Sound Of Music, The: 50th Anniversary

Academy-Award® winner Julie Andrews stars in one of her most memorable roles as Maria in the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical The Sound Of Music. Maria is a spirited young woman who leaves a convent and becomes a governess to seven unruly von Trapp family children. Her charm and songs soon win the hearts of the children and their father, but when Nazi Germany unites with Austria, Maria is forced to attempt a daring escape with her new family. (Gary Reber)

This 50th Anniversary edition reprises the two original Blu-ray Discs of the 45th Anniversary Edition while also providing a new Blu-ray with an all-new retrospective, as well as a soundtrack CD with some previously unissued tracks. Special features include an all-new interactive features interface that can be accessed while watching the film. Selecting “Your Favorite Things” activates the extras tab, a brief video tutorial plays, and a menu is presented from which to customize the experience. Four options are provided: Making Music: A Journey In Images is a picture-in-picture mode that displays storyboards and photographs of the film’s production. The Sing-Along Experience provides karaoke-style lyrics across the bottom of the screen. Many A Thing To Know is a trivia track. Where Was It Filmed? is a multiple-choice quiz. Other special features include commentary with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Choreographer Dee Dee Wood, and Johannes von Trapp; commentary with Director Robert Wise; and a BD-Live exclusive featuring Laura Benanti. A second disc features Musical Stages, an interactive backlot tour in which one can explore the foyer of the Von Trapp home, which serves as a menu for a host of all-new special features, including profiles of many of the film’s songs and featurettes about the production and enduring legacy. The featurettes are: Maria In The 21st Century (HD 06:52), Restoring A Classic: Bloom And Grow Forever (HD 05:54), Edelweiss (HD 02:28), I Have Confidence (HD 03:09), My Favorite Things (HD 02:47), Sixteen Going On Seventeen (HD 02:20), After The Escape (HD 08:43), R&H: Partnership At Its Peak (HD 03:43), Shaping The Story (HD 04:50), The von Trapps Today (HD 05:48), Climb Ev’ry Mountain (HD 02:07), Stage Vs. Screen (HD 03:12), Maria (HD 03:03), The Sound Of Music (HD 02:32), Maria And The Musical (HD 05:06), Cutting Room Floor (HD 02:50), Something Good (HD 02:17), The Lonely Goatherd (HD 02:30), Do-Re-Mi (HD 03:31), So Long, Farewell (HD 01:11), A Generous Heart (HD 03:54), Final Dream: Oscar Hammerstein Remembered (HD 05:51), Stories From Broadway (HD 04:19), and Restoring A Classic: A Glorious Sound (HD 05:31). There is an interactive map of Salzburg that provides Fascinating Facts, photos, and video clips about each location seen in the film. There is a collection of special features that appeared on previous DVD releases including: The Sound Of Music: From Fact To Phenomenon (SD 1:27:22), My Favorite Things: Julie Andrews Remembers (SD 1:03:18), Julie Andrews And Christopher Plummer: A Reminiscence (SD 19:24), From Liesl To Gretl (SD 33:33), Salzburg Sight And Sound (SD 13:04), On Location With The Sound Of Music (SD 22:33), When You Know The Notes To Sing: A Sing-Along Phenomenon (SD 12:50), Rodgers And Hammerstein: The Sound Of American Music, 1985 (SD 1:23:25), Rodgers And Hammerstein: The Sound Of Movies, 1996 (SD 1:36:36), Location Interviews (audio only, 11:49), Reissue Interview With Julie Andrews And Robert Wise, 1973 (audio only, 07:46), A Telegram From Daniel Truhitte (audio only, 13:02), and Ernest Lehman: Master Storyteller (audio only, 34:56). Other rare featurettes include Julie And Carol At Carnegie Hall: The Pratt Family Singers (SD 06:41), The Julie Andrews Hour: Julie Andrews And Maria von Trapp (SD 16:33), Screen Tests (SD 26:13), 40th Anniversary DVD Introduction By Julie Andrews (SD 02:10), and Pre-production, Production, and Publicity Galleries, as well as Fox Movietone News Academy Awards (SD 02:46), trailers and teasers (SD 20:35 total), TV spots (SD 01:23), and radio spots (01:00).

