Magnum Mania!

I recently purchased a 1080P LCD 42" TV.

Last night Magnum "graced" the new TV.

While watching I realized how much color and sharpness is missing from the series. While it still is an excellent show, the flaws in production of the DVD/film transfer really show through.

Do you think there is any chance at remastering the series and putting it out on blu-ray?

I am not in the habit of buying twice but, for magnum I would make the sacrifice.

I'm sure once Blue Ray is a little more common, like standard DVD's, that they will probably release most things on Blue Ray.

Awww . . . . c'mon . . . I just completed the series collection last year!

Blu-ray did win the format war earlier this year, so we might see something "down the road".... maybe. Right now there are hardly ANY older tv shows released on Blu-ray, or even scheduled to be released. I Dream of Jeannie is supposed to get the Blu-ray treatment, so anything is possible I guess.

I've also been curious if the studios would release shows like Magnum that WERE filmed with Panavision cameras. That is, they were filmed, not video taped, or otherwise produced in a non HD-friendly format. I also saw a show way back where they had shown Bellesario viewing the dailies with one of those older 35mm film editing tables. The native format was 16:9. Of course, for TV, it was always cropped. Wouldn't be great if someone took the time to do a 16:9 telecine to Blu-Ray (H.264) AND also re-mastered the audio for 5.1 sound? I'd volunteer to help! <grin>

Huh? Too much tech talk!

mjsauer wrote:I've also been curious if the studios would release shows like Magnum that WERE filmed with Panavision cameras. That is, they were filmed, not video taped, or otherwise produced in a non HD-friendly format. I also saw a show way back where they had shown Bellesario viewing the dailies with one of those older 35mm film editing tables. The native format was 16:9. Of course, for TV, it was always cropped. Wouldn't be great if someone took the time to do a 16:9 telecine to Blu-Ray (H.264) AND also re-mastered the audio for 5.1 sound? I'd volunteer to help! <grin>

Well, if the picture framing was designed for the TV aspect ratio it would make not much sense to expand it to 16:9, imho.

OUTHOUSE wrote:
While watching I realized how much color and sharpness is missing from the series. While it still is an excellent show, the flaws in production of the DVD/film transfer really show through.

I'm glad you posted that. I was wondering if I was the only one on here that thought the DVDs are not perfect. I notice a lot of variablility even within an episode. Some scenes have fairly bright and sharp definition while others look faded and a little blurred.

I don't really mind because it reminds me of the old crappy sets you used to watch the broadcast show on in the 80s. Consider the imperfections to be rabbit ear reception mode.

Unfortunately, I don't think MPI will be on anyones list of priorities to restore or bump to Blu-Ray

James J. Walters wrote:Blu-ray did win the format war earlier this year, so we might see something "down the road".... maybe. Right now there are hardly ANY older tv shows released on Blu-ray, or even scheduled to be released. I Dream of Jeannie is supposed to get the Blu-ray treatment, so anything is possible I guess.

I'm not sure it's really "won the war" (at least, not in the UK). I'm not sure if Stateside had the same VCRs, but in my opinion, Blu Ray is the new Betamax - sharper picture, but won't necessarily win the battle.

As with many TV / film collectors, I have most of my stuff on DVD and aren't really prepared to fork out for another format; especially one that hasn't really caught one (yet?).

As for MPI, I think it would take a lot of remastering for Blu-ray specs. But for someone who has had to put up with blurry off-air copies, often several copies (dubs) old and edited for time, I'm generally pretty happy with my DVDs for now!

Jay-Firestorm wrote:

James J. Walters wrote:Blu-ray did win the format war earlier this year, so we might see something "down the road".... maybe. Right now there are hardly ANY older tv shows released on Blu-ray, or even scheduled to be released. I Dream of Jeannie is supposed to get the Blu-ray treatment, so anything is possible I guess.

I'm not sure it's really "won the war" (at least, not in the UK). I'm not sure if Stateside had the same VCRs, but in my opinion, Blu Ray is the new Betamax - sharper picture, but won't necessarily win the battle.

As with many TV / film collectors, I have most of my stuff on DVD and aren't really prepared to fork out for another format; especially one that hasn't really caught one (yet?).

As for MPI, I think it would take a lot of remastering for Blu-ray specs. But for someone who has had to put up with blurry off-air copies, often several copies (dubs) old and edited for time, I'm generally pretty happy with my DVDs for now!

Trust me Jay, Blu Ray won (at least over here)... Its almost like the anti-Beta backlash from back in the day.

Doc Ibold wrote:

Jay-Firestorm wrote:

James J. Walters wrote:Blu-ray did win the format war earlier this year, so we might see something "down the road".... maybe. Right now there are hardly ANY older tv shows released on Blu-ray, or even scheduled to be released. I Dream of Jeannie is supposed to get the Blu-ray treatment, so anything is possible I guess.

I'm not sure it's really "won the war" (at least, not in the UK). I'm not sure if Stateside had the same VCRs, but in my opinion, Blu Ray is the new Betamax - sharper picture, but won't necessarily win the battle.

As with many TV / film collectors, I have most of my stuff on DVD and aren't really prepared to fork out for another format; especially one that hasn't really caught one (yet?).

As for MPI, I think it would take a lot of remastering for Blu-ray specs. But for someone who has had to put up with blurry off-air copies, often several copies (dubs) old and edited for time, I'm generally pretty happy with my DVDs for now!

Trust me Jay, Blu Ray won (at least over here)... Its almost like the anti-Beta backlash from back in the day.

I think what Jay is saying is that blu-ray may have won the war against HD format, but it isn't yet clear whether consumers will buy into a new format.

I might get a blu-ray player at some point, but only if it costs the same as a regular dvd player and as long as it plays standard dvds.

I think companies are just trying to make money on old material by upgrading the visual quality...but I think they should focus on the storytelling. Look at Star Wars - the new trilogy was far superior in terms of image quality and special effects, but the movies sucked compared to the old ones.

I'm happy watching MPI on a crappy old TV because the stories are great. However, I do notice that a few episodes have noticeably dark exterior shots. It's nice to see those sparkling blue Hawaiian skies contrasted with the lush green grounds of the Estate.

wait...am I contradicting myself here?