A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Big Country -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Rob_Ray]

Quite honestly I find it hard to believe that cinemas played THE BIG COUNTRY without an intermission. I've never seen a film of two hours forty five minutes which didn't allow audiences a break. Long films often used to have intermissions without any Entr'acte music if they were not roadshow attractions.

I've never known "The Best Years of Our Lives" to have an intermission and it's longer than "The Big Country." Also "The Great Escape."
Two hours and forty five minutes seems to be at that point where it could have gone either way. I'm sure there are many others as well.

 

[Douglas R]

I've never known "The Best Years of Our Lives" to have an intermission and it's longer than "The Big Country." Also "The Great Escape."
Two hours and forty five minutes seems to be at that point where it could have gone either way. I'm sure there are many others as well.

The Great Escape certainly had an intermission when I saw it here in the UK. From what I gather from various comments, it seems that it was probably far more common to have intermissions in the UK (and probably the rest of Europe) than the U.S. (obviously we have weaker bladders!). Back in the '50s and '60s British cinemas always used to have a break during the programme so that they could sell ice cream and confectionery.

 

[Vern Dias]

I ran "The Big Country" on it's original release and it did not have an intermission.

Vern

 

[john a hunter]

The Great Escape certainly had an intermission when I saw it here in the UK. From what I gather from various comments, it seems that it was probably far more common to have intermissions in the UK (and probably the rest of Europe) than the U.S. (obviously we have weaker bladders!). Back in the '50s and '60s British cinemas always used to have a break during the programme so that they could sell ice cream and confectionery.

I remember the notice by the box office in local Rank cinemas in the UK almost word for word: "The managment of this theatre advise that there will be a 10 minute intermission durring the presentation of this week's outstanding feature". As Doug has said, The Great Escape certainly had one.

 

[Douglas R]

I remember the notice by the box office in local Rank cinemas in the UK almost word for word: "The managment of this theatre advise that there will be a 10 minute intermission durring the presentation of this week's outstanding feature". As Doug has said, The Great Escape certainly had one.

Thanks for confirming my recollection John! We do seem to be keen on intermissions in the UK. James Cameron's TITANIC had an intermission when I saw the film at a local cinema. I'd previously seen the film at the Odeon Leicester Square where it didn't have one.

 

[TravisR]

James Cameron's TITANIC had an intermission when I saw the film at a local cinema. I'd previously seen the film at the Odeon Leicester Square where it didn't have one.

I've seen Cameron say that Fox talked about an intermission in the U.S. but he didn't want one because he felt that if he had the audience, he didn't want to risk losing them by interrupting the movie. I guess Paramount felt differently in Europe.

 

[ahollis]

Off topic, but talking about intermissions, back in the early 70's, ABC Mid South Theatre in the US experimented with having a forced intermission sometime after the third reel on all the films that they showed. Their thought was that it would increase their concession sale, but all it did was anger the audience. I remember being present when they forced an intermission in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE right after Roddy McDowell falls to his death. This experiment lasted only a couple of months.

 

[Douglas R]

I've seen Cameron say that Fox talked about an intermission in the U.S. but he didn't want one because he felt that if he had the audience, he didn't want to risk losing them by interrupting the movie. I guess Paramount felt differently in Europe.

TITANIC was released by Fox in Europe not Paramount but I think it's often the decision of local cinema owners or managers in the UK whether to have an intermission - not necessarily the studio.

 

[TravisR]

TITANIC was released by Fox in Europe not Paramount but I think it's often the decision of local cinema owners or managers in the UK whether to have an intermission - not necessarily the studio.

It's been almost 15 years but I thought Fox had the U.S. theatrical rights and Paramount got the rest of the world and home video.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by TravisR
It's been almost 15 years but I thought Fox had the U.S. theatrical rights and Paramount got the rest of the world and home video.

My dvd boxset of Titanic is Fox and its a UK edition, IMDB also says Fox for Europe and some other territories and Paramount for the USA.

Back on to The Big Country, years ago i used to always think they shot this 70mm, shame they didn't as we probably wouldn't have this aspect squeeze issue and it would likely have a nice stereo soundtrack.

Talking about 70mm releases, if the screencaps and review are accurate and i do trust this particular reviewer because he is fussy about quality then Tron is absolutely awe inspiringly good, there are some screencaps below. I know the effects shots were VistaVision.

http://www.landofwhimsy.com/archives/2011/08/bd-impressions-tron/

So why can't Grand Prix look so good, is it just the advancements in lens and camera and filmstock technology that makes Tron look so good because most 70mm films on blu ray lack something, maybe they are using 35mm scanned elements and Disney used the 70mm scanned elements to make their master, who knows but i'd buy Tron in a heartbeat.

 

[Who's On First?]

