Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956)-Kino Lorber 4K UHD and Blu-ray Review from Paramount Pods

[@1165mac]

In a perfect world you would have your own Boutique label and lovingly restore as many films as possible. In that same world I would greatly invest in this venture as creative consultant but leave 100% of the final decision making to you. I continue to be impressed with your knowledge of cinema and your enthusiasm to get the job done completely and correctly. Thank you, Good Sir!

[@dr.impossibleofcounterpunc1984]

I'll stick with my BFI release. It just amazes me how many inconsistencies exist. There's much here that I never knew about, to be honest. So, as always, thanks for leading the way so others can understand. I've always viewed the original as the best Bodysnatchers film, and the atmosphere is palpable with fear and uncertainty. I just love the film. Cheers.

[@betamachine]

They should re-release it with your skit in the special features! And thanks for making me feel better about being a cheapskate opting for only the HD BD.

[@TheVid54]

I saw INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS projected with Perspecta sound at a Halloween marathon at the Fine Arts Theater in Kansas City KS back in the 70's (1975 or 76 I think). The directional pans were effective and the music in particular had a degree of separation. I believe proper Perspecta reproduction worked best in theaters equipped with 4 or 6-track speaker arrangements, just like the Perspecta discs of late require a 5.1 configuration to encode with the proper sound quality. In any event, I do remember THIS ISLAND EARTH and WORLD WITHOUT END were the other 2 Perspecta features and Snatchers, of course, looked the worse for wear in comparison. I have the Olive Signature blu-ray but find the new Kino 4k disc a satisfactory upgrade, and the added 1:85 version is welcome, but not enough to switch from the 2 to 1 derived SuperScope version. The extras make it a decent purchase, especially for the $17.99 Kino sale price. Good luck getting better upgrades on the 1956 versions. Maybe an import company may give it a try.

[@dennislancaster9999]

Another engrossing, informative, and well done review. Bravo Spencer. when I first saw this film as a kid, who is developing a racist, appetite for horror and Science Fiction movies, I had the pleasure of being completely ambushed by this film. It was part of the rotation on one of the channels that they would show Science Fiction movies and it made a tremendous and disturbing impact on me. Even with the book end, I was still horrified.

[@TroyUlysses]

So essentially we need someone to source a 16mm print and scan that and it will probably be the best we can hope for?

[@zachthezombie]

You are the best reviewer on this subject on youtube Are you in the industry in some way ? If not you really should be in charge of quality control for a high end label like arrow or criterion or somthing lol even kino you could prolly help then get good lol Your doing gods work keep it up

[@austinwillcut4919]

I'll probably still get this despite some of the issues, I didn't know about the original DC. It sucks they lost the OG negative to this. I don't know if you heard about the other 4K debacle with the Unobstructed View's release of Caligula, where they said the "uncut original theatrical version" (156 min.) was going to be on disc 2 but it turns out it's some edited 150 min. UK cut, and everyone's pissed lol. I also heard the Umbrella release has issues as well with the Ultimate cut 4K which apparently has no lossless audio and bad encoding. Also, I would like to hear your thoughts on the Nightmare on Elm Street 4K which I got recently if you ever get it. It does have a DTS 2.0 mono track included but not sure if it's the true mono, maybe you could investigate that.

[@movietv20249]

Hey Austin! I've seen you on Ramboraph's channel. How have you been sir?

[@danielc7773]

It's messing with the aspect ratio that I find the most annoying, and I notice it every time. Even if it's a slight crop, you can quickly tell if you're sensitive to it. I recently watched my BFI Blu-ray and was quite miffed to find among the extras the trailer, presented in open-matte academy. It's like a tantalising 'what if'. Great video. My only complaint is that I could have used this video a couple of weeks ago - you'd have saved me some time researching whether any other releases had less cropping.

[@Stonecutter334]

Found this interesting. Can someone tell me or point to what happened to the negatives for this classic film? Heartbreaking they apparently don’t exist

[@4bobbyt]

I was present at the first preview at the Village Theater in Westwood California. I thought, at the time, it was the best science fiction film I ever saw. Later, on television. I saw it again. Still good, but the impact had been diluted, much to my disappointment. NowvI know why. Allied Artists put a mustache on The Mona Lisa...

[@Formal_Andy]

Wish there was a large movement against Paramount and Kino for these unacceptable and disastrous releases.

[@systemmonitor5295]

Have you ever seen Halloween III: Season of the Witch? It's heavily inspired by Body Snatchers, even taking place in its own version of Santa Mira.

[@matheus5230]

Do you plan to review Warner's UHD release of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas? Some people report that other Grinch specials are also in 4K, and that the audio restored the harmonies that had been missing for years!

[@1dbanner]

I still have the silver Criterion laserdisc, among other reasons because I never know what future releases will entail

[@matheus5230]

Hopefully you can review the Capra at Columbia 4K set next, that should be a fantastic release in every way, unlike this one!

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

So how far off was my theory lol (way off probably)

[@SpeccyHorace]

Can someone explain to me, an idiot, what frozen grain actually is? Thank you.