Customer Reviews

Christmas Carol, A - Colour

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Granted, the sharpness of the picture is better then the VCI version, but there are persistent, light white scratches, that appear horizontally across the middle of the screen for great amounts of time, usually right across someone's face, that are so annoyingly distracting that watching this version is not much fun (it's kind of almost as bad as watching a cheap DVD that has a line going vertically, through the it for a nice chunk of time).

I checked out two different copies of this DVD and tried them on two different DVD players, to make sure that the scratches had nothing to do with my equipment.

The VCI version is the one to get, as though the picture may be a tad softer, there are no annoying scratches on the print (and until I actually did a side by side comparison of the two, I didn't even notice the VCI version being at all, soft)

Also, the booklet that comes with this new version has nothing of any importance, what so ever, where as the liner notes on the VCI DVD are way more informative.

The only thing that this version does have over the VCI version is the inclusion of an unremastered trailer (which isn't really all that great, as trailers go, anyway).

Hope this helps :)

I own various dvds of this DEFINITIVE production, naturally i was so excited to see a restored version of this movie. However, this EMERALD EDITION dvd is a HUGE dissapointment. The booklet claims the dvd was created from 7 different prints. That would explain why specks come and go, lines (film scrapes) appear for some scenes, sound changes through out (hissing comes and goes), and worst, imo, the tint changes when Marleys ghost enters the room (turns slightly greenish) All of this is very annoying. Keep your VCI version for now, and hope for a proper restoration by someone like CRITERION.

A Christmas Carol: Emerald Edition is a very disappointing release. A restoration should be pristine or as close to it as possible. This release is not even as good as previous releases. A waste of time and money.

Before the bluray came out, I had the 50th Anniversary "Emerald Edition" dvd with the UK version "Scrooge" as well as the US version, both restored from the best copies of the film then available, including some restored scenes that had been missing. There were only a few glitches in the movie, including a brief pause in one or two places.

The new bluray release is even better, taking advantage of the restored 35mm print, and adding subtitles (a lack in the dvd release) and a 5.1 track for those who prefer that to the original mono audio.

I didn't see any of the problems Badgley described, and I wonder what player he was using for playback. I use a Samsung bluray player that is a few years old now but doing well. The price is excellent too. I got it for 11.20 US+4.98 shipping, or 16.18 US. You can't go wrong.

" a Christmas Carol" December 12, 2003

The Alastair Sim version of Christmas Carol is
the most perfect of the all the movie versions.
In black and white, brooding, with sparse sets and music
not distracting,grim detail, the ghost story that Dickens conveyed of a cold, bleak England and one man who lived there.

Jacob Marley hoping to help Scrooge
understand the cruelty of his ways and not suffering the same
fate! The souls throwing money to trying to repent from what
they did not do in life, made me cry.
(Note: see Patrick MacNee as the young Marley)

The ghosts are not gentle in
showing Scrooge the errors of his ways.
The ghost of Christmas present
telling Scrooge that 'want(the girl) and ignorance(the boy) cling to him at this time of year.
"Beware of both
but most of all beware the boy!"
Most insightful and true to this very day.

The changes in Scrooge after his ghostly visits are not phoney.
He is elated, sorrowful, and humbled by his experience.
A wonderful movie to be shown anytime of the year.
It's just a very special movie for all the family.

For the umpteenth time VCI has re-released A Christmas Carol in a,now called,Diamond Edition.They have even enlisted the talent of movie critic Leonard Maltin to introduce the film to give them more street cred and added some extras like silent versions of the film and a new 5.1 Dolby surround sound along with the original mono,and on and on.The print that many others have raved about DOES look excellent,to a point.I actually kind of re-discovered the film all over again,that is how good the picture looked.I even saw for the first time the legendary man in the mirror.If you aren't aware of the story,a stage hand is visible in mirror Sims looks into Christmas morning.
Here's the nitty-gritty.
Let's start by saying that the menu is not user friendly at all.There is no option to skip Maltin's intro,you have to push forward for that.If you go into the options menu there is a list for the commentary,the different sound options,etc.If you hit one,for example the commentary,there is no way to stop it but to come back there and hit something else like a sound option!
The film is shown in a boxed form.There are two black bars running horizontally top and bottom(like widescreen),then there are two vertical bars on either side of the picture,so the film is seen in its original a/r,not an entire full screen format(i.e. fitted to your TV screen).This is alright per se',but I will now list the defects that occur and leave the speculation as to what causes them(either poor film elements,the digital process or a manufacturers defect)to YOU.Throughout the film there are periodic white flashes along the side black bars,at one point on the far right side of the frame a distortion bar appears running vertically from top to bottom of the film,there are constant slight jumps in the film,the scene where Marley's ghost throws open Ebeneezers' door to enter,the door blurs as it opens and Ebeneezer blurs as he quickly steps-back,and finally comes the scene where two women and an undertaker are trying to sell off dead Scrooge's belongings.At one point as the second woman speaks her dialogue it cuts out completely,as her mouth continues to move,then cuts back in as her dialogue quickly catches back up to her mouth.A strange glitch.What is even stranger is that I thought I would watch the movie with the commentary on at that point,and from what I heard there is NO cut out of dialogue at that exact moment,during the commentary.Now,go figure that one out!
I can only ask VCI one thing,where is the quality control here? Does anyone there actually watch the finished product or is it just rush it out and cash in?And speaking of VCI,this is the second product of theirs in the last month I have reviewed and the other didn't fair well either because of VCI's cheap packaging which compromised the integrity of the discs inside.If you have seen Maltin's intro you will have noticed(coincidence?)two figurines to his left.They were Laurel and Hardy and the set of their films VCI released so terribly,is what I refer to.
So my final thoughts are these.VCI,after repeated releases,have finally released a half way decent print of this film but,as you have read,it is terribly fraught with glitches and defects throughout.My advice is to hold out and hope either 1)VCI gets their quality control act together and releases a much more professional and consumer friendly DVD product or 2)someone else comes along and beats them to the punch.Either way give this one a big pass.

