Oklahoma! [DVD] [1955]

It's difficult to put into words how magnificent the BluRay is.First the obvious: the movie is choc-full of wonderful Rogers & Hammerstein songs and some gorgeous dream sequences/ballets. The subject is corny, but like the corn 'as tall as a elephant's eye' in the opening song, corn has never been so beautifully delivered.The choreography is absolutely brilliant.The absolute revelation though is the 70mm Todd-AO print and THE SOUND. The visuals are pin-sharp HD, you can see the textures in the leading lady's make up - it's almost frighteningly good. The colours are rich, and there's one particular fantasy scene shot on a Hollywood sound stage that is so HD I was screaming with joy!Literally you are looking into 1955 (and possibly 1954 given a long post-production lead time).But the killer is THE SOUND. Todd-AO used a six track system that is scarily close to modern digital quality.Yes the soundtrack will have been re-mastered, but you can't create what wasn't there in the first place. From the first thrilling bars of the full cinema overture, you experience layers of strings and horns that are true high fidelity. The fact it was recorded nearly 70 years ago is simply beyond belief. And when Gordon McRae starts to sing in the cornfield, the technical recording quality of his vocal is perfect.Other movies were filmed/recorded using this process - notably the Sound Of Music and South Pacific - but this is the finest product of that system.Buy it and be thrilled.

As the title suggests anyone buying this must first make sure they have a Blu-ray multiregion capable player, not just DVD multiregion, Blu-ray multiregion. This is extremely important because if you don't you will, like me, be caught out! My Blu-ray player was due for upgrade anyway so I replaced it with a 4K Blu-ray and DVD multiregion capable machine.Now for the Blu-ray American import itself. It's fantastic! I never realised how good the film itself was, and with this version being taken directly from the original in Todd-AO format in 70mm film and at 30 frames a second, it gives a really smooth flicker free picture, and the colours are brilliant! It's also in it's as shown in original theatre version too with Overture and Intermission included.The extras are also extremely informative giving a full technical explanation of the Todd-AO process and why it was so good. Quite a revelation too that it was filmed twice! Once in Todd-AO and again in normal cinemascope for those cinemas that weren't equipped for Todd-AO because Todd AO had 7 channel sound even back in the 1950's, and required a special screen.I will use this film to show what can be achieved when a Blu-ray like this is coupled with a top range TV and AV setup.Even if you don't have state of the art gear get it anyway, it's a brilliant, brilliant film. They definitely don't make them like this any more! Five stars all the way!

I liked the fact that this musical is almost as old as me and I'm a pensioner! Yet, like me, it is still fresh, entertaining and brilliant.It is a bit of a museum and you might have to google a "box social" and there are parts of it that are obviously screened on a stage rather than the wide open plains of Oklahoma but that's the limitations of the 50's technology.The show tunes were the ones that my parents used to sing in the car before we had the joy of in-car entertainment and had to make our own!A classic of the film industry!

I remember many of the songs from this show. Having seen a stage production the storyline seemed a lot darker than I remembered. I decided to revisit the film and found that the darkness was there, along with some classic songs. However, the ending was upbeat compared to the stage show.

Have not yet watched it but l know the film. I would not doubt the quality of the dvd. I have purchased other dvd ‘s and they have been and all been of excellent quality.

Made the mistake of purchasing a foreign product. Not completely happy with the picture quality as it doen't look or feel like a full quality Blu Ray disc and the sound quality is only 192kbps, which is low for a Blu Ray disc, it is generally above 400kbps. Likewise it automatically starts in Spanish and with subtitles and I have to set it for English and switch off Subtitles before playing the disc. Likewise there are no extras just the film on it's own.The picture, albeit you notice poorer quality and grain/ noise in certain scenes.and I'm pleased to have Oklahoma in proper widescreen so decided to keep the disc until I decide to get a hgher copy, with extras some other time.

