My Fair Lady (1964/CBS Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B-
It has taken
a while, but George Cukor’s version of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady (1964) has finally hit
Blu-ray from CBS. The film is the same,
extras are the same, but none of upgrades the format is capable really deliver
are really present here. If you are
unfamiliar with the film, you can reference our DVD coverage at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9121/My+Fair+Lady+(1964/CBS+DVD)
And now
for the Blu-ray. The 1080p 2.20 X 1
digital High Definition image has some better Video Black and Video White than
the anamorphically enhanced DVD, but it also has some serious new troubles
including softer images throughout than expected, color limits starting with
how bad the flowers alone look at the opening of the film (they should look new
and alive, not flat and dull) seemingly more limited than the DVD (!),
discoloration is evident in many shots (including skin tones) and it is obvious
someone tampered with this old HD master when they should have left it
alone. This is also looking like the
same special print used for the LaserDisc, a 35mm print transferred anamorphically
from the 70mm print to be unsqueezed to the 70mm’s 2.20 X 1 aspect ratio. Depth can also be good, but this is just too
many generations down for Blu-ray and very disappointing.
A DTS-HD
Master Audio (MA) 7.1 lossless track is offered and that should be a big
improvement over the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds that was
the best the DVD could do and was likely a recycling of the PCM 2.0 Stereo off
of the 12” LaserDisc, but this too is a real disappointment with most of the
dialogue and some sound effects stuck in the center channel and the surround
tracks used for ambient sound and some instruments in the music and singing
segments.
The film
was originally a 6-track magnetic stereo release in 1964 70mm presentations and
the 1994 restoration screened in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes restored form
the best materials available, so what happened here? The sound is weak and far from multi-channel
and I will guess CBS took the stereo tracks and tried to expand them with weak
results. This was further confirmed when
I compared it to the still-impressive 2-channel only Super Audio Compact Disc
edition of the soundtrack from Sony in their advanced DSD (Direct Stream
Digital) sound format that will only play on SA-CD (aka SACD) players and even early
PlayStation 3 machines. You can read
more about that release at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6802/My+Fair+Lady+(1964+Soundtrack/Sup
The DSD
2.0 Stereo is far richer, warmer and fuller than any of the DTS-MA audio on the
Blu-ray and actually includes proper directional dialogue and movement on the
screen the Blu-ray lacks! What was CBS
thinking? They need to call Robert A.
Harris back for more work on this one. I
would rate picture and sound both lower if they we any worse and they nearly
are.
Extras repeat
the DVD and include trailers, posters/lobby cards section with Rex Harrison
radio interview, must-hear Audrey Hepburn alternate vocals, Comments On A Lady featuring separate
interview pieces with Andrew Lloyd Webber & Martin Scorsese, Vintage
Featurettes, Vintage Footage, Vintage Audio and an exceptional feature-length
audio commentary track with Robert A. Harris, James C. Katz, Marni Nixon and
Gene Allen.
The only
reason to get this copy is if you can get it as cheap or cheaper than the DVD
to save space. Otherwise, this needs
redone in the near future when they decide to do new extras down the line. What a shame.
- Nicholas Sheffo
