Originally Posted By mawnck >>*wail* *gasping, sniffing*...........*wail*<< Sigh … Worst … Christmas … ever ...
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance LOL Why do you always make me feel guilty for trying to make you laugh!?
Originally Posted By basil fan >>Uh, no. All the recent DVD releases, i.e. "Princess and the Frog", "Tangled", "Wreck-it Ralph" have been gypped on special features... They purposely skipped out on features on the DVDs so more people would be compelled to buy Blu-Rays. Precisely >>Which is exactly the same thing they did when records gave way to cassettes, cassettes gave way to CDs, and VHSs gave way to DVDs. Did they actually make LPs worse on purpose? I don't recall that. Or with cassettes, either. In fact, as DVDs began to take over from VHS, Disney actually added bonus features to a few (very few) videos, making them better than their predecessors. A Sherlock Holmes Christmas Carol <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/sherlock/twelve.html">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...lve.html</a>
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Did they actually make LPs worse on purpose? I don't recall that. Or with cassettes, either.<< Your not recalling doesn't make it so. You've forgotten about that cassette/CD innovation, the non-LP bonus track. It was quite common in the early/mid 1980s.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros For what it's worth, I recently rewatched the Fantasia Blu-Ray, and was blown away by the restoration that they did on that film. It's probably the film I'm most familiar with visually, having watched it multiple times each year for as long as I can remember. To put it plainly, the 'new' restoration (which was released a few years ago, but I've only watched a handful of times) literally shows things that I didn't even know were there before. Many of the colors appear to have been adjusted, to what I'm assuming is the original tone; lots of things that I had always assumed were black blobs are now colorful and filled with details. Despite having watched the restored version in the past, it continued to amaze me how great everything looked throughout the film So we know that Disney is capable of a good restoration, they just choose not to. I think that's far worse than lacking the ability but trying their hardest to make it look good. It's a real shame that they don't care as much about the films' legacy as the fans do
Originally Posted By mawnck >>So we know that Disney is capable of a good restoration, they just choose not to.<< In Disney's defense, the restoration done on Fantasia (and a few other A-list films) was a budget-buster. There's no conceivable financial justification for doing the same to, say, The Aristocats. It wasn't a simple matter of "doing a better job of cleaning up the film". They basically deconstructed it, scrubbed the living sugar out of each element, and then reassembled it. Not all film buffs are a fan of this method either, since it destroys the "film look", and invites opportunity for mistakes. But for most films, there's a happy medium between a total overhaul and destroying it with autofiltering. A raw unrestored "one light" transfer from the negative would have (probably) been far preferable to the mush we got served up on some of these movies, and there's no need to go that cheap on any Disney theatrical animated title, except perhaps "Victory Through Air Power". If they can do it for this … <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Party-Combo-Pack-Blu-ray/dp/B008D9NIHW">http://www.amazon.com/Monster-...08D9NIHW</a>
Originally Posted By Bellella >>>Which is exactly the same thing they did when records gave way to cassettes, cassettes gave way to CDs, and VHSs gave way to DVDs.<<< Those changes were completely justifiable. Records take up a lot of room, and you have to rewind tapes and VHSs all the time. Not to mention the fact that they can wear out and warp. CDs and DVDs are easier to maintain. And the sound and picture quality is unexceptionable. It's when they try to improve upon perfection that they epically fail. I'm talking about the "Mickey's Christmas Carol" Blu-Ray.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>It's when they try to improve upon perfection that they epically fail. I'm talking about the "Mickey's Christmas Carol" Blu-Ray.<< Have you ever heard any of the early RCA CDs? They did essentially the same thing to them that Disney did to "Mickey's Christmas Carol". Perfectly good recordings, totally destroyed by incompetent, ham-handed remastering. Those CDs are now worthless. The Blu Ray format is an even bigger improvement (at least from a picture and sound standpoint) over DVD than DVD was over VHS, because both DVD and VHS were interlaced, standard definition formats. There's nothing "perfect" about DVDs. Don't blame the format for dumbass mastering. Blame the dumbasses.
Originally Posted By basil fan >>You've forgotten about that cassette/CD innovation, the non-LP bonus track Indeed, I had. The only time a bonus track really counts as a bonus is when somebody digs through the vaults to find some lost something, like a demo, and adds it on. That said, I have lived through records, cassettes, CDs, videos, DVDs, and the side-tracks of Beta, laserdisc, and 8-tracks. Never through all that have I ever felt as manipulated and coerced as I feel with Blu-Ray. True, it's only a feeling, but it's my feeling. I know a great many Americans (and others), enough to keep multiple corporations in the black, are ready to plunk down their cash for every new model of phone, game console, and computer operating system they can throw at us. Scores of folks are primed to "need" the latest and toss out last week's model. *shrug* I'm not saying there's no improvement in the newest. Just not enough to tempt me. Phil's Hero Rules <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/hero.html">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...ero.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Never through all that have I ever felt as manipulated and coerced as I feel with Blu-Ray.<< To a certain degree, I really agree with this sentiment. With each previous format upgrade, we got some new content that wasn't there before, making it justifiable to upgrade. For the most part, with Blu-Ray it seems like the only reason to upgrade is to get better quality. While there are certain films that I absolutley think this is warranted (Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty come to mind, as to effects-laden blockbusters), I think it's entirely unnecessary for most films out there. Yes, I can tell the difference, and I intend to buy new films in the new format, but I'm not very likely to upgrade films that I already own (unlike the switch from VHS to DVD, or even certin subsequent DVD releases)
Originally Posted By mawnck >>The only time a bonus track really counts as a bonus is when somebody digs through the vaults to find some lost something, like a demo, and adds it on.<< No, these were new tracks that they just left off the LP (and later the CD) just to get you to move on to the next big format. They weren't necessarily filler either. For some reason I distinctly remember a reviewer ranting at Mojo Nixon (of all people) for leaving "The Story of One Chord" off the LP edition of one of his albums. >>I'm not saying there's no improvement in the newest. Just not enough to tempt me.<< And what I'm saying is this: If that's true, then your TV is busted.
Originally Posted By basil fan >>If that's true, then your TV is busted And I'm not upgrading that, either. The other thing I was going to say, I'd better not say. So we'll leave it at that. Except to say I regret that this topic has been dragged off course, and that I have contributed to that. House of Mouse <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/house.html">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...use.html</a>
Originally Posted By basil fan >>No, these were new tracks that they just left off the LP I meant that anything like the above isn't a bonus, it's a cheat. House of Mouse <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/house.html">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...use.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>And what I'm saying is this: If that's true, then your TV is busted.<< I can see the difference on most films I watch. However, I realize that most of them aren't going to get a *proper* restoration, so there's no need for me to own multiple shoddy copies of the same movie. It's an improvement, no doubt, but to me it's not a big enough difference to get me to spend the money again. I'd rather spend my $20-30 somewhere else
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I hear where you're coming from. It's not that blue-ray isn't an improvement; it's that many films, including some that you really enjoy, aren't necessarily "about" the best picture quality, but about the script or a performance you love or whathaveyou. I don't feel the need to buy those all over again either. "Great. Now I have to buy The White Album again." - Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black, after discovering a new music system that an alien had.
Originally Posted By Bellella I am NOT buying any of my Disney DVDs over again, except 3 that I got gypped on by buying them online. I'm talking bootleg quality where the picture pixelated. Really ticks me off, and they're classic movies, too.
