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Topic: New 70mm Print of "West Side Story"!!!

Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 08-12-2006 09:54 PM

Deleted.

[ 08-12-2006, 11:50 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 08-12-2006 10:56 PM

quote: Tim Reed
Okay, I'll ask the obvious question: Why?

Because that's what often happens at the conclusion of a restoration.

I should add that my original comment should've read:

Just received word that Sony has struck a new 70mm print of "West Side Story." While holding the rights to the title, Sony did a restoration. The rights, however, have recently reverted back to MGM.

Not sure if the rights issue will affect the ability to book the print. Also not sure if the print is mag or DTS.

It also may be worthwhile for those of you replying to indicate if your house is a platter or a changeover system.

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Aaron Sisemore
Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day!

Posts: 3061
From: Rockwall TX USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 08-12-2006 11:08 PM

quote: Michael Coate
While holding the rights to the title, Sony did a restoration. The rights, however, have recently reverted back to MGM.

I thought Sony bought MGM last fall...

Have they already spun it off?

-Aaron

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-12-2006 11:39 PM

Sorry...I thought it was a given that "my" houses were "changeover" ;

Actually, the Senator is only set up to run 70mm on a platter though they do possess the mate their Bauer U2.

The NCTA, and AFI/Silver are changeover houses. The AFI/Silver is definately the theatre that would make the most sense around here to screen the films since they play classic titles as their normal fare.

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John Stewart
Film Handler

Posts: 67
From: Austin, TX, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 08-13-2006 12:39 AM

Paramount theater in Austin is ready. We have Brad's DTS readers for the summer. Played PLAYTIME a couple of weeks ago. Have SOUND OF MUSIC, LARRY OF ARBIA, BARAKA and VERTIGO coming later this month. BARAKA is the only magnetic print for this season.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 08-13-2006 03:25 AM

Hmmmm..are we seeing the possible re-incarnation for the interest in the grandeur presentations that could only come from 70mm releases .. with the help of DTS digital intead of the classic 6trk mag playback?

Another question could evolve from all of this: Personally, having never heard DTS playback from the 70mm release prints ,how is the DTS playback compared to the 6trk MAG analog version of a particular movie?

thx_monte

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 08-13-2006 03:44 AM

quote: Michael Coate
Because that's what often happens at the conclusion of a restoration.

Oh, okay. I am somewhat out of touch from being on the road all the time, and had no idea this was the case. As you note, you'd only said a new print had been struck. That could've involved elements of any age. [Smile]

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-13-2006 06:41 AM

The people in charge of Sony's archive department, Michael Friend and Grover Crisp, are a rare and wonderful example of far sighted individuals who believe that it's worth doing restoration properly, budgeting what is needed and producing decent viewing prints at the end of the process, not just the DVD. They are also among the main driving forces of AMIA and have premiered Sony titles at the annual conference's preservation screening night in the past, e.g. a new 35mm print of In a Lonely Place a few years ago, the restoration of which was a painstaking and intricate job involving a combination of photochemical and 2k digital restoration.

I guess that it'll be a minority of enthusiasts who get to see the restored 70mm West Side Story, but it'll all help the word to trickle down the grapevine that Sony is in the business of prioritising image quality. Once HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray takes off, that reputation will be quite a commercial asset to have, IMHO. And it's certainly great to know that at least one of the main studios and major legacy rights owners is willing to invest heavily now to protect these films for generations into the future.

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Ian Woloschin
Film Handler

Posts: 54
From: Worcester, MA, USA
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 08-13-2006 08:53 AM

Fuller Auditorium, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

We have two DP-70s normally used for changeover 35mm showings, but we have all of the 70mm sprockets and gates and pressure bands, along with 6 track readers, not sure if those are original or not. It takes maybe 10 minutes to switch out everything and be running in 70mm mode. Unfortunately, the house sound system sucks, it's an old dolby stereo setup...I don't think it even has a center channel. I've been working on trying to get it upgraded to dolby digital, but a project that big has never been attempted before by a student, so it's kind of going slow.

