Kiss Me Kate 3D Blu-ray (1953) [Region Free]

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by Tns49

I looked at the files on the disk on my PC (which has a 3-d Blu-ray player) and I don't see a separate AVC anywhere.


And I don't see a different framing, although on my set it shifts the 3d frames slightly (without cutting things off) when in 3d mode. Maybe similar shifting is what causes some to see I slightly inferior picture of the 3d version.

On my Oppo 103D, after pressing play and after choosing to play the 2D version, when the movie starts and the information button is pressed, the Oppo designates an "AVC" encode is being used. When 3D is chosen in the menu, and after the movie starts, information designates an "MVC" encode is being used.

Edit: Possibly when the Oppo 103D choses one of the MVC encode streams it will designate the stream as AVC?

My VAIO F3D laptop can play the left-eye view only when choosing the 3D version from the menu if I turn off the laptop's 3D software feature while the movie is in progress.

[Tns49]

Originally Posted by Paul H

On my Oppo 103D, after pressing play and after choosing to play the 2D version, when the movie starts and the information button is pressed, the Oppo designates an "AVC" encode is being used. When 3D is chosen in the menu, and after the movie starts, information designates an "MVC" encode is being used.

Edit: Possibly when the Oppo 103D choses one of the MVC encode streams it will designate the stream as AVC?

My VAIO F3D laptop can play the left-eye view only when choosing the 3D version from the menu if I turn off the laptop's 3D software feature while the movie is in progress.

If you read the description of the Blu-ray 3d format there is always a AVC format. The MVC format is an AVC stream that is the one eye and a stream that is the difference for the other eye. This second stream for MVC is about half the size of the AVC stream. If they don't restrict you (originally I think that no one would), you can always view the AVC stream for 2d viewing. Most 3d Tv's can switch to just watching the AVC 2d stream.

[oddbox83]

I'd somehow managed to miss this.

Not my genre at all, but since my love for 3D is largely Golden Age I might give this a go. Recommended?

[infiniteCR]

I couldn't make it past the first hour. If you don't already know and love this movie as many reviewers already do, then I wouldn't recommend a blind buy. I hate to give a negative review, but it was really that bad to me and my wife.

[revgen]

Originally Posted by infiniteCR

I couldn't make it past the first hour. If you don't already know and love this movie as many reviewers already do, then I wouldn't recommend a blind buy. I hate to give a negative review, but it was really that bad to me and my wife.

I'm not a big fan of it either, but I bought it to support vintage 3-D efforts.

I'd much rather see 3-D musicals like Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) or The French Line (1954). Those Redheads From Seattle (1953) is also pretty decent.

[Richard--W]

They are all arch in tone and mentality, these early 1950s films. One really does have to have a taste for the period to get the most out of them. Who would have thought in 1953 that 3-D would become these films' principle appeal in the near future. Of course, films from a half century ago don't seem as dated on the big screen as on home video; I've sat with audiences that were totally into them. I can turn the sound off on Kiss Me Kate and enjoy it for the stereoscopic depth and camera set-ups alone. I don't need to hear it so much as see it. Oddly enough, the 3-D films which seem the least dated, to my mind, are the westerns.

I agree with the post above that a digital clean-up would make these old films more accessible, not to mention more acceptable to contemporary viewers. Let's hope the 3-D Film Archive is funded to do that in their upcoming projects.

[GKintz]

As with any sixty plus year old musical, everyone's mileage will vary. I personally like the feature, and looking at this from a technical standpoint and as Richard has already noted, the stereoscopic 3-D photography is top notch. Add to that Warner Brothers did an excellent job bringing this title to 3-D blu-ray.

Along with it being one of the few surviving 50's 3-D titles with multi-channel stereo sound, KATE was unique in that the 3-D prints had a brief segment with extended 3-D gimmicks that was omitted from 2-D prints, and inadvertently omitted from dual strip 3-D revival prints made in the following decades. The first time this section and the original intermission were restored back into the film was a restored print from WB shown at the first World 3-D Film Expo in 2003. The first time the "3-D exclusive" clip and original intermission were restored back into the feature on home video is this 3-D bluray release.

[bavanut]

I must weigh in as one who also likes Kiss Me Kate very, very much. I've been well acquainted with it for going on 30 years now, having videotaped it off The Movie Channel when I was still a teenager. (I may have been the only South Carolina linthead of my day watching any sort of M-G-M musical, come to think of it.) I had to get used to the operetta singing styles of Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson, but almost every other aspect of the film plays well even today. It's lighthearted, colorful, energetic, and has a very attractive cast, particularly Ann Miller. Va-va-voom! Most of the songs I find kind of catchy; by now I know all the words by heart, and sometimes sing along. And last of all, the stereo cinematography really has to be one of the top-drawer examples not only of the 1950s, but of all time.

