Paramount Catalog Titles on Blu

[TMDaines]

The cropping too. Tight is being generous.

[tenia]

Paramount "requested" Robert Harris to substitute a post of his on Blu-ray.com with the studio's position regarding the new To Catch a Thief Blu-ray:

Except for that last marketing bit, it's pretty much saying exactly the same than his old post, right ?

[bluesforyou]

Such a wilfully ignorant response from Paramount. The problem is the transfer on the blu-ray and not the source restoration. It doesn't matter how many Ks they scanned it at if in the end they cropped it improperly and smeared the image.

Also, what is Harris' current relationship with Paramount that he has to do their bidding regarding changing the contents of his post?

[Rayon Vert]

There are a few blu-ray review sites that have reviewed the 2020 To Catch a Thief blu ray, and compared it to the 2012.

This one was rewritten after making the comparison, and shows the changes in the text before making the comparison. (from "great" to "wow, maybe not so great after all").

This is another one less fooled right from the start.

[Cash Flagg]

Apparently Paramount had the right idea when they sat out the whole Blu-ray thing for the last 13 years, as every title in this new line seems to have one issue or another.

[domino harvey]

Remember Hatari!? Paramount has always had an uneven release history with Blu. Which is weird because their DVDs always looked amazing

[Adam X]

Tenia, I gather you're right. I imagine the original version is what's quoted in the post immediatly below RAH's updated one.

I was given a quote by someone at the studio, which was apparently not ready to go. This was for use in my review over at HTF. I appended it here.

Yesterday, someone in publicity requested that I update my postings with a slightly different version, which I was happy to do.

They do not speak through me, but do supply occasional background for publication. When I publish that information, it is posted as is, and with no cuts, or changes.

RAH

From what I’ve been led to believe, there’s no problem.

My mind is going. I can feel it.

[movielocke]

You have to see the screencaps before you can weigh in on this.

holy shit what the fucking hell did they do to this poor movie? in a million years you would never convince me the 2020 release was NOT just an uprezzed DVD. Jesus it's completely awful.

[therewillbeblus]

I'm glad that companies want to continuously tend to one of Hitchcock's best underappreciated works, but the 2012 blu is excellent. Still, if there would be anything to prompt me to take the plunge into UHD it would be somehow managing to make Kelly's dress even more stunning in the moonlight.

[Rayon Vert]

I don't get the compulsive need (of any boutique or studio) to generally keep releasing new transfers of films when the previous, still very recent ones, were and are, as you say blus for this case, "excellent". Especially when the risk is sufficiently high that incompetence will produce an inferior product that will take the place of the existing product in the marketplace (something like this 2020 transfer is really sacrilege, rape of cinematic history), and keeping those funds away from restoring or upgrading other films that haven't had a proper blu release.

[therewillbeblus]

Or even another Hitchcock! Isn't the current blu of The Birds pretty lackluster? (If not, I'm going to order it immediately)

[Rayon Vert]

On my rewatch of a few months ago, I didn't have any major problems with it, although it's definitely much inferior to the 2012 To Catch a Thief.

[david hare]

The new BD transfer l0oks like shit. Apart from having "correct" color grading, there is nothing else good to say about it. The real 64grand question is whether the 4K DCP and master look equally as washed out, scrubbed, mismasked and dreadful.

My suspicion is strongly that the 4K is fine. But the new line BD 1080p master has been done by some sort of "B" team for HV who hav simply mastered this with an entirely different approach to grain (none not even VV 8per, and 35mm reduction super fine grain) and other issues to make it look "better" and "more modern" on OLED TVs. Somebody needs to bail Kalas who is still VP Archive there, and who is ultimately responsible for these fuckups.

[Jonathan S]

The new BD transfer l0oks like shit. Apart from having "correct" color grading, there is nothing else good to say about it...

So, forgetting the other issues for a moment, do we have any way of knowing which transfer has truly correct - as in accurate and authentic - colour grading? In the last screencap comparison (Cary on the roof at night), the 2020 transfer is a relatively naturalistic blue over all the image, apart from reddish skin tones, where as the 2012 has only the sky blue and both Cary and the roof bathed in green, similar to Hitch's expressionistic use of colour in, say, the Vertigo dream sequence (unless there's a green outdoor light in that scene that gives a realistic explanation?)
https://screenshotcomparison.com/compar ... /picture:9

[tenia]

Tenia, I gather you're right. I imagine the original version is what's quoted in the post immediatly below RAH's updated one.

Exactly.
There is, however, an important addition in this "marketing" bit : "we stand by this restoration."

[Adam X]

I think the significant thing mentioned is this came from their publicity dept. That entire post (in red) is spin.

[dwk]

People on the Blu-ray.com forums are saying that the BD-r titles are only burned if you order them from Amazon. It seems that, at least, Deep Discount has changed their photos for those titles and they all now have the official Blu-ray logo on the packaging.

Update: This Home Theater Forum thread has pictures of the pressed copy of Funeral in Berlin.

[soundchaser]

Oh, that’d be lovely. My copy of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever is set to arrive from Bull Moose this weekend — I’ll keep my fingers crossed and everyone posted.

[Feego]

Amazon is currently showing only 15 units in stock for the earlier To Catch a Thief Blu, without "more on the way." Now is probably the time to grab it if you haven't already before the new monstrosity is the only one available.

[soundchaser]

Oh, that’d be lovely. My copy of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever is set to arrive from Bull Moose this weekend — I’ll keep my fingers crossed and everyone posted.

Arrived today, and it sure looks like a pressed disc to me. The Blu-Ray logo is splattered all over the packaging, too.

[domino harvey]

Yep, that’s pressed! None of the Paramount titles out on this format interest me yet, but that’s good news for when they start digging into their terrific back catalog

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Amazon is currently showing only 15 units in stock for the earlier To Catch a Thief Blu, without "more on the way." Now is probably the time to grab it if you haven't already before the new monstrosity is the only one available.

This is for the 2017 blu - or is this identical to the 2012 blu?

[therewillbeblus]

I believe they're identical, so you can switch between the listings if one sells out. My understanding is that there is no difference in image quality or extras

[Rayon Vert]

You can select the second line on that page in "additional blu ray options", and get the 2012 one.

I'm reading on another forum that the 2017 is a repackaging that should be the same as the 2012.

[Feego]

Yes, they should be essentially the same. I believe the only difference is that one package will have Warner Bros. branding (from when WB was distributing lots of Paramount releases) and the other Paramount.