I finished the German Cinema Edition and I strongly recommend it. It's not perfect -- the disc could've had a higher bit-rate for starters -- other than a couple of bits like I mentioned before, I found the movie looked much more consistent from start to end and the telecine colorist really did a superb job on balance.
I trust Andy's assessment and the video comparison above looks way better than the Shout restoration. I'm willing to put up with a couple of off-color scenes for $18.61. I thought the Shout was very bright overall, with some scenes looking washed out and devoid of detail. "Van Helsing's Solution," where he cuts out his daughter Mina's heart is a prime example.
Exactly, and there's another scene that bothered me -- when Dracula and Lucy are on his castle bannister when she goes there to have dinner. The Shout theatrical restoration is so bright, it looks like the Genesis planet -- the green vegetation looks incredibly fake on the railing in front of them and the entire brightness level seems hugely pumped up. I can't imagine it was ever intended to be that bright and lit that way.
I just wonder if whatever print Shout had access to was not color corrected -- that there needed to be some filtering or other components applied, and what they released was an unmolested print minus adjustments that were made before it went out for actual release (or maybe the color in that print had gotten more intense over time? I'm grabbing at straws here). I say that because the German "Cinema Edition" looks much more like the movie I first saw on home video, with splotches of color but a general golden/"autumnal" hue to it. Those early home video prints did
not look like "full-on Technicolor" for lack of a better description the way the Shout transfer does.
The more I try to watch the Shout theatrical print, the more disappointing it becomes -- because there are scenes that look great, but then you have the DNR reel, and other glitches that are so prominent it takes you out of the film as a viewer. More over, the brightness level DOES seem out of whack and the color is so over-the-top at times that I'd imagine some reviewers might've mentioned it when it first opened in 1979. There was a reason the Maurice Binder love scene stuck out and it's because there was so much red on-screen -- it was bathed in colors the rest the movie lacked!
It's something where I should amend my review at some point because I think I was so wrapped up, like a lot of people were, in finally getting a version that wasn't the "Badham color drain" that I kind of missed other issues just beyond that one reel that had no detail.
The same may hold true for the Shout release of DRACULA, but i will certainly hold onto it for while.
The release to watch for is Indicator's eventual Blu-Ray in the UK, because they've said they are hunting for better elements than what Shout had access to. They work with Universal so hopefully they uncover something, somewhere in healthier condition. I'd also trust their transfer/telecine people much more with the mastering process than Shout's QC.
My first international order. With shipping it came out to $18.61. Amazon had it for $29.95 plus tac. Even though I don't have the region free board for my Oppo, I still have the means to play it. It's worth the chance.
JPC will give you a tracking number, and it took about 2 weeks for it to get here which is pretty good under the circumstances. They ship DHL, which is then handed over to the post office. Be aware though you do have to sign for it -- at least I had to.
Amazon.de, like the other Euro Amazons, used to have insanely cheap shipping rates but those days are gone and it's no longer a go-to place for me. When I do import, I order direct from the specific labels now or try JPC, who I've ordered classical sets from in the past and they did a great job packing for international transit.
