Twilight Time
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- Oct 5, 2011
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- Twilight Time
In response to some readers interest in, and questions about, TT's upcoming release of ZULU, I just wanted to offer some small details about it -- we don't know much about the overall specs at this point, but the following is what we do know.
It is certainly not the UK transfer. It couldn't be as that one belongs to a different studio -- Paramount, who own the film in most of the world's territories. In the USA home video rights is controlled by MGM/UA through Studio Canal. Our transfer generated by MGM/UA (or Studio Canal) some years ago (it is possibly older than the UK transfer) still has evidence of some minor wear and tear -- little flecks of dirt and debris here and there -- what Mr Harris has taught me is known as "minus density." There is not enough of it to spoil anyone's enjoyment of the film, but what it does of course mean is that there has been little in the way of digital clean-up, and that things like DNR are apparently not in evidence.
As we know, whether a transfer is "good" or "bad" is often in the eye of the beholder, and to my somewhat biased bifocals, the transfer here has a very natural look to it. Color and detail is strong, picture is generally stable (with a moment or two of lateral jitter), but to me this is the movie I have always known and loved. To borrow a quote from our pal Haineshisway "it is the way I remember it in cinemas." And I have this seen this movie theatrically projected more than 40 times.
Audio is mono, but we also have a 2.0 stereo composite track that we are planning to use as well to give viewers the choice. My preference is always for the clean mono, but the stereo here is quite vivid and directional, with John Barry's exceptional score showcased among the dialogue and effects to great effect.
Extras will be necessarily sparse -- we do have the John Barry score in crisp, clear mono as an isolated track, and we have a new commentary featuring the witty, acerbic, and insightful screenwriter Lem Dobbs, and myself, babbling like idiots about why the film is important.
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.
We invite any of you who cares to join us in the celebration.
All best,
Nick.
It is certainly not the UK transfer. It couldn't be as that one belongs to a different studio -- Paramount, who own the film in most of the world's territories. In the USA home video rights is controlled by MGM/UA through Studio Canal. Our transfer generated by MGM/UA (or Studio Canal) some years ago (it is possibly older than the UK transfer) still has evidence of some minor wear and tear -- little flecks of dirt and debris here and there -- what Mr Harris has taught me is known as "minus density." There is not enough of it to spoil anyone's enjoyment of the film, but what it does of course mean is that there has been little in the way of digital clean-up, and that things like DNR are apparently not in evidence.
As we know, whether a transfer is "good" or "bad" is often in the eye of the beholder, and to my somewhat biased bifocals, the transfer here has a very natural look to it. Color and detail is strong, picture is generally stable (with a moment or two of lateral jitter), but to me this is the movie I have always known and loved. To borrow a quote from our pal Haineshisway "it is the way I remember it in cinemas." And I have this seen this movie theatrically projected more than 40 times.
Audio is mono, but we also have a 2.0 stