Another duff release from Optimum?

[999picklepuss]

Just received my copy of Seven Days To Noon (1950) and Optimum's quality control seems not to have improved much. Once again the print is really ropey, not much better than VHS. The sleeve notes refer twice to Barry Jones character as "Prof Bullington" (actually Willingdon) and Superintendent Folland is played by Andre Moreel. As somebody else said, doesn't bode well for the much anticipated Robbery, also due out on Monday.

[mariocki]

My copy of Robbery arrived yesterday, hopefully I'll get time to watch it tonight.

[MovieLover12]

I know this company isn't British, (i think), but Elstree Entertainment DVDs are so bad quality they are unwatchable. One film I got was avalible on Elstree at £3.99, while it was also on Colombia at £4.99. I got the Colombia one because that one was cleaned up.

[batman]

name='MovieLover12']I know this company isn't British, (i think), but Elstree Entertainment DVDs are so bad quality they are unwatchable. One film I got was avalible on Elstree at £3.99, while it was also on Colombia at £4.99. I got the Colombia one because that one was cleaned up.

I've got three of four Elstree Entertaiment dvds and they are all pretty good quality. The prints have have been re-mastered but they are generally clean and very watchable.

[MovieLover12]

Hey mate, you seen the Elstree versions of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Smash Up and Jack London?

[batman]

name='MovieLover12']Hey mate, you seen the Elstree versions of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Smash Up and Jack London?

No, but you were claiming they were all bad .... I was just trying to redress the balance by informing our readers that the ones I have are all OK. I am sure the ones you have are poor quality but the titles I have (Lost Word (silent), Superman (Fleischer carttons), The Wasp Woman and The Lone Ranger (TV)) and perfectly fine.

[EHV_Emmetts]

I've recently watched the Optimum release of I'm All Right Jack and it looks perfectly fine.

[Bernardo]

name='MrT']I've just recieved the four new Ealing Studios releases from Optimum and found the quality on "San Demetrio London" to be somewhat below standard. The sound level is again low (not quite as bad as "The Long Arm") but in addition the picture is not particularly sharp and the opening BBFC board has been cut. So all in all, stick with your recording from the last C4 screening in 2005, which beats this Optimum release on all counts. Despite this, the other three releases (Square ring, Pink string and sealing wax and Johnny frenchman) are more acceptable in terms of quality.



What is it with Optimum - their quality control is just so poor. We've now had serious problems with The Alec Guinness and George Formby sets, plus individual issues. Maybe they don't care but I don't think I will pre-order any of their forthcoming releases.



Mike (MrT)

I have just watched San Demetrio London on a 42inch screen and the definition was just fine, the same as it would have been on the silver screen in 1944. The sound was also fine, mono of course, studio bound of course but a highly watchable film.

I really prefer to write about the film content, I am reminded of my Hi Fi friend who listens to his equipment not the music.

Ice Cold in Alex on the Atlantic really as far as the heroic trek across enemy controlled hostile environment in a wreck is concerned. Unfortunately no nurse only dirty oily blokes coaxing their damaged tanker back to the UK. Made as a tribute to the merchant marine in wartime. I worked with one of those old sea dogs who was in the Russian Convoy Z who was sunk, rescued then sunk so when the next ship offered to rescue them they declined, it was safer in the lifeboat. So the story of the S.D. is utterly believable.

Interesting in the credits a shop girl was Diana Decker, a name I had not heard of for years. That is the second Ealing film I have watched the other Johnny Frenchman both without big star names both excellent entertaining films minus the blood and gore that is deemed to be so necessary these days.

One picky bit is on the blurb on the cover. The writer did not watch the film as he has the ship torpedoed when in fact it was shelled by pocket battleship Scheer.

[julian_craster]

Interesting in the credits a shop girl was Diana Decker, a name I had not heard of for years



Why was Diana's scene removed when the film was last on Channel Four ?



There is a nice cheap CD from EMI of Diana's 78rpm records from the mid-1950s....

[Harbottle]

name='Bernardo']I have just watched San Demetrio London on a 42inch screen and the definition was just fine, the same as it would have been on the silver screen in 1944. The sound was also fine, mono of course, studio bound of course but a highly watchable film.

I really prefer to write about the film content, I am reminded of my Hi Fi friend who listens to his equipment not the music.