Theoretically I'm trained to show 70mm. Unfortunately, the only 70mm film we currently have is some Batman trailer, and I think the last time we showed anything in 70mm was for Titatic, which was quite a bit before my time. So while I can technically run a 70mm movie, I'd be very nervous the entire time.

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Christian Appelt
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 505
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: Dec 2001

posted 08-13-2006 12:00 PM

Strange that WEST SIDE STORY should need to be restored. There is a 70mm print struck in 1993 (IIRC) from the original camera negative, after some shows in L.A. it went to Germany.

That print had perfect color and no visible mechanical damage, the 6-track mag sound was amazing. Maybe they only did a new 35mm interpositive/dupe negative?

If the new print was struck from an internegative, I hope the image was not degraded as much as with the SOUND OF MUSIC 70mm print I saw last year at the 50 YEARS OF TODD AO festival at Karlsruhe/Germany. That print had uneven color timing and very soft focus, more like a 35mm 1.85 picture - no trace of Todd-AO left.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-13-2006 12:46 PM

quote: Christian Appelt
Strange that WEST SIDE STORY should need to be restored. There is a 70mm print struck in 1993 (IIRC) from the original camera negative...

That's probably why it needed restoration. Striking release prints straight off the camera negative is a guaranteed way to wear them out.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-13-2006 11:50 PM

quote: Monte L Fullmer
Another question could evolve from all of this: Personally, having never heard DTS playback from the 70mm release prints ,how is the DTS playback compared to the 6trk MAG analog version of a particular movie?

The DTS format is capable of coaxing out just about every nuance of an older mag analog track, such as those from Lawrence of Arabiap or Patton.

IMHO, the only area where one would have to question the merits of 70mm DTS is if a new 70mm print was being made from a late 1980s or early 1990s movie that used Dolby SR mag on 70mm, along with much more modern sound design technology in the original mix. I can't really think of any releases from that period where making a 70mm DTS print would be a step down in quality.

I watched Titanic in 70mm DTS at Northpark #1 in Dallas. It looked great and sounded awesome.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-14-2006 12:38 AM

I personally, prefer the mag sound.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-14-2006 01:28 AM

quote: Bobby Henderson
The DTS format is capable of coaxing out just about every nuance of an older mag analog track, such as those from Lawrence of Arabiap or Patton.

It still uses some compression; even if not as severe as Dolby. To my subjective ears DTS tracks lack HF detail compared to the best 70mm mag. The difference to me is like the difference between an average CD played on a £300 domestic sound system and a properly mastered LP played on a £3k turntable connected to an amplifier and speakers you'd need a second mortgage to buy. Then there's the issue of the analogue to digital transfer and how well that's done. Virtually all DVDs of older titles on the supermarket shelves will have 'Digitally remastered' or an equivalent slogan on them, even if what that actually means is that I took a knackered, panned-and-scanned, pink old 16mm print of Lawrence of Arabia and transferred it on an Elmo (I'm still digitally remastering it, right?). The same applies to audio, too: if the bias and gain on the playback head are properly adjusted, the six channels of final mix are properly balanced, etc. etc., I can believe that a DTS copy has the potential to be pretty good. But if they're not, then the technical capabilities on paper of whatever system is being used to encode the digital audio really don't matter. Garbage in = garbage out.

That having been said, the only 70mm DTS film I've seen is Vertigo, and as that six-channel mix was never released on mag or in any other form AFAIK (except Dolby 5.1 on the DVD - certainly no other form theatrically), I don't have anything to compare it with. I'd be interested to see a reel of LOA on mag followed by the DTS for comparison sometime.

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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-14-2006 02:14 AM

quote: Leo Enticknap
a new 35mm print of In a Lonely Place a few years ago, the restoration of which was a painstaking and intricate job involving a combination of photochemical and 2k digital restoration.

that's a title i've seen several times, maybe 5 years ago last time. i don't recall it looking at all bad. i hope some of these prints survive so it can still be seen without the digital mucking.

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