The Third Man - New restoration and release ?

[inderweltsein]

The title is listed by Variety amongst the 1000 films (to be) restored by Reliance MediaWorks (and released by them too ?)

1,000 Classics and Cult Hits to Be Restored for Home Entertainment
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/cl...ks-1201257457/

What is scarying in the article is that it seems that the majority of their restoration seems to be in fact some kind of upscaling of some old masters.

Or maybe it was MediaWorks that restored it for the OOP Criterion release (I can't check it in the booklet, I don't own it), and they list it just as part of their experience ?

[jscoggins]

They won't be releasing the movies themselves. They are simply the contractor for restoration work.

[jedidarrick]

Nice to see that Reliance MediaWorks is restoring Bicycle Thieves. Hopefully Criterion will release it on Blu in 2015, and maybe they can get The Third Man back somehow.

[Akijama]

1K? Well, kudos to them!

[erlinmeyer]

Originally Posted by inderweltsein

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Or maybe it was MediaWorks that restored it for the OOP Criterion release (I can't check it in the booklet, I don't own it), and they list it just as part of their experience ?

checked the booklet and they are not mentioned...as the Criterion edition came out in 2008, it is highly unlikely that RMW had anything to do with it as they didn't get into restoration until DTS Digital Images was acquired by Reliance Big Media in April 2008 and became Lowry Digital until 2010 when Lowry Digital became Reliance MediaWorks. They are best know for the work done on Avatar 3D and have an Oscar for Technical Achievement.

[TQType]

This would be very exciting. Since the criterion release is ridiculously expensive on ebay, and I haven't heard wonderful things about the studio canal version, a new proper release would be most welcome.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by TQType

This would be very exciting. Since the criterion release is ridiculously expensive on ebay, and I haven't heard wonderful things about the studio canal version, a new proper release would be most welcome.

The Studio Canal blu-ray isn't bad imo, it just isn't as good as the Criterion blu-ray.

[BluPat]

Is there a list of the films that are included? I didn't find one in the article other then the few listed.

[hedliniv]

Originally Posted by buck135

The Studio Canal blu-ray isn't bad imo, it just isn't as good as the Criterion blu-ray.

No subtitles

[maely]

Originally Posted by hedliniv

No subtitles

You watch English-language films with subtitles?
(I realize that some do, but this is hardly a deal-breaker for me.)

[Vlad Draculi]

Originally Posted by buck135

The Studio Canal blu-ray isn't bad imo, it just isn't as good as the Criterion blu-ray.

Why is there a difference in video?

And is the Criterion one coming out to BD?

[Mrlovkim]

I have the criterion on dvd and would love to have it on blu ray, just too bad the criterion blu ray is so exspensive now if you can find it.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

Why is there a difference in video?

And is the Criterion one coming out to BD?

To your first question: because a different (and inferior) source was used - even though it came out 2 years later it was worse.

To your second question, that is what the OP is asking. There is no way to know at this point. It's interesting that it is showing up on a list of restorations, but there is no way to know if that means anything for a new blu-ray, let alone know what label would crank them out. As of now, even if there is a Third Man restoration (4K?), it would have to be re-licensed for Criterion. Right now Lionsgate is just sitting on much of the Studio Canal catalog. There's a possility this could be restored, and then it still not get released in the US if Criterion doesn't re-aquire the rights.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by inderweltsein

What is scarying in the article is that it seems that the majority of their restoration seems to be in fact some kind of upscaling of some old masters.

Yes, that does sound completely sucky. I realize the negs aren't available for many of these films, but even if those DVD masters were made from negatives, they'd still probably be better off scanning a print at a higher resolution, but that's probably more expensive.

Sounds like they're taking the DVD master, running it through the Lowry software to get rid of "noise" - presumably dirt and scratches (and hopefully not grain) and then uprezzing it. Sounds like a disaster in the making. If you have a thousand classic films out there with poor visual quality on Blu-ray, it hurts the reputation of Blu-ray (even though the same masters would be used for streaming, etc.)

[inderweltsein]

YouTube

[Ray_Rogers]

I'm just gonna get the single disc Vintage Classics release when it's £10 or less.