The Best and Worst DVD's of Classic Films by
Fred Kaplan - New York Times
There are many great films that have been made into
great-looking DVD's. Here (in alphabetical order) are 10 of the
worthiest:
CASABLANCA (Warner) Rick's place
hasn't looked this clear or 3-D vivid since the film classic's
release 60 years ago. John Lowry's computers crunched the digits
for five and a half weeks to clean it up this thoroughly, and
left the natural film grain intact. Two-Disc Special Edition,
only.
CITIZEN KANE (Warner) Yes, it's
been cleaned up too much — the grain is gone — but
this is nitpicking. The disc is a revelation, bringing out long-obscured
details and depth.
GRAND ILLUSION (Criterion Collection)
The original camera-negative, long thought destroyed by the Nazis,
turned up in southern France recently, and this DVD — mastered
from it directly — is a sumptuous version of Jean Renoir's
stirring tale about the artificial boundaries of war and class.
GROUNDHOG DAY (Columbia) An underrated
comedy about a man who finds himself locked in time until he learns
what's important in life. Bill Murray first showed his powers
as a subtle actor here. The DVD's colors are lifelike.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Criterion
Collection) Wong Kar-wai's story of global displacement and truncated
love in early 60's Hong Kong is beautifully made, and the colors
are as vivid as any on DVD.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Columbia) David
Lean's desert epic finally receives the digital treatment it deserves.
Get the new, two-disc "SuperBit" version only.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Warner) Hitchcock's
wittiest thriller looks Technicolor gorgeous.
NOTORIOUS (Criterion Collection)
Hitchcock's dashing thriller looks more beautiful than you might
have thought possible from black and white.
THE THIRD MAN (Criterion Collection)
Carol Reed's stylish portrait of an American innocent in corrupt
postwar Vienna, with the best Ferris wheel scene ever, receives
Criterion's standard restoration treatment — and it looks
breathtaking.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Warner)
Stanley Kubrick's outer-space effects, created 35 years ago with
no computer graphics, look startlingly real. Get the box that
says "Stanley Kubrick Collection" on the front and "New
2000 Digital Master Restored" on the back. Try to watch it
on a very big screen.
And then there are films whose DVD's need help.
While the DVD's of "The Last Emperor" and "The
Godfather" are getting makeovers next year, here (in alphabetical
order) are a few more classics that ought to join them:
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (Warner
) Grainy, fuzzy.
ANNIE HALL (MGM) Ditto.
BONNIE AND CLYDE (Warner) The videotape
looks better.
CHINATOWN (Paramount) Dark, soft-focused,
monochromatic. The negative needs a restoration.
FEARLESS (Warner) Obviously taken
from a VHS master.
HIGH NOON (Republic) Recently redone;
still awesomely bad. Some scenes are completely washed-out; in
others, the outlines of images look Etch-a-Sketched.
JULES AND JIM (Fox Lorber) Specks
and grime.
MOBY DICK (MGM) John Huston's widescreen
wonder chopped down to pan-and-scan, with dirt and faded colors,
to boot.
THE WILD BUNCH (Warner) Detail
hazy, shadows too dark.
YI YI (Fox Lorber). The best
movie of 2000, the worst DVD of 2001. Wrong colors, often out
of focus, wavy lines everywhere. Unwatchable.
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