We watch "A Christmas Carol" every Christmas eve. I decided to buy this version even though, for the most part, I don't like the idea of colourizing black and white films. In this case, however, the colourized version transformed the film in only positive ways. The classic black and white film is hard to see due to the age of the film and this colourized version lights up the film and I felt like I was 'seeing' the film for the first time. Good heaven's I could see the chain around the waist of Marley's ghost! I could see the patterns on the wallpaper and curtains. Sim's portrayal of Scrooge is the benchmark and it was wonderful to see that performance afresh. So, don't hesitate to try this version even if you - like me - don't usually like them fiddling with classics.

I was sent this version, the Emerald Edition, of the Blu-ray releases by error. Amazon has refunded my money and boy am I glad. This version is exactly the same as the DVD version of the Emerald edition, scratchy in some scenes, blurry in others, green tint, and hissing and popping sound. It would be one thing if they took an entire scene from ONE bit of stock footage, but when the hissing comes and goes during a scene (like in the scene where Scrooge and Marley meet for the first time) and the picture changes, it's just not enjoyable. It might be forgivable and that's a very slim "might", if it only occurred during scene changes, but it doesn't and the Emerald edition is very annoying to watch. I was more than sorry when I bought the DVD and when Amazon sent me this version of the Blu-ray by mistake I was very disappointed. I popped it in my blu-ray player because the version I bought was supposed to be subtitled and when I discovered this one wasn't that is when I realized there must have been an error in shipping. If you want to purchase this movie in blu-ray I urge you to purchase the other blu-ray version they have listed. I finally got that one which is the one I had originally ordered and it is outstanding! I would rate the other version A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray] well more than five stars.

Gene Shalit said, "There have been at least eight movie versions [of A Christmas Carol] . . . but the single enduring version is the 1951 film starring Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge . . . an incomparable Christmas present." If this is your favorite version of A Christmas Carol, you should definitely buy this collector's edition.

If you haven't seen this version, let me characterize it for you. The film story closely follows the Dickens original with its emphasis on how Ebenezer Scrooge went from being a caring person who wanted to do good for others to someone who only cared about money, until four spirits (his dead partner, Jacob Marley; Christmas past; Christmas current; and Christmas future) visit him and scare Scrooge into reforming which he does on Christmas day. The acting is often overdone, featuring overreactions of the sort that were popular in vaudeville and silent pictures. Many of the actors seem miscast because they are quite plump and prosperous looking, even though they are supposed to be quite poor (this is especially true of Mervyn Johns who plays bob Cratchit, Scrooge's browbeaten, underpaid clerk.). Naturally spirits require special effects and those are pretty primitive due to the year of the film.

So why do people like it? For me, the acting by Alastair Sim as old Scrooge, Patrick MacNee as young Jacob Marley, and Glyn Dearman as Tiny Tim were not only first-rate, they moved me in many ways. Dickens's concept for the story is also pure genius. There is also some wonderful signing of Christmas carols to get you in the mood. It was nice to see such a good performance . . . especially if I didn't look too closely at the actors who didn't please me.

As I watched the original version, I found myself thinking about the choices made by the producer, director, and scriptwriters for about the first 20 minutes. But midway through the appearance of Jacob Marley in Scrooge's house, I found myself forgetting that I was watching a movie and just enjoyed the story from there.

The experience reminded me of watching old black-and-white films on the tiny screen of the Brattle Theater near Harvard Square. It was a good feeling.

Next, I looked at the expanded black-and-white version that includes the ability to fill a wide screen. This looked better, but I didn't like it as well. It didn't take me back into the world of how movies were made in 1951 as successfully.

Finally, I watched the colorized version . . . and hated it as I do almost all colorized black-and-white movies. But what can you do? Some people only want to watch color movies.

After that, I watched the 1935 version of the movie and found the quality to be so poor that it annoyed me. I gave up after about 15 minutes, thinking that I'll pick up there some other time. The 1935 version has several good qualities: the casting seems generally better, the contrasts between rich and poor are better developed, the sense of being in Dickens' London is stronger.

Watching the 1935 version made me quite appreciative of the good work done by VCI Entertainment. The images are clear, the lighting is consistent, the sound is understandable, and you don't feel like you are watching celluloid that's about to break.

For those who love all the details, you'll enjoy the various special features which include:

Before and after restoration comparison
Photo and press book gallery
Cast bios
Original trailers
Commentaries by Marcus Hearn and George Cole about "Spirit of Christmas Past," Alastair Sim, and George Minter (executive producer)

Toss away your "Bah, humbugs" and get in the Christmas Spirit!

Durring christmas time sometime they show or will have it on tv at a time I cannot watch it and miss it