The Bridges At Toko-Ri (1954) - February 24, 2021 - Imprint Films

[DawnShadow]

A WORLDWIDE FIRST ON BLU-RAY!
Breathtaking, Oscar-winning aerial footage highlights this dramatic adaptation of James Michener’s Korean War thriller. William Holden stars as Harry Brubaker, a U.S. Navy lieutenant and WWII pilot called back into service and charged with leading a dangerous bomber mission to destroy key North Korean-held bridges. Also stars Fredric March, Grace Kelly, Mickey Rooney.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

1080p presentation of the film on Blu-ray
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Alan K Rode
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Optional English subtitles
Theatrical Trailer
Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies
This is a pre-order title and will be dispatched in the week leading up to its February 24th release date. Special features and artwork subject to change.

Imprint No 30

Pre-order : https://viavision.com.au/shop/the-br...-toko-ri-1954/

[beantherio]

FINALLY. This should look really good in HD. Very much looking forward to this release.

[dean1700]

Just seen this, this morning. Off to JB now to get it (20% off). Woo hoo.

[hypnotoad8128]

Overall I'm pleased, and it's finally good to see a Blu-ray release of this classic. It's not a restored image by any stretch of the imagination, rather an existing HD master that probably has been sitting in their vaults for a while and is identical to the version on iTunes.


Disc Title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Disc Label: THE BRIDGES AT TOKO RI
Disc Size: 35,335,170,946 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00002.MPLS
Size: 27,707,860,992 bytes
Length: 1:43:18.025
Total Bitrate: 35.76 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 31597 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitle: English / 19.514 kbps

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[Pumpkinhead]

ALERT: This movie was released in December of 1954. It was shot open matte to be released in 1.85 aspect ratio, which means Imprint has just put out an outdated incarnation of the film on Blu-ray. Zooming in on what we have here will not produce the correct widescreen result (it must be prepared from a 'fuller image' element). Paramount needs to re-visit this relatively important '50s title and prepare it correctly; hopefully they're doing that right now for a domestic release. What Imprint has given us, rather shockingly, is about twenty years behind the times. I'm afraid you can't put digital icing on an extremely stale cake. That said, Imprint's release of Arch Obler's excellent b/w science fiction movie FIVE is breathtaking, newly scanned from the original negative. So obviously it's a case-by-case situation with these Imprint BDs, as collectors have been discovering.

[hypnotoad8128]

Originally Posted by Pumpkinhead

ALERT: This movie was released in December of 1954. It was shot open matte to be released in 1.85 aspect ratio, which means Imprint has just put out an outdated incarnation of the film on Blu-ray. Zooming in on what we have here will not produce the correct widescreen result (it must be prepared from a 'fuller image' element). Paramount needs to re-visit this relatively important '50s title and prepare it correctly; hopefully they're doing that right now for a domestic release. What Imprint has given us, rather shockingly, is about twenty years behind the times. I'm afraid you can't put digital icing on an extremely stale cake. That said, Imprint's release of Arch Obler's excellent b/w science fiction movie FIVE is breathtaking, newly scanned from the original negative. So obviously it's a case-by-case situation with these Imprint BDs, as collectors have been discovering.

Not technically. Both the 1:37 ratio and the 1:85:1 presentations could technically be considered correct at that point in time. The film was shot "safe" to allow for 1:85:1 matting as you can see in the screenshot of the title card which shows the projectionist framing marker in the top right corner of the screen to allow for matting in either 1:66:1 or 1:85:1.

At that early point in time studios were releasing films in both formats to cater to both types of theatres, ones that had upgraded to widescreen exhibition and a different 1:37:1 print for theatres that hadn't upgraded at that point in time.

While some studios released separate dedicated widescreen prints and full frame prints. Other studios took the option of releasing the full frame print only, with matting markers burned onto the print. (ie: cheaper option) for the projectionist to adjust manually.

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Criterion has released several Blu-rays of films from that era with both aspect ratios. Unfortunately, Imprint doesn't have the budget or they're just too cheap to do this.

That said, I'm more critical of Imprint than others, but I'll give them a pass in this regard. I can't say I've never seen a widescreen version of the film in circulation on any home media format, nor at any presentation at classic cinema screenings, I've watched at several theatres over the years. If a dedicated widescreen print actually exists, someone would have used it by now.

[Geode]

Originally Posted by hypnotoad8128

Overall I'm pleased, and it's finally good to see a Blu-ray release of this classic. It's not a restored image by any stretch of the imagination, rather an existing HD master that probably has been sitting in their vaults for a while and is identical to the version on iTunes.


Disc Title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Disc Label: THE BRIDGES AT TOKO RI
Disc Size: 35,335,170,946 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00002.MPLS
Size: 27,707,860,992 bytes
Length: 1:43:18.025
Total Bitrate: 35.76 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 31597 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitle: English / 19.514 kbps

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Wow, I personally am over the moon that it was released in the aspect ratio shown in these frames. It is close to what I am used to watching with my 16mm print.