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Young Frankenstein [Blu-ray]

Young Frankenstein [Blu-ray]

enlarge enlarge 		Actors: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Liam Dunn
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD

List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $22.99
You Save: $17.00 (43%)



New (24) Used (5) from $19.91

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 8 reviews
Sales Rank: 3380

Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Cantonese (Subtitled), Mandarin Chinese (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.6

MPN: FOXBR2253319
UPC: 024543533191
EAN: 0024543533191
ASIN: B001DDBD0O

Theatrical Release Date: 1974
Release Date: October 7, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Customer Reviews:   Read 3 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars 'Nuff Said   November 9, 2008
Rudy Hayes (Parts Unknown)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Hey, it's Young Frankenstein on Blu Ray. Do I really need to say ANYTHING else??


2 out of 5 stars Bad Disc   November 2, 2008
Arthur R. Valencia (Exeter, California United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

5-Stars to this movie. My very favorite Comedy. 5-Stars to Amazon.com's Customer Service. Their return policy is the best. Now to my problem with this Blu-Ray release. It will not play on my Panasonic BR player. It will get to the Main menu, but when I click Play, it will just set there and go no farther. I even tried going through Scene selection and it still will not go no farther after clicking on any scene selected. I returned it for a replacement and received another one. Same problem. I returned for refund and plan on buying it later after this batch of defective Blu-Rays are used up. I have my player updated with the lastest drivers and have not experienced this problem with any of the others in my extensive collection of Blu-Rays.


4 out of 5 stars As good as it gets!   October 29, 2008
Brian Banning (Philadelphia, PA. United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I just purchased Young Frankenstein on Blu-ray, and I have to say that the transfer is about as good as this film will ever look. Yes, it is grainy, but that is the way Mel Brooks intended the film to look. Be thankful you are getting a very nice anamorphic transfer after all these years. Fox got it right, as for the bonus material it really is what fans of the film have been waiting for except for the deleted scenes not being presented in anamorphic widescreen, but what are you going to do. The sound is good, but not great, and the new stuff is great.


3 out of 5 stars Whole Grain   October 23, 2008
Dan Henderson (Decatur, GA USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

If you're a fan of classic horror, this is a good one to have. In an apparent attempt to replicate the technique of the original Universal horrors, this film is INCREDIBLY grainy. I saw the film first run on a big screen and I don't remember it being THIS grainy. It's like the whole thing is infested by billions of swarming gnats. I'm all for the director's intent, but geez. Also, this being Mel Brooks, the humor is (of course) quite ham fisted.


2 out of 5 stars Blu Ray Edition a MAJOR Disappointment!   October 13, 2008
Alric Knebel (Biloxi, MS)
Though the film itself is a 5-star comedy masterpiece, I'm going to have to give this Blu Ray edition only two stars. The problem is the level of graininess. I'm well aware that grain is a feature of the medium itself. I'm also aware that a Blu Ray player will reveal more of this grain on our home theaters than what we're used to. But natural grain is not what I'm talking about here. On this disc, some error in the transfer exaggerated the grain to the point it became something akin to noise.

This is not a minor complaint. What it means is that the details of the original image have been lost behind all this conspicuous graininess, the true picture buried beneath a stippled haze. Sharpness and depth are replaced with clusters of dots. For example, as fans of this movie who saw it in theaters might recall, there are a few scenes in which the cinematography abruptly changes from the smooth B&W to a grainier cobble, instances in which the camera zooms in for a close-up. In the original theatrical presentation, the reason the grain changed is because the zoom wasn't executed during the initial filming, but was instead achieved in the editing. An image was magnified by some process, and the film grain in the original picture becomes more apparent as it, too, becomes larger. But in this Blu Ray edition, the film is suffused with so much graininess, the effect of the shift in style was completely lost. The grain is now a literal interference, eclipsing the subtleties in the shades and textures. Gone are the smooth gradations in tones between the rich contrast, the details in the shadows and in the backgrounds. The close-ups are passable, because the size of the overall image offsets the relative size of the squiggling flecks. However, scenes shot from further away were like monochrome impressions in pointillism. Black and gray particles wriggled in the lighter areas in such bold relief that it completely undermined the picture beneath it.

Now, I'm not asking for a picture IMPROVED over the original. I'm asking for an image that's an accurate reproduction of what I saw in the theater. Do NOT believe what you might be reading elsewhere, in some reviews by critics who are under the impression the graininess was an intentional effect to simulate the visual style of old movies. I assure you, it was not. Here's what I think happened. The technicians transferring the film to the Blu Ray format optimized the image via whatever software they use, and utilized the sharpen-image feature similar to that found in common photo software. Anyone who's worked with this kind of program is aware that you can apply this option only so far. When overused, the edges of the images become unnaturally hard. If you apply it to, say, a grainy photograph, the grain of which in the original is barely noticeable, all of the details are enhanced to the point that the grain itself becomes a bespeckled layer. It becomes too pronounced, sitting in front of the picture instead of comprising it. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN was ruined by the overzealous application of an image-sharpening tool. And while I can't support this next accusation with any cited proofs, I don't believe this transfer used the original negative as a reference, but was instead an upconverted copy of the same digital material used in the SD DVD. The sharpening made it look a bit different, and the player and HDTV you're using to view it will further account for a difference, but it won't be anywhere near the beautiful B&W image you'll likely be expecting. In comparing it with the SD DVD, the picture quality is clearly DIFFERENT, but definitely NOT improved. "Blu Ray" here was reduced to a gimmick to repackage the film and sell it again at a higher price. This is just simply inexcusable. All this film really needed was a simple 24-frames-per-second transfer from the original print to the Blu Ray format. On an HDTV, the clarity would take care of itself.

I hope this review serves to inform others on the verge of making the same mistake I made. The special features will be worth it for some fans who are hardcore collectors, but for me, those are always an afterthought, and not enough to overlook the transfer quality. Addressing just the transfer itself, nothing I've written is an exaggeration. Take note that among the reviews here, mine seems to be the first one written by a person who's actually seen this edition.