It's A Wonderful Life

[beanzontoast]

My daughter bought me It's A Wonderful Life on dvd last Christmas - a favourite movie - and last night I finally got round to watching it on dvd for the first time. There were 2 dvds in the case to choose from - the original black and white or the restored colour version, so I thought I'd give the colour version a try, not really knowing what to expect and fearing it might be rather gimmicky...





Wow!



I always liked the movie, but in colour it's a little gem - and it does make the whole viewing experience seem a little less dated. I'm not a 'purist' about this - yes, black and white lends atmosphere in the right circumstances, but coming from an age when black and white tv was all I knew, seeing programmes like Star Trek in black and white the first time round and in colour later makes you realise you were actually missing something.

I know a colour restoring technique has been used on some Dr Who and Dad's Army episodes too. I'm impressed!

Anyone else got colourised movies they like - or instances of it that they don't agree with?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

The Laurel and Hardy box set of DVDs has colourised versions of some of them - I can't even bring myself to watch them, sacrilege.

 

[Aperitif]

 

[Bird Brain]

The Laurel and Hardy box set of DVDs has colourised versions of some of them - I can't even bring myself to watch them, sacrilege.

I was just thinking Laurel and Hardy but I would think it would ruin their classiness.

 

[beanzontoast]

Welcome to You've Been Warhol-ed!

 

[beanzontoast]

I was just thinking Laurel and Hardy but I would think it would ruin their classiness.

I agree - it's not for all circumstances, but in the case of Its a Wonderful Life, I felt it turned a film that was beginning to 'creak' a bit into an enjoyably fresh experience. I found myself wondering what White Christmas would have looked like if it had been filmed in black and white, given the richness of the colours in that film.