Gone with the Wind [70th Anniversary Edition] [Blu-ray] [1939]

I am drooling on my keyboard right at this moment, as I watch the splendor & beauty of this 70th Anniversary edition of "Gone With The Wind" on Blu-Ray! ...Absolutely mesmerizing! I doubt that I can properly put to eloquent words concerning the PQ of this Blu-ray with all it's Technicolor perfection, but I will make an honest attempt to communicate that this might be the single most amazing restoration of a film that is over 70 years old in age. Now this is not my first purchase of a classic film on Blu-Ray, I also have the " Wizard Of Oz " box set so I will use this as a comparison, when discussing PQ & AQ. Firstly, It is completely obvious to the human eye and owners of previous editions of this film will see that Warner Brothers have struck a completely new video master of this Historical film. I can find no blemishes, pixelation or any other type of artifact from bad encoding or poor filming technique. The Technicolor is a sight to behold, with this Blu-Ray edging out the glorious remaster of the " Wizard Of Oz ".. Flesh tones are accurate, colors are rich and focus & depth of field are deep, which will give the viewer new information on activities going on in the background. The Technicolor on this disc surpasses what you have seen on the " Wizard Of Oz " discs with colors much more deep & rich, not to mention accurate. Whites are bright and blacks are inky. The color pallete is well represented on this 70th Anniversary Edition, trust me you will be impressed, seeing Technicolor the way it was meant to be seen! This is an exciting time for collectors of vintage films, with this film showing its capabilities concerning older films being transferred to high definition. What we are seeing is the rebirth of film classics, bringing the old into the new with results that are superior to what was displayed on the silver screen. If " Gone With The Wind " is near and dear to your heart you will just love this remaster of this old film classic and I doubt it will ever look much better that what we are seeing on this Blu-Ray! The Sound quality is superb, but mainly front speaker heavy with the occasional music track playing in the rear fields. Now this TrueHD soundtrack is robust and really enhances the old mono frequencies and gives an accurate, uncompressed, realistic sound presence that will take the viewer deeper, with not only an immersive soundtrack but and impressive noise free remaster which surpasses the old mono two channel sound field. What I have just said could be an understatement! Granted this disc is light on extra's found on the Blu-Ray boxset, but lets be honest, most of us are after the fine picture and a slim DVD Blu-ray box that conforms to our collection. One thing I did not like about the " Wizard Of Oz " box collector's set is, it takes up way too much space on my shelves and most likely I will never purchase another. So the bottom line here is if you want all the trimmings and extra's you will most likely purchase the "Ultimate 70th anniversary edition," since this Anniversary Edition does not offer any of those things. If you are on the fence about purchasing this Anniversary edition, because you own it on DVD, I must reiterate that this new remastered version far surpasses any past increment of this wonderful film, in video & sound quality to a point that makes this 70+ year old film look & sound brand new!

This tale, like the heroine Scarlett herself, stands as strong as it did in the 1930's. Vivien Leigh is the strikingly beautiful Southern belle, of Irish descent, whose resilience and courage withstands the ravages of the Civil War. We watch her as she yearns for the inaccessible Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) and throws away her happiness with the man who loves her, that rascally pirate Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) with both hands. Hattie McDaniel is stellar as Mammy, who loves Scarlett unconditionally as if she were her own daughter, and who is saddened when Scarlett gives in to her own selfishness, often with tragic consequences. We see McDaniels reflect Mammy's fierce intense spirituality in her eyes throughout the entire film, and, when, frustrated with Scarlett's wrongdoings, she kneels down and prays. This spirituality is rare in any movie character, and I believe another classic example of this occurs practically 60 years later in Lord of the Rings, when Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) stands before his risen lord Gandalf. Howard is a brooding melancholy, courageous, yet troubled Ashley who bravely admits to Scarlett that, had the slaves not been freed after the War, he would have freed his own slaves anyway. Indeed, Ashley is better off doing menial tasks than working in the fancy office job Scarlett has given him! Olivia de Haviland, shines as the compassionate, loyal, yet physically frail Melanie, Ashley's wife. Classic screen legend Clark Gable is dashing as Scarlett's true love Rhett Butler. We must also be aware that Gone With the Wind is much more than a romance or a war story. It also provides some insight into the Irish culture, and Scarlett's heritage is a key factor in the whole tale. In the book, we learn that Scarlett's father Gerald (Thomas Mitchell) himself was a slave back in his native Ireland! He proudly trains up his daughter to be proud of her ancestry and to maintain strength in the face of adversity. Even after we see him after the War, his mind having snapped, he is still able to impart great Irish wisdom. The only flaw this movie has is that two important book characters are missing, namely Scarlett's little son Wade, who is also Melanie's biological nephew, whom Melanie practically raises because Scarlett cannot be bothered with him. Wade is a link between Scarlett and Melanie whose presence in the movie would have made an already great film even greater. Also missing is Scarlett's level-headed brother-in-law Will, who is a comfort and stabilizing influence to Scarlett's entire family. Gone With the Wind has truly deserved its status as one of the greatest movies of all time!

