- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,397
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
The 1995 James Bond Goldeneye, which is either the 17th or 18th Bond production, dependent upon how one counts, is an interesting affair.
From what I can gather, those involved in the image harvest and processing, were up against a huge problem originally created by Eon Productions desire to cut costs on filmmaker Martin Campbell's almost 60 million dollar budget.
Apparently, from what I've discerned from information found on the web, the production entity instituted a saving of over $120,000 by using short ends of an archaic Orwo film stock, left over from the 1960s.
On a positive note, and as one can see from the completed Blu-ray, the stock is virtually grainless. On a negative note, processing, which was affected by a small lab outside Siberia, caused anomalies to the stock, initially reported in one of the trades, in a piece entitled Processing woes new arch-villain in latest Bond epic." These anomalies, which look similar to digital sharpening, tend to mar what might have been a superb image, pushing it, in certain ways, toward the look of the original Patton Blu-ray.
If this were prime Bond, there might be concern, or an outcry, but it isn't. It's fine for it's kind, but nothing special.
What's unfortunate, is that as the first of the nine new titles, the release of which seem to synchronize with the big Bond 50 Anniversary set, as bird droppings might appear on one's windshield, as a flock flies overhead, it doesn't give confidence.
I'm not going to opine that this might not bode well for the set, but from my perspective, it's off to an inauspicious beginning.
Wish they would have used Eastman stock.
One down, eight to go.
Not Recommended.
RAH
From what I can gather, those involved in the image harvest and processing, were up against a huge problem originally created by Eon Productions desire to cut costs on filmmaker Martin Campbell's almost 60 million dollar budget.
Apparently, from what I've discerned from information found on the web, the production entity instituted a saving of over $120,000 by using short ends of an archaic Orwo film stock, left over from the 1960s.
On a positive note, and as one can see from the completed Blu-ray, the stock is virtually grainless. On a negative note, processing, which was affected by a small lab outside Siberia, caused anomalies to the stock, initially reported in one of the trades, in a piece entitled Processing woes new arch-villain in latest Bond epic." These anomalies, which look similar to digital sharpening, tend to mar what might have been a superb image, pushing it, in certain ways, toward the look of the original Patton Blu-ray.
If this were prime Bond, there might be concern, or an outcry, but it isn't. It's fine for it's kind, but nothing special.
What's unfortunate, is that as the first of the nine new titles, the release of which seem to synchronize with the big Bond 50 Anniversary set, as bird droppings might appear on one's windshield, as a flock flies overhead, it doesn't give confidence.
I'm not going to opine that this might not bode well for the set, but from my perspective, it's off to an inauspicious beginning.
Wish they would have used Eastman stock.
One down, eight to go.
Not Recommended.
RAH
