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It's the Beev links going to front page of Gary's site.

Fully understood what he meant-- but I'm still pulling up individual isolated caps specified in the hyperlink, not Gary's splash page or anything else.

Working for me now—must've been a temporary server snag or something. Definitely still a huge difference.

nsps wrote:Is anyone else getting nothing but an intro on the Beaver review page now? (Trying to compare the Blu-ray.com shots, and Schreck's links are redirecting to the front page now)

yeah, it's doing that for me now, and the two images i linked to are gone. the review is still there, i think they just futzed with any traffic directed to that page from this one.

So last night I watched Do the Right Thing on 35mm in Philadelphia. The image from Criterion is closer color wise than the blu. Again, this is where Gary and Beaver are inept sometimes, they think they know it all...

From the looks of things, Gary's caps are accurate (in that they jive so well w Bluray.com's).. and the source transfer is the problem, not the beev.

hearthesilence wrote:

nsps wrote:Is anyone else getting nothing but an intro on the Beaver review page now? (Trying to compare the Blu-ray.com shots, and Schreck's links are redirecting to the front page now)

yeah, it's doing that for me now, and the two images i linked to are gone. the review is still there, i think they just futzed with any traffic directed to that page from this one.

The pics only show if you've previously visited the comparison page (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRevie ... lu-ray.htm) and the images are still in your cache. Otherwise, any image links originating from an off-site URL will redirect to the main page and inlined pics won't show up at all.

Thanks for solving that. I was baffled prior to your explanation.

Making things worse, there was a (short) period when the actual review wasn't loading correctly for me, so I couldn't get the images however I tried. (My cache must've been cleared.) But that's all solved now, so onto more important matters…

To be sure, DVD Savant also rated the new Universal Blu-ray transfer as "Excellent." If you haven't seen the Criterion DVD or a 35mm print, the Blu-ray probably looks terrific and there would be no reason to suspect anything's amiss.

What I find odd, though, is that DVD Beaver just assumed that the Criterion was "off" even though it had a DP-supervised transfer. And when you put it in context, other early Spike Lee films were also very bold in their use of color. Still, I'd like to see the Blu-ray *in playback* and I'd like to hear what Dickerson has to say.

20 years later, white people still ask the same question, a spoiler about the ending if you haven't seen it.
Nothing in there about the colors of the new discs though, but then again, no one seemed to complain about them on previous Universal discs. I guess nobody really compared them until now.

Fascinating that one of the more important films about the color-divide in America has fucked up it's color scheme.

Buttery Jeb wrote:Spike Lee is doing a signing on June 30th at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble in NYC to promote the new release. I was going to swing by and pick up a copy in order to see him (I need to replace my copy anyway); if I get a chance, I'll ask him about the transfer.

Just a head's up, the B&N site now has Danny Aiello subbing for Spike Lee.

That makes sense as Spike is currently at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

souvenir wrote: Just a head's up, the B&N site now has Danny Aiello subbing for Spike Lee.

Well that's a sharp downtick in terms of interest for me. Still need to pick-up a copy; but won't be sticking around for the signing.

I can't decide if I should buy the new release or the Criterion version which I've put off buying for years.

](*,)

Just do like me and buy both the blu ray AND a pair of yellow tinted aviator sunglasses.

Hold on to your Criterion editions because the Universal Blu-Ray is a disaster. I don't understand how the guy at DVD Beaver can, in good conscious, give the Blu-Ray such a positive review when Universal has so blatantly disregarded Dickerson's intentions.

I saw this film in the summer of 1989. In August of that year, my wife and I honeymooned on Martha's Vineyard and we actually met Spike Lee on the island (he later bought a house there I believe) and talked with him about the film. [as an aside I should say that I found him to be a very nice guy, even though I'm sure it surprised him when our car turned down the untravelled side road he was walking down and I enthusiastically leapt out of my car to tell him how much I loved his film). Anyway, the look of this film is seared in my mind, and it sure as hell isn't the image found on Universal's Blu-Ray. Dickerson worked very hard to achieve that look for the film, using filters as well as old film lighting that he took significant pains to acquire. I believe he talks about this on one of the supplements to the Criterion edition, so I think it is fair to say that he'd be horrified to see the new look the film has acquired in Blu-Ray.

How, if the filters were applied on the camera instead of after the fact, did Universal manage to "de-filter" them? I remember Soderbergh talking about how nervous the studio was when he made Traffic because they wouldn't be able to de-filter any of the blue or yellow scenes if they decided they didn't like the way it looked

domino harvey wrote:I remember Soderbergh talking about how nervous the studio was when he made Traffic because they wouldn't be able to de-filter any of the blue or yellow scenes if they decided they didn't like the way it looked

Maybe the studio thought they couldn't, but they could have. Digital color "correction" is pretty easy, it's just the simple addition or subtraction of colors to balance out the one that's prominent due to a filter. Lemme see if I can demonstrate on an a screen cap from Traffic...




Actually, it looks like Soderbergh, in addition to applying filters, desaturated all the color as well (probably in the color timing process, well after shooting). It's hard to add color to an image where it doesn't exist, but Do The Right Thing still had plenty of color, it was just all tinged gold.

Has Spike Lee done an introduction to a Criterion disc other than Do the Right Thing? I seem to recall one, but am having no luck figuring out which one it is... Did I dream this? Am I losing my mind??

Wood Tick wrote:Has Spike Lee done an introduction to a Criterion disc other than Do the Right Thing? I seem to recall one, but am having no luck figuring out which one it is... Did I dream this? Am I losing my mind??

He does an introduction for Ace in the Hole.

souvenir wrote:

Wood Tick wrote:Has Spike Lee done an introduction to a Criterion disc other than Do the Right Thing? I seem to recall one, but am having no luck figuring out which one it is... Did I dream this? Am I losing my mind??

He does an introduction for Ace in the Hole.

Thank you.

Update on the Blu-Ray color timing:

I had the opportunity to meet Ernest Dickerson today at Sunset Gower Studios, and was able to speak with him about the Universal Blu-ray and the Criterion laserdisc of this title. Ernest confirmed to me that he supervised the color timing of both the Criterion disc and the 2009 Universal Blu-ray. He acknowledged that the original theatrical run of the film and the Criterion disc were timed with a distinctly warm filter. He said that when he timed the Universal Blu-ray, he did not do that. He feels the movie still looks very hot, and that the colors are quite saturated. But this is a matter of him revisiting a movie he had not seen in many years and approaching it with his perspective today. In response to what he heard about the complaints, he said that if there was a mistake made here, he was the one who made it. But he didn't feel this was a bad transfer or that Universal did a bad job with the release. He also confirmed that Spike Lee saw and approved of the release.

Still wish they went with the original look, this is still revisionism, albeit unintentional from the sound of it.