The Graduate: WT, MGM?

[Russell_L]

This is perhaps my all-time favorite film, and I was anxiously looking forward to its release on Blu this week. I remember reading the DVD Beaver review, which wasn't that favorable overall, even though the PQ (MPEG-2) is a step up from the 40th Anniversary DVD. Their opinion was that it could have (and should have) been much better, which is a shame.

I saw the Blu-ray at BB today and was about to get it anyway, especially since it was attractively priced at $19.99, but there was NO mention of any special features on the back cover. It was a pretty plain-jane looking release, and the only additional 'feature' was that it also included another copy of the film on DVD, and nothing else. What happened to all the special features from the 40th Anniversary DVD edition??? It wasn't until I got back home and re-read the DVD Beaver review that I saw that MGM just simply took the first disc from that DVD edition and added it with the Blu release, and that disc contains all the special features. This is good news, though you'd think MGM would mention this on the cover of the Blu release. Too bad, though, that they didn't see fit to give this great film a proper remastering and release it in a more 'deluxe' edition...

DVD Beaver review:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/graduate.htm

[Minimejer05]

Still plan on buying it. Im just hoping the PQ and AQ is pretty solid.

[DetroitSportsFan]

MGM did this will all of their June 2nd catalog releases.

[fatediesel]

This is the way MGM has been doing some of their older releases. I guess it's better than not putting any special features at all in the package.

[benricci]

At least they are including the special features. It's all standard definition stuff anyway, right? So if they throw it on a DVD in the case, I really don't care.

Would be nice if everything was on one disc, but in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal.

[Clark Kent]

MGM has been having serious cashflow problems from what I have heard. This was probably the only way we were going to see these MGM movies on Blu-ray anytime soon with extras.

[PowellPressburger]

Best Buy.com has it listed at 17.99 so they will price match at the service desk.

I will pick up a copy this eve, I hate that it is the old coding of MPEG-2 but I heard it is a bit better than the DVD - and the last DVD release looked so much better than the older versions it was color corrected etc. I was surpsised how good it looked.

The commentary tracks are on the bonus Disc of the Special Edition DVD and the Steven Soderbergh / Mike Nichols commentary is very worth while.

Just odd they didn't mention the bonus features on the DVD disc on the back cover.

[fiveseven4combat]

Yeah I was a little bummed when I discovered this

[Nutbunnies]

Someone in another thread hit the nail on the head, IMO. They were going to release all of these awhile ago as barebones releases but they were delayed. Now they're being released and were ready but MGM thought "Oh boy, we better have some special features" and just threw in the DVD.

It's really an infuriating situation. Just laziness all around.

[Rhylliam]

Yeah, this is kinda sad. Glad I still have my Anniversary Edition DVD.

[Brad1963]

I bought it today for $15.95 at Fry's. All this week's MGM's are that price.

[TTC1984]

MGM has been pretty hit-and-miss with this Blu-Ray thing, so this doesn't strike me as a huge surprise. There are some movies of theirs that would have benefited from including the special edition of the movie with the old bonuses on there, though.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I bought it today for $15.95 at Fry's. All this week's MGM's are that price.

I'm gonna have to pick it up tomorrow then. Thanks for the head's up!!

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by Nutbunnies

Someone in another thread hit the nail on the head, IMO. They were going to release all of these awhile ago as barebones releases but they were delayed. Now they're being released and were ready but MGM thought "Oh boy, we better have some special features" and just threw in the DVD.

It's really an infuriating situation. Just laziness all around.

I guess they could have not released it at all. Idk, from what I've seen of this it looks great. And for $18 it's not a bad deal.

[FilmmakingFiasco]

I'm not buying it because it looks like they screwed up the color timing on it. This is supposed to be a Technicolor film.

[jc480]

Originally Posted by Rob71

I guess they could have not released it at all. Idk, from what I've seen of this it looks great. And for $18 it's not a bad deal.

$18 for a 40 year old film. There's a few older films that can command that kind of money for BD releases. This ain't one of them (unless you are a humungo fan of this title...which most people are not).

I've come to the conclusion that my new price point is $10. Covetous titles I would shell out premiums for....Lawrence of Arabia, Alien Quadrilogy, etc.

Just my 2 cents. Happy for the OP as it always rocks to get a favorite flick out on Blu.

RELEASE EXTENED DUNE NOW!

[degarcia09]

Originally Posted by jc480

$18 for a 40 year old film. There's a few older films that can command that kind of money for BD releases. This ain't one of them (unless you are a humungo fan of this title...which most people are not).

I've come to the conclusion that my new price point is $10. Covetous titles I would shell out premiums for....Lawrence of Arabia, Alien Quadrilogy, etc.

Just my 2 cents. Happy for the OP as it always rocks to get a favorite flick out on Blu.

RELEASE EXTENED DUNE NOW!

Are you serious? This film has been arguably ranked as one of the top 10 films of all time. Sorry man but I cant take you serious on that. (AFI top 10 on best 100 movies)

[FRAK]

Picked up a copy today, and I popped it in the player and watched a few scenes to check out the quality. Gotta say, it looked great on my Kuro 111fd. If you're a fan of this classic film, it's definitely a worthy upgrade, in my opinion.

[pro-bassoonist]

It is great to have a variety of different opinions

However, I strongly urge those of you who have doubts about this release to first see it and then express disappointment. Whether or not MGM could have put together a better package (with more extras for example) is certainly a valid point to debate; what isn't is claiming that The Graduate isn't worth picking up because it is MPEG-2 encoded. Simply put, this is an incredibly convincing presentation with a terrific price tag.

For the record, I am not promoting the release. As someone who has just seen it, I am simply sharing my impression(s) of it, which is that this is the best The Graduate has ever looked.

This said, if you happen to disagree, please come back and also share your impression(s), as I am very interested to hear why one should avoid this disc.

Pro-B

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

This is the way MGM has been doing some of their older releases. I guess it's better than not putting any special features at all in the package.

Exactly, especially when the additional features wouldn't be available in HD anyway even if they were included. Two birds with one stone for the consumer, and it also lets them burn through old stock of DVDs if they have excess "lying around".

The only thing I think they should bust their butt to get is the audio commentary. Since it plays alongside the main feature, it'd be nice to have that along with the HD picture.

Oh and by the way, the way to encourage a "proper" release of this isn't to boycott it. All that does is indicate to the studio that people don't care about this movie in this format; they need to see sales of it the first time around or they won't think a doubledip is worth it. What you should do is buy it if you want to own this movie on BD, then immediately let your opinion known to the studio that you think they should do another release of it with more ideal quality. If you're lucky they'll put together a better release sooner rather than later.

If you really wanted, I guess you could just write the studio and lie about buying the BD and being dissatisfied with it. They wouldn't know the difference but it'd still fulfill the purpose of indicating that there are people who are interested in a "proper" release, and maybe if enough people tell the studio that, they'll go ahead on a double dip even if the first round sales numbers don't indicate that great of a demand.

Oh, and as far as being mad just because it's MPEG-2, really guys? Give it a shot, and at the very worst just make your price point to purchase lower for it. If it looks better than the DVD, who are you be mad about it? Sure, if you're upset about the less than stellar look, don't drop 20 bucks on it, but don't decide to just not get it at all for that reason. Maybe 10 bucks or less is more appropriate for how you feel about the quality here. But the fact that the picture is better than DVD if not ideal should be enough to not write off the release completely.