Frank Sinatra Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Frank Sinatra Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Old (Sorta) Blue Eyes

Reviewed by Michael Reuben May 11, 2015

Although there are rumors of change in the air, Warner Home Video continues to suffer from a split personality in its catalog offerings, and the week of May 5 saw examples of both halves. From the company's Dr. Jekyll side came the remastered Goodfellas, featuring a director-supervised 4k scan from the original camera negative, ample restoration work and careful mastering. In Mr. Hyde mode, however, the company released the Frank Sinatra Collection, a typical WHV "deluxe" package combining three newly released titles and two that are reissues. At least all of the newly released films are being made available separately, so that fans of an individual title aren't forced to double-dip on discs already owned just to acquire a long-awaited favorite.

The real scandal, though, is that all three of the new discs—Anchors Aweigh and On the Town (both bona fide classics) and the Rat Pack feature, Robin and the 7 Hoods—have been given indifferent Blu-ray treatments, crammed onto BD-25s that can't do justice to even these dated transfers. The only extra created for the collection is a picture book. Taken as a whole, this is a collection assembled by a marketing department, not a film fan—a point confirmed by the included advertisement for additional Sinatra merchandise commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth.

For discussion of Anchors Aweigh, please see the Anchors Aweigh Blu-ray review.

For discussion of On the Town, please see the On the Town Blu-ray review.

For discussion of Guys and Dolls, please see the Guys and Dolls Blu-ray review by Jeffrey Kauffman.

For discussion of Ocean's 11, please see the Ocean's 11 Blu-ray review by Kenneth Brown.

For discussion of Robin and the 7 Hoods, please see the Robin and the 7 Hoods Blu-ray review.

Frank Sinatra Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anchors Aweigh (follow the link for screenshots):

Two venerable cinematographers shared credit on Anchors Aweigh, MGM's Robert H. Planck (Royal Wedding) and Charles P. Boyle (Old Yeller), who spent much of his career at Universal and Disney. Both of these veterans must be spinning in their graves at what Warner Home Video has done to their work on this 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, which crams a 140-minute movie packed with complex scenes of song and dance onto a BD-25. Was no one sufficiently brave (or knowledgeable) to stand up to the bean counters to explain why this was a bad idea? For those interested in statistics, the average bitrate is 17.96 Mbps, but the real problem is what's on screen.

As with On the Town, another title new to Blu- ray and included in the Frank Sinatra Collection , the image is soft and lacking in fine detail, and this becomes particularly evident in long shots with multiple sailors on the battleship or large numbers of dancers in the Mexican restaurant where Susan sings or in any of the musical performances conducted by Iturbi. But in addition to the obvious high-frequency rolloff and absence of grain structure that marred On the Town, Anchors Aweigh adds a parade of compression artifacts to the mix. These are most readily observed in skies and other light backgrounds, which too often become unstable fields of shifting pixels. (Some viewers might mistake this for film grain, but it looks nothing like it.) About the only favorable point to this presentation is that its colors are vibrant. Whether they are accurate is another question. When both the police and the Navy uniforms look black more often than navy blue, one can legitimately question the reproduction.

As I noted in reviewing On the Town, there will no doubt be fans who find this presentation of Anchors Aweigh acceptable on the ground that "This is the best it's ever looked!" That may be true, but it doesn't make the presentation a good one deserving of a favorable review. If that were the test, almost every Blu-ray would get a one-sentence video review and a five star rating.


On the Town (follow the link for screenshots):

On the Town was shot in three-strip Technicolor by Harold Rossen, who would also shoot Singin' in the Rain for Donen and Kelly. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was clearly not the beneficiary of the patented "Ultra Resolution" process recently featured on Warner's release of The Band Wagon. Aside from the fact that Warner never applies Ultra Resolution without touting it in their press materials, the image doesn't measure up. It's colorful enough, but detail and sharpness are lacking, along with almost any evidence of grain. In a few long shots, there's some obvious ringing to indicate the application of electronic sharpening, but the most prevalent negative is the absence of high frequency detail, which appears to have been rolled off to facilitate the compression of a film filled with energetic motion onto a BD-25. (The average bitrate is 23.91 Mbps.)

