"Forbidden Planet" geek thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Blastproof, Jul 2, 2021.

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  1. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Compared a few scenes of the 50th Anniversary Edition DVD with the Blu-ray version. I'm pretty sure I could take the Pepsi Challenge on this one. The Blu-ray wins. For $10, no reason not to upgrade.
     
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  2. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    I would vote to always take the wires out. They would have if they could have back at the time. It’s not part of its charm.
     
  3. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Wouldn't we look foolish if aliens really landed on Earth and they all had a long piece of string coming out of the top.
     
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  4. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Oh, I think the wires in a 1953 sci-fi movie are very much part of its charm. Trust me, you see them in 1960s prints.
     
  5. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Exactly. With the exception of those in the industry, no one knew what to look for! There were no 'making of' previews back then. o_O Sitting in a dark theater back in 1956 you got absorbed by the experience and overlooked things you didn't know what to overlook. Imagine if the King Kong, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, etc. special effects process was common knowledge among movie viewers back then?
     
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  6. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Makes Keaton’s effects extra-special. Some of his stunts can be figured out after one viewing (more often, an immediate replay or two), but even today one wonders “how the **** did he do that?” And that was the 1920s. Some stuff I still wouldn’t be able to figure out had I not read his biography.
     
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  7. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Sometimes, I think the flaws of the technology of the time -- particularly the 1950s and 1960s -- make the movie charming. I would never criticize a classic like King Kong or Citizen Kane by pointing out the VFX flaws. Instead, I'd say, "wow, can you believe they did all that completely with old-school B&W film on optical printers, pain-stakingly matting different images together onto one piece of film?"

    I have a harder time watching bad effects in films made in the 1970s and 1980s, because Star Wars and other classics brought VFX up to a very high level (even in a completely film-based workflow). I just watched 1983's Octopussy last night, and we were horrified by how cheap and bad most of the effects were. About the only thing that impressed us were the shots of the stuntmen hanging on the side of an actual airplane, in the air, while fighting. While you could tell their faces didn't quite match the actors, there's no question that the danger of the stunt was incredible. Movie plot, acting, and directing... haaaaaaarible. But the stunt I give an A to, just for sheer risk and danger.
     
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  8. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Frank Zappa would agree.

    .
     
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  9. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    Forbidden Planet is on my list of Laserdiscs I'll never sell. Still looks good enough through my CLD-D704 and modern flat panel.
     
  10. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Was laserdisc a better technology for watching movies? I have a DVD transfer (from LD) of an old movie and I’ve been meaning to compare it to the DVD version.
     
  11. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Oh, the Blu-ray is really beautiful. Though I'm bummed that it was never released in original 2.55 CinemaScope.
     
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  12. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    It depends on the transfer. A good laserdisc is certainly preferable to a bad digital. Remember that LD was analog, so there's only so much you can get out of it.

    That said, I have some LDs that look really really good. And the ones with AC-3 sound great, since they were ultra-careful to pay attention to the new technology.

    Some of the very last LDs - right before DVD - are exceptional, especially compared to early DVD. Say, 1979-1980 or so.

    As always, just my opinion, YMMV,
     
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  13. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    I can tell you two things about that movie right off the top of my head: I own it on DVD and Honey West was hot.
     
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  14. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    The film is Mirage (1965). I suspect the later DVD is better, though the DVD and Blu-ray releases have received lukewarm reviews. At the time I obtained the bootleg (actually pirate) copy made from laserdisc the options were VHS (good luck finding a copy) and laserdisc (I've never had a player). They really dragged their heels with that release, and it still awaits the transfer it deserves.
     
  15. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I watched the first half last night. Stellar visuals, IMO. Now if they could just find a way to edit out Earl Holliman . . .
     
  16. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    No. I used to sell Laserdisc back in the late 70's and early 80's and was a huge fan. There were CLV and CAV disks. Constant Linear Velocity and Constant Angular Velocity. One of my favorites was a free copy of the band Berlin I got from Silver Platters as my "buy a few and get so much off your next purchase. It was one of those smaller diameter discs.

    A few of my discs ended up with laser rot. But I lost the player in a divorce and GAVE my discs to a used record store back in 1997 and never looked back. I had Pink Floyd Pulse on Laser and think the DVD is better. It's certainly more convenient...

    Unlike vinyl, laser discs will not last "forever". Kinda like cassette tapes. I went to the fabric store yesterday and picked up a sheet of felt to replace the lost felt pads on a few dozen tapes.
     
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  17. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Eh... it was 1956. You always needed some comic relief in the films of that era.

    I think everything eventually falls apart. As the great Isaac Asimov once said: "entropy can't be reversed." My partner and I wrote the cover story on Laser Rot for Video Magazine in late 1989, and the reality is there were multiple causes. Pioneer told us privately they were as confused by why discs don't rot as why they did rot. For many years, I had some 1978 Laserdiscs that were still fine... while other discs made almost 20 years later were rotted away.

    I think digital data can last a long time, provided you migrate the files to newer files (and cloud storage) over time. But physical media is questionable. I would agree that motion picture film and vinyl actually seem to have a greater lifespan than many digital devices; this is endlessly debated by the Association for Moving Image Archivists, the Library of Congress, and other organizations.
     
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  18. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I keep telling myself that. Though sci-fi seems to have phased out the low-brow stuff fairly quickly.
     
  19. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Actually, there's some pretty funny jokes in Alien, Terminator, Star Wars, you name it. Not everything has to be serious all the time. There are good reasons relating to storytelling and pacing for lightening up every so often, letting the audience catch their breath, and then ramping up the excitement and action again.
     
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  20. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    The only weak point in the movie. So stupid.
     
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  21. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    I got the Blu-ray yesterday. It looks quite good but I just have a regular old 1080 tv. Would it look better on a 4K set?
     
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  22. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I don’t remember any Alien or Terminator jokes, but the ones I recall from Star Wars seem to relate to the plot and the surrounding action in which they occur. Holliman’s gags seem inartfully wedged into the plot.
     
  23. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Good question. I’d like to know myself, since I assume my next TV will be 4K and I’d rather not have to upgrade my Blu-ray collection (small as it is).
     
  24. edd2b

    edd2b Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Country UK
    Forbidden Planet is of my all time favourite films. Haunted me as a kid for years when my folks sent me to bed before the end because it was scheduled on TV too late one night. :realmad: Now I own the DVD so I can view when I please

    Yeah to that......and the Robinson’s own robot acting up jealous! :p...but I hate it when people refer to THE regular Jupiter 2 robot from ‘Lost in Space’ as Robby the Robot. :rolleyes:.
     
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  25. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    yea me too! the jealousy part was hysterical! Oh, I loved The Robot! Robby was cool too, but he was old! ; )
     
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