64 The Third Man

[jaredsap]

Is it me or is the contrast different between the SD and BD? Look in the beev caps at the lighting effects/highlights on the actor's faces in the DVD caps, then look at the BD caps of the same: the highlights are completely gone and covered over with grey.

Odd. Especially owing to the high contrast photography that the film is known for. You don't see the lights bouncing off of foreheads anymore.

hmmmmm....

There's a major contrast difference. Gary calls the Blu-ray's contrast "more pure."

[Matt]

I am honestly starting to feel like a blu-ray edition of any film pre-1970 in B&W isn't worth an upgrade if you have a remastered SD DVD. The only one I have seen that made a difference was Casablanca, and even that was minimal IMO.

Isn't that pretty much the only black & white, pre-1970 film available on Blu-ray right now? Sir, there's a flaw in your sample size.

[Galen Young]

I think the Tartan Blu-Ray of The Seventh Seal is an absolute knockout. Am really looking forward to seeing both The Third Man and The Day the Earth Stood Still blu's.

[HerrSchreck]

I'm tempted to poo poo Blu too-- I think this inching rollout, which I sometimes feels will never make a full takeover of DVD, is anticlimactic for many titles-- but the truth is, if I had the extra bread, I'd buy a player and all the CC's MoC's etc.

Tight economies suck ape teeth. See the Times' jobless reports today? There should be consumer excitement over this stuff but instead folks are like

(raise swollen eyes from liquor bottle and street blanket:)

"Blu-Whuh?"

[aox]

Don't get me wrong: I am very excited about Blu-Ray! And the Samsung player is now down to $200 at Best Buy so I will have one by 2009. However, I will mostly be using it for Post 1970 films that are actually remastered for the medium.

I don't know if I will ever be thoroughly excited about old black & white films from the 1940s being on Blu-ray, but of course, if I am buying them outright, I would probably go Blu. It is the upgrading of things I already have that I am not sure I would double dip.

[HerrSchreck]

I have always thought the same thing: I wouldn't turn a BD of Jean Epstein down, but whether or not there'd be much noticeable visual benefit (the frame rate thing interests me too) on old worn silents is another question. I'm temped to think these titles more than any others would benefit, since every bit counts. But... I've been underwhelmed by examples so far.

[StevenJ0001]

Comments about Blu-Ray versions on offer not being a sufficient reason to upgrade older films makes no sense at all to me.

There is nothing magical about more recent films that makes them better candidates for high def. Standard def DVD doesn't have the resolution to resolve film grain accurately, period. Even older films with coarser grain structures are compromised significantly on DVD (unless perhaps the source was a 16mm print). It's far better than VHS, but it's not even close to 35mm film resolution, and that's readily apparent from subjective observation.

High def (and of course 2K and 4K) are the first electronic motion picture formats I've seen that come close to representing film sources accurately, subjectively at least (the resolution is still not high enough to match 35mm film's maximum possible resolution, in theory).

It's not a subtle difference: Blu-Ray and DVD are worlds apart, even on relatively small screen sizes. Apart from the better color representation, etc., it's just a matter of resolution--and that goes for B&W and color, old and new films.

So viewers who believe that Blu-Ray offers no significant advantage over DVD for older films must either have extremely small TV sets or very low expectations.

And to bring this back on topic: I highly recommend upgrading The Third Man to Blu-Ray!

[aox]

Does The Third Man BR release have its own thread, or is all discussion contained in this thread? If it is the latter, I am surprised there isn't more discussion.

[skweeker]

I agree with stevenJ as to the difference between blu and SD; people who disagree just haven't seen enough blu on a good enough set-up: it really is not TV anymore, it's film.
I eagerly await more of the older stuff on blu: the clarity, the color (if applicable) and the particularly the sound really make a difference.
Not yet screened my blu copy of The Third Man, but will do so soon.

[Magic Hate Ball]

I just saw the BD of this on my 32" 720p television last night, and even there it looked absolutely splendid. The film grain is sharp, the contrast is high. Good stuff. I'd seen the film a few years ago, but I didn't remember it too well. Of course, it's obvious why it's so acclaimed: it's just that damn good. Everything's absolutely top-notch, acting, writing, directing, music. What makes it tick is the vein of humor, really. It offsets and clarifies the rest of the film in some way, making the mystery more exciting and Lime more villainous. Just fabulous.

[daniel p]

My Blu-Ray just arrived, but I haven't had my BD80 region-free'd yet, so I cannot watch it. What I am wondering is why they reduced the size of the booklet? I purchased the initial Criterion Third Man release, and never double-dipped until the Blu-Ray came out, so I missed out on the thicker booklet

Other than that, I have Marienbad and Benjamin Button sitting there on my shelf alongside this, and I cannot wait to get the mod on my player!

[dad1153]

Upgraded my Criterion 2-disc "Third Man" DVD to BD (dad gets the former) and watched it a couple of weeks ago. The rez increase is pleasant enough to appease film purists (loved seeing undisturbed grain) but, even in 1.0 Mono, the uncompressed soundtrack really kicks butt and surprised me the most. Karas' zither score and all those footsteps running through the Vienna sewers just plain sounded better than on DVD. To the average person the BD and DVD versions of "The Third Man" would be indistinguishable though, making this the type of catalogue standout title separating us fanatical movie lovers from the normal one's.

