British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Eibon]

Such ineptitude, that's why I never picked up Fright Night. How do bad conversions of extras get through QC? Is there a good reason the US sourced extras can't simply by identical on the UK disc at 30fps 1080i?

[ravenus]

While not the first collaboration between the great team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, One of Our Aircraft is Missing (OOOAIM) was the first official production of The Archers, in which they took a joint writer-producer-director credit. So it is an important element of film history. Lucky then, that it's a very good film too, especially interesting to fans of old-school war dramas (of course, OOOAIM wouldn't have been old-school but quite cutting edge in 1942 when it was released).

The film deals with a WW2 British bombing mission over Stuttgart that goes awry when the plane is hit by retaliatory fire and the crew are forced to bail out with their parachutes. They drift into a neighboring region of The Netherlands. The danger is far from over because this is still Nazi-occupied territory. They must rely on the patriotism of the native Dutch people and their resentment of the Nazi invaders to reach back home. The rest of the film is how they are passed from one group of locals to another, all coming together to aid the Brits who they hope will ultimately help in eliminating the Nazi tyranny.

The focus of the screenplay is less on military heroics and more on solidarity between people against oppression, and cooperation for a common cause. Although OOOAIM primarily deals with the all-male British bomber crew, Michael Powell influenced Pressburger to write strong female parts, and so among the Dutch locals they meet some fierce women who are instrumental in arranging for the help they need. Apart from exciting footage of actual planes obtained with help from the British military forces, art director David Rawnsley designed massive floor-spanning miniatures of the Stuttgart landscape to depict the bombing run. Ronald Neame's cinematography is evocative and the film is very skilfully edited by a young David Lean (just prior to his directorial debut with In Which We Serve). Powell also decided to avoid any background score and employ only digetic music, which generated a more realistic tone, while also highlighting the emotion when specific music cues like the Dutch national anthem were used. OOOAIM is old-fashioned in terms of it still being a war where soldiers could be shown to be chivalrous and fair-minded, but it does not appear creaky, except to the cynical minded.

The BFI blu-ray gives a very good presentation of the film in its 4:3 OAR. While there are instances of damage and fluctuations, it is never distracting. The mono sound is clear enough, and optional English subtitles are present. Extras include a very good feature commentary by Ian Christie, and a number of shorter war propaganda films, several involving Powell and Pressburger. There is a thick booklet with essays, and reversible cover art. The LE contains an additional chapbook with a short story adaptation of Pressburger's script with stills from the film, housed with the blu-ray case in a sturdy slipcase. Given the added value I thought this LE was worth the nearly 18 quid I plonked down for it at Zavvi.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Arrived.Should be an interesting watch when I get the time. Wonder if there will be a third volume.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by crockettandtubbs

invasion of the body snatchers review:

http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=6776

the transfer is the same as the one used by olive films in the us for their "signature edition" from 2018, and the picture looks basically identical, which is a good thing.

lol.

[navydavey]

Basically, it's the best we're gunna get.

I'm happy it's finally getting a UK release though (even with the noted issues on the extras) as I love this movie.

[oddbox83]

Well, yeah.

I'm just not exactly celebrating it being the same like they are.

[Danse Macabre]

I've been going through Short Sharp Shocks Vol 2 and I've got to say I'm really disappointed. With the exception of the Dumb Waiter which is a decent thriller and The Three Children/Jack The Ripper which are nice short palette cleansers, everything else is genuinely awful.
I've still yet to see the longest of the films: Face of Darkness, so perhaps that will be substantial enough to make up for it.
The first volume had its fair share of stinkers but it had Twenty Nine, The Errand and the incredible The Lake, which made it a worthwhile purchase.
I was hoping that with the first volume they'd had learnt from their mistakes, but it seems they're desperate for content, hence why they've included a health and safety video.

[Gerby]

Originally Posted by Danse Macabre

I've been going through Short Sharp Shocks Vol 2 and I've got to say I'm really disappointed. With the exception of the Dumb Waiter which is a decent thriller and The Three Children/Jack The Ripper which are nice short palette cleansers, everything else is genuinely awful.
I've still yet to see the longest of the films: Face of Darkness, so perhaps that will be substantial enough to make up for it.
The first volume had its fair share of stinkers but it had Twenty Nine, The Errand and the incredible The Lake, which made it a worthwhile purchase.
I was hoping that with the first volume they'd had learnt from their mistakes, but it seems they're desperate for content, hence why they've included a health and safety video.

I haven't watched the last one yet Mark Of Lilith but i agree The Dumb Waiter (a long time fave of mine) is the standout.
I enjoyed The Three Children/Jack The Ripper shorts too but i also liked Escape From Broadmoor. If nothing else it is interesting to see Hammer director John Gilling's first work as a director & an early performance by the great John Le Mesurier.
Same reason i enjoyed watching Face Of Darkness was to see Lennard Pearce (grandad from Only Fools & Horses) who i don't recall seeing in any other film/tv show.

[Danse Macabre]

Originally Posted by Gerby

I haven't watched the last one yet Mark Of Lilith but i agree The Dumb Waiter (a long time fave of mine) is the standout.
I enjoyed The Three Children/Jack The Ripper shorts too but i also liked Escape From Broadmoor. If nothing else it is interesting to see Hammer director John Gilling's first work as a director & an early performance by the great John Le Mesurier.
Same reason i enjoyed watching Face Of Darkness was to see Lennard Pearce (grandad from Only Fools & Horses) who i don't recall seeing in any other film/tv show.

