Olive Films Press Release: Dragonfly Squadron (3D Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[phillyrobt]

Thanks, Olive. Got my copy Tuesday in excellent packaging with 2 stickers (where independent art matters). Premiering it in 2 days!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Lou Lumenick at the New York Post:

http://nypost.com/2014/10/16/60-year-old-korean-war-drama-appears-in-original-3-d-for-first-time-on-blu-ray/

 

[MikeDE]

Received it today from Amazon, and watched it tonight. I like these type B films, and the 3D was really great. Hopefully there will be many more to come!

 

[Brandon Conway]

Also just finished it myself. An enjoyable B-flick, with much less Ameircan jingoism and a bit more ambiguity towards war than I anticipated, which definitely helps make it more memorable. I enjoyed it more than Man in the Dark, personally.

The 3D presentation is top notch. Definitely a film that is a good example of great 3D depth. Whether intentional or not, I though the couple hanging lamps in the barracks were a nice touch for a 3D film, since after they get turned on there's a natural small sway to them that helps define the 3D space.

Looking forward to The Bubble in a few weeks.

 

[Mike Ballew]

Revgen said: "There's only one caveat. I thought the depth wasn't as deep as I recalled it being at the 3D expo, so I cranked up the '3D perspective' setting on the Samsung plasma to +5 max and it looked much better."

This strikes me as very surprising, if you don't mind my saying so. I watched “Dragonfly Squadron” last night on my 50-inch LG passive TV and found that homologous image points in the far background very often had a nice, wide separation. The image was plenty deep. On my Optoma projector, I expect the positive parallax (and the depth illusion) to be even greater.

I will tell you (in case it’s pertinent), I once popped in “House of Wax” for a casual viewing. It’s a film I have seen and enjoyed in 3-D numerous times and am very familiar with. I glanced at the screen, then did a double take. The 3-D looked very odd and very shallow. Come to find out, my Blu-Ray player was playing the flick in 2-D, but the TV was trying its best to auto-convert the film to 3-D! If you ever wanted to gauge the accuracy of your TV’s auto-conversion feature, that’s sure one way to do it.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Bob - one random question. Obviously the Intermission was for the intended 3D presentation, but since the film never played in 3D back in 1954 I assume it was omitted from the 2D release prints, correct?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

That's correct, Brandon. The flat release did not have an intermission.

As filmed, that scene ran a little longer. If you watch closely , they freeze the frame as it's fading out. That's how it was released, we didn't do that for the restoration.

 

[mark brown]

What projects are up next Bob? mdb

 

[Bob Furmanek]

We're deep at work on Rarities and restoring two lost 3-D shorts that have not been seen since 1953!

After that? Well, there's some good things ahead for 3-D aficionados in 2015...

 

[Douglas R]

Received and watched DRAGONFLY SQUADRON today. As others have said, the 3D has very impressive depth and gives wonderful realism to the images. I saw the film recently on TV (flat of course) from a dull, almost unwatchable print but this 3D Blu-Ray really brings the film to life.My only problem with 3D is that my 5 year old AV receiver is not 3D compatible so I have the hassle of unplugging the HDMI cable from the receiver and connecting it to the TV whenever watching a 3D disc. Time to upgrade I think. At least with DRAGONFLY SQUADRON being region free I didn't have the additional hassle of switching the region coding on my Blu-Ray player!

 

[revgen]

Revgen said: "There's only one caveat. I thought the depth wasn't as deep as I recalled it being at the 3D expo, so I cranked up the '3D perspective' setting on the Samsung plasma to +5 max and it looked much better."

This strikes me as very surprising, if you don't mind my saying so. I watched “Dragonfly Squadron” last night on my 50-inch LG passive TV and found that homologous image points in the far background very often had a nice, wide separation. The image was plenty deep. On my Optoma projector, I expect the positive parallax (and the depth illusion) to be even greater.

I will tell you (in case it’s pertinent), I once popped in “House of Wax” for a casual viewing. It’s a film I have seen and enjoyed in 3-D numerous times and am very familiar with. I glanced at the screen, then did a double take. The 3-D looked very odd and very shallow. Come to find out, my Blu-Ray player was playing the flick in 2-D, but the TV was trying its best to auto-convert the film to 3-D! If you ever wanted to gauge the accuracy of your TV’s auto-conversion feature, that’s sure one way to do it.

