The Sound of Music (1965)

One of the best-looking blu-rays ever, right? Well, even video-wise, whether it's a faithful representation of what a 70 mm print ought to look like (particularly with regards to how colours are represented) has actually been fiercely contested by some of the film's more hardcore fans (one of whom, incidentally, is also a restoration expert of sorts: see Joe Caps's sometimes-unintelligible-but-still-insightful posts in Robert Harris's BD review thread at the Home Theater Forum).

The superb original Todd-AO sound mix had five front channels and one surround channel. It sounded awesome, and I can attest to this personally having seen a vintage 70 mm print of it a few years ago.

Not that the 7.1/5.1 on the blu-ray sounds bad. Far from it. However, it isn't faithful to the original mix, and has a few SFX changes. Perhaps most notably, Maria's apron slap during the opening title song is absent. Switch to the French/Spanish (I believe) tracks and you'll hear it – they're more faithful to the original mix (dialogue excepted), despite not being lossless.

I've compared the 5.0 mix present on the 40th anniversary DVD to the new blu-ray remix, and the 5.0 has the apron slap, as well as a few other subtle differences: the faint sound of running water in outdoor scenes is absent on the blu-ray, and modernised thunder and rain effects have been added just before the My Favourite Things sequence.

The blu-ray also contains a 4.0 English mix, which appears to be derived from the new remix. Both it and the 7.1/5.1 have been subjected to noise reduction, and consequently some of the energy has been sapped out of the dialogue, effects, and music. It's unfortunate, given how carefully constructed sound is in this film.

The 448 kbps 5.0 mix from the 40th anniversary DVD hasn't been filtered as egregiously (if at all), and sounds wonderful. Or, alternatively, if you have the blu-ray, swap between the English tracks and the Spanish one and discover what the 'sound of music' really ought to sound like.