound magazine.
And the debate goes on regarding the upcoming Criterion rendition of "The Tree of Wooden Clogs", a film very important to me.
And as a non-technical person I wonder about these dramatic differences of opinions.
The following possibilities exist:
(1) The reviewers have personal stake or bias in the material they review.
(2) People review a restoration based on their memory of what it looked like when they saw it in the (sometimes remote) past. The recollections of different reviewers/commentators often differ.
(3) Some people review a restoration based on what seems good to them now, irrespective of how it might have looked in the past. Clearly different people may have different preferences. The fact that many directors/cinematographers choose to change the look of their films from the original suggests that this is perhaps not a completely inappropriate way to evaluate a particular product.
(4) Some technically well-informed viewers evaluate alternatives based on numerical measures.
There may be more considerations than the ones listed above.
Finally, individual viewers have their own preferences as to how they judge a restoration.
I think it is good in forums like this to expose the viewers of different views, and provide the supporting evidence when possible. I feel that people who provide such information, here and elsewhere, are providing a useful service. We can form individual opinions about which sources we tend to agree with more often. I thank reviewers with whom I agree and those with whom I disagree often. They give me a rounded perspective. Therefore I find occasional hostile comments about certain reviewers a little troubling.

[Drucker]

I think it's fair to assume those of us on this and other like minded forums are in the minority by a truly significant margin. The notion i that DVD reviewers are going to even armchair experts in encoding and restoration issues is a far cry from reality.

For what it's worth: I've seen three IB tech screenings in my life. Two of them were introduced and did so by basically saying "Today's print is an IB Tech print, which I don't really 'get' but I assure you is very rare!" With perhaps an additional comment about great color.

Most of the people who obsess about films don't go crazy about encoding, restoration quality, accuracy vs. release prints. They just love movies.

[eerik]

La Strada UK theatrical re-release in May, Blu-ray in June.

[hearthesilence]

Even if you do buy one, if it looks shoddy, you could always mail it back to the manufacturer for a refund or credit, and that will probably get their attention a lot more than a non-purchase

On which ground ? "Hey, the restoration is bad, I want a refund" ?

I haven't tried this with a DVD yet, but on two occasions I've returned expensive reissues of music pretty much on those grounds - i.e. terrible mastering. Not for a refund though, in both cases I exchanged it for another item that I knew to be of better quality (mastering-wise).

[domino harvey]

Your record store either really loves you or really hates you

[hearthesilence]

Hah, it's mostly mail order for me. Here in NY, I don't even go to record stores anymore - every single one I've frequented is now closed! (Kim's, Other Music, Bleecker Street, etc., even Virgin - all gone)

[FrauBlucher]

Oh how I miss the Tower Records on Broadway and East 4th Street.