Wings of Desire (1987)

[jasonrw]

I was browsing through BD releases for November 3rd on Amazon... came across a film I'd never heard of called Wings of Desire.



Wings of Desire Blu-ray

Wings of Desire Blu-ray Review


Turns out it was reviewed here recently. Looks very good. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth a blind buy?

[#Darren]

It is a classic and one of my favourite films. Many people love it, but it is not everybodies cup of tea, and some may find it to philosophical, or to slow moving.

[Mr.White]

Originally Posted by iDarren

It is a classic and one of my favourite films. Many people love it, but it is not everybodies cup of tea, and some may find it to philosophical, or to slow moving.

Was'nt this film remade as City of Angels?

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

Was'nt this film remade as City of Angels?

Yes (but I've never seen the remake).

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by jasonrw

Turns out it was reviewed here recently. Looks very good. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth a blind buy?

If you love cinema and great foreign films, then yes, do yourself a favor and get it. If not, then I would say that you're missing out.

CC

[Mr.White]

Originally Posted by iDarren

Yes (but I've never seen the remake).

I have, and it's nothing to write home about. Very average IMO.

[banned user105]

Wings of Desire is an amazing movie.

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

I have, and it's nothing to write home about. Very average IMO.

So I heard. But the original is sublime.

[banned user105]

Originally Posted by iDarren

and some may find it to philosophical, or to slow moving.

Honestly, if you haven't even heard of the movie, I'm willing to bet you'd be one of these people.

[Cheerupemokid]

Originally Posted by doctorthodt

Honestly, if you haven't even heard of the movie, I'm willing to bet you'd be one of these people.

I don't know that that's fair. I've never heard of the movie but now knowing some things about it (plus the fact that it is a Criterion release) makes me definitely want to see it. Not saying I will absolutely love it or not, no way to tell that until I've seen it, but I do love foreign films in general and a movie moving slowly doesn't bother me quite that much.

Definite buy for me, though I might wait until after the holidays to pick it up.

[blu-bry]

Originally Posted by doctorthodt

Wings of Desire is an amazing movie.

I agree. I saw it a few years ago for the first time and liked it a lot.

I really like foreign movies (except for dubbed) and I have a large collection on DVD. I have preordered Wings of Desire because it happens to be a Criterion title that I don't own yet. I'm glad its gone Blu!

[repete66211]

I sat through City of Angels. The experience was unpleasant enough to dull any motivation to see what is almost certainly a superior original. Based on what I've gathered over the years (which isn't much) I don't think I would recommend a blind buy for this one.

[jasonrw]

I decided to preorder it. Thanks for the feedback!

[zahinn]

I love the cover !

[Arkadin]

this disc may be defective.
some copies have 2 small scratches on top of the silkscreen right where the "C" curves--where the color changes.
(more like one extremely small scratch)
you can see light pass through the disc.
mine just arrived from amazon, and unfortunately has this scratch present.
please examine your discs, and see if you see this.
They can cause the movie to freeze during play.
tried to call Criterion, but number has been disconnected.
at least the one I have.
EDIT Criterion is looking into this.
put my copy in my player, and it will play.
not sure if I can verify it possibly freezing later on tonight or not.
I noticed that Pro-b has reviewed this title.
perhaps the good Dr. could take a look at the review copy, and look to see if these scratches are present.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by jasonrw

I decided to preorder it. Thanks for the feedback!

You should be receiving it soon (if you haven't already) I'm curious about your take on this film...... I had it on DVD, and I'm hoping my Blu-ray arrives tomorrow...... I think it's a fantastic film, and you should be in for a treat!

[retablo]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

this disc may be defective.
some copies have 2 small scratches on top of the silkscreen right where the "C" curves--where the color changes.
(more like one extremely small scratch)
you can see light pass through the disc.
mine just arrived from amazon, and unfortunately has this scratch present.
please examine your discs, and see if you see this.
They can cause the movie to freeze during play.
tried to call Criterion, but number has been disconnected.
at least the one I have.
EDIT Criterion is looking into this.
put my copy in my player, and it will play.
not sure if I can verify it possibly freezing later on tonight or not.
I noticed that Pro-b has reviewed this title.
perhaps the good Dr. could take a look at the review copy, and look to see if these scratches are present.

