The Horse Soldiers - May 10

[larry47591]

The Horse Soldiers Blu-ray

[ChiefSequatchie]

I hope they did a good job with this!

[AKORIS]

me too-- the dvd wasn't even anamorphic

[Arkadin]

wow, just received this in the mail!
along with The Misfits.
thank you amazon prime.
you rock!

[Blu Ray McHone]

Mine is Shipping Soon, so I should get it tomorrow with Prime.

[Brad1963]

I found it over the weekend. Did not watch it all the way through but put it on to check it out. It really needs a restoration, from what I saw there was dirt specs and other flaws in the print.

[Blu Ray McHone]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I found it over the weekend. Did not watch it all the way through but put it on to check it out. It really needs a restoration, from what I saw there was dirt specs and other flaws in the print.

Oh, that's not good. I've been looking forward to this one. Hopefully, with Fox bringing out Comancheros, Big Jake and Rio Lobo, they will look better. So far of all the Duke releases on Blu Ray, The Searchers looks and sounds the best.

[Arkadin]

yeah I've been checking it out and there's not a lot to say--
it's nothing to write home about.
the bottom line is if you've seen the AWFUL non-anamorphic dvd then you will appreciate that the film is finally at least watchable.
for those that haven't seen the dvd I would expect most people will be pretty appalled at what this looks like--which is like an good upscaled dvd.
as we all feared, this bd is most likely based on the same old tired print that the unwatchable dvd was based on.
the people that care about having Wayne's films come to bd will just have to be satisfied with the improvement of finally having this film in a proper aspect ratio.
the main problem is overall clarity of image in any shot that is not a close-up, as the colors and contrast are all markedly improved over the wretched dvd.
I can't say I'm happy about bd's appearance overall, but I'll reluctantly accept it just the same considering MGM's overall situation, and the fact that I never in a million years expected this film to come out on blu-ray.
(I have no doubt those other bds will look far better than this one; this was always going to be the weakest link imo)

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Blu Ray McHone

Oh, that's not good. I've been looking forward to this one. Hopefully, with Fox bringing out Comancheros, Big Jake and Rio Lobo, they will look better. So far of all the Duke releases on Blu Ray, The Searchers looks and sounds the best.

I would hope Comancheroes will look great since it is being release as a SE and is costly. I'm guessing MGM is charging so little for Horse Soldiers because of the condition of the release. But still to bad they did not do much more to it, people will be upset about it.

[Blu Ray McHone]

The least they could have done is given us a decent transfer. I mean, John Wayne is an absolute film legend, and has a large fan base. Shame on MGM. When something is in HD, it should at least look as good as it did theatrically! Just bad, bad business.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

yeah I've been checking it out and there's not a lot to say--
it's nothing to write home about.
the bottom line is if you've seen the AWFUL non-anamorphic dvd then you will appreciate that the film is finally at least watchable.
for those that haven't seen the dvd I would expect most people will be pretty appalled at what this looks like--which is like an good upscaled dvd.
as we all feared, this bd is most likely based on the same old tired print that the unwatchable dvd was based on.
the people that care about having Wayne's films come to bd will just have to be satisfied with the improvement of finally having this film in a proper aspect ratio.
the main problem is overall clarity of image in any shot that is not a close-up, as the colors and contrast are all markedly improved over the wretched dvd.
I can't say I'm happy about bd's appearance overall, but I'll reluctantly accept it just the same considering MGM's overall situation, and the fact that I never in a million years expected this film to come out on blu-ray.
(I have no doubt those other bds will look far better than this one; this was always going to be the weakest link imo)

Yeah, I wasn't holding my breath waiting for this one. With the price and that MGM is releasing so much catalog on blu-ray I didn't think there would be a chance for new master and reference quality. How's the audio? My gear does a great job upconverting DVD and even zooming the non-anamorphic ones to full screen, but the one thing it can't do is improve tinny Dolby audio.

[Arkadin]

audio seems pretty good, although I haven't watched too much.
it's lossless mono.
you should still get the bd and throw that wretched dvd away.
Even with its obvious issues this bd blows that piece of s^%t away.
the good news in all this imo is this--the old dvd was imo the worst dvd of a John wayne film that exists from one of the major studios.
So at least The Horse Soldiers is not the worst looking John Wayne film on disc anymore.
I'd say that Universal's atrocious "Rooster Cogburn" dvd now assumes that dubious honor.
man that dvd looks like crap.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

audio seems pretty good, although I haven't watched too much.
it's lossless mono.
you should still get the bd and throw that wretched dvd away.
Even with its obvious issues this bd blows that piece of s^%t away.
the good news in all this imo is this--the old dvd was imo the worst dvd of a John wayne film that exists from one of the major studios.
So at least The Horse Soldiers is not the worst looking John Wayne film on disc anymore.
I'd say that Universal's atrocious "Rooster Cogburn" dvd now assumes that dubious honor.
man that dvd looks like crap.

