Topic: Volume 4 Comparison Screenshots (w/ Review)

[xraffle]

Once again, Sony did an amazing job with this set. “Micro-Phonies” looks the complete opposite from the previous DVD release. It looks amazing and Christine McIntyre’s line is complete. All of you should be very pleased by the way it looks. Some people complained about “Dizzy Detectives” being too grainy, but I didn’t think it was so bad. The earlier DVD release was a lot more grainer. In my opinion, it would be wrong of Sony to remove all the grain as it would just degrade the image. Some people, including me, weren’t very pleased with “Idiot’s Deluxe” as the short is filled with dirt and scratches. I was upset about it myself, but after I looked at the previous DVD release, it was actually worse. In this DVD set, it is slightly cleaner, but not by much. So, I don’t think Sony forgot to clean it up. It seems like it was a dirty short to begin with and there wasn’t much they could do about it. Overall, the picture quality is excellent. Every short looks the best I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s a little too good. In “The Yoke’s On Me,” you can see the strings on the goose when it bites Curly’s nose. And that’s just one example. Be prepared to see a lot of strings and stunt doubles when watching this set. The picture is that sharp.

The audio quality varies in each short. Overall, the audio is clean and the sound is good. S&C mentioned that “Crash Goes The Hash” had inferior audio. I agree with him on that, but when I compared it to the previous DVD, that one also had inferior audio as well. So, there wasn’t much Sony could’ve done with it. “The Yoke’s On Me” still has that thin sound to it, but it sounds better than the VHS release. Even though it has a thin sound, the dialogue is very clear, unlike the VHS copy. One minor problem I had with the audio is that sometimes the volume would just fluctuate. This is evident in “No Dough Boys.” The sound would get low and then become loud. This occurs during their acrobatic act. I’m not sure if this was a compression issue or a problem with the original source, but this wasn’t a problem on the previous DVD. But it’s not that bad.

Unlike the previous volumes, there aren’t any music clippings in this set, which is a big plus. Volume 1 had a lot of episodes with clippings, while Volumes 2 and 3 each only had one episode where the music was clipped. Overall, this is a magnificent set to own. It’s hard to believe that when Sony releases Volume 5, our Curly collection will be complete and our Shemp collection will begin. After the wonderful job Sony has been doing, I am very confident that they will do a good job with the future sets.

Below are comparison screenshots I made with the episodes on Volume 4. These comparisons should definitely look night and day, especially "Micro-Phonies."

Micro-Phonies "Curly Classics" DVD Volume 4 DVD Spook Louder "Spook Louder" DVD Volume 4 DVD Higher Than A Kite "Nutty But Nice" DVD Volume 4 DVD Dizzy Detectives "Cops & Robbers" DVD Volume 4 DVD Dizzy Pilots "G.I. Stooge" DVD Volume 4 DVD Phony Express "Healthy, Wealthy & Dumb" DVD Volume 4 DVD Gents Without Cents "Healthy, Wealthy & Dumb" DVD Volume 4 DVD

[falsealarms]

I agree - night and day for sure. The only one that is kind of close is DIZZY DETECTIVES - not as drastic as the others. I never saw how it looked on the old DVD.

Will you have the chance (if possible) to compare others like DIZZY PILOTS, GENTS WITHOUT CENTS, PHONY EXPRESS?

[xraffle]

I'll work on it, but I can tell you right now that they are very similar, which is why I didn't compare them. But if people would like to see them, then I'll add it in.

[xraffle]

Ok, I added the screenshots. You will notice there's barely any difference with "Gents Without Cents." The other two shorts have some difference to them, but not much.

[falsealarms]

Good work. I always enjoy these comparative shots.

[Dunrobin]

Is it just me, or does it seem as though some of the older DVDs had the episode cropped and resized?  I particularly noticed it with the comparisons for Micro-phonies and Spook Louder.  Not only is every crisper and clearer, but you can see that there's a bit more of the set in the picture, as though the camera was a little further back.  (I'm assuming that the shots being displayed were made under the same conditions and weren't cropped themselves.)

[xraffle]

Is it just me, or does it seem as though some of the older DVDs had the episode cropped and resized?  I particularly noticed it with the comparisons for Micro-phonies and Spook Louder.  Not only is every crisper and clearer, but you can see that there's a bit more of the set in the picture, as though the camera was a little further back.  (I'm assuming that the shots being displayed were made under the same conditions and weren't cropped themselves.)

Yeah, I brought that up when I posted the Volume 3 screenshots. The older DVDs are more zoomed in for some reason. I didn't crop anything. I captured these images exactly as they appeared on the DVD.

BTW- When I was watching "Micro-Phonies" on this new set, I finally know what the guests at the party look like. On the older prints, the picture was so bright that everyone's face was whited out.

[locoboymakesgood]

As always x, I really enjoy the screen shots so thank you!

Micro-Phonies... ouch. I can't believe it was put out on DVD like that to begin with back in 1999. Man!

[xraffle]

Micro-Phonies... ouch. I can't believe it was put out on DVD like that to begin with back in 1999. Man!

