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May Releases: The Big Red One SE, Battle of the Bulge and others - Page 3

post #61 of 86
3/21/05 at 6:25am
Nice!!!

Just as I was hoping... KEEPCASE REISSUES!!!





Here's the cover art for all the individual releases (save for The Big Red One: SE) according to Amazon:











and of course, the box art:




Keep 'em coming WB!

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post #62 of 86
4/7/05 at 5:47pm
Australian R4 review of The Big Red One: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=5087
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post #63 of 86
4/14/05 at 3:15pm
Any reviews on the box set yet? I was thinking of pre-ordering it. The only film in it I have seen is dirty Dozen, and the last half of Big Red One back on TV in the 80's. I have Big Red One on preorder, but if the other movies are as good, I might as well get the set insted.

Does anyone know if the previously released discs in the set have been remastered, or are in need of remastering? Are they good quality discs?
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post #64 of 86
4/14/05 at 5:29pm
Does anyone know if the previously released discs in the set have been remastered, or are in need of remastering? Are they good quality discs?

Warner doesn't make many mistakes, but they have with "The Dirty Dozen". It appears that the dvd in this boxset is the same non-anamorphic dvd that's been available for seven years. Several of the etailers do not have that title for preorder except in the boxset which to me indicates it's the same dvd. The same applies to "Battleground" and "Where Eagles Dare", both dvds have very good presentations so there's no need to do any further remastering to them.

Of course, "The Big Red One" is available for preorder separately because it's an extended version of the film that's been previously released on dvd and "The Battle of the Bulge" is being released on dvd for the first time, therefore, it's available for preorder too.

IMO, all five films are very good to excellent war movies. My preference in order of film quality are the following:
  • Battleground
  • The Dirty Dozen
  • Where Eagles Dare
  • The Battle of the Bulge
  • The Big Red One





Crawdaddy
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post #65 of 86
4/14/05 at 5:41pm
Thank for the advice Crawdaddy! I might as well get the set, and consider the Dirty Dozena a freebie.
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post #66 of 86
4/14/05 at 5:54pm
I've got The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare already, I don't care for Battleground or The Big Red One so it'll just be Battle of the Bulge for me from that bunch, and about time too! It has to be better than the muddy grainy widescreen vhs copy I have had for the past 11 years or so and which was also cut down to 142mins.
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post #67 of 86
4/18/05 at 7:50am
Movies Unlimited shows the disc as 170 minutes (but I'm no expert...)
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post #68 of 86
4/18/05 at 7:56am
With the forthcoming release from WB on May 3 can anyone throw any light on to whether it is the FULL 201 Minutes roadshow version or the the truncated TV version of 170 minutes?

I don't ever remember a roadshow version of that film being as long as 201 minutes. Has anybody else seen it at that length?





Crawdaddy
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post #69 of 86
4/18/05 at 8:32am
Good grief you're almost right 212m 1s (taking in PAL speedup Bruce?), and from IMDB:

Runtime: 167 min / UK:212 min
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post #70 of 86
4/18/05 at 9:30am
I looked this title up on the American Film Institute site and it states the running time of 162 minutes. For years, they showed the film at around 140 minutes on American television. Also, the AFI site had the following note.
Copyright length: 140 min. Filmed in Spain. Roadshow presentations in Cinerama.

Some of us might be disappointed if they're expecting a dvd much longer than 162 minutes.





Crawdaddy
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post #71 of 86
4/18/05 at 9:39am
A couple of tidbits from IMDB (and I know how reliable IMFB can be sometimes):

The sequence of the train transporting the big guns was expanded with additional footage shot after principle photography. The extra footage consisted of POV shots from the front of the train and shot at a lower frame rate to make the train appear to be traveling very fast around the curves in the track. This was done to show off the Cinerama process in much the same way as the famous rollercoaser sequence in 'This is Cinerama (1952'. Much of this footage was removed from the general release version...

There's also some info at IMDB 'Alternate Versions' page for BotB (which I don't want to post for spoiler reasons) here. But none of this would make a version of 212 minutes surely!
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post #72 of 86
4/18/05 at 9:47am
The sequence of the train transporting the big guns was expanded with additional footage shot after principle photography. The extra footage consisted of POV shots from the front of the train and shot at a lower frame rate to make the train appear to be traveling very fast around the curves in the track. This was done to show off the Cinerama process in much the same way as the famous rollercoaser sequence in 'This is Cinerama (1952'. Much of this footage was removed from the general release version...

John,
This sequence was shown on the High Def. presentation that I watched a while back and the running time was 162 minutes.







Crawdaddy
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post #73 of 86
4/18/05 at 9:56am
The 163-minute version cuts out the Overture, Intermission and Exit Music. It also removed most of the sequence involve the artillery train.

