What's new

New article about Fox catalog titles (1 Viewer)

Alan Tully

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
4,627
Location
London
Real Name
Alan
"The Robe" has been in development forever, will it look that much better than the version we have? I love '50s epics, but "The Robe" is a bit boring. "The Egyptian" first, please.
 

ted:r

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
336
"A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" would be greatly appreciated. It was supposed to be a released a few years back but was pulled, supposedly for legal reasons involving the Kazan estate, if I remember correctly.

I find the list more than a bit disappointing, since excepting "Diary" (and maybe "S&SF", I don't know about that one) and the already discussed "Man-Hunt", these are re-issues. I'd rather see more films never released to DVD before.
 

Simon Howson

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Messages
1,780
Speculation was they were trying to use new digital techniques to transfer more of the film from the negative. The problem with the current DVD is that it was made from a preservation that relied very heavily on optically derived separations, because the negative is in very poor condition.

If they can get more of the image off the negative and correct the colour, then instantly the image should look better than the grainy mess presented on teh current DVD.

Ideally they'd release it on two discs with the non-CinemaScope version as well.
 

Thomas T

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2001
Messages
10,288
A friend who works for the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences says they are currently doing restoration work on The Robe. If they are working on it NOW then it looks like an Easter 2009 release is a probability.
 

Alan Tully

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
4,627
Location
London
Real Name
Alan
If it does look a bit better I know I'll end up re-buying it, esp. if it has an isolated music track, as the score is the best thing about it.
 

OliverK

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
5,732
The Egyptian may be held back for other reasons as there already exists an HD master that has been aired in the UK.

It should make for a very nice DVD:

htf_images_smilies_smile.gif
 

OliverK

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
5,732

You're welcome, here is another one that is a little bigger:



As you can see they kept the OAR, no cropping to 2.35.

Another positive is that some of the outdoor scenes are really grainy and while the compression for broadcast airings was not able to faithfully reproduce that grain I hope that the master looks even better and that this quality will show up on Blu-Ray at some point in the future.
 

Alan Tully

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
4,627
Location
London
Real Name
Alan

Was it on HD? I remember it on Sky Classic Movies at the start of the year, correct aspect ratio, but with dim mono sound for some reason. I may have missed the HD, as I don't get Sky Movies anymore.
 

OliverK

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
5,732
Yes it was on Sky HD.

I only got a few caps so no idea about the sound, would be a big disappointment as it originally should have had a 4 channel magnetic soundtrack.
 

Douglas R

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2000
Messages
2,947
Location
London, United Kingdom
Real Name
Doug
Sky are still showing it regularly in HD but sadly, in mono sound. Unfortunately if Fox release it on Blu-ray in the US I'm not going to be able to play it here in the UK.
 

OliverK

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
5,732

In Germany we already have a company that sells players where you can switch region codes before turning on the player. It is a shame that some studios still stick with region coding in such a small market and even for catalog titles (Fox).

Too bad about the sound, maybe this is one of the reasons that there still is no DVD.
 

RolandL

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Messages
6,623
Location
Florida
Real Name
Roland Lataille

I think it was first shown 2.66:1 with a separate soundtrack on film. I hope they keep the wide directional dialog that is on the current dvd.
 

ajabrams

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
455
Location
NYC
Real Name
Alan Abrams
I'm wondering why there hasn't been a dvd release of POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL which is one of the best of the Shirley Temple vehicles. It wasn't in any of the Shirley Temple boxed sets and is pretty much the only major
Temple-starred Fox film that hasn't appeared on DVD.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,814
Messages
5,123,647
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top