The first time I watched "Third Man" about a year ago it left me cold and underwhelmed. This is one of the few movies where not knowing ahead of time the big twist (

SpoilerShow

that Harry Lime isn't really dead

) actually harmed my enjoyment of the flick. Was paying so much attention to the plot that, other than Joseph Cotten striking me as the least manly leading man I'd ever seen (Holly Martins = clueless, useless fuck), everything/everyone else looked/felt unremarkable and generic. That and the zither score was annoying as shit, IMHO. Thinking everybody else that loved the movie was a fool I nevertheless rewatched again. And again. Then again with Gilroy/Sodenbergh commentary. Then again. And again with the other commentary. In-between I caught a few more Joseph Cotten flicks I'd never seen ("Magnificent Ambersons," "Shadow of a Doubt," etc.) so my appreciation of the man's thesp skills improved even as my opinion of Holly Martins remained the same. It's now one of my favorite movies of all time and every single time I see it I pick-up something I hadn't noticed before. This time it was the scene where Anna (Alida Valli, gorgeous! =P~) asks Martins what Harry Lime was like growing up. After several viewings I still had trouble understanding why Anna was so in love with Harry despite

SpoilerShow

his crimes allegedly being responsible for the poisoning and deaths of many innocent lives, including children.

Rewatching the aforementioned scene it became obvious to me that Lime's magnetic personality was the light in Anna's troubled life and that he had earned the woman's undying love (and blindness to his flaws) for better or worse. This of course made the ending shot (which I already loved) even more poignant and powerful.

Amazon sold "The Third Man" BD really cheap during the DD sale ($15.99 brand new, now back up to $25), cheaper than the nearest-priced Criterion BD's by four bucks. I'll take this as a sign that the title ain't moving much on BD (or that not enough DVD owners of the movie are taking the upgrade plunge) which is a shame. While audio/video aren't a quantum leap over DVD this is the finest this movie will ever look and sound for a long time. Lovers of quality cinema owe it to themselves to make their time with Anna, Martins and Lime as pleasant to the senses as humanly possible. I'm glad I took the plunge and now have the movie's zither score in permanent rotation on my MP3 player. =D>

[Sloper]

I know it's a well-known film, but you might want to stick some spoiler tags in there...

[Napier]

I know it's a well-known film, but you might want to stick some spoiler tags in there...

Anyone who hasn't seen this yet, probably shouldn't be on this forum.

[HerrSchreck]

Hah! Old classic rolled vlasic shmasic! I once got yelled at for revealing that at the end of Vampyr the

SpoilerShow

vampire gets a stake through the heart.

[Matt]

The description for this sub-forum now states "Threads may contain spoilers."

[dad1153]

Does that mean I can take down the 'spoiler' tags from "Third Man" or leave them as they are?

[domino harvey]

In-between I caught a few more Joseph Cotten flicks I'd never seen ("Magnificent Ambersons," "Shadow of a Doubt," etc.) so my appreciation of the man's thesp skills improved even as my opinion of Holly Martins remained the same.

Cotten's a great screen presence, but he's rarely any good when he's forced into the genial leading man role. See: Duel in the Sun, Gaslight, &c

[dad1153]

^^^ Seen them (TCM showed all these during a tribute) and you're right. "Shadow of a Doubt" was amazing though and not just because Hitch directed and co-star Teresa Wright was on fire; Cotten's performance was actually a big part of it. The man was clearly made to be a supporting performer in Orson Welles flicks.

[Sloper]

Sorry to be a prick about the spoilers, dad - it's just that I used to really love this film, but now when I watch it the only thing I enjoy unreservedly is pretending I don't know what's going to happen, and then finding out; or observing the reactions of the person I'm watching it with. Complaints about spoiling the end of Vampyr are indeed silly, but I'm afraid I disagree with you that The Third Man is better if you know what's coming. So much of the film now seems to me like trickery and sleight-of-hand, and it depends so much on the element of surprise (and way too much on the score, I think, which really carries the film). So I felt the need to protect any, er, freaks who haven't seen it but are following this thread for some reason.

Oh, and I still love Holly Martins as well. Genuine losers make such great heroes.

[karmajuice]

By coincidence, I bought seven copies of the blu-ray from DVDPacific last night and subsequently totaled my car this morning. If I'm lucky maybe these two events will balance each other in the long run.

[Napier]

Enjoy your first experience with The Third Man BD. I've seen the film at least fifty times, and when I popped this into the PS3 and watched it 1080p on the 52'. It was like seeing it for the first time. It looks quite spiffy. But I'll still never buy Cotten's "drunk" shtick.

[ShellOilJunior]

Enjoy your first experience with The Third Man BD. I've seen the film at least fifty times, and when I popped this into the PS3 and watched it 1080p on the 52'. It was like seeing it for the first time. It looks quite spiffy. But I'll still never buy Cotten's "drunk" shtick.

He's not bad but Cotton played "drunk" much better in Citizen Kane.

[nsps]

Enjoy your first experience with The Third Man BD. I've seen the film at least fifty times, and when I popped this into the PS3 and watched it 1080p on the 52'. It was like seeing it for the first time. It looks quite spiffy. But I'll still never buy Cotten's "drunk" shtick.

Yes, I saw the film in 35-mm about a decade ago, but am nevertheless excited to watch the BD. I actually planned it as my first purchase before the whole out-of-print panic.

[manicsounds]

He's not bad but Cotton played "drunk" much better in Citizen Kane.

That's because he really was drunk, as I recall, as when he says "Dramatic Crimitism... um, Criticism...." it was not scripted that way, and you can see Welles snicker at the mistake in the scene.