I cut and paste the above from IMDB and the High Definition version of the film I watched had all of those spoiler scenes indicated on the IMDB site along with the Overture, Intermission and Exit Music and it clocked a little over 162 minutes.
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post #74 of 86
4/18/05 at 9:57am
Hmmm; but the game's afoot! How the heck did the BBFC certify a 212 minutes version, or can it be a simple mistake that has stood for some 40 years?

Is it true BTW, that the German theatrical release was titled The Last Great German Victory of World War II?
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post #75 of 86
4/18/05 at 10:07am
Hmmm; but the game's afoot!

There definitely is some confusion about the running time. If the dvd has the version I watched then I'm going to be happy because that's the version I remembered watching in the movie theater.






Crawdaddy
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post #76 of 86
4/18/05 at 11:27am
As I mentioned before in a previous post, I have a copy of the review in the UK magazine Films and Filming from 1965. It lists the running time as 163 minutes (probably not including the overture, intermission and exit music).

The DVD has a running time of 170 minutes (from Amazon.com)which is 15 minutes longer than the old letterboxed laser disc which had the overture, intermission and exit music.
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post #77 of 86
4/18/05 at 11:34am
As I mentioned before in a previous post, I have a copy of the review in the UK magazine Films and Filming from 1965. It lists the running time as 163 minutes (probably not including the overture, intermission and exit music).


Like most things; not a conspiracy then, simply a (BBFC) cock-up. Thanks Roland, and apologies for not seeing your previous post.
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post #78 of 86
4/18/05 at 12:20pm
The DVD has a running time of 170 minutes (from Amazon.com)which is 15 minutes longer than the old letterboxed laser disc which had the overture, intermission and exit music.

I don't think it's 170 minutes, but one way or another, we'll find out in about 2 weeks.





Crawdaddy
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post #79 of 86
4/18/05 at 5:30pm
I don't think it's 170 minutes, but one way or another, we'll find out in about 2 weeks.


I just checked my laser disc. The Overture is 2:37, Intermission 2:20 and Exit Music 2:57. Add those together and you get 7 minutes and 54 seconds.

This review - http://cinerama.topcities.com/1966botbreview.jpg says its 162 minutes. 162 and 7:54 is just under 170 minutes. Maybe that's what we will get on the DVD?

I would also like to see if the aspect ratio is 2.76:1 on the DVD which would show the full Ultra Panavision frame unless it's zoomed in like the Ben-Hur DVD.
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post #80 of 86
4/19/05 at 10:43am
Quote:
Is it true BTW, that the German theatrical release was titled The Last Great German Victory of World War II?

No, of course not. There are two german titles:

1. Die letzte Schlacht (The last battle)
2. Die Panzerschlacht in den Ardennen (The tank battle in the Ardennes)

German movie database:
http://www.ofdb.de/view.php?page=film&fid=5344
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post #81 of 86
4/19/05 at 11:14am
Thank you Frank; it did sound unlikely.
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post #82 of 86
4/19/05 at 12:39pm
I reviewed the new DVD of The Big Red One for our school paper last week, and while I can't say too much about the difference between the two cuts, the DVD itself is a winner.

Though it is a bit too grainy at times, the transfer is quite wonderful. The new 5.1 is also nice, but I did not have a chance to listen to the original track.

As for the extras, I watched the two docs, and those were both informative and engaging.
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post #83 of 86
4/19/05 at 12:44pm
edit
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post #84 of 86
4/19/05 at 5:01pm
My friend showcased The Big Red One extended version in 35mm at his cinema house (the old Hemet Theater in Hemet, California) a while back...and must say fans of this much underrated film will be in for a treat when it finally gets released in widescreen on video (I would like a HD version, but a nice DVD transfer will do for now )!

As for Battle of the Bulge...have seen it aired in HD on the HDNet Movie channel; it will be hard to beat in terms of resolution...but here again, a nice DVD transfer will do until an optical HD format make it available to the video consumer masses...

-THTS
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post #85 of 86
5/13/05 at 4:30pm
I was just watching The Dirty Dozen from this box set and noticed that Warner decided to drop the short 9:15 featurette on this new issue... any ideas why?

I haven't owned either the previous WB or MGM disc but can only assume from what I see that the transfer must have been the same among all three.

I'm gonna track down an older MGM or WB snapper copy of the film to switch discs with the one in this case. Has anyone noticed any other minor extras missing from an of the other reissued films in this box set?
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post #86 of 86
5/13/05 at 4:33pm
I haven't owned either the previous WB or MGM disc but can only assume from what I see that the transfer must have been the same among all three.

If it's non-anamorphic then yes it is. Warner needs to address this film with a proper anamorphic presentation and perhaps make it a SE. This is one of the best action films made in the 1960s and it needs to reflect such a status.







Crawdaddy
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