Giles Martin tweets... A Hard Day's Night - Update: Criterion Blu-Ray and Theatrical Re-Release*

Except that it was proven by the Miramax version that the MPI was missing image from the sides, so these marks would be too restrictive and need to move a bit.

 

Will the YCDT outtake performance clip be viewable in SD only?

 

Please someone step in if there is additional info of which I’m unaware, but my recollection is that no actual film elements of any outtakes exist, including “You Can’t Do That.” That clip happened to survive only because a film print was sent to air on the Ed Sullivan show back in 1964, and the Sullivan broadcast tape still exists.
I believe all releases of the clip are taken from a videotape master of the Sullivan broadcast. So unless the Sullivan archives kept the actual film print that was sent, we can’t get that clip in true HD, nor would it be able to be re-inserted into the film in anything approaching a seamless fashion.

 

The Beatles and Apple via their website do seem to cross-promote some stuff, such as various solo releases. So it’s possible we’ll see something. But despite the first-time apparent substantial support of Apple in this AHDN Criterion release at least in terms of access to audio elements, this Criterion release does not appear to be an “Apple” project in the way that the other film BD releases were, or the BBC albums, etc.

 

Exactly. Back when the Miramax DVD came out, someone actually pieced together the MPI and Miramax images to form a weird hybrid that had all of the top-and-bottom MPI image information as well as the Miramax side image information. Certainly an interesting way to see as much of the image as possible, even with the weird black spots at all four corners that resulted.
The aspect ratio thing still confuses me, especially in terms of what some fans seem to want. Apart from “OAR” advocates, those that are complaining about any image cropping would, I would think, actually prefer a 1.66x1 matting since it would reveal a bit more top-and-bottom information than 1.75x1.
It will be interesting to see what is or isn’t cropped on this edition. I’m guessing it will be some new variation that may be missing a bit of image while adding a bit somewhere else. No version, not even the MPI releases, apparently have the entire negative frame information showing. As folks like Vidiot can speak to in much more technical terms, there are limits to how far to the edge of the film frame one can go when doing a transfer.

 

Forum member Bob Furmanek, who researches this stuff for a living, has found documentation that 1.75:1 is the CORRECT THEATRICAL OAR for this movie...Criterion's website has already updated its specifications and "AHDN" is coming out with this presentation...

 

Also, "Red River" on May 27th!

 

Never trust scans from an older transfer. It's very possible that zooming and other manipulation was done during telecine.

AHDN was composed for 1.75:1 and that information is printed on the original 35mm film elements.

1.75:1 (as approved by the Technical Committee of the British Film Producers Association) was the European non-anamorphic widescreen standard as of October, 1955.

It was not 1.66.

Full documentation can be found here: http://www.3dfilmarc...n-documentation

 

Ah...yeah I was bummed when the blu-ray didn't have a 5.1 music only track. A wasted opportunity for sure!

 

any reason this isnt available for day-of-release shipping via amazon? Is it a criterion thing? I noticed Foreign Correspondent didnt offer it either. But other movies for pre-order I see that option. It took me over a week after release date to get Correspondent, and if that's the issue here, then I'll just pay extra to buy it at barnes and noble locally

 

I agree and have never stated otherwise; it was pretty hard to miss the post with the “1.75” screencap. I actually commented on that OAR evidence in a previous post, and how it was comical to dispute that “full screen” is not the appropriate OAR considering that evidence in addition to eyewitness evidence of people who saw in the theater in 1964 and specifically recall a widescreen presentation.

My post was concerning those who have simply been discussing trying to wring the most image information out of that negative, and how simply pining for an exact replication in HD of what we saw on the MPI DVD would not only not provide the OAR, but would not even provide that full amount of image information from the negative based on the Miramax transfer having some information on the sides not present on the MPI DVD.

As someone else mentioned, the transfer and the framing/panning of the transfer plays a role too. I can take the MPI DVD and “matte” it for 1.75x1 and make it look awful and all wrong. I’m sure Criterion won’t do this, and what I want out of this is the OAR, and properly matted and transferred. My post was addressing the advocates of a “full screen” version, and how the MPI DVD isn’t even necessarily the best way to present a “full screen” un-matted version apparently.

 

In my experience, there are random items that don’t have the “receive this item on release date” notation. In some cases, this changes at some point prior to release. I just went ahead and pre-ordered on Amazon and, since they won’t charge anything until it ships, there is plenty of time to determine whether there is a better deal elsewhere.

 

The scene you are referring to is the TV studio when they perform "If I Fell" - George is playing his guitar and tries to lean on an amp, and it moves. I have an audio tape of the entire movie recorded from a TV broadcast in the mid-70's which has the original mono mix.

 

That original mono mix is included in Criterion's new blu-ray/DVD as an audio option...it was restored for the 2004 DVD by Forum member Ron Furmanek, who's also the brother of fellow Forum member Bob Furmanek, but tampered with by the 2004 disc's producers and reprocessed into faux-5.1 channel surround...thankfully, it will be included in an unmolested state this time!!!

 

Wish we would have gotten the mono mix of Help! when that Blu Ray came out. Was there ever any reason given for not including it?
Magical Mystery Tour as well for that matter.

 

For that one, I'd look for the first VHS release from Meda Home Entertainment.

Was the Meda version of MMT ever on VHS or just Beta?

 

I am told by Ron that he does not believe that his mono mix will be on the Criterion Blu-ray.

 

If so, it's a shame, Marc...Ron's audio restoration work is on a par in quality level with our host's!!!

 

What did Furmanek's restoration entail?

 

Media Home Entertainment did not have the complete MMT and was a pretty poor quality audio and video if I remember correctly. I've still got the VHS of it, but haven't played it in many years.
And yes, it was on VHS.

 

How exactly was it not complete? Was the beach scene involving Jessie Robbins and Ivor Cutler cut? IMDB claims that some versions cut that scene out.

 

It's a bad copy of a worn out film. I remember the opening song has a splice in it (VHS Media vision version), there's probably other splices in it. If your looking for the film specific mono mixes don't look for a copy, the sound is also heavily compressed and distorted.

Edit:

Somewhere there a thread on Magical Mystery Tour, your questions may be answered there.

 

I remember seeing that old, "grey market" VHS of "Magical Mystery Tour", and it indeed looked and sounded horrendous. But it almost had a charm about it. I remember my Dad telling me about going to see "MMT" back in the late 60's at an impromptu, makeshift screening in an old church. They clearly had some sketchy film print, but seeing that VHS version made me think perhaps it was a bit like what it would have been like to see one of those sketchy late 60's screenings. Extra dust and grain and a soundtrack that sounded like a egg was frying the background the whole time.

I always kind of liked how "dirty" the film looked at the beginning with the optical star shots and whatnot, and thought that that was the worst of many weird things that seemed to take place when MPI put it out on DVD in 1998, where they literally messed with the footage and did an awful weird zoom-in-zoom-out video effect on the very beginning.

 

My question is for Steve Hoffman....The original HDN mono mix always intrigued me, (The MPI VHS mono version)...IMHO, it has a solidity none of the other mixes for vynyl/cd, mono/stereo ever had. Not saying they were hi fi, but there's definately something about them, espeicially on the low end and Ringo's drums. And for mono, the soundscape is nice and wide. I'd like to hear Steve Hoffman's take on them.