Statement concerning THE LAST EMPEROR (Criterion Collection) (1 Viewer)

[Chris S]

Yea Mike, that's what I've decided as well. During the last part of '07 I came to the realization that SD is still here to stay and I'm better off picking up a title that I know I will enjoy now, rather than wait (potentially forever) on a HD release. But if the HD does role around I'll reevaluate and take another look at upgrading. It's like the new double dipping.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Somehow I doubt Criterion is going to tell Bertolucci and Storaro how their film should look on video. Of course, they could have made a new 2.35:1 transfer that wouldn't have participation from them and lose director approval.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

The Criterion Collection: The Last Emperor by Bernardo Bertolucci


Approved by Storaro, this will definitely NOT be 2.35:1, but will be 2.00:1, just like Apocalypse Now, Tucker and so on.

 

[Carter of Mars]

I appreciate Criterion's efforts in putting this together and solving the mystery of the long cut (which I found tedious and unwatchable) but why is this only a Dolby Stereo 2.0 track? 70mm prints with six track audio were shown in 1987 and that audio should be preserved on this disc.

 

[Casey C.]

My recollections of Jackson's comments on this (from the EE commentaries? not sure) is that the theatrical cuts were what he thought worked best for general audiences who may or may not be familiar with the books, while the EEs were his "gift" for hard-core fans of the books. So he considers them both "director's cuts."

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

That's a good point, Casey - this should be a 5.1 Dolby at the very least and a DTS would be preferable. Good call.

 

[Peter Neski]

at Least that is what the Criteron Page says now:


1987
164 minutes
Color
2.00:1
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Anamorphic
English

This would be a shame.Thanks God the Pal version is wonderful
I joked about it on other posts,but its no joke if its true

 

[SD_Brian]

Considering Storraro already did the same thing to Apocalypse Now, it wouldn't be surprising. Aggravating and bound to cause a lot of outrage, sure, but surprising? Not so much.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Apparently, it's Apocalypse Now all over again. :frowning:

Really is too bad. I still have my nasty, old, non-16x9 NTSC DVD -- and apparently, that one was zoomed-and-cropped somewhat too. Maybe I should just buy the R2 16x9 PAL DVD and pass on the new Criterion DVD. Hopefully, it won't be cropped for BD if/whenever that comes...

_Man_

 

[Brandon Conway]

It's worth noting that the Criterion is "director approved" by Bertolucci.

EDIT: Also - shouldn't this be on the SD board?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Wasn't the Apocalypse Now crop also director approved?

Anyway, it's apparently Storraro's view that the 2.0:1 crop is a good compromise between available resolution and OAR. Well, at least that's what was said when it was done for Apocalypse Now. Thing is I thought that was based on SD resolution, not HD. But it sounds like the crop is done on the HD master itself, so unless there's a new (re)master for an eventual HDM release, we'll probably be stuck w/ the crop for that too. :frowning:

_Man_

 

[Chris S]

This is already being discussed in this thread: Statement concerning THE LAST EMPEROR (Criterion Collection)

 

[Peter Neski]

"this should be a 5.1 Dolby"

The french version is 5.1 Its also 2.35:1 and looks like the English
one which isn't 5.1,but has commentary Both look great

 

[Brandon Conway]

Yes. As were the aspect ratio changes to other films for home video (The Recruit, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Good German, The World's Fastest Indian, to name a few.).

 

[Peter Neski]

"This is already being discussed in this thread: Statement concerning THE LAST EMPEROR (Criterion Collection) "

That talks about length,not about
2.00:1 (the statement from the producer"

"Maybe I should just buy the R2 16x9 PAL DVD and pass on the new Criterion DVD"
I would wait till we find out for sure,if the picture is cropped,at least there
is a fine 2.34:1 version out there.

 

[Jace_A]

Is this title coming out in HD, then? If so, I'd be the first to but the film.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Not that I am aware of, which makes me wonder why this thread was started in this forum?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

If this one is indeed 2.0:1 crop, then I may have to pass on it and maybe opt for the existing R2 PAL version. And to think one would have to shell out $40+ for that too. I hadn't realized before that there was a much better R2 version than the awful R1 version.

_Man_

 

[John Hodson]

Looks like the UK R2 SE works out at $22-$23 including shipping from HMV?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Cool. Thanks. I guess I may just go that route then. Can't stand the idea of spending $40+ on a butchered version even if it's Criterion. I wonder though who has the rights for eventually releasing it to HDM. Maybe that eventual release will not be butchered...

_Man_