Critical discussion Thread: Your thoughts on Kino-Lorber Blu-rays

[Kino Lorber Insider]

All discussion, reactions and reviews to announced or released Kino product should be discussed in this thread!

klsc.jpg

[captveg]

Go back to to SC and insist they follow their "paper" trail on why they think the KHaC master they gave you is the new 2019 master, despite looking identical to their 2011 master. Maybe it's a simple clerical error somewhere up the chain - a misnamed file, or something similar. But the visual evidence is undeniable if one is interested in truth - the 2019 KL image matches identically the 2011 SC image.

EDIT: You just stated in the other thread that you reached out again to SC. Let's hope they give some serious time to looking into it.

[Kino Lorber Insider]

We reached out to StudioCanal again and asked them to confirm that we received the latest master for KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS and not an older one. They are in France and most likely on holiday, but we hope to hear back from them soon.

[willieconway]

Please always include subtitles.

[Gambit1138]

Originally Posted by willieconway

Please always include subtitles.

THIS. I was incredibly disappointed that releases like The Ox-Bow Incident and The Apple didn't include subtitles. They're among my and my Deaf parents' favorite films, and we've chosen not to purchase these discs and stick with our DVDs because they have available captioning.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Please issue replacements on releases that have Kino caused technical errors even if it means taking a bit of a loss at the particular time. Customers will be more satisfied and will continue wanting to support the label, meaning even more business.

Also, if a release already has technical errors, that aren't fixable by Kino, please pass on releasing it.

[Davidian]

Please fix Nosferatu.

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Originally Posted by willieconway

Please always include subtitles.

Most of our releases include them now. Some of the TV movies don't, but that's it.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by willieconway

Please always include subtitles.

This was the primary reason why I replaced my otherwise-impressive KLSC Blu-ray of the British noir, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, with the region free Powerhouse/Indicator edition.

KLSC has mostly rectified this issue with recent releases.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

KLI - Can you suggest some order to buying KL releases to avoid discs going OOP before they can be bought?

Funds are finite, so one has to pick a buying order. I chose buying the lowest priced items at the last sale figuring they were most likely to go OOP. Someone else now commented that some items with low stock were not priced this way.

What's a fan to do?

Cheers!

Kino releases aren't limited editions. Some may go OOP years down the road if their licencing agreements expire or something, but it's not like anything is going to sell out and become unavailable. So base your decisions on the movies you want and/or whatever works for your budget during the sales.

[mdaniels]

Originally Posted by Davidian

Please fix Nosferatu.

What's wrong with Nosferatu?

[James Luckard]

Per request, I'm moving this discussion from the main KL thread:

Is there any word yet on BLACKMAIL?

The BFI-restored silent version looks stunning.

However, both included versions of the "talkie" version seem to have issues.

The version on disc 2, labelled as 1.20 (which would be the OAR), appears to be squished to around 1.10.

I'm unclear about the reason for the apparently stretched 1.33 version being included on disc 1.

I would definitely like to hear Kino's comments on this.

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

The packaging 1.20:1 ratio was a typo.

The correct ratio for the master we received from Studiocanal is 1.11:1

The same as every other release of the film.

I'm not sure that's correct.

The version currently streaming on Vudu is 1.20:1, as shown in the caps here:

https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=28489

The 2007 Optimum/Studiocanal UK DVD that I have is 1.20:1, there are caps of it here:

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Blac...sing_(UK,_2007)

You can click on any of the caps there and you'll see comparison caps from the 2002 German Arthaus DVD and the 2005 French Studiocanal DVD. They're all roughly 1.20:1 as well:

https://the.hitchcock.zone/cgi-bin/c...pl?compare=11d

The other caps are from older public domain versions, so they're not really useful.

It appears that every authorized release of the film has been approximately 1.20:1 up till now.

[jcs913]

Please mention to the 'higher ups' to slow down your output to a level where EVERY disc gets the proper QC. IMO, releasing more titles monthly than major studios do is a dangerous thing when you are a smaller company. Leads to a lot of problems that seems to be avoidable. I get that people want everything out that can be put out, but it leads to more issues later on. When several of these releases barely best the dvd, there is a problem somewhere. Please have the 'higher ups' think about the customer for more than a few minutes and not the profits.... Thanks.