Yes but there are plenty of threads here to enthuse about various films. The whole purpose of this one is to give an idea as the quality of the DVD. Very useful it is too! Especially bearing in mind a few disappointments that have hit the shelves recently, where one might as well stick with ones off-air recording rather than purchase an inferior commercial DVD.

[Bernardo]

name='Harbottle']Yes but there are plenty of threads here to enthuse about various films. The whole purpose of this one is to give an idea as the quality of the DVD. Very useful it is too! Especially bearing in mind a few disappointments that have hit the shelves recently, where one might as well stick with ones off-air recording rather than purchase an inferior commercial DVD.

I did say that the DVD presents a highly acceptable image equal to it's 1944 quality on a 42" LCD screen. Other Optimax 'Classic' DVDs I have are equally acceptable again allowing for the fact that the movies were shot with 1940's equipment and a mono soundtrack, to our ears, is the poorer for that, but the image is fine and I would buy further releases without any trepidation.

I just think it odd to describe a DVD without reference to the content which will have some bearing on the image quality.

[MrT]

I opened this thread because when I compared the Optimum release with the C4 screening, the C4 quality beat both the picture and sound quality of Optimum when viewed through exactly the same equipment. I'm not saying that the Optimum dvd is noticeably bad, but is just not as good as the C4 version. i still stand by my original view.



Mike (MrT)

[Chris B]

Hi All,

The OPTIMUM box set of DAVID NIVEN MOVIES, Includes the following films: Bonnie Prince Charlie; The Love Lottery; Happy Ever After; Eternally Yours; Happy Go Lovely. the stories they are fine if you appreciate good old British Cinema material, however the DVD transfer is amongst the poorest I have ever seen, I usually project my films on to a modest size screen approx 41/2 feet X 31/2 feet, and you couldn't watch these films they were so grainy and soft, so I put them on the T.V and they weren't much better. THESE OUGHT TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE LIBRARY they are absolute rubbish don't touch them at any price, I am just thankful that I only rented them and didn't waste money buying them. I have posted this statement on the Love Film site to warn others.



Regards Chris B

[JamesM]

name='Bernardo']I have just watched San Demetrio London on a 42inch screen and the definition was just fine, the same as it would have been on the silver screen in 1944. The sound was also fine, mono of course, studio bound of course but a highly watchable film.

Bernardo, the The DVD disc you have can not match the image resolution / quality that a High Definition disc could offer. A HD disc can not beat the the quality of a 16mm print can offer and the 35mm prints that were screened in 1944 were naturally superior to anything that could be produced on 16mm. The quality of the even the finest produced disc could not beat the quality of a good 35mm print.



I woulds not like to play Top Trumps with you.

name='Bernardo']I really prefer to write about the film content, I am reminded of my Hi Fi friend who listens to his equipment not the music.er.

Your point is relevant if we were talking about what player to play our discs on but we are discussing the quality of the discs being played. As hardbottle said, we discuss the original films in other areas of the forum, this section is for discussion of the specific releases. No matter what release you get, Dr Zhivago is still going to fail to catch Lara.



The advent of the DVD offered an opportunity to release films in their correct aspect ratios and appease all due to the technology behind it. For feature films made before 1953 (and many thereafter) released on DVD the original Academy ratio has already been available in every previous release so the format can offer little there. We can only hope for extra material and in the absence of that, we can only look to a better picture quality. If it does not have that then it has nothing to offer above an off-air recording or previpous VHS tape release.

[Steve Crook]

name='Bernardo']I have just watched San Demetrio London ...

I really prefer to write about the film content ...

Ice Cold in Alex on the Atlantic really as far as the heroic trek across enemy controlled hostile environment in a wreck is concerned. Unfortunately no nurse only dirty oily blokes coaxing their damaged tanker back to the UK. Made as a tribute to the merchant marine in wartime. ... So the story of the S.D. is utterly believable.

It should be believable, it's quite accurately based on a true story



Also true, and accurately portrayed, is that the convoy was only protected by the armed merchantman HMS Jervis Bay. When the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer appeared on the horizon the Jervis Bay gave the order for the convoy to scatter and steamed straight for the enemy. Of course she was blown out of the water before she got a single shot on target, but by doing so she gave most of the convoy a chance to escape (5 out of the 37 were sunk). Total self-sacrifice which earned a VC for her skipper, Captain Fegen



Steve