70MM FILMS -HOW MANY HAVE YOU SEEN? (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

RYAN'S DAUGHTER looked absolutely stunning on the huge 70mm screen. Superb acting and unforgettable music.The photography was amongst the best ever seen at the time.

Is it your opinion that cinematography in today's films is better?

 

[cinerama10]

Is it your opinion that cinematography in today's films is better?

Not today- when Ryan's Daughter was released.I thought that was made clear in my post

 

[DP 70]

This years WSW at Bradford list of films is just up including IAMMMMW in Cinerama and T2 also in 70mm , looks a great Programme.

 

[John Stockton]

Another 70 MM film I wish I had seen is Ice Station Zebra. I heard they started shooting the film in Ultra Panavision 2.76 ratio and soon switched to Super Panavision. Has anyone seen this film in 70 MM??

 

[trajan]

I saw it at the Summit Cinerama theater in Detroit. A total waste of 70mm. Phoney looking sets. Horrid special effects,looking even worse in 70mm. Ane this is from the guy who gave us THE GREAT ESCAPE.

 

[Charles Smith]

I have yet to see Ice Station Zebra. Ever. In any format.

But oddly enough, I always remember it for being the "coming next" at the Cinerama houses playing 2001 -- including the Summit, which I was only in for one showing in the summer of '68. I was living in Cleveland, and they eventually started showing a trailer for it, or maybe it was just large displays in the lobby, during the 2001 run at Loew's State.

 

[DP 70]

Another 70 MM film I wish I had seen is Ice Station Zebra. I heard they started shooting the film in Ultra Panavision 2.76 ratio and soon switched to Super Panavision. Has anyone seen this film in 70 MM??

I only saw a 35mm Mono with Finnish subtitles print last year at the BFI Southbank , have always wanted to see this in Cinerama.

 

[ahollis]

I have yet to see Ice Station Zebra. Ever. In any format.But oddly enough, I always remember it for being the "coming next" at the Cinerama houses playing 2001 -- including the Summit, which I was only in for one showing in the summer of '68. I was living in Cleveland, and they eventually started showing a trailer for it, or maybe it was just large displays in the lobby, during the 2001 run at Loew's State.

There is a great Blu-ray out with the almost perfect Warner's transfer. Very interesting film with a good cast, but a little talkie. Score is beautiful.

 

[Charles Smith]

There is a great Blu-ray out with the almost perfect Warner's transfer. Very interesting film with a good cast, but a little talkie. Score is beautiful.

Sold! Sounds good. Thank you, sir.

 

[Douglas R]

I saw it at the Summit Cinerama theater in Detroit. A total waste of 70mm. Phoney looking sets. Horric special effects,looking even worse in 70mm. Ane this is from the guy who gave us THE GREAT ESCAPE.

I saw it ("Ice Station Zebra") in Cinerama as well. I thought it looked good and the first half was fine but Part 2, after breaking through the ice was dull, with a "so what" climax, and the obvious studio setting ruined any sense of realism. A masterpiece, however, compared to the following Cinerama film, "Krakatoa, East of Java"!

 

[AdrianTurner]

I saw Ice Station Zebra at the Casino Cinerama and I thought it was rubbish. Seeing it again many years later I thought it was rubbish. Apart from two things - there's a nice musical theme and a memorable moment when Patrick MacGoohan blows his top, shouts "Get me there" and slams the table with such force that cracks appeared in Old Compton Street.

PS: I think Bradford this year is very disappointing. I know they can't get prints any more, but for Pete's sake, The Way They Were and City Heat?????

 

[nara]

Agree with Adrian about "Ice Station Zebra"". I also saw it at the Casino and wish I hadn't bothered.Partly disagree about the Bradford programme though. There's certainly some rubbish there, but enough gems to ensure my attendance.

 

[cinerama10]

This years WSW at Bradford list of films is just up including IAMMMMW in Cinerama and T2 also in 70mm , looks a great Programme.

Too much digital-where are all the 70m films that they used to screen.?

 

[cinerama10]

Another 70 MM film I wish I had seen is Ice Station Zebra. I heard they started shooting the film in Ultra Panavision 2.76 ratio and soon switched to Super Panavision. Has anyone seen this film in 70 MM??

Yes I saw it on the Cinerama screen when it was first released. It was a very tedious film.Not surprising that it was not a success at the box office.

 

[cinerama10]

I saw it ("Ice Station Zebra") in Cinerama as well. I thought it looked good and the first half was fine but Part 2, after breaking through the ice was dull, with a "so what" climax, and the obvious studio setting ruined any sense of realism. A masterpiece, however, compared to the following Cinerama film, "Krakatoa, East of Java"!

I preferred Krakatoa to ISZ-pity they got the tile all wrong. Krakatoa is not east of Java.

 

[DP 70]

Re Bradford, the old 70mm prints have gone pink and have other problems so they now do not show Vintage printsmaybe only on Cineramacana on sunday mornings. I still think it is the best cinema we have in the UK and weare still lucky to see film in all its original formats as 99% of cinemas do not even have projectionists.The films screening show all the different formats and to end with IAMMMMW in Cinerama, it well worth the trip.

