grand prix... when? (1 Viewer)

[Talal]

Grand Prix is destined to be a reference DVD with a fantabulous DTS ES mix and superbit video..

Does anyone have an info on the status of this movie. I'd think they would rush to release this... but nothing.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I dream of this DVD often.

It was shot in 65MM...does anybody know what sound formats were mixed?

 

[Douglas R]

Grand Prix was filmed in Super Panavision 70mm and presented in Cinerama with 6 track magnetic stereo sound. I saw this when it first opened in Cinerama and the driving sequences made it a terrific experience - even though the film is let down by a pedestrian story line.

 

[Greg_M]

This MGM film is under Warner Bros. control, so don't expect it any time soon.

 

[RolandL]

It is shown on TCM letterboxed. Check the listings each month.

 

[Wes C]

Just thought I would bring this up from the grave to see if anyone knew anything. This movie was shown on AMC today and I had forgotten how much I love it.

 

[Peter Kline]

Grand Prix was filmed in Super Panavision 70 and shown on the deeply curved Cinerama screen in some markets. If you saw the film that way you were treated to excessive "stretch" on the sides of the image during some sequences and the loss of top and bottom information because the image had to be "over projected" to fill the deep curve of the screen. I saw the film once on a standard screen and it was much better (the look of the film) then bogus Cinerama.

 

[Talal]

Someone release this.. PLEASE.

Those racing scenes are unbelievable.

 

[Dick]

Peter - I saw this film twice at Loew's Cinerama in NYC when it was first released and there was none of the "stretching" on the sides that you describe, any more than there was for IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD or other Super Panavision titles. The prints were optically altered to compensate for projection onto curved screens (which is why outtakes of IAMMMMW are distorted - they have not been corrected for standard flat widescreens). If you saw a stretching at the sides on a curved screen, then the theater you saw it at must have had a flat print.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Warners is set to release Frankenheimer's never-before-on-home video "The Gypsy Moths" on DVD in September, so that might bode well for a "Grand Prix" DVD. I rented the LD a couple of months ago and had a really good time watching it.

 

[Tony Lai]

How about McQueen's "Le Mans" set to the same standard, anamorphic and in 5.1?

T.

 

[Peter Kline]

Dick,
Grand Prix did not have rectified prints as Mad World had. If you go to the widescreen museum and look at their section on Grand Prix it shows how distortion was unavoidable. Even with correction for the sides of the image there was still a large portion of the top and bottom center missing. It was simply due to the fact that films not made in real Cinerama could never be shown on a deeply curved screen without compromises. 2001 was also not rectified and many scenes had some stretch at the sides, particularly closeups. Again it is all explained and demonstrated at
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm

 

[Dick]

I guess I stand (or sit) corrected, Peter. Memory is a fickle thing. In any case, I didn't NOTICE the distortion when I saw these films on a curved screen. Then again, I remember being dragged to see THE LONGEST DAY at Loew's Cinerama, and it was projected onto the same curved screen even though it wasn't officially a Cinerama film, and I don't remember distortion there, either.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Just out of curiosity, what should be the proper aspect ratio for this film, if it were to be presented in a traditional letterboxed format for home video?

 

[RolandL]

2.20:1 if from 70mm

2.35:1 if from 35mm

 

[BarryNS]

Both Grand Prix and Le Mans NEED to be released on DVD....the SPEED channel aired a behind the scenes on the making of "Le Mans" that really whetted my appetite for a DVD with extras!