[78-L] Jazz Singer Blu-ray set -- my Amazon review

[David Lennick]

I remember in the early days of DVD, some discs just wouldn't play in some 
machines. Lawrence of Arabia Disc 2 wouldn't work in my brand new machine. I 
took it to the local high-end AV store and it worked in half their machines.

dl

On 1/26/2013 9:03 PM, Jeff Sultanof wrote:
> I get it. That's why I haven't bought the Blu-ray of "Spartacus" which I
> understand is worse than the DVD.
>
> Jeff S.
>
> On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 5:11 PM, David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:
>
>> I'll grab what TCM runs and check it out. No way am I replacing the old
>> set,
>> unless it's a free exchange to correct what they should have put out in the
>> first place (the producers of the Popeye cartoon sets actually did that
>> with
>> one volume where the wrong openings appeared). Converting from VHS to a
>> superior medium is one thing, but having several editions of the same
>> thing and
>> deluxe versions and "Don't Call Me Shirley" versions of "Airplane" drive
>> me up
>> the freakin' wall.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> On 1/26/2013 2:11 PM, Jeff Sultanof wrote:
>>> Thank you, Dr. Biel for such a great review. I was going to upgrade
>> anyway,
>>> but this certainly tips the scale.
>>>
>>> And David, I would imagine that TMC is running the new restoration, as
>> the
>>> HD transfer for the Blu-ray is now the official master for this feature
>>> (Thank goodness those synch issues were addressed).
>>>
>>> Jeff Sultanof
>>>
>>> On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 10:58 AM, David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I see TMC is showing The Jazz Singer next Saturday morning. Any chance
>>>> they'll
>>>> have the new restoration?
>>>>
>>>> dl
>>>>
>>>> On 1/25/2013 11:28 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
>>>>> Since a lot of you on the list might be interested, here (with the
>> usual
>>>>> disclaimers) is my Amazon review of the new Blu-ray edition of The Jazz
>>>>> Singer and Vitaphone collection:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Singer-Blu-ray-Al-Jolson/dp/B009P07QPS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
>>>>>
>>>>> Let's cut to the chase because it is obvious that all film collectors
>>>>> either need this or already have the DVD -- yes, you DO need to upgrade
>>>>> from the DVD to this new Blu-ray edition. It IS that much better.
>>>>>
>>>>> All of the errors in the DVD have been corrected. The scratches during
>>>>> "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" and much of the rest of the Coffee Dan's
>> scene
>>>>> have been eliminated without a trace. The mis-matched synchronization
>> of
>>>>> the entire reel before "Blue Skies" has been fixed. The artificial
>>>>> shaking of the inter-titles to disguise them being free-frames has been
>>>>> steadied. In the extras, they have put in the correct two scenes from
>>>>> "Gold Diggers Of Broadway" -- we actually see Nick Lucas sing in
>> 2-strip
>>>>> Technicolor "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" this time. As an additional
>>>>> bonus they have added two shorts which have cameo appearances by Al
>>>>> Jolson and Ruby Keeler at Santa Anita Raceway. Most of the printed
>>>>> extras from the DVD set are in the book except for most of the
>>>>> postcards, but they have added some great portraits, bios, and an
>>>>> illustrated essay on the earlier film sound systems.
>>>>>
>>>>> Only disc one is Blu-ray. Discs two and three are still DVD, and
>>>>> actually have the same labels and catalog number as the originals -- so
>>>>> don't mix them up with your originals or else you'll lose Nick Lucas.
>>>>> They are still standard definition, but the first disc is High
>>>>> Defination and the image sparkles! The DVD was good, but the Blu-ray
>>>>> image will blow you away. It probably looks better than original
>> nitrate
>>>>> prints looked in 1927. I'll go so far as to say that it proves that you
>>>>> DO need to buy that Blu-ray player if you haven't yet.
>>>>>
>>>>> The aforementioned scratches on the DVD were always a puzzle to me.
>> They
>>>>> were continuous vertical scratches that often hit right on Jolson's
>>>>> face. You could tell they had worked on them because they were faint
>>>>> remnants of what must have originally been very deep. But they were
>>>>> still there in the most famous scene in the film. When Mary Dale enters
>>>>> down the stairs the scratch is right down the middle of her face in the
>>>>> first close-up and very heavy at the end of the second close-up.
>> (There!
>>>>> I've done it!! If you never noticed them before, now you will never be
>>>>> able to watch the DVD again without them bothering you!!! Mission
>>>>> Accomplished!) But they are GONE in the Blu-ray!!
>>>>>
>>>>> The sync problem in the DVD starts at the beginning of the train
>> station
>>>>> scene where they mis-start the disc too late over the letter writing
>>>>> close-up. It is as much as 20 seconds off, and the music cues are in
>> all
>>>>> the wrong places. It is much like the scene in "Singing In the Rain"
>>>>> where voices come out of the wrong person's mouths. The bassoon that
>> was
>>>>> supposed to be mocking the prima donna always came when other people
>>>>> were on the screen. The music made no sense. It continues on to the
>>>>> neighborhood walk and the entry into his family's apartment. The
>>>>> mother's theme music was never there at the correct time. And the end
>> of
>>>>> the disc was clipped off when the "Blue Skies" reel begins. This had
>>>>> never been wrong in previous issues and prints so someone really goofed
>>>>> when the DVD was being assembled. But all of this has been fixed in the
>>>>> Blu-ray, and the scenes and the music really make sense once again.
>>>>>
>>>>> Almost all of the inter-titles are freeze-frames. They are noticeable
>>>>> because all moving grain of the image stops cold. To disguise this they
>>>>> wandered the image slightly in the DVD version. This fake motion was
>>>>> supposed to emulate how titles look when the film continues to run, but
>>>>> in 35mm theatrical prints this does not happen unless the film is worn.
>>>>> The four sprockets per frame should keep the picture steady, unlike
>> 16mm
>>>>> where there is only one sprocket per frame and the image usually always
>>>>> shakes. Saner heads prevailed this time, and the titles are kept steady
>>>>> in the Blu-ray. (Again, if you had never noticed this in the DVD, now
>> it
>>>>> will bother you. Good! Mission accomplished!)
>>>>>
>>>>> The book is easier to maneuver than all those separate booklets and
>>>>> slip-cases of the DVD set. It is much easier to find the list of
>>>>> contents of the discs because they are the last two pages of the book,
>>>>> rather than being in one of four booklets that you never can find right
>>>>> away. They still do not give you any info about the shorts other than
>>>>> their title. None of the extras have their track number printed so you
>>>>> can easily find which track they are on without having to go back to
>> the
>>>>> headers on the discs. You have to print this out for yourself from the
>>>>> internet. Do be careful when removing disc three fromthe plastic holder
>>>>> because there is an added lip that requires it being slid out further
>>>>> than you might realize. But these are small nitpicks.
>>>>>
>>>>> All in all, the original DVD was a bargain for all you got -- but this
>>>>> Blu-ray set is even more of a bargain. It IS necessary to get even if
>>>>> you already have the DVD set.