[Professor Echo]

Really, is this thread necessary? It seems to have been created in a pique of anger and in many ways will probably prove to be awkward, confusing, aimless and redundant. I just don’t see the need for it when there has been an accepted all encompassing thread devoted to the label for so many years now. I understand that things got a little out of control in the other thread, but isn’t it the moderator’s job to step in and resolve a runaway thread rather than a label rep impetuously attempting to change all the rules in the middle of a game?

[James Luckard]

As I understand it, KL wants to keep the old thread focused on upcoming releases.

They want this new one to be for anything post-release. That seems logical to me.

As long as they reply to respectfully posed questions and comments in a timely manner here, as well as in the old thread, it seems like a reasonable request from them to divide the discussion.

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

As I understand it, KL wants to keep the old thread focused on upcoming releases.

They want this new one to be for anything post-release. That seems logical to me.

As long as they reply to respectfully posed questions and comments in a timely manner here, as well as in the old thread, it seems like a reasonable request from them to divide the discussion.

It also keeps comments about disc problems away from the main thread. Which in turn could affect sales on those said discs, since most visit that thread only.....

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by jcs913

It also keeps comments about disc problems away from the main thread. Which in turn could affect sales on those said discs, since most visit that thread only.....

Now it makes total sense!

[Zygmunt22]

Okay, so I guess I posted this originally in the wrong place...though I don't think there's anything more that can be added here. I noticed that the blu-ray of Billy the Kid vs. Dracula lacks proper day-for-night timing. Is it true that in the case of StudioCanal titles, Kino has no control over the masters? Very happy to see this get a Blu...not trying to beat them up over this one...but (obviously) the day for night stuff is off and was just curious as to why. I don't think Kino Lorber Insider will comment anymore on it but wondering if anyone else had anything to add.

[Shemp]

Originally Posted by Zygmunt22

Okay, so I guess I posted this originally in the wrong place...though I don't think there's anything more that can be added here. I noticed that the blu-ray of Billy the Kid vs. Dracula lacks proper day-for-night timing. Is it true that in the case of StudioCanal titles, Kino has no control over the masters? Very happy to see this get a Blu...not trying to beat them up over this one...but (obviously) the day for night stuff is off and was just curious as to why. I don't think Kino Lorber Insider will comment anymore on it but wondering if anyone else had anything to add.

I avoided buying it after hearing about the lack of day for night filtering. It's somewhat amusing that every review I've seen online for the blu ray doesn't pick up on it, and I assume the two guys doing the commentary track didn't either. The movie is written off as a piece of crap and even horror film fans at other forums don't care about it being missing, which is a shame. All films deserve to be seen as the director intended them to be seen, no matter how poorly regarded they may be.

[prkchopexpress]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

Please issue replacements on releases that have Kino caused technical errors even if it means taking a bit of a loss at the particular time. Customers will be more satisfied and will continue wanting to support the label, meaning even more business.

Also, if a release already has technical errors, that aren't fixable by Kino, please pass on releasing it.

this is bs. only a spoiled, entitled brat thinks not having a release at all is better than a release that may not be perfect. do you realize how good we have just to be able to get stuff in the original aspect ratio? do you remember how awful bus was? thank goodness you're not in charge of anything.

and then to try and sell the nonsense "customers will be more satisfied and will continue wanting to supporting the label, meaning even more business." gimme a freaking break. just admit you're cheap AND high maintenance at the same time and want to be able to get free stuff if you some random person somewhere claimed the film print looked different and the color values aren't to your liking.


I personally have no issues with any of the kino discs in my collection.

this is an unrealistic nitpick, but I wish there was more behind the scenes material. I also fully understand that sometimes it just isn't possible logistically. and this not something that is unique to kino. if you said I could I have 20 barebones releases of movies I want that have not been available that I've never seen or ten stacked special editions of stuff I already love... I'll take the 20 barebones editions.