A few lines about ZULU (apologies to Mr Harris!) (1 Viewer)

[Lromero1396]

Hopefully, The Blue Max is a big upgrade from the German BD , which is underwhelming.

It has been confirmed that the TT release will come from a new transfer. I'm certain that it will be a massive upgrade.
1. The German BD probably came from the same dirty, flicker-filled master that the DVD was sourced from and only had stereo audio.
2. Fox has been in the habit of using the OCNs for their CinemaScope classic releases lately. The Blue Max is a very late 'Scope era production shot on more stable post-5248 stocks. So the OCN will be more serviceable than others.
3. The audio will probably be a 4.0 or 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix as opposed to a lousy 2.0 mix-down. Personally, I'm hoping for a more faithful 4.0 if the original tracks still exist.

 

[ROclockCK]

Mine as well. February is my second most anticipated somewhat because of The Eddy Duchin Story, but mostly because of The Blue Max. That Goldsmith score.....

By sheer coincidence, the Varese CD had gone into my car mere days before TT's announcement.

What's fascinating about Jerry Goldsmith's The Blue Max score is that, generally* speaking, I do not care for marches unless I'm watching a highlander tatoo. As war film accompaniment, marches always seem too easy somehow..and yet, in this case Goldsmith met that challenge head-on by embracing rather than downplaying his march. It's like he was saying "Think you know war film marches? Well, I'm going to give you a MARCH like you've never heard and will likely never forget." And it works - against all odds, one of my favourite Goldsmith scores.

As noted on the 'Wishlist' thread, John Barry's work in Zulu was just another kind of magnificent. Typically, its main theme garners the most attention, but I love it more for those subtler passages when Barry is trotting a very fine line between the orchestral and tribal. Just as the picture itself managed to succeed as both a war film and anti-war film, so does Barry's score. A rare hybrid...freely mixing the elegiac and primal. Ying and Yang.

And Mono reproduction be damned...I've always preferred expertly mixed and reproduced original Mono tracks over imprecise faux-Stereo remixes. So I'm relieved (although I shouldn't be surprised) that the IST on this Blu-ray edition will respect the original monophonic source.

* forgive the lame pun.

 

[RolandL]

To Todd -- yes, we do plan on doing a few more 50s 3D films especially if response to MAN IN THE DARK is positive. 1950s films in general we have discovered make for tough sledding sales-wise, but hopefully the novelty aspect of 3D will make a little bit of a difference!

N.

If you want to increase your chances of a big sale for MAN IN THE DARK, I would contact Bob Furmanek and Greg Kintz to fix any vertical misalignment issues that Bob mentioned. If those are corrected, the reviews will be excellent!

 

[Richard--W]

To DP 70 -- we're also pretty thrilled about KHARTOUM -- this is a clean, sharp, pristine transfer taken from the 65mm and presented at 2.76:1. It is I believe in 2.0 stereo (MGM/UA has not done much in the way of 5.1 upgrades), but the big "get" for us on this one is, thanks to contacts in the UK who represent the Frank Cordell estate, the complete score has been shipped to us for use in the isolated score track -- this a find as the music had not survived in the MGM/UA vaults. It's important because other than a fairly short re-recorded LP, the original score for KHARTOUM has never been released, and certainly not in anything like complete form. It is a wonderful, under-appreciated epic 60s work, and will enable aficionados to enjoy it as it was intended for the film. ...

All well and good, but why is such a spectacularly good film with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier at the height of their stardom over-looked and under-appreciated?

Word of mouth. Nobody liked the decapitations.

The fate of Chinese Gordon bummed me out so bad I've never wanted to see KHARTOUM again. Loved the film up to that point. But I couldn't deal with the Mahdi pulling that particular head out of the basket.

Reminds of another fine historical film starring Charlton Heston that can't get no respect:

... 1950s films in general we have discovered make for tough sledding sales-wise, but hopefully the novelty aspect of 3D will make a little bit of a difference!

N.

I've heard it said before that 1950s films don't sell on home video. Yet I seem to be buying a lot of them.

 

[ROclockCK]

I've heard it said before that 1950s films don't sell on home video. Yet I seem to be buying a lot of them.

Ditto!

And yet ironically, almost all of Twilight Time's sellout Blu-rays which weren't 70s or 80s horror/thrillers were from that very same era, the 50s: Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Big Heat, and The Egyptian (both on Blu-ray and DVD). TT's other 50s titles seem to have been met with a more mixed response, but that can also be said of their output from other eras*.

