Warner Musicals: 4 Movie Collection Blu-ray

[EddieLarkin]

3/3/2015:

Warner Musical Collection:

The Band Wagon
Calamity Jane
Kiss Me Kate 3D

Individual releases also.

[domino harvey]

Oooooh baby, three stone cold classics! This has been a good day for upgrade news

[EddieLarkin]

All of these are from 1953, and so that means aspect ratios! The Band Wagon and Calamity Jane are safe from change because they're correct at 1.37:1, but Kiss Me Kate will be altered from its previous releases, and will now be 1.75:1 (1.78:1, more likely). Just so you know!

[domino harvey]

I'm okay with Kate in 1.75 (Though it'd be preferable to have an On the Waterfront option)

From Box Office magazine of May, 1953 (parapharasing): It was filmed with MGM's own 3D camera rig at a negative aspect ratio of 1.37; however, it would be available for playdates in 3D at full Academy ratio and could be matted for 2D "flat" playdates at any of three aspect ratios - 1.66, 1.75, or 1.85. So, the negative would be fully exposed and the theatres would soft-matte it to whichever ratio they preferred.

Here's a direct quote from George Sidney, the director: "My cameraman Charlie Rosher and I had to compose every shot three different ways at the same time. What would be good for one width would not be good for another. It was tricky, but we got around it by building more tops on sets, more floor and more sets in forced perspective to enhance the depth. The wider the screen, you see, the narrower; we had to compensate for those cut-off tops and bottoms. Same with the lighting: we used many more side lights than usual to relieve and bring out persons and objects at different distances from the camera. Even if you see Kate flat, you'll notice that it seems to have more depth than the ordinary movie." - Interview from the L.A. Times, November 8, 1953

[knives]

That should be pretty tight, but I'll keep an open mind. So glad to see Wanrers announcing such amazing films (especially the Day flick since that isn't nearly as canonized).

[Red Screamer]

3/3/2015:

Warner Musical Collection:

The Band Wagon
Calamity Jane
Kiss Me Kate 3D

Individual releases also.

Hot damn. I'm so proud of you Warner

[EddieLarkin]

The corrected DVD shows plenty of croppable space, and I imagine the new remaster will use even more of the image area, so it should be okay.

[domino harvey]

Blu-ray.com notes that the Musicals set mentioned above also contains Singin in the Rain, which is great for me cuz I never got around to upgrading it! It's also available for preorder in what must be a misprice of $24!

EDIT: Apparently not a misprice at all with that MSRP. Jesus, deal of the century!



This would be such a wonderful set to recommend to or just give to friends/family to expose them to four of the greatest musicals ever made. Usually in fancy sets like this there's some duds included but all of these are top tier, top ten musicals.

[Feego]

This set looks terrific and I will definitely be grabbing it too. Also nice to see Warner returning to vintage artwork for the individual covers after the Photoshop monstrosities they created for most of their past classic Blus (Meet Me in St. Louis, I'm looking in your direction).

[matrixschmatrix]

Is Calamity Jane any good? I already have Singin' In The Rain, so that's kind of the one that would decide between buying the set and just picking a couple up individually.

[domino harvey]

It came in at #7 on the board's Musicals List Project, so

[swo17]

I really hope they stick with the box title of Musicals Collection Musicals Collection Musicals Collection.

[felipe]

Kiss me Kate 3d for $19.98? I can't believe it! Both Dial M for Murder and House of Wax had an SRP of 35.99.

[matrixschmatrix]

It came in at #7 on the board's Musicals List Project, so

Haha well FINE then I guess I'll preorder that stupid box. Anyone want a copy of Singin in the Rain?

[swo17]

Is Singin' in the Rain any good?

[matrixschmatrix]

Well if you ask Dom...

[domino harvey]

Never heard of it. If it doesn't star Carrie Underwood, pass

[EddieLarkin]

Blu-ray.com notes that the Musicals set mentioned above also contains Singin in the Rain, which is great for me cuz I never got around to upgrading it! It's also available for preorder in what must be a misprice of $24!

EDIT: Apparently not a misprice at all with that MSRP. Jesus, deal of the century!

Just to warn you, I have my set and it uses slots! Lovely build quality though...

[domino harvey]

Blu-ray.com notes that the Musicals set mentioned above also contains Singin in the Rain, which is great for me cuz I never got around to upgrading it! It's also available for preorder in what must be a misprice of $24!

EDIT: Apparently not a misprice at all with that MSRP. Jesus, deal of the century!

Just to warn you, I have my set and it uses slots! Lovely build quality though...

Just got my copy in and yes, it's slots, but it's the same packaging style as the Universal Hitchcock set or the Indiana Jones box

[L.A.]

Why oh why do they use packaging like that?

[EddieLarkin]

True, they're not difficult to get out like Zatoichi or Twin Peaks. I've already watched The Band Wagon and it looks absolutely tremendous. Kiss Me Kate in 3D is up next, though I did already take a look at the new framing. I can confirm that it definitely has more side information than even the "corrected" DVD, not a lot, but certainly more than Sabrina did (though as in that case, WB have slightly cropped to 1.78:1 instead of staying at 1.75:1!).

[Telstar]

I was also knocked out by how good Band Wagon looks. Bit disappointed, however, that they dropped the Two Faced Woman outtake/dailies supplement from the old DVD.

[manicsounds]

So "Singin' in the Rain" in this collection is just the first disc? Disc 2 is not included?

[EddieLarkin]

The standard release of Singin' in the Rain is 1 disc. Only the big collector's set was more than 1, but they were DVDs.

[felipe]

I was also knocked out by how good Band Wagon looks. Bit disappointed, however, that they dropped the Two Faced Woman outtake/dailies supplement from the old DVD.

Did they keep the Astaire trailer gallery? The packaging doesn't mention it.