CRITERION TO RELEASE MAD,MAD,MAD,MAD WORLD ON BLU RAY

[Daveismyhero]

If anyone happens to see this available for preorder on Amazon, kindly post a link. I keep checking everytime someone bumps this thread, so I'll report back if I see it. Thanks!

[hammerglenn]

This is available now on Amazon.

[William D. Ferry]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GBT61YS/ref ... %2Fpage-28" target="_blank" target="_blank

This is the link from the Home Theater Forum.

[moglia]

Not sure why Criterion is duplicating the effort from 2012 done through MGM/Fox Video with their Blu-Ray release--which when introduced was $9.98 at Wal-Mart! THAT release is a gorgeous Blu-Ray HD transfer of the original release version.

(The original MGM standard DVD transfer was fair-to-poor compared to above Blu-Ray)

This seems to be a common practice nowadays for redundant releases of classic films on Blu-Ray.

Now when a better transfer, more supplementary materials, etc. are included, it can be a selling point.

Not looking to insult anyone but for me the 2012 was middle of the road looking and nowhere near "gorgeous", It used far too much DVNR and EE for my taste. There was no need for it and 10 minutes in I stopped watching hoping a better Blu-Ray release would follow. Got my wish as I could not ask for better than the way Criterion does their transfers. They are professionals who care about their product.

My guess is the Criterion in 2014 will make it obvious how much the 2012 is an inferior digitally scrubbed lacking true detail cheap-O effort. Viva La Criterion



Edit: I see I pretty much posted the same 2 months back. My apologies.

[Daveismyhero]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GBT61YS/ref ... %2Fpage-28" target="_blank" target="_blank

This is the link from the Home Theater Forum.

Thank you!

[precode]

From the Criterion press release:

• New audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo

I wonder what Michael had to say?

Plenty. I point out things that were right in front of your eyes but you never noticed. I'd be willing to bet we've set a new record for the sheer volume of data spewed out over the course of 3 1/4 hours--and we still didn't get everything in!

Mike S.

"Lousy stinkin' bulls are everywhere."

[westegg]

It took me a million viewings before I noticed a rather elaborate stunt when one of the taxis hit a fire hydrant--if I recall correctly, an added car mishap sent a guy tumbling. It all seemed so quick and peripheral. Not sure if I have it all correct, but I'm sure there's some "extra action" going on during certain shots that repeat viewing will uncover.

[All Darc]

Take a look.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm" target="_blank

The extra scenes looks not very good.

[fwtep]

Not as good as the regular footage, but still perfectly fine. When you're watching the film, after a while you hardly notice the difference. I'm basing that on having watched the laserdisc version many many times. As long as it generally looks as good as that version, I'll be really happy. Even if some of the shots or scenes don't look as good, but are new to me, I'll be happy (along the lines of "even a lousy print of a missing film is better than nothing").

As for the regular parts of the film, the Criterion version, judging by the images posted, is noticeably sharper than the MGM version, which itself looks great. I can't wait till next week!

[All Darc]

There was a article, very complete, by film restorer expert Robert Harris, on Digital Bits telling in details about the complete version of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. The negative or print of the complete version was in bad shape, very shrunken, with some segments extremelly fragile.

Not sure it these elements are going to accurate restoration process or not. But It's was not used in this new BD version.

[bigshot]

It seems the new footage is very uneven, ranging from bleached out colorless film to sections without a soundtrack to soundtrack without picture to go with it. Kind of like Greed. It's a supplement, not a reconstructed road show version. I have the Walmart $9 blu-ray, and the transfer is identical to the theatrical cut on Criterion. I'd be interested in the supplements, but I really buy disks for the movies, not the supplements. Other people may feel differently.

[fwtep]

I consider the release version to be a supplement.

[All Darc]

Criterion looks a bit sharper, probably due better encoding and/or less compression.

[Stuart Galbraith IV]

My review of the new Blu-ray is here:

http://www.worldcinemaparadise.com" target="_blank

[fwtep]

Great article/review! And wow, I'd never made the Preston Sturges connection before but it's very apt. It has somewhat of a Sturges feel even besides the Demarest character.

[Monogram Mike]

It seems the new footage is very uneven, ranging from bleached out colorless film to sections without a soundtrack to soundtrack without picture to go with it. Kind of like Greed. It's a supplement, not a reconstructed road show version. I have the Walmart $9 blu-ray, and the transfer is identical to the theatrical cut on Criterion. I'd be interested in the supplements, but I really buy disks for the movies, not the supplements. Other people may feel differently.

I buy titles for the movie too and I bought this for the reconstructive roadshow of TT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD. It is a gem even with all its warts. It's much better put together than the 1990 laserdisc. The commentary is full of new information on the filming of the movie and the supplements are top notch.

I'm not sure where all the negative talk about concerning the reconstruction is coming from. Just about every forum reported this is the way it was going to be back in October when Criterion announced it, faded color, missing audio, missing picture, and one subtitled scene.

I would assume if THE ALAMO gets a restoration it might look something like this due to the deterioration of the cut elements. Possibly the same with HAWAII. I had much rather have it this way than not at all.

The transfer of the General Release is the same transfer as MGM but Criterion included the Enter acta music that MGM left off their release and corrected some of the background color in the title section, so the Criterion General Release is a little more complete version.

[All Darc]

Is this reconstruction version supported by the Studio, or was a Criterion effort alone?

The extreme fadded image it's probably beyound traditional digital recovery, like one color layer had completely fadded without any little information to be enhanced by digital filter.
But in theory, if we know the color of the objects and location, the missing color channel can be recreated to look very real. In theory... But require develop a new software for that.

[coolcatdaddy]

I screened the restored extended cut on this set when I got home from work on Friday evening.

Yes, it has flaws, but it's really a miracle they could do this at all when you see what kind of shape the trims are in. With enough money, the trims could have been touched up more - there's grayscale areas and some NTSC "fringing" in the color they layered over the new scans of the trimmed material - but, like others, I'm thankful to finally be able to see what I've been missing in the movie after all these years. You know you're really looking at something resurrected from the dead when you see a couple of shots with Japanese subtitles.

For the most part, the trims make the film flow a little better, filling out sections where a group of the characters are doing something, then, when we return to them, they're doing something else entirely. It also makes Culpepper's decision to go after the money himself a little clearer - in the release cut, you get hints he's thinking about it, but the extended version has him booking a boat from Buster Keaton so Culpepper showing up at the dock near the end makes more sense. There are a few places - perhaps only two or three scenes - that drag a little bit or go on a little too long.

If you like the movie and can understand the problems with the source material, the set will greatly add to your enjoyment and appreciation of it as one of the last big gasps of old Hollywood. If you're one of those people who think "Mad World" is an overblown, loud, obnoxious Hollywood movie, the extended version won't change your mind and will probably be interminably long to you.

[moglia]

The extended version on the Criterion version for the scenes that are common to both version looks so much better it's amazing. There is so much more detail and color depth.... Either a much superior transfer or source. Again that is only for the footage that is common to the extended and "theatrical"

The screen caps at dvdbeaver shows a lot of what I noticed during my compares
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank

[moglia]

Criterion looks a bit sharper, probably due better encoding and/or less compression.

No DNR and Edge Enhancement too. Which to my eyes and on my playback equipment makes the Criterion superior.

It's possible that the Criterion and MGM "Walmart" used the same transfer? But the digital mastering and bitrate is superior.
Although the footage common to both version on the Criterion looks a lot better on the extended as I mentioned in my last post.