More often than not, I think it just comes down to the depth of fan/collector interest in a particular title. I mean, although TT's offering of the Fox-remastered Love is a Many-Splendored is not a sellout (yet), it seems to be doing well. So if...say...Garden of Evil, 5 Fingers, or King of the Khyber Rifles were brought up to HD spec and made available, I think all of those titles would find at least an equally healthy buyer response.

Of course, I don't know that...I don't have the numbers and Fox/TT does...so that's just my gut making some noise again. The biggest problem with 50s titles (especially in 'Scope) seems to be their inconsistent preservation...too many of them simply require more expen$ive workflow than their owners feel they warrant. However, when the HD goods are there, so it seems are buyers, production era notwithstanding**.

* If we lived in a more meritocratic world a beautifully presented 40s gem like Swamp Water, or Rapture from the 60s, or Bite the Bullet from the 70s, or even the recent Alamo Bay from the 80s, would have all commanded a more immediate and enthusiastic sales response.

** Except for Steinbeck's The Wayward Bus, which, despite its intriguing backstory and fine treatment by Fox and TT, was perhaps too esoteric to interest more than us 'Scope über-geeks.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I think you mean "less meretricious," "meretricious" being synonymous with "worthless" and "cheap and flashy." And ALAMO BAY is from 1985. Other than that, I, too, have done my part to buy these meritorious older films.

 

[ROclockCK]

Yes. Actually, I meant "meritocratic" world.

And if I haven't said so lately, I hate auto-correct in all of its increasingly perverse forms.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Your opinion of auto-correct has merit.

 

[JoHud]

Same here. I bought all of the 30s-50s titles TT released and enjoyed them all to various degrees. I would certainly like to see more, especially silent era films if TT could manage to take a gamble on them.

Reminds of another fine historical film starring Charlton Heston that can't get no respect:

Would definitely like to see The Warlord, but given its status as a Universal property, I doubt we will get anything better than the R2 Eureka DVD for a very long time. At least in NA.

 

[Lromero1396]

Ditto!

And yet ironically, almost all of Twilight Time's sellout Blu-rays which weren't 70s or 80s horror/thrillers were from that very same era, the 50s: Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Big Heat, and The Egyptian (both on Blu-ray and DVD). TT's other 50s titles seem to have been met with a more mixed response, but that can also be said of their output from other eras*.

More often than not, I think it just comes down to the depth of fan/collector interest in a particular title. I mean, although TT's offering of the Fox-remastered Love is a Many-Splendored is not a sellout (yet), it seems to be doing well. So if...say...Garden of Evil, 5 Fingers, or King of the Khyber Rifles were brought up to HD spec and made available, I think all of those titles would find at least an equally healthy buyer response.

Of course, I don't know that...I don't have the numbers and Fox/TT does...so that's just my gut making some noise again. The biggest problem with 50s titles (especially in 'Scope) seems to be their inconsistent preservation...too many of them simply require more expen$ive workflow than their owners feel they warrant. However, when the HD goods are there, so it seems are buyers, production era notwithstanding**.

* If we lived in a more meritocratic world a beautifully presented 40s gem like Swamp Water, or Rapture from the 60s, or Bite the Bullet from the 70s, or even the recent Alamo Bay from the 80s, would have all commanded a more immediate and enthusiastic sales response.

** Except for Steinbeck's The Wayward Bus, which, despite its intriguing backstory and fine treatment by Fox and TT, was perhaps too esoteric to interest more than us 'Scope über-geeks.

I've long expected King of the Khyber Rifles from Twilight Time. A Fox MOD was announced, but was cancelled and nothing has been seen of it since. We also haven't been seeing many Fox 'Scope titles from TT lately. A while back I heard that there wasn't a good HD master on 5 Fingers, but things may have changed. I'd like to see Garden of Evil released, but the DVD had a 'best available elements' disclaimer, so I'm not sure what that means regarding whether or not Fox or TT will release it in HD.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

This is a case where I don't care one whit about whether we sell 50 copies, 20 copies, 10 copies or no copies. This a film that we love almost (The Wild Bunch excepted) above all other, and when MGM/UA offered it to us we were over the moon. We're releasing it on Jan 22nd, the 50th anniversary of the film's premiere in London, and the 135th anniversary of the battle at Rorke's Drift. And we couldn't be more proud.

