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Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan

This looks like a pretty good set for many movies I don't think have been pushed a lot on video so far. Happy to see it's also priced like all the previous sets, despite having 5 movies.
I'm however surprised to see this will be limited to 6000 copies, which seems like a lot.

dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K?

Usually, the use of "HD remaster" means it's an older HD master, not a recent restoration. The older masters vary more in quality and consistency, some being very good (Sony's ones are usually very good), others being notoriously mediocre (MGM and Universal). Newer restorations, even at 2K, are usually more consistent in their good quality (though there still sadly are some misses).

dda1996a wrote:Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan

You have only to look at the ecstatic reaction with which this announcement has been greeted (both here and elsewhere) for an answer to that!

tenia wrote:Usually, the use of "HD remaster" means it's an older HD master, not a recent restoration. The older masters vary more in quality and consistency, some being very good (Sony's ones are usually very good), others being notoriously mediocre (MGM and Universal). Newer restorations, even at 2K, are usually more consistent in their good quality (though there still sadly are some misses).

It's very very hard to accurately predict what it's going to look like merely from that label alone. As you say, a Sony HD remaster may well look superior to a 2K restoration from another source as their standards are very very high indeed. I was very pleasantly surprised by The Passenger, for instance, especially considering the bafflingly poor quality of an earlier Blu-ray release - but I imagine it was something of a flagship title for them when the master was created.

I was hoping that 62-65 would be a third volume of Hammer films, but I'll take this one too.

dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan

They're on the whole okay but vastly overrated here and elsewhere. Maybe they'll be masterpieces for you too, who knows

Hopefully the TBC will be some of the features on the 2008 Sony box set. The feature documentary and the introductions were pretty decent, but I never got round to the commentaries.

Why is there no new material in this set from Jim Kitses, Bill Krohn or Blake Lucas? They're the go-to Boetticher experts, aren't they?

That's interesting to see that rating from the BBFC. For Westerns made so long ago I'd have thought they'd have been milder. Anyhoo I'm quite pleased with this announcement and I'll be picking it up. I've only ever heard good things about these films.

Big Ben wrote:That's interesting to see that rating from the BBFC.

Three of the films are PG, Buchanan Rides Alone is a U, but Ride Lonesome's hanging scene pushed it into the 12 category.

Not that it's an especially big deal, since Powerhouse wasn't targeting the under-12 market with these titles.

domino harvey wrote:

dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan

They're on the whole okay but vastly overrated here and elsewhere. Maybe they'll be masterpieces for you too, who knows

I sure do hope they will at the very least good. What are other good 60s American westerns (other than Ford/Hawks/Mann)?

The Last Sunset, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, Alvarez Kelly, the Professionals, Hombre

dda1996a wrote:

domino harvey wrote:

dda1996a wrote:Difference between HD remaster and 2K? Also are these good? I've heard good things about them and I am a western fan

They're on the whole okay but vastly overrated here and elsewhere. Maybe they'll be masterpieces for you too, who knows

I sure do hope they will at the very least good. What are other good 60s American westerns (other than Ford/Hawks/Mann)?

These Boetticher films are very much '50's pieces rather than '60's, though a lot lot less baggy and melodramatic than your regular Eisenhower oaters. The Tall T is very good: spare, economical and pretty violent for it's time. The interplay between antagonist and protagonist is at times quite subtle. It's all subjective of course, but if you liked 3.10 to Yuma you might get on well with these.

This will be my first Indicator purchase, is it best to buy direct?

Mr. Deltoid wrote: These Boetticher films are very much '50's pieces rather than '60's, though a lot lot less baggy and melodramatic than your regular Eisenhower oaters. The Tall T is very good: spare, economical and pretty violent for it's time. The interplay between antagonist and protagonist is at times quite subtle. It's all subjective of course, but if you liked 3.10 to Yuma you might get on well with these.

I've only seen the bad remake. I'm at once sad to have seen so few Noir and Westerns from the 40-60 and at the same time happy I have so much to look forward to

Absolutely thrilled with this announcement. "Vastly overrated" pfft! Give me any of those five titles over High Noon or The Searchers any time of the day and the supplements look great.

Why the need to bash The Searchers though? Unless two films share too much not to compare them in a constructive way (i.e The Revenant stealing off Malick/Herzog/Tarkovsky) I don't see the need to needlessly compare these just to say how great you think they are.

dda1996a wrote:Why the need to bash The Searchers though?

You must be very thin-skinned if you feel that somebody expressing a preference for another film over The Searchers constitutes 'bashing'.

Werewolf by Night wrote:This will be my first Indicator purchase, is it best to buy direct?

Further to this, do they declare the full amount for customs?

Unless you have money to spare, I'd advise not ordering from Indicator's site if you're in the US. Works out *way* cheaper to do so through Amazon. You'd get it a little sooner if you did, though.

Cronenfly wrote:

Werewolf by Night wrote:This will be my first Indicator purchase, is it best to buy direct?

Further to this, do they declare the full amount for customs?

You’re in Canada, right? My one experience with Indicator is that they ship with Fedex and declare the full customs value. The tricky part is that Fedex delivers the package straight to your home, then a couple of weeks later send you a bill for the customs and handling fees. This is of course doesn’t allow you to either refuse the package, or clear the package through customs yourself.

The Tall T is one of my absolute favorite westerns, quite possibly my favorite American western. As Mr. Deltoid noted earlier, it is very spare and economical, creating great tension between its few characters. I don't find the rest of the films in the set to be anywhere near as good, although they are decent, but I will happily buy this set anyway to replace my Sony DVD set (or supplement it, on the off chance Indicator doesn't include the commentaries). I also highly recommend the Boetticher/Scott Seven Men from Now, which is excellent as well and features a terrific villainous performance from Lee Marvin. In fact, the villains in these movies are usually the most interesting and complex characters, almost likeable and sharing a fascinating moral kinship with Scott's hero, but naturally choosing the darker side.

More Boetticher artwork, starting with the box as it looks without the belly band:



And here’s the cover of the accompanying book:



And the individual sleeves:

Yep. That works for me.

The artwork looks amazing.

The 2k restoration of Ride Lonesome sounds very attractive.

Hopefully the other films have received the excellent treatment we sometimes associate with Sony titles but in a box set you can usually expect a little variation. Myhope is that the distinctive colours are all intact.

I recall 3 being beautifully spare masterpieces, Tall T, Ride Lonesome, and Comanche Station. I’ve heard Decision at Sundown has been re-evaluated in some quarters - though I can’t remember or find where - as one of his best, even more grim, spare and unrelenting, deconstructing the Westen hero. Buchanan I recall had more comedy elements, before getting serious and a broader focus on the township.

Nice to see Randy without his bellyband! I'd wondered if it might be concealing something salacious, in the manner of the censored version of the Edison short which used to circulate under the title Fatima's Belly Dance! (censored version at 33s). If anyone is commissioned to design a box of Edison shorts, there's an idea for you...