Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 2001: ASO -- New BFI Release

This is topic 2001: ASO -- New BFI Release in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=002067

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-22-2014, 12:47 PM:

The BFI has done extensive work on a new transfer of Kubrick's classic to be released in Noveber. Here is a very well-done trailer centering primarily around the HAL character. Does anyone know if this will be a US release as well? I am assuming it will be a 4K release - no point in releasing it otherwise, IMHO.

And while it is the venerable BFI whose motto is "Film Forever," there is no mention of them striking any 70mm prints for this outing.

New 2001: ASO trailer for the new BFI work

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 10-22-2014, 05:47 PM:

It will be digital only, since it came from a digital master made by Warner Brothers.

No set release dates for anything but UK and Ireland yet and since it's a BFI thing, it will most likely depend on other local entities for a re-release in your country...

The trailer is, b.t.w., one of the best trailers I've seen in quite a while...

Posted by Randy Pryde (Member # 7488) on 10-22-2014, 09:06 PM:

Frank,

Thanks for sharing the news and the trailer link. Hopefully Warner Bros will destroy all the DCPs of the alleged "2K" transfer they currently are sending out. They are an insult to Kubrick's legacy. (I know that many of you don't care for "2001" but it was a seminal film for my generation).

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-22-2014, 09:13 PM:

I have never seen that movie but would like to. I worry that it might have been "over-hyped" as to its greatness and I might find myself going "that's it?" But I'd still like to see it someday.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 10-22-2014, 10:11 PM:

I saw 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY during it's original Single strip 70mm Cinerama Road Show presentation and twice again in 70mm during revival showings when the Cinerama and Varsity theatres in Honolulu were still in operation. I was always in awe everytime I saw the movie on the big screen. For some reason, I cannot get used to seeing the movie on blu ray because in my opinion It does not look like it was made from the original 65mm elements and the color looked slightly faded. I can only wish Warner Brothers will one day reissue 2001 from the 4k scan that BFI or from one they had created themselves.

-Claude

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-23-2014, 06:33 AM:

Mike...you'll not come away with a "That's it?" You'll ether be awe inspired...particularly when you remember when this movie was made (from both where we were in film special effects as well as where we were in the "space race") or you will wake up when you are nudged after it is over. "2001" tends to either captivate (me) or put people to sleep.

No original music was done for this movie yet the music in it is always associated with the movie now.

70mm on the biggest screen possible is absolutely the BEST way to see it...it is a very visual film and it meant to convey an image wider than your peripheral vision...anything smaller and the images will tend to be understated. Most everything in the movie is meant to appear very big (we are talking about SPACE after all).

I've been fortunate enough to be able to see/show this movie in 70mm in its World Premier Theatre theatre on its Cinerama screen...it remains my #1 movie of all time (so you know which side of the two options above I am on).

While 4K may/will be better than a 2K version...it will be such a disservice to this film to see it in 4K versus 70mm. I've yet to see a 4K DCP of a 65/70mm production that look like anything other than a poor 35mm representation of its 70mm original...in fact, most of the DCP's I've see look pretty bad on the big screen. These things must be QCed on small screening room screens or monitors.

Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 10-23-2014, 07:54 AM:

Alex North wrote the score for "2OO1", but it was not used. It was recorded by Jerry Goldsmith and issued on CD some 20 years ago.

http://www.in70mm.com/library/film/2OO1/index.htm

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 10-23-2014, 03:38 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I have never seen that movie but would like to. I worry that it might have been "over-hyped" as to its greatness and I might find myself going "that's it?" But I'd still like to see it someday.

Maybe you shouldn't, because how can you ever die without having seen this movie? [Smile]

Like Steve already put it, when watching this movie, keep in mind it was shot in 1968. Still, there are very few movies ever since that came even close to getting space right.

If you prefer movies with clearly cut stories, you probably not really going to like it and will rather find it boring as hell. Personally, I was completely awe struck the first time I saw this. This is the first movie that made space look believable. Even nowadays, most movies cut corners by introducing concepts like "artificial gravity".

I decided a while back I will not try to make a numbered list of "best movies ever", as it's almost impossible for me to decide what deserves to be on #1. But this movie is definitely in my top 10, maybe even top 5.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-23-2014, 04:20 PM:

Agreed that the trailer is excellent. Even watching it on my computer makes me want to go see 2001 on the big screen again, even though I just showed it (on 35mm) earlier this year.

Posted by Connor Wilson (Member # 6088) on 10-23-2014, 04:20 PM:

That YouTube video was disappointing. Poor compression in video and audio.

I guess I'm spoiled since I did see 2001 in 70mm at the wonderful place that is the AFI Silver.

I'm curious about if there will be a 5.1 remix. Maybe it'll suck but maybe they'll find a way to put in the original 6-channel Todd-AO-configured mix.

I wonder if the movie will be in a FLAT container, to maximize the resolution of the 2.2:1 ratio. Maybe it'll be full container but it's unlikely. I have a big feeling it will be in a SCOPE container, like Lawrence of Arabia.

Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 10-23-2014, 04:33 PM:

I've seen 2001 probably twenty or twenty-five times in theaters, and it never gets old. The BEST experience I had was seeing it in 70mm at the Uptown in Washington when it played there in, um, 2001. The next best was last fall when a mix-minus music track DCP played at Lincoln Center with the music performed live by the New York Philharmonic. I was in the mezzanine so I didn't dare lift a camera, but some guy in the loge shot the last scene, so you can get an idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKvldiJ_RcM

Starting next Friday the Bell Lightbox Cinema in Toronto will host a touring exhibition of Kubrick's props, equipment and personal effects, including the Space Fetus itself:

(Note that I took these shots in L.A. during the last US stop and they might not match what is on display in Toronto. it's not just 2001 either, there's stuff from all his films).

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 10-23-2014, 07:42 PM:

I have a good friend who watched it all day long on opening day in the front row of the Seattle Cinerama after dropping acid. His father was business agent and working the booth that day.

Don't know which blew his mind more.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-24-2014, 05:05 AM:

Is there any way of finding out if this is a new 4K? The one we have available here now was from March of this year and it's only 2K.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 10-26-2014, 05:32 PM:

I originally saw it in the Fall of '68 at the Boston Cinerama. I've seen it several times in revival since and it was always somewhat disappointing because of print and/or sound quality. One time I went to see it in 70mm and when we got there, they said the 70mm print they got was too faded, so they played a 35mm 4-tk version instead, but that was in pretty bad shape itself.

IMO, for this film to work, the screen size really has to be overwhelming. It has to encompass you. Even though 70mm Cinerama was about as lame as Lie-Max is today, it was superior to the way we've seen "2001" since. Even in that YouTube of the Lincoln Center performance with the live orchestral accompaniment, I didn't think the screen was large enough. When I saw "Gravity", I thought I was going to a theatre that was going to present it in 70mm IMAX and it wound up being IMAX digital, but if "2001" could look like that, that would be quite impressive.

One thing I remember from the Cinerama showing is that the angle of the ship and the bone at the end of the Dawn of Man sequence matched perfectly when I originally saw it (at least that's how I remember it and I also recall the audience going "whoa"), but it has never matched at any showing since and I think that's because it was made to match on the deeply curved Cinerama screen, but would not match on a flat screen. Or maybe I was just stoned and thought it matched perfectly.

Would love to see this again presented properly. Hopefully that 4K DCP will make its way to the U.S. Wasn't that one of the promises of digital? That it would be easy and inexpensive to make "prints" for wide distribution? (Of course the idiot theaters in NYC would probably present it with the 3D filters on the projectors, so it will look absurdly dim and off-color).