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I recently watched a Blu-Ray of that classic Jimmy Stewart Black and White film, A Wondeful Day, except it was not in Black and White. The Blu-ray had the original cinematic version but also included a colourised version as well.
Not so long ago I also watched a broadcast colourised version of The Longest Day but have not found the colourised version on DVD or Blu-Ray. if I do I will buy it.
Some people however, purists, think that colourising classic films is tantamount to a crime.
For some films I would agree, Schindler's List, for instance - then the black and white start and finish of The Wizard of Oz were filmed that way for a reason.
For most black and white films though they were filmed that way because it was before colour or early in the development of colour when it was expensive. These, if colourised and re-digitised, may well get a fresh breath of life, as did The Longest Day (not sure why that was B&W...) and A Wonderful Life.
Why stop at colourisation in this digital age.....
One of my favourite films is The Battle of Britain. Now this film is, of course, colour but there are some aspects of the movie that I find jarring. First of all the Spitfire is over-represented. Over two thirds of the aircraft in the BoB were Hurricanes but if you watch the film you will think that the 'Hurris' were only flown in France before the battle and by the Poles during a battle dominated by Spitfires. Clearly the reason for this was the very low number of Hurricanes available for filming. It is surely possible in this digital age to very carefully make changes to the film to increase the presence of this great aircraft and better show its real role in the battle. Then some of the Spitfires themselves jar, being later marks that did not fly in the battle. It would be easy enough to digitally change the exhausts and profile to make them appear like Mk1's. The biggest and most obvious flaw in the film, however, is the use of Hispano engined ME109's, loaned to the film company by the Spanish Air Force. These look very different to the 'Emils' that flew in the battle and digitisation may well be able to alter the appearance of these to the right configeration.
These changes would bring this film up to date and make them look so much better, would justify a cinematic re-release and a whole new DVD and Blu-ray market would open. It would not be the first time a film has had two versions released in the cinema (Close Encounters for instance).
So what do you think. Should they leave old films alone or take advantage of the new digital age, improve them, bring them up-to-date, make the 'feel' and appearance more authentic?
The original versions could still be included in DVD and Blu-ray releases, as per A Wonderful Day.