Von Ryan's Express

[Musicguy]

I purchased "Von Ryan's Express" yesterday after reading the blu-ray.com review I expected the worst but the transfer looked fine.

I never noticed any specks or abrasions and the only place the film was extremely grainy was during the opening credits (especially near the end)

The reviewer stated he had just watched the remastered "Patton" a film shot in Dimension 150 (70MM) and even in a theater there would be no comparison - "Patton" would blow most 35mm films away

"Von Ryan" was filmed after Fox's "Cleopatra" but before the release of "The Sound of Music" so Fox was hurting for money and "Von Ryan" probably didn't have a large budget. Some of the film was soft and there are many scenes with steam and fog (especially when they are on the train) these scenes probably didn't look any better in a theater. The day for nights scenes looked much better than in the trailers.

Maybe Fox quietly went back and fixed this Disc? The image was quite good
- better than "The Great Escape" which it more than likely would be compared.

[Blu-Velvet]

I thought the picture quality was pretty decent overall with what looked like video noise in some of the darker scenes. A few slightly softish scenes and shots seemed like they were like that in the original film. It's not spectacular-looking, but having seen it projected nearly 10 feet wide I'd still probably give the PQ at least 3.5 if not 4/5 and sound maybe 4.5/5.

Good film, btw!

[Swissangel4616]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

I purchased "Von Ryan's Express" yesterday after reading the blu-ray.com review I expected the worst but the transfer looked fine.

I never noticed any specks or abrasions and the only place the film was extremely grainy was during the opening credits (especially near the end)

The reviewer stated he had just watched the remastered "Patton" a film shot in Dimension 150 (70MM) and even in a theater there would be no comparison - "Patton" would blow most 35mm films away

"Von Ryan" was filmed after Fox's "Cleopatra" but before the release of "The Sound of Music" so Fox was hurting for money and "Von Ryan" probably didn't have a large budget. Some of the film was soft and there are many scenes with steam and fog (especially when they are on the train) these scenes probably didn't look any better in a theater. The day for nights scenes looked much better than in the trailers.

Maybe Fox quietly went back and fixed this Disc? The image was quite good
- better than "The Great Escape" which it more than likely would be compared.

You're right, The Great Escape BR was terrible. The reason was: "Escape" is a MGM movie and Fox bought one the rights but didn't made any frame-by-frame restoration like WB did with GONE WITH THE WIND or BEN HUR.
Also the GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD was terrible on BR. MGM's previously own released DVD did looks better than the FOX BR

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Swissangel4616

You're right, The Great Escape BR was terrible. The reason was: "Escape" is a MGM movie and Fox bought one the rights but didn't made any frame-by-frame restoration like WB did with GONE WITH THE WIND or BEN HUR.
Also the GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD was terrible on BR. MGM's previously own released DVD did looks better than the FOX BR

Just to be clear, Fox only distributes MGM properties on home media, they do not own them. The transfers are supplied by MGM, thus it is MGM who did not do any restoration on The Great Escape or The Greatest Story Ever Told.

[Sinbad75]

I too think this Blu-ray release got a bad reviewer rap. I find the picture clear, sharp and engaging!

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

Doubt it, as they would have gone back and fixed The Longest Day while they were at it. Patton got lucky, TLD? Not so much. One of the worst waxy DVNRed transfers in existence. I actually prefer Von Ryan's Express to it, even though VRE didn't get the Ben Hur / Lawrence of Arabia 70mm 8k scan treatment, at least it least retains its grain which was pleasing.

It was the remastered version of Patton released on blu-ray in 2012 that they were referring to which, in contrast to the original release, is a fantastic release.