One can't have too many copies of Zulu. I saw it on the big screen in the summer of 1964, when I was 16. I have the laserdisc, two different DVD editions, and the U.K. Blu-ray. It certainly is one of the best war movies ever made. I am looking forward to watching it again in January.

 

[JoHud]

I've long expected King of the Khyber Rifles from Twilight Time. A Fox MOD was announced, but was cancelled and nothing has been seen of it since.

Same thing happened with Deadline USA. It would be great if TT managed to get that Bogart classic on blu-ray.

 

[Geoff_D]

Well, whatever actually happened to the UK transfer of Zulu, the end result is something that is spectacularly colourful with lots of detail, but it also has an unnerving sense of smoothness that looks unlike any film process I've ever seen. Another Michael Caine picture, The Italian Job, was remastered at the same time (I think it was Sky who paid for the new transfers) and it has the exact same 'smoothed out' appearance, even though it was shot on regular 35mm anamorphic.

If the TT version can restore some semblance of filmic normalcy - dirt, grain and all - then I'll jump on it. (RAH's quoting of David Lean, saying that if the picture is too perfect the eye won't accept it, springs to mind.) It'd be nice if the TT range wasn't so bloody hard to import, though. I'd have loved a copy of Body Double.

 

[Danny Burk]

Same here. I bought all of the 30s-50s titles TT released and enjoyed them all to various degrees. I would certainly like to see more, especially silent era films if TT could manage to take a gamble on them.

Agreed! Although I buy films of all eras, my main interest skews toward silents and '30s, and I'd surely snap those titles up. I've previously made mention of the fairly recent restoration of STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE, a long-unavailable, saucy 1933 precode produced by Paramount and now owned by Fox. The restoration is gorgeous and has been shown on TCM a couple of times. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

One can't have too many copies of Zulu. I saw it on the big screen in the summer of 1964, when I was 16. I have the laserdisc, two different DVD editions, and the U.K. Blu-ray. It certainly is one of the best war movies ever made. I am looking forward to watching it again in January.

I too have the Criterion laserdisc, 2 different dvd's, and the UK blu-ray and to me the UK blu-ray was very sharp with good color so i had no issues with it but i will buy this new one in January. Excellent film and do watch the blu-ray of Zulu Dawn first and then Zulu.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

HELL DRIVERS is great. Have a British special edition DVD, but I'd be all for a BD upgrade.

I'm easily sold on a Cy Endfield film and on this Cy Endfield in particular.

Have you explored the possibility of releasing the two hardboiled films he directed for Rank in 1958:

HellDrivers-1958-Rank-insert.jpg

SeaFury-1958-Rank-one.jpg

I consider the former one of the best films ever made in England. Sean Connery co-stars. Those scenes with Sean Connery, Patrick McGoohan and Stanley Baker all in the same frame are really something. SEA FURY has a young Robert Shaw.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE. Yes, PLEASE! Fox controls it.

Agreed! Although I buy films of all eras, my main interest skews toward silents and '30s, and I'd surely snap those titles up. I've previously made mention of the fairly recent restoration of STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE, a long-unavailable, saucy 1933 precode produced by Paramount and now owned by Fox. The restoration is gorgeous and has been shown on TCM a couple of times. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Good call, Richard. Long been interested in this one, as I'm an admirer of both Endfield and the underrated Lazenby.

I'm curious about a Cy Endfield film that dropped off the radar the very year it was made and hasn't been seen since. UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (Hemdale, 1971) starred George Lazenby as a mercenary soldier hired to train an army in Africa. Endfield ended his directing career with this now lost film. Any chance you could look into it?

 

[Richard--W]

Jon, Cy Endfield's decision to cast George Lazenby as a soldier who trains a mercenary army was no accident. Before Lazenby became a male model and was cast as James Bond, he served as a Sergeant in the Australian Army and taught hand-to-hand combat to the Special Forces. He had more than one black belt in martial arts. His arrogance and unshakable self-confidence were no act. He developed into a fine actor very quickly, and it's tragic how his career turned out. I have a hunch, though, that UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, if it is ever rescued from obscurity, will show some his best work as an actor.

 

[schan1269]

I've always wondered how Lazenby went from 1-time bond all the way to king of Italian sexploitation...