Will Fox Release The Poseidon Adventure 1972 On Blu Ray

Apparently the six channel discreet audio master for this film has been lost which is why the last DVD had a 2.0 sound only. I think Fox is reluctant to release this on Blu-ray with a 2.0 soundtrack. They can always re-mix it but that would open up a whole new can of worms.

 

By the way I agree that this is a better film than the Towering Inferno.

Edited by John Stockton - 6/2/10 at 7:05pm

Remixing might be a little too hard in and of itself. IIRC, the stereo tapes of John Williams score are missing as well.

The question is partly answered in the post above, only the 2.0 channel tracks for the film seem to survive.

 

As for the CD, it's not all true stereo, there was some discussion of this when the CD came out on the Film Score Monthly message board. While the album is stereo, most of the surviving masters were mono, and a faux stereo version was then created using modern technology, simply spreading out the sound, but there is no separation between instruments, etc, which would have resulted from a stereo original recording.

^ 5.1 soundtracks are the norm for movies from the 1970's on Blu-ray but to the best of my knowledge, there's nothing that says that they couldn't release it with just a 2.0 soundtrack. However, Fox could be hesitant to do that since most people would probably expect at least a 5.1 soundtrack.

I think people really do expect 5.1, even on older films that never had it. I can't think of many classic films released on Blu with 2.0, even Psycho had that faux 5.1 mix created in the computer to satisfy modern consumers. Only WB seems to release their classics in original Mono (as well as Criterion, of course, but I'm talking about big studios, not specialty labels). The others seem to remix them or avoid releasing them so far, for fear of confusing the non-film buff audience.

For the record, the 2010 Lalaland soundtrack release is indeed in true stereo, from the original music recording done at Fox, and used in the film (it is not a rerecording of the score). The original stereo tracks had deteriorated and were unplayable until recently. As per the Lalaland website: "For this release, the 2” 24-track tape containing the original 35mm 6-track mag was transferred into Pro Tools, and restored and mixed with the advantages of another decade’s advance in sound processing technology."

 

The previous Film Score Monthly soundtrack was mostly in mono, taken from a mono back-up of the original.

 

This new version sold out VERY quickly but I was lucky enough to get a copy. It sounds great (although a couple of tracks sound like broad mono).

 

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/PoseidonAdventure.html

 

 

All that's missing now is a bluray release.

 

About the existing 2.0 track stereo version of the soundtrack (on special edition dvd), apparently it's an old mix-down from the now missing 6-track master, and had been done for home video some 20 years ago.  It doesn't sound that bad, but a new 5.1 mix using the original master would sound much better...

 

When they do release this title on Blu-ray, I hope they re-attache the Fox logo.  I believe for the past DVD and Laser releases they snipped it off where the film opens with the title.  I remember seeing it on a VHS edition and of course remember it on the screen as the curtains opened (Curtains covering a screen and not ads).  It was silent and did not have the typical Fox fanfare, which is why I remember it.  I have missed it on the DVD releases.

I don't understand nearly enough of the technical aspects of this to really talk about it with confidence, but I was citing these people at the FSM message boards, who seem pretty sure there was some digital trickery involved in creating the stereo CD.

 

http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?forumID=1&pageID=2&threadID=68236&archive=0

 

About 3/4 of the way down the page is a visual representation of the audio spread on certain tracks, showing how different they are.

 

Again, the hi-tech aspect of it all is miles beyond me, I just thought it might be a contributing reason that there's no Blu-Ray.

The Fox logo never appeared at the beginning of the film.

My guess, next year for the 40th Aniversary.  Perhaps in a digi book.

Bradley, You may be right... It's currently in the process of being digitally restored. The negative has suffered a bit over the years from what I've learned & that will be a factor in it's eventual release. Damage to a negative can sometimes present it's problems even for the amazing digital tools we have today, & therefore prolong the restoration process. "Guns of Navarone" is another title I believe that faces this very situation, which is why the release date for that has been postponed. Rest assured, when "Poseidon" does appear, none of us will be disappointed & it will be worth the wait.

Next year is the 40th Anniversary, so if it's being restored now, then odds are 2012 it comes out.

I'd hope they're looking for a discrete four-track mix which is probably out there somewhere.

That's great news!  Thank you for this update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

Thank you!!!

 

20 years ago when films like "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz" turned 50 - it was a great marketing gimmick.

 

Today It looks like every blu-ray catalog title has an "Anniversary Date" on the cover. It's almost ridiculous and it now means nothing. Really 35 years? Really 40 years? Really 25 Years? Really 17.5 years? Really? Really? I mean, Really

 

I'd love to know if "Anniversary Editions" really sell better than plain old special editions not tied to a date.  I wouldn't think so - if I want to own "Poseidon Adventure", I don't care what anniversary it's celebrating - but the concept is so pervasive in terms of DVDs and CDs that it must make SOME difference.

 

I suspect publicity is the culprit: the studios probably find it easier to get press for something on its anniversary.

 

I do love the "Anniversary Editions" that don't come at a logical time.  The 2003 "Boyz N the Hood" DVD was an "Anniversary Edition" - for the film's 12th anniversary! 

 

How do you know it means nothing and do you have marketing data to backup your assertion?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

Very exciting.  I cannot wait!

Great, Thank you.

 

 

I'm not knocking FOX, and I'm glad Mr. Finn posts here. But regarding blu-ray in general, and Hollywood's marketing belief's that slappng an anniversrary on a blu-ray makes as much difference as "new and Improved' on a box of Tied, the branding is getting so over used that it really is meaning less.  Since more classic films are over 50 and more and more widescreen, color films are turning 40 50, 60 every film made before 1990 will have a major anniversary in the next five years.  Is it really that specially...no

 

In the mid 80's when a major film like "Gone With the Wind" turned 50 ..it wasa major event.  How many color films were over 50 years old in 1989?

"The Adventures of Robin Hood"

"Snow White and the Seven Drawfs"

"The Wizard of Oz"
 

 

in 2011 - 1000's of films are now over 50 years old....maybe I wasn't clear enough

 

It's almost like stating on the cover "In Color"....yeah, almost everything made in the last 50 years is in color

 

Please convey my hopes that the Blu-Ray audio restoration will play The Morning After correctly.

I don't know why, but the Special Edition release had this audio messed up, mainly in the scene of Nonnie and her band rehearsing. They lost all the electric piano and played up the guitar and softened the song. This scene always started with an electric piano chord right before the lyric "Oh can't you see the Morning After?" This chord was missing from the audio or put on one stereo track at a low volume so that the guitar overwhelms the electric piano and continues this way through the entire scene. The audio is then correct at the New Year's Eve party. I was wondering if they did this?
Maybe to make the rehearsal sound more acoustic? It's not true to the original film though.


What we got on the SE does not even sound like the band rehearsal track on the lalaland CD. I really hope they fix this. It sounded fine in the prior DVD and laserdisc releases.

Looks like "Poseidon Adventure" is coming out as a Walmart exclusive April 4th ... Link Below. Not really being touted as an anniversary release. But there's still time, they might have a wide non-exclusive release this December. Maybe James could chime in on this.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/20524717

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/318440/the-one-that-started-them-all-1972-the-posideon-adventure-coming-to-blu-ray - or you could just look at this thread.