It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - 7/5 (Another Wal-Mart Exclusive) (1 Viewer)

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Techman707


I think you're making a BIG mistake if you pass on this $10 version from Walmart, unless you possibly know something nobody else does about a future version. Someone also mentioned "The Hallelujah Trail". Unless there's a big surprise about it being restored, the DVD version looks like it was taken from the silver reclaimer's garbage bin. I just wish Fox would get on with their own (or Magna's) musicals in the VERY near future.

I agree that no one should pass up the $10 Blu-ray of IAMMMMW, It will more than likely be the only one for a few years if not forever.

What makes you think the THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL is in poor condition just because the DVD is not up to par. The Blu-ray versions of THE BIG COUNTRY and HAIR, just to name a couple of titles were a lot better than the DVD versions. Has this film had a run on MGMHD? I had heard that MGM had worked on their titles by producing HD transfers for MGMHD and I suppose that the Blu-rays we are seeing now are a product of those transfers made a few years ago. I do not think that the $10.00 exclusives are any more than that for MGM does not have the funds to do a lot of work to the numerous titles that are being released.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Here are links to purchase:

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World

When Harry Met Sally

A Fish Called Wanda

Throw Mamma From The Train

Legally Blond


All of these are on sale for $10 each, plus you get a $5 credit for Vudu.


Its worth noting that Overboard (previously a Target exclusive) is widly available on 7/5 as well.

 

[MatthewA]

Originally Posted by Techman707



While the original roadshow would have been great, I wasn't aware that all the missing footage had (or has) been found. The only thing that stuck in my mind was Robert Harris saying it would cost an "additional one million dollars to complete" a roadshow version. And even if the footage WAS found, if the color looked like the additional (480p) roadshow footage did in "South Pacific", I can live without it.

As for the extra features, I already have 2 DVD versions and the Laser disc version with the extra non-roadshow footage added. I'm sure glad none of that footage WAS left in the final release. Stanley Kramer sure knew what he was doing when he DIDN'T use THOSE scenes. They actually change the whole mood and timing of the picture....and not in a good way, or funnier either.


I know it;s too much to ask, but I would have hoped they corrected some of the opening title and end title colors, which appear to be nearly 180 degrees out of phase. But hey, for $10 plus tax & shipping from Walmart, I don't think anyone should complain. The worst complaint is that we'll now have to sit through a 20th Century Fox logo and an MGM logo on a UA release that never even had a UA logo on the opening when it ran in theatres. On "Hair" they also put a Fox, MGM and the WRONG UA logo at the beginning. It originally just had "UA- A TRANSAMERICA COMPANY" at the beginning, not the one they've used. I wonder if it's too much to ask them to leave the original logos and just tag their junk before it....if they MUST DO IT. But all in all, I'm sure MOST people, including myself, will be very happy with IAMMMMW based on the MGM-HD version I saw.


I think you're making a BIG mistake if you pass on this $10 version from Walmart, unless you possibly know something nobody else does about a future version. Someone also mentioned "The Hallelujah Trail". Unless there's a big surprise about it being restored, the DVD version looks like it was taken from the silver reclaimer's garbage bin. I just wish Fox would get on with their own (or Magna's) musicals in the VERY near future.

Actually, they found negatives to the cut scenes in Mad World, so the color could be matched. IIRC, Robert Harris said those cut scenes were not THE scenes. It's been awhile since I've seen the movie and even longer since I saw the extended LD.


Even so, I don't know why they don't just do seamless branching (its absence, and the schmuck who did the Roadshow Version audio commentary, were my only complaints about the South Pacific Blu-Ray). It has existed since the birth of DVD but is horribly underused. Oh yeah, I forgot, they'd have to restore the footage first, and that's what they won't do.


I also despise MGM's attempt to airbrush United Artists from movie history. Because they lost their library to Turner they usurp another company's history. God, how I wish Warner or someone who had the money and gave a damn could have gotten MGM so they could release a Blade Runner-style release with every existing version. Damn you, Ted Turner, for selling UA back to MGM and only keeping Gilligan's Island for yourself.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Techman707

I think you're making a BIG mistake if you pass on this $10 version from Walmart, unless you possibly know something nobody else does about a future version. Someone also mentioned "The Hallelujah Trail". Unless there's a big surprise about it being restored, the DVD version looks like it was taken from the silver reclaimer's garbage bin. I just wish Fox would get on with their own (or Magna's) musicals in the VERY near future.

I see no reason why The Hallelujah Trail would need any sort of restorative efforts. The OCN should be fine.


RAH

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Quote:

I'm sure glad none of that footage WAS left in the final release. Stanley Kramer sure knew what he was doing when he DIDN'T use THOSE scenes. They actually change the whole mood and timing of the picture....and not in a good way, or funnier either.

Bruce,

You and I are not going to agree on this. That is fine. Robert

Harris and I don't completely agree on this topic either.


Whether the missing footage that was on the laserdisc SE
made the film better or worse is an individual opinion. For me,

I think it added to the value of the film. One of the most joyous

moments for me in my laserdisc years was the discovery that

there was 20-40 minutes of extra footage to one of my favorite

films. It did not disappoint.


The debate I have had with Mr. Harris is that all this footage

needs to be put back into any restoration that is done.


Now let me explain...


We have the Blu-ray format which allows for alternate versions

of a film to be placed on a single disc via branching options.


This allows for the individual viewer to decide which version
he or she wants to watch.


