This is topic The Right Stuff Special Edition in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-29-2003, 02:20 PM:
 
Warner has finally done it right with the Right Stuff. It is no longer a flip type disc. It has a newer transfer and a second disc that has documentaries and commentaries by the director Philip Kaufman. And 13 additional scenes and more.

The movie looks and sound better than ever. The only thing better than this would be seeing it again in 70MM.

They also released a special edition of Giant, with bonus materials as large as Texas. (That's what the package says)
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-29-2003, 04:30 PM:
 
Do you already have a copy of "THE RIGHT STUFF", Bill? It is not due out for a couple of weeks yet. If you got a eary copy, you made me very envious and for that, you have to die!

By the way, the special edition of "GIANT" has not been released yet but if you have a early copy of that too, you really got to die!!

-Claude
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-29-2003, 05:15 PM:
 
Yes, Claude

I have both of them sitting here on my desk. "Robin Hood" also came out. The "Giant" disc is a flip type disc.

Also got the Special Edition of "Once Upon a Time in America" ,
It's now in 5.1 Stereo.

[ 06-02-2003, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Bill Gabel ]
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-29-2003, 06:00 PM:
 
Bill,

Grrrrrrrrrrr

Only kidding!

-Claude
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 06-12-2003, 05:42 PM:
 
Bill,

I got "GIANT", "THE RIGHT STUFF" and "BOBIN HOOD, PRINCE OF THIEVES" last Tuesday. I watched the first half of "GIANT" last night and noticed the color was not as vibrant as I remember it was when I saw it during it's premiere engagement in 1956 when I was still in high school. I am not too sure how Warner Brothers preserved their films but they most likely did not use the seperation film method judging from what I had seen last night. Unlike "BATTLE CRY" I watched several weeks ago, "GIANT" did not look as bad as the war film and I can see some effort was made to
restore the film because there were some scenes that looked very nice. The picture contrast however was excellent. There has been a debate for years regarding the soundtrack. Many had stated that there were a limited amount of four track stereo mag prints in circulation during it's premiere engagement but others had insisted that "GIANT" was ony released in mono. Although my home town theatre, the Waipahu was equipped for four track mag, the print I saw was in mono. If there were stereo prints, the tracks must have been lost or discarded years ago because the stereo sound on the DVD is the same as the laserdisc, a pseudo stereo mix from a monaural soundtrack. I do know that by the fifties, sound enements were all seperate and why Warner Brothers could not create a new stereo track from these material is something I cannot understand. A classic example how wonderful a new stereo soundtrack mixed from the original sound elements can sound is the DVD of "THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI".

Getting back to "GIANT", no matter about it shortcomings, I am very happy to finally have it on DVD. I have not had the chance to watch "THE RIGHT STUFF" and "ROBIN HOOD" yet but I will do in in the next few days and post my comments here.

-Claude
 

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Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 06-12-2003, 09:18 PM:
 

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There has been a debate for years regarding the soundtrack. Many had stated that there were a limited amount of four track stereo mag prints in circulation during it's premiere engagement but others had insisted that "GIANT" was ony released in mono.

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why Warner Brothers could not create a new stereo track from these material is something I cannot understand.

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A classic example how wonderful a new stereo soundtrack mixed from the original sound elements can sound is the DVD of "THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI".

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This is just as controverisal as the stereo situation of Giant as some insist Kwai was originally in stereo. In the early 1970s there was a European re-issue with 70mm blow-up prints. There have been some occasional screenings here in the U.S. and reports from those who have handled a print have indicated that the six-track soundtrack was still mono (or "stereo-ized" spread out mono).
 

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Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 06-12-2003, 09:47 PM:
 
In the early 60's, Jack Warner (or someone at the studio) made a penny-pinching decision to recycle (i.e., erase over) the magnetic masters of 50's film soundtracks, including stems and composite stereo masters. So, in some cases, the only remaining stereo soundtracks left were from mag-striped theatrical release prints that still survived (sometimes in the hands of private collectors, such as was the case with EAST OF EDEN). Magnetic stems of GIANT (stereo or not) may very well have suffered this fate.

In this particular period of time, Warner usually included the term Stereophonic Sound in the same typeset and size of Technicolor or WarnerColor (or whatever color). None of the ads I saw for GIANT ever included that, not even in NYC.
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-13-2003, 08:59 AM:
 
Link to the Widescreen Review article about the June 9 screening of "The Right Stuff" at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood:

http://www.widescreenreview.com/articles/event060903.htm
 

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Posted by Fred Georges (Member # 505) on 06-14-2003, 10:43 PM:
 
GIANT was released flat with a 4 track mag stereo soundtrack.A friend had reel 2 and I watched/ listened to it myself. Bridge Over the River Kwai was originally 2:55-1 CinemaScope (no optical track) and that meant 4 track Mag stereo too.
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 06-24-2003, 09:54 PM:
 
I wonder what sort of print they had for the Right Stuff screening. When we ran it at Ebertfest a couple months ago (with a couple of cast members attending) Warners supplied a print from the original release (based on date code).
 

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Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 06-25-2003, 12:45 PM:
 

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I wonder what sort of print they had for the Right Stuff screening.

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