The Greatest Show on Earth (Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Paramount 
Release Date: March 30, 2021
Rating: Not Rated
Film: 4/5
 
Plot
A two-time Academy Award-winner^*–including Best Picture and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story–THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH captures the thrills, chills and exhilaration of the circus.  Featuring three intertwining plotlines filled with romance and rivalry, DeMille's film includes spectacular action sequences, including a show-stopping train wreck. THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH also boasts a sensational cast, including Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, and James Stewart. 
 
My Thoughts
I wouldn’t call myself a film historian by any stretch since most of my favorite films come from the mid-1970s up to today, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate films from before I was born. In fact, I only know two directors by name—Victor Fleming and Cecil B. DeMille, so whenever I see a film by either one of those directors that I haven’t seen, I try and watch it.
 
This film is part documentary and part drama—all of the circus shots are from the actual Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus performers from the 1950s with actual footage from their performances. The main cast is integrated into the story with various live shots and what looks to be early greenscreen technology. While the film is enjoyable, it is a tad long and the segments of the circus performances tend to overstay their welcome. From a historical perspective its great to show what the “old time” circus was like to youngsters that featured live performances by wild animals—the circus company closed operations in 2017.
 
The film has recently been restored from a 4K scan of the original negative and the resulting image is quite good, but not great by today’s standards. There are occasional scenes with print damage and the greenscreen shots have green halos around the characters and in some cases change their hair color. In one case in the third act you can literally see right through a character as she swings back and forth. On the plus side, the colors really pop.
 
The audio track is a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track which lacks dynamics, but dialog is mostly clear and intelligible but don’t expect to be blown away.
 
 
Video 4/5
 
Audio 3.5/5 (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
 
Special Features:
 

• Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on The Greatest Show On Earth

 

 
 
Conclusion
This is film #16 in the Paramount Presents line of releases and it turned out to be a good way to spend a night. It does drag in parts but the overall story was enjoyable and the ending was excellent and definitely wasn’t what we expected. Recommended.
 
 
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS2000 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 88” 16x9 Fixed Screen
Anthem AVM60 Audio/Video Processor
ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
System Controller: URC MX-980
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
SVS PC-Ultra Cylinder Subwoofer
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer
SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer
JL Audio Dominion D110 Subwoofer x 2 (configured as tandem mid bass modules)
Mini DSP controlling all subwoofers
Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling

PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner

[AVSCraig]

A slice of classic Americana there ! 

[Douglas.barnum]

Agree 100% with your thoughts on this film.  It was a buy for me because I have the whole Paramounts Presents collection, so in that case I wasn't going to read any reviews until after I watched it.  And like I said your review was exactly spot on.

[Barry]

David,

How many sub-woofers do you have? How are they located?
What is a powering bed channel?

[David Vaughn]

Barry,

All my subs are treated as "1" sub because of the Mini-DSP. I currently am using a total of 5--the SVS cylinder in the front left of the room, a HSU sub on the right side about 1/3 ways from the front to the back of the room, dual JL Audio subs (daisy chained off the same signal) on the front wall 1/3 towards center, and a SVS SB3000 on the front wall also 1/3 towards center (basically these are on opposite sides of the center channel). The subs were gain matched to work as "one" subwoofer with EQ applied in the MiniDSP (under normal use...right now I'm reviewing a Trinnov Altitude 16 pre/pro and disabled the MiniDSP EQ and let the Trinnov handle the EQ duties). 

What's amazing about the Trinnov is it was able to EQ the sub channel perfectly in less than 20 minutes of calibration....when I did it manually with the MiniDSP, it took me close to 10 hours to get it "just right." It would take me less time now that I've done it before...the first time I did it was painful, to say the least. The Trinnov room correction is by far the best I've ever used and puts every other system to shame. 

[David Vaughn]

David,

How many sub-woofers do you have? How are they located?
What is a powering bed channel?

Oops...my bed channel amp is the ATI 7 channel model listed in the review. 

[Paul Heroy]

David,

How many sub-woofers do you have? How are they located?
What is a powering bed channel?

Just in case it wasn't clear, "powering bed channel" means an amp, which is providing power to "bed channel". Those are the ear level speakers in an immersive (Dolby Atmos or DTS:X) setup, as opposed to the height channels at a higher or overhead position.

[AVSCraig]

Barry,

All my subs are treated as "1" sub because of the Mini-DSP. I currently am using a total of 5--the SVS cylinder in the front left of the room, a HSU sub on the right side about 1/3 ways from the front to the back of the room, dual JL Audio subs (daisy chained off the same signal) on the front wall 1/3 towards center, and a SVS SB3000 on the front wall also 1/3 towards center (basically these are on opposite sides of the center channel). The subs were gain matched to work as "one" subwoofer with EQ applied in the MiniDSP (under normal use...right now I'm reviewing a Trinnov Altitude 16 pre/pro and disabled the MiniDSP EQ and let the Trinnov handle the EQ duties).

What's amazing about the Trinnov is it was able to EQ the sub channel perfectly in less than 20 minutes of calibration....when I did it manually with the MiniDSP, it took me close to 10 hours to get it "just right." It would take me less time now that I've done it before...the first time I did it was painful, to say the least. The Trinnov room correction is by far the best I've ever used and puts every other system to shame.

It would be a lot easier and faster if you had four identical subs I bet. 

[Barry]

David and Tracy,

Finally I should be getting my new Macintosh equipment next Thursday and Friday. They said it would take two days to set up. The Macintosh 170 uses the Trinnov Technology and I understand they even use the same computer app. So I’ll be able to tell you how good this sounds in a week. I am going to ask a few more questions about your subwoofers. You say they act as one and I don’t quite understand how that happens

[David Vaughn]

It would be a lot easier and faster if you had four identical subs I bet.

Yes and no. EQing has more to do with the room, which mine is a challenge since it's multipurpose and opens to the kitchen and has two entries into it. I've actually contemplated going down to just the SVS cylinder and HSU sub...but that depends on whether I end up buying the Tinnov.