Sir Terrence the Terrible
11-05-2009, 11:06 AM
I just got back from Blu con 2.0 just a couple of days ago, and just got a chance to watch The Wizard of OZ with my kids. Having owned the Wizard of OZ on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD, this Blu-ray release is by far the best presentation of this classic I have seen yet. Scanned at 4K from the original reels of the film, Wizard of OZ is just beautiful. WHE went back to the original reels when they could find them, or used negatives when they could not to create this classic title not seen like this ever. Audiences back in 1939 never saw the original grain structure on this film, as the film and camera processing did not allow it. Here on this Blu-ray disc we are seeing this as it has never been seen before, original grain structure and all.
Granted with a 1080p/VC-1 encoding in a 1:37:1 window frame, this is as good as it gets for this release. Clarity is greatly improved, as is color rendition and saturation, black levels, and contrast over all previous releases. All is not perfect though, as you can see the occasional print damage, scratches, pops, and vertical lines - but in the grand scheme of things, these are all minor issues in comparison to the overall quality of the presentation. Thank the mother there is no DNR applied to the release, so we have to thank Warner for not trying to make this film look like video.
While not quite as thrilling as the video, the films lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track sound terrific. Dialog is always clean and intelligible, the music has beautifully rendered textures and timbre, and every little sound effect sounds fresh, and is well prioritized within the mix. The LFE is strong at times, supporting the sound effects perfectly, and providing an excellent foundation for the musical numbers. The surrounds are subdued, but are used to support the musical parts of the film quite effectively.
I got the 3 disc version, and there is plenty of extra material to view. This is probably the most thorough exploration of the backstage of the Wizard of Oz I have ever seen. There is as much extras to view as the movie is long.
This is a must have for any film collector. This is by far the most exquisite presentation of this film we will ever see. Some will object to the amount of grain on this film, but this is real film, and not digital video we are seeing here. This is the most accurate representation of the film seen on any previous format.
Granted with a 1080p/VC-1 encoding in a 1:37:1 window frame, this is as good as it gets for this release. Clarity is greatly improved, as is color rendition and saturation, black levels, and contrast over all previous releases. All is not perfect though, as you can see the occasional print damage, scratches, pops, and vertical lines - but in the grand scheme of things, these are all minor issues in comparison to the overall quality of the presentation. Thank the mother there is no DNR applied to the release, so we have to thank Warner for not trying to make this film look like video.
While not quite as thrilling as the video, the films lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track sound terrific. Dialog is always clean and intelligible, the music has beautifully rendered textures and timbre, and every little sound effect sounds fresh, and is well prioritized within the mix. The LFE is strong at times, supporting the sound effects perfectly, and providing an excellent foundation for the musical numbers. The surrounds are subdued, but are used to support the musical parts of the film quite effectively.
I got the 3 disc version, and there is plenty of extra material to view. This is probably the most thorough exploration of the backstage of the Wizard of Oz I have ever seen. There is as much extras to view as the movie is long.
This is a must have for any film collector. This is by far the most exquisite presentation of this film we will ever see. Some will object to the amount of grain on this film, but this is real film, and not digital video we are seeing here. This is the most accurate representation of the film seen on any previous format.