This is topic My Fair Lady Blu Ray in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Warren Smyth (Member # 1838) on 01-10-2012, 04:27 AM:
 
Let me say that I think the quality we enjoy with Blu ray projected on our screen is stunning. I never dreamed when I ran 70mm prints in the sixties that I would have the privilege one day of enjoying classics looking so good without even leaving home.

My Wife and I however watched MFL last night and were both shocked at what we saw. There is a green hue and the Covent Garden scene at the end and parts of the 'Get Me To The Church On Time' scene has a horrible soft low density appearance on the right side. One shot after the return from the ball shows Eliza in a dirty green hue and at about 50% brightness.

I didn't expect it to live up to my memory of the original 70mm release, but after all the excellent work Robert Harris and his team did, I had hoped for something at least approaching the quality of the 35mm re-release.

The sound is not too bad although I did a little equalising but at least it is consistant.

Sadly, those bean counters at CBS will probably never be willing to pay for the job to be done properly now that this botched release has taken place. If I appear a little extreme, it's because MFL is no ordinary film. It is a masterpiece.

To all those responcible for this disaster, 'may the angels weep for you'.

 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 01-10-2012, 10:05 AM:
 
yeah apparently the bluray is making a lot of folks 'worst bluray releases of 2011' lists - shame on you CBS

Fox set the bar pretty high with the excellent 'Sound of Music' bluray - here though CBS didn't use the 65mm elements nor the 6-track sound stems - they went the cheap route and it shows... badly
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 01-10-2012, 10:19 AM:
 
I have a mfl dvd that is entirely green. The color saturation is too high also. It is just barely within the range of my set's video adjustments to compensate.

What was forgotten by the restorers is that PASTELS were all the rage when the 70mm was first screened. The roses at the start were supposed to be subtle. If you adjust them that way, the titles (should be tarnished GOLD) stop being olive green. Also Rex Harrison's makeup stops being so obvious as well; stops at the hairline; pale in hair, excessively ruddy on face. Natural with video correction. Louis
 

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Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 01-10-2012, 10:45 AM:
 
The real problem with the ability to "adjust" things is that some folks feel compelled to "adjust something!"

As in theatre architecture, restoration often becomes renovation.
It is very difficult to get folks to do an accurate restoration of the theatre decoration when they have so many possibilities for adding "embellishments".

There are very few theatre pipe organs fully restored to the original builder's mechanics and sounds. We so often hear that the organ has been "improved for modern performance"... Whatever that means!
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-10-2012, 11:39 AM:
 
Warren, thanks for the post, sad and as depressing as it is. What a huge disappointment. I guess I had the mistaken idea that now that we have DIGITAL and BR at that, all our beloved classic favorites would finally become available for us and the will look and sound nearly as good as we remember the originals in 70mm. We spent more money that we probably should have on projection and sound in our home theatres and then to get what you describe as what we will now probably have to live with forever -- these scum need to be tarred and feathered...I take that back -- it's not enough; how bout this -- how bout they NEED TO LOOSE THEIR DAMN COPYRIGHT PROTECTION! That will make the SOBs sit up and take notice. Why doesn't Warners still own this anyway; why is freakin CBS even in the movie business?

You are right -- with all the work Harris did, you would think it should have been a piece of cake making a decent BluRay release -- how much additional work would they have to have done on it?

Perhaps if enough people complain and embarass then enough, they may go back and fix the botched crap they spewed out. But I wouldn't hold my breath -- it's really difficult to embarass and a*hole.
 

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Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 01-10-2012, 12:21 PM:
 
Robert Harris calls it the worst Blu-Ray release this year and not a single coin should be spent on it unless you wish to give CBS your money for crap in return.

He did a restoration in the 90s and says this looks like 35mm elements were used for this when the restored 70mm version could have been tweaked for a great Blu-Ray release.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 01-10-2012, 01:06 PM:
 
on home video this title has changed hands from Fox, to Warners and now Paramount, if CBS just sold the rights to one of them, say... Warner's, who do great 65mm transfers, this wouldn't have never been an issue, but as it now stands - the bluray is an outright embarrassment and travesty.
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 01-10-2012, 03:04 PM:
 

quote: Frank Angel

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Why doesn't Warners still own this anyway; why is freakin CBS even in the movie business?

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quote: Rick Raskin

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Why not just return the BR?

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quote: John Wilson

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BluRay.com don't seem to think it's that bad...

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It is fair to assume that there will be mixed reviews depending upon the display device used for the assessment and expectations. However BR.com do say "image does appear to drift into softness and edge murkiness every now and again". It's a question as to whether you consider that acceptable for a classic film of which there is a large format master. I think the still images on that site together with those on dvd beaver speak volumes. Dvd beaver which has a link from John provides a detailed assessment.
 

