Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: WHEN THE LION ROARS on Blu-Ray

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Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 07-30-2009, 04:01 PM:

Claude - this is for you!

According to Amazon the Wizard of Oz Blu-ray Collector's Edition has a pretty neat Blu- ray exclusive: 6 hour MGM documentary When the Lion Roars. I guess they heard you!

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 07-30-2009, 04:08 PM:

But will When The Lion Roars be remastered in HD, or like may Blu-Ray extras, only be SD resolution?

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 07-30-2009, 04:17 PM:

It doesn't specify. Here is the text:

Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary 4 Disc Blu-Ray Amazon Exclusive in LIMITED and NUMBERED one-of-a-kind collectible packaging - Contains 16 Hours of Enhanced Content, Four of Which Are Brand New, Including New Documentaries, Featurettes, Digital Copy on Disc and Rare and highly collectible memorabilia. Premiums include: 52-pg. Production History Book, Behind the Curtain; Exclusive 70th Anniversary Watch with genuine crystals; Reproduction of the original film budget; 1939 Campaign Book. Blu-Ray Exclusive: 6 hour MGM documentary When the Lion Roars. Exclusive to Amazon are a set of 4 collectible poster cards featuring the characters of Wizard of Oz.

You might notice that Amazon claims they have a four disc version vs. the announced two disc blu-ray. Perhaps they are confusing it with the DVD version which is four discs...or maybe they have two exclusive discs. They are the only source I have seen that claim you get a digital copy.

Here's a link to another source. It gives more details about the special content:

Wizard Blu-ray

Here is the list of features from that page:

Disc Features:
Disc 1:
• Sing-along Track (NEW)
• Commentary by John Fricke with Barbara Freed-Saltzman (daughter of Arthur Freed), Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, John Lahr (son of Bert Lahr), Jane Lahr (daughter of Bert Lahr), Hamilton Meserve (son of Margaret Hamilton), Dona Massin (MGM choreographer), William Tuttle (make-up artist), Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy, and Jerry Maren
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook
• Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz
• We Haven't Really Met Properly
• Music and Effects Track
• Original Mono Track
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic [1990 TV special]
• Memories of Oz [2001 TCM documentary]
• The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
• Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz
• Harold Arlen's Home Movies
• Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
• It's a Twister! It's a Twister! The Tornado Tests
• Off to See the Wizard
• 3 Vault Shorts
• Audio Jukebox Selection
• Still Galleries
• Six Theatrical Trailers

Disc 2:
• Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman (NEW)
• L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain
• Celebrating Hollywood's Biggest Little Stars (NEW)
• The Dreamer of Oz [1990 TV special] (NEW)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
• The Wizard of Oz [1933]
• His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz
• The Magic Cloak of Oz [1914] (NEW)
• The Patchwork Girl of Oz [1914] (NEW)
• The Wizard of Oz [1925 feature]

HD Exclusive Content:
• MGM: When The Lion Roars Documentary

Even though this is not one of my favorite movies I am buying it for all the new/old material I have never seen.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-30-2009, 04:59 PM:

Thank you for the 'Heads Up', Joe

I already have WHEN THE LION ROARS on laserdisc in a box set and on DVD. THE WIZARD OF OZ was never my favorite move even when I was little and doubt very much if I will get the Blu Ray of the movie because I already sprung for the DVD deluxe set when it was released a little over a year ago. It is too bad WHEN THE LION ROARS will not be on the BEN-HUR or the GONE WITH THE WIND deluxe Bly Ray set because I will be getting them.

-Claude

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-31-2009, 11:38 AM:

This photo clearly shows just two discs.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 08-11-2009, 09:19 AM:

Warner Bros. will be presenting a one night only event on Wed. Sept. 23rd. of presenting the "The Wizard of Oz" in HI-Def at theatres around the country.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-11-2009, 10:11 AM:

So will this lead to us getting a remastered version of "The Wiz"? [Wink]

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 08-11-2009, 11:38 AM:

quote: Bill Gabel
Warner Bros. will be presenting a one night only event on Wed. Sept. 23rd. of presenting the "The Wizard of Oz" in HI-Def at theatres around the country.

2k DLP or blu-ray over the crap pre-show projector?

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-11-2009, 11:43 AM:

Betting the latter.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-11-2009, 01:24 PM:

The WIZARD OF OZ was remastered in 4K for the Blu Ray & DVD release and this is what will be presented at the one day theatrical showing. As I had mentioned, the film is not a favorite and will not bother to get the BD or see the movie in a theatre.

GONE WITH THE WIND is getting a similar treatment on Blu Ray and DVD in November and a press release is up at The Digital Bits web site. WHEN THE LION ROARS will also be included in the BD set of GWTW only and it will be on a DVD that is now available.

-Claude

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 09-22-2009, 03:47 PM:

The doc. "MGM: When the Lion Roars" is standard-Def dvd.
The blu-ray disc looks great. The Limited Edition package looks good too.

Mine is 575 of 243,000

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-22-2009, 04:07 PM:

Bill,

The WIZARD OF OZ set in Blu Ray is not expected until next week, How did you get it so early? Since you have it, is it as great as people have been saying it is. If you have the CASABLANCA Bku Ray set, how does the picture quality compare as far as sharpness is concerned? I said I was going to pass on this set earlier but I am now considering it.

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 09-23-2009, 01:56 PM:

The screen caps I have seen are amazing. Here's a review with some...

OZ Blu-ray Review

Posted by Karl Borowski (Member # 5424) on 09-23-2009, 02:01 PM:

I saw it in HD on TNT I think almost a year ago.

