The Official Odeon Entertainment Thread

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by ravenus

^That's a lucky break.

Sure is! Usually when you receive a wrong item, it's something you have absolutely no use for. Thanks to the big A for a perfect little Halloween gift!

[the blob]

Well I managed to snag Curse for £10.99 in HMV but no Island of Terror. Was hoping for a double bill tonight. I'll be in there early next week if I can to look for a copy of The Sorcerers though.

[the blob]

Didn't realise Whip and the Body was out today. No sign of The Sorcerers but Whip was £10.99 and one copy so had to grab it. Be interesting to see if it's as dark as the caps of the Kino disc look.

[mattyl149]

HMV Birmingham had two copies of Whip and the Body, but they didn't have any copies of The Sorcerers on the shelf. I asked and after showing them where it should be, they looked in the stock room and the three copies they had were in there. I presume the other two are now on the shelves

When they were checking the system for it, the person looking was new, so they asked one of the more experienced staff who was convinced it was a Nicolas Cage film I was asking for

[the blob]

Originally Posted by mattyl149

HMV Birmingham had two copies of Whip and the Body, but they didn't have any copies of The Sorcerers on the shelf. I asked and after showing them where it should be, they looked in the stock room and the three copies they had were in there. I presume the other two are now on the shelves

When they were checking the system for it, the person looking was new, so they asked one of the more experienced staff who was convinced it was a Nicolas Cage film I was asking for

I suppose it's quite possible my local had one and sold it. Under Whip was a "New Release" banner though. I'll probably be back later in the week so may ask then.

Quickly threw in Whip. Firstly, it's Region Free. Transfer-wise, the encoding looks good and it's definitely been regraded (a title screen comes up as so by Pinewood) but it still suffers from some of the inherent problems that the Kino did which must be in the master and irretrievable. Definitely doesn't look anywhere near as dark as the Kino grabs I've seen and there is some shadow detail but it's still a little too dark I think. Overly bluish as well. The last DVD I owned was the E-M-S one which had a much richer and warmer palette. Without actually owning the Kino I'd be hesitant to damn it and say this is the better transfer definitively but it's highly likely.

Now, with a booklet, new Commentary from Tim Lucas, generous 1/2 hour or so overview with Jonathan Rigby, three trailers in it's three Languages and an image gallery I'm sure it wipes the floor with the Kino on the extras front. There's also a conversation with Christopher Lee but I'm pretty sure it's the exact same one that was on Curse of the Crimson Altar.

If you can handle the grading, I'd say until a new master ever comes along, this is probably the one to get.

[oddbox83]

Yes, they had it regraded as best they could, but unfortunately the dark and blue grading on the master provided has pretty much obliterated any shadow detail and warm tones.

[charliemaess]

Is the sound lossless or lossy. Also does it have the same audio options as the kino?

[the blob]

Originally Posted by charliemaess

Is the sound lossless or lossy. Also does it have the same audio options as the kino?

LPCM 2.0 Mono English, French & Italian. The sleeve does state Dolby Digital though but then again it also states PAL 16:9.

[oddbox83]

I also checked for charliemaess and can back that up.

So only the small visual improvement over the Kino (it's still dark and blue with weird green shadow detail) but it has nearly an hours worth of Christopher Lee interview in full HD, which was an unexpected bonus plus another length expert interview in full HD, trailers and a gallery in addition to the commentary from the Kino.

[charliemaess]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

I also checked for charliemaess and can back that up.

So only the small visual improvement over the Kino (it's still dark and blue with weird green shadow detail) but it has nearly an hours worth of Christopher Lee interview in full HD, which was an unexpected bonus plus another length expert interview in full HD, trailers and a gallery in addition to the commentary from the Kino.

Thanks I finally picked this up today for £10.99 in hmv.

[the blob]

Well, since moving to Poole a month ago and finding nothing on the first few trips to HMV, it turns out this week they got a copy of The Sorcerers and it was still £10.99. Needless to say, it's no longer there.

I did spot a copy of Crimson Altar as well but no Island of Terror which is the only recent one I don't have now.

[rapta]

So I just noticed this on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stranger-Dua.../dp/B00RZPCNU8

Odeon are releasing Orson Welles' The Stranger (1946) in the new year as a Dual Format release. Presumably using the same transfer Kino got?

[Yami]

Originally Posted by rapta

Odeon are releasing Orson Welles' The Stranger (1946) in the new year as a Dual Format release. Presumably using the same transfer Kino got?

Judging by that blurb, yes. Which is better than nothing, but I would have much preferred to see MGM's transfer licensed as if you look at the screencaps it's clearly a superior source. In reviewing the Kino release, DVDBeaver recommended it only "until someone uses MGM's source in the new format!" More alarmingly, an Amazon review notes: "The image quality overall is great, but there are two short scenes missing. One of Edward G. Robinson on the ladder as a rung breaks, and then another related one of him showing the Noah character that the rung had been cut and glued together. These are short but key scenes that are simply missing."

I should note that I don't own the Kino release, as I've been waiting (perhaps in vain) for an MGM-licensed release.

[the blob]

HMV's pricing on some of these gets even better. Picked up The Black Torment for £9.99! Not sure when I'll have time to give it even a quick look but I'll report back when I do.

[the blob]

Looks outstanding! I wasn't expecting that. Perhaps a very small touch high on the contrast but no real gripes at all and no real reference point to compare that with anyway. A revelation in comparison to previous DVD releases. Region Free as well.

[OceanBlue]

Noticed on Amazon UK there's a pre-order listing page for a Blu-ray release of the David Niven-starring film Paper Tiger. The studio is stated as Odeon Entertainment and the release date stated is Monday 18th May.

[the blob]

Looks like we're getting A Candle For The Devil from Odeon in June too.

http://www.odeonent.co.uk/product/a-...-devil-blu-ray

[IanSchultz23]

They are doing Under The Volcano and The Harder They Come as well.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by IanSchultz23

They are doing Under The Volcano and The Harder They Come as well.

Yeah I saw those just now. Both are films I've been meaning to see (the former is quite expensive DVD release from Mr Bongo, the latter something I kept forgetting to buy on DVD when it was cheap). I wonder what the transfers would be like?

To be honest, both of these and Welles' The Stranger are films I was hoping Eureka or Arrow might pick up one day. I hope this doesn't mean they're going to be dodgy masters that those labels passed on...I'm particularly interested in Huston's Under the Volcano...

[OgamiittoMcJ]

10th August 2015