American Graffiti (1973) (Special Edition)

[iap738]

Love this movie, can't wait to pick it up!

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by retablo

It looks pretty uniform to me. Then again, we ALL know how untrustworthy screen shots are.

Not ALL of us. Screenshots can be misleading as you're looking at them extremely closeup on a computer screen that likely isn't 1080p resolution. The blu-ray isn't going to look the same in motion on a screen 10' away. But screenshots do give an indication of the underlying source quality. Like this:

Film grain:

[Show spoiler]

Whole lotta something else going here besides film grain:

[Show spoiler]

[42041]

Originally Posted by octagon

Shouldn't natural film grain be fairly uniform in any given shot?

Grain visibility depends a good deal on the color/relative exposure in given part of the frame. I haven't made any kind of scientific study of it, but based on my experiences shooting/scanning film, if someone's bright white shirt is as grainy as the shadow regions of their skin, there's probably something screwy going on, like scanner noise.

I don't really see much amiss with the grain in these caps, aside from the typical sharpened old transfer look.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by 42041

I don't really see much amiss with the grain in these caps, aside from the typical sharpened old transfer look.

This. Grain is not gonna look exactly the same across every film ever. And a 2-perf feature like this - shot on pretty fast stock to boot - is gonna have very coarse grain which corresponds with the caps, more or less.

Could it be resolved a bit finer in AG's case? Probably. Edge enhancement obscures high-frequency detail rather than bringing it up, natch. The effect also makes grain look a little unnatural, because the halo of each grain particle impinges on the next and so on. There may indeed be a touch of DNR to smooth out the heaviest grain, and the combination of these two processes has led to less than optimal results IMO.

However, I was not expecting miracles and I'm still reserving final judgement until I see this with my own mince pies.

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Could it be resolved a bit finer in AG's case? Probably. Edge enhancement obscures high-frequency detail rather than bringing it up, natch. The effect also makes grain look a little unnatural, because the halo of each grain particle impinges on the next and so on. There may indeed be a touch of DNR to smooth out the heaviest grain, and the combination of these two processes has led to less than optimal results IMO.

However, I was not expecting miracles and I'm still reserving final judgement until I see this with my own mince pies.

This is what I am talking about (bolded). It makes the grain look pudgy and undefined, turning an already grainy image into a complete mess. It doesn't look like film, it looks like low-res representation of film. Most people don't care and get angry when I bring it up but that is exactly what is going on based on these caps. It's not impossible or even difficult to create a good transfer of AG, just scan the elements and lay off the digital crap.

[Geoff D]

We get what you're saying, man. But it could've been much worse, and laying into it with such, er, gusto isn't winning people over to your cause.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

We get what you're saying, man. But it could've been much worse, and laying into it with such, er, gusto isn't winning people over to your cause.

Definitely. I'll take processed grain over mannequin smooth pretty much any day of the week.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing it again so I'll be even more inclined to make allowances (though I can certainly appreciate how looking forward to it could make others less inclined to make allowances).

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by The Duke

Not ALL of us. Screenshots can be misleading as you're looking at them extremely closeup on a computer screen that likely isn't 1080p resolution. The blu-ray isn't going to look the same in motion on a screen 10' away. But screenshots do give an indication of the underlying source quality. Like this:

Film grain:

[Show spoiler]

Whole lotta something else going here besides film grain:

[Show spoiler]

I'm pretty sure retablo was being sarcastic.

[martadawes]

While I haven't seen the Bluray yet, I'm taking some exceptions with the review of the film itself. My husband (then my boyfriend) and I saw this film three or four times on it's initial release in 1973, when we were 16, and it became one of the seminal films of my life.

The entire point of the film is that it's like a look into the night of a bunch of kids graduating high school, without pretense, without thought, and without censorship. I have always enjoyed the performances of all the actors, no matter their skill level, because they act like kids do; unsure, upset, embarrassing and juvenile.

George Lucas has many issues as a director and in this film he is more like one of the camera crew than a director, which helps the film seem more lifelike. This style hasn't helped his latest films but it was a blessing for "American Graffiti." I had a few nights just like this when I was a senior in a Midwest high school and it's one of the most true-to-life films I've seen. I can find little wrong with anything in the film, and I speak as someone in their mid-50's who lived through those aimless summer nights when it seems like your life is on the edge of a knife, set to go one way but just as possibly going another.

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by martadawes

The entire point of the film is that it's like a look into the night of a bunch of kids graduating high school, without pretense, without thought, and without censorship. I have always enjoyed the performances of all the actors, no matter their skill level, because they act like kids do; unsure, upset, embarrassing and juvenile.

George Lucas has many issues as a director and in this film he is more like one of the camera crew than a director, which helps the film seem more lifelike. This style hasn't helped his latest films but it was a blessing for "American Graffiti." I had a few nights just like this when I was a senior in a Midwest high school and it's one of the most true-to-life films I've seen. I can find little wrong with anything in the film, and I speak as someone in their mid-50's who lived through those aimless summer nights when it seems like your life is on the edge of a knife, set to go one way but just as possibly going another.

My thoughts exactly and I couldn't have said it better. This is a great film, and I don't use that word for for many movies.

