Movies that need to be released on DVD.

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Reader, Mar 5, 2003.

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  1. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    There's three Vertigo laserdiscs. One is the old washed out pre-restoration version (probably the one you mentioned). The next has exactly the same content as the current DVD (with a PCM stereo track, too, of course). The third reflects the restoration with fewer extras but a DTS soundtrack.

    BTW, I have seen the Criterion Charade at a few stores in the Detroit area. I'll send you a PM the next time I spot it. It has a very nice non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, good sound, and some nice extras. The commentary is particularly hilarious because Stanley Donen keeps insisting that writer Peter Stone not spoil where the money is hidden and Stone is somewhat flustered because he figures anyone listening to the commentary has already seen the film.

    Regards,
     
  2. Jefhart

    Jefhart Senior Member

    Great news about Laura.

    Agree wholeheartedly on Mutiny On The Bounty, terrific film.

    Jeff
     
  3. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    The last thing I read about SCTV was that there was aproblem with licensing the "incidental music" that is integrated into the soundtrack of some of the skits.


    SCTV petition

    What is AC TV?

    check out these sites - I've got dozen others if you are interested (the "stereo" in my "stereoptic" name refers to the visual stereo,not the audio stereo)



    #d movie list

    3-d history

    more 3-d movie info


    SI 2000 Swimsuit issue - Dig out those red blue glasses you must have a pair somewhere
     
  4. njwiv

    njwiv Senior Member

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    That's probably my favorite part of the commentary. A real hoot!
     
  5. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    The Uninvited with Ray Milland
    The Haunting (1963 version)
     
  6. freeflyt

    freeflyt Active Member

    Location:
    Chandler, AZ
    "Once Upon a Time in the West" - Sergio Leone
    "O Lucky Man" - Lindsay Anderson
     
  7. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    That one's been in limbo for so long it ain't funny...a fine film, not for everybody, but I just love the unique atmosphere and soundtrack. Hope somebody's got a definitive answer, but haven't heard a thing.

    BTW, Donald, thanks for the links to the 3-D stuff. That swimsuit gallery looks to be quite enjoyable. Now all I have to do is find the glasses...I left them in the same box the 3D comics are in, now to find that...:rolleyes:
    But even without the glasses, easy to enjoy those ladies. SI spares no expense, that's for sure:p

    ED:cool:
     
  8. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Paramount is working on restoring an extended version of this one. It's taking a bit longer than they may have originally planned, but they are doing it the right way (i.e. as a film reconstruction first and a video release second), so things are looking good.

    Check this out:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/03/03/alex_cox_98_article.shtml

    Regards,
     
  9. njwiv

    njwiv Senior Member

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I believe that he was referring to Alfred Hitchcock Presents and other Hitchcock TV stuff. The 4 Universal Alfred Hitchcock collection box sets each included a bonus disc featuring 4 to 5 episodes of AHP. The 4 DVDs together collect all 17 of the AHP or Alfred Hitchock Hour episodes that were directed by Hitchcock himself:

    Volume 1: "Lamb to the Slaughter," "The Case of Mr. Pelham," "Banquo's Chair," and "Back for Christmas".

    Volume 2: "Revenge," "Breakdown," "Wet Saturday" and "Mr. Blanchard's Secret".

    Volume 3: "Poison," "The Perfect Crime," "Dip in the Pool," and "One More Mile to Go".

    Volume 4: "Arthur," "The Crystal Trench," "The Horseplayer," "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat" and "Bang You’re Dead."
     
  10. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    My pleasure:thumbsup:
     
  11. freeflyt

    freeflyt Active Member

    Location:
    Chandler, AZ
    Thanks for the follow up Ken. I remember someone mentioning about this time last year that a restoration was in progress. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait.

    Now if they'd just do the same with O Lucky Man....

    Steve
     
  12. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY

    Is "If.." out on DVD?
     
