89-91 / BD 43, 69, 229 The Complete Fritz Lang Mabuse

[repeat]

A propos, how do people here cope with speed-up? Do you try to avoid affected discs, or work your way around it somehow, or just not pay attention to it? I'm quite sensitive to playback speed myself (be it film, tape or vinyl) - it's worst if there's a familiar actor or a familiar song on the soundtrack, but it does bother me in principal. The only solution I've found is to watch speeded-up PAL discs on the Mac, where with some tinkering the playback speed can be set to 0.96 (MPlayer OSX is the only program I've found that can do this - VLC totally fucks up the audio if you turn off timestreching - but for some reason or another it refuses to open some discs completely)

[MichaelB]

Having lived all my life in a country where PAL video is standard, it doesn't bother me at all. I only really notice if I'm QCing a dual-format project, but that wouldn't apply to most people's situations.

[repeat]

Having lived all my life in a country where PAL video is standard

I know - me too, and I used to not mind (or even notice), but it did become a problem when I started paying attention to it. I remember the first time I heard a familiar song speeded-up in a film, I didn't know anything about NTSC/PAL speed differences back then, and I just couldn't fathom why the director would have chosen to include it at the wrong speed. Very distracting.

[Gregor Samsa]

Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler is getting a blu upgrade in October:

[Orlac]

Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler is getting a blu upgrade in October:

Yay!

That just leaves the 60s films, but I'm not aware if any of them have had a video transfer done since the early 2000s.

[eerik]

Nothing new for the Blu-ray:

• New, officially licensed transfer from restored HD materials
• New and improved optional English subtitles with original intertitles
• Exclusive feature-length audio commentary by film-scholar and Lang expert David Kalat
• Three video pieces: an interview with the composer of the restoration score, a discussion of Norbert Jacques, creator of Dr. Mabuse, and an examination of the film’s motifs in the context of German silent cinema
• 32-Page Booklet featuring vintage reprints of writing by Lang

[Der Spieler]

I'm pleased with this upgrade, but I don't want to part with the gorgeous DVD set.

I remember how thrilled I was when I got it.

[EddieLarkin]

Since this release will not be Dual Format, I'll be keeping my DVD since Kalat's commentary will have to be slowed down to match the Blu-ray run time, the same way Testament was.

[andyli]

At least the transfer is new, I hope!? The old transfer was done in SD, if memory serves. I was actually a little surprised when I saw the announcement, because a new HD scan of Dr. Mabuse was my long secret wish. When did FWMS do this?

[HJackson]

Since this release will not be Dual Format, I'll be keeping my DVD since Kalat's commentary will have to be slowed down to match the Blu-ray run time, the same way Testament was.

Didn't the DVD run at the equivalent of 20fps anyway though?

[EddieLarkin]

Since this release will not be Dual Format, I'll be keeping my DVD since Kalat's commentary will have to be slowed down to match the Blu-ray run time, the same way Testament was.

Didn't the DVD run at the equivalent of 20fps anyway though?

Hmm, I'm not sure. It is definitely a PAL/50hz disc (run time: 270mins), but since it was a PAL area resto, it may be that it was indeed transferred as 20fps within 25hz, and it's the NTSC discs that are slowed down. In which case, the Blu-ray should retain the 270 minute run time, but have 20fps within 24hz instead (no doubt with frame duplicating a la Passion of Joan). If this is the case, Kalat's pitch should be unaffected!

[David M.]

I don't have that disc to hand, but if the frame rate is something like 16 or 18fps, the best way to get that to PAL would be to repeat frames to get up to 25, not change the playback speed.

[kekid]

Please forgive me if this is obvious to everyone else. The title of this track is "The Complete Fritz Lang Mabuse Boxset", but the listings on Amazon and DVDBeaver show only "Dr Mabuse Der Spieler". Is this BD set complete (i.e., includes the previously released "Testament of Dr Mabuse") or does is include only the unreleased "Der Spieler" in BD? If it is the complete set, it does not seem to be listed anywhere.

[swo17]

Sorry if the thread title is confusing. On DVD, all three films are only available in a boxset. On Blu-ray, the first two films are only available separately (and the only title recently announced was Der Spieler). Does anyone have a suggestion about how to better title the thread? Maybe just "Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse"? It can only be 42 characters long including spaces.

[andyli]

How about "Dr. Mabuse Boxset & 2 blu-ray standalones"? 41 characters by my count.

[zedz]

Or "The Dr Mabuse Films", to allow for future variations on the releases.

[swo17]

Of course, if they eventually upgrade 1000 Eyes, the thread title can be changed again at that time. I think the present title will work for now.

[Tommaso]

That's right, though it only goes for the thread title. The " 2 Blu-ray sin" displayed on top of the individual posts may however work as a welcome reminder to MoC for those who think that they should put out a blu of "1000 Eyes", too

[domino harvey]

Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler Blu now also coming in Steelbook as well

[FrauBlucher]

DVDBeaver Der Spieler

[Der Spieler]

Am I the only one who thinks the contrast looked better on the DVD?

The shot of Mabuse's face looks way too bright.

[peerpee]

I thought that too, from Beaver's grabs, but you can't really tell until you see it on a well-calibrated system – and I haven't seen it yet.

[MichaelB]

I have checkdiscs and a well-calibrated system - I'll give it a look when I get a moment.

[kingofthejungle]

I have checkdiscs and a well-calibrated system - I'll give it a look when I get a moment.

Please do. I've been looking forward to this release, and the DVDBeaver caps have me a bit concerned. I'm seeing what everyone else is over here. The detail looks nice, but the image is tonally washed out.

[HerrSchreck]

Yeah they look a little like what happens when you add a charcoal pencil effect in photoshop. Odd looking. Hopefully the reality is much different.