(Mouse Over the Title to see the rendered edition in the new Hitchcock Masterpiece Boxset)
USA 1958
Although it wasn't a box-office success when originally released in 1958, Vertigo has since taken its deserved place as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, most spellbinding, most deeply personal achievement. James Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired by an old friend to follow his wife (a superb Kim Novak, in what becomes a double role), whom he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a dead madwoman. Shot around San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are significant locations) and elsewhere in Northern California (the redwoods, Mission San Juan Batista) in rapturous Technicolor, Vertigo is as lovely as it is haunting.
*****
"Hitchcock's most memorable and haunting film of obsession wrapped in a surrealist plot of desperation and genuine edge-of-seat thrills. This is a film benefits greatly from the most pristine viewing available to help reveal its true grandeur. It is too easy to be swallowed whole by Hitchcock's eerie feel and majestic vision, pounding with Bernard Herrmann's unforgettable score. A tale that mocks our own perceptions of superficiality and inconclusive aspects of love... and why we cannot recreate it."
Gary W. Tooze
International Posters + Lobby Card (Click most to enlarge)
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Theatrical Release: May 8th, 1958 - San Francisco
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DVD Comparison:
Universal - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal - Region 1 (Masterpiece Collection) - NTSC
(Universal - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Universal (Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution | Universal Studios
Region 1 - NTSC |
Universal Studios
(Hitchcock Masterpiece) Region 1 - NTSC |
| Runtime | 2:09:28 | 2:09:28 |
| Video | Widescreen
letterbox - 1.83:1 Average Bitrate: 5.41 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
Widescreen 16:9 enhanced - 1.86:1 Average
Bitrate: 6.91 mb/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate
Initial release
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| Bitrate
HMC release |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 5.1) , English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 1.0 | English (Dolby Digital 5.1) , English Dolby Digital 2.0 , English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 1.0 |
| Subtitles | Spanish, French, English (captions), None | Spanish, French, English (captions), None |
| Features |
Release
Information: Aspect Ratio: • 8 page liner notes pamphlet with articles and photos DVD Release Date:
Chapters
35 |
Release
Information: Aspect
Ratio:
Edition Details: DVD Release Date:
October 4th, 2005 Chapters
35 |
Masterpiece Collection Package images - (CLICK to enlarge)
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| Comments |
NOTE: To more fully distinguish the
differences we have, as usual, let our software upsize the anamorphic
release to its chosen 960 pixel width. We have always found that this does
a more consistent and less manipulative job that generic programs. We have
left the non-anamorphic edition at 720 wide. Both are jpeg manipulated to
a negligible 10% of original (90%) for purposes of posting on the
Internet. So, bottom line, if we are being technically fair, the
anamorphic images have had more manipulation for posting than the
non-anamorphic, but this never results in improvement - only a slight
softening that is virtually unnoticeable on standard computer monitors
upwards of 1600pixel wide resolution.
****** This is pretty fun to compare - there are some strong differences and some minor ones as well. It is quite obvious that the new 16X9 issue has a sharper, more detailed image. It is also minimally cropped on all 4 edges. In the new issue, available only in the Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection Boxset, everything looks brighter than the old Vertigo DVD. There are a few technical imperfections that we will note.
Colors look a bit different at times
(semi-tone shades vary) and we really have no way of stating that after
digital processing one is positively more accurate than the other. Even
compared to the Harris/Katz film restoration, the original DVD has some
variance. Has the new release been brightened? - my guess would be yes,
but it is not so significant as to unduly alter the integrity of the
original presentation.
In The old DVD contained 7.26 Gig (film
- 3.357) of data where the new has 7.24 (film - 3.535). This can be
explained. The new release technically might have less data for the
anamorphicity - where the old included the data of the 'black bars', but
the new issue makes up for that with the mono track (although that is only
179 meg).
The old issue had a very
slim black border around the edge but all the new issue is tight to the
frame maximizing horizontal resolution. This is an improvement, albeit
slight.
Subtitles are better in the new issue, with Universal
usually positioning them under the speaker, but the font is also less
intrusive and more visually appealing.
Vertigo's
much awaited mono track has a few minor crackles and pops - but it does,
however, sound very good and better than the old 5.1 remix in my opinion -
also more accurate.
This alone would be reason enough to buy the
Hitchcock Masterpiece
Collection Boxset.
The new issue does not include the 8-page liner notes
booklet included in the initial release. The cost
per disc of the
Hitchcock Masterpiece set is between
$5.73 to $5.06 per disc. Universal is virtually giving this away, and at
DVDBeaver we rate this as the greatest deal in DVD history to date.
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(Universal - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Universal (Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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DVD Menus
(Universal - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Universal (Hitchcock Masterpiece
Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