  13. R. Cat Conrad

    R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

    Location:
    D/FW Metroplex
    Well, mcow finessed me on the Peter Gunn info; I own both sets. I also have the 50th Anniversary Special Edition of Invaders from Mars and while it may not be the "ultimate" 3D version we might prefer to see, it does offer TWO versions of the film, the U.S. version and the British version with a somewhat humorously overwrought (extended) observatory scene and edited down dream sequence scene; interestingly, according to details on the source of this release in the back of the booklet this may be the VERY best version any of us are likely to see.

    The "Negative History" is included on the back page of a nice little booklet included with this release. Notes from Wade Williams, who apparently owns the film rights, indicate that while Invaders from Mars was designed for 3D it wasn't shot that way because the cameras weren't available as many studios were shooting in the multi-dimensional process at the time. Steve, I'm curious. Do you think Mr. Williams may be correct in this assertion or is it possible/likely that he's just fibbing to enhance the marketability of this release?

    The documentation closes with this information about this release print, and I quote: "The Fiftieth Anniversary release is made from the original 35mm Cinecolor release print master. This is how America saw the picture. The added material from the UK and foreign release is included on this disc." Prior to this Wade Williams explains how the film was made in the three-color cinecolor process with emulsion on both sides of the negative to provide a softer focus and dark look to the film, hiding flaws such as the zippers in the martian costumes; that Cinecolor labs went bankrupt in the 50's and the printing matrices and other materials were lost when the IRS sold the company's assets. He also discusses the color reduction negative made in the early 60's from an original 35mm Cinecolor print and how in 1977 15 new Eastman color prints were made by Precision Film Labs in NYC. His research seems knowlegeable, but I'd like to get your impressions, Steve, especially since you have differing (better?) information.

    Here are some of the unavailable films I'd like to see on DVD :righton:

    Serials - Daredevils of the Red Circle, Drums of Fu Manchu (soon, from two different sources!), Spy Smasher

    Movies - Sunrise (Murnau dir., silent), Greed (Von Stroheim dir., silent, Brownlow restoration), Napoleon (Gance dir., silent, Brownlow restoration), Harold Lloyd's silent films (Lloyd Trust, restorations), Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (silent, Rex Ingram dir., Rudolf Valentino), Mysterious Island ('29, silent/sound transitional film, Lionel Barrymore) Just Imagine ('30, early Fox SF/musical comedy), Indiana Jones (Raiders & Last Crusade movies, Spielberg dir.), Star Wars (films IV, V, & VI ONLY)

    Music - AC/DC: Let There Be Rock (Bon Scott, concert & documentary film), Grand Funk Railroad at Shea Stadium, Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Royal Albert Hall, any extant footage of Michael Schenker in UFO not included in Too Hot To Handle DVD

    Whew! And this was just off of the top of my head! (more later?!) :thumbsup:

    :cheers:
    Cat
     
  14. Michael

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

    I agree 100% in the case of dual releases! I have over 570 DVD's and 99% are W I D E S C R E E N...I favor 2.35...Just can't see releasing a movie in widescreen when It wasn't originally intended...The Evil Dead "Book Of The Dead" is a prime example...where the full frame belongs. Rather have The beatles in full frme though...
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Wade is usually correct about this sort of stuff, but he mentions the print master. The NEGS are someplace else. A collector has them and will probably be buried with them. :( He said he has two sets, a camera left and a camera right. Sigh. Who knows? What we need are some of those publicity shots taken during the making of the film. I need to see the camera they used. That will tell the whole story.

    Take a look at the film again. No way that some of those shot setups were not filmed with 3D in mind. That shot of the "mutants" moving the head back and forth towards the camera, etc. For full 3D effect!

    Robert,

    The laser disc I have of this was stitched together from three different prints in various stages of decomposition. Are you saying that the DVD is from a "newly discovered" print? Does it look good, all the way through? If so, I'm getting it!
     
  16. wvk3

    wvk3 Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I've been waiting forever for Two for the Road. The old Fox laser disc had a commentary track with Stanley Donen. Here's hoping....
     
  17. Of course, favorites Indiana Jones Trilogy and the Star Wars original Trilogy

    but why the heck isn't Seinfeld on DVD yet?!!
     
