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Topic: 70MM ad thread

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

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

posted 02-15-2011 05:34 PM

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quote: Jerry Axelsson
I would love to see "DIE HARD" in 70mm.
Are the blow-up prints of this title on par with the quality of "THE ABYSS" for example?

I watched both Die Hard and The Abyss in 70mm during their original theatrical runs. I think The Abyss looked better. However, a number of different variables are involved.

I watched The Abyss at the Ziegfeld theater in Manhattan and saw Die Hard a few blocks away at the Coronet/Baronet theater (I think the show was in the Baronet house). So, different projection setups were involved. The screen at the Ziegfeld was bigger.

The two movies had very different photographic styles. The cinematography in Die Hard really isn't very pretty through much of the film. Lots of dark, low depth of field shots. OTOH The Abyss had a lot more in the way of deep focus shots. The image had a better sense of contrast and the blue colors were pretty intense. I watched The Abyss in 70mm and then saw it again in 35mm. Colors were significantly richer in the 70mm version. But then that sort of difference was common between 70mm blowup prints and 35mm release prints back in the late 1980s. Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade looked really good in 70mm while a 35mm version I watched didn't have the same level of color intensity and contrast.

IMHO, The Abyss was the first great example of Super 35. I know lots of other movies used the process or variations of it previously. But none of them looked as good as this movie. I've seen many Super 35 produced features made years after The Abyss that had greater levels of noticeable grain and not so sharp detail. Whatever they did on The Abyss, be it choices in film stocks, camera/lens setups or optical processing techniques they did very well.

Die Hard had an excellent 6-track Dolby mag sound track. It thumped good. I've never heard the "Fox Fanfare" theme sound any better than it did on that movie.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

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From: Lawton, OK, USA
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posted 02-16-2011 08:42 AM

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Another big image, the first feature film to deliver 5.1 digital surround sound in movie theaters:

I don't think the Guild Embassy actually installed CDS. Subsequent ad listings showed it playing Dick Tracy in 70mm Dolby magnetic. I think the Loews 84th Street Six was the only NYC theater to play the movie in 70mm CDS.

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: Los Angeles, California
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posted 02-16-2011 09:48 AM

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And here's a Dick Tracy ad from the west coast.

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 02-16-2011 02:28 PM

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quote: Bobby Henderson
The El Capitan Theater in Hollywood (6838 Hollywood Blvd. - look it up in Google Earth Street View) has one of the last really nice single screen theater marquees created in the United States. The sign has lots of neon and chase lights. And it has a large, vertical "blade" sign above the marquee. Disney bought the theater, renovated it and re-opened it in the early 1990s. The sign design won a number of awards. The sign originally displayed movie titles using flat plastic and some type of large format graphics. A few years ago the sign was retrofitted with full color LED "jumbotron" boards to show movie titles and other information.

The El Capitan definitely looks impressive from the photos I've seen. Here's a daytime shot of the entrance taken in July 2007 by an associate:

I have some additional photos of the marquee at night, which shows the neon and chase lights in our Photo Gallery for the theater:
http://www.bigscreen.com/Marquee.php?theater=1361&view=photos

I wonder how many communities would allow such a sign to be placed on the front a movie theater? It would be a pity if a movie theater wanted to do such a thing, but couldn't because of local regs. Talk about making an impression!

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Michael Coate
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posted 02-16-2011 03:53 PM

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

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From: El Paso, TX
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posted 02-17-2011 12:27 AM

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Michael, they need to go back to this time of marketing for movies.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-17-2011 11:54 AM

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quote: Bobby Henderson

I don't think the Guild Embassy actually installed CDS. Subsequent ad listings showed it playing Dick Tracy in 70mm Dolby magnetic. I think the Loews 84th Street Six was the only NYC theater to play the movie in 70mm CDS.

That isn't really saying much. The CDS systems were so flaky and they lost so many shows since there was no backup soundtrack to revert to when the digital failed, that from what I've heard most theaters supposedly went to a mag print for the second week. Others continued to advertise CDS, but were actually delivering mag audio.

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Michael Coate
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From: Los Angeles, California
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posted 02-17-2011 02:43 PM

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It was Paramount's Days of Thunder that had reports of problems with their CDS shows which resulted in their CDS prints being replaced with mag ones. Buena Vista, on the other hand, placed a trade ad at the end of Dick Tracy's run touting x number of flawless showings of the CDS version.

Now, was Buena Vista boasting truthfully, or were they trying to deflect any negative attention CDS received...?

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Frank Angel
Film God

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From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-17-2011 02:43 PM

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I remember being very interested in CDS at the time and talked to a number of NYC local 306 guys and the concensus was, as Brad said, that it was a hit and miss nightmare -- it would hiccup at the slightest provocation. I was told that even the projector mechanical virbration would play havoc with it. No one felt any level of confidence running it, not even the floor staff who had to deal with irrate patrons -- every show was a crapshoot.

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Jonathan Goeldner
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posted 02-17-2011 04:05 PM

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the only CDS presentation I attended was 'Terminator 2' at the then UA Bethesda theater - and that soundmix rocked!!

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Robert Harrison
Expert Film Handler

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From: Harwood Heights, Illinois, USA
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 02-21-2011 02:47 AM

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And now, back to our program...

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

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From: El Paso, TX
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posted 02-21-2011 03:02 AM

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Thanks Robert- nice ads, keep em' coming.

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Robert Harrison
Expert Film Handler

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posted 02-21-2011 12:50 PM

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Happy to oblige.

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Michael Coate
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posted 02-21-2011 01:27 PM

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

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From: El Paso, TX
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posted 02-22-2011 03:31 AM

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Ok folks. Here is something that I would like to see:
I think the above is a longshot but here goes.

Anyone have a THX+70MM+6-Track Dolby ad?

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