Limelight, Great Dictator Comparisons

There are more Chaplin DVD comparisons on dvdcompare.com The NTSC Warner DVDs are getting knocked rather badly for the PAL conversion. Badly enough for me to hold off buying them till I hear about the PAL versions. To the reviewer the Image discs are superior in many ways.

By the way, I've looked at the announcements of the rest of the set and nowhere did I see any planned releases of the First Nationals except for The Kid. So Waverboy's panic is premature. Maybe, if they do redo the FN box they'll include older source material as extras.

Another by the way - nowhere on the Image FN DVD does it say that they are the 'original' versions, just that they are mastered from 'the best film elements in Charles Chaplin's personal archive'. That means image quality to me. Besides, these versions were obviously approved by CC, as these were the versions to which he put soundtracks for theatrical release in the early 70's. I think if he found any of them unacceptable at that point he would have withheld it.

Believe me, I'd like nothing better than to have my fears turn out unwarranted. But...come on.

Again, the point is being completely missed. Let me quote an exchange between David Totheroh and I from another post:

DT:

Me:

Please. The viewer shouldn't have to be assured that the films they're buying, which have the original release dates on them, are the original films. If I buy a DVD, say, of GONE WITH THE WIND, should it come with a sticker that says 'Don't worry, this is indeed the actual film GONE WITH THE WIND, made up of the same takes as used for its original theatrical release of 1939', just so I don't think it's a reconstruction from outtakes that nobody except maybe one Selznick biographer knows about? Ridiculous. As someone pointed out to me, they couldn't hide it with the 1942 reissue of THE GOLD RUSH, but they sure as hell could (and did) with the First National shorts. These were reissued in the '40s as well, and were reconstructed from different takes for those reissues, so why don't THEY have '40s release date notations next to them on the video packaging like the reissue of THE GOLD RUSH does? And, it's even worse in the case of the First Nationals; at least in THE GOLD RUSH, the takes are largely the same. In the First Nationals, the takes are all COMPLETELY different.

DT:

Me:

Again, that is meaningless as far as the fans getting the real deal. Political doublespeak comes to mind. I can see it now:

Reporter: 'So, Chaplin Estate, are the First National films currently available on DVD the original films as originally released? Are they made of the same takes as the original releases?'

Chaplin Estate: 'We would like it to be known that our father's last decisions about his films are the ones that guide our own choices regarding his films.' own choices.'

Now, that's a response worthy of a good politician.

Phil, suppose you were familiar with the original versions, and loved them. Now suppose you read the following on the DVD jacket before you bought it:

'These films have been mastered from the best film elements in Charles Chaplin's personal archive.'

Now, upon buying it, and finding that they were indeed mastered from the best film elements in Chaplin's archive, but turned out to be completely different takes, are you telling me that you would just say, 'yep, just as I expected, reconstructed versions made from inferior outtakes with perfect visual quality. Great DVD!'??? Riiiiiiiiight.

Indeed, just as Mr. Shepard cautioned. In fact, I'd like to disagree with Mr. Shepard's post from a few weeks ago saying that transfer technology had improved and that these new transfers put the Image ones to shame. I think he's giving the Image disks short shrift.

Perhaps Mr. Shepard saw the original MK2 digital master tapes, vs. the compressed DVD's I've seen, but IMO the quality is different, not really improved. I can detect that somebody screwed up the black levels, and darkened some scenes in an attempt to 'improve' the contrast or hide scratches. Not to mention the PAL vs. NTSC transfer issue. Phooey!

You know, the problem here MIGHT be that they are marketing to DVD buyers, who are apparantly techno buffs who demand the best possible video quality and whoa re watching on a 60' plasma screen with a 7.1 surround system and a coup0le of woofers plasting the bass at three times the intended levels. That must be a fun way to watch the 42 Gold Rush.

Seriously, I wonder who the target audience for all these reissues is. The packaging is for crap, and sadly almost indistinguishable from the cheapo ripoffs from the Delta company. The trasfers aren't fresh, they are warmed over PAL conversions. Gold Rush 42 has some brightness issues. The documentaries are kind of wierd (Excepting Tramp and Dictator). I'm not sure who the target is for all this.

Target audience - find out who it is, and we probably have an answer to all these questions about why the 1918 versions aren't coming out.