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Ice Station Zebra - Short Review

post #1 of 24
1/4/05 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
My overall impression of this film is that it was well worth purchasing. I found it to be quite entertaining and although I haven't read the book I never try to compare one to a film that bases itself on any novel - the novel usually wins. Overall the print was very clean and sharp with very good colors - detail was very good as well. The soundtrack is presented in 5.1 and gets very high marks. I do not know what they sourced - I assume it was originally a multi track recording but regardless the final outcome was very welcome. The bass was full and substantial - given the age of the film - and the various instruments easy to follow and well dispersed through the front and rears. The rears were used more for ambience but were also put to good use throughout the film to enhance the musical score as well. I noticed it mentioned that it was filmed in Cinerama during the opening credits - and Super Panavision. It has an opening Overture, the Intermission/ Entr'Acte and Exit Music- each with a different still shot of the sub.Which leads me to ask if this was part of the original theatrical release.Granted ,as far as the video is concerned this was viewed on a 26" tv and I plan on watching it on a 107" 2:35 screen by the weekend so that should address overall quality but so far so good. There is a short ( 7 minutes )vintage featurette on cameraman John Stevens entitled "The Man Who Makes A Difference" that was informative enough and showed a few scenes from the making of Gran Prix - not much but still interesting - but mostly dealing with his techniques and applying them to Ice Station Zebra. So far I give Warners an A for taking the time to give us an above average effort. Enjoy yours - I certainly did!
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post #2 of 24
1/5/05 at 7:05am
Thread Starter 
Bruce - I believe the street date is Jan.11, I just happened to find one earlier.
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post #3 of 24
1/5/05 at 9:02am
Thank you Brent. This waters my appetite. I have never seen this film and so I plan to do so.
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post #4 of 24
1/5/05 at 9:16am
ISZ was not filmed in Cinerama. It was filmed using a single lense 65mm camera. It was "Presented in Cinerama" in some venues where there were still large curved Cinerama screens. The transfer for the DVD used version with the extra "Cinerama" card during the opening credits for those special theatres. If a theatre did not have a true Cinerama screen, the mention in the credits was omitted. Real Cinerama used 3 cameras to film and 3 projectors to exhibit. It's like taking standard films and showing them on IMAX screens. Phoney baloney.
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post #5 of 24
1/5/05 at 9:25am
A bit of history. Back in the early 60s MGM made a deal with Cinerama, Inc. to film 5 productions in the original 3 camera/projector process. Two films were made that way: "How The West Was Won" and "The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm." MGM, because of high production costs as well as the immense dificulty in filming in the process then decided to switch to single camera 70mm processes for the final 3 films. Cinerama, Inc. by that time had been purchased by Pacific Theatres who immediately abandonded the original process and ceased all developement of a true single camera system that would have approximated the 146 degree view of the original 3 camera Cinerama. Since Cinerama Inc was in financial difficulties they agreed to let MGM use the name for 3 other films: "Grand Prix", "Ice Station Zebra" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" only when the films were actually presented in theatres that had true Cinerama screens. Eventually a whole slew of films from several movie companies used the "Presented In Cinerama" nomenclature for theatrical showings. None of them were the "reel" thing.
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post #6 of 24
1/5/05 at 9:59am
Peter
I believe "Battle of the Bulge" was another that used the Cinerama name.
Can't wait to get Ice Station Zebra as well as Ivanhoe and King Solomons Mines. I hope and expect all will have big color improvements over the LD's.
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post #7 of 24
1/5/05 at 10:03am
Thanks for the review and trivia guys, I nearly forgot about this one, not the greatest movie but I liked it. 5.1 stereo too? Nice.
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post #8 of 24
1/5/05 at 11:07am
Quote:
Can't wait to get Ice Station Zebra as well as Ivanhoe and King Solomons Mines. I hope and expect all will have big color improvements over the LD's.

I've never seen the Ivanhoe LD, but I just watched the DVD and I was rather underwhelmed, particularly with repsect to the colors. I'll have the review up by the weekend.
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post #9 of 24
1/5/05 at 1:55pm
I've never seen the Ivanhoe LD, but I just watched the DVD and I was rather underwhelmed, particularly with repsect to the colors. I'll have the review up by the weekend.


That's slightly disappointing, but I'm desperate to hear that Miklos Rosza score - look forward to reading your full review Herb.
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post #10 of 24
1/5/05 at 3:31pm
I'm glad to have this film on DVD. Too bad so many people don't like or enjoy it.
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post #11 of 24
1/5/05 at 4:04pm
"Then they took the film, developed by our German scientists, and the camera, developed by your German scientists, and sent it up in a rocket - developed by their German scientists..."



I can't wait.

Joe
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post #12 of 24
1/5/05 at 7:14pm
"I chose my side out of conviction, not by accident of birth".
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post #13 of 24
1/7/05 at 7:01am
Quote:
I believe "Battle of the Bulge" was another that used the Cinerama name.


