Classic films look the best on Blu

[unkie fester]

Is it me or do the classics like snow white, all quiet on the western front, wizard of oz look wayyyyy better then most stuff released now a days?

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by unkie fester

Is it me or do the classics like snow white, all quiet on the western front, wizard of oz look wayyyyy better then most stuff released now a days?

It also depends on whether you're talking about film or digital when comparing to today's movies. There's also a list of about 20 other factors.

[El_Jay]

Completely depends on the movie and how they handled it, but I'd say in general, statistically, newer movies look better on Blu than older.

For every 2001: A Space Odyssey, there are 10 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly's.

Whereas I think with new movies, there are 10 transfers like The Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Fast Five, Rise of the Planet of the Apes for every crappy one, even if the movie itself isn't very good. Old movies need to be classics like Taxi Driver or Once Upon A Time In The West, to get a transfer even approaching some mid-level new movie like Limitless.

[disneyfreak]

Originally Posted by unkie fester

Is it me or do the classics like snow white, all quiet on the western front, wizard of oz look wayyyyy better then most stuff released now a days?

I tend to disagree on Snow white, all of disney's transfer are flawless besides Fox and the hound. Look at any of the digital movies from now and they look fantastic, if not better, Look at the lion king, or beauty and the beast, they are equally good as Lady and the tramp and Alice in wonderland

[CinemaScope]

Generally speaking I'd say yes. In the past ten years (or more) they've been tweaking out the colour on a lot of movies, sometimes a little, sometimes a LOT, plus the triumph of green & cyan everywhere. A lot of big movies now look so awful, in days gone by, they would have never left the film lab looking like that.

[NeoMaximuz]

I do feel that (most) classic movies finally get to shine on Blu-Ray like they may have only shined originally in theaters. Though Blu-Ray is a great medium for contemporary blockbusters, personally it's the classics on Blu-Ray that I'm a sucker for.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by NeoMaximuz

I do feel that (most) classic movies finally get to shine on Blu-Ray like they may have only shined originally in theaters. Though Blu-Ray is a great medium for contemporary blockbusters, personally it's the classics on Blu-Ray that I'm a sucker for.

Had me to that list as well.

[DarknessBDJM]

I'd say so.

More care goes into them, they usually have higher bit-rates, and often enough are on higher resolution film stocks like VistaVision, Technirama, anamorphic Cinemascope and Panavision and similar formats, 65/70mm, nitrate (and further silent ratio being larger than Academy ratio), 3-strip technicolor nitrate, and are given higher resolution digital scans like 4k, 6k, and 8k.

A lot of films today will use formats that will usually (but not always) give a weaker result like Super 35 (Only a handful; looks really good) for 2.39:1, and 2k digital (4k's results are night and day in comparison on blu-ray and end up looking far better), and are mastered at 2k resolution. I was surprised seeing some of my newer film purchases using lower bit-rates and just plain not looking all that spectacular.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by El_Jay

For every 2001: A Space Odyssey, there are 10 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly's.

You obviously haven't seen the pretty much flawless looking Italian version.

If they're properly restored, I prefer the more cinematic look of the older movies than the HD TV look of the newer ones.

[Jacksmyname]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Had me to that list as well.

Another fan of the classics on Blu Ray here.

[El_Jay]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

You obviously haven't seen the pretty much flawless looking Italian version.

If they're properly restored, I prefer the more cinematic look of the older movies than the HD TV look of the newer ones.

Well in this case I'm clearly making it an example of a poor-looking transfer, so yes it's obviously the North American one and I know the Mondo one looks great (except it's not in English so wtf good does that do me? Or you?)

All I'm saying is that in general, old movies only get a great transfer if they're really worth the money, while most new movies get a great transfer even if the movie itself was shit. Proportionately, I don't see how it's even possible to argue that there are more good-looking movies from the 60's and 70's (or older) on Blu than ones from 2000 onward. I don't mean preference, I mean an objectively good transfer.

I can already see that this is going to be one of those arguments that needlessly divide people into "idiots who love modern garbage" and "intellectuals who appreciate art".

In this case the question itself is already kind of loaded... are we talking about just old movies, or strictly-speaking "classics"? Obviously a legitimate classic gets a lot more attention than some obscure spaghetti western and therefore a better presentation.

[Atreyu]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

You obviously haven't seen the pretty much flawless looking Italian version.

If they're properly restored, I prefer the more cinematic look of the older movies than the HD TV look of the newer ones.

I would have to agree with you there.

[BohemianGraham]

I'm in the classics camp. But then, I'm a bit of a Criterion snob. Not only that, I'm also a classic film snob since my TV rarely changes from TCM. I'm also only 26 going on 27.

[benbess]

Love classic movies on blu. Many of them look a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

[Wally Q]

If you looked at my collection, you know I'm in agreement with the classics camp.

[feeter]

It all depends on the studio had how much love they put into the Blu

[disneyfreak]

Originally Posted by CinemaScope

Generally speaking I'd say yes. In the past ten years (or more) they've been tweaking out the colour on a lot of movies, sometimes a little, sometimes a LOT, plus the triumph of green & cyan everywhere. A lot of big movies now look so awful, in days gone by, they would have never left the film lab looking like that.

Some of the films that get restored, after restored have different colors. Ex: Pinocchio had more pastel colors when transferred over, Sleeping beauty was more green toned. Really most films have had there color change

[Midnight Rambler]

This thread impinges on another similar discussion.

On the extras disc of the Godfather blu-ray boxset, there are several features ("Emulsional Rescue", etc.) that discuss this very topic and why it is (so). Notables like Gordon Willis offer some good insight ... recommended viewing if you are curious about classic films and their restoration.