I don't mind at all.

Each person will see 3D differently.

Thankfully, modern 3D tv's have the ability to adjust to whatever suits an individual's taste.

And yes, I did check to make sure the disc was playing properly. No 2D to 3D conversion was taking place.

 

[Todd J Moore]

I will be watching this tonight and posting a review this weekend on my blog. Looking forward to it.

 

[RolandL]

Received and watched DRAGONFLY SQUADRON today. As others have said, the 3D has very impressive depth and gives wonderful realism to the images. I saw the film recently on TV (flat of course) from a dull, almost unwatchable print but this 3D Blu-Ray really brings the film to life.My only problem with 3D is that my 5 year old AV receiver is not 3D compatible so I have the hassle of unplugging the HDMI cable from the receiver and connecting it to the TV whenever watching a 3D disc. Time to upgrade I think. At least with DRAGONFLY SQUADRON being region free I didn't have the additional hassle of switching the region coding on my Blu-Ray player!

My receiver in the family room is also not 3D ready. The HDMI out of the TV is connected to the receiver. The TV sends Dolby Digital to the receiver but if the disk is DTS it sends Dolby Pro Logic.

 

[EddieLarkin]

My copy arrived today and I just had a little sample. I'm not much of a "depth" fan but this might turn me around, as it is absolutely stunning at times. I didn't know there was so much room behind my TV! I can say with complete certainty that the people who made this film 60 years ago, and the people who restored it this year, did a much better job than whoever filmed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the last 3D film I saw at the cinema, which was a dire 3D experience. Hats off to all!

Btw, there's a maniac at Blu-ray.com credited as a "Top Reviewer" who says the 3D in this film is "A big fat disappointment". Complete maniac.

 

[Todd J Moore]

We're deep at work on Rarities and restoring two lost 3-D shorts that have not been seen since 1953! After that? Well, there's some good things ahead for 3-D aficionados in 2015...

I hope this goes beyond Kiss Me Kate. One that would be killer would be a 3D blu ray of Robot Monster from the Archive.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Thank you for all of your kind words and I'm SO happy that you are enjoying this 3-D Blu-ray!

Please continue to share your impressions and observations, both pro and con. We have been overwhelmed with the enthusiastic reception to our first release.

We're certainly not opposed to constructive criticism but that person takes it to a new level. He posted the same review on our Facebook page and it took me five replies to get him to finally admit what he disliked about it.

"Pixelation."

It appears that natural film grain and increased grain on the intermediate footage was very upsetting to him. I explained that it's part of the original 35mm negative and that's how it looked in 1954 but he didn't want to hear it. He said that he is a customer and as a vendor, I am obligated to deliver a quality product. In his opinion, we did not. He then proceeded to post his review elsewhere without explaining why he panned it.

Sigh...

 

[Mark-P]

I went to the 3D Film Archive Facebook page and saw that you had 666 followers. I fixed that for you. You now have 667.

 

[bob kaplan]

I am not much of a war movie fan, but this 3D presentation certainly does make DRAGONFLY SQUADRON very watchable! Some of the speckling at the beginning was a bit distracting, but overall: a super presentation. Depth and pop-out. Love how the fenders of the jeep, in certain shots, almost reached the center of the room.

There is a bit of doom and gloom floating around about the future of home 3D. Will we find out if your presentation of DRAGONFLY sells enough to make future investments likely. Warner, I don't think, has commented on the sales of MURDER or WAX. I really enjoy 3D. I would certainly hate to see it go away....and would truly enjoy REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, etc....and very much looking forward to THE BUBBLE.

Thanks.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Thanks Mark, I appreciate that!

So far as doom and gloom, I can say this: Greg Kintz, Jack Theakston and I are busier than ever in getting material together and developing projects!

 

[Todd J Moore]

Very nice looking presentation. Lotta depth and a pretty decent little movie.

UPDATE: Finished watching the movie. A very fine 3D presentation and I think the movie is better than I remembered it being. Much congratulations and thanks to Bob, Jack, and Greg for their wonderful work on bringing this lost classic back to life.