Oh, I'll pick up a copy. With my doubts on how the quality would be I wasn't going to pre-order it until I read buyer's comments. So now I'll just wait a bit for the inevitable price drop. Fortunately I never owned the DVD, I rented it and said "no thank you". And I have The Comancheros coming to tide me over.

[Blu Ray McHone]

I'm glad that some companies are choosing to put the effort into the John Wayne Blu-Rays they release. So I guess this one is hit and miss, oh well it's the Duke nonetheless.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

audio seems pretty good, although I haven't watched too much.
it's lossless mono.
you should still get the bd and throw that wretched dvd away.
Even with its obvious issues this bd blows that piece of s^%t away.
the good news in all this imo is this--the old dvd was imo the worst dvd of a John wayne film that exists from one of the major studios.
So at least The Horse Soldiers is not the worst looking John Wayne film on disc anymore.
I'd say that Universal's atrocious "Rooster Cogburn" dvd now assumes that dubious honor.
man that dvd looks like crap.

Do you have Rooster Cogburn in the JOHN WAYNE:SCREEN LEGEND COLLECTION released in 2007? They remastred it with a decent Anamorphic transfer. It is actually not that bad. The original was non Anamorphic and DID look crappy. I agree with all its faults the BD version of HORSE SOLDIERS does surpass the crappy DVD.

[Arkadin]

interesting.....
I don't guess I realized there was another version of Cogburn.
I thought I had the most up to date version.
Is that later version only available in a box set?
my copy is an individual dvd.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

interesting.....
I don't guess I realized there was another version of Cogburn.
I thought I had the most up to date version.
Is that later version only available in a box set?
my copy is an individual dvd.

You should check it out. The War Wagon and Hellfighters also have new remastered Anamorphic transfers. The 5 movie set is under $20.00.




John Wayne: Screen Legend Collection (Reap the Wild Wind / Rooster Cogburn / The Hellfighters / The War Wagon / The Spoilers) (DVD)
Hellfighters, War Wagon, and Rooster Cogburn are all presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. . The other features (Reap the Wild Wind and The Spoilers) are in full-frame (1.33:1) format in their original theatrical format.

[Arkadin]

you know I looked through all my Wayne titles, and I actually have that set.
I just didn't realize the transfer of Cogburn was different from the single edition dvd.
thanks for the info!
well I guess with this new info the honor of worst looking Wayne film on dvd from a major would maybe be The Alamo.
It looks pretty bad, and, of course, we all know the sad story of how it was to be restored and released on blu-ray 2 years ago.
Because of MGM's financial situation the project got halted, and I don't think it has been restarted under the new owners.
Maybe RAH will offer an update regarding that situation one day.
sure would be great if work could start back up on that project now that MGM's financial situation has been somewhat resolved.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

you know I looked through all my Wayne titles, and I actually have that set.
I just didn't realize the transfer of Cogburn was different from the single edition dvd.
thanks for the info!
well I guess with this new info the honor of worst looking Wayne film on dvd from a major would maybe be The Alamo.
It looks pretty bad, and, of course, we all know the sad story of how it was to be restored and released on blu-ray 2 years ago.
Because of MGM's financial situation the project got halted, and I don't think it has been restarted under the new owners.
Maybe RAH will offer an update regarding that situation one day.
sure would be great if work could start back up on that project now that MGM's financial situation has been somewhat resolved.

Honestly, I wish they waited for The Horse Soliders.

I'm not sure why Universal did not at least release Rooster Cogburn on Blu ray to tie in with True Grit. The seem to have created a Hi Def remaster for this set. I remember watching it back in '07 wishing for a HD DVD of it and The War Wagon thinking how nicely they upconverted. The reds and black colors seemed quite nice on DVD with my then HD DVD player. You should take a look and compare the old and the new transfers.

I have read that Criterion is planning a Blu ray release of Red River sometime in the future. That will be nice.

[Blu Ray McHone]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

Honestly, I wish they waited for The Horse Soliders.

I'm not sure why Universal did not at least release Rooster Cogburn on Blu ray to tie in with True Grit. The seem to have created a Hi Def remaster for this set. I remember watching it back in '07 wishing for a HD DVD of it and The War Wagon thinking how nicely they upconverted. The reds and black colors seemed quite nice on DVD with my then HD DVD player. You should take a look and compare the old and the new transfers.

I have read that Criterion is planning a Blu ray release of Red River sometime in the future. That will be nice.

No Kidding, I love War Wagon, Rooster Cogburn and especially, Red River. In fact, I think the Howard Hawks/Wayne films rank as some of the best ever made.