A Few Words About A few words about... Sky Captain... (1 Viewer)

[Max Leung]

You mean her lips right?

 

[DustinPizarro]

The theater I saw it in Boston did have audio problems. At first I thought that center volume was way too low. But now after reading the above posts, I understand now what the cause was. I just hope the DVD edition will be properly mastered for home theaters.
Thanks Mr Harris. This is a recommendation that will be easy to accept. I enjoyed this film very much aside from the fact that I'm opposed to having deceased actors digitally inserted in films for a scene. But that is a debate covered elsewhere. As you stated this is the second installment of the digital age.

 

[Gary->dee]

It's gotta be due to his prolonged exposure to vinegar syndrome and nitrate film stock.

 

[Robert Harris]

Exposure to decomposing film is actually a very serious thing.

Eyes can be damaged from VS as well as nitrate fumes and dust, especially if contact lenses are involved. VS and magnetic dust is also a major problem.

David Shepard found that he had major problems with decomposing nitrate.

 

[Gary->dee]

I'm aware of that, Robert. I had the pleasure(?) of working in the decrepit facilities and film vaults of the UCLA Film & TV Archive for one year(I couldn't take more than that). I would wear the requisite doctor's mask, gloves and white coat while working in the film vaults but they didn't provide any form of eye protection. Besides the fact that the films were rotting, the various vaults and buildings themselves are rotting as well due to the fact that they're the original Technicolor facilities constructed during the early 20th century. So yes I'm very familiar with the dangers of working with vinegar syndrome and disintegrating nitrate films. You've gotta be passionate about film preservation to endure some of those conditions. As for me, coming from a background of working in clean and air conditioned offices, the UCLA experience proved to be intolerable. When my one year contract was up I made it clear I had no desire for it to be extended. I think I would have been better suited working for the Academy, but I didn't pursue it.

There was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. When I was still working there(around 1998-99), there was talk and lofty plans of the Academy(that has much better facilities and funds at their disposal to preserve films) merging with UCLA's film archive to essentially create an archivists shangri-la; a mega facility that would house the entire collections of both the Academy Archives along with UCLA's/Hearst collection. I think they were considering locating it in Culver City at the time. David Packard of Hewlett/Packard was also in talks to help fund such an ambitious venture because he has an interest in film preservation.

I'm not sure what ever became of those plans. If I recall correctly they were eyeing an opening date of 2005 or 2006.

Oh and Hugh Hefner's favorite film is High Noon. I would occasionally have the fun job of delivering the film reels to his mansion.

Edit: One last thing before I forget! You know that flavor of potato chips - 'Vinegar and Salt' or something like that. Anyway when I was working at the UCLA archive those things were possibly the most offensive tasting thing I could ever eat because of my constant exposure to vinegar syndrome. I mean if you know someone that works at a film archive and you want to get them perhaps the most sadistic gift in the world, you could do no better than getting them a bag of vinegar and salt potato chips. I bet if I had some now it would take me right back to my days working for UCLA.

 

[Mark Oates]

Ack! I had to leave a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail because of the smell of Salt 'n Vinegar crisps wafting across the aisle from a fellow patron with a jumbo bag of Chipsticks (a particularly stinky variety of British snack). The stuff smelled like photographic stop bath.

Loved the review, BTW. Any truth in the rumour the final rendering software's called Vaseline?

 

[Alistair_M]

"and I'm really looking forward to the 2-disc Collector's Edition of Sky Captain, out next month on Region 2."


a slight word of caution- the region 2 may be a bit of a marketting scam - according to BBFC the extras are actually the same as the region 1 - but maybe some bright spark at the region2 studio thought they would split it into to 2 disks to be able to charge more money

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classi...5?OpenDocument

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classi...2?OpenDocument

I'm getting the region 1 release as usual

 

[Phil L]

RAH-

Did you see the IMAX version or the 35mm print? I found them to be very different experiences.

 

[Steve Christou]

Did you get the Region 1 Battle of Britain, as usual? And Day After Tomorrow, I,Robot, Troy, Van Helsing R1 as usual? I'll wait till next month see what the region 2 Sky Captain has to offer than decide which one to go for, no rush.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

When people first started talking about Lawrence Olivier having been "digitally inserted" into the movie, I thought it was going to be some Fred-Astaire-vs-the-vacuum-cleaner thing where they had a walking, talking mockup of the actor interacting with the other characters. In fact, however, I found it less of an appearance than Jed Clampitt made in UHF, digitally inserted into Weird Al's Money for Nothing parody dream, or the use of Valentino in The Last Remake of Beau Geste. A great deal of hype about nothing new, in other words.
Now, I do have a few pithy words for Conran about using up all his LTA at the beginning and having the British platforms be aerodynes for heaven's sake, but it won't do to get started on that!

 

[Scott_MacD]

Hmm, does the Region 1 release contain two audio commentaries?

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page...2&title=556432 states that the R2 release has 2 audio commentary tracks..

I'm waiting for confirmation before picking one or the other. One of the very best films of 2004, FWIW.

 

[Jay Gunn]

Yes, the R1 has two audio commentary tracks.

 

[Terry Hickey]

I enjoyed the film when it came out, and I am looking forward to its release on dvd. Thanks for the comments on the dvd, Mr. Harris.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Mr Harris, thank you! At last R2 can hold its head up high and shout - 'we can see movies as slowly at Americans!'

Point taken abou the thorns. [Sorry, even by my feeble standards that's a bad pun].

 

[Tino]

I though the film was all style (lots of it), and very little substance.

The acting by the leads was fair, except for Paltrow, who gave the absolute worst performance of her career!

I will be picking this one up however since it really is a visual treat (albeit an empty one).

 

[Bryant Trew]

Great joke post. This movie was almost complete garbage. The only redeeming qualiy was that Jolie is DEAD sexy in whatever she wears. I mean jeeze - how can anyone be hot when wearing an eye patch? I'm drooling just thinking about. I better stop before I electrocute myself.

 

[EricW]

i was also a bit bored with the movie; it was way too long. making a good b-movie like Indiana Jones is just as hard as making a good contemporary movie, and the awe of the this film's visual style only lasts so long.

question:

what did Giovani Ribisi do with the map fragment that targeted Nepal? was it simply stuck to the ceiling or a rock or something? they built it up like he did something clever.

 

[Jim Barg]

Erick,

I assume the fragment was stuck on the ceiling with the piece of gum he was chewing.

Granted, I tend to think that it would've fallen to the floor since the robots were trashing the building. But as Mr. Harris said, you need to suspend your belief to enjoy the film.

 

[Jason Adams]

Your sense of humor is so dry, that I was starting to see mirages. But anyways, the look of the movie was cool, but thats all it had going for it.

 

[Eric F]

If you haven't heard, Tom Hanks also handles all the English anime dubs.

Looking forward to this. Can't wait to see it in HD.