A Few Words About A few words about...™ It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[John Morgan]

I am sure there are people who will boycott this release because it isn't the restored road show version most of us have wished for. My hope is this release will generate sales beyond MGM expectations and just maybe they will feel a financial incentive to go ahead with a full-blown restoration.

 

[John Morgan]

Well, there is most definitely a sync issue. I didn't watch the whole movie last night but I watched a little of the beginning and a little towards the end. The later scenes are definitely a little out of sync (audio slightly ahead of the video). BUT, this is most definitely NOT the first time I personally have noticed sync issues with blu-rays. I've noticed this on The Maltese Falcon, on The Searchers, on The Who's The Kids Are Alright, on the UK version of Psycho (the used car buying scene) and plenty more that I can't remember off the top of my head. Fortunately my Pioneer receiver has a great audio delay feature (the out-of-syncness is usually the audio slightly ahead of the video, though not in the case of The Searchers) so I can just add a little delay in the audio to sync it up; but it's rather annoying when I'm in the middle of watching a film and I suddenly notice that something just isn't right with the words coming out of an actor's mouth, and I have to take a few minutes to fiddle around with the delay to get it right.
Why does this seem to be such a recurring issue with blu-rays? I've seen it on DVDs here and there in the past but not nearly to the same extent as blu-rays, and I own far more DVDs than blu-rays.

I also seem to experience lip sync issues at times. Strangely, it seems to happen more on standard DVDs than BluRays, but it happens quite often. I usually find pausing the image, or in more severe cases, stopping the disc and then "resume play" will rectify the situation.
Pioneer Elite BDF-05FD
Denon AVR3808CI
JVC DLA-HD1 1080p Projector

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by John Morgan
I am sure there are people who will boycott this release because it isn't the restored road show version most of us have wished for. My hope is this release will generate sales beyond MGM expectations and just maybe they will feel a financial incentive to go ahead with a full-blown restoration.

Could not agree more. There is no real relationship between this release and anything that eventually is restored toward a longer version.

RAH

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by John Morgan
I also seem to experience lip sync issues at times. Strangely, it seems to happen more on standard DVDs than BluRays, but it happens quite often. I usually find pausing the image, or in more severe cases, stopping the disc and then "resume play" will rectify the situation.
Pioneer Elite BDF-05FD
Denon AVR3808CI
JVC DLA-HD1 1080p Projector

I'm seeing it on very few discs. As noted, I've gone both via HDMI as well as optical. Have spoken with Oppo, which does not seem to be creating a problem.

What I'm seeing is advanced audio 1.5-2 frames, which cannot be adjusted via player, which can only deal with retard.

RAH

 

[OliverK]

I am a bit surprised about the aspect ratio as IAMMMMW had an aspect ratio of almost exactly 2.76:1 when it aired on MGM HD.
Looking forward to check it out!

 

[GMpasqua]

Originally Posted by John Morgan
I am sure there are people who will boycott this release because it isn't the restored road show version most of us have wished for. My hope is this release will generate sales beyond MGM expectations and just maybe they will feel a financial incentive to go ahead with a full-blown restoration.

Well if they boycott the film ...all that happens is that sales are not as high...telling the studio "the title doesn't sell'


If you are going to boycott the film - write to Walmart and MGM/FOX and let them know why you are boycotting the film - otherwise your not helping in anyway what so ever

unless the store knows why you're are boycotting - how can they fix the problem?????

 

[GMpasqua]

I've noticed sync issues with 7.1 but when playing a disc in 2 track stereo the sync is fine.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I picked this up yesterday and it looks great. Sure, it's "only" the general release version, but everyone should pick this up to show support for not only the possibility of the roadshow cut restored, but for other classics on Blu-Ray remastered with this much care. I really enjoy the newer Blus of large format films considering Fox's The Bible (Todd-AO), Warner's King of Kings (Technirama) and Grand Prix (Super Panavision) all look amazing.
Isn't 2.55:1 fine for this film? It didn't seem that Ultra Panavision/Camera-65 films absolutely need 2.76:1 framing. Even with Blu-Ray's inherent quality, the extra picture information means less vertical resolution.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
I picked this up yesterday and it looks great. Sure, it's "only" the general release version, but everyone should pick this up to show support for not only the possibility of the roadshow cut restored, but for other classics on Blu-Ray remastered with this much care. I really enjoy the newer Blus of large format films considering Fox's The Bible (Todd-AO), Warner's King of Kings (Technirama) and Grand Prix (Super Panavision) all look amazing.
Isn't 2.55:1 fine for this film? It didn't seem that Ultra Panavision/Camera-65 films absolutely need 2.76:1 framing. Even with Blu-Ray's inherent quality, the extra picture information means less vertical resolution.

The disc looks fine, and the general release version is fine, in some ways better than the roadshow.

I cannot think of any reason to boycott this release, especially at the price point.

A longer version is a totally different budgetary beast.

And the aspect ratio, whatever it is, is also fine. Anything from 2.55 and wider works.

RAH

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Reagan
The most disturbing thing about this review is that RAH is sounding a lot like my 11 year old son.
-R

Your son is obviously a bright young man.

