DVDizzy Forum

Wasn't this year the 50th Anniversary? Anyway, next spring it's coming to Blu (and again to DVD). Blu-ray.com has all the technical specs posted.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2178

Can the other 5 major R&H musicals be far behind?

Just imagine how garish the color filters will look in HD!

"State Fair" really should be exempt from their "big six" list...

And call me when "Flower Drum Song" comes out.

I wonder if there will be any more extras than what were on the Special Edition from 2005. I've always wondered if they ever filmed the complete "Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" number as it's SEVERELY truncated in the release print and the complete version is on the ST!

Jon

SpringHeelJack wrote:Just imagine how garish the color filters will look in HD!

"State Fair" really should be exempt from their "big six" list...

And call me when "Flower Drum Song" comes out.

*Hope Brendon isn't serious and is really mixing up the 1962 and 1945 versions (the earlier of which is obviously superior, really great and would look great in HD)*

Okay, I have a soft spot for Ann-Margret, but, uh, I don't like singing to pigs. It's against God and nature, dammit. Fire and brimstone!

SpringHeelJack wrote:Okay, I have a soft spot for Ann-Margret, but, uh, I don't like singing to pigs. It's against God and nature, dammit. Fire and brimstone!

Clearly satanic IMO to sing to such critters (especially if the song is that bad). I just also realized my post was very misleading and I think the 1945 version is WAY better than the awful 1962 version. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear in my earlier post.

Back to SP, I think that it's great how it's going to be on Blu son, but I think I'll pass. For some reason there is just something missing from this film that is in the other major 5 R&H musicals.

Flanger-Hanger wrote:For some reason there is just something missing from this film that is in the other major 5 R&H musicals.

Solid direction would be my bet. Joshua Logan just wasn't able to translate that which worked so well on stage to screen. And again... color filters. Every time "Bali Hai" starts it looks like somebody put the camera in Jello as a practical joke.

Yeah, those color filters were bizarre. I remember the first time I saw South Pacific, I honestly wondered if this was the result of some restoration error, as if certain Technicolor layers were missing. Eventually I realized it was intentional.

I admit that South Pacific is the only R&H musical I don't like. I find it tedious, and I find all of the characters either bland or unappealing except for Nellie. I only own the current 2-disc DVD because it came in my R&H boxed set.

I'm actually pretty dang satisfied with how all the musicals in that set are presented, so I won't be upgrading them to Blu.

On an unrelated note, where the heck is Funny Girl? That film could do with a new restoration, and there's a good half hour or so of deleted footage that Streisand herself owns that'd make awesome supplements. This year would've been perfect considering it's the 40th anniversary and all. Maybe Sony will pull a Disney/Fox and just release it next year as a 40th anniversary BD instead.

On another unrelated note, I want a restored and anamorphic Cabaret with better extras.

Kelvin wrote:I'm actually pretty dang satisfied with how all the musicals in that set are presented, so I won't be upgrading them to Blu.

Even the atrocious print quality of the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma?

albert

Albert wrote:On another unrelated note, I want a restored and anamorphic Cabaret with better extras.

Oh, I whole-hearterdly agree on that one, too.

Albert also wrote: Even the atrocious print quality of the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma?

I had a feeling someone would bring that up. Since the Cinemascope version looks so gorgeous, the fuzziness of the Todd-AO version doesn't bother me. Lots of people prefer the performance and editing in the Todd-AO version and therefore are more up in arms over its shoddy image quality, but to be honest, I see little difference in (peformance and editing) quality between the two versions. I'm fine just watching the Cinemascope version. I do think the Todd-AO one deserves a better presentation, though.

EDIT: Ok, I just watched a split screen comparison of both versions of "I Can't Say No" on YouTube, and I stand corrected: the Todd-AO version has better composition. The Cinemascope one seems more haphazard, like an afterthought. For some reason the differences don't seem as obvious when you watch each full version on its own. I may just consider double dipping on Oklahoma on BD should the Todd-AO version receive a new restoration.

I love the score and stage show of South Pacific but the film has always been my least favorite of the R&H stage adaptations. I love Carousel and The King and I but wish more of the songs had been filmed.

Jon

Y'know, the quality of the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma from the 2-Disc set didn't seem THAT horrible to me. At least on the TV. Some of my DVDs look like absolute crap on my computer, but they look good or at least decent on my TV. Not amazing or anything, but it didn't look horrible like some caps I saw.

The Cinemascope version, however, looks amazing on both my TV AND my computer.

If I owned a BR machine, I'd want The King And I on Blu-Ray before South Pacific. I enjoy all of the Fox-owned/distributed R&H musicals very much - even the awful 1962 State Fair remake. But The King And I and The Sound Of Music are my absolute favorites. I even legitimately own the KAI 50th Anniversary DVD, which is an excellent set. (I do, however, have DVD-Rs of all of the others except State Fair and TSOM 40th Anniversary set. I do, however, own the OOP Five Star Collection edition of TSOM, which includes the 90-minute documentary "From Fact To Phenomenon," which was produced in 1995 for the 30th Anniversary laserdisc box set, and was not ported over to the 40th Anniversary DVD.)

I'm also hocked off that the really good making-of documentary will only be on the Blu-Ray edition.

Amazon has the blu-ray on sale for $13.99 right now.

I'll admit, I do have a soft spot for the 1962 "State Fair". Ann-Margret does a very nice job in it. The whole revamped "Isn't It Kinda Fun?" musical number is worth Alice Faye negotiating the cringe-worthy "Never Say No to a Man". Pat Boone and Bobby Darin also get to have their moment with previously-unheard Rodgers material, so it's not all bad.