Terminator 2 Re-release

[Ian Puffenberger]

Does anyone know much about the 70mm and 35mm prints that are part of this re-release? More specifically, did the studio get their hands on some original prints or are they just film-outs of the 2017 remaster? Some of the marketing implies they're originals but there aren't any more publicly available details that I can find.

[Jim Cassedy]

My venue here in San Francisco has this booked in 70mm in early July, but I
know nothing about the provenance of the print. We're actually going to be doing
sort of a mini-70mm fest in the weeks leading up to THE ODYSSEY release,
similar to what we did before our OPPENHEIMER engagement.

[Chris Haller]

I emailed Rialto earlier this and they confirmed that its original release prints for the 35 and 70mm bookings.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Am pretty sure the T-2 70mm prints have stereo surrounds, so if you have the ability to check that in a test run, then go for it. There are both SR and Type A prints as well. The print I had in my collection definitely had stereo surrounds and it was marked Type A... No idea how the color will be unless these are newly struck prints. Even if they are LPP... they are 35 years old!

[Ian Puffenberger]

I emailed Rialto earlier this and they confirmed that its original release prints for the 35 and 70mm bookings.

This is great info, thanks!

[Mike Blakesley]

Seems like every hit movie from the '80s is getting a reissue, and some '70s ones too. We're doing the Top Gun/Top Gun Maverick reissue next week. They're actually being reasonable by letting us alternate the two movies on the weeknights.

[Chris Haller]

Am pretty sure the T-2 70mm prints have stereo surrounds, so if you have the ability to check that in a test run, then go for it. There are both SR and Type A prints as well. The print I had in my collection definitely had stereo surrounds and it was marked Type A... No idea how the color will be unless these are newly struck prints. Even if they are LPP... they are 35 years old!

If they've picked prints based on condition, I bet it'll look pretty presentable. I saw a 70mm mag print of Days of Thunder last summer that's held up pretty well.

[Jim Cassedy]

If they've picked prints based on condition, I bet it'll look
pretty presentable. I saw a 70mm mag print of Days of
Thunder last summer that's held up pretty well.

I cannot discuss exact titles for our July "mini-70mm' fest yet, but it's my my
understanding some of them will be mag-sound prints. We had several of them
just before OPPENHEIMER a couple of years ago too.

[. . and I believe the phrase "mini-70mm" should qualify as an oxymoron. . ]

[David Ferguson]

I wonder if there are any CDS prints of Terminator 2 in the vaults. I know there’s at least one in private hands.

There were also some prints of Terminator 2 that had a DTS track - I think they were used as a test for the track printing. If you’re getting one of these prints, keep an eye out!

[Chris Haller]

I wonder if there are any CDS prints of Terminator 2 in the vaults. I know there’s at least one in private hands.

There were also some prints of Terminator 2 that had a DTS track - I think they were used as a test for the track printing. If you’re getting one of these prints, keep an eye out!

Even if there were CDS prints left, does any commercial theater have a CDS reader and processor setup?

[Brad Miller]

There were also some prints of Terminator 2 that had a DTS track - I think they were used as a test for the track printing. If you’re getting one of these prints, keep an eye out!

I'm going to have to call bs on that one. Terminator 2 was a 1991 release by Tri-Star. DTS came around in 1993 with Jurassic Park with Universal behind it financially. There is just no way that 2 years prior to the DTS format's release that a non-Universal movie would have been a test for the timecode track printing. Other things to consider is that Terminator 2 prints were made at the Technicolor lab and the early DTS titles were all done at the Deluxe lab. And a small studio would have been willing to run a test that would provide no benefit to the small studio whatsoever on prints of their biggest moneymaker?

I believe whoever told you that simply gets letters jumbled in their heads. I've seen many people do this over the years where they mix up DTS and CDS.

[Steve Guttag]

Yeah...zero chance of DTS. The "test" for DTS, in theatres, was the 35mm Jurassic Park trailer. It was quad-track, as I recall but it was definitely DTS. If you bought a player and you were running that trailer, you had high confidence in your set up.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Maybe there are post-1993 re-releases that do feature a DTS timecode track?

CDS is one of the many examples of how Kodak was ahead of the game technically, but simply failed to execute on it. They choose not to go the psycho-accoustical route like all the other "digital on film" formats did, most likely because they were just too early. I guess it didn't help that CDS required special "high res" negatives and by replacing the analog audio on the prints itself, made CDS prints incompatible with everything else...

[Leo Enticknap]

If they are re-distributing 1990s mag striped prints, I can foresee a number of hurdles. Firstly, many if not most of the 5/70-equipped theaters operating today are only equipped for DTS audio. Secondly, of those that theoretically could play mag, are the heads still OK? Do the preamp cards still work? Etc. etc. If an irreplaceable print is played through heads that are physically damaged and/or magged up, well, there goes that print. Finally, unless those prints have been stored in a cool and dry vault for the last 35 years, they will likely have shrunk significantly. Polyester for release printing didn't become mainstream until the late '90s, and I don't believe that mag striped polyester prints were ever made (though am willing to be corrected on that).

[Marcel Birgelen]

I don't believe that mag striped polyester prints were ever made (though am willing to be corrected on that).

I think they call that videotape. :P