Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" (DVD)

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-22-2004, 04:37 PM:

Mike Todd's 1956 film, "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" was finally released on DVD last week and I bought a copy the day it came out. Because I had many other things to do, I did not have an opportunity to sit down and watch the entire movie but what I saw was very impressive. I am not saying the presentation is perfect because in my opinion, the picture is not as sharp and there were some scenes that lacked good contrast but it was much more than what I was expecting. The 5.1 sound however was excellent. I am almost sure the original Todd AO 70mm six track sound track did not have split surround but the surround on the DVD was discreet due to possible re mixing of the tracks.

The DVD is a special two disc edition from Warner Brothers with a lot of interesting stuff which I have not seen yet because of lack of time.

There is a great review about the DVD with screenshots at the Home Theatre Forum and here is a direct link to the site - http://www.hometheaterforum.com

-Claude

Posted by Gilbert Travin (Member # 2138) on 06-03-2004, 02:05 AM:

Hi !

This movie is soon available in France (summer 2004) in a collector edition. Soundtracks are : english 5.1 and a poor french 2.0 [Confused]

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 06-17-2004, 08:37 AM:

TCM ran it last night and I burned a copy for myself. Except for the Murrow intro, which was really choppy, the color was better than what I expected given what we've heard about the condition of the film elements.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-18-2004, 08:39 AM:

The transfer shown on TCM on June 16 was still the pan-and-scan version with mono sound.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 06-18-2004, 12:03 PM:

I just cannot understand why anyone would want to tape "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" off a TCM broadcast when there is a wonderful DVD available now. The two disc set is fully loaded with the feature with fantastic Dolby 5.1 sound and the original Todd AO wide screen aspect film ratio with a lot of extra materials and many retailers are selling it for about $20.00. I have even seen it at Costco for $18.00. Stop wasting your time with the copy you made from the TV broadcast, Jeff and get the DVD. If you like the movie as much as I do, you will not regret it. [Smile]

-Claude

Posted by Patrick J. McCart (Member # 1043) on 06-20-2004, 01:46 PM:

Even TCM's 170 min. "uncut" Pan & Scan version is edited. It's missing the intermission optical, the entr'acte, the extended Sioux/train scene, and the exit music.

Everyone reading this thread should write to TCM about getting either the 141 min. letterboxed version (which is "zoomboxed," meaning the 4 edges are cropped considerably) or the 182 min. DVD edition back into normal rotation.

TCM quickly switched to the DVD master of The Adventures of Robin Hood, so perhaps they'll do the same if enough people ask.

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 06-21-2004, 02:13 AM:

I enjoyed the DVD & thought the image quality was pretty good.

But in the extras, there's a trailer that points out some of what's being manipulated in DVD releases. The trailer is scratchy, dark, & has shifting color, but the image has a spectacular depth. Compare the scene of Robert Newton & Cantinflas in the Hong Kong bar on the trailer to that of the feature on the DVD. The trailer is very 3 dimensional, with a great indication of real, round-cornered people occupying a space, while that on the feature is bright but flat as drawings.

Obviously, most of the DVD-consuming community just wants bright, contrasty, & sharp edges, as opposed to photographic images. It's really not a problem on an initial, uncompared viewing of the feature, probably because on older color movies we're more accustomed to manipulated images on film color processes such as Technicolor, etc., which often move further from realistic. But when you look at the trailer, you see how much they gave up from the original when altering the image for DVD release.

The feature looks good, but I'm afraid there's a lot of ego, personal taste & less technical observation going into alteration of film images for DVD video.