Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[captveg]

The closest to unanimous praise I'm aware of is The Lady Killers. There was a bit of controversy at the beginning, but now it's generally accepted that this is the best home version yet.

The controversy was exclusively about the aspect ratio - and was raging before anyone had a chance to watch the actual Blu-ray, after which more problems came to light.

For the record, as the one who first started the aspect ratio confusion, it was a matter of being clarified on misinformation. Once that became available, the matter was ended.

[tojoed]

Peeping Tom Blu-Ray on 1 November (Remastered). It's a great price, but will it be a great transfer?

[tojoed]

Maybe they needed every MB of space they could muster to accommodate the inevitable edge-enhancement and DNR.[In Cercle Rouge]

You are wrong.

[RossyG]

Looks pretty good to my uneducated eyes.

Don't say Canal have actually got their act together with this release?

Just think, I'd be able to blind buy and pre-order like I do with MoC and the BFI BDs. Sounds too good to be true.

[Flike]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Looks brilliant, however. Can't wait until it arrives stateside.

[Finch]

Seeing those caps was a huge relief and of course very pleasing. So they've got at the very least one of their new titles right. Hopefully most or preferably all of the others will be in the same ballpark. The one I'm most anxious about is the Lynch.

[knives]

Now that's gorgeous. Their improving and I couldn't be happier for that.

[pro-bassoonist]

Pro-B can you confirm the aspect ratio of the Le cercle rouge Blu-Ray?

I am sorry, I just saw your question. Obviously, you already have an answer. I very rarely visit this forum, so in the future, please feel free to contact me via PM if you need any assistance/info on a specific release.

[Finch]

Beaver on The Graduate

Thoughts on the colours? Personally, I prefer the MGM but I wouldn't know what the theatrical prints looked like back then.

[perkizitore]

I don't know about the colours , but the brightness in this transfer is atrocious!

[perkizitore]

Peeping Tom Blu-Ray on 1 November (Remastered). It's a great price, but will it be a great transfer?

It surely is a misprice

[Jonathan S]

BBC News video on digitally restoring the Studio Canal library (may not be viewable outside the UK)

[Feego]

Beaver on The Graduate

Thoughts on the colours? Personally, I prefer the MGM but I wouldn't know what the theatrical prints looked like back then.

I don't know about the colours , but the brightness in this transfer is atrocious!

I agree. The brightness is awful, especially in the fourth screencap with Bancroft in the hotel room. The lights are OFF in that shot, yet the room is magically filled with light! The colors are another thing, though. In some of those caps, I actually do prefer the Studio Canal colors. Skin tones on the MGM look a little too red, and in fact, the MGM almost appears a little too dark. The caps of Hoffman in the pool are telling. I would think a happy medium between the Canal and MGM in terms of brightness and hue might be ideal (but then I also know nothing of how the filmed looked on its original release). Personally, I prefer the Canal for the colors, and the MGM for the darker image and framing (the Canal is cropped significantly), so I guess the MGM wins. But neither seems perfect.

[ccfixx]

"Delicatessen" @ DVDBeaver.

CC

[RossyG]

The score so far seems to be:

GOOD
Delicatessen
Le cercle rouge

NOT SO GOOD
The Third Man
The Graduate

With A bout de souffle, The Pianist and Mulholland Drive still to come.

[Finch]

Sweet Jesus and the Baby Orphans! Delicatessen looks astonishingly good in those caps, and if the very last one is anything to go by, it's reference quality for a 1990s film. Very pleased that this new transfer builds on the Miramax R1 instead of the comparatively murky Momentum. This is one of my favourite films from that decade and Jeunet still hasn't equalled, let alone topped it. Here's hoping they improved on the Optimum Blu for The Pianist but the Mulholland Drive review really can't come soon enough!

[Finch]

Beaver on Canal's Third Man BR

Taken on its own, the Studio Canal looks very acceptable to me but the CC clearly looks more film-like and sharper (fourth and fifth caps of Alida Valli and Joseph Cotten are particularly telling).

[tojoed]

We would love to release the SCC of MULHOLLAND DR. in Region A as well, but unfortunately don’t have the rights at this time.

I've been tootling about on Facebook so you don't have to, but that's interesting. I wonder, who does have the US rights?

[Finch]

Universal released the DVD in the US but I'm not sure if they still have the rights.

[andyli]

The score so far seems to be:
With A bout de souffle ... still to come.

The SCC blu-ray of A bout de souffle has already been released and reviewed here:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/breathless.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Brian C]

Taken on its own, the Studio Canal looks very acceptable to me but the CC clearly looks more film-like and sharper (fourth and fifth caps of Alida Valli and Joseph Cotten are particularly telling).

To me, it's the Third Grab (of Trevor Howard) that makes all the difference. So much detail from his face and coat is simply gone. I used it as an example of DNR to show my wife tonight, and even her response (she's not picky about these things) was, "Oh my god."

[zitherstrings]

Don't forget SC's botch job on Ran.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I used it as an example of DNR to show my wife tonight, and even her response was, "Oh my god."

You've got such a way with women Brian.

[carax09]

The first review of Mulholland Drive. My fears are somewhat allayed, but I'm not sure I completely agree with the statement, "The artistic nature of the production is such that detail is purposely soft and lighting diffuse...". There are certainly scenes shot that way, but I seem to recall moments of great detail and clarity, particularly in the second half of the film. Look at the second cap down, under "Additional Screen Captures", for an example of what shouldn't have that glamorized look. I know it's just a jpeg, and it's an exterior, but still...

[Murdoch]

That first additional capture looks horrible to me, I don't remember the dancers looking so out of focus. Many of the captures look too soft, while others like the Theroux close-up look decent. I'll wait to decide till I see more reviews though since the linked one is limited depth-wise.