obi wan steps on a piece of lego (by TheCrabPope)
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Q: Much has been made of the decision to alter the color of the shooting scene at the end of the film to get an R rating in 1976. Why didn’t you restore it to the originally-shot, more colorful scene?
A: There are a couple of answers to this. One, which we discussed, was the goal of presenting the film as it was released, which is the version everyone basically knows. This comes up every now and then, but the director feels it best to leave the film as it is. That decision is fine with me. However, there is an impression from some who think we could easily “pump” the color back into that scene and that is not as easy as it sounds. The film was not just printed darker, or with muted colors, as some think. There are two sections of the original negative that were removed from the cut and assembled camera negative.
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The Digital Bits - Sony’s Grover Crisp on the new Taxi Driver Restoration: I didn’t know they altered the color for the purpose of getting an R rating.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is indeed quite wonderful on Blu-ray, so I’m sure they did a top-notch job on Taxi Driver, too. Looking forward to it.
Yes! Amazon sent me an email in the wee hours of the morning announcing this. According to the email it’s an Amazon exclusive. Pre-order it here and give a friend a kickback.
Le cercle rouge (1970) - The Criterion Collection: An amazing film by an amazing director coming to Blu-ray in April.
Army of Shadows Blu-ray - Jean-Pierre Melville: This film is out on Blu-ray today. It is one of the best, most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. Buy it, love it, and watch it over and over. More details from the lovely people who bring us these lovely films, Criterion.
Going Up River: Inside Apocolypse Now Blu-ray:
One of the original conversations we began to have when we started looking at doing this work, was using the original transfer in 2001 as a reference – as indicative of the best possible transfer at the time, using that technology, and with a lot of time spent with Vittorio on that original transfer. We also screened – myself, James and Mr. Coppola – the dye-transfer print as well. And we wanted to get back to that in terms of not just aspect ratio, but the contrast and color saturation characteristics of a dye-transfer print in terms of its natural rendition – to be a little bit more, I guess, faithful to that original projection of that dye-transfer print. To get to that point, there was a little bit of negotiation between using both sources as inspiration, I guess is the best way I could put it, between that beautiful dye-transfer print Mr. Coppola had as well as honoring the time and quality of the transfer in ‘01 that obviously had Vittorio’s time put into it. Some scenes tended to carry over very well with regard to the two transfers, and some scenes felt more akin to the dye-transfer print.
Striking difference in color timing for this version. The warm, crimson tones have been modified to appear vivid and dreamlike.
Can’t wait to see this for myself.
(Source: thedigitalbits.smugmug.com)
Can I just say I can’t wait for Seven Samurai to release on Blu-ray on October 19? Because I can’t help myself anymore.
Update 8/21: Here’s a link to pre-order on Amazon.
The Star Wars saga will at long last be released in a high-definition home video format as all six movies come to Blu-Ray in a Box Set in Fall 2011, as announced by George Lucas this morning at Celebration V.
Yay! - StarWars.com | George Lucas Announces Star Wars on Blu-Ray at Celebration V
On Blu-ray later this year according to my favorite home video website, The Digital Bits. I love Blu-ray.
October 19. This one includes Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about the making of this masterpiece.
Amazon now has a Criterion edition of The Thin Red Line available for pre-order on Blu-ray. No release date yet, nor official word from Criterion, but it’s been rumored for ages and a pre-order page on Amazon can only mean good things.
Days of Heaven (1978) - The Criterion Collection - It’s out, folks. Truly, among the most beautiful works of visual art ever produced. To experience it is to love it forever.
…What’s that? You’re noticing a trend? Criterion movies? Yes. Yes, you’re right. Criterion is pure awesome.
This film is one reason I want to make films. Beautiful, austere, heartfelt—it is everything a truly great film should be.
I sold my old DVD when I heard Criterion was bringing it to Blu-ray. In gloriously typical Criterion fashion, everything about this disc is amazing: the picture, the sound, the bonus features, the commentary, the booklet that comes with it—everything.
Red Desert (1964) - The Criterion Collection - Finally! Arguably Antonioni’s best film, and certainly my favorite of his.
I’ve been hoping for this day since I first saw this film in my Intro to Film class in the fall of 2003. My professor was one Robert Kolker who apologized before he screened it for the then-DVD’s “crudeness.”
I have no doubt Criterion has given Red Desert the care it deserves.
