Joel Cairo
12-15-2004, 11:14 PM
I knew better than to expect miracles with this release, so I'm not going to belabor the point, but Image (and the R&H Organization) really missed the boat with this DVD.
I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say "don't buy it", because it took 47 years for us to get **this** version, but just don't expect much of a restoration for your money.
The source material is the 16mm kinescope that was donated to the Museum of Television & radio a few years back, and it appears there has been a bit of polishing done to the soundtrack in order to give it some fidelity, but the video portion is far less than satisfying-- emulsion scratches, dirt, and splice marks are all left intact for the viewer, and are painfully evident in their inclusion.
The thing is, one only has to go to look at almost any of the excellent Doctor Who DVDs to see what a proper restoration of neglected kinescope materials can look like-- that the producers of this disc have chosen to "cheap out" and not utilize any of this technology can only be chalked up to an unnecessary and unwelcome cost-cutting move, designed to maximize their bottom line profits.
I've purchased this disc because I believe that the release of archived television material should be encouraged, and if others feel the same way, then I would encourage them to do the same, but I simply have to say that for all of the time this disc was in the planning stages, it appears that the proper presentation of the material was sacrificed somewhere along the way.
Caveat Emptor on this one, folks.
-Kevin
I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say "don't buy it", because it took 47 years for us to get **this** version, but just don't expect much of a restoration for your money.
The source material is the 16mm kinescope that was donated to the Museum of Television & radio a few years back, and it appears there has been a bit of polishing done to the soundtrack in order to give it some fidelity, but the video portion is far less than satisfying-- emulsion scratches, dirt, and splice marks are all left intact for the viewer, and are painfully evident in their inclusion.
The thing is, one only has to go to look at almost any of the excellent Doctor Who DVDs to see what a proper restoration of neglected kinescope materials can look like-- that the producers of this disc have chosen to "cheap out" and not utilize any of this technology can only be chalked up to an unnecessary and unwelcome cost-cutting move, designed to maximize their bottom line profits.
I've purchased this disc because I believe that the release of archived television material should be encouraged, and if others feel the same way, then I would encourage them to do the same, but I simply have to say that for all of the time this disc was in the planning stages, it appears that the proper presentation of the material was sacrificed somewhere along the way.
Caveat Emptor on this one, folks.
-Kevin