Bronston epics and Land of the Pharaohs coming at last! (2 Viewers)

[Thomas T]

Mixed feelings about this. Great that these Bronston epics will finally see a DVD release but I have my doubts that the Weinstein brothers will give us the complete roadshow treatment (overture, intermission, entr'acte, exit music) that their laser disc counterparts did. Probably just the movie proper, in which case I'm hanging on to my laser discs.

 

[Steve Christou]

Well I only have the Bronston epics on tape so I'm looking forward to them. Hopefully a 2007 release?

 

[David_B_K]

If EL CID is released in anmorphic OAR with DD sound, I have no mixed feelings at all-it will rock! The laserdisc is probably something to hang onto in any case, because it is Criterion and has special features (Heston interview, Mann overview, Mann interviews, screenwriter interview, Miklos Rozsa interview and analysis, etc) that will likely never make it to DVD. FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE only included the overture, intermission, etc you alluded to. I will hang onto it as well in case they are not included on the DVDs.

However, for watching the films, the DVDs will almost certainly be the way to go. FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE in particular has a bad case of jagglies in any of the scenes in Rome, due to all the steps and columns, etc that figure in the City of Rome. It will be great to see a detailed anamorphic version.

 

[Douglas R]

The Press Release says these will be deluxe releases so I think (and hope) that these will be complete Roadshow versions with extras.

 

[ptb2007]

4 years ago Channel 4 tv in the UK showed a 2.35:1 print of Land of the Pharoahs. I only have it on video unfortunately as I had no dvd recorder then, and subsequent showings have been cropped down to 1.85:1. Hope the dvd isn't vanilla and has some extras on. I've always had a soft spot for this movie too, like Scorcese.
I've also always loved "Helen of Troy", directed by future Sound of Music man Robert Wise. And only Cedric Hardwicke could have got away with saying the line "The face that launched a thosand ships" and make it sound as if nobody had ever said it before! Of course this has already had a great dvd release!
And I cannot wait for El Cid and FOTRE in full wide screen!

 

[OliverK]

Yes, hopefully.
Any plans for a HTF Q&A with somebody from the Weinstein company ?

I would also like to know if there are plans for these on high-def. They surely would look spectacular enough !

 

[Paul Linfesty]

When I watched LAND OF THE PHAROAHS on TCM recently, it seemed that half the time Joan Collin's voice was dubbed by someone else. If I'm not hallucinating, why would this have been?

 

[ptb2007]

It's definitely been Joan's voice when I've seen the film. No idea why they would do it as a seperate edition.
Perhaps you forget, like Joan herself, that the film dates from the 50s!

 

[JeffO]

I can't wait for El Cid - it is number one on my "wanted" list. I will definitely enjoy throwing out my VHS copy.

 

[David_B_K]

It's at the top of mine, too. There are still titles I am waiting for, and some may be better films, but EL CID Still leads my list.

 

[ptb2007]

A magazine in the UK "DVD Review" has just dropped through my letter box containing a piece about the Weinsteins releasing 'El Cid' as one of a raft of titles starting off their new venture. Unforunately there is a rumour that they will slice the movie in two and issue it as 2 dvds! I trust this is just someone's idea of a bad joke!!!

 

[Bill Marsh]

Just watched The Fall of the Roman Empire----absolutely hideous on a 53" Sony so didn't watch it projected at 92". Great enjoyment anyway. I love epics. Have El Cid non--anamorphic and it is not as bad in terms of artifacts. Saw it in the theater when it came out and remember it vividly as an extremely impressive cinema experience.

 

[Charles Ellis]

I'm quite certain another woman's voice was used for Joan in several scenes, as the second woman's voice is downright bassy like Marlene Dietrich or Lauren Bacall. In one scene you here Joan's natural clipped British tones one minute, and the next it's a deep American accent. I think what happened was probably had to do with studio politics. Joan Collins did Land of the Pharoahs while on loanout to Warners from her home studio of 20th Century-Fox. Perhaps during post-production she was no longer available for looping some scenes as she was back working at Fox. Well, that's my theory.

 

[ptb2007]

Oh yes, El Cid in the cinema! Remember the seige tower going over the camera and the stereo sound that went with it? Wonderful stuff.
FOTRE always got bogged down for me in the religious sub plot involving James Mason and those Germans, and was glad Gladiator left that out. Odd isn't it, how so few critics picked up on the storyline similarity? Marcus Aurelius in a tent, or sitting on a throne watching thousands of governors and princes and kings galloping up to do him homage? No contest really as in FOTRE you get the battle against the Germans as well!
I'd love to see both FOTRE and El Cid restored and shown digitally on an Imax screen! Now that would be fantastic! I took a friend to see the restored Spartacus at London's biggest screen. He'd only ever seen it on tv and was so grateful I'd forced him to go as he admitted it is an amazing film and he'd never really seen it before!

Oh, and may I ask - a 92" what, Bill?

 

[David_B_K]

I liked the stuff with Mason and the Germans. Partly because Mason was so good in the film. One reason (maybe) why this sort of stuff was left out of GLADIATOR was because GLADIATOR had a more interesting hero than FOTRE. Stephen Boyd was a good enough actor, but his part is rather underwritten, and there is little for him to do, other than act noble.

In GLADIATOR, the hero is terribly wronged, and the movie is basically about his attempt to revenge himself on Commodus. In FOTRE, Boyd is so noble that Commodus has no need to wrong him-Boyd declares him undoubted Caesar!

But then, FOTRE was attempting to show the rot that led to the Fall of the empire. GLADIATOR was simply attempting to tell a rattling good revenge/war/gladiator story. Both are good in different ways. I think Anthony Mann's mastery of widescreen composition is more evident in FOTRE than in any other of his films.

 

[JeffO]

Anyone notice in any of the news articles when they plan on starting to release these movies, specifically El Cid?

Thanks

 

[Joe Caps]

one review on the net says that both Land of the Pharoahs and the Prodigal are 2.0 stereo.

Why did warners NOT give us the original 4.0 stereo?

 

[ptb2007]

Just taken delivery of a French dvd release of Fall of The Roman Empire. Gorgeous colour, clean print, great sound. Full 2.35:1 so for the first time since I saw it in the theatre I can see the whole forum and all the crowd. A treat until the new one arrives with loads of extras ( one hopes!).

 

[Bill Marsh]

ptb2007----92" projector screen driven with a Panasonic AE700 projector

My copy of FOTRE is terrible so would look worse at 92"

If your new copy is good and anamorphic let me know---my OPPO is setup to be region-free so can play any regions disc

 

[David_B_K]

I bought a region 2 French version of EL CID (or rather LE CID) a couple of years ago. It was anamorphic, and decent looking, but it did not have an option to turn off the French subtitles, and my all-region player could not turn them off. The only way to get rid of them was to burn a copy and leave off the subtitles. Is your FOTRE simillarly afflicted?