Disturbing Trend

[Chad Varnadore]

The age of a film has nothing to do with it. If mastered well, the only thing that keeps an older movie from looking as good as a newer one is depreciation/deterioration of the elements. What holds older films back more than anything are studios, cheaply using outdated masters instead of forking out the dough to remaster, taking the time to do it right. Sony and some other studios are at least evaluating the elements to see how well they'll hold up in high def now. And I think that's all we can reasonably expect. If the master is subpar, they should put the title on the backburner until sales are high enough to justify remastering. Though, considering that the master is used for broadcast and other venues as well, the burden doesn't shouldn't lie completely on BDs back.