 

[Jacksmyname]

Hi again all.
Like Robert, this is also one of my all time favorites. At age 62, I've seen this countless times over the years. I mentioned in my earlier post that what I saw with just a brief scan to see what it looked like, looked great.
I just finished watching the whole film, and I'm happy to post that my initial impression was correct. It's terrific.
As someone who doesn't like color/contrast overdone, I found both to be just fine (I remember a line from an article I read many years ago that went "Too much color on your TV is like too much sugar in your coffee; I agree.). The contrast could probably take a notch or two down, but I didn't find it to be a problem as is.
I really hesitate to use the following phrase, but some scenes almost had a 3D quality.
Audio was also fine; I had no synch problems at all.
It may not be the version that most would prefer, but at $10, it's a no-brainer. IMHO, it's an excellent release.
My player is a Panasonic BD-30 connected to a Yamaha RX-V3800 via HDMI to a pro-calibrated Sony 46XBR4 via HDMI.
Jack

 

[Douglas R]

The disc looks fine, and the general release version is fine,

It's surely misleading for people to keep referring to this as the general release version. Certainly it was the general release version but it was also the roadshow version because it's exactly the same version which I saw in 70mm on the Cinerama screen as a roadshow attraction in the UK. It seems that the film was cut very early on during its roadshow run.

 

[Douglas R]

After the film left the San Diego "Cinerama" theater, over the years, I would often see it in 35mm when it played locally. Yes, the blank-screen music was all gone, but also the Intermission. In fact, the sing out to the Intermission was reworked ( even think composer Ernest Gold wrote another alternate version for non-intermission showing), where the music segued into the fuse music with no singing at all. That is the 35mm version I am most familiar with.

That's interesting but here in the UK the general release version definately had an intermission. It would have been unheard of for cinemas to show a film of that length without a break. I often saw the general release versions of films which I'd previously seen as roadshow attractions but they always retained the intermission. Maybe UK audiences need more comfort breaks than US audiences!

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Douglas R
It's surely misleading for people to keep referring to this as the general release version. Certainly it was the general release version but it was also the roadshow version because it's exactly the same version which I saw in 70mm on the Cinerama screen as a roadshow attraction in the UK. It seems that the film was cut very early on during its roadshow run.

Here's a quick chronological rundown on the film:

7 June 1963 - Cutting still in progress, film ran 219:37

2 July 1963 - film ran 210:03

7 August - Technicolor shipped an optical soundtrack for 35mm printing - long version

6 Sept - 70mm answer print shipped from lab, running time 2:10:03

24 Oct 3:06 cut from reels 9 - 13, with a short addition to 13.

4 Nov - Running time 207:05

6 Nov - Final test screenings in Boston and Chicago - running time: 196:32, not counting intermission

7 Nov - LA opening at 192:32

19 Nov NY / Chi / Boston openings

2 Dec - London opening

18 Dec - Opens Atlanta, Cleveland, Pitts, San Fran, Montreal, Paris at 192:32

19 Dec - Cut to 162:45 with music - intermission removed

All prints in service at the time of the final cut were returned to Hollywood, cut to the short version, and re-dubbed. Some prints were returned to service with
Overture, Entr'acte, Intermission, Exit music intact. Most newly produced prints were produced without music.

RAH

 

[GMpasqua]

So this is really the [COLOR= #ff0000]Shortened Roadshow[/COLOR] version (just like with "South Pacific")

Since the film only played a few cities at the 192 minute length for less than a month that would be the [COLOR= #ff0000]Full Length Original Roadshow version[/COLOR]?
Then there is the [COLOR= #ff0000]pre-release cut [/COLOR]of 207 minutes?

 

[Robert Harris]

So this is really the [COLOR= #ff0000]Shortened Roadshow[/COLOR] version (just like with "South Pacific")

Since the film only played a few cities at the 192 minute length for less than a month that would be the [COLOR= #ff0000]Full Length Original Roadshow version[/COLOR]?
Then there is the [COLOR= #ff0000]pre-release cut [/COLOR]of 207 minutes?

Test screenings during editing. There are only two versions

 

[John Morgan]

Kind of ironic that with all this talk about various versions of the film, it was nominated for Best editing, and the song, music and lyrics, (also nominated) was only heard during the Overture, which disappeared off of prints. Although the original soundtrack album (really a rerecorded version with a drastically reduced orchestra) included the song.
I guess my only real disappointment, given this was the standard version, was the missing Entr'acte Music, which is a great mini overture of the themes in fresh orchestrations. I understand about the radio calls not being there, so I can look forward to the hope we will have the full Roadshow version sometime within my life.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I dunno...I'd kinda like to see a 219 minute version just for fun...!

 

[Scott_Lemon]

Hi Robert
So, of the additional 30+ minutes of run time, how much of this footage still exists and is restorable (assuming a limitless budget)?
Would it be possible to one day get back to the 192:32 runtime? The 196:32? Or even as far back as the 207,210 and 219 minute runtimes?

 

[GMpasqua]

I thought the laserdisc included all the footage they could find at the time (that was supposed to be there)
I thought the rest was long gone