Willow (1988) - 20th Century Fox & Buena Vista/Disney releases

[kdo]

Originally Posted by mjcavinder

Have you ever adjusted your TV settings?

Yes, and they're just fine ...and they have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the issues regarding the Blu-ray transfer of "Willow" .

[mjcavinder]

Originally Posted by kdo

Yes, and they're just fine ...and they have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the issues regarding the Blu-ray transfer of "Willow" .

Maybe not your settings, but if some idiot has the color turned up....

[kdo]

Originally Posted by mjcavinder

Maybe not your settings, but if some idiot has the color turned up....

No worries regarding mine, it's perfectly balanced ...unfortunately, I can't speak for others...

Yeah, I don't want to harp on this too much, because I feel like I'm taking up a bit too much space on this thread as it is, so I think this is going to be my last post on this board for a while, so others can share their thoughts without having to argue over my posts ...

I just want to reiterate, to make it very clear for everyone, that I'm not claiming the "Willow" Blu-ray is "wrong." All I am saying is that the 2001 DVD much more closely resembles the theatrical presentation I recall having witnessed. And for all those who think I'm singling out this release for no particular reason, let me just say that I remember, very vividly, many theatrical experiences I've had (especially films like "Willow" which I really, really liked). Some of these movies (which I also own on Blu-ray) were "Starman," "Rocky IV," "The NeverEnding Story," "The Last Starfighter," "Gremlins," "The Karate Kid I & II," "Back to the Future II," "The Crow," "Masters of the Universe," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I & II," and "Santa Claus: The Movie." Now, despite the fact that it's supposedly "not possible" to remember things very well (at least according to science), let me just say, that out of those previous movies I just mentioned, I find the Blu-ray releases of all but 2 to be excellent for the most part, virtually "spot-on" in terms of being representative of the films as I remembered seeing them in the cinema . The only two of that list that I didn't particularly care for on Blu are "Santa Claus: The Movie" (of which the BD had some contrast/color issues) and "The Last Starfighter" (which got hit heavy with the DVNR). And I'm not including "The NeverEnding Story" (of which I didn't at all care for the Warner Blu-ray) because I have the Dutch disc, and it looks quite accurate to what my memory recollects.

The sad fact of the matter (and I don't think anyone with a reasonable mind can argue this) is that there's been a lot of "revisionism" taking place in the film business in the recent years (whether intentional or not), and it's not only hurting the integrity of the industry in my opinion, but also the beautiful art that these films are, and what they represent. And everytime I see this type of tweaking or altering (especially on classics I loved), I can only think of this one hilarious image that I'll share with you (see link below), which was posted a while back on another thread by a member here on the site, and at which I initially laughed almost continuously for a few hours...

So, for those who are in love with the new "Willow" Blu-ray, please, by all means enjoy it ...For those, who like me, feel that this release was disappointing in the sense that it didn't quite live up to expectations...well, I can only hope that you'll at least be able to get a kick out of this satirical take on what seems to be happening in regards to a lot of modern remasterings and so-called restorations of classic films these days...enjoy :

http://postimage.org/image/41b9aimb5/

[kong73]

Was when it came out in the theater and I remember being disappointed.
Well, I watch it last night and this time around a smile would not leave my face! I had a blast and love it. Almost teared up at the end when he got back to his family....almost

[frogmort]

I just picked this up a few minutes ago. I haven't seen it in years, but I used to love it when I was younger. I hope I still do. I guess I'll find out in a few minutes.

[Love Blu-Ray]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I just picked this up a few minutes ago. I haven't seen it in years, but I used to love it when I was younger. I hope I still do. I guess I'll find out in a few minutes.

You better report back!

[Love Blu-Ray]

I am going to watch Willow soon! I can not wait!

[DasRetroKid]

Finally was able to watch Willow on Blu and I must say this is the most beautiful Willow has ever been presented. I honestly was surprised at just how good it looked. The scenes shot in Willows village for example look as if they were filmed yesterday.

The audio quality is probably what stood out to me the most though. Sonically, I felt more "in the movie" then I've ever felt in past viewings. Things I had never heard before were now popping up all over the place.

I give this remaster two

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Love Blu-Ray

You better report back!

I will.

Originally Posted by Love Blu-Ray

I am going to watch Willow soon! I can not wait!

Me too!

