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Digital Cameras - Camcorders - Young Frankenstein [Blu-ray]
![Young Frankenstein [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61-o7%2B2eWVL._SL160_.jpg)
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List Price: $39.99
Our Price: $22.45
Your Save: $ 17.54 ( 44% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Liam Dunn
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: Blu-ray
EAN: 0024543533191
Format: AC-3
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 2008-10-07
Running Time: 105
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 1974
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: 'Nuff Said
Comment: Hey, it's Young Frankenstein on Blu Ray. Do I really need to say ANYTHING else??
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bad Disc
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets!
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Whole Grain
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Blu Ray Edition a MAJOR Disappointment!
Comment: 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.
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Editorial Reviews:
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If you were to argue that Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein ranks among the top-ten funniest movies of all time, nobody could reasonably dispute the claim. Spoofing classic horror in the way that Brooks's previous film Blazing Saddles sent up classic Westerns, the movie is both a loving tribute and a raucous, irreverent parody of Universal's classic horror films Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Filming in glorious black and white, Brooks re-created the Frankenstein laboratory using the same equipment from the original Frankenstein (courtesy of designer Kenneth Strickfaden), and this loving attention to physical and stylistic detail creates a solid foundation for nonstop comedy. The story, of course, involves Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) and his effort to resume experiments in re-animation pioneered by his late father. (He's got some help, since dad left behind a book titled How I Did It.) Assisting him is the hapless hunchback Igor (Marty Feldman) and the buxom but none-too-bright maiden Inga (Teri Garr), and when Frankenstein succeeds in creating his monster (Peter Boyle), the stage is set for an outrageous revision of the Frankenstein legend. With comedy highlights too numerous to mention, Brooks guides his brilliant cast (also including Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman in a classic cameo role) through scene after scene of inspired hilarity. Indeed, Young Frankenstein is a charmed film, nothing less than a comedy classic, representing the finest work from everyone involved. Not one joke has lost its payoff, and none of the countless gags have lost their zany appeal. From a career that includes some of the best comedies ever made, this is the film for which Mel Brooks will be most fondly remembered. Befitting a classic, the Special Edition DVD includes audio commentary by Mel Brooks, a "making of" documentary, interviews with the cast, hilarious bloopers and outtakes, and the original theatrical trailers. No video library should be without a copy of Young Frankenstein. And just remember--that's Fronkensteen. --Jeff Shannon
Beyond Young Frankenstein 
How the West Was Won
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The Longest Day
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Blazing Saddles |
Stills from Young Frankenstein (Click for larger image)
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