Posted by Prince of Orange on 10/09/05 09:12

On Sat, 8 Oct 2005 08:22:02 -0700, "One-Shot Scot" <SonOf@Bitch.com>
wrote:

>"Prince of Orange" <nospam@all.com> wrote in message
>news:9q6dk1ldnb43m085jmqo2stkt64ulfi44o@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 5 Oct 2005 08:37:03 -0700, "One-Shot Scot" <SonOf@Bitch.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Has anyone else had a bad experience with the Hitchcock Masterpiece
>> >Collection?
>>
>> I haven't purchased the set yet, but I do have a question for you.
>> Does 'Vertigo' have an option for you to play the movie with the
>> original mono soundtrack? Although the video restoration was great, I
>> hated the annoyingly intrusive foley sounds in the new soundtrack.
>
>
>If you thought that the video quality of the first non-anamorphic _Vertigo_
>DVD looked good, you will be amazed by the vast improvement of the
>anamorphic version. I am embarrassed to admit that I bought the Hitchcock
>Masterpiece Collection primarily to get the anamorphic _Vertigo

I've gone ahead and placed an order for the set, and I have to admit,
getting an Anamorphic copy of Vertigo is a huge selling point. It's
my favorite film of all time and I'm happy to see it getting the
treatment it deserves (now all I need is a widescreen TV!)

>
>Yes, the original monaural 2.0 soundtrack has been included in the new
>release and is sounds better to me than the phony, dolled up 5.1 soundtrack.
>And speaking of dolled up, even though _Doll's Funeral March_ was the theme
>for Hitchcock's TV show, someone at Universal decided that it would make
>great background music for the _Vertigo_ DVD menus. They were wrong.
>
>The differences between the fake 5.1 soundtrack and the original 2.0 can be
>clearly heard in the opening scene of the rooftop chase. The sound of the
>two gunshots have a hollow ring and forced reverberation in 5.1, but in 2.0
>mono, they sound very natural. The sound of the men's shoes on the shingled
>roof sound dull and lifeless in 5.1, in 2.0 the sound is much more natural.
>Even the music sounds better in 2.0.

I'm jazzed about the original soundtrack being included as an option!
The gunshots in the 5.1 version sounded more like cannon shots to me,
and the shoe sound effects were awfully loud in just about every scene
where walking was involved. The problem with the newer soundtrack was
that it didn't sound natural (as you've pointed out); it kept
reminding me of the filmmaking process and dragged me out of the
story.

Gounod's 'Funeral March of a Marinotte' for the Vertigo menus? I love
the piece, but I agree that it's all wrong for Vertigo. However,
that's an extremely minor quibble considering what we're getting in
this new release.

I find it interesting that you think the music sounds better as well.
I'm curious to see if I agree after I watch the film again. It's my
favorite movie score and I own 3 different versions of it (2 of them
from the original soundtrack, conducted by Muir Mathieson, and one a
re-recording by Joel McNeely of the Royal Scottish National
Orchestra). Of course, I prefer the original soundtrack, but the
masters were irreparably damaged and the damage is obvious when
playing either of the original soundtrack CDs. I didn't mind the
soundtrack being 'cleaning up' during the restoration process, it was
the newer foley sounds that irked me.

As you sound like a fan of the film, I wanted to recommend a book, if
you don't already know about it. It's called 'Vertigo- the Making of
a Hitchcock Classic' and it's written by Dan Auiler.

Thanks for your response!

Bob

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