[Richard W. Haines]

The problem with high definition, as has been discussed in other posts, is that it exagerates
any flaws in the material that it's derived from. The sharper and more fine grain the image
is in the digital domain, the more obvious the grain or murkiness is in the film. So don't be surprised when movies
like "American Graffiti" come out on blu ray and are almost unwatchable because of the low
lighting in night scenes (which is the bulk of it) and substandard Techniscope format (basically
the equivalent of a wide 16mm image blown up to 35mm scope ratio). The Technicolor dye transfer prints filled in the grain and improved the contrast but high definition will make the problems very obvious and distracting unless they can develop a program to compensate for grain and poor contrast by then. They do have a grain reducer now but it can give the movie a very unnatural appearance.


In the seventies, 'grain' was 'in' so to speak and many movies that had a murky
appearance garnered critical accolades (i.e. "McCabe and Mrs. Miller") because it
was so different that classic studio cinematography. Today, it just looks like bad camerawork.

In terms of the content of the Eastwood movies, let's not forget our perpetual
culture war. In the late sixties, the counter culture dominated but it was
a short lived victory and beginning in the seventies, that worldview began
to fizzle out. By the late seventies, the counter culture was dead but it
made a comeback in the nineties and continues today with the movies of
Spike Lee, Tim Robbins and Michael Moore vs. mainstream movies made by
Spielberg, Lucas, Ron Howard and others. That's not to suggest that these people
are enemies but they are define cinema differently. The first group defines
cinema as a forum for political activism and the second as an entertainment
medium. Back in the sixties and seventies it was the same conflict and of
course there are movies that combine both forms. "Dirty Harry" was entertainment
but it did have a political slant compared to other cop films. I prefer
it when overt political posturing is not in a film because it will date the movie
as times change. If it's there at all, it should be very subtle. That's just my
personal preference of course.