Tarantula! Blu-ray Review

Matt Hough · Apr 27, 2019

Since this is being released this week, I thought I'd bump up the review for those who missed it the first time around. It'll give fans a place to comment once they've seen this fine Blu-ray presentation.

Johnny Angell · Apr 28, 2019

This is a favorite of mine. It’s the only time that I can think of, that I’ve liked the use of an actual animal to portray a giant version, that really works. IMHO. There’s a moment when the tarantula pauses at the crest of a hill which is chilling. I hope I’m wrong, but I think they actually burned a tarantula for the final scene. Even for a bug, it’s a cruel way to go.

Your review is spot on. Hank Patterson is great.

Are all the commentary participants on one commentary? Tom Weaver is amongst the best.

Matt Hough · Apr 28, 2019

Johnny Angell said:
Are all the commentary participants on one commentary? Tom Weaver is amongst the best.

Yes, Weaver does the heavy lifting and turns the commentary over to others at various times later in the film.

haineshisway · May 1, 2019

Matt, have you seen the DVD Beaver "review?" I'd love to hear YOUR comments on it.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_62_/tarantula_blu-ray.htm

As you know, I find his "reviews" not only poor, but filled with so much misinformation, suppostion, guesswork - but this one is a baffler after reading your review.

lark144 · May 1, 2019

haineshisway said:
Matt, have you seen the DVD Beaver "review?" I'd love to hear YOUR comments on it.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_62_/tarantula_blu-ray.htm

As you know, I find his "reviews" not only poor, but filled with so much misinformation, suppostion, guesswork - but this one is a baffler after reading your review.

Bruce, for someone who continually criticizes DVD BEAVER, you seem to spend an awful lot of time on that site; which is not, by the way, a criticism.

As you know, I'm a student of paradox, and certainly in terms of the cinephile-sphere on the internet, no site abounds in paradox as much as DVD BEAVER, usually to my joy and occasionally to my disgruntlement.

What I find especially paradoxical about the reviews/screen caps on DVD BEAVER is that he will praise the quality of a film (for example A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH) while his screen caps will look abysmal, and not in the least related to what the images look like on the Blu-Ray in question.

With TARANTULA! we have the opposite phenomena. A very critical--one might even posit scathing--review of the quality of the
HD master, while the screen caps to my eyes look exactly the same as those for the German Blu-Ray (which the Beaver praises) and possibly in some case sharper and more highly resolved.

Of course, I have learned not to trust the screen caps that are on Beaver's site; nonetheless, these TARANTULA! caps which are supposedly dreadful, look pretty good to me.

Go figure.

John Sparks · May 1, 2019

I'll take the Koch version any day, that's why I just ordered it.

Matt Hough · May 1, 2019

haineshisway said:
Matt, have you seen the DVD Beaver "review?" I'd love to hear YOUR comments on it.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_62_/tarantula_blu-ray.htm

As you know, I find his "reviews" not only poor, but filled with so much misinformation, suppostion, guesswork - but this one is a baffler after reading your review.

As a rule, I don't read his stuff, but if I get a minute tonight, I'll take your link and go there. I really like DVD Savant/Cine Savant's writing if I'm going to read reviews of discs. He seems to get around to almost everything of merit.

Malcolm R · May 1, 2019

DB is also mostly just writing a comparison of the discs, rather than simply reviewing the new disc on its own (which he admits "looks pretty good on my system").

The screen caps all look pretty good to me, too, on both versions.

Robert Crawford · May 2, 2019

John Sparks said:
I'll take the Koch version any day, that's why I just ordered it.

Why?

John Hermes · May 2, 2019

lark144 said:
Bruce, for someone who continually criticizes DVD BEAVER, you seem to spend an awful lot of time on that site; which is not, by the way, a criticism.

As you know, I'm a student of paradox, and certainly in terms of the cinephile-sphere on the internet, no site abounds in paradox as much as DVD BEAVER, usually to my joy and occasionally to my disgruntlement.

What I find especially paradoxical about the reviews/screen caps on DVD BEAVER is that he will praise the quality of a film (for example A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH) while his screen caps will look abysmal, and not in the least related to what the images look like on the Blu-Ray in question.

With TARANTULA! we have the opposite phenomena. A very critical--one might even posit scathing--review of the quality of the
HD master, while the screen caps to my eyes look exactly the same as those for the German Blu-Ray (which the Beaver praises) and possibly in some case sharper and more highly resolved.

Of course, I have learned not to trust the screen caps that are on Beaver's site; nonetheless, these TARANTULA! caps which are supposedly dreadful, look pretty good to me.

Go figure.

Regarding the DVD Beaver review, on my computer every Koch screen cap looks noticeably sharper than the Shout version.

Keith Cobby · May 2, 2019

I have the Koch which is excellent. I like the dual aspect option.

haineshisway · May 2, 2019

lark144 said:
Bruce, for someone who continually criticizes DVD BEAVER, you seem to spend an awful lot of time on that site; which is not, by the way, a criticism.

As you know, I'm a student of paradox, and certainly in terms of the cinephile-sphere on the internet, no site abounds in paradox as much as DVD BEAVER, usually to my joy and occasionally to my disgruntlement.

What I find especially paradoxical about the reviews/screen caps on DVD BEAVER is that he will praise the quality of a film (for example A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH) while his screen caps will look abysmal, and not in the least related to what the images look like on the Blu-Ray in question.

