Bitter Rice (1949)

[pro-bassoonist]

Our review will be up shortly

Bitter Rice Blu-ray PRE-ORDER











Pro-B

[RiFiFi1955]

Can't wait to get this in the mail. That mini poster at its fantastic. I usually don't hang up at from the booklets as I like to keep the booklets with the disc but in this case I may make an exception

[pro-bassoonist]

Bitter Rice Blu-ray REVIEW



The new transfer is very, very good. This is a major upgrade over the old Italian DVD release

***

On the disc that I was sent to review, there appears to be a small mastering defect. At the moment I do not know if it is only on my disc -- I have only one disc with me -- but I have contacted Criterion with a request for additional information. The video score is left unset at the moment.

I will update the review/thread when I have proper information.

Pro-B

[spanky87]

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...ce_blu-ray.htm

http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/bitter-rice

Two more reviews for the blu-ray. Neither made mention of this video glitch.

[toddly6666]

There's a good chance that the other critics didnt notice it. I trust Pro-B's word the most and im not buying it until we get some news.

[AaronJ]

I'm SO torn on this. I want to see it, and it sounds like an excellent package (assuming that glitch is just on ProB's disc or that they fix it).

But yikes. If I don't put anything else on order, by the end of March I will have spent over $250 already.

Decisions. Decisions.

[spanky87]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

There's a good chance that the other critics didnt notice it. I trust Pro-B's word the most and im not buying it until we get some news.

Possibly.

Well, I hope we get some confirmation before Tuesday. I went ahead and pre-ordered from Amazon.ca anyway because they typically raise the prices after the release date and it's already expensive as it is.

[nitin]

It's currently $18.78 plus shipping at dvdpacific.

Mine is already on its way. If Criterion fix it, they are usually pretty good with sending out a replacement once you contact them.

[MifuneFan]

I just looked at the Hulu version, which appears to be an older master, and there are skips, and dropped frames during the sequence in question as well. So it appears to be inherent to the film source rather than a disc issue.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/288178

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I just looked at the Hulu version, which appears to be an older master, and there are skips, and dropped frames during the sequence in question as well. So it appears to be inherent to the film source rather than a disc issue.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/288178

Thx for that, maybe you're right. I received mine yesterday so I'm going to check out the disc tonight. I'm excited to watch the film in HD regardless. This will be the 6th or 7th disc I've sent into them within about a years time span if it is indeed a recall. Between the disc rot, Eraserhead and Dressed to Kill, me and Mulvaney have shared too many emails!

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I just looked at the Hulu version, which appears to be an older master, and there are skips, and dropped frames during the sequence in question as well. So it appears to be inherent to the film source rather than a disc issue.

I don't use any of these services and I do not know what is shown on Hulu.

However, what is on the Blu-ray disc is not a source limitation. It is a mastering defect -- somewhere, somehow something went wrong.

Furthermore, on the first remaster of Riso Amaro, which was used for the R2 Italian DVD release, which prior to Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release was the best home video presentation of the film, the sequence appears as it should.





Pro-B

[tenia]

After Code Unknown, it seems the curse of the dropped frames has been hitting Criterion again.
I've also read that Blind Chance had a dropped frame at 01:29:22 but haven't had a look at it to confirm.

[nitin]

wasnt the Code Unknown issue not 'dropped frames' as such but a speedup?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

I don't use any of these services and I do not know what is shown on Hulu.

However, what is on the Blu-ray disc is not a source limitation. It is a mastering defect -- somewhere, somehow something went wrong.

Furthermore, on the first remaster of Riso Amaro, which was used for the R2 Italian DVD release, which prior to Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release was the best home video presentation of the film, the sequence appears as it should.

[Show spoiler]

Pro-B

So at what point was the mastering defect? I'm just trying to point out that it doesn't appear to have anything to do with the new restoration or disc itself, but rather something even older going back to whatever source Criterion has in their library. The Hulu copy is clearly much older with lots of artifacts and not a particularly strong image. I don't think it's a coincidence that it has the skips and frame drops at the exact time that you mentioned on the BD. Also by source limiation, I don't mean the original film negative or anything, just rather Criterion's source that they have. It may very likely be different from the one used for the R2 DVD disc.

[MifuneFan]

Okay, this really isn't a great example, but I couldn't get a direct feed of the Hulu stream so I just filmed it with my camera. You can still see some of the obvious skips and dropped (or missing) frames in this sequence. It's the same sequence that Pro-B describes in his review as being problematic.

WP 20160111 001 - YouTube

Do the frames drop (or are missing) at the same spots for you Pro-B?

[pro-bassoonist]

1. I just received an email from Criterion and it states that there are missing frames in the original film element.

2. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, somewhere, something must have gone wrong, because the entire sequence appears without any of these issues that I have described in the review on the Cristaldi Film DVD release distributed by Fox Italia, which was also promoted as a "restoration" at the time when it was released, and which I own.

3. I don't want to speculate, but if I had to guess, I would probably say that the issue is on the master that was struck -- whether it was a long time ago or more recently is anyone's guess.

4. The fact of the matter is this: The frames are not missing. They exist. If they were missing and the issue was inherited, they would not have appeared on the Italian master from Cristaldi Film. Franco Cristaldi produced the film.

Pro-B

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

1. I just received an email from Criterion and it states that there are missing frames in the original film element.

2. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, somewhere, something must have gone wrong, because the entire sequence appears without any of these issues that I have described in the review on the Cristaldi Film DVD release distributed by Fox Italia, which was also promoted as a "restoration" at the time when it was released, and which I own.

3. I don't want to speculate, but if I had to guess, I would probably say that the issue is on the master that was struck -- whether it was a long time ago or more recently is anyone's guess.

4. The fact of the matter is this: The frames are not missing. They exist. If they were missing and the issue was inherited, they would not have appeared on the Italian master from Cristaldi Film. Franco Cristaldi produced the film.

Pro-B

This is quite unfortunate. Thanks for letting us know their response, so as to not anticipate a replacement.

Also unfortunate is that I watched the CC last night, came here and saw your post, then went to find my Italian DVD. Spent over an hour looking for it, I think it's gone

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

This is quite unfortunate. Thanks for letting us know their response, so as to not anticipate a replacement.

Also unfortunate is that I watched the CC last night, came here and saw your post, then went to find my Italian DVD. Spent over an hour looking for it, I think it's gone

Don't you hate that! That happened with my The Big Sleep DVD, still can't find it but hey it don't matter anymore!

[RiFiFi1955]

and yes thanks Pro-B for the information and research!

[SkyAntoine]

If Summer with Monika was re-edited as an sexploitation film, then was the same ever done for this? I haven't watched this yet, but I'm getting a racy vibe from all of the photos so far.