MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

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Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#276 Post by Jameson281 » Fri May 16, 2014 6:32 pm

As I think I mentioned a few pages back, the restoration of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY was done by L'Immagine Ritrovita in Italy. For the color, they checked a vintage Italian Technicolor print or two and consulted with Assistant Cameraman Sergio Salvati. Salvati insisted upon the yellow look, saying this was what Leone had wanted and intended.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#277 Post by EddieLarkin » Fri May 16, 2014 6:40 pm

Cineteca di Bologna are credited at the start of the Italian disc. It has a yellow look, but nothing like the new MGM, as you can see in the caps I've linked to. This seems like additional work by MGM.

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captveg
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#278 Post by captveg » Fri May 16, 2014 6:50 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:Cineteca di Bologna are credited at the start of the Italian disc. It has a yellow look, but nothing like the new MGM, as you can see in the caps I've linked to. This seems like additional work by MGM.
Going by just the screencaps, I would agree. My question is: why would they want to do it? Who would they be pleasing, exactly? Decisions like this are just so damn confusing.

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#279 Post by Jameson281 » Fri May 16, 2014 7:06 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:Cineteca di Bologna are credited at the start of the Italian disc. It has a yellow look, but nothing like the new MGM, as you can see in the caps I've linked to. This seems like additional work by MGM.
The Cineteca di Bologna created L'Immagine Ritrovata; it does their film restoration. The frame grab from the Italian disc is from the BD that came out a couple of years ago--that's why it doesn't match the look of the new, 2014 restoration. Again: all work on the picture for the new 4K restoration was performed in Italy by L'Immagine Ritrovata/Cineteca de Bologna--scanning, color and image restoration. There was no "additional work by MGM" on the picture. MGM just contributed financing and worked on the English mono track.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#280 Post by EddieLarkin » Fri May 16, 2014 7:11 pm

I see. Having just checked, I didn't realise how old the Italian disc actually was. Odd that it had such a superior transfer to the old MGM even back then. Still, I certainly don't like the new look but I'll wait to see what the more informed think.

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#281 Post by Jameson281 » Fri May 16, 2014 7:17 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:I see. Having just checked, I didn't realise how old the Italian disc actually was. Odd that it had such a superior transfer to the old MGM even back then.
Not really, considering the original elements are in Italy while MGM's materials are a generation or two further down.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#282 Post by EddieLarkin » Fri May 16, 2014 7:27 pm

Do you know what rez it was scanned at for the 09 disc and what if anything was used for a reference? If you look at the Italian disc in isolation, it looks so very yellow already. But the new disc appears to be completely tinted, with even the sky becoming a smoggy yellow. If it's "right" it's right but I don't think it's also out of the realm of possibility that someone turned a dial a tad too much.

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#283 Post by Jameson281 » Fri May 16, 2014 7:37 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:Do you know what rez it was scanned at for the 09 disc and what if anything was used for a reference? If you look at the Italian disc in isolation, it looks so very yellow already. But the new disc appears to be completely tinted, with even the sky becoming a smoggy yellow. If it's "right" it's right but I don't think it's also out of the realm of possibility that someone turned a dial a tad too much.
The new restoration is a 4K scan of the original neg. As I mentioned back a few posts, the Italians conculted a vintage Technicolor print or two and relied on Assistant Cameraman Sergio Salvati for final color supervision.

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feihong
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#284 Post by feihong » Sat May 17, 2014 1:53 pm

How could they have ended up with that look, though? The new version makes it look like a Tony Scott movie.

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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#285 Post by Jameson281 » Sun May 18, 2014 1:04 am

feihong wrote:How could they have ended up with that look, though?
Are you asking "How did they choose that look?" or "How did they technically achieve that look?" If the former, I've already answered that question. Salvati told them that's what Leone wanted, and it reflects what they saw on vintage Italian prints (which may have looked very different from American prints). If you're asking the latter, they just adjusted the color in telecine.

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tenia
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#286 Post by tenia » Sun May 18, 2014 6:01 am


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Lowry_Sam
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#287 Post by Lowry_Sam » Sun May 18, 2014 9:37 pm

The 2014 grabs are much closer to the look of the Italian print I saw about a decade ago. Now if they also get the original English & Italian mono tracks right (and the original Italian credits would also be nice), they'll at least have the most important part of the release that I had hoped Criterion would have done for this, had they acquired it (though most here claimed a Criterion double dip for this wasn't warranted & wouldn't be financially viable)....Since it's not Criterion, I won't hold my breath for a second blu-ray stacked with special features, otherwise I think I'm satisfied enogh to unload my trilogy box now.

