WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

Hi
Some further info:

"Making of HTWWW" seminar / rough cut (Digital Video 4 x 3 Projection) 1 hour hosted by Dave and Randy. (Randy & I will introduce several start and stop video segments and talk between them, this will be a "rough cut" of a 40 minute documentary for Warner Home Video. )

This will cover the origins of How The West Was Won beginning with a 1923 pageant, the seven part Life Magazine series, the popular Bing Crosby record album, and through the gigantic production that became the highest grossing picture made in the year 1962.

This would feature rare audio recordings of Henry Hathaway and the three ASC cameramen who shot the film talking about the difficulties of the Cinerama filming. On screen will be rare behind the scenes stories and never before seen interviews with the actors, producer and editors. An added bonus is an unusual look at the films spectacular locations back then and how they look today after 45 years.

We would briefly discuss the remastering of "How the West Was Won" and what the Warner Brothers plan is for SmileBox deluxe collectors edition.

We would also spend the last 15 minutes of the hour getting feedback on what the audience would like to see included in the final cut documentary.

This presentation will begin with a the showing of the 6 minute 3-panel trailer for "How the West Was Won" on the curved screen.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

Just a comment on the extras pictured above.

The "Exhibitors Campaign Book" in the lower left corner, was for the 35mm general release. This is a pressbook that the theatre owner could use to order posters, movie program books, lobby cards, etc.

The movie program in the bottom center was a hard cover and sold at Cinerama theatres. A smaller black and white program was handed out at the performance.

The poster in the bottom right corner was also for the 35mm general release.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

I don't know about "a lot". I remember parts of the river rapids and the train robbery scenes were not filmed in Cinerama. Maybe a total of 5 minutes? Sorry, I would have to watch it again to see which ones and how long they were.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

Example of smilebox - The Cinerama Adventure - "Smilebox" Process

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

As excited as I am for this upcoming release, I have to echo the sentiments of others that it is incredibly lame that Warners is not offering the Smilebox option with the big expensive UCE set. No BluRay exclusives at this point will drive me to upgrade and only serve to piss off the loyal supporters of home video companies releasing products in other SD formats.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

I've got to agree. I'm not sure exactly where they get the nerve to market something as the Ultimate Collection and then leave off a major supplement. I can see coming out with it sometime later, but to basically stick it to the folks paying 60 bucks day and date is pretty galling.

If you're willing to pay that much money for this movie, you'll want to at least have access to the smilebox version. Even Warners should be bright enough to figure that one out.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

I totally agree. For $60 the SD-UCE should be 4 discs, including both letterboxed and smileboxed versions of the film.

The resolution argument doesn't make sense. Smileboxing the film means there is more efficient use of the resolution because of less letterboxing, producing a roughly 2.59:1 image. I can't understand why Warner thought it was OK to release the film uncorrected at 2.89:1 on SD-DVD, but not at 2.59:1 smileboxed.

I may opt for just the standard 2 disc collector's edition...

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Great news from Warners! I'm sold on all of these releases.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

I understand that the elements for The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm are in bad shape. While it is an interesting and entertaining film, it was not a big money maker and was a small part of the decline of the three-panel Cinerama (theatre payroll being a large part).

MGM did release a letterbox laserdisc many years ago and thankfully I still have it. Thank you George F for that and the upcoming How The West Was Won.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Perhaps Warner Bros will release the restored version of How The West Was Won in theaters before the DVD release. Though other than the Cinerama Dome in LA, how many theaters can still show a Cinerama film with three projectors?
I also saw the film at the Dome and was blown away even though I had seen the film before on DVD.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

My guess is it has only been restored to digital, like The Searchers.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

I'm not so sure because I thought the restored version was shown in theaters last year like in Seattle and LA.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

If they did archive this to 4K or 6K, I wonder if they considered converting it to IMAX DMR? I know it wouldn't be the same as actual Cinerama, but it could be shown around the world, potentially generating significant revenue.

They could also do 35mm anamorphic Smilebox prints to emulate Cinerama at any 35mm cinema. I have no idea if this will work, but it could make the process more accessible for film festivals. It would probably look better than the original 35mm prints (no need to crop the image, no join lines).

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

I like your suggestion. The IMAX theaters, in addition to state of the art viewing conditions and projection, have cornered a niche audience that likes this type of film.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Original elements for GRIMM were supposedly destroyed or severely damaged in a vault fire a long time ago. But OK, I´ll settle for an average presentation just to see Terry-Thomas as a knight in a dragonfight (that´s really won by Buddy Hackett).