This 50th Anniversary edition reprises the two original Blu-ray Discs of the 45th Anniversary Edition while also providing a new Blu-ray with an all-new retrospective, as well as a soundtrack CD with some previously unissued tracks. Special features include an all-new interactive features interface that can be accessed while watching the film. Selecting “Your Favorite Things” activates the extras tab, a brief video tutorial plays, and a menu is presented from which to customize the experience. Four options are provided: Making Music: A Journey In Images is a picture-in-picture mode that displays storyboards and photographs of the film’s production. The Sing-Along Experience provides karaoke-style lyrics across the bottom of the screen. Many A Thing To Know is a trivia track. Where Was It Filmed? is a multiple-choice quiz. Other special features include commentary with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Choreographer Dee Dee Wood, and Johannes von Trapp; commentary with Director Robert Wise; and a BD-Live exclusive featuring Laura Benanti. A second disc features Musical Stages, an interactive backlot tour in which one can explore the foyer of the Von Trapp home, which serves as a menu for a host of all-new special features, including profiles of many of the film’s songs and featurettes about the production and enduring legacy. The featurettes are: Maria In The 21st Century (HD 06:52), Restoring A Classic: Bloom And Grow Forever (HD 05:54), Edelweiss (HD 02:28), I Have Confidence (HD 03:09), My Favorite Things (HD 02:47), Sixteen Going On Seventeen (HD 02:20), After The Escape (HD 08:43), R&H: Partnership At Its Peak (HD 03:43), Shaping The Story (HD 04:50), The von Trapps Today (HD 05:48), Climb Ev’ry Mountain (HD 02:07), Stage Vs. Screen (HD 03:12), Maria (HD 03:03), The Sound Of Music (HD 02:32), Maria And The Musical (HD 05:06), Cutting Room Floor (HD 02:50), Something Good (HD 02:17), The Lonely Goatherd (HD 02:30), Do-Re-Mi (HD 03:31), So Long, Farewell (HD 01:11), A Generous Heart (HD 03:54), Final Dream: Oscar Hammerstein Remembered (HD 05:51), Stories From Broadway (HD 04:19), and Restoring A Classic: A Glorious Sound (HD 05:31). There is an interactive map of Salzburg that provides Fascinating Facts, photos, and video clips about each location seen in the film. There is a collection of special features that appeared on previous DVD releases including: The Sound Of Music: From Fact To Phenomenon (SD 1:27:22), My Favorite Things: Julie Andrews Remembers (SD 1:03:18), Julie Andrews And Christopher Plummer: A Reminiscence (SD 19:24), From Liesl To Gretl (SD 33:33), Salzburg Sight And Sound (SD 13:04), On Location With The Sound Of Music (SD 22:33), When You Know The Notes To Sing: A Sing-Along Phenomenon (SD 12:50), Rodgers And Hammerstein: The Sound Of American Music, 1985 (SD 1:23:25), Rodgers And Hammerstein: The Sound Of Movies, 1996 (SD 1:36:36), Location Interviews (audio only, 11:49), Reissue Interview With Julie Andrews And Robert Wise, 1973 (audio only, 07:46), A Telegram From Daniel Truhitte (audio only, 13:02), and Ernest Lehman: Master Storyteller (audio only, 34:56). Other rare featurettes include Julie And Carol At Carnegie Hall: The Pratt Family Singers (SD 06:41), The Julie Andrews Hour: Julie Andrews And Maria von Trapp (SD 16:33), Screen Tests (SD 26:13), 40th Anniversary DVD Introduction By Julie Andrews (SD 02:10), and Pre-production, Production, and Publicity Galleries, as well as Fox Movietone News Academy Awards (SD 02:46), trailers and teasers (SD 20:35 total), TV spots (SD 01:23), and radio spots (01:00).
The 2.20:1 1080p AVC picture was photographed in the 65-mm Todd-AO format and released theatrically in 70 mm. The original film’s negatives were scanned at 8K and downsized to a 4K master, from which extensive restoration was derived. Color fluctuations between takes have been corrected, and thousands of instances of dirt and debris have been removed, resulting in a 1080p/AVC- encoded transfer that’s absolutely pristine. Most importantly, the fine grain structure of the 70-mm negative hasn’t been tampered with, and there have been no attempts to artificially sharpen the picture.
When reviewed in Issue 42, the anamorphically enhanced 2.25:1 DVD was far superior to the so-blurry-your-eyes-hurt LaserDisc (both transferred from 65-mm elements) reviewed in Issue 24. Any improvement over the LaserDisc was welcomed. Viewed alone, the DVD picture, for its age, looked pretty good. Despite some apparent edge enhancement, images were generally sharp and detailed. Colors, though dated, were nicely balanced. There were many scenes in which compression pixelization could be a bit annoying. Instead of appearing solid, backgrounds seemed very busy, with distracting movement. Fine film grain was revealed throughout.
The previously remastered 40th anniversary high-definition treatment released on the Blu-ray Disc format in 1080p AVC was reviewed in Issue 151, November 2010. T

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack has been sourced from the original six-track stereo master. The soundtrack on this 50th anniversary is a carryover of the released 40th Anniversary edition. The creatively talented remixing engineers at Mi Casa Multichannel (now defunct) were charged with the DTS lossless remastering in the 7.1-channel format. Over the years they have earned an excellent record of sonic achievements in proper 7.1 mixing and their experience tremendously benefits this soundtrack. The added two channels are positioned to the 90-degree side positions and optimized as to the recommendations originally preferred by Dolby and DTS, relative to the sweet spot listening position. The spatial soundfield result is impressive, far more dimensional than just reproducing the soundtrack on a 5.1-channel system. While the overall structure of the soundtrack has not deviated from that of the original six-track magnetic master, the sound is better balanced than that on the DVD reviewed in Issue 42, particularly with respect to the directionalization of the dialogue. Here the sense of spatial dimension across the screen channels is not overly directionalized but perfectly positioned in relation to the screen presence of the actors. Direction is created by mixing the center-channel dialogue level in perfectly portioned amounts to the left or right channel. During songs the same sensitivity to this balance is respected, which enhances the dimensional quality of the music numbers. The music sounds superb, with a dynamic richness that is remarkably clean. The score extends to every channel with a spacious enveloping presence. The added side channels extend the dimensional width and depth of the sound, especially during the music performances. While the fidelity is what it is with such a dated film, the sound is clean, hiss-free, and nicely articulated. The .1 LFE channels still remain reserved but never feel noticeably missing, as the music is well balanced in the lower frequencies. An intermission and an orchestral entr’acte appear as they did in the original theatrical run. The festival conclusion and Abbey escape are the highlights to the sonic dimensional scope of the new mix. This is a wonderful remastering effort and musical experience that is sure to please fans. (Check out the Restoring a Classic: A Glorious Sound featurette for details on how the audio cleanup was accomplished.) (Gary Reber)