I'm looking for a review of the DVD quality for The Lady from Shanghai (1948). I love the movie but am not sure about the DVD itself.

Thanks for any help

"Killing you is killing myself. But, you know, I'm pretty tired of both of us."

...doesn't sound too promising...

http://www.dvdangle.com/reviews/review.php?Id=1112

. . . . . .

I used The Movie Review Query Engine (which I found from one of your posts). Some sites give it good reviews and others (like dvdangle.com) negative. It's very confusing to say the least. I'm going to hold off on this one until a member of this forum can tell me first hand. Too bad.......It's a real good movie

Thanks again for your help

I will chime in here. I have the DVD, and have watched it a couple of times, once not too long ago (about a month). From what I remember, this is an excellent disc. The image and sound were definately not flawed to the point where I was distracted at all from the film. As with all movies of this age, there are bound to be some flaws, and I'm sure this movie is not without them, though I don't recall any major flaws in the quality. Also on the disc there is a commentary by Peter Bogdonavich (haven't listened to it yet), a featurette (which I have not seen in a long time and can't comment on), plus trailers, advertising, talent files, etc. I would wholly recommend this disc, in addition to the film itself, which is unbelievable.

Hope that helps,

Dan

Vampyr:

...here's a site where you can get confused some more...

http://www.dvd-basen.dk/uk/resultat....land=%25&ok=go

...sorry I can't give you 'my' opinion, since I don't own this disc...

. . . . . .

...don't kill the messenger!...

I haven't watched my disc for a while, but my remembrances of the disc are similar to cokeguy's. In other words, I was pleased.

cheers, MCB

This is a difficult disc to review because the transfer is so inconsistent. On the positive side, the transfer looks pretty crisp, with nice contrast. On the negative side, there are too many scratches and some graininess.

I had hoped for a better transfer, but I don't feel that it's as bad as some of the reviews said and never distract you from the film. (Unlike MGM's horrible "Elmer Gantry" disc, for instance.) Also, despite its flaws, it is still the best print I have ever seen of the film and better than the transfers of a lot of film noir available on DVD. (And I have seen a couple of them )

www.thecinemalaser.com is pretty right on in their review of it. Here's what they said about the transfer.

Columbia TriStar Home Video has done a fine job with THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, making the film available on DVD in its proper 1.37:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The black and white film element does show signs of age, with a number of scratches, blemishes noticeable film grain being present. Additionally, reel changes tend to be the most problematic aspect of the film elements. However, the black and white transfer is very crisp and an excellent representation of the film’s stark, deep focus cinematography. Blacks are pure and the image usually offers very good contrast, although there are some noticeable limitations in the portions of the film that contain optical special effects or rear screen projection. Shadow detail is purposefully limited by the design of the cinematography. Digital compression artifacts rarely make their presence known on this cleanly authored DVD. The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack sounds quite good, considering the film’s age. There are the expected frequency limitations, although the sound never becomes distorted, harsh or hissy. Dialogue is fairly natural sounding and doesn’t have any issues with intelligibility. French, Spanish and Portuguese language soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai subtitles. The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a nice complement of extras. Director Peter Bogdanovich provides a running audio commentary for THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, during which he reads quotes from interviews that he conducted with Orson Welles. Bogdanovich also provides his own insight and comments on the film, as well as on the late, great Orson Welles, whom Bogdanovich had the distinction of calling friend. This commentary is a must listen for any fan of Welles’ work as a director. Columbia TriStar has also included a featurette on the making of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, which is also hosted by Bogdanovich. Bogdanovich provides numerous details on the film’s production, as well as dispelling some of the inaccuracies that have come to be accepted as fact. Vintage advertising, talent files and a theatrical trailer fill out the DVD’s extras.

For some laughs, check out the review at DVD Shrine where the reviewer gives the film (not the DVD, but the actual film) only 2 out of 5 and still gives the impression that he is being overly generous towards it. I must check out some other reviews by this guy. I get the feeling that are our tastes are very very different.

jim

By the way, my New Year's Resolution (Well, my second New Year's resolution. The first is my vow to give up the same thing I try to give up every year....hope) is to stump Hendrik. I'm tired of him being able to provide a review for every request. It's just showing off if you ask me. I think the boy's getting cocky.

...but... but... but... anybody can find those reviews: I don't think I ever made a secret of where I get them from - in case anyone is wondering, here they are:

- MRQE
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?

...and...

- DVD-Basen
http://www.dvd-basen.dk/uk/soegr1.php3

...not forgetting...

- Bad Movie Review Website
http://www.badmovies.org/

...and the proverbial 'host of others'...

...and, in any case, there are a lot of DVDs for which (even!) I cannot find reviews - music DVDs, opera on DVD, ballet on DVD, Documentaries on DVD, and suchlike...

...sigh...

. . . . . .

just finished watching it about an hour ago.
in fact, if it weren't for this thread, it probably would have been quite a while still till i pulled it out.
first time i've seen it. good show.
as for disc quality; i must be one of the few people who isn't necessarily bothered by age related issues or reel markers.
there is some ee, but certainly not excessive.
some graininess in certain shots (that usually don't last more than a few seconds).
from what i've seen of From Here To Eternity, i'd say these two are comparable. not exceptional representations, but servicable if not totally solid.

I'm really happy with this disc. Perhaps if I'd never seen a movie over 20 years old I'd feel differently, but I find the picture absolutely beautiful. Sure, there is a bit of damage, but this is no Madacy disc. Welles fans MUST get this disc. It's great!