The Rocketeer & Dick Tracy DVD questions (1 Viewer)

[Mark_Wilson]

I have the R4 Aussie anamorphic dvd as well as in HD from a sat broadcast, albiet cropped to 1.85:1. Both look like crap. BV will have to put some money into making this look good.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The Rocketeer was the very first laserdisc I ever owned. I bought it with a hole punched in the cover out of a discount bin on the way home from work the day UPS delivered my first laserdisc player. It still looked better than VHS to my eye. (I had never heard of, much less seen, the film. It must have been very badly marketed or just lost in the clutter the year it was released. I bought it based on the cover and the jacket copy. OK - and the price. I knew next to nothing about LD at the time, didn't know what CLV and CAV were and couldn't understand why there could be both a $30 and $120 set of Jurassic Park when both seemed to have basically the same content. So I bought the cheapest movie that looked interesting - the fact that I hadn't seen it before was a bonus.)

I have the DVD as well, but would love to see a decent transfer and some extras.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Paul_Scott]

for some reason, the home video versions of this film have a sepia cast to it. this was definitely not a condition of the film that i saw upon its theatrical release. they did something to it for video, possibly in a misguided attempt at giving it a 'vintage' feel. it doesn't work it just makes the image dreary and dismal.
i'm very sorry to hear that even the HD master seems to have this quality (unless they are just upconverting the current sd master?).

i also have a hole punched copy of the ld, that never gets watched anymore. i would get honestly excited if they anounced a remaster of this because otherwise i won't be seeing the film again anytime soon- and i would like to. its a quite decent little adventure yarn. such a shame its been treated so shabbily.

 

[Lyle_JP]

I don't recall it being given a "sepia tone", but the transfer always had a hazy look, as if they were trying to make it look like the film was shot with some soft-focus filters. But no prints I ever saw looked like that. they were all razor-sharp with colors that popped right off the screen. On film, The Rocketeer is beautiful. On video, it is (as you said) dreary.

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Brian Little]

I'll have to agree with the fact that The Rocketeer really had some amazing colors on film. I'm really letdown with not a single good DVD (or Laser) release for the film that really represents the good quality of the film. I did have the R4 release on my Nicheflix list but it sounds like its the same as the R1 release except 16x9 enhanced. I just yanked it off.

Bummer.

 

[Ryan Wong]

I have a question. Does Disney's Dick Tracy contains any song by Stephen Sondheim? Like Sooner or Later and Back in Business? Is it a musical?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

It's not a musical, but Madonna performs those songs in the movie (in her role as a singer), IIRC.

 

[Stephen PI]

From what I recall, working on the film, there was some diffusion which I thought would have originated in the original photography. I never saw it in the theater, so I cannot comment on the release prints. Nevertheless, it was a very well photographed and colorful film.

 

[Ray_R]

I have all of The Rocketeer comic books so I guess you could say I'm a fan. A commentary track from the Director and creator Dave Stevens. Another commentary track from the Director and Bill Campbell. Documentaries and behind-the-scenes feauturettes would be excellent. They literally could make a full-blown 2-Disc Special Edition for The Rocketeer considering it's origins. This, like both Dick Tracy, of which I'll get more detailed about, and The Shadow are three of the most highly underrated pulp hero type films from the 1990's.

I just might even buy the current edition. Was rumoured to be a Vista Series release but said rumour has since been quashed. By the way, could anyone confirm whether or not the current release is anamorphic? (It is but I was just copy pasting.) Figuring since the price is so low now and if they still see sales for it it'd garner a Special Edition release due to interest.

Might as well mention it... Anyone else except for me would like a Special Collector's Edition-type release for The Phantom? I've only seen random parts of the movie yet I've read the comic strip everyday and watched the animated 2040 series almost ritualistically. Guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we?

 

[Steve Tannehill]

The Rocketeer has 5.1 sound, but is 2.35x1, not enhanced for 16x9 displays.

- Steve

 

[Ray_R]

The second paragraph was about Dick Tracy and I forgot to state as such. My apologies. So, the current release for Dick Tracy is anamorphic and dual-layered?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

The current DICK TRACY is anamorphic. I don't remember if it's dual layered or not, but it probably is.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

I'd pay big time for a special edition of Rocketeer. C'mon Disney...step up to the plate on this one.

 

[Haden]

Dick Tracy has quite a few cut scenes from what I've read, many of which were included in the novelization. They fleshed out the characters really well and also paid more homage to the original comic strip, such as a scene with the Kid showing his drawing skills which eventually leads him to becoming a sketch artist for the police when he grows up in the comics (if I'm remembering correctly). Didn't Beatty want to do a director's cut of this film for the rumored Vista Series special edition that was thought to be coming a few years back? What exactly is the "rights issues" that ruined plans of a special edition?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The Rocketeer just aired in HD on Starz! HD the other night. (Sadly, this is not a service I subscribe to. ) So we know that a hi-def master was created subsequent to the old LD letterboxed release (which was simply ported to DVD for the R1 release.) I wonder if this increases the odds of a new DVD release?

Regards,

Joe

 

[Mark_Wilson]

What was the aspect ratio? I have an HD broadcast of The Rocketeer but it's cropped to 1.85:1. While much better looking than the current dvd, it was still nothing to get excited about.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Like I said, I don't subscribe to Starz!, so I didn't see the film and don't know what the aspect ratio was. I just happened to notice it in the on-screen program guide.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Sean Patrick]

i didn't see it the last time they aired it, but previous HD airings of ROCKETEER om Starz were cropped to 16:9.

 

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

Ray wrote:



I have all of the comics as well, and I remember being eager about the film when it was released. I guess it was a little disappointing---I was probably expecting something more along the lines of the Indiana Jones films---but now, I like the movie a lot. I've shown it to my 6-year-old son as well.

Like Ray, I'd love to see a special edition with some of the extras he suggests. Comic creator Dave Stevens would HAVE to be involved, and I think it would be great to include a featurette on the various pop culture references in the film from its era. An additional featurette on Bettie Page would be a must, too.

On Dave Stevens' website, he mentions "remembering all the scenes that we lost in editing for time, and others we never even got to shoot (for too numerous reasons)," so it sounds obvious that there are deleted scenes and unfilmed scenes as well. Perhaps storyboards exist for the unfilmed scenes? Here's a link to his comments:

http://www.davestevens.com/html/ds_qa_1998_january.html

I own the current DVD release, but this is one of the few films for which I'd consider a double-dip if a new DVD special edition is released. The extras would be great, but I'd be happy if---at the very least---it included a new anamorphic transfer.

mattl

 

[John Sparks]

Go to www.rocketmania.com/2rkts.htm

This site has a "COLOR" photo of the Rocketeer and Commander Cody (the original) flying thru the air.

It is one of the best photochops I have ever seen. Each one is flying in the way that was seen in the films that they stared in...fantastic!!!