Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Indiana Jones Trilogy Screening in Orlando

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 09-01-2002, 01:13 PM:

Saw an ad in the paper the other day for a local theater showing all 3 Indiana Jones movies back to back!! The ad said "See them on the big screen in DOLBY EX!" which, upon calling the theater, revealed that the auditorium is in EX but not the prints. (of course)

Here is the info:
Indiana Jones Trilogy
September 6th - 12th
Touchstar Cinemas Southchase 7
12441 South Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 888-2027

Showtimes:
Temple of Doom - 4:30
Raiders of the Lost Ark - 7:00
Last Crusade - 9:30

35mm, Raiders and Temple in A, Last Crusade in either A or SR. (probably A as others have indicated here.) Original prints.

Also on Saturday, September 7th, Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight with a professional cast. Looks like I will be spending all day and night at that theater on Saturday!!

If anyone wants to make the trek up (or down) here on Saturday, please e-mail me as this would be a really cool gathering!

=TMP=

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-01-2002, 02:02 PM:

Sounds like the projectionist there doesn't know much more than the guy doing the newspaper advertisements.

Raiders...Dolby A
Temple...Dolby A
Crusade...Dolby SR (I believe SR was only on select prints and most were A, can anyone confirm?)

No EX or digital on any of them. I'm sure it will sound great if the operator plays Temple in SR.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-01-2002, 02:05 PM:

quote:
35mm, Raiders and Temple in SR, Last Crusade in digital (according to the projectionist I spoke with) Original prints.

They *can't* be original prints if two of them are SR and one is digital!

The first two films were released before the introduction of Dolby Stereo SR, and the third one predated any of the contemporary digital sound formats. If they are new prints then those formats you mentioned are a possibility. However, a new print of Raiders I saw last fall was still in "A." The third film had some SR prints in its original run, though I think they were limited to a handful of the 70mm blow-ups; I think the 35s were all "A."

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 09-01-2002, 03:03 PM:

Raiders was reprinted a few years ago in 35mm. Original prints would have been on Eastmancolor SP stock and will have faded brown.

Let us know how the screening goes; it sounds like a fun event.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 09-01-2002, 06:59 PM:

Hah! The fact that SR wasn't around then didn't hit me right away. I guess the person I spoke with was implying that they were just stereo prints and not digital. I found out I didn't speak to THE projectionist, but rather a person who was working projection today. The manager said the "real" projectionist will be in later in the week and that "...this was all his idea!" He was the one that made the ads as well. I will try to contact him later in the week and get some straight answers. I also have a good mind to ask why they're advertizing it as being Dolby-EX.

=TMP=

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-01-2002, 08:13 PM:

We watched an old collector`s print of Last Crusade (35mm) in English recently, it was definitely Dolby A.
If there are recent reprints, wouldn`t it be possible that the soundtrack could have been newly encoded in SR?
In this case it`s more likely that the person responsible thinks everything pre-digital is automatically SR since he also thinks SR stands for SurRound, like sadly nearly everyone I know in the cinema business.
Michael

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 09-06-2002, 12:48 PM:

Final word on the Indiana Jones screening at Touchstar Cinemas:
SHOWTIMES:
Temple of Doom - 4:30
Raiders of the Lost Ark - 7:00
Last Crusade - 9:30

See all 3 on the same day for $12, or individually for regular price. No bargain matinee or Tuesday discount on this engagement.

Temple and Raiders are most certainly Dolby-A, unsure whether Last Crusade is SR or A, but NONE are "Dolby Digital EX" as their ad indicated. 35mm prints.

I'll be back to post a TAP-style review after we see them all tomorrow. We'll be staying for Rocky Horror at midnight, so I'll probably post the next day.

I've edited my original post to reflect the new info.

=TMP=

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 09-09-2002, 01:19 PM:

Alright, here it goes! My presentation review of the Indiana Jones Trilogy at the Touchstar Cinemas Southchase 7. Saturday, 9/7/02.

All were shown in a 350-ish seat house (largest?) which was Dolby Digital EX equipped (like it mattered.) Variable-width masking, open to the correct ratio when we entered. They played the soundtracks to the films as intermission music. Nice touch! The staff seemed excited about the event, but there wasn't anything "special" other than a poster in the box office. The theater looked recently remodeled.

4:30pm - Temple of Doom - I noticed right away something didn't sound right... they were playing it in SR. I come out to get some candy and the manager is there and asks me how the sound is. (Probably wanting to brag about the EX) I mention the fact that Temple of Doom should be playing in Dolby-A. Well, lo and behold the projectionist is right there! He chimes in and says he pre-screened the prints and they "sound better in SR. Trust me." Back to the movie... the print is in good condition but is thirsty for a good dose of Film-Guard. The dirt gets really bad at the reel changes, including some green specks, then **THUD** the splice goes through, the print clears up some. This happened at every splice. Other than this, I'd say the print was in your "typical" used-multiplex condition. Overall, 7/10.

7:00pm - Raiders of the Lost Ark - I spoke with the projectionist a few minutes about the other prints. He said that Raiders was probably a re-release print because it was the best of the three. He was probably right. The sound was fantastic, in SR (unless he took my advice). The print condition was a little worse than Temple, with horizontal base scratches visible in the bright scenes. It was a bit cleaner, though. Reel changes had the same problems as Temple. Although I noticed the changeover cues were hollow ovals about 1/3 of the way down the frame. First two reels magenta, the others green. I doubt this indicates a dye-transfer of this print, though. The last reel had a dancing green dot at the top-center of the frame, and when the scene came where they opened the box and stuff started to get crazy, a thick yellow vertical scratch appeared at the far-right. (VERY distracting as this was a dark scene) Otherwise a very watchable print. 6/10.

9:30 - Last Crusade - In my conversation with the projectionist, he mentioned that this was the worst print of the three. He was right. The beginning of the print saw a few skips, poorly spliced. (**THUD**) but the sound was great after that. (Again assuming they were still playing in SR) Dirty print with noticable horizontal base scratches, and an occasional vertical base scratch. As the movie progressed, print quality seemed to worsen. Picture turning almost to snow and several frames missing between reel changes. An occasional green vertical scratch sneaking up then going away. Then it happened. Soundtrack scratched!! *Crackle* for the last reel and a half. Nonetheless, a great opportunity to see this on the big screen despite a few distractions. Overall: 5/10

I'm sure a couple of passes with Film-Guard, some better splicing, and maybe the correct sound format would have improved the presentation tenfold. But the main part is it was a fun event, they did trivia and stuff between films, great times with friends, and perfect quality wasn't expected with nearly 20 year old regular-run prints.

Presentation Score: 6.5/10
"Event" Score: 9/10

=TMP=

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-10-2002, 09:09 AM:

If they didn`t manage to select the right NR they could at least have played the movies in the right order!
Michael

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-10-2002, 01:40 PM:

Temple of Doom was a prequel, so technically they did show them in the right order. Lucas can't seem to get over making those.