Are B/W movies worthy of BD?

[Octavio]

The only B&W movie that I've seen is "Casablanca" (HD-DVD) and it looks amazing!

The audio sounded fine and perfectly suited this vintage movie.

I am eagerly waiting to have that movie on Blu-ray

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

And "Metropolis" is coming out on Blu in 2009! Yes, I will be just as happy watching more detail on blu even if it is in b&w!

rkolinski, I hope you're aware that recently they found in Argentina the complete cut of the film (the 20% missing, minus a few seconds) on a 16mm duplicate

Originally Posted by toefer

I think there is obviously a huge difference between B&W films the OP was referring to, and any movie that happens to be in B&W (Casino Royale, Persepolis, etc).

I just don't see it being worth it, for most movies.

For those that say AQ is half of the movie, I don't see them getting excited about the likely 2-channel audio they'll be getting on most of these movies.

DVDs for old stuff (I'd say from the 1920's-1940's) seem good enough. A marginal improvement on BD doesn't seem worth the higher cost.

Even so, I'd still make an exception for The Wizard of Oz on BD, despite it being almost 70 years old. Maybe they can whip an anniversary edition out for next year? Maybe? Yes?

Time to regularly check for updates here: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=763

Well it happens that most "old" B/W films are not from the widescreen era and were shot in the Academy sound ratio (1.37) or the Silent ratio (1.33) which are larger (taller) negative formats than today's movies.
Their images are 15 mm (sound) or 18 mm tall (silent) while standard 1.85 widescreen movies made today are 11.3 mm tall, Super-35 2.39 films are 10 mm tall, and even true 2.39 anamorphic films have the equivalent of a 12.4 mm tall image.

Something like this:

See this 1.85 frame?

That would be about only 11 mm that would fill your 16:9's 1080p screen's height.

While an old B/W sound negative would use the 40% taller (15 mm) negative for the same screen's 1080p height. An image using twice the film (1.4 x 1.4 = 2) to fill your 1080 screen's height, even though the film might be older, the bigger size will compensate for that in some measure.



Oh and The Wizard of Oz was shot on B/W Academy ratio film like above (three B/W negatives superimposed together to create a ful color RGB record) in the Technicolor process

[glenn-bob]

i think they would look super sharp.

[Blu Titan]

I know it is not an old film, but just imagine how Sin City will look in Blu.

[Mr. Spiffy-Pants]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ron

Would it be worth it? Classic movies like Frankenstein and Psycho?

In a word: Yes.

As others have stated, just because a film image lacks color information doesn't mean that it lacks detail information. I'm sure that, given the proper treatment, a black and white film will shine just as brightly as any color film.

[Sky_Captain]

Just because there's no color, doesn't mean a B&W movie wouldn't benefit greatly from an increased resolution.

[Stephan.klose]

In my opinion there is only one B/W movie worthy of Blu.

"The longest Day". One of the greatest War movies ever.

Sadly I haven't seen it yet on blu because it hasn't been released in europe yet and all Fox titles are region coded

[Blaumann]

Watched the UK BD of Seventh Seal last night. Awesome pq. Yes, b&w films are very much "worth it" on Blu-ray.

I also had a glimpse into "The Longest Day". OMG, what have they done with the film! (that is a rhetorical question btw, as we all know what they have done to this film. And it's just horrible. And i digress..... )

[Charvel2]

The above poster beat me to Seventh Seal.

Some Billy Wilder (my favourite director) movies would be interesting to see in HD. Some Like it Hot is 16:9, and The Apartment is Cinemascope - and even the DVD print already available is very crisp. I think a good Blu-Ray transfer from a good print would look stunning, bringing out all the detail in that Oscar-winning set design.

I'm not sure how Night of the Hunter would fare - the available DVD transfer isn't that sharp, so they'd need to source it from a better print to make an improvement.

[EvolutionCherry]

Every film should be transfered to BD IMHO.

[BaronVH]

There has been controversy with DNR on The Longest Day, but I thought it looked terrific. Much improved over the DVD. There was only one scene where I thought the DNR was a problem, but the movie really, really looked great. The big problem with the older films (whether they are in color or B&W) will be the quality of the master and the amount of restoration.

[Barbie-Shrimp]

Raging Bull would be great too, especially with loss-less audio... Ummmboy...

[J6P]

Originally Posted by Barbie-Shrimp

Raging Bull would be great too, especially with loss-less audio... Ummmboy...

Now you're talking. Also looking forward to Woody Allen's Manhattan. Gorgeous, gorgeous B&W cinematography that would shine on Blu.

[thelaserdisc2000]

Lets hope that Schindler's List is coming soon.

[GoBlu08]

I second the Schindler's List call. Its a depressing movie but very well done.

[Midnightsailor]

Originally Posted by CAB

I can't wait for Young Frankenstein.