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Author Topic: New HOW THE WEST WAS WON on DVD is great Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 09-15-2008 05:28 PM                     quote: Claude S. Ayakawa I am sure Los Angeles The Los Angeles VistaVision install was at the old Stanley Warner Beverly Hills Theatre.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 09-15-2008 05:48 PM                     The Bradford equipment was gathered from various locations around the world. Some parts, including the seven track magnetic head for the reproducer, and some sprockets, were made new. web page  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 09-15-2008 06:52 PM                        When my friend Artie Wheeler was the projectionist at the Cinerama Theatre in Honolulu before the house closed, the three strip projection equipment that was shipped to LA and used at the Archlight was still there and I saw them during my visit to the booth. All of the stuff was covered with dust and still in place in the two booths to the right and the left Not sure where the centre projector went after they had put a pair of 70mm projectors in the middle booth to show IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD WONDERFUL WORLD and other single projection "Cinerama" films. The Cinerama did change overs until probable the last few years of operation and switched to a single projector and a Christie platter. The Cinerama was set up for SDDS only in addition to Dolby A and SR. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 09-17-2008 11:26 AM                     Well, I watched the Blu-Ray HTWWW last night on 10' wide screen, and I have to say wow! I first saw this in Cinerama as a child in NYC, and I last saw this in Cinerama in the late 1990's when I flew out to Dayton Ohio. For those shows, they were running a collectors dye transfer Technicolor print. The film is a favorite. As to the BR-DVD, they did an incredible job of removing the seam lines and fixing the aliasing so that it plays without obvious bend across the seams. The color was perfect, as was the sound. I'm not sure whether I liked the smilebox or the letterboxed version better (both are in the set). Amazingly, the smilebox version did indeed simulate the effect of a curved screen in a totally dark room. On the other hand, it did induce some visual distortion in the side images. While not always visible, and only occassionally really noticable, it was there. On the other hand, the letterboxed version did not seem to have the same visual impact. For those who are interested, the set includes an excellent documentary Cinerama Adventure that documents through film clips and interviews the entire history of Cinerama. It is very good. Overall, I am very impressed.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-17-2008 01:15 PM                     The price of the set is worth it just for the Documentary!  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-17-2008 09:51 PM                     I wholeheartedly agree. It's a wonderful film in itself. I've had the pleasure of meeting David Strohmaier several times over the years and the amount of passion this man has for Cinerama is staggering. If it wasn't for Dave, John Sittig, John Harvey, and a bunch of others who's names I forget, Cinerama would be just a footnote in history. I'm so pleased David's documentary is getting widespread distribution.  |  IP: Logged Joe Tommassello Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 547 From: Coatesville, PA, USA Registered: Jan 2008 posted 09-18-2008 09:31 AM                  Is "Cinerama Adventure" in 1080P on the Blu-ray disc? That would be the reason I would buy this set over a standard DVD version of Cinerama Adventure. I just watched HTWWW on Encore in HD and I think it's an OK movie...average really. I did have the pleasure of seeing it at the Cinerama Dome in 2003 and being my only real Cinerama experience it was quite exciting in that setting. I was very impressed though with the work that was done to minimize the "join lines". I am hearing that the "smilebox" format causes some distortion of a keystoning nature on the extreme edges...most notable during panning or movement. On the old LD version it was a standard letterboxed version and it also had distortion...though likely in the other direction! Best way I can describe it is in, say, the buffalo stampede it looks like the buffalo are smaller on the extreme edges creating an effect like they are running in a circle in front of you with the center of the screen being the closest point. Perhaps there is a more practical medium that they overshot when doing the "smilebox"? (Note: This was not so evident on the Encore broadcast because they cropped to 16:9 for the HD version...odd because they left the standard def version the full image!) In any case the documentary would be of the most interest to me.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-18-2008 10:03 AM                     I'm not sure why all this gear had to be moved from all over the world since alot of it still sits in Pacific Theaters Warehouse in L.A. If memory seves me there is a tour of the warehouse on You Toobe. Mark Edit: Here's the tour.... Cinerama Warehouse Tour With Gunther Jung  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 09-18-2008 01:33 PM                     Is "Cinerama Adventure" in 1080P on the Blu-ray disc? Your player may output it in 1080p, but unfortunately, it was mastered in standard definition 4x3 and it looks it.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 09-18-2008 02:45 PM                     Mark the warehouse in the youtube short is a place in Burbank, CA called Pixfix. They use to store prints and repair and clean prints for the studios. Gunther maintained the company and the Cinerama equipment. But Pacific's projection warehouse was in the basement of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre in Hollywood.  |  IP: Logged Bernard Tonks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England Registered: Apr 2001 posted 09-18-2008 02:51 PM                     quote: Stephen Furley Two theatres in London were equipped, the Odeon Leicester Square ran 'Battle of the River Plate'; I think the other may have been the Paramount, Tottenham Court Road, but I'm not certain about that one. The other West End cinema equipped to show horizontal VistaVision was in fact the Plaza, Lower Regent Street (sometimes advertised Plaza, Piccadilly Circus). Cannot remember what the film was, could it have been Strategic Air Command? http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0048667/ Plaza Theatre website: http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Plaza.htm Some lovely old programme lists to be seen here.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 09-18-2008 04:03 PM                     Thank you Bernard.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-18-2008 06:51 PM                     Bill, I was to one of those warehouses way back in the mid 80's... I honestly don't remember which one and the one in the video doesn't look familiar to me... although I've also been to Pix Fix and even had some of my own film done by them at that time... All I can remember was there was alot of Cinerama projector heads and sound reproducers in the place.... I suspect I toured the warehouse in Hollywood. Mark  |  IP: Logged David Kilderry Master Film Handler Posts: 355 From: Melbourne Australia Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-25-2008 07:19 AM                        .........and don't forget the fourth operating three projector Cinerama installation is here in Australia, with a full set of prints too I understand. David  |  IP: Logged Robert Throop Master Film Handler Posts: 412 From: Vernon, NY USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-25-2008 08:44 AM                     On the wall in front of my computer, I have a framed copy of an ad for the Peerless HyCandescent, "selected by Paramount for horizontal V-V". The films listed are "Strategic Air Command" and "the Far Horizons". Theatres: Chicago-State Lake, NYC-Paramount,NYC-Criterion, Philadelphia- Stanley, Pittsburgh-Penn, New Orleans-Saengers, Hollywood-Paramount, Beverly Hills-Warners, Toronto-Imperial, London-Plaza, Paris-Paramount. Bob  |  IP: Logged

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