With TARANTULA! we have the opposite phenomena. A very critical--one might even posit scathing--review of the quality of the
HD master, while the screen caps to my eyes look exactly the same as those for the German Blu-Ray (which the Beaver praises) and possibly in some case sharper and more highly resolved.

Of course, I have learned not to trust the screen caps that are on Beaver's site; nonetheless, these TARANTULA! caps which are supposedly dreadful, look pretty good to me.

Go figure.

I go there to see what he's up to - it's kind of addictive in its own way. Every time I think it can't get more outre, he confounds my expectations.

Lord Dalek · May 2, 2019

haineshisway said:
I go there to see what he's up to - it's kind of addictive in its own way. Every time I think it can't get more outre, he confounds my expectations.

Gotta love that Thick(TM) Tight(TM) HD Sourced(TM) Soft Palate Image(TM) in the Bastardized 1.78:1(TM) ratio with Deft Sepparations(TM) in the rear!

...seriously who talks like this? Is this how you try to impress your northern Scandinavian coffers eh Gary?

RMajidi · May 2, 2019

I already own the Koch Tarantula! Blu, but was contemplating an upgrade to Shout! Factory’s newer scan after reading Matt’s fine review here.

I followed the DVD Beaver link supplied here to see the comparative review for Shout’s new Blu-ray. The screen caps there changed my mind about double-dipping, as I couldn’t see any appreciable improvement.

While at the DVD Beaver site, I looked up some of his other reviews and clicked through his link to add The Curse of the Cat People (also by Shout!) to my Amazon shopping cart.

It seems Gary Tooze owes you fellows a big vote of thanks for directing business traffic his way.

haineshisway · May 2, 2019

RMajidi said:
I already own the Koch Tarantula! Blu, but was contemplating an upgrade to Shout! Factory’s newer scan after reading Matt’s fine review here.

I followed the DVD Beaver link supplied here to see the comparative review for Shout’s new Blu-ray. The screen caps there changed my mind about double-dipping, as I couldn’t see any appreciable improvement.

While at the DVD Beaver site, I looked up some of his other reviews and clicked through his link to add The Curse of the Cat People (also by Shout!) to my Amazon shopping cart.

It seems Gary Tooze owes you fellows a big vote of thanks for directing business traffic his way.

So, you based a purchase decision based on his caps, which are notoriously bad? O-kay. I am rarely at a loss for words - but I think I'll let this be one of those times

Thomas T · May 2, 2019

haineshisway said:
So, you based a purchase decision based on his caps, which are notoriously bad? O-kay. I am rarely at a loss for words - but I think I'll let this be one of those times

His screen caps aside, he is often sloppy when discussing the film content. For example, in his recent review of Painted Desert as part of the RKO Classic Adventures set, he mentions a brief appearance by Clark Gable in the Painted Desert along with George O'Brien and Laraine Day. He is accurate about Gable but Laraine Day and George O'Brien are not in the 1931 Painted Desert along with Gable. Day and O'Brien starred in the 1938 version of Painted Desert while William Boyd stars in the 1931 Painted Desert which features a pre-stardom Gable. Nitpicking? Perhaps but a Laraine Day fan might get pretty upset buying it based on his review when they finds out she isn't in it.

RMajidi · May 2, 2019

haineshisway said:
So, you based a purchase decision based on his caps, which are notoriously bad? O-kay. I am rarely at a loss for words - but I think I'll let this be one of those times

I don’t have any avowed, dogmatic views about screen caps that I feel I need to publicly rehash and defend at every turn.

The Beaver’s Koch stills look very representative of my Blu-ray, and for a black & white title, there are only shades of grey to compare, rather than the full colour spectrum; so I’m more confident about trusting the caps, as it remains primarily about picture sharpness, at which properly-captured stills are in my experience reliable. I have less trust in caps from colour films, but I don’t dismiss them altogether.

So yes, on this occasion, I made a couple of decisions based on screen caps. What a big-time gambler, I know.

Now, will your loss for words be a very temporary condition, I wonder.

haineshisway · May 2, 2019

RMajidi said:
I don’t have any avowed, dogmatic views about screen caps that I feel I need to publicly rehash and defend at every turn.

The Beaver’s Koch stills look very representative of my Blu-ray, and for a black & white title, there are only shades of grey to compare, rather than the full colour spectrum; so I’m more confident about trusting the caps, as it remains primarily about picture sharpness, at which properly-captured stills are in my experience reliable. I have less trust in caps from colour films, but I don’t dismiss them altogether.

So yes, on this occasion, I made a couple of decisions based on screen caps. What a big-time gambler, I know.

Now, will your loss for words be a very temporary condition, I wonder.

Yes, my loss for words will not be a temporary condition. You may just want to take a leaf from my book re loss of words. Just a thought.

Mark-P · May 3, 2019

lark144 said:
With TARANTULA! we have the opposite phenomena. A very critical--one might even posit scathing--review of the quality of the
HD master, while the screen caps to my eyes look exactly the same as those for the German Blu-Ray (which the Beaver praises) and possibly in some case sharper and more highly resolved.

Of course, I have learned not to trust the screen caps that are on Beaver's site; nonetheless, these TARANTULA! caps which are supposedly dreadful, look pretty good to me.

Go figure.

Weird. I see just the opposite. To me the German Koch caps look slightly more resolved and sharper than the Shout Factory caps. But I agree the difference is minimal. Given my druthers, I'd choose to buy the Koch release.

Tarantula! Blu-ray Review

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