In the Heat of the Night (1967)

[BluFan24]

Just finished my copy I got from the latest Criterion sale. The picture quality was impressive. A lot better than the MGM release.

[StingingVelvet]

Watched this a second time already, this time with the wife. She said "that was pretty good for being so super old." Which is high praise from her honestly. She said her favorite scene was when they were hanging in the Chief's house talking about being lonely. "You were almost friends but you killed it!" she said. She liked that it didn't have a happy cheery bro hug ending (as do I).

[Geoff D]

Lordy me, the remaster on this is amazing when it's using OG neg. Stunningly crisp detail and beautiful fine grain, lovely solid colour too. Yes the titles look poor, as does the moment when Tibbs enters the Planters Hotel - being an optical blow-up (to make it look like a zoom) which then dissolves to the next shot anyway - but those kinds of things are par for the course.

There are however entire sections of the movie that are also from dupes, pretty much all of reel 2 and the final reel, along with another 10 minute stretch in-between. For these sequences the almost three-dimensional look of the 1st gen material is replaced by a flatter, duller feel with mushy grain and soft detail...yet those sections STILL destroy the shitty old BD as they've been handled with due care and attention.

Dunno if they've been freshly recombined from separations (excellent registration if so) or these are the existing dupes as cut into the conformed original negative, in any case they're just as clean and stable as the rest of the transfer is. And when you get that sweet sweet 1st gen stuff, holy smokes it's incredible, but I can see why remastering it from the negative was off the table for so many years: damned near half of it is a dupe anyway. That's not a complaint but an observation, this really IS the best we're gonna get - me being mindful of the apologists who defended the MGM BD with the exact same mindset - so this Criterion edition is well worth picking up.

Customary Criterion Compression Impression: not bad, not bad at all. I never thought I was looking at a sea of macroblocks, only finely controlled grain throughout.

[EVERYONE LIES]

I watched this a few days ago. It had been several years since I’ve seen it. It is kind of sad knowing that a movie this good will never be made again.

[professorwho]

This is one of the biggest upgrades in picture quality ever in regards to re-releases. It's insane. I mean, this cap is a perfect example. Absolutely insane.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

this really IS the best we're gonna get

[Geoff D]

With half the movie already down a generation or two, which affects colour and dynamic range just as much as it does grain and detail, then all a 4K will do is make that division stand out even more. In any case, good luck convincing MGM to release this on 4K on their own watch, and Criterion sure don't seem to care about 4K disc either.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

With half the movie already down a generation or two, which affects colour and dynamic range just as much as it does grain and detail, then all a 4K will do is make that division stand out even more. In any case, good luck convincing MGM to release this on 4K on their own watch, and Criterion sure don't seem to care about 4K disc either.

But it’ll still take the best attributes of this disc to the next higher level. And if you can dream of remastered UHD discs of previous UHD disc releases, against all evidence to the contrary, then I can dream of a world where MGM and/or Criterion take the 4K plunge.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by professorwho

This is one of the biggest upgrades in picture quality ever in regards to re-releases. It's insane. I mean, this cap is a perfect example. Absolutely insane.

The caps are mostly from the OG negative sections, which is fine, but note the last two caps which are from the duped final reel of the film, how there's practically zero detail increase even when compared to that godawful previous Blu-ray, and much more of the remastered transfer is like this than is first apparent in that comparison. The Criterion still looks way better for its more filmic approach to those shots, with better colour, geometry and grain, but it's not going to make for prime 4K fodder.

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

But it’ll still take the best attributes of this disc to the next higher level. And if you can dream of remastered UHD discs of previous UHD disc releases, against all evidence to the contrary, then I can dream of a world where MGM and/or Criterion take the 4K plunge.

And in 4K HDR it'll make the non-OG stuff stand out even more, and not in a good way. This here version is the perfect mix for me, it still looks jaw-dropping in the OG sections, the rest is smartened up nicely vs the old BD, compression is fine and the audio is glorious mono.