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#288 Post by Jameson281 » Sun May 18, 2014 9:49 pm

Lowry_Sam wrote:
The 2014 grabs are much closer to the look of the Italian print I saw about a decade ago. Now if they also get the original English & Italian mono tracks right (and the original Italian credits would also be nice), they'll at least have the most important part of the release
The English mono was restored for this release. For the scenes unique to the extended version, the original mono M & E was combined with the ADR done back in 2002. Sync in those scenes was improved as much impossible.

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jsteffe
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#289 Post by jsteffe » Sun May 18, 2014 10:22 pm

The difference is truly radical, but I am convinced by the new look of the film. The grain and density of detail are also stunning, based on the screencaps. I just hope that the US release has some information about the restoration so people understand why it looks the way it does.

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#290 Post by Jameson281 » Sun May 18, 2014 11:00 pm

jsteffe wrote:The difference is truly radical, but I am convinced by the new look of the film. The grain and density of detail are also stunning, based on the screencaps. I just hope that the US release has some information about the restoration so people understand why it looks the way it does.
Late in the game, Fox expressed interest in interviewing one of the Italians who oversaw the project, but unfortunately he had left town. The only information on the disc that I'm aware of will be the new restoration credits at the end of the film, which credits L'Immagine Ritrovita with the scanning, restoration and color grading, and gives a special credit to Sergio Salvati for additional color correction supervision. (MGM and the Cineteca de Bologna are credited only with restoration funding.)

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#291 Post by Jameson281 » Fri May 23, 2014 4:51 pm

Jameson281 wrote:
Lowry_Sam wrote:
The 2014 grabs are much closer to the look of the Italian print I saw about a decade ago. Now if they also get the original English & Italian mono tracks right (and the original Italian credits would also be nice), they'll at least have the most important part of the release
The English mono was restored for this release. For the scenes unique to the extended version, the original mono M & E was combined with the ADR done back in 2002. Sync in those scenes was improved as much impossible.
*Sigh* Apparently the new disc does not have the newly restored mono, just the fold-down from the last release. No word on whether Fox will re-press with the correct track and offer a replacement program. If you want to hear the restored mono, I guess you'll have to check out the 4K DCP of the new restoration. It is definitely present on that (although it also have the 5.1 as an option, giving theaters a choice).

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Drucker
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#292 Post by Drucker » Mon Jun 16, 2014 5:16 pm


John Doe
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#293 Post by John Doe » Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:45 pm

Duck, You Sucker- 10/7

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domino harvey
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#294 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:59 pm

Interesting, I'd thought they'd give it to Kino for sure

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jsteffe
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#295 Post by jsteffe » Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:40 pm

The Cineteca di Bologna also did a new 4k restoration of A Fistful of Dollars that showed at the Cannes Film Festival and at Il Cinema Ritrovato. (I missed it there, alas!)

Am I assuming correctly that it is not part of the new Leone trilogy box set?

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matrixschmatrix
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#296 Post by matrixschmatrix » Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:05 pm

The only 4k rerelease in that set is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

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tenia
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#297 Post by tenia » Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:19 am

The good thing when progressively remastering / restoring a trilogy is that you can release 3 new boxsets. \:D/

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manicsounds
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#298 Post by manicsounds » Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:52 am

John Doe wrote:Duck, You Sucker- 10/7
It's been out for a bit now, but I can't find a single review for this. Anyone have it?

Jameson281
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#299 Post by Jameson281 » Fri Nov 07, 2014 12:59 am

FYI: The new single-disc release of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY 4K restoration contains the correct restored mono audio and NOT the infamous 5.1 mixdown. If anyone is skeptical, compare the 5.1 against the mono for the Extended Version scenes and you'll see they're clearly different. (Changes were made to the Extended Version scene audio during the mono restoration to improve sync and make it more faithful to the Italian mix, so it's a quick and easy way to check.)
Last edited by Jameson281 on Fri Nov 07, 2014 3:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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swo17
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Re: MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#300 Post by swo17 » Fri Nov 07, 2014 1:21 am

Any word of a replacement program for those that bought the set?

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