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Posted by Warren Smyth (Member # 1838) on 01-11-2012, 07:25 AM:
 
Correction - it is Bill Gabel who kindly provides the link to dvd beaver. This provides an informed assessment of the BR release I believe.

Let's hope Lawrence of Arabia doesn't suffer the same fate when we see it in BR.
 

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Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 01-11-2012, 08:10 AM:
 
Everything you could possibly want to know about this, including the official Robert Harris take.

For a veritable laundry list of reasons, I swore years ago that I would never buy a Blu-ray player. It's things like this that make me happy with that decision .
 

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Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 09-30-2014, 10:40 PM:
 

It has been 993 days since the last post.

 

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 09-30-2014, 10:40 PM:
 
Excellent news!

It's being re-released with a new transfer and Robert Harris has done it!

PARADE is excited to exclusively announce this morning that My Fair Lady: 50th Anniversary Edition will arrive on Blu-ray on December 9!

One of Audrey’s Hepburn’s most beloved roles, My Fair Lady will finally get the treatment it deserves with this long-awaited new Blu-ray edition.

Just in time for the holiday season, the My Fair Lady: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray features a brand new 4K scan of the original negative overseen by acclaimed film historian and preservationist Robert A. Harris (so you know the film is going to look better than it ever has before), over 90 minutes of never-before-released archive material, exclusive trailers, and footage from the film’s British premiere. If you’re a film fan in any capacity, the My Fair Lady: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray is one that absolutely deserves a place in your collection.

We’ve included a few exclusive images of the box art to whet your appetite and below you’ll find the press release with all of the official details.



My Fair Lady: 50th Anniversary Edition arrives in stores on December 9.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-16-2014, 12:50 PM:
 
I think I have about 8 copies of this title in every format since the introduction of VHS video, not to mention a 35mm print of the restoration. Just wondering when Public Domain kicks in, or is that concept Gone With The Wind?
 

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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 10-16-2014, 12:55 PM:
 
> Just wondering when Public Domain kicks in

I believe it is currently 90 years from when it was first copyrighted.
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 12-10-2014, 12:05 PM:
 
Blu-ray.com has a new release date for the remastered Blu-ray of My Fair Lady for Feb. 3rd, 2015.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 12-11-2014, 11:14 AM:
 
^ can't wait!

I'd personally like to see the new restoration up on the big screen via the 4K DCP.
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 12-12-2014, 11:35 AM:
 
A friend at Disney saw it a few months ago and said it looks fantastic on the big screen.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-01-2015, 03:33 PM:
 
I personally would like to see it on the BIG screen via a pristine 70MM Harris restoration print.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 01-01-2015, 03:48 PM:
 
Only if the proper 6-track mix was available. I ran the Harris restoration on its original release (with Mr. Harris in the theatre) and the 70mm mix was HORRIBLE...they PRESUMED that theatres didn't have 5-screen channels and did the second worst thing possible...with the first being just to drop tracks 2 and 4...but they instead chose to mix tracks 1 and 2 together for track 1 and tracks 4 and 5 together for track 5. The panned dialog was crazy as one would walk across the screen their voice would stay on one side...then start to follow them, over take them and beat them to the other side. Whomever decided that was "okay" should not have been in the position of making that decision. They should have kept the original mix and made that a condition of booking the movie (either you are set up to run a classic title like this or you are not).

Now with DTS...we have "choices" since one print can use whatever discs are available. I've personally seen discs for 2001, for instance, in 5.1, 6.0 and "8-channel" which would be in in "modern" terminology as 7.1SDS. So one can run the "best" format based on the sound set up you have. I have not heard the 8-channel version but I have heard the 6.0 and 5.1...always run the 6.0 if you have the speakers. The 5.1 doesn't really add the .1 but it is a better choice if that is all you have.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 02-28-2015, 04:16 PM:
 
so what's the deal? has the DCP been finalized or not? because with the bluray being delayed and no new street date, it sounds like Robert Harris hasn't finalized the restoration (despite the article in American Cinematographer suggesting otherwise). Saw that Landmark Bethesda (Maryland) is showing the DCP next Wednesday afternoon/evening but unfortunately got the confirmation from the manager if it was indeed the 4K DCP - they would have advertised it as such
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 11-01-2015, 07:21 PM:
 
holy moly! watched the bluray mid-last week and the picture quality is just outstanding. Not to wild with the 7.1 mix as it steers music into the surrounds directly behind you and not so much from the side channels. But on the whole, what a restoration! now to watch Robert A. Harris' other restoration 'Spartacus'
 

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Posted by Robert Harris (Member # 1712) on 11-08-2015, 07:47 AM:
 
Jonathan,

The original effects channel was used for all music, as well as walla, very subtlety. There are several instances for which we pulled back mx from the far sides, back Very slightly into the left and right sides to fill in the audio between the front sides and the rear.

Nothing should seem out of place.

RAH
 

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