Here we go again: I said "I hope that the format survives for long enough" re: the "dream" of getting UHD remasters, there's no "evidence" there that I'm contradicting? But it still seems like it's going to take something massive to happen for indies to get into the UHD market wholesale, never mind MGM who continue to show absolutely zero interest in 4K disc whatsover.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

And in 4K HDR it'll make the non-OG stuff stand out even more, and not in a good way. This here version is the perfect mix for me, it still looks jaw-dropping in the OG sections, the rest is smartened up nicely vs the old BD, compression is fine and the audio is glorious mono.

Yeah, you lost me on this one. It may make the gulf between the OG and non-OG stuff more apparent, but it can't make the the non-OG stuff look worse unto itself than it does in 1080p. I'll take the greater resolution every time. It sounds like, if you were a cameraman, you'd be one of those old-timers who diffused the look of women on STAR TREK or Maddie Hayes on MOONLIGHTING.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Here we go again: I said "I hope that the format survives for long enough" re: the "dream" of getting UHD remasters, there's no "evidence" there that I'm contradicting? But it still seems like it's going to take something massive to happen for indies to get into the UHD market wholesale, never mind MGM who continue to show absolutely zero interest in 4K disc whatsover.

Have we seriously descended to the level of arguing whose pie in the sky hope is less pie in the sky?

[Geoff D]

I ADORE that diffused look! And even in 4K HDR it looks insanely gorgeous, a surprising amount of it is used in Groundhog Day along with star filters. A movie's aesthetic is about more than just resolution resolution resolution. Not that this has anything to do with what's going on in this movie's visuals and/or transfer, it's not some kind of aesthetic effect but is making the best of a bad situation. I didn't say that 4K HDR would make that stuff look worse unto itself, but it would make the stunning OG material look even betterer while the dupes stand still - seeing as the detail in those dupe sections in the new transfer can't even beat the awful MGM Blu-ray - and so the relative gulf in quality between the two sets of footage would only become wider.

Still, it's not like the movie cuts back and forth from OG to dupes - see: people wondering why the quality drops so much and so often in the 4K transfer for River Kwai, it's because of the dupes used for the numerous lap dissolves - so when a dupe section starts up it's there for a good ten minutes at least in Heat of the Night. That wouldn't be as jarring as I thought it might be. Alas, the chances of seeing it on an actual 4K disc are remote to say the least, we're absolutely at the level of arguing whose pie in the sky hopes are more realistic than the other one.

Despite me pitching it as a rather forlorn hope anyway ("if the format survives that long" etc) at least those botched movies that are already on UHD were deemed 'worthy' enough to be released on UHD in the first place, so whenever the next anniversary rolls around for whatever movie then there's a chance - however slim - of seeing a rejigged UHD of it. But the situation for indie UHD and/or MGM under their own steam isn't just looking slim, it's downright anorexic. Yes, Kino have stepped up to the plate with their marvellous Hannibal UHD but we'll see if it's the one that breaks through or ends up as the glittering exception to the rule. Arrow and Shout certainly aren't any closer to getting into UHD disc, and Criterion's outright silence on the matter has been deafening.

[UnbelievableMontages]

I'm hoping Kino gets their hands on this so they can do a 4K Blu-ray unless Criterion wants to start re-releasing it on 4K Blu-ray.

[dawnbailey1974]

Didn't like it

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by dawnbailey1974

Didn't like it

Well, we all talked it over and we’ve decided we’re still going to consider it an incredible, watershed classic.

[cannon1]

Originally Posted by dawnbailey1974

Didn't like it

Terrific, thanks for letting us know.

[Paul.R.S]

Too bad the (Criterion exclusive) interviews don't port over to the UHD BD / am glad there's 3D-BlurayRental.com to grip that content before moving on to the Kino. The Aram Goudsouzian interview in particular is very good; he historicizes Sidney's career well.