Kino to bring METROPOLIS to Blu-Ray in 2009 (1 Viewer)

[Stephen_J_H]

The original copyright may be reinstated, but Moroder's version was copyrighted when it was released. As an alternate version, it has a separate copyright.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Yes, though my understanding was that the frame-interpolated master is what Kino was given, not something they produced themselves. Therefore, unless they get access to the PAL master for the Blu-ray version, the Kino master will still have the ghosting in it.

 

[Cassy_w]

The Moroder version is held up by music rights. Too expensive to buy the music rights for DVD.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

They'd better not be using a PAL master for Blu-Ray, as PAL is only SD. A new transfer will need to be produced in HD.

 

[ToEhrIsHuman]

Someone please explain to me why 20fps isn't feasible, or isn't desirable, on Blu-ray @ 1080p60 with each frame repeated 3X? Sounds like pretty simple math to me. Sure, slow-mo, ff, and step-frame features will be a little off in use, but I feel that is a minor annoyance considering how much more enjoyable and historically accurate the film presentation would be. My guess is that the video compression process would also compensate for the file size bulk created by duplicated frames.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

It would seem to me that doing 20fps would actually be easier than 24fps, although I could be mistaken.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

As a matter of fact, I can't see any reason why the pulldown technique used to shoehorn 24 fps material into 30 frames/2:1 couldn't be used here. Yes, it's an inelegant technical hack, & we could wish the BD standard had included arbitrary frame-rate support, but taking every film frame & dropping it into 3 video fields to get 20 fps (instead of alternating 2 and 3 fields for 24 fps) is an obvious step. Of course, it could be something current video-authoring systems don't have an option for, or it could be something the studios avoid because it confuses deinterlacers which are built to detect 3-2 cadence, but in principle it is cleaner than the 24-30 conversion. In the old days it would have been necessary to build a new cam system for the telecine projector, but working from a digital scan the worst one would have to do would be to set up a macro to clone each frame & then eliminate adjacent pairs of fields.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Are you sure about that? Just as all the previous DVDs and VHS versions were forced out of print, I don't see why this version would be any different. Just about every version on video was an alternate version since they all had different scores. Just because Moroder's version used a pop soundtrack doesn't really make the legal stance any different. At least thats how it seems to me, but I'm by no means a legal expert.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Because it's not a supported video format in BD and neither players nor video pocessors would know how to get the proper 1080p60 out of the 1080i60 on the disc.

 

[Kris Z.]

I thought about that too. The only question is like you say whether current TVs/players are going to know what to do with it, and how to deinterlace it best. I don't think you'll ever get the progressive frames back, I have never heard of anything with support for this kind of cadence detection, but if most sets are going to stutter like mad or something, it could be better to just "pre-cook" it on the authoring side.

 

[Ray_R]

Ah, thanks for clarification Brandon! Wife and I have been watching some Harold Lloyd films DVR'd from TCM. Might even get around to buying the boxset New Line released awhile back finally.

Glad I DVR'd this from TCM! It was a really long time since I saw this last. I believe back in film history class in college several years ago. Speaking of Kino on Video, the wife out of the blue asks me if I'd like any vampire films. I mentioned Nosferatu (1920's) and she mentioned later Kino released an Ultimate Edition. Nice. Here's hoping Kino will release a Douglas Fairbanks set too on BD!
This'll be a title I'd buy and I don't even own a Blu-ray player yet! Um, well, I do sometimes go over to a buddies house and use his PS3 as a player...
So is this the only title for BD Kino is releasing on the format so far? It'd be a wiser choice if the company releases a wave of titles in the same vein as Criterion.

 

[SilverWook]

I can understand if it was a diverse bunch of existing rock songs used in the movie like HEAVY METAL being the problem, but weren't all the songs produced by Moroder specifically for his version?

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

They're releasing "Fallen Angels" this fall:

Blu-ray.com - Kino to Begin Releasing Blu-ray this Fall

 

[Pete York]

I have the same question. Since the rights over derivative works are inherent in a copyright and Moroder's version is derivative, as it wouldn't exist without the original work, how can there be a separate copyright? The only thing Moroder could copyright is the material that didn't already exist, in this case the soundtrack. As you said Jeff, the Murnau Foundation (owner of the images) and Moroder (or whoever is the owner of the music) would have to make an agreement.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Moroder's version also included 'new' subtitle text, original stylized intertitles and still photos. The question of who actually owns the film in this case is something I can't answer. Producers Sales Organization/Vestron is no more, and is now Lions Gate, but Image did release "Short Circuit".

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The same way that Disney holds the video rights to Kill Bill Volumes I and II and The Weinstein Company holds the rights to The Whole Bloody Affair version. It's best to look at intellectual property rights as a bundle of rights containing both copyrights and moral rights. Moral rights enjoy greater protection in the EU than in North America and give the artist greater control over how his work is presented to the public.

How does this all figure into Metropolis? Simple. The Murnau Foundation, upon restoration of the current cut of Metropolis, copyrighted that particular cut of the film. Moroder (or his backers) holds copyright over his cut of the film. The two can co-exist, but because of moral rights, another wrinkle exists with respect to the music in the Moroder version: even though Moroder and Pete Bellotte wrote all the music for their version of Metropolis, if Kino were to licence this version and include in their BD release, they'd still have to go to the artists' representatives to licence the performances for a video release. A cumbersome task in this case, since that means Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler, Billy Squier and several others. NOT as ugly as Heavy Metal was, mind you, but close enough.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Moroder's Metropolis has already been released on home video, though — there were LaserDiscs issued in Japan (Pioneer) as well as the US (Vestron). A Blu-Ray release would not be de novo, & there would not be this hassle as with movies or TV having music that was never cleared for home video in the first place.

 

[Cassy_w]

Like with MIAMI VICE, everything would have to be paid for all over again for DVD and BD with regards to the Moroder Metropolis, which I have on Laserdisc, by the way.

 

[Keith Paynter]

As do I. It's one of the reasons I still have a player (and, judging by by ebay prices, one of the few remaining discs I still have and refuse to part with)

 

[alexAN]

I guess it's redundant, but also Moroder's cut was available on VHS (at least here in Spain) around '88-'89.