Forbidden Planet (1 Viewer)

[Ruz-El]

This has been rumored as a 2 disc special edition for about as long as Kong has. I would bet that Warner will take advantage of the anniversary and put it out in 2006. As much as I would like to re-visit this classic, there is so much coming out to hold me over, that I will gladly wait to see this at it's best. I'm guessing that the original ellements were more problematic than previously forseen, and as such, they wanted to take their time on the presentation. Of course, this is all my own fanboy speculation.

By the way, I think that the Digital Bits has had that box art up for about 3 years now, along with the Kong art, both of which were un-officially announced way back in the day.

 

[Kevin M]

Actually AFAIK that is incorrect, the reason for much of the scepticism from many people/fans is that KONG was verified by WB as being in the works three years ago and they took the time to explain why it was taking so long....not so for the supposed SE of FP, there has never been any word whatsoever from WB regarding this SE...at least that I have ever seen.

 

[Ruz-El]

My bad, I pressumed it was a go based on the Bit's having that artwork up for so long. I now hang my head in shame:frowning:

 

[Kevin M]

Hey man, I'm not trying to "shame" anyone, you know?
.....hell, show me any kind of official word from WB and I guarantee you I will be whistling "zip-a-dee-doo-daa" out of my arse hole!

 

[Ruz-El]

No offense takin Kevin, I just hate it when I spout off about stuff with my head up my ass!

I guess I should of used the winking icon, humor translates poorly on these forums.

As far as whistling "zip-a-dee-doo-daa", I guess you could pass the time waiting with "somewhere over the rainbow" *


*Icons denote another lame attempt at humor.

 

[Kevin M]

Yeah I knew you were joking.....do you think I claim to have a whistling bum at the drop of a hat? .....don't answer that!

Having said all of this doubtful stuff I must repeat that having a new HD transfer out there is a very hopeful sign, the most positive news I seen yet.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Daryl L wrote:
Sure would like to know the answer to this, as I didn't have my television connected to my DD sound system at the time.:b

Paul

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this, Paul. I am very excited to hear that the transfer was of high-quality. I reckon that Warner is planning a SE, but that no extras have been created yet and we won't see an announcement until those are finished. I doubt we'll see a new Forbidden Planet DVD this year, but you never know.


BTW, Paul; was the broadcast in widescreen? The OAR for FP is 2.55:1 - the current transfer is roughly 2.30:1.

 

[JimKr]

FYI, future air dates for FP:

Forbidden Planet - New for July!
Rating: G
Year: 1956
Cast:Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen
Director: Fred McLeod Wilcox
Synopsis: In this classic science fiction version of Shakespeare's The Tempest, a group of space travelers visiting the planet Altair-4 discover the only survivors from a previous mission of space colonists are an expatriate, his daughter, and Robby the Robot.
Run Time: 1:38
Air Dates:
10:30 AM ET / 7:30 AM PT - Sun, Jul 17th
2:15 PM ET / 11:15 AM PT - Sat, Jul 30th

From the HDNet web site.

 

[Daryl L]

It did look great on HDnet. I'm not possitive which AR it was but looked more like 2.30:1 to me. The audio was directional. Although HDNet Movies sends all audio over a DD5.1 feed but I'm quite sure it wasn't a newly mixed 5.1 track. They are capable of decoding to DPL and sending it over the DD5.1 feed. It would sound the same as if sent over a stereo (dd2.0) feed and letting your receiver decode it in DPL2(x).

I recorded it on my HD DVR cable box. I have both digital and analog audio cables connected to my receiver. I can switch to the analog signal and hear the exact same directional dialog. I can definatelly hear dialog and sound coming from the far left, half left, center, half right and far right locations. There's barely any surround effects aside from very, very subtle ambience to speak of.

 

[Rakesh.S]

I didn't get anything out of the rears on HDNet Movies, so I'm guessing they sent dd 2.0 upconverted to dd 5.1

 

[David Levy]

I've gotta say, I have the R4 of this, which I suppose is the same as the currently available in the US, and it's fine.

I honestly cannot see a reason why I would want to buy this again.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I'm sorry, David, but I must disagree: the current Forbidden Planet transfer is from, what appears to be, a release print (it has reel-change cues throughout) and is very grainy, scratchy and significantly faded (the colours are substantially different from the Criterion LD, also). Although an Eastmancolor negative from 1955/56, the film was a big production from MGM and should, most surely, look way better than it does on DVD. Warner's recent (remastered) Rebel Without a Cause, also shot in 2.55:1 CinemaScope, which was a 1955 release and had Warnercolor labwork, now looks goregeous on DVD. Given the same care, Forbidden Planet could look striking on DVD. There's a HD master, we now know that. It is said to look very good.

This film is a hugely-important film in the sci-fi genre and it deserves an optimal presentation and insightful supplemental extra features.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

I must agree with Gordon and add to that another big problem with the current (R1) DVD-- compression artifacts! Most early releases suffered from this problem due to squeezing movie-length material onto a single-layer DVD. It may not be noticable on smaller TV screens, but I can sure see the effects on my 57" projection.

Jeff

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I bought this film in the old Warner snapper case as soon as it came out on DVD, as it is one of my all-time favorites. Imagine my disappointment when the disc turned out to be significantly inferior, in both sound and picture to my non-Criterion basic laserdisc version. This is a film worthy of the kind of DVD release that The Day the Earth Stood Still received and it is a crime that we're still waiting for one. The current R1 version is unwatchable as far as I'm concerned.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Rachael B]

The HD from HD-Net was purr-dy nice for me. I won't be deleting it from my Tivo anytime soon. I think if I made a 480i D-VHS tape of it, well, it would likely trash the LD and DVD versions, I proably will...?

 

[Sam Favate]

No news on a special edition release? Hasn't this been "on the schedule" for more than a year now?

 

[Paul McElligott]

I'm beginning to think that the "special edition" was more fan wishful thinking than anything.

 

[Kevin M]

Sam Favate, no offence man, but didn't you read any other post in this thread?


FWIW, just because there is now a HD transfer (and that is a good sign) doesn't mean that the never ending rumors of the past four/five years were true....it might just mean that recently someone at WB finally said "Hey, FP looks like crap....let's update it!". Whatever it takes, as long as it gets a good transfer and/or restoration.

 

[Kevin M]

BTW, being CinemaScope I assume the stereo audio for FP was true mag stereo (L C R S) and not exclusively Perspecta? What was used on the current DVD?