Looked great.

Have it on good authority that the "Oz" event tonight is coming in over the, what, 1.3K preview projectors that have replaced slide shows.

BTW, SOT, what is 1.3K compared to SD TV?

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 09-23-2009, 03:31 PM:

I believe the TNT showings were the previous HD transfer created for a DVD release. Same thing with Gone With The Wind. These new versions should be noticeably better for a variety of reasons.

Posted by Karl Borowski (Member # 5424) on 09-23-2009, 03:38 PM:

So was the version I saw on TNT not from the OCN at 8K, but rather from a dupe?

I take it then, that this release tonight is a broadcast from the Blu-ray material.

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 09-23-2009, 04:22 PM:

If the press release is to be believed there are a couple of improvements. The "old" version was from I believe a 2K scan of the original negatives using WB's original "Ultra-Resolution" process - totally acceptable for DVD production. In the ensuing years they have updated this process so it provides even better registration of the three Technicolor negative elements. In addition they scanned the elements at 8K which I read means a pixel is smaller than a grain of film. I am sure that statement will spark some debate here and I don't know if it's right or wrong but let's take it at face value. That would mean WB was able to color correct each element, repair any issues and re-register them together one grain of film at a time on each frame of film if necessary. Sounds like quite an achievement.

Another big plus over the previous TNT HD version we saw is that there will be much less compression on the BR disc than a cable broadcast allowing for even more fine detail in the picture.

The showing tonight is from the new scans but will be negatively impacted by the equipment through which most locations will project it.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 09-24-2009, 07:31 PM:

Hi Claude,
The disc looks amazing. It has everything you always wanted to know about OZ and more. I get many titles early. I did not get the Casablanca blu-ray set, I have the HD-DVD release of the movie. That one looked great too.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-24-2009, 07:58 PM:

Thanks Bill,

I was very glad to learn this morning that a standard Blu Ray version of THE WIZZARD OF OZ will be available only at Target on Tuesday along with the BD of GREMLINS. What is surprising about GREMLINS in Blu Ray is it's release now without any prior announcement from WHV. I am glad TWOO will be available in a standard case without all that extra stuff because I do not need them. I already have WHEN THE LION ROARS on laserdisc and DVD. I hope the standard release from TARGET will have all of the extra stuff pertaining to the Judy Garland movie however.

-Claude

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 09-28-2009, 11:09 AM:

Claude - I was excited to see the Target version as well. Like you I am only interested in the video content and not the "toys". According to the Target ad it's two discs which would be all of the OZ material - eliminating the "...Lion Roars" DVD and the digital copy of OZ. At 34.99 it is the best version for me. I hear they are also going to have a Gone With The Wind exclusive of a similar nature. I think, however, I will stick with the larger set on GWTW since it also has the "...Lion Roars" disc (which I do not have at this time) and is one of my top ten favorite movies.

Also I recommend "Casablanca" as well. I understand it's the same master as the HD-DVD version and it is stunning in glorious black-and-white!

TBS showed OZ in HD last night. From how unimpressed I was from the last time TNT showed it I would surmise this had to be from the new transfer. It was beautiful even with the limited cable TV bandwidth. Should be incredible on BR disc.

Posted by Karl Borowski (Member # 5424) on 09-28-2009, 12:45 PM:

Unless they used a bad telecine or scanner for the 2K version, you'd have a hard time telling any difference between 2K and 8K on an HD set, because 2K is above the resolution of HD (only 10%, but still. . .)

So, barring physical restorative work of film damage, I don't know how you could be "unimpressed" with the older HD version, Joe. There are differences between 8K and 2K scans, but none you could likely see on an HD TV; you could only conceivably see the difference on a 4K projector or a film print.

What I was unimpressed with was how a lot of paying customers got duped into seeing the broadcast on sub-HD preview projectors (my experience on a TV last year was certainly better than that, because I have HD), and that the archive 35mm restoration prints were apparantly withdrawn shortly before that time.

I hear the preview projectors are only 500-600 lines, as opposed to 1000+ needed to render HD.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-28-2009, 02:12 PM:

Joe,

If what a Target employee who had posted at the Home Theatre Forum had said turn out to be true, THE WIZARD OF OZ that will be sold at their stores tomorrow will be a three disc set and not two. This means you will get WHEN THE LION ROARS when you purchase TWOO. The laserdisc of WTLR was a box set with three discs and the DVD is a two disc set in a standard case. This means the documentary is now on a double sided disc It is very strange that WHV will be including the MGM documentary on the GONE WITH THE WIND Blue Ray set again. I am planning to buy the Target edition of that movie if it is offered and when I do, I will have three copies of WHEN THE LION ROARS. How about that? [Confused]

As far as the scanning rate is concerned, I know both THE WIZARD OF OZ and GONE WITH THE WIND will be splendid in Blu Ray.. I am also looking forward to SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFF next week. Robert Harris had very favorable things to say about it in his review of the film at the Home Theatre Forum. I had pre ordered SWATSD from Best Buy and was given a gorgeous steelbook case when I did that.

-Claude

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 09-28-2009, 06:04 PM:

Karl:

I hear what you are saying about the 2K vs. 8K/4K version but I think the difference may have had as much to do with the increased capabilities of their "ultra-resolution" process as anything. Admittedly I was watching while doing other things but the registration of the three strips seemed flawless...noticeably better than - for example - "Adventures of Robin Hood" which was done back in 2003 and is the transfer available on the current HD disc versions. It would stand to reason the smaller pixels would allow for a more precise result.