I can't believe it has a 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

[chad_1138]

Mine will be here tomorrow

[Love Blu-Ray]

Originally Posted by DasRetroKid

Finally was able to watch Willow on Blu and I must say this is the most beautiful Willow has ever been presented. I honestly was surprised at just how good it looked. The scenes shot in Willows village for example look as if they were filmed yesterday.

The audio quality is probably what stood out to me the most though. Sonically, I felt more "in the movie" then I've ever felt in past viewings. Things I had never heard before were now popping up all over the place.

I give this remaster two

Sounds excellent! I am glad they gave Willow the treatment that Willow deserved!

[Suburban Sensei]

Picked this up the other day, and I haven't seen it in years, but still loved it this time around. It's exciting because its the first time I have ever owned the movie, always just caught it on tv or at a friends house when I was a kid. It was the first time my fiance had ever watched the movie. With 80's movies, be it fantasy,sci-fi, etc. It's really hard to show them to people who didn't watch them as kids and maybe don't have a connection and like the nostalgia, they just get stuck on the "cheesiness".

I was happy to see she loved it, got a ton of laughs and overall its a fun, light-hearted fantasy movie. We just met Warwick at a convention last year, and he was great. She wanted to meet him since he was in the Harry Potter movies, for me it's all about Wicket the Ewok...but now we have a common ground, and that is Willow! People need to pick this up, because at $14.99 its really worth it, and I know it wet my appetite for The Hobbit next week.

[DasRetroKid]

I watched the deleted scenes segment and funny enough, of the three scenes the one I thought I would least like based upon the title is the one I ended up wishing they would have kept in; the one where Willow tricks the troll with magic. I seriously laughed out loud when he hit the troll on the head with the rock.

The sub plot with Sorchas father didn't really interest me and "fish boy" was a very cool idea, but I agree with Ron Howard after seeing it in that the "fish" just wasn't very effective and detracted from the scene. The first time the fish comes up is cool but after that all the other times you see it it just feels too gimmicky.

[frogmort]

I just finished watching it for the first time in many years, and I was afraid that maybe it wouldn't have aged very well, or that I just wouldn't love it as much as I used to, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I really enjoyed it!

I was also completely blown away by the A/V quality too. The detail, depth, color and contrast were pretty amazing and I thought it was very consistant all the way through. The audio was probably even better. Lots of directional surround information, very wide stereo imaging on the front soundstage, and a surprising amount of LFE activity.

I was also really surprised by the bonus feature on the matte paintings used in the film. I didn't even realize that those scenes were paintings. Some of the best matte work ever.

[Love Blu-Ray]

Just got done watching it! The audio and video is fantastic! It still is good as I remembered!

I am glad Willow got the treatment that Willow deserved!

[Love Blu-Ray]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I just finished watching it for the first time in many years, and I was afraid that maybe it wouldn't have aged very well, or that I just wouldn't love it as much as I used to, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I really enjoyed it!

I was also completely blown away by the A/V quality too. The detail, depth, color and contrast were pretty amazing and I thought it was very consistant all the way through. The audio was probably even better. Lots of directional surround information, very wide stereo imaging on the front soundstage, and a surprising amount of LFE activity.

I was also really surprised by the bonus feature on the matte paintings used in the film. I didn't even realize that those scenes were paintings. Some of the best matte work ever.

Nice review! I am into the video quality more than audio quality but yeah the audio quality is better than the video quality from what I have been hearing/seeing! The video quality is fantastic too! Glad to see that Willow got the treatment it deserved! It made the movie much more enjoyable!

[Love Blu-Ray]

I just read that the redhead girl in the movie and Val got married in real life, that is cool, shame they got divorced though

[BluRayWish108p]

Looked at a few scenes from my old dvd of Willow and thought it was pretty nice compared to the screencaps posted in the Blu-ray.com review.
I'm not sure if I need to rebuy this. After all I only watched it once back when it came out on dvd years ago and have never popped it back into any player since.

[DasRetroKid]

In case anyone's interested (only because it was talked about earlier): Dragonslayer is now on Netflix in HD.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by DasRetroKid

In case anyone's interested (only because it was talked about earlier): Dragonslayer is now on Netflix in HD.

Wondering if it's a new transfer though. VUDU has had it in HDX (1080p/DD 5.1) for a while now and it's an older transfer, with way too high contrast which makes matte lines and garbage mattes highly visible.