Originally Posted By Daannzzz There is a "restored version of "How the West was Won" out on regular DVD and Blu Ray disc. It is more than restored. The Cinerama lines have, in most of the movie, been erased or blended (I assume digitally) and it is awesome to see. You can still see the lines to a degree on some of the plain backgrounds such as sky and water. You can also see a bit of distortion, some of the time, when people pass under the lines. The color balance on the three panels has been matched fairly well and the print is incredible. In my bly Ray copy the movie looks better than the times I have seen it at the theater. It is stunning and doesn't match the Blu Ray versions of "The Cowboys" or "The Adventured of Baron Munchausen". It is on par with the clarity of "The Nighmare Before Christmas". I hope they do this god of a job on more of the old movies. There is also a 90 minute documentary about Cinerama that is excellent. I have not watched the film with the commentary yet.
Originally Posted By pecos bill Thanks for the heads up, I was debating on picking this up, but now my mind is made up.
Originally Posted By Daannzzz Part way through the commentary and it is very good. It is wth four people though not the film makers and they are more focused on the production as opposed to when directors, producers and actors can get detoured onto other subjects.
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "In my bly Ray copy the movie looks better than the times I have seen it at the theater." << Have you ever seen the film in Cinerama? -Jeff
Originally Posted By Daannzzz Yes. Twice. Once in 1963 in San Francisco...but I don't remember a lot about that except it was BIG!!! The second time was in Hollywood a few years ago. But I have noticed that some of the other Blu Ray movies I have seen also look better than when I saw them in theaters.
Originally Posted By pecos bill Well, I bought my copy on Blu-Ray, and I was quite impressed. Those pesky Cinerama lines were mostly gone, and even when you could see them, they were no big deal. I am a bit of a skeptic on high def transfers of older films, but the overall picture was stunning! Lots of fun to watch this classic in such clarity and detail, not to mention the great sound. I even listened to the whole overture because it sounded so good.
