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Posted by gerry on 09/22/06 05:12
I think Brownlow and Gill's 13 part "Hollywood" series will eventually
be released on DVD. As to the picture quality being better from an old
source, either tape or laserdisc, than on any new DVD release, IMHO I
doubt that. The HBO videotapes of this series probably have Macrovison
copy protection, so you cannot feed the video directly into a DVD
recorder, you need a unit like the Sima or Grex to clean the VBI. As
to using a laserdisc source to make DVD-Rs, I did that, a time
consuming project done because laserdiscs do not last forever.
Lucasfilms just released DVDs of the first three Star Wars movies in
their original form, using laser masters as the source for the DVDs.
Reviews of these DVDs indicate that the video quality is better than
that of bootleg recordings, altough the reviewers complain that
Lucasfilms should have made anamorphic DVDs of these widescreen movies.
Using digital processing methods available now, any production company
transferring "Hollywood" to DVD could do a far better job of it than
someone using an old Pioneer laserdisc player and a Panasonic consumer
DVD recorder.
There may be problems getting clearance for some of the film clips in
"Hollywood," but I think the bigger problem is the cost of digital
restoration to do a first rate job. The BBC is now a pinchpenny outfit
that is more interested in releasing another series of Dr. Who
episodes. HBO Films concentrates on releasing its own major cable
productions. Thames Television, that is another company with a film
library owned by a bigger corporation, but probably has a staff limited
to accounts receivable.
In other words, there is no money to be made on low sales volume DVDs
like "Hollywood" or "Cinema Europe." "Art for art's sake" was MGM's
motto and MGM now is gone completely. Unless TCM decides to show a
restored version of "Hollywood" when TCM goes HD, and then release the
HD version through Warner Bros., this fine documentary series will
remain in the shadows, with no R1 release for at least another year.
bigsilentfan@aol.com wrote:
> Homer J Simpson wrote:
>
> > I'm more interested in his other series, "Hollywood: The Early Years". I
> > have a copy on tape but I'd like a copy on DVD.
>
> Since this probably will never be released on DVD (thanks to various
> copy-right regulations), you might as well convert what you have to DVD
> (you won't be the first). Divided and indexed, it will be much more
> useful than those original tapes. The picture quality will never be
> better and how could you ever expect extras in a long documentary like
> "Hollywood"? It's filled with extras already.
>
> "Cinema Europe" is a worthy addition to "Hollywood," with much
> information on Able Gance, and Hitchcock, just to name two well known
> directors who helped invent the motion picture. Without it, you cannot
> really understand film history. But don't pay hundreds of dollars for
> something that you can rent.
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