  18. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    I just watched this on DVD last weekend. It is available only as a Fox promotion. If you buy any three DVDs in the Fox Studio Classics line, you can send in for a copy of Sunrise. It is a good transfer of some problematic elements windowboxed at 1.2:1. It includes both an original Movietone score in mono and a re-recorded score in 2.0 stereo. It also features an excellent scholarly commentary by cinematographer John Bailey. There are 10 minutes of outtakes presented in two different ways (with commentary or with text cards). It also includes the original scenario by Carl Meyer with Murnau's annotations. There's a screenplay text feature as well. It also includes a 40 minute featurette that is a quasi-reconstruction of Murnau's "Four Devils" as well as the treatment and screenplay for that film. It's rounded out by the film's trailer and a Restoration Notes text feature.

    You have to clip the proofs of purchase from the inserts to three Fox Classics releases and mail it in with $2 for shipping and handling, but it's worth it.

    Current films in the Fox Studio Classics Line are:

    All About Eve (remaster)
    Gentleman's Agreement (remaster)
    How Green Was My Valley (remaster)
    An Affair to Remember (remaster)
    The Day the Earth Stood Still

    For the next few months, they will be releasing more:

    4/1 Ghost & Mrs. Muir, The
    5/6 Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
    6/3 Song of Bernadette, The
    7/1 Anastasia
    8/5 Inn of the Sixth Happiness, The
    9/2 Titanic (not the James Cameron one)
    10/7 Mark of Zorro, The
    11/4 Laura
    12/2 Ox-Bow Incident

    The ones through June are solid. The rest may be subject to change. There was talk of a Grapes of Wrath release, but it got bumped from the June spot for Song of Bernadette. It may or may not get slotted back in at some point.

    Regards,
     
  19. R. Cat Conrad

    R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

    Location:
    D/FW Metroplex
    Since I don't have the laserdisc edition, I'm not quite sure how "stitched together" it looks by comparison. I will say this about the DVD: the colors definitely are NOT washed out (i.e., they're very saturated; perhaps a bit oversaturated) and the focus doen't appear as soft as TV copies I've seen. On the down side, there's frequent speckling and some scratches (i.e., usually in red or green, probably due to the Cinecolor layers) most noticeable in dark scenes and minor decomposition or emulsion damage (i.e., I'm not sure which) appearing occasionally along the right edge.

    Now keep in mind that I'm a stickler for detail and tend to notice even minor print flaws, especially when I'm watching a movie in progressive scan on an HDTV, so I may be overstating the case a bit based upon one's expectations for a Special Edition, even with a film of this age; IMHO, little restoration has actually been done to the source print probably because it's been targeted as a budget release, but this film does seem quite a bit better than any I have viewed before.

    Those are the caveats; I hope this helps, Steve!

    :cheers:
    Cat

    PS: Have you picked up the KINO restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis yet? This, IMHO, is the finest restoration of any film to date (i.e., with the possible exceptions of the Criterion Joan of Arc and Warner release of RKO's Citizen Kane, both of which benefited from the discovery of excellent source prints)
     
  20. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    How about the Disney Zorro series?:)
     
  21. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Thanks, this helps.

    No, I haven't seen Metropolis yet. Plan to soon!
     
  22. The Cellar

    The Cellar New Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Whether the new AHDN DVD has the correct aspect ratio or not is a debate I won't get into here, but rest assured that the older, 4:3 release wasn't the correct AR either. There's a bit of picture on both sides of the frame that is cut off in the 4:3 but visible in the new DVD.
     
  23. The Cellar

    The Cellar New Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Have you heard the reports about the missing raindrops on the "Citizen Kane" DVD? Apparently, the digital cleanup process mistook raindrops for scratches and removed them. I think it's a terrific restoration job myself, but if the reports are true, it's sort of frustrating that they came so close to really doing it right and missed.
     
  24. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

     
  25. Kym

    Kym Former Resident

    Yes, but it's not the Criterion edition with all the extras. :(

    Some more:

    Nil By Mouth
    Peter's Friends
    Sling Blade (Criterion)
    The Sum Of Us (I think this is available in other regions)
     
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