I have no doubt that fans of the film who have been eagerly awaiting its release on Blu-ray will protest that "This is the best it's ever looked!"—and they're probably right. But that's setting the bar very low for a high-definition format that is fast approaching its ninth birthday. With its corporate affiliate, the Warner Archive Collection, repeatedly setting high standards for the film-like reproduction of niche titles, using the same facilities as Warner Home Video, WHV has no excuse for offering lesser quality on catalog films it believes to have broader appeal. Reliable reports continue to indicate that change is coming, but it hasn't arrived with On the Town or the other titles new to the Frank Sinatra Collection .


Guys and Dolls (reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman in 2012; follow the link for screenshots):

Guys and Dolls is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.55:1. This CinemaScope feature has been considerably improved from the previously released DVD in terms of sharpness and clarity, though this of course does not approach the pristine clarity of some of the larger format musicals which have been released on Blu-ray. Perhaps most impressive here is the utter lack of any typical artifacting like aliasing, even with a glut of close cropped patterns like Nathan Detroit's natty pinstriped suit. Colors are nicely saturated, but things seem to have tilted a bit toward the brown side of things, usually a sign of faded or aging elements. This mostly affects flesh tones. The transfer does suffer somewhat from a lack of shadow detail, especially noticeable in scenes where the men are wearing dark suits against black backgrounds or the club sequence featuring Brando and Simmons, where Brando seems to basically blend into the booth. Still, those who owned the DVD (or, heaven forfend, the VHS) of this title should be very well pleased with the overall look of Guys and Dolls on Blu-ray, especially since there doesn't appear to have been much if any digital tweaking of the image.


Ocean's 11 (reviewed by Kenneth Brown in 2010; follow the link for screenshots):

Say what you will about some of Warner's lesser catalog releases. Far more often than not, the studio treats its classic titles -- true gems and divisive guilty pleasures alike -- with the utmost respect. Honestly, I didn't expect much from Ocean's 11 video transfer. Chalk it up to its fifty years, limited appeal or barebones marketing campaign. But Warner's excellent 1080p/VC-1 transfer handily trumps its DVD counterpart and should easily surpass humble expectations like mine. William H. Daniels' Old Vegas palette is awash with bold neon blues, deep backroom reds, satisfying blacks and warm, relatively natural skintones. Better still, delineation is impressive, contrast is spot on (despite a few bowling alley-esque dips and dives) and nary a distracting artifact or color band spoils the proceedings. Detail is a tad inconsistent and noise occasionally invades nighttime sequences -- no thanks to an at-times spotty source littered with soft shots and problematic scenes -- but by and large, the integrity of the original image has been meticulously preserved. Fine textures are apparent throughout, object definition is clean and crisp, edge enhancement is kept to a minimum and the whole of the presentation, grain and all, is faithfully rendered. Only a handful of scenes will raise DNR flags, and of those scenes, an even smaller handful are prone to slight smearing. All things considered, Ocean's 11 looks great and reinforces Warner's place with Sony at the head of the catalog pack.


Robin and the 7 Hoods:

With elegantly composed anamorphic widescreen cinematography by William H. Daniels, who also shot Ocean's 11, Robin and the 7 Hoods is the most recent of the three films new to Blu-ray in Warner's Frank Sinatra Collection, and it hasn't been treated any better. To the extent Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray compares favorably to those of Anchors Aweigh or On the Town, the difference is down to superior source material from a later era, because the same indifference toward Blu-ray mastering is evident in the disc. Like the other two titles, this 123-minute film has been crunched onto a BD-25, at an average bitrate of 19.99 Mbps. The result isn't filled with obvious artifacts like Anchors Aweigh (although there are some to be seen, if you look closely), but the image isn't particularly film-like and fine detail is frequently lacking, which is a shame given the intricacy of the sets and costumes.