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

The laserdisc of THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM along with the version that is shown occasionally on TCM is very lackluster in terms of color and vivacity. Yes, any DVD would be better than nothing, but I suspect this is a movie in desperate need of a lot of work.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

Blu-ray artwork:



From the labels on those discs it definately looks like the blu-ray includes both letterboxed and smileboxed versions. I'm very disappointed that the UCE doesn't include both, but I guess that would've required a 4 DVD set.

I quite like the "curved screen simulation" smilebox tagline.

It's not as good as "VistaVision - Motion Picture High Fidelity", but it's close.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

The BD will include both versions on seperate discs.

Just upgrade to Blu-ray Simon it's not so bad. We accept you, one of us, one of us!

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

I am so damn tempted Jim!!!

Just a quick question which isn't appropriate for this forum, but here goes;

Is Blu-ray region coded? Because the chances of being able to purchases titles such as these in Australia are a little worrying.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Some studios enforce the region coding more than others. Catalog titles are usually (depending on the studio) region free or coded for all regions A, B, C. I'm pretty sure Warner's U.S. catalogs are region free, but honestly I could be wrong because I don't have to import US titles so I usually don't pay attention. There are others here who could answer this better than me though.

One great thing about HD and importing is there's no more converting PAL to NTSC and vice versa.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

OK, I'll get on board once Freaks makes its blu-ray debut.

Unfortunately I bought a HDTV a bit too early. My set can only do 1080i at the most, and doesn't have HDMI. So to get the full benefit of blu-ray I suspect I'd have to buy a new 1080p capable TV.

This page seems to be pretty up to date regarding which releases are region coded:
Blu-Ray Region Code Info

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

The lines for the 3 panels still be seen on the smilebox shot link to above. I assume How The West Was Won corrects this as promised. Hopefully some screen shots of HTWWW will pop up on line as the DVD gets closer to release.

I am in for the blu-ray. While all the extras are fun on the deluxe edition and I am sorry the blu-ray doesn't come with the option to get the extras, the film is the most important thing. It seems Warners is pissing off both SD and blu-ray camps by not making everything available in both formats. I can only guess that it was decided the price point would be too high to include 2 versions of the film in SD
with all the extras or that a later release of the film will include everything in both formats. The smilebox alone in SD could be released at a later time.
I guess putting out three versions of the SD version is too confusing.
I would have to guess with a $21 MSRP for the 2 disc SD it will be selling for $10 to $12 during
Christmas. It should be a big seller.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

It will look much better than that. That example was made in 2001 or 2002 for the Cinerama Adventure documentary. Digital video transfers have come a long way since then - compare any DVD you have from 2001 with a DVD from a 45 year old film released this year.

I agree with you that Warner should've sold more versions. A UCE blu-ray version, and a smileboxed SD-DVD version either in the UCE, or individually.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

As for the alleged 2.89:1 A/R, I'm pretty sure that's a typo. Cinerama was 6 perf 35mm x 4 (one strip for the soundtrack), and as such 2.89:1 is higly unlikely. That may have been the result of stretching on the curved screen, but if projected on a flat surface, the A/R should be 2.59:1, taking into account the overlap blurred by the "gigolos" in the original projection process.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

Check the next time Turner Classic Movies shows The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. I compared the laser disc to the TCM showing on this page - wwotbgld

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Originally Posted by ahollis
I understand that the elements for The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm are in bad shape. While it is an interesting and entertaining film, it was not a big money maker and was a small part of the decline of the three-panel Cinerama (theatre payroll being a large part).

"Brothers Grimm" reportedly did better business in Europe than in the U.S. It's a charming film - George Pal's humanity and sensitivity are on full display throughout - and has some quite spectacular scenes, even in the dull TCM print. I can just imagine the impact it must've had in Cinerama.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

DVDEmpire has added HTWWW Ultimate Collector's Edition for $20 (50% off RRP)

DVD Empire - Item - How The West Was Won: Ultimate Collector's Edition / DVD-Video

EDIT: Hang on a second.... Have Warner made a mistake, or has DVDEmpire made a mistake?

The press release says the RRP is $59.92, but DVDEmpire say the list price is $39.92, and have taken off 50% for early pre-orders.

This could work out to be a huge bargain, but my initial thought was that $60 was way over priced, given that it doesn't include the Smileboxed version.

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Class

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Note to Warners marketing dept.; abandoning the use of original artwork does not mean you'll sell more copies to the casual buyer, all it does is put genuine film fans in a really, really bad mood...

Re: WHV Press Release: How The West was Won (DVD/Blu-Ray)+Western & Errol Flynn Classics

Kinda looks like the coverart MGM and Fox use for their westerns.