NEWS: Rebirth of Colorization

CULTURE: Rebirth of Colorization

When “colorization” advocates like Ted Turner embarked on their Satanic crusade to warp classic movies such as The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca by engaging in what the Writers Guild of America West called “cultural vandalism”, critics, directors, and writers all but ran the process out of existence with pitchforks and torches. Colorization had involved adding horrendously conceived color splotches to videotape transfers of original celluloid prints and in no way altered the originally celluloid. In fact, the process was created with direct-to-video releases in mind for classic movies, with studios and distribution companies hoping that colorized film would somehow be accessible to those that saw black and films as either anachronistic or simply outdated. Those who enjoy black and white films are glad that colorization has died out.

Or maybe it hasn’t.

Studio executives at Columbia TriStar are offering colorized versions of two films staring the Three Stooges. Again, film connoisseurs are calling the process “desecration” while executives exploit the relatively inexpensive DVD mastering process to create colorized versions of classic movies at a fraction of what it had cost with videotape.

Executives are still stating what they had affirmed in the 1980s: colorization can “help introduce Hollywood classics to young audiences reluctant to watch anything in black and white.”

I think that if they give you a choice between watching the original version and the color version, I am totally fine with this. As long as they give you a choice.

i remember the colourised version of "it's a wonderful life" giving me nightmares. i think it had something to do with the weird colours everywhere.

Oh boy, if this goes through we can have bright and cheery film noir! My tights are all a'kettle.

I sense something similar to the widescreen vs. fullscreen battle, with people caring a lot more than they should.
Sure, colorization of classic b+w movies is strange and wrong, but who am I to tell that to the schmoe down the street?
As long as I can buy the original black and white, I will be ok with it.

damn kids! they don't deserve to watch the classics !

*resists urge to make pleasantville analogy*

personally i'm against colourisation for the simple reason that its desecration of an art form and also people's memory. although i realise that people can simply choose to not watch them, imagine in decades time if a colour version of, say, the marx brothers, had replaced the black and white original in the cultural canon?

it's just not right.

[Edited on Aug 10, 2004 by walkswithbears]

I turn the colour off on my tv so I can watch colour movies in b/w. Even Dude, Where's My Car looks good in b/w.

That's my revenge.

Someone needs to slap people who won't watch things just because they are in black and white.

A kettle? They look more like tights to me. *rimshot*
...
Wow, I feel dirty for making that "joke".

Seriously, as long as they give us the choice, I'm not going to storm their offices and hold them hostage whilst making various demands of demandy...
I forgot what I was saying now.
The point is, black and white should stay that way.
And if anyone touches Chaplin, I'm going after 'em with an axe.

Not right a'tall - The Three Stooges were not that interesting in real Technicolor in one film whose ttle escapes me. Like a writer above me said, as long as the black and white image is there, so am I.....

The colorization of the Stooges movies are being done by the same company that did the recent release of Refer Madness.

As stated above, both the color and B&W versions will be included on the DVD. I'm not a fan of colorizing films myself, but I do know many people who refuse to watch films for the lack of color alone. I'm not sure this will bring in more viewers, but it won't hurt either.

Well fans of black and white obviously aren't forced to watch the classics in color...whats the big deal?

I heard that they were very diligent in making the colors exactly the same as the original. If that were the case, the Stooges' faces would all be light green. Green make-up was used to make flesh tones more camera friendly. In fact, every color in front of the camera, depending on the era of the film, and the budget was not "natural." It was altered to look better in black and white. If they do this honestly, it will be ridiculous. If they take liberties with the color, that's just absurd. Bad idea every way you look at it. Chalk one more notch for the dumbing down of society...

I've been watching the Simpsons in b&w for about a year now. Not by choice, really. I just need a new tv.

As long as they make both its fine.

Remember - many black and white movies wern't made in black and white because "its an art form" or "because they were better that way", many of the classic b&w films were made in an era where technicolor hadn't been perfected yet (and as such gave films horribly warped colorschemes) and was too expensive for mass films regardless. So for many of these so called "art form b&w classics" the choice for b&w was forced on them. Saying movies from the 40's were b&w for the art form is like saying cars made back then were made lacking today's technology "because they're better that way".

Wasn't yesterday just better than today?

True, but those films were designed with the limitations of the medium in mind. A shot that the director painstakingly got to look exactly right in b&w might not look as good colorized. Two colors that look similar in b&w could clash horribly in color.

Basically, I see it as a case of compromising the original vision of the film, like dubbing. I could care less if they colorize the Stooges, but I'll kill 'em if they touch any Kurosawa. I'm not going to complain as long as there's an original option though. Two thumbs up for the way this is actually being implemented.

Colorization is a dying fad that doesn't bother me as much as films released as "director cuts"!!!!

I'm not going to stamp my foot and whine if people want to buy the colorized versions. It's their particular taste. I've watched colorized films before, and I don't care for them. They look so fake. But hey... who am I to tell people what they can and can't watch in their own home?

If they REPLACE black and white, though, I'm going to be ticked. I love black and white movies. It's such a large aspect of that era. It's hard to think of Cary Grant and Lana Turner in color. It would confuse and bother me.

I often wonder why people don't like black and white. I don't know anyone who doesn't like black and white films, so could someone who feels this way clarify this for me? I've had the dubbed vs. subtitled debate many times, but I've never had a discussion of colorized vs. b/w. All of my friends loathe colorized films.

damn. for the longest time i thought the title read, "rebirth of colonization", hence my avoiding this thread

if someone wants to watch a colorized version of what was a b/w film, sure, let them. personally, i wouldn't.

My God, releasing BOTh versions to the public? Genius! Someone get George Lucas on the phone!

Yea. What NoPantsDave said.....

...idiots.....

I'd like to point this out:

I'm speechless.