Casting superb. Visually brilliant ( well before cgi ).

Oklahoma [Blu-Ray plus DVD] This four disc set consists of two Blu-ray discs that are REGION FREE and two DVD's that are Region 1 and will only play on a Region Free player. Disc One is the Todd AO Blu-ray version is by far the best and up there with some of the best for sixty year old film restorations. Not too far behind quality wise is the CinemaScope version Blu-ray. Disc 3&4 are DVD versions of both films, which though superior to the previous DVD versions are not really worth bothering about. The film was made in two versions, filmed at the same time and there are slight differences. Overall this is a worthwhile purchase if you enjoyed the film and its catchy music. I did feel it had dated and was perhaps slightly overlong and needed shortening to about two hours, but that's interfering with history and how the Studio wanted the audiences of sixty years ago to enjoy their film.

From my earliest memories of childhood this musical was part of the background of our family life. Listening to Dad's 8-tracks riding around in his pickup truck at work as a young boy on the weekends, to recordings playing this music in our home to even an occasional sing along at family gatherings, Oklahoma! was part of life's soundtrack. Rogers & Hammerstein essentially created a new art form in 1943 of American musical theater with this work combining song, dance and story all in one entertainment. This genre would be a powerful part of Americana for several decades both on stage as well as cinema. It's an art form that has paralleled other unique American creations like Jazz, Tap and Rock'n'roll. Rogers & Hammerstein were so perfectionistic that they waited over a decade to attempt to bring this masterpiece to the cinema. They assembled all the required vocal and dance talent including the original choreography from Agnes de Mille's groundbreaking work and a high production value including using a state-of-the art filming technique called Todd-AO that actually required filming most scenes twice each day. Once in the well-established CinemaScope and once mostly earlier in the day in the new Todd-AO. All this combined to produce a true classic. I found myself tapping toes and singing along to old favorites with some nostalgic emotion as the classic songs and scenes filled my memory and imagination. I can strongly recommend this film not only for us folks of a certain age but for younger generations keen on simply enjoying great family entertainment for all ages and tastes. This Blu-ray release from Fox supplies both Todd-AO and CinemaScope versions on two separate discs along with two DVDs of the same setups for a total of four discs. While the CinemaScope version is most familiar to home viewers it's the Todd-AO version that has eyes popping out of one's head! There are slight differences in some scenes and how they were shot. But it's the increased detail, more accurate color timing, and almost 3d depth of the Todd-AO version alone that is enough to warrant a purchase of this disc. Also, there's more of the full frame of the film to see in the 70mm Todd-AO presentation as the 35mm CinemaScope actually cuts portions off the top and bottom of the picture. It's a shame that the Todd-AO technology never caught on in Hollywood. It was just too complex and expensive. Filming two separate versions of each movie, one at 24fps and the other at 30pfs as well as investing in a 2nd set of extremely large, expensive lenses was just not going to work at this stage of movie making. Fortunately for mainstream consumers this is the best in-home version of this musical you'll ever see. Sound is also impressive as the Todd-AO 70mm film width allowed for additional tracks of audio. The DTS-HD-Master 7.1 audio gives extremely rich high fidelity and great envelopment to the favorite songs. There's no distortion or tinniness to the soundtrack. Special features include audio commentaries, a singalong, as well as a few fascinating featurettes on the Todd-AO technology. All in all, this is a must own for fans of this musical and American musical theatre in general as well as a strong recommendation for any fans of older styled family entertainment. Hopefully it will create some fond memories for future generations.

Gran musical, con una gran calidad de imágen y sonido. Con subtítulos en español. Hay dos versiones Todd Ao y Cinemascope, en 7.1 y en 4.1 fabuloso.

El blue ray incluye la versión Todd-AO que es mucho mejor que la de CinemaScope. La calidad visual es magnífica.

C'est une movie classique avec la musique et la danse superbe. Je le recommande aux tous.

I love this movie