1027 The Great Escape

[Close The Door, Raymond]

It's great to get a chance to hear the Sturges commentary that was recorded for the laserdisc release. Unlikely to happen for Sturges other Criterion release, Bad Day at Black Rock, which has been released by Warner Archive on blu-ray with a different audio commentary (by Dana Polan). Though anything can happen.

[yoloswegmaster]

Interestingly, Criterion's product page indicates simply "4k digital restoration" (so not a new one) but blu-ray.com's press release article states "NEW 4K RESTORATION". I wonder which one is correct.

Turns out it was the press release that was correct as the Criterion site has now been updated to say "New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray"

[tenia]

Here you go. Thanks for spotting this, which clarifies what we can expect from the Criterion disc.

[yoloswegmaster]

Jon Mulvaney gives more info on the source material (source from the BR forum):

While it's the same source as the MGM release, there was additional work done on our end in terms of color references. If you'd like more detail:

This 4K digital restoration was undertaken by MGM. A digital transfer was created in 10-bit 4K resolution on an ARRI film scanner from the 35 mm original camera negative at EFILM in Los Angeles. A 35 mm interpositive was also scanned at Deluxe in Sherman Oaks, California. Original Metrocolor prints of The Great Escape are badly faded, making accurate color references difficult to find. Color references for this edition included an original 35 mm dye-transfer print from the Academy Film Archive’s Technicolor Reference Collection, a 35 mm acetate print owned by Martin Scorsese, and a 35 mm acetate print owned by Quentin Tarantino.

We think our fans will be happy with the final result.

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

Svet's review is up.

He calls it a "a cinematic fairy tale suitable for adults who don't know history or simply choose to ignore it."

[CSM126]

Svet's review is up.

He calls it a "a cinematic fairy tale suitable for adults who don't know history or simply choose to ignore it."

[tenia]

That take on the movie is laughable already, but even his picture review is quite a mess.

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

To be fair, I think he is on to something re the lightness of classic escape movies (see Grand Illusion, Stalag 17, etc.), that lightness, though--to double back on being fair to Svet--usually undercut by currents of sadness and dread. The heroes' insistence on naming their fate with snarky glee makes The Great Escape an aspirational ode to the value of unflappability. To see that as a failing rather than be interested in it as a 20th Century Mythology is odd to me, but more off-putting is the condescending (and absurd) claim that such movies are for the "ignorant."

What a dolt.

[tenia]

The issue is that he seemingly can't understand something as simple as the movie simply being entertaining adventure movie. Instead, he keeps piling on it as if he was expecting Kapo.

This has to be one of the most egregious example of someone judging a movie not for what it is but what the viewer expected or wished it to be.

Wh

[Ashirg]

The Beaver Escape

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

The Beaver Escape

Nitpick about Beavs: I'm a fan of digipaks, and I check to see if an upcoming release will be one. But dvdbeaver seems to always list Criterion releases as being in a "transparent blu-ray case" even if that is not the case (heh). See Andrei Rublev and Roma. Both are digipaks, but beavs says otherwise.

They again list The Great Escape as a "transparent blu-ray case." Any word on what it actually is?

[therewillbeblus]

It's not a foolproof rule of thumb by any means, but these days I usually check the special features list and only get hopeful about a digipack if there's more than just "an essay by.." listed at the end. As a more practical rule of thumb, I just assume a release won't be a digipack as a default and then become pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that it is.

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

It's not a foolproof rule of thumb by any means, but these days I usually check the special features list and only get hopeful about a digipack if there's more than just "an essay by.." listed at the end. As a more practical rule of thumb, I just assume a release won't be a digipack as a default and then become pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that it is.

Looks like it has "an essay." Bummer.

Come and See, on the other hand, has "essays"!

[Feiereisel]

The Beaver Escape

Nitpick about Beavs: I'm a fan of digipaks, and I check to see if an upcoming release will be one. But dvdbeaver seems to always list Criterion releases as being in a "transparent blu-ray case" even if that is not the case (heh). See Andrei Rublev and Roma. Both are digipaks, but beavs says otherwise.

They again list The Great Escape as a "transparent blu-ray case." Any word on what it actually is?

It's not a foolproof rule of thumb by any means, but these days I usually check the special features list and only get hopeful about a digipack if there's more than just "an essay by.." listed at the end. As a more practical rule of thumb, I just assume a release won't be a digipack as a default and then become pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that it is.

Pictures are up on the other forum; it’s a plastic case. The “an essay by” copy is indeed a good indication of the packaging.

[Boosmahn]

The “an essay by” copy is indeed a good indication of the packaging.

I think of it more as an indication of the type of insert: a booklet or a fold-out. For example, A Face in the Crowd had three articles but was still in the standard Scanavo case.

Unless a booklet is primed to be huge or there are special circumstances at play (e.g. all of Lynch's films are in digipacks), it's really a matter of waiting.

[Feiereisel]

The “an essay by” copy is indeed a good indication of the packaging.

I think of it more as an indication of the type of insert: a booklet or a fold-out. For example, A Face in the Crowd had three articles but was still in the standard Scanavo case.

Unless a booklet is primed to be huge or there are special circumstances at play (e.g. all of Lynch's films are in digipacks), it's really a matter of waiting.

That’s true—unless it specifies booklet, bet on a foldout or leaflet. Still, the packaging trends are consistent enough that I think the end product can be reliably predicted, with the odd and usually welcome (leaving aside All About Eve) surprise. Fun speculation to make the time go by a bit more quickly, at least.

Either way, I’m eagerly awaiting my copy of this!

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

Pictures are up on the other forum; it’s a plastic case. The “an essay by” copy is indeed a good indication of the packaging.

Looks pretty. As long as the plastic cover doesn't get too warped, wrinkled, or damaged, I'm fine with the transparent blu-ray cases.

[Flapper]

Lovely looking new transfer, horrible encode.

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0 ... 1&i=13&l=1

What went wrong?

[tenia]

The usual.

[Never Cursed]

What in the world happened, between those two releases, with the light levels in the above shot? The freeze-frame from the MGM blu looks like it was shot at dusk.

[cdnchris]

For whatever reason the MGM pushed cooler colours and a darker look, and I thought the night scenes looked brutal on it. The Criterion is far better in this regard.

I'll be honest that the compression issues aren't all that obvious on a television. It's not like their run where it was more in your face back in... what was it?? 2015 or so? I think the only sequence where it looks blocky and digital is the July 4th sequence. It could be better, but my MGM one went in the trash almost right away (actually, I gave it to my father-in-law, but that doesn't sound as dramatic).

[tenia]

Compression clearly improved in 2016 (IIRC) but it still is lacking and there is litterally no reason for these issues to keep happening. Peter Becker is aware of their encodes' optimisable aspect, Fumiko Takagi too. Maybe we'll see an improvement in H2 2020, but I doubt it.
To think David M is just some subway stations from them...

On the other hand, yup, colors are better and the grain is pretty much back. But it's yet again unfortunate to see Criterion stumble on a technical point they could have rejectd during QC but instead accepted and paid for !

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

Thought the video presentation was mostly great. I was a little disappointed by the supplements, most of which cover the jejune topic of what the movie changed about the real story. Michael Sragow was good, though!