There is only going to be one opportunity to properly restore

this film. I think because of that, anyone doing the restoration

of IAMMMW should really put some thought to preserving the

original intent of the roadshow version and including a "garbage"

version where everything available gets thrown into the film to

please the fans that want it.



I wouldn't ask this special kind of treatment for just any film.

In fact, I can count on one hand how many films I have

personally pushed to have excised scenes included in the

restoration. This is one of those films.

We have been waiting forever for some studio to greenlight

the restoration of IAMMMW. Fans like myself -- like most

of you -- want it done RIGHT. By all means, if Mr. Harris

were to do the restoration, then his vision (which matches that

of Mr. Kramer) should be respected. However, for those of us

that hold that laserdisc Special Edition sacred, I do think that

this is the last opportunity we will ever have to see all those

scenes placed back into a high-definition anamorphic transfer

whose version can be selected from the main menu.


I hope there are many that agree with me on that opinion.

 

[darkrock17]

So is TCM's version closer to the original 192 mins. then?

 

[Techman707]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris




I see no reason why The Hallelujah Trail would need any sort of restorative efforts. The OCN should be fine.


RAH

Should be is the operative word. When I see it, I'll believe it.

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

Wal-Mart is all about volume. And these $10.00 exclusives should do very well for them. I know I want 4 out of those initial 5.


My only worry is that they sometimes under order their own exclusives and not ship them to every store. Anyone who has dealt with their action figure exclusives knows what a pain they can be to find.

 

[Techman707]

Quote:Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein


P.S. There is just one thing I don't understand. What do you mean "a high-definition anamorphic transfer" I there something happening that I'm not aware of? Do you know of any "anamorphic" Blu-ray discs that might be coming out? While it's easily done technically, it wasn't included in the Blu-ray spec, although it was included in the DCI spec and is "optional" with the film companies.

 

[darkrock17]

My only worry is that they sometimes under order their own exclusives and not ship them to every store. Anyone who has dealt with their action figure exclusives knows what a pain they can be to find.

I asked the same question. The Wal-Mart's in Northern Virginia aren't the best for having great stock of anything these days.

 

[rayman1701]

Well you could order online and either ship to you home, or do a ship-to-store for free. I picked up both IAMMMMW & Jackie Brown for a total of 25.19 with shipping and tax. I just can't handle the crowds at our Wal-Marts, so it's just easier for me to have them send it to me. My how life has gotten easier with the internet, no more running to 5 different stores just to go home disappointed.

 

[Techman707]

Originally Posted by ahollis /forum/thread/312369/it-s-a-mad-mad-mad-mad-world-7-5-another-wal-mart-exclusive/60#post_3824215

 

[Techman707]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris

Quote:


Why would one suppose that?


RAH

If you know something different, then I stand corrected. So are you saying that ALL the original "Roadshow footage" from IAMMMMW's original premiere has in fact been located and is in restorable condition? Does that apply to the color as well? That would raise a big question of why 20th Century Fox would be putting out the Blu-ray now. I can only assume then it's just a matter of them paying to finish the job and do it right.

 

[GMpasqua]

The one line that was added for the laserdisc that I really loved when Dorothy Provine said to Ethel Merman to call the Police and Merman said "first will see if we get there first and if not.. then we'll call the police". This was about the time Provine says "Mother, for the last time, will you call the police" and Merman responses "Good, I'm glad it's for the last time"

 

[GMpasqua]

Not all the restored footage was worth restoring. On the laserdisc sometimes it was just repetitious and diluted the comdey. The DVD cut material were most likely cut because they aren't very interesting.


Some of the cut stuff is worth adding back...but now you are tryig to second guess a director who has stated the film at it's short lenght is already too long


Peter Hunt could restore "1776" with semmless branching for the fans and still have his version included on Blu-ray

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Is it too late in the thread to mention that it's ridiculous to compare Roman Polanski (who drugged and date-raped a 13-year-old when he was 43) to Woody Allen (who hooked up with his girlfriend's adopted adult daughter and has now been married to her for 14 years)?

 

[Worth]

Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman

Is it too late in the thread to mention that it's ridiculous to compare Roman Polanski (who drugged and date-raped a 13-year-old when he was 43) to Woody Allen (who hooked up with his girlfriend's adopted adult daughter and has now been married to her for 14 years)?

Woody Allen was effectively her stepfather since she was a little girl. Obviously, what Polanski did was much worse, but it's still pretty creepy.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua

Not all the restored footage was worth restoring. On the laserdisc sometimes it was just repetitious and diluted the comdey. The DVD cut material were most likely cut because they aren't very interesting.


Some of the cut stuff is worth adding back...but now you are tryig to second guess a director who has stated the film at it's short lenght is already too long

I guess that all the interview with Stanley Kramer where he said he wanted the longer version available were just lies. When the laserdisc and VHS came out he was all over TV and news papers pushing it and talking about it. I don't claim to be an expert on the film, but I still have the USA Today article about this release and what Kramer said at the time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman


Woody Allen was effectively her stepfather since she was a little girl. Obviously, what Polanski did was much worse, but it's still pretty creepy.

And with that gents, let's return to (and stay on) the topic at hand--IAMMMMW.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Techman707

Agreed. One of the reasons I assume that the additions were legitimate is that the scenes were squeezed on the far left and right, which would be proper for an Ultra-Panavison print. Also they seemed to fit into the scenes very well when placed. The interaction with Ethel Merman and Buddy Hacket when they first had a meeting about the money along the road was enhanced with the additional material. IMHO