A few thoughts about....THE TOWERING INFERNO SPECIAL EDITION (with Photos)

I can still remember at the age of 11, going to a small theater
outside of the Garden State Mall in Paramus to see Irwin Allen's
production of The Towering Inferno. At that time, I had
never heard of Irwin Allen nor seen his prior success, The Poseidon
Adventure. It didn't matter! It was simply an amazing
experience to see this huge blockbuster disaster film on the big
screen, and since that day, I have always treasured this film more
than any of his others.

I was ecstatic to hear that Fox was giving Special Edition treatment
to both The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure.
I received both today, and immediately was interested in seeing how
much the studio improved upon the original release.

I started by watching the original DVD that was released back in
1998. At first glance watching the opening credits, I thought the
transfer didn't look half bad....that is, until I popped in the new
Special Edition. What a significant improvement! You would never
realize how muddy the transfer and audio of the original release was
until you saw this new transfer. There is a great sense of improved
clarity and natural coloring.

Here are some screenshots OLD and NEW...













As you can see, the improvements are not just subtle ones. This
new transfer looks significantly better.

Here's a look at the menus from Disc One and Disc Two...




I must add that Fox did a tremendous job with the Special Features
on this DVD.




I quickly browsed through the material on Disc Two and found
myself immediately involved with the featurettes. The one I liked in particular
was an original Nato Presentation Reel that basically has a camera
following Irwin Allen onto the Fox lot, into his Production offices, and takes
a look at some of the early pre-production that is being put into the
release of the film. It's also sort of funny to see this reel presenting
some scheduled Irwin Allen projects that never made it to release.

There are also some really terrific featurettes that I saw as a kid
on television. One of the featurettes takes us through a carefully
choreographed filming of the climatic scene in the observation banquet
room where everyone has tied themselves down to tables and posts.

There's all kinds of material here to wade through including storyboard-
to-film comparisons, still photo galleries and even 30 extended/deleted
scenes.

I gotta even give credit to the studio for using the film's original
poster art for the cover. This is something you rarely get from the
studios these days, and it is certainly a welcome addition here as I
had always loved that poster.

I haven't even scratched the surface of this Special Edition DVD for
the mere fact that it was more important for me to provide all of you
with an early look and and a hearty recommendation that this is one
title worth double-dipping for.

Re: A few thoughts about....THE TOWERING INFERNO SPECIAL EDITION (with Photos)

Lee,

We are still going through a huge transition here and I may
be confined to working on our new main page throughout the
next day.

I'll see if I can find some time to start another thread and post
screenshots of the OLD and NEW release of POSEIDON.

I won't have time to really watch it in depth, but I can at least
*perhaps* give it the same coverage I gave INFERNO.