I know. It was a disgrace. Who knew that Sony would have such a beautiful copy stashed away in their vault. And another good thing about this new set is that Christine McIntyre's line is complete. No more jump in her dialogue.

[fwdstuck]

I know. It was a disgrace. Who knew that Sony would have such a beautiful copy stashed away in their vault. And another good thing about this new set is that Christine McIntyre's line is complete. No more jump in her dialogue.

I got mine a couple of hours ago at wally world. All I can say is WOW on Micro-Phonies. Yea, Sony has been going back to the vaults on these dvds. All we have been seeing for the past 50 years were dupes. And keeping the original negatives safe. Not to destroy them. I just glad that Columbia owned the shorts all these years until Sony bought them out. Not like the cartoons shorts that have changed owners 100 times over. With diffrent owner title cards. Destroyed negatives. Like the Popeye shorts.

[Stooges#1]

Thanks for the time and effort, X. Those comparisons look fantastic.

[xraffle]

I just finished watching the entire set, so I decided to add a review to my original post.

[locoboymakesgood]

I need to see if I'm just blind or if it's the new set..

It's pretty obvious that at the end of Crash Goes the Hash, strings are holding Curly while Simona Boniface picks him up lay some smooches on him. What I hadn't noticed before though is that the strings stay attached to the back of Curly until the short's over. I would have thought they would have unattached him while filming then filmed the ending, but with this insanely clean print I noticed the strings are attached to him all the way to the end!

Am I blind or are they blatantly visible on older prints?

[ThumpTheShoes]

It's pretty obvious that at the end of Crash Goes the Hash, strings are holding Curly while Simona Boniface picks him up lay some smooches on him.

You can also hear the whirring clatter of the pulleys as he's lifted up and let back down!

[xraffle]

I need to see if I'm just blind or if it's the new set..

It's pretty obvious that at the end of Crash Goes the Hash, strings are holding Curly while Simona Boniface picks him up lay some smooches on him. What I hadn't noticed before though is that the strings stay attached to the back of Curly until the short's over. I would have thought they would have unattached him while filming then filmed the ending, but with this insanely clean print I noticed the strings are attached to him all the way to the end!

Am I blind or are they blatantly visible on older prints?

You're not blind. Like I said in my review, be prepared to see strings and stunt doubles when watching this set. There's a lot of them that I never noticed before.

[FineBari3]

You can also hear the whirring clatter of the pulleys as he's lifted up and let back down!

This sounds like a discussion similar to when Sgt. Pepper came out on CD back in the 1980's.

[ThumpTheShoes]

This sounds like a discussion similar to when Sgt. Pepper came out on CD back in the 1980's.

Well, kinda. Only the first 3000 or so pressings of this set actually have the whirring clatter of the pulleys sound. It was discovered that, when played backwards, you could actually hear Curly's sped-up voice saying, "Folla that Sumbitch!!" over and over again.

On a similar note, I like how in the mono mix of Higher Than a Kite, you can really hear Moe's subliminal message, "Murder those guys!" when the grenade goes off.

But, I think the stereo re-mix was a waste of time, since all of Larry's vocals come out of the right speaker, now, instead of the left side, like in the original Bubusalese release.

[xraffle]

Well, kinda. Only the first 3000 or so pressings of this set actually have the whirring clatter of the pulleys sound. It was discovered that, when played backwards, you could actually hear Curly's sped-up voice saying, "Folla that Sumbitch!!" over and over again.

On a similar note, I like how in the mono mix of Higher Than a Kite, you can really hear Moe's subliminal message, "Murder those guys!" when the grenade goes off.

But, I think the stereo re-mix was a waste of time, since all of Larry's vocals come out of the right speaker, now, instead of the left side, like in the original Bubusalese release.

That reminds me, in "The Yoke's On Me," it certainly sounds like the guy said 'bastard' when he couldn't get his car to start. On the VHS release, it was hard to figure out, but on this new set, it sounds to me like that's what he said.

[ThumpTheShoes]

That reminds me, in "The Yoke's On Me," it certainly sounds like the guy said 'bastard' when he couldn't get his car to start. On the VHS release, it was hard to figure out, but on this new set, it sounds to me like that's what he said.

Definitely sounds like "bastard" to me, too! I like how the captioning reads, "Ah, darn."

The "Murder those guys" thing in Higher Than a Kite really is kinda creepy, though. I'd forgotten about it until I was watching the new set. If it really was intended as a subliminal "programming" message, it was, perhaps, a little underhanded, if not just a bit too technical/subtle for a Stooge short. Could this have been a parody of some other film/scene, or is it evidence of something edited out of the short, or scripted and not filmed?

Subtitles on the Nutty But Nice dvd peg the whispered line as, "Who are those guys?" Though, it doesn't make sense that Moe wouldn't recognise the swastikas, maybe it really is just a misplaced/badly timed ADR, like "Hey. Whaddya know? How 'bout that!" from Outer Space Jitters.. Or "workshed" in Evil Dead II?