Mine has the 2 scratches. Haven't tried watching it yet though.

[neo_reloaded]

I've been following this on both the AVS forum and here. On AVS, the same poster that reported the defective discs said his friend had one copy with the scratches that froze, and he took it back to Best Buy and opened a second copy and saw it had the scratches too - he did not say if his friend actually exchanged for the second copy and tried to play it, only that it had the same scratches. So this is really only confirmation of a single defective disc.

The scratches are on the label side of the disc. For CDs, that would be very bad as the data is right under the label. For DVDs and BDs, that does not hold - with DVDs, the data is sandwiched between the top and bottom polycarbonate layers of the disc, and with BDs the data is extremely close to the bottom of the disc (which is why the anti-scratch protective coating is needed for BD discs). A scratch would have to be very deep on the BOTTOM of the disc to affect playback. A scratch on the label side would have to be extraordinarily deep, to the point where it is some kind of physical gouge. That does not seem to be the case here.

It is certainly possible there is a widespread defect with this title, so I don't intend to come across as a contrarian. But there is only one report of an actual defective disc (the above poster's friend had his initial copy freeze multiple times), vs. multiple reports of working discs (professional reviews here, at HighDefDigest, and at DVDBeaver, and two posters at criterionforum.org said their copies worked fine). Label printing is certainly not always perfect (I have many DVDs and BDs with noticeable gaps in the printing, and they all play and error scan fine), so let's not jump to conclusions over the relevance of these scratches on the label. If you get a chance to play your disc, we would all certainly be interested in the results. I have a copy waiting for me at Barnes & Noble that I will be picking up on Tuesday, and I'll make sure to post my results as well.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

I've been following this on both the AVS forum and here. On AVS, the same poster that reported the defective discs said his friend had one copy with the scratches that froze, and he took it back to Best Buy and opened a second copy and saw it had the scratches too - he did not say if his friend actually exchanged for the second copy and tried to play it, only that it had the same scratches. So this is really only confirmation of a single defective disc.

The scratches are on the label side of the disc. For CDs, that would be very bad as the data is right under the label. For DVDs and BDs, that does not hold - with DVDs, the data is sandwiched between the top and bottom polycarbonate layers of the disc, and with BDs the data is extremely close to the bottom of the disc (which is why the anti-scratch protective coating is needed for BD discs). A scratch would have to be very deep on the BOTTOM of the disc to affect playback. A scratch on the label side would have to be extraordinarily deep, to the point where it is some kind of physical gouge. That does not seem to be the case here.

It is certainly possible there is a widespread defect with this title, so I don't intend to come across as a contrarian. But there is only one report of an actual defective disc (the above poster's friend had his initial copy freeze multiple times), vs. multiple reports of working discs (professional reviews here, at HighDefDigest, and at DVDBeaver, and two posters at criterionforum.org said their copies worked fine). Label printing is certainly not always perfect (I have many DVDs and BDs with noticeable gaps in the printing, and they all play and error scan fine), so let's not jump to conclusions over the relevance of these scratches on the label. If you get a chance to play your disc, we would all certainly be interested in the results. I have a copy waiting for me at Barnes & Noble that I will be picking up on Tuesday, and I'll make sure to post my results as well.

Good to know. I'm sure I'll get around to trying mine out in the next week or so.

[cathexist]

Originally Posted by repete66211

I sat through City of Angels. The experience was unpleasant enough to dull any motivation to see what is almost certainly a superior original. Based on what I've gathered over the years (which isn't much) I don't think I would recommend a blind buy for this one.

At least Meg Ryan got hit by a truck...

Wings of Desire is a fantastic film, and one that I have not seen for a while. I'm going to try and pick it up if I ever see it on the cheap...I have to be frugal with my purchases currently.