Press Release Criterion Press Release: Days of Heaven (1978) (4k UHD Combo) (2 Viewers)

[PaulRossen]

Well that's your opinion. Its still the original mix whether you like it or not.

It may be the original mix but on my home system both the DVD and original Criterion blu ray volume sounds extremely low. Hopefully the new Criterion 4k UHD and Blu Ray will correct what I view as a problem with the earlier releases.

 

[JPCinema]

To know this film was to have seen it in 70MM! I wish we could all see it that way again.

I saw it three times at the Bruin on opening day in 70MM. Can't wait for the 4K disc!

 

[lsauer]

I don't know if it was in 70mm where I first saw it when it came out. I saw it at the Mann's Bruin Theater in Westwood. The theatre on the opposite side of the street to Mann's Village Theatre, where Tarantino filmed scenes for Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood. They're both Regency Theatres now with the same names.

Days of Heaven is "my" pick for the Best Cinematography ever in a film and ……….

I saw it there as well. When the train roared across the arched bridge in a stationary landscape shot, the movie audience broke into applause. It was a surprising and thrilling moment, an acknowledgement we shared that this was 'big deal' different.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

I saw it three times at the Bruin on opening day in 70MM. Can't wait for the 4K disc!

Ken,
Interesting how we "knew" that when a 70mm print or blow up of a film played, we went as many times as we could. I did this with Moonraker, the ressue of Spartacus and Blade Runner and The Living Daylights (even after attending the premiere!). We knew then those prints would not be available after a short period of time.

 

[JoshZ]

I saw the movie in 35mm at a repertory theater sometime in the 1990s, but never in 70mm.

Would not the 70mm blow-ups have been cropped to 2.20:1?

 

[johnmcmasters]

I also saw this film on opening day at the Cinema I in Manhattan -- it remains the most visually and aurally stunning presentation of a film that I've ever seen. Only "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the Denver, CO, Cinerama theater, the brief release of the original cut of "Heaven's Gate" also at the Cinema I in Manhattan, and the roadshow engagement of "Apocalypse Now" at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan come close.

I was literally pinned back in my seat by the visual beauty of "Days of Heaven" -- moments that come to mind are the moment a train crosses over a bridge surrounded by an impossibly blue sky, and the unearthly twilight beauty of pastels when the character played by Linda Manz shimmies out of a window to run away at the end of the film. The vistas of fields, farm hands, oh my!

The film opened during a press strike, so all of the amazing reviews went largely unseen by the general public in NYC. In front of the theater, they were handing out impromptu press books filled with the rave reviews.

I persuaded one of my best friends to go back with me to see the film a second time, and he was also gobsmacked. We went back 2 or 3 more times before it left the theater.

"Your eyes...
Your ears...
Your senses...
will be overwhelmed
in 70mm and Dolby stereo"

The ads didn't exaggerate.

“Days of Heaven”: The North American 70mm Engagements

 

[Lord Dalek]

I saw the movie in 35mm at a repertory theater sometime in the 1990s, but never in 70mm.

Would not the 70mm blow-ups have been cropped to 2.20:1?

No they would have have pillarboxed.

 

[JoshZ]

No they would have have pillarboxed.

Was that actually common at the time for blow-ups of 1.85:1 movies? I know that I saw a bunch of blow-ups of 2.35:1 movies that had been cropped on the sides to 2.20:1.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Was that actually common at the time for blow-ups of 1.85:1 movies? I know that I saw a bunch of blow-ups of 2.35:1 movies that had been cropped on the sides to 2.20:1.

Yes it was common.

 

[JPCinema]

So true!

Ken,
Interesting how we "knew" that when a 70mm print or blow up of a film played, we went as many times as we could. I did this with Moonraker, the ressue of Spartacus and Blade Runner and The Living Daylights (even after attending the premiere!). We knew then those prints would not be available after a short period of time.

 

[JPCinema]

I met Brooke Adams and told her I sat through it three times in a row. Her husband, Tony Shalhoub said that he did too. Brooks response was
“Really?“ She was genuinely surprised.

 

[Dick]

This film, THE RED SHOES, BLACK NARCISSUS, and BARRY LYNDON remain, in my view, the most beautiful color transfers in DVD/Blu-ray history.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Preorder is live. See post #2

 

[Peter Neski]

I guess this is great news ,but it seems like Criterion is going the cheap route,no new extras ,no new art or Booklet
just a new disc in an old Package I would love some new extras like the lost extra feature the still file!

 

[mark brown]

Cheap route? My gosh. Criterion is preparing to release one of the most beautiful films ever made in 4K !

 

[DarkVader]

I've heard of this film for years, and never, ever got around to watching it. That is until last year. I was so overwhelmed by the cinematography, the story, and the performances that I wept...and I'm not one to shed tears so easily. It's a masterpiece.

 

[MartinP.]

I just found out that it's going to be screened in the 1,000 seat Geffen Theatre at the AMPAS Museum in their Oscar Sundays series on Sunday, October 8th if anyone wants to and is able to go! Info on the website says: 35mm. New print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.

I saw this last night. May I say I just love every second of this film. I think it's a little miracle.

 

[JPCinema]

It played for 12 weeks in 70mm at The Bruin.

“Days of Heaven”: The North American 70mm Engagements

in70mm.com

That's where I saw it 6 times

 

[nerdytvdude]

Damn, the reviews here of the 70mm showing make me jealous that I wasn't even alive yet when this movie premiered lol. So do we think this new 4K master will at least come close to that version?

 

[SD_Brian]

It may be the original mix but on my home system both the DVD and original Criterion blu ray volume sounds extremely low. Hopefully the new Criterion 4k UHD and Blu Ray will correct what I view as a problem with the earlier releases.

The Criterion 4K releases I've viewed to date all seem to have extremely low audio levels, so I would expect that trend to continue here. On Thelma & Louise, for example, I had to crank the volume north of 80, whereas I normally keep it set around 50.