2001 coming back in 70mm, unrestored

In Fake Cinerama! Aaaaa, close enough.

People forget that details do get crushed in a film print, and that's kind of "the way it is." I think a lot of people have lost touch on what real print film looks like projected in a theater, because we've gotten away from that look with digital cameras and digital projectors.

At Technicolor, one standard thing we did in video is when a client wanted the image fairly dark and crushed, we'd say, "ah, you want a print look" and we'd do as they asked, turning down the knobs on the film negative. Sometimes, those details were never intended to be seen, so the last thing they wanted was a bright, "open" kind of picture with a lot of detail. Instead, they might want kind of a dark, dense, sinister kind of look. A lot depends on context and intent.

BTW, I'm your age and also was profoundly affected by seeing 2001 in a theater, back in my home town of Tampa. I went back to see it three times in (faux) Cinerama and thought it was brilliant. The movie always made sense to me and I never had any problem with it.

 

I hear ya, but it’s not the circumstance of being use to digital. I know you work with it constantly and prefer it in general. What I saw other day was markedly different detail wise from the original exhibition. Someone mentioned earlier about the difference in projection from what was used then to now. I wonder if that’s a contributing factor?

 

The cheering for the Cinerama logo was more of a knowing sarcasm as the place was filled with film geeks.
I am not sure of the response of folk here on viewing the film. It is a FILM not 4K Blu-ray or whatever they run today. I paid to see what was advertised. It was not "juiced" in any form. The print & sound at the Dome were terrific along with the presentation. You don't have curtains in theaters anymore. I noticed at the beginning, the projectionist slightly corrected the framing as some small legal tittles on the bottom were partially cut off. I take it they were running platters and not reels. A few of us, on the way out, waved to the booth and the operator acknowledged us. There is an art to running celluloid........off my soapbox.

The difference in projection film today is non use of carbon arc lighthouse that produce a truer (?) light source, but also were hard on prints due to heat.

 

I'm not convinced anybody can remember with that much accuracy what a film print looked years later, or even weeks later. Speaking as a 20-year veteran of Technicolor, I can tell you we can't even do that. The prints from the lab were always all over the place, some really awful, some OK, some really good. I think the internal "reject factor" was about 4 points either way, but the problem with that is if it's 4 points dark, or if it's 4 points +Red and -4 points Green, that's gonna look like crap but still be acceptable.

I don't know what the range is for Fotokem (who made the 70mm prints for 2001), but I would bet they didn't strike more than a few dozen prints, because they cost so much to make. And I bet they were all hand-checked with a densitometer and made as good as they possibly can with 2018 technology. My experience is that they're actually far more accurate now than labs used to be 50-60 years ago.

 

The Castro in SF where I saw it still has a curtain which is so great. There’s a certain magical almost ominous feeling as the curtain parts on a dark screen. So many memories and dreams of that through my movie going life.

 

I went to see the re release with my junior high school friend who I saw the film with 50 years ago ( which was really cool) and he felt Exactly the same way I did about the current print presentation compared to what we originally saw.

 

Too much treble and not enough bass though of course that may be due to the sounds system of the cinema (Picturehouse Central in London).

When I last saw it at the British Film Institute the ticket seller proudly informed me that the sound levels were to be "as dictated by Mr Kubrick". True or not, that was a better audio presentation.

 

I saw 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY twice in Philadelphia:

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Theater: Randolph
Premiere: May 22, 1968 (Pennsylvania Premiere)
Duration: 30 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “An astounding entertainment experience a dazzling trip to the moon, the planets and the stars beyond.”

Remembering Cinerama (Part 20: Philadelphia) - Cinema Treasures



The first time was with my Dad. Mom & sisters went to see THE SOUND OF MUSIC. We guys went to the sci-fi movie. Before we went, I had asked my Dad just what Cinerama was, and he said it was kind of a 3D effect. Well he was wrong about that, but I do remember that the spherical planets on the giant curved screen did have a sort of depth about them. I recall cracking wise at the beginning with a line about the ape-men asking, "Did we accidentally go to THE PLANET OF THE APES?" as that film was around that same summer. The 30-week roadshow offered the pre-film overture as well as the intermission. That was the first time I recall seeing an intermission in a movie.

I wasn't thrilled with the film after that first time, later in the summer I picked up the novel of 2001. After reading the novel, and remembering the images I'd seen, I just HAD to see it again, so a buddy of mine and I traveled down to center city via subway to watch it again in Cinerama at the same theater. This time, the audience was a lot more sparse and we sat in the front row of the balcony. Whoa! What a ride. To date, I compare every viewing of the movie with that experience and none ever come close.

 

I see performance place and times have finally been announced for Minneapolis. 2001: A Space Odyssey will be shown at the Emagine Willow Creek Theater in Plymouth, MN, from Friday, June 29th through Thursday, July 5th.

