New Lady From Shanghai Restoration in 2010?

[Roger Ryan]

While I am quite pleased that Cinema Detroit went to the effort of getting a DCP of the restored LADY FROM SHANGHAI, and I enjoyed seeing it on the big screen (this is the first time I actually recognized William Alland as one of the courtroom spectators), I have to say that the image looked about the same as it's always looked to me. By comparison, the recent Blu-ray presentations of KANE and THE STRANGER present images that are considerably sharper and contain more detail than prints I had seen twenty years ago or more. I don't doubt that significant clean-up was done, but it's not like the Blu-ray release misrepresents what the full resolution DCP looks like. I was kind of hoping Sony would "fix" that sloppy edit to the wildlife stock footage where you can see a few frames from an unused shot dissolving out, but I guess that would be considered tampering with the "original" edit!

[Roger Ryan]

Lo and behold, Sony has now issued an new and improved Blu-ray of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI with a higher bitrate, lossless audio and the 20 minute Eddie Mueller documentary that was originally promised...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/3 ... try4093466

...According to various postings on the web, the TCM store is not allowing for exchanges to be made even though this clearly seems like Sony took the fan criticisms seriously and upgraded the product. All the same, I'm pleased an improved version is now available.

[Roger Ryan]

...According to various postings on the web, the TCM store is not allowing for exchanges to be made even though this clearly seems like Sony took the fan criticisms seriously and upgraded the product...

UPDATE: According to The Digital Bits website, an exchange program is now in place so you can replace the Blu-ray released earlier this year with the new, improved one...

"Finally today, you’ll recall that we told you a couple days about that TCM Shop has put together a new and improved version of The Lady from Shanghai on Blu-ray. Well, the good news is that there’s finally an exchange program for those who have already purchased the previous version. If you call TCM Shop at 888-982-6746 and tell them you’d like to exchange your copy, they’ll mail or e-mail you a prepaid label that will let you send back the old Blu-ray (case, discs and all). TCM will then send you the corrected version in exchange. Note that they’re going to ask you for your original order number, so be sure to have it handy. Thanks to Bits reader John H. for the update."

[RayKelly]

After some conflicting bits from the TCM Shop, I can conform there is indeed an exchange program.

As Roger noted, you can call the TCM Shop at (888) 982-6746 and tell them you want to exchange your copy. They will email you a prepaid label that will let you send back the old Blu-ray set. (They suggest getting a tracking number at the post office). Upon receipt, TCM will then ship you the new version in exchange. They will ask for your original order number.

When I called last night, the customer service representative was unaware of the exchange program and noted the title has been deleted from the TCM Shop catalog. She told me I was not the first person she had told this to. The representative I just spoke to this morning said an email had been distributed this morning to reps informing them of the exchange program.

[RayKelly]

I spent some time watching scenes from the old and new blu-rays of TLFS. Frankly, I can't see much of a difference. Perhaps the black is a little richer than the earlier version, but to my eyes it looked pretty much the same.

[Wellesnet]

Here's a good discussion thread from the Criterion Forum:
http://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtop ... =4&t=13032

[Wellesnet]

Another Shanghai Bluray already?:
http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Shanghai-Blu ... 00S1VR62K/

[Roger Ryan]

Mill Creek has a reputation for issuing poorly produced DVDs and Blu-rays (outdated transfers, distorted aspect ratios, etc.). However, this release of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI reportedly is from the same 4K restoration that Sony produced, but is minus the bonus features. As we know, Sony released two versions of the film on Blu-ray: one with a low bitrate and a revised edition with a higher bitrate but with dramatically altered contrast (plus an additional bonus feature). A lower-priced edition more widely available would be welcome, even if it is missing the extras, but I'll wait to see the reviews on the picture quality before purchasing.

[DexyMan]

So what's the feeling here on the contrast boosting for the new bluray? Does it seem consistent with his style and the way it was presented originally or does it seem like a new "enhancement"?

[tonyw]

Dexyman has raised a good question since we all remember the 50th anniversary DVD edition of KANE which turne dup the brightness and contrast so we could clearly see the faces of actors in the projection booth sequence who appeared later in the film - something Welles never intended. According to one of our welcome experts on this site, this error has been corrected in the Blu-Ray and new DVD issue of the film. Blu-Ray has its pitfalls as well as advantages.

[Wellesnet]

David Hare from HTF (Home Theatre Forum):
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/3 ... try4126922

Loath as I am to stir the pot on this topic after such a long time I think the following advice is worth mentioning.

After some deliberation I bought the first TCM issue of this back when. I basically concur with everyone here that given the limitations of the encoding it delivered extremely good PQ (and not so good AQ). Then I put it away, wishing it could be redone. Lo and behold months later (eight weeks ago) an order I had made at Movies Unlimited and completely forgotten about turned up out of the blue and this was the "revised" BD 50 disc including the Eddie Muller video pieces, the lossless audio track and the new movie encode in AVC. I was very pleased with it, but I continued to be bothered by the darkness of the image, which I agree is (or was) an issue. So finally I got the damn thing out and fiddled with a range of calibration settings on my projector, focussing on gamma. None of that helped any. Then I did the simplest thing available and turned up the "brightness" on the PJ from 50 (mid way neutral for optimum calibration) to 70 and all the detail and definition came roaring back. All the shadow detail was returned, confirming there was indeed no black crush, and all the minor details in grayscale are completely visible, all of course with a substantially superior encode for other things like grain resolution, sharpness, and absence of any compression issues which are apparent in the first version.

So yes, the encode process has delivered an image with what is most certainly a mastering fault (too dark, simply) but the simplest manual adjustment possible absolutely dials it straight back into correct balance. This is the sort of thing one stumbles into, eventually. I recently saw the 4k DCP at the local NZIFF and this confirms outright that the shadow detail and grayscale are more correctly delivered by the new BD at a higher than normal white level "Brightness" setting.

[Jay]

So what's the feeling here on the contrast boosting for the new bluray? Does it seem consistent with his style and the way it was presented originally or does it seem like a new "enhancement"?

I don't think it looks too dark or that the contrast looks boosted at all. I thought that on the original TCM release with the lower bitrate, the blacks looked a bit grayed/washed out, and the second release fixed the problem.

[DexyMan]

I haven't seen either version yet, I've just read that most people seem that the "fixed" blu-ray seems too dark. You don't share that sentiment?

[Roger Ryan]

I haven't seen either version yet, I've just read that most people seem that the "fixed" blu-ray seems too dark. You don't share that sentiment?

In a Criterion Forum post made yesterday by David Hare, the new release of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI from Mill Creek is excellent and corrects the problems found on both of the TCM releases. This is a bit of a surprise coming from a budget label, but I'm very pleased the film wasn't botched a third time.

[Wellesnet]

Thanks much, Roger. DVD Beaver on the new Mill Creek Blu-ray:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm

Main page writeup:
http://www.wellesnet.com/the-lady-from- ... next-week/