Black levels are erratic, and the problem is easy to spot, if one watches the frequently worn tuxedos, which too often shade to gray. Such inconsistencies raise legitimate questions about the accuracy of the remaining palette, which is certainly lively, although it may be wrong. Except for the beginning and end titles, Robin did not make extensive use of opticals, so that the softness of the image cannot be attributed to that common cause from the pre-digital era. High-frequency rolloff appears to be the culprit.

Frank Sinatra Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Anchors Aweigh:

The film's original mono track has been encoded as lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0. The source is in great shape for the era, and the musical numbers and vocal performances have remarkably good presence, even the big numbers featuring a huge military band or a dozen pianos. The dynamic range is somewhat limited, but the highs aren't harsh and the lows aren't boomy. Both dialogue and lyrics are clearly rendered, including the cartoon voices.


On the Town:

On the Town's original mono track has been encoded as lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0. The source is in fine shape and, within the limitations of the era, does justice to the musical numbers and vocal performances, which were studio-recorded. The dynamic range is limited, but the highs aren't harsh and the lows aren't boomy. Both dialogue and lyrics are clearly rendered. As a personal matter, I prefer Bernstein's compositions to Edens', but the reproduction can't be faulted.


Guys and Dolls (reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman):

Guys and Dolls' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix presents Frank Loesser's brassy score in all its glory, with the fabulous orchestrations by (among others) Alexander Courage and Nelson Riddle sounding nicely clear and mostly full bodied. There's a certain narrowness in the midrange which is occasionally problematic, and there are also some very minor synch problems from time to time. Fidelity is very good, with dialogue sounding crisp and clear. Surround activity is mostly limited to the musical elements, though occasionally (as in the Havana club scene or some of the supposed New York material) we get some environmental effects dotting the side and rear channels.


Ocean's 11 (reviewed by Kenneth Brown):

Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix is just as faithful, albeit to lesser ends. Dialogue is bright, clear and well prioritized, and only a small smattering of inconsequential lines is muffled or pinched. The whole of the track struggles with tinny effects, a somewhat hollow musical score and stagey background chatter, but at fifty years and counting, it rarely detracts from the studio's otherwise noble mastering efforts. Of course, without any LFE oomph or engrossing soundfield to speak of, there's little else to praise (or complain about for that matter). Ideally, every studio would offer a lossless mono or stereo mix and a snazzy 5.1 remix on their catalog releases, pleasing both purists and progressive audio-junkies in one fell swoop. But production budgets are king, and I would rather have a solid mono mix than an overwrought 5.1 redux. Frankly, I'm just happy to see every catalog release earning a full-fledged lossless audio track. Just a year ago, that wasn't the case.


Robin and the 7 Hoods:

Robin's original mono track has been encoded as lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0. The track is in very good shape, and the dynamic range is wide enough to encompass both Nelson Riddle's orchestra and the tommy gun fire that is an essential component of the song "Bang! Bang!", as well as being part of many non-musical scenes. Dialogue and vocal performances are well-reproduced, and the transitions between singing and speaking are less jarring than in musicals from a decade earlier. Even though the sound mix occupies only a single channel, the layering of nightlife sounds in the various speakeasy scenes, with roulette wheels spinning, chips being tossed and glasses clinking, is effective. Mono gets a bad rep, but a track like this one serves as a reminder that mono delivered big-screen pizzaz for a long time and did it well.

Frank Sinatra Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Extras for each disc are listed in the separate reviews. In addition, the slipcase for the collection contains a mini-book with six pages devoted to each of the five films in the collection, with vintage photos and posters. No text is included.

Frank Sinatra Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of the three newly released titles who reasonably expect that these new Blu-rays are likely to be the best versions we'll see may want to add them to the Blu-ray.com price-tracking tool and wait for the price to drop, as prices on Warner discs usually do. The Collection itself will almost certainly be offered at a steep discount in the months to come, because this is not a set aimed at the hardcore videophile community. It was obviously designed for gift-giving by purchasers who don't know or care about high-quality presentations. Caveat emptor.