I am the last person in the world to second guess Greg, except that I seem to remember a big deal being made in 2006, at Expo II, that we were privileged to see the reinserted "gimmick sequence" for the first time in ages. That footage could have been present in '03 as well; I was distracted at that earlier screening and might have forgotten its inclusion. The place was packed to the gills, and I, a festival pass holder, had to sit way back up in the rafters on the very last row of the balcony, while some of my dearest friends-- a married couple, fellow South Carolinians and devoted fans of M-G-M musicals-- had to crane their necks up at the screen from the very front row. I went down at intermission to offer one of them my spot, but they said they were fine. That cannot necessarily be trusted: polite South Carolinians will almost always tell you they are fine, regardless of circumstances. :-)

[BleedOrange11]

I have almost zero experience with musicals and enjoyed the movie much more than expected. It wasn't as fun as Dial M or Inferno, but it's a solid 7/10 for good choreography and a unique 1950s take on male dominance/female submission in romance. Most modern romances would be too PC and "progressive" to honestly explore that issue.

The 3D looks great and is used very well. It isn't quite as round as some other Golden Age features, but it's also filming from a longer distance away because of the stage I think. 9/10 for 3D, being nit-picky. Well worth my money.

[GKintz]

Originally Posted by bavanut

I am the last person in the world to second guess Greg, except that I seem to remember a big deal being made in 2006, at Expo II, that we were privileged to see the reinserted "gimmick sequence" for the first time in ages. That footage could have been present in '03 as well; I was distracted at that earlier screening and might have forgotten its inclusion.

Hi, Mike! IIRC, (and Bob or Jeff will be ones to know for sure) is in 2003 the first 3-D Expo showed a newly struck print with the added intermission and extra 3-D clip. Before the 3003 showing, it was correctly touted as a first complete showing in fifty years. When World 3-D Film Expo II rolled around three years later, that print was not available so the needed additional clip and intermission were added to a vintage twin strip dye technicolor pair and also combined with interlocking digital soundtrack via a time code method similar to what was done for the dual 35mm showing of "It Came From Outer Space". This was also the first time the additional footage was paired with a dye tech print in over 50 years, so it too technically was "a first". For Expo III in 2013, there was a problem with the digital interlock so the audio was optical mono.

Long story short: 3-D bluray eliminates a LOT of hassle.

[Richard--W]

What does KISS ME KATE have in common with McLINTOCK! (1963)?

[bavanut]

Greg: Thanks for clarifying that. Now all we need is a way to back up my personal memory to a Blu-Ray drive. :-)

Richard: Took me a minute. They both owe something to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Great trivia question.

[xplorar]

Another honest opinion which fans may not like -

Extremely disappointing 3D. Totally unnecessary and added nothing to movie IMO. But I can see that, maybe fans like it because the 3D makes the play look live.
In whole of its 1hr 50min run-time, it had one 30 second scene with good pop-outs; Some occasional object throwing to camera; And no depths worth noticing.
Movie itself is worth watching if you are really into old musicals. Didn't work for me though and it was difficult for me to sit through all of it (Though I like several old musicals).

[jtchance]

As far as KISS ME KATE goes I can't think of any other golden age 3D feature I love re than this one. The sharp wit of Dorothy Kingsley adaptation of Sam & Bella Spewack's libretto not to mention Cole Porter's greatest score. The dynamic choreography by Hermes Pan equaling his best work with Fred Astaire and the breezy direction by George Sidney who gave us many great films. Sidney's output included the MGM short Murder in 3D (1941),ANCHORS AWEIGH (1945),THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1948), KEY TO THE CITY (1949),ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1950),SHOWBOAT (1951). SCARAMOUCHE (1952), PAL JOEY (1957), WHO WAS THAT LADY? (1960), BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963) and VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964). My opinion of the cast is even greater. Howard Keel was in actuality a real Oklahoman whose strong baritone led him to play Curley on stage for Rodgers & Hammerstein both on Broadway and in London's west end. His range also included being believable in westerns and light comedy. Kathryn Grayson was in the last film of her 12 years at MGM as their lead soprano. Keel and Grayson were the 1950's version of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. The dancers Ann Miller, Tommy Rall and Bob Fosse were all shown excellent effect. One could never do better for comic relief than Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore as the mob collectors. Of course we are now in the 21st century and have different opinions of what constitutes lasting entertainment but for my money if I had only one movie to save from my 3D collection KISS ME KATE would be it.

[Robert Furmanek]

Sounds like your taste in stereoscopic cinema is with the gimmick-fests.

You might enjoy COMIN' AT YA.

[xplorar]

Originally Posted by Robert Furmanek

Sounds like your taste in stereoscopic cinema is with the gimmick-fests.

You might enjoy COMIN' AT YA.

To be honest, I actually did enjoy the 3D gimmicks of COMIN' AT YA

And frankly, I feel sorry for people who can't enjoy gimmicks because of their perceived "good taste".

[Robert Furmanek]

You'll LOVE The Bubble!

[xplorar]

Originally Posted by Robert Furmanek

You'll LOVE The Bubble!

No, I didn't. Check out my comments for the same -
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=127

[Robert Furmanek]

THE BUBBLE has the best use of off-screen effects in the history of 3-D movies.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Robert Furmanek

THE BUBBLE has the best use of off-screen effects in the history of 3-D movies.

Without ANY crosstalk on the Playstation VR headset. I bought the film based on your comments Robert. Very impressed with the 3D. Watched it on projector as well.