[wilky61]

I'm 23 now, and when I was several years younger I watched this once and didn't get it. Perhaps this film is to 1973 as 'Fash Times at Ridgemont High' is to 1982 and 'Dazed & Confused' is to 1993.

[AeroK]

Originally Posted by wilky61

I'm 23 now, and when I was several years younger I watched this once and didn't get it. Perhaps this film is to 1973 as 'Fash Times at Ridgemont High' is to 1982 and 'Dazed & Confused' is to 1993.

I'm 27 and saw it for the first time when I was a freshman in college but I immediately had a connection with it even though it takes place a couple decades before my time.
Maybe it's a small town thing. There are so many parallels between this movie and the only strip in my town where every high school kid with a social life gathers at the Sonic on Friday and Saturday nights. Kids come out and show off their rides, you have the ones on a quest for liquor and/or promiscuity, and you have the John Milner types out of high school that have really nice rides because they are pipelining or working offshore but still want to hang out with the high school kids...which is kinda creepy.
At that age for me, there was just something about cruising around a 3 mile radius on a summer night with friends. I would take that over a 45 minute trip to the city for the parties, movies, or mall.

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by AeroK

I'm 27 and saw it for the first time when I was a freshman in college but I immediately had a connection with it even though it takes place a couple decades before my time.
Maybe it's a small town thing. There are so many parallels between this movie and the only strip in my town where every high school kid with a social life gathers at the Sonic on Friday and Saturday nights. Kids come out and show off their rides, you have the ones on a quest for liquor and/or promiscuity, and you have the John Milner types out of high school that have really nice rides because they are pipelining or working offshore but still want to hang out with the high school kids...which is kinda creepy.
At that age for me, there was just something about cruising around a 3 mile radius on a summer night with friends. I would take that over a 45 minute trip to the city for the parties, movies, or mall.

Yeah I didn't have any scene like that in my town growing up in an Atlanta suburb in the 90s, and come to think of it I didn't get 'The Last Picture Show' or 'Nashville' either.

[mikej327]

Originally Posted by wilky61
I'm 23 now, and when I was several years younger I watched this once and didn't get it. Perhaps this film is to 1973 as 'Fash Times at Ridgemont High' is to 1982 and 'Dazed & Confused' is to 1993.

I wouldn't really say that. Unlike the other movies, Fast Times took place in the time period that it came out.

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by martadawes

While I haven't seen the Bluray yet, I'm taking some exceptions with the review of the film itself. My husband (then my boyfriend) and I saw this film three or four times on it's initial release in 1973, when we were 16, and it became one of the seminal films of my life.

The entire point of the film is that it's like a look into the night of a bunch of kids graduating high school, without pretense, without thought, and without censorship. I have always enjoyed the performances of all the actors, no matter their skill level, because they act like kids do; unsure, upset, embarrassing and juvenile.

George Lucas has many issues as a director and in this film he is more like one of the camera crew than a director, which helps the film seem more lifelike. This style hasn't helped his latest films but it was a blessing for "American Graffiti." I had a few nights just like this when I was a senior in a Midwest high school and it's one of the most true-to-life films I've seen. I can find little wrong with anything in the film, and I speak as someone in their mid-50's who lived through those aimless summer nights when it seems like your life is on the edge of a knife, set to go one way but just as possibly going another.

Well said. And Lucas did use the same style even in the prequels, shooting is just a process the editing room is where he make the movie. Like making a documentary.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by AeroK

Maybe it's a small town thing.

I don't think so. Not entirely, anyway. I grew up in the middle of Chicago and I immediately connected with the feeling that you were finally able to do whatever you wanted but didn't have any real idea of what that might be. It a weird way it a lot like the end of The Candidate - Robert Redford wins the senate race and then gets this befuddled look and says 'Now what'.

It was a very visceral connection too...you could practically smell the summer nights.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by octagon

I don't think so. Not entirely, anyway. I grew up in the middle of Chicago and I immediately connected with the feeling that you were finally able to do whatever you wanted but didn't have any real idea of what that might be. It a weird way it a lot like the end of The Candidate - Robert Redford wins the senate race and then gets this befuddled look and says 'Now what'.

It was a very visceral connection too...you could practically smell the summer nights.

Exactly! I feel the same way abut it.

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by octagon

I don't think so. Not entirely, anyway. I grew up in the middle of Chicago and I immediately connected with the feeling that you were finally able to do whatever you wanted but didn't have any real idea of what that might be. It a weird way it a lot like the end of The Candidate - Robert Redford wins the senate race and then gets this befuddled look and says 'Now what'.

It was a very visceral connection too...you could practically smell the summer nights.

Wow, interesting that you mention that. Again as a 23-year-old, I watch The Graduate (1967) and every frame in that film screams out to me, and I feel like I connect more with that film than with any other film ever made. But I watch this and nothing.

[Geoff D]

Hell, I'm a 30-year-old Britisher from an outlying London borough so I don't have an immediate 'connection' to American Graffiti, and yet I love the shit out of it. Always have. I don't even drive, so it's not like the car aspect sends me wild. But the soundtrack is outstanding (I'm listening to it right now!), and who can't identify with being young and restless? The film has such a potent atmosphere, and I get drawn in every time.

American Graffiti is a true classic.

[aiman04]

I was born in 1977. Never been to America. No connections at all but I love this movie.