It's a Wonderful Life on BD

[John Hodson]

The US transfer gets a good kicking from Robert Harris.

[Mr Punch]

The UK Blu-ray looks very good to me though I can't access my old DVD copy at the moment to compare it.

The colourisation is... interesting.

[John Hodson]

TBH, I haven't upgraded since the old Artisan R1, and Paramount's 'tweaking in babysteps' of the film (and many other titles they hold), probably means that it'll be a few releases yet before they come up with a real 'bells and whistles' BD SE that satisfies all.

I haven't seen either the UK or US BDs (which I think I'm safe in assuming are from the same source), but I certainly trust Harris's judgement enough to put thoughts of buying this again on hold. At least the old R1 has an excellent transfer, with no 'colorized' coaster included.

'Interesting' the colorization may be, but it's also (in this, and every other case where a film shot originally in black and white is crayoned in) vandalism IMHO; pure and simple. I haven't seen one yet which isn't offensive, and the screenshots of IAWL have done nothing to change my mind.

[Livius]

I also held onto my old Artisan R1 for precisely the same reasons. The transfer was and is just fine to my eyes. From that review, this doesn't sound like an upgrade I need.

[sirkobble]

Has there ever been a R2 SD DVD that doesn't look terrible? What's the latest one like? Every time I've bought a new edition of it, it's ended up getting passed on as a present as it's always been the same ropey old VHS master.

[John Hodson]

Has there ever been a R2 SD DVD that doesn't look terrible?

No.

What's the latest one like?

Bleedin' awful.

EDIT; I forgot about the DVD Times review and had a trawl thorugh the Amazon reviews to see if there was anything remotely helpful to quote. I know, I know...

However, I did come across the following exchange between 'reviewers' on Amazon:

By Road Rocket "Alan" (Northern England) -
This is an excellent film but why are we being charged almost £12 for a DVD of a B/W film made in 1944. This is a disgrace and a rip off!

By Mrs. Petrina A. Nicoll (Crieff Scotland) -
This product is overpriced as it is in the public domain, due to a copyright mixup!!!!!!

Ah, bless 'em...

[Mr Punch]

Short of digging James Stewart up and getting him to re-shoot the whole thing I don't know what else they could do to improve the picture quality of the new Blu-ray. It looks pretty amazing to me.

The colourised version is completely unnecessary but least the original version's there for those who want it.

[Mr Punch]

Having read the Harris attack on the release I can only conclude that my set falls into the 'too small' category. I genuinely didn't have a problem with any aspect of the picture on my 37" set.

I suspect that none but the most discerning will have any problem with this latest release.

[John Hodson]

You could be right; certainly bigger screens will undoubtedly exacerbate the problems as described.

HTF reviewer Michael Reuben also gives the thumbs down.

[Mr Punch]

My worry is that next time I watch it I'll notice the problem and be unable to 'unnotice' it...

It's like that clumsy edit in 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. Some things are better not pointed out.

[John Hodson]

Well, Savant sees no problems in his review, so you're not alone.

I do admire his dissemination of the 'colorized' version:

"...I didn't view the colorized version on the previous DVD and thought I'd do so now, especially to see how it looks in HD. Commercially speaking the bottom line is that ordinary viewers will like the color, and will quickly adjust to the very unreal tints that do enliven the image. It's also fun to see what hues have been assigned to the clothing and what has been done with the views of outer space, etc.. "Tinting" is the proper word because when the screen goes black, the colorization process cannot add chroma. that's why the entire film has been lightened in contrast. Still the chocolate syrup or whatever was used on James Stewart's lip looks like dark grape jam, or motor oil -- they can't make something jet black look red.

Putting the B&W version back on immediately reminds us of the difference between the versions. The B&W brings the contrast back to the correct values, sharpening the photography and focusing our attention more precisely on parts of the image that the cameraman intended us to see. For instance, in the nighttime "Buffalo Gals" walk after the dance, the colorization now places Mary and George in the middle of a lot of flowers, which are now in bright color. Bedford Falls seems a real garden spot, and the art direction has been changed drastically. George's nightmare visions in the horror sequence have the same color scheme as the normal nighttime footage. The bleak, sinister "noir" aspect has been drained away: with all those bright neon signs, etc., downtown Pottersville seems an exciting and attractive improvement over dull Bedford Falls. That's something that Capra surely didn't intend..."

[John Hodson]

DVD Times review of the UK BD.