WHV Announcement: Memphis Belle and The Big Red One (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I recall Lorac was Brian Jamieson's company before he moved on to Twilight Time. I am guessing that they were incurring the bulk of the costs of the restoration and not WHV, so they could only afford to do it in SD. Perhaps they had to pay for it under the pretense that WB would reimburse them later, provided it did not go above a certain dollar amount that the studio felt would be their "break-even" point for potential profit from home video and repertory revenue.

 

[JColl]

So, in the case of this movie, does that mean the extra film material they discovered was scanned at a lower rate (720?) So it would have to be rebuilt from the ground up?

 

[Vincent_P]

Yeah, they'd have to rescan the added footage then edit together a new HD master by combining it with the HD master of the theatrical cut. At least the sound work is done, so it's not at all impossible for them to do this for posterity should they be so inclined.

Vincent

 

[Nelson Au]

Sorry you guys are unhappy about The Big Red One.I think it's pretty cool Memphis Belle is being released. Granted its not Lawrence of Arabia, but for some reason I like this movie. Similarly to 1963's PT-109, I'm sure this isn't a 100% true depiction of the Memphis Belle, but it's a fun movie.

 

[Lromero1396]

Regardless of why the reconstruction is only SD, no sale on The Big Red One for me. If you're going to release it in HD, go all the way.
Warner needs to learn that this continued half-assery is not acceptable.

 

[rayman1701]

It is a bummer with no HD on the reconstruction. Damn, what a shame.

 

[Vincent_P]

Sorry you guys are unhappy about The Big Red One.

I think it's pretty cool Memphis Belle is being released. Granted its not Lawrence of Arabia, but for some reason I like this movie. Similarly to 1963's PT-109, I'm sure this isn't a 100% true depiction of the Memphis Belle, but it's a fun movie.

To release the extended cut of THE BIG RED ONE only in standard-definition is absurd. Can you imagine the outcry if Criterion had used that excuse with IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD and simply ported over the extended LaserDisc version in SD? And Warner Bros. has a hell of a lot more resources at their disposal than Criterion!

Re: MEMPHIS BELLE, I remember liking it but haven't seen it in a long time. I'm curious about the 1.66:1 aspect ratio listed in that press release.

Vincent

 

[Mark-P]

...Can you imagine the outcry if Criterion had used that excuse with IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD and simply ported over the extended LaserDisc version in SD?...

For South Pacific on Blu-ray Fox included the Roadshow version in SD, and quite frankly I don't remember any outcry at all.

 

[Robert Crawford]

To release the extended cut of THE BIG RED ONE only in standard-definition is absurd. Can you imagine the outcry if Criterion had used that excuse with IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD and simply ported over the extended LaserDisc version in SD? And Warner Bros. has a hell of a lot more resources at their disposal than Criterion!

Re: MEMPHIS BELLE, I remember liking it but haven't seen it in a long time. I'm curious about the 1.66:1 aspect ratio listed in that press release.

Vincent

Perhaps, you're right. However, TBH, I've only watched the extended version once, but the theatrical version many times and it remains my favorite version. I might watch the 2005 DVD again to see if I change my mind.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

I already have the 2005 THE BIG RED ONE DVD (which was signed by the principal cast, including Mark Hamill and Robert Carradine, at West LA's late, lamented Laser Blazer) and if the SE isn't in HD, it's not that compelling to me to make the upgrade. I just checked the box and film critic Richard Schickel is listed as "Restoration Producer," for what that's worth.

 

[JColl]

Just out of curiosity, which part of a restoration is the prohibitively expensive one-scanning 40 minutes of film, or paying someone to cut it to match the 2004 version? Or is it basically both?