I consider Mark of Lilith to be the worst feature on it, beyond parody with how bad it was. I wanted to enjoy Escape From Broadmoor a lot more but I found it too dry and flat, and the reveal was a bit slapdash, I do think the acting was its strongest point though.

[xiiidan]

Watched I Start Counting! yesterday and enjoyed it a lot, but I wish the BFI would use their resources to properly restore films rather than just scanning them and calling it a day; you can see the right hand side of the film strip for pretty much the entirety of the film, the colour temperature flickers between warm orange and cold blue every other frame, and there are big splotches of dirt every now and then. I know it would be expensive and time consuming, but it's what makes labels like Second Sight in their handling of Dawn of the Dead and Martin so commendable for example, and I'm sure the BFI gets enough of a kickback from various sources to put in a bit more effort.

[minister_x]

Just went to look at the back cover of I Start Counting! to confirm what I suspected - it's another MGM title. MGM need to stop palming off crappy transfers to the BFI. (Not sure there's much the BFI can do when given a poor transfer - and no doubt it's a much larger expense, if at all possible, for them to get access to/scan/restore the original elements themselves.)

[justwannaboogie]

The BFI looks and sounds excellent to me. According to DVDBeaver they may have actually done slight colour correction to improve on the Fun City as well.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film9/blu-r...ng_blu-ray.htm

[Sifox211]

If anyone is after Derek Jarman Vol.2 my local HMV has a copy on the shelves; condition looks good, no spiderwrap, £55.



PM me if interested, although I won't be back there till next week. UK shipping would be £3.20.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Originally Posted by Danse Macabre

I've been going through Short Sharp Shocks Vol 2 and I've got to say I'm really disappointed. With the exception of the Dumb Waiter which is a decent thriller and The Three Children/Jack The Ripper which are nice short palette cleansers, everything else is genuinely awful.
I've still yet to see the longest of the films: Face of Darkness, so perhaps that will be substantial enough to make up for it.
The first volume had its fair share of stinkers but it had Twenty Nine, The Errand and the incredible The Lake, which made it a worthwhile purchase.
I was hoping that with the first volume they'd had learnt from their mistakes, but it seems they're desperate for content, hence why they've included a health and safety video.

I haven't dipped in to the collection yet. There are a number of decent short films from the 70's and early 80's that could have been included; yet they fail to appear for some reason. Items such as The Man and the Snake [1972], Red [1976], and Panic [1978], to name just a few.

[GaryCouzens]

Originally Posted by Cosmo Valdemar

I haven't dipped in to the collection yet. There are a number of decent short films from the 70's and early 80's that could have been included; yet they fail to appear for some reason. Items such as The Man and the Snake [1972], Red [1976], and Panic [1978], to name just a few.

Red was released by 20th Century Fox, so if they still have the rights it'll be owned by Disney now so will be unlicenseable.

Panic is owned by Paramount, so unlikely to be licenseable either.

I don't know much about The Man and the Snake but that was released by Fox as well.

I'm sure there are plenty they could licence for another volume, though. Will also depend on what materials are available. Three of the shorts in Volume 2 were scanned from prints loaned to the BFI by the directors.

[xiiidan]

Originally Posted by justwannaboogie

The BFI looks and sounds excellent to me. According to DVDBeaver they may have actually done slight colour correction to improve on the Fun City as well.

Agreed the sound is excellent, I was actually quite taken aback by how crystal-clear all the dialogue was (minus a couple ADR bits, but what can you do). The colour correction is definitely not enough, though, watch any scene with white walls for example and you can clearly notice flickering between blue and orange every second. One scene that sticks out just off the top of my head is the girls' first visit to the old house early in the film.

[BarnDoor]

On the BFI DVD & Blu-ray Facebook group Ben Stoddart has confirmed new announcements next Thursday, and that Play for Today Vol 3 will be among them.

[Sterling450]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

On the BFI DVD & Blu-ray Facebook group Ben Stoddart has confirmed new announcements next Thursday, and that Play for Today Vol 3 will be among them.

And maybe a new UHD? Pretty please

[CelestialAgent]

Posted this in the Facebook group, but ODEON are screening Jungle Fever on 16th November, continuing the Black cinema strand they’ve been doing with Big Picture Film Club.

ODEON have been doing more rereleases with the pandemic, and are showing the originql West Side Story the following night also!

Also if you have an independent nearby, the BFI Japan season is starting up with Seven Samurai, and Picturehouse are screening Yojimbo next Thursday.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Posted this in the Facebook group, but ODEON are screening Jungle Fever on 16th November, continuing the Black cinema strand they’ve been doing with Big Picture Film Club.

ODEON have been doing more rereleases with the pandemic, and are showing the originql West Side Story the following night also!

Also if you have an independent nearby, the BFI Japan season is starting up with Seven Samurai, and Picturehouse are screening Yojimbo next Thursday.

Not only that, it looks like pretty much all cinemas are showing 20th Anniversary screenings of Harry Potter more times a day this weekend than any of the actual new releases.