Don't Look Now (1973)

[Akijama]

http://www.criterion.com/films/27928-don-t-look-now


IMDB - 7.4 ( 28,452 users )

Rotten Tomatoes - 96% (45 reviews counted )

New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Nicolas Roeg, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New conversation between the film’s editor, Graeme Clifford, and film writer Bobbie O’Steen
“Don’t Look Now,” Looking Back, a short 2002 documentary featuring Roeg, Clifford, and cinematographer Anthony Richmond
Death in Venice, a 2006 interview with composer Pino Donaggio
Something Interesting, a new documentary on the writing and making of the film, featuring interviews with Richmond, actors Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, and coscreenwriter Allan Scott
Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film, a new documentary on Roeg’s style, featuring interviews with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Steven Soderbergh
Q&A with Roeg at London’s Ciné Lumière from 2003
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by film critic David Thompson

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie mesmerize as a married couple on an extended trip to Venice following a family tragedy. While in that elegantly decaying city, they have a series of inexplicable, terrifying, and increasingly dangerous experiences. A masterpiece from Nicolas Roeg, Don’t Look Now, adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier, is a brilliantly disturbing tale of the supernatural, as renowned for its innovative editing and haunting cinematography as its explicit eroticism and unforgettable denouement, one of the great endings in horror history.

Don't Look Now (1973) - TRAILER - YouTube

[Akijama]

Yessssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my absolute favorites!! So happy!

[Scottie]

omg

[jscoggins]

Didn't we guess this one not too long ago?

[Catastrophe]

Yasssssss

[Impossible]

YES!

Let's hope and pray they don't **** it up like they did to the UK release.

[L'armée des ombres]

WOW!¨

[Doombear]

OMG! this is something I've been wanting quite requestedly.

[Catastrophe]

Originally Posted by Impossible

YES!

Let's hope and pray they don't **** it up like they did to the UK release.

What happened on the UK release?

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Catastrophe

What happened on the UK release?

DNR, though the problem has been grossly exaggerated among the typical forum hyperbole. It's quite watchable for the most part.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by Catastrophe

What happened on the UK release?

They did the restoration and then filtered the hell out of it.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

DNR, though the problem has been grossly exaggerated among the typical forum hyperbole. It's quite watchable for the most part.

Some of it looks fantastic, but a lot of it looks pretty bad.

[zbinks]

Originally Posted by Catastrophe

What happened on the UK release?

Originally Posted by Dr. Svet Atanasov

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nic Roeg's Don't Look Now arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

The high-definition transfer that has been used for this much anticipated Blu-ray release is a rather frustrating one. Don't Look Now has been recently restored, and from the materials I was sent it appears that director Roeg personally supervised and approved the new restoration. Unfortunately, I must speculate that after the restoration was completed and during its transition to Blu-ray additional corrections were performed that have affected its integrity. Specifically, a layer of occasionally thick machine noise has been applied, possibly to sharpen the image and reduce film grain, which has a tendency to degrade detail and clarity. For example, the sharpening and machine noise are fairly easy to see on screencapture #1 (notice how the shadow under Donald Sutherland's left eye breaks up and looks smeary). Elsewhere, some of the panoramic vistas (see screencapture #2) lack depth and have a rather unpleasant electronic look. All of this is very frustrating because it is incredibly easy to see that what is under the machine noise is of very high quality -- color reproduction, shadow definition, and depth are obviously superior to that of previous SDVD releases of the film.

This being said, in motion these image degradations are not always as extreme as they might appear on the screencaptures provided with this review. In fact, I would speculate that mostly viewers who project their films on very large screens (100'+) would find the presentation to be unacceptable. On medium size screens (52'-55'), the majority of the subtle image degradations would likely remain unnoticed by most viewers, though the sporadic harshness of the image would still bother those who are sensitive to post-production sharpening. Regardless, given Optimum Home Entertainment's very impressive record with Blu-ray releases of classic films (see Cross of Iron, The Cruel Sea, and Ice Cold in Alex), it is very frustrating that the post-restoration corrections were made. My advice to you is to find a way to rent this release and see if you are bothered by the presentation before considering a purchase. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dont-.../18547/#Review

[jthefrank]

Finally

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Impossible

Some of it looks fantastic, but a lot of it looks pretty bad.

It becomes a problem with shots that were very grainy, but the majority of the Blu-Ray looks great. It doesn't have that across the board waxy look many filtered releases have. It's far from the disaster some make it out to be and it doesn't bother me enough to buy this again at Criterion prices, despite the film being a favourite.

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by Akijama

Yessssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my absolute favorites!! So happy!

Yes this is very good news indeed. One of my favorites as well

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

It becomes a problem with shots that were very grainy, but the majority of the Blu-Ray looks great. It doesn't have that across the board waxy look many filtered releases have. It's far from the disaster some make it out to be and it doesn't bother me enough to buy this again at Criterion prices, despite the film being a favourite.

Unfortunately the long shots in the film do suffer quite badly in the StudioCanal BD transfer, the filtering taking away a surprising amount of detail. As long as it sticks to close ups and medium shots it's okay.

[dressedtokill]

Not much of a surprise but still…I'm just hoping it's a big improvement in terms of video quality compared to the dreadful SC release. The special features look terrific and they even managed to interview Julie Christie!
That being said, I seriously hate the cover. Why couldn't they just go with the iconic and terrific original poster?

[KrugStillo]

It says new 4K restoration so this won't be the same transfer as the UK. Now it could have problems all it's own but I generally trust Criterion.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

Not much of a surprise but still…I'm just hoping it's a big improvement in terms of video quality compared to the dreadful SC release. The special features look terrific and they even managed to interview Julie Christie!
That being said, I seriously hate the cover. Why couldn't they just go with the iconic and terrific original poster?

Well, that complaint was predictable. I think the cover is great and it is a key moment from the film. Criterion does fantastic graphic design in a field which is mostly poor and unimaginative when it comes to design. It's always a shame when people don't realise that simply because everything has to be "traditional" and the same over and over. Forums often seem to be in a race about who can be the most "purist" about something.