This is one of the "must owns."

Once the distortion problem is licked, the disc will be Highly Recommended, as I presume there will be a replacement program in place.

RAH

I've been holding off on purchasing this title, based on the quote above. Are there any further developments on this issue? Thank you in advance.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by TravisR /t/312356/a-few-words-about-the-big-country-in-blu-ray/90#post_3839872
It's been almost 15 years but I thought Fox had the U.S. theatrical rights and Paramount got the rest of the world and home video.

Other way around. Fox sold the North American rights to Paramount when they wanted to lessen their financial liability. They did it while the movie was still filming. Paramount first wanted and had it dated for July 1997, but due to Cameron's tweaking of the release was delayed until December. Fox retained the rights to the rest of the world. There was talk that the Video rights would reverse companies, but that was just a rumor. It is still Paramount for North America, Fox for the rest of the world. Wonder if Fox regrets that decision?

 

[ShowsOn]

It is still Paramount for North America, Fox for the rest of the world.  Wonder if Fox regrets that decision?

I recall News Corp regretted it a great deal. I believe they even put out an earnings downgrade and blamed it on that decision.

 

[john a hunter]

Tron is absolutely awe inspiringly good, there are some screencaps below. I know the effects shots were VistaVision
Well I know I am being pedantic, but actually they used 65mm not VistaVision.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by john a hunter /t/312356/a-few-words-about-the-big-country-in-blu-ray/90#post_3850994
Tron is absolutely awe inspiringly good, there are some screencaps below. I know the effects shots were VistaVision
Well I know I am being pedantic, but actually they used 65mm not VistaVision.

For the live action scenes they used 65mm but for the computer graphic effects they used VistaVision.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/technical

Incidentally i see in November that The Big Country is being re-released to all shops and not just an exclusive anymore, does anyone know if the issue reported is fixed in this new release. ?

I have an idea, if the issue affects the entire transfer then would it be possible to use my laptop and Media Player Classic and actually get the correct look using the features on media player classic to correct the aspect differences. ?

 

[OliverK]

I have an idea, if the issue affects the entire transfer then would it be possible to use my laptop and Media Player Classic and actually get the correct look using the features on media player classic to correct the aspect differences. ?

That should do the trick and if not google yxy aspect ratio control.
Used to work with that one all the time - those were the days

 

[Robert Harris]

I asked my friend, Martin Hart, of the Wide Screen Museum, keeper of all things optical, to do a test with the actual lenses.

Attached is are two digital shots, marked for reference of a rare CinemaScope 55 lens, which kindly sat for the image, as seen by CinemaScope and Technirama optics of the era.

While the notorious "mumps" are seen at the top, the Technirama optic virtually perfect. The tiny distortion we see may have been a part of the quick shoot.

RAH

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Douglas R /t/312356/a-few-words-about-the-big-country-in-blu-ray/90#post_3839567
Quite honestly I find it hard to believe that cinemas played THE BIG COUNTRY without an intermission. I've never seen a film of two hours forty five minutes which didn't allow audiences a break. Long films often used to have intermissions without any Entr'acte music if they were not roadshow attractions.

Not in the US. Theatre owners did not particular like intermissions, unless they were a Roadshow house, and wanted to schedule as many shows as they could. Over the years, with A Star Is Born being one of the most famous, films were cut to accommodate that thought, with sometimes bad results. I always enjoy an intermission if done correctly and feel some jealousy to the foreign moviegoers that got to experience intermissions in films that did not play with one over here, such as The Guns of Navarone.

 

[Joe Caps]

I used to have all of the back issues of films in review. I remember around 1957 and 58 complaints arriving from theater owners of too many long films without an intermission. Then the drive ins chimed in and starting to put their ownintermissions in the films. The list included Peyton Place, the Young lions, Big Country and quite a few more.
While stereo lps arrived in 1956, I don't think they did so till the middle or end of theyear.
So you still had mono The Big country, etc later reissued in fake stereo, United artists The Vikings was a stereo film, but the record was mono and fake stereo.
I don't find a true United Artist true stereo soundtrack until 199 with the release of Solomon and Sheba.

 

[John Hodson]

I asked my friend, Martin Hart, of the Wide Screen Museum, keeper of all things optical, to do a test with the actual lenses.
Attached is are two digital shots, marked for reference of a rare CinemaScope 55 lens, which kindly sat for the image, as seen by CinemaScope and Technirama optics of the era.
While the notorious "mumps" are seen at the top, the Technirama optic virtually perfect.  The tiny distortion we see may have been a part of the quick shoot.

Robert; could you be so kind as to explain the above so that even an idiot like myself can understand? Are you saying the distortion is part of the film itself and not as a result of any error in the transfer?
My copy arrived today - I couldn't be more pleased.