Anybody familiar with this theater?

I'm thinking about catching a morning show, going out for a late lunch, and then coming back for the first evening showing. I'll never get this chance again.

This would also mirror what happened when I saw 2001 on its first run. At 15, I was old enough to go to a movie by myself. My mother dropped me off at the theater while she went shopping in downtown Los Angeles, a treat for her, too. I remember the theater as the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd but somebody else here said it was running at the Egyptian and the LA Times says the premiere was at the Pantages, so who knows where I saw it?

When my mother met me after the movie, I asked her if she would like to shop some more? She said she always had more shopping she could do. I turned around and bought another ticket. Completely blown away, I had to see the movie again.

 

For anyone with access to Beverly Hills, The Academy (Oscar folk) are running the print on June 11. Five bucks get you into the Academy's theater.

 

We're seeing it this Saturday (in Christchurch, New Zealand). Can't wait!

 

James Cameron on AI and 2001, both topics were also touched on the 6-part AMC Visionaries Sci-Fi program with other directors like Spielberg, Lucas, Nolan, Scott, Del Toro.

from a recent talk in Sydney AU.

“How long do you think something smarter than you will ever be, is going to want to be your slave?”
Cameron was asked about his own influences in terms of sci-fi and fantasy, and about what he thinks how films in that genre get right – and wrong – about the future. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was one he pinpointed for discussion, especially its take on artificial intelligence.

It’s the 50th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s being celebrated by Hollywood and the fans, the cinephiles, with the rerelease of 70 millimetre prints and so on, which is very exciting. Here we are 50 years later, we’re not doing the things that we were supposed to do be doing in by 2001, we’re certainly not going to Jupiter with human-piloted missions! So, I think we’ve undershot the mark, as a civilization, in some ways.

Now, the other big question in that 2001 raises is about A.I. About the disembodied consciousness of a machine consciousness and that’s the part of 2001 that’s as fresh today as ever. In fact, the film should be watched as cautionary tale. I’ve talked to a lot of A.I. folks over the last year, year and a half because I’m doing these new Terminator films. I’m not directing but I’m co-producing. There are a lot of researchers at the very cutting edge of artificial general A.I. research that will say, ‘We are trying to create a person.’ They mean ‘a person.’ A consciousness and identity, something with an ego, something with its own life, and goals and emotions. I say okay, ‘So, this ‘person’ that you’re creating, how will you control this person?’ ‘Oh, well it’s very easy, we just set out the goals that we want the AI to pursue.’

I say, ‘Okay. So you’re saying that it has ego which means that it has essentially its own sense of self and its own emotions and all that, but, at the same time, you’re putting shackles on it so it can’t do what it wants to do but I can only do what you want it to do. I think we have a name for that, it’s called slavery.’ How long do you think something smarter than you will ever be, is going to want to be your slave? About forty-fifth of seconds.

 

Interesting notes from other sites, apparently some theaters have the original mix with directional dialogue that has been missing since Warner took over the film and remixed it in 2000, and some theaters have had the remixed audio. This release is using DTS discs since 70mm can only play that way these days so i guess some were sent the old discs made for all the prior 70mm shows that have been done since 2001.
There's also reports of bad damage already on some of the new prints due to improper handling and usage.

Essentially this should be a snapshot of sorts of what the 1999 protection IP looks like. While the enthusiast side of me likes this idea of seeing warts and all it should be remembered that 2001 was never intended to be seen this way by the general public. The advertising and promotion of this release has been extremely poor and confusing. And being a giant fan of the film there's nowhere within remote driving distance I can go see it.

 

Enjoyed seeing it on the big screen, but the 4k print was a bit underwhelming. Looking forward to the 4k disc.

 

I thought this was a tour of 70mm prints. Are some theaters showing 4K digital versions?

 

It's playing at my local cinema in 10 minutes.

I've just come back from horse riding so won't be going.

 

I think that is just in the UK for now.

Edit: Looks like Edgard is in New Zealand, so it's 4K digital there also?

 

Theaters that don't have 70mm projection capability will be getting a 4K DCP. I believe I read somewhere this will be a somewhat wider release than the quite limited 70mm release, but I don't have a link at hand right now.

 

Yeah, our cinema isn't set up for 70mm.

 

Yeah. It was at a small boutique cinema. Sound was excellent!

 

You guys are able to compare this print with the memory of when you saw it as kids 50 yrs ago?

 

Yes - we have vivid memories of it . Saw it 3 times in roadshow. This print/ presentation looked more like how I saw it in the Seventies. Still a fantastic movie.

 

Since we have an active Kubrick thread I just got back from seeing the exhibition of Kubricks Look photos At the City Museum of New York on Fifth Ave.