For a list of all of the films promoted as being "In Cinerama" go to http://cinerama.topcities.com
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post #14 of 24
1/10/05 at 12:47am
Thread Starter 
For those who are awaiting their copy I will add to my earlier comments regarding the video quality since I just finished a repeat viewing - this time on the 107" screen I intended to use intially. To put it in perspective the previous film watched was The Fifth Element Ultimate Edition so if you are familiar with the SuperBit version this also employs then it is agreed generally that this one is very good. Basically while watching Ice Station Zebra shortly after I was quite impressed. It had the odd scene - notably one inside a hut at the base involving Patrick McGoohan and Rock Hudson where there was some apparent flickering and another where Ernst Borgnine is putting the film back into the cannister - Chapter 35 - where the image has the effect of seemingly contracting and then expanding although the actual framed shot remains stable. I never really noticed it on the much smaller tv but wonder what would cause it. The image appeared very film like with no evidence of film grain or edge enhancement -this along with good black levels and colors. Some scenes were obviously shot to look softer either by design or conditions such as those under water and during the snow storm at the base. It's nice to see Warners release this film on dvd and they deserve credit for putting the effort into the audio and video in order to give fans a worthy product. Now if they would just release Gran Prix...
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post #15 of 24
1/10/05 at 8:12am
Brent,

Re your earlier question about the intermission et al. I have a copy of ISZ on VHS from back in the 80's that I know had the intermission section, but I cannot recall if it had entry and exit music. This doesn't really answer the question of whether it was part of the original theater release, but it does show that it was not added just for the DVD.

Bond. Paul Bond.
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post #16 of 24
1/10/05 at 3:19pm
The Overture and Entr'acte music were part of the original
"roadshow" "Cinerama" release.

Any graphics used with the music weren't, of course, part of
the theatrical presentation. The music was played with curtains closed (as quality presentations should be done).

(Does anyone here remember curtains in movie theaters, or movies shown without commercials preceding them?)
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post #17 of 24
1/10/05 at 4:28pm
Quote:
(Does anyone here remember curtains in movie theaters, or movies shown without commercials preceding them?)


Yes. I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning, and half the time I have no idea where my car keys are, but curtains in movie theaters and no commercials still ring a bell.

(The main downtown theater in my small hometown was a former legitimate theater and vaudeville house with a real orchestra pit, a stage and an honest to goodness balcony. Sadly they tore the place down and put in a bank before I was old enough to put the balcony to its intended use. But I see films like Thunderball, 2001 and Planet of the Apes on an appropriately huge screen. I even talked my dad into taking me and my friends to see The French Connection there, although I seem to recall him having sudden loud coughing fits from time to time, and confiscating my eyeglasses at least once. )

Regards,

Joe
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post #18 of 24
1/10/05 at 5:49pm
A bit of trivia. Ice Station Zebra was Howard Hughes' favorite film. In his final years of Las Vegas seclusion he would watch the movie countless times. He had his own print of the film.
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post #19 of 24
1/11/05 at 1:29pm
nice short review brent, one request.

add in a seperate paragraph here and there.
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post #20 of 24
1/12/05 at 3:34am
Thanks for the review Brent. I picked this up for $12.99.

Does anyone know if Warner used 65 MM elements for the transfer of this DVD?? I would also love to hear what our fellow member, Robert Harris thinks of this DVD.
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post #21 of 24
10/9/08 at 7:08am

Re: Ice Station Zebra - Short Review

We watched this last night, one of my favorite adventure films of the 1960s. I'm disappointed. The overture and entr-acte are shortened, incomplete. The photo-chemical look of the film is replaced by a video-look. It's in the mixing and the aesthetics of the mixing. Yes, the picture is excellent, even superior quality, but I know this film, and it's not the film-quality I know from repeated viewings. The oop laser disc more accurately represents the theatrical Ice Station Zebra.
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post #22 of 24
10/9/08 at 10:15am

Re: Ice Station Zebra - Short Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard--W
We watched this last night, one of my favorite adventure films of the 1960s. I'm disappointed. The overture and entr-acte are shortened, incomplete.

What makes you say this Richard? I know that the CD of the music score contains longer cues but those cues as recorded by the composer may well have been shortened for the theatrical roadshow presentation, which would make the DVD an accurate representation.
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post #23 of 24
10/9/08 at 10:34am

Re: Ice Station Zebra - Short Review

Why would they shorten the Overture etc? The film isn't too long as not to fit on one disc?
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post #24 of 24
10/14/08 at 4:36am

Re: Ice Station Zebra - Short Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_M
Why would they shorten the Overture etc? The film isn't too long as not to fit on one disc?
I can't imagine why. Maybe somebody was impatient with it and wanted to cut to the chase. Who knows.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas R
What makes you say this Richard? I know that the CD of the music score contains longer cues but those cues as recorded by the composer may well have been shortened for the theatrical roadshow presentation, which would make the DVD an accurate representation.
My familiarity from repeated viewings.
The overture and entre-acte on the DVD should be longer.
I haven't heard the soundtrack CD (or LP for that matter). It's a fine score and I'm sure it sounds wonderful.

I'm more annoyed by the mastering. It looks like everything from aperture to gamma to grain has been reconfigured by someone who likes to tinker just for the sake of tinkering. Some of these digital whiz nerds can't restrain themselves. Too many options at the touch of a mouse. Still others have no practical experience with film -- they live in a digital realm -- and have no idea how a film is supposed to look or how to apply digital tools to maintain an old film's original photo-chemical aesthetic. It doesn't look bad, not by any means, it just doesn't look right.

I will stick Ice Station Zebra on the "corrupted" shelf next to Gone With the Wind, Rio Bravo, The Searchers and a couple of other felonies.
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