 

[OliverK]

PS: I think Bradford this year is very disappointing. I know they can't get prints any more, but for Pete's sake, The Way They Were and City Heat?????

I think that it was nicer when they showed prints from predominantly classic large format movies.

The last really good year in that regard seems to have been 2006 from what I can see on in70mm.com. I am not a fan of louvered screens as the individual bands that the screen consists of are always visible from an optimum seating position so this is an issue with the screenings of the Cinerama movies.

So while there always seem to be some worthwhile highlights at every festival it is at least my impression that there are fewer of them in the last years with the exception of the anniversary Cinerama event that must be considered very special, louvered screen or not.

As both you and DP70 have been attending the festival quite often, do you object to seeing pink prints? I think it is sometimes more interesting to watch a rare pink print for the first time than to watch Lawrence of Arabia, 2001 and Baraka every 2nd festival, no matter if the prints are new or not.

 

[DP 70]

I think that it was nicer when they showed prints from predominantly classic large format movies. The last really good year in that regard seems to have been 2006 from what I can see on in70mm.com. I am not a fan of louvered screens as the individual bands that the screen consists of are always visible from an optimum seating position so this is an issue with the screenings of the Cinerama movies. So while there always seem to be some worthwhile highlights at every festival it is at least my impression that there are fewer of them in the last years with the exception of the anniversary Cinerama event that must be considered very special, louvered screen or not. As both you and DP70 have been attending the festival quite often, do you object to seeing pink prints? I think it is sometimes more interesting to watch a rare pink print for the first time than to watch Lawrence of Arabia, 2001 and Baraka every 2nd festival, no matter if the prints are new or not.

Myself I would not mind seeing some 70mm pink prints as you still have the 6- Track Audio on the bigscreen but as it does not look it best and the picture is more important than the sound so it goes to Digital.Last year the BFI Southbank did not show Far from the Madding Crowd because of this still having 2 x 70mm printsin the NFTVA.I would love to see TFOTRE but the full 70mm print the BFI owns is pink, I did see the Shellarama short a fewyears ago at the Southbank , they were going to go to 35mm but screened the 70mm for the audio.There is some great 70mm prints in Sweden and other places but to get them here and back cost lots for the numberof people viewing.I see Cleopatra in 70mm DTS at the NFT one sunday afternoon with only me and about 40 others a few years ago butin the 1970s in the 70mm screenings it was mostly a full house, but then they were the Days...

 

[AdrianTurner]

As both you and DP70 have been attending the festival quite often, do you object to seeing pink prints? I think it is sometimes more interesting to watch a rare pink print for the first time than to watch Lawrence of Arabia, 2001 and Baraka every 2nd festival, no matter if the prints are new or not.

I have seen some horrors at Bradford and I tend to walk out very quickly if the print is bad. Bradford has been incredibly indiscriminate in past years and seem to exert little aesthetic judgement. I won't risk a trip up there again - that said, I'll always remember some spectacular screenings, such as HTWWW and 2001. I walked out of South Seas Adventure because of the weird video look of it and because it was just such a vapid bore.

Many years ago, when I worked at the NFT, I was working on a retrospective and went out to the Heston Industrial Estate near Heathrow where, lo and behold, I unearthed pristine 70mm prints of all the Bronston films. Roman Empire was still in its cellophane wrappers and had never been projected. It turned out to be the full roadshow release which we ran at the NFT three or four times during my time there. About 10 years after I left the NFT a friend persuaded me to accompany him to see it at the NFT and I walked out after 15 minutes or so. Pink prints I cannot take. I'd rather watch a decent DVD or Blu-ray at home.

 

[OliverK]

Myself I would not mind seeing some 70mm pink prints as you still have the 6- Track Audio on the bigscreen but as it does not look it best and the picture is more important than the sound so it goes to Digital.Last year the BFI Southbank did not show Far from the Madding Crowd because of this still having 2 x 70mm printsin the NFTVA.I would love to see TFOTRE but the full 70mm print the BFI owns is pink, I did see the Shellarama short a fewyears ago at the Southbank , they were going to go to 35mm but screened the 70mm for the audio.There is some great 70mm prints in Sweden and other places but to get them here and back cost lots for the numberof people viewing.I see Cleopatra in 70mm DTS at the NFT one sunday afternoon with only me and about 40 others a few years ago butin the 1970s in the 70mm screenings it was mostly a full house, but then they were the Days...

Picture is indeed more important to most but herein lies the problem: Unless one has a good Blu-ray there is little enjoyment to be had watching a movie at home, neither HD airings nor DVD do come close to a good 70mm print in resolution and texture. So yes, I can see how one would prefer to watch a Blu-ray or even better 4k DCP of Ben Hur instead of a pink print, but with FOTRE I would rather see a pink print than one of the Blu-rays from that subpar master that have been released all over Europe. A good compromise where available might be an IB-Tech print with 4-track magnetic sound.

You are right that with special screenings of older movies like Cleopatra a lot of the time not too many people attend, but that is because one has to work the crowd a little. We had a series of screenings in Berlin and on average more than 100 people attended the screenings of movies like Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, Goya, Catherine the Great and Raintree County. I think two of the movies played to an almost full house (ca. 250 seats).