Gone With the Wind offers both the original mono track as well as a repurposed Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix, which is rather conservative in its surround ambitions, but which cleans and clarifies the source material rather dramatically at times. A lot of purists decry these surround reimaginings, but I have a hunch few will argue about the propriety of this particular renovation. Dialogue is almost inescapably in the front center channel. Surround channels kick in where you'd expect them to, in such bombastic segment as the Civil War battles. Steiner's score typically also fills all the channels. I was rather impressed with the opening up of the sound itself. Too often Dolby tracks, even lossless high def iterations, sound to me like they're overly compressed, especially on the high end. You'll notice quite a bit more hiss on the mono track, but that noise reduction in the TrueHD track does not mean a loss of the high end, which is to be lauded. This is a subtly repurposed 5.1 mix that preserves the front and center soundfield of the original soundtrack while gently nudging it into the surround channels at appropriate times. While even the TrueHD re-do can't completely overcome the technical limitations of the original recordings (you'll hear this in the somewhat boxy sound of the music mostly), this is really quite an excellent upgrade that should delight even the most discriminating listener.

Sometimes the south is portrayed in an alternate historical view, and this movie does just that, this is a great classic film for its PQ and story but though if you go in knowing your history , you'll know it romanticized the south without showing the ugly side of history. So I would not say this is a true representation of that era but of what the directors' idealized version of the south. So this movie does not tackle thorny issues in regards to social issues, so maybe that's why it's aged so well, because it's ambiguous to the real issues of the time. Still it's a movie that's talked about and written about. Still a must and worth a watch if you like film.

I can't believe I was able to get through the whole thing. At 3 hour, 58 minutes, this is the longest film I've ever seen and one of the few that actually had an intermission. Yeah, that is a long running time, but in my opinion every minute was essential. There were very few moments that dragged. I was surprised at how much soap opera the film contained. So many emotions and events happen in the story; how could you not find the film engaging? I was also amazed at the quality of the acting and direction of a film from 1939. It really deserves the 8 Oscars it earned that year. Obviously, if you don't like melodramas or have the patience to watch something for 4 hours, this may not be the movie for you. Otherwise, everyone should take the chance to see this sometime in their life.

Ok this is going to be to the point as Gone With The Wind is a well known film. What I want to talk about is the quality of the bluray. Picture and sound are amazing This is an old movie but it looks fantastic and really sounds great as well also I have viewed the new bluray that came out not too long ago of this film and as far as I can tell the transfers are the same and I really was looking if there is a difference i can not see it on the screen at all. If you love or like this movie it is worth it Until a 4k transfer of this film from the original camera negative is out on the market this is the best there is for this film for home consumption.

This may be an oldie but it's a fantastic movie even after all these years. I can remember watching this with my mother and now being able to share this with my college age children and hope that they will one day pass on to their children. There are many good movies being made today, but let's not forget what came before and this is no exception. This is a quality DVD on BluRay with excellent color and tone. Not to mention a very good price from Best Buy, plus they will match any price you find, so it's a win-win. Thanks Best Buy for another great deal from a very happy customer!

The movie is a Classic which has stood the test of time. It tells the story of a very difficult time in the history of our Country where the South relied on slaves for their labor and to provide the requisite comforts to their lives. Blacks were abused and misused and treated as property instead of human beings and this movie explored the interaction of this relationship and the pointed out the differing views between the North and the South on this human issue. Thank God, we have progressed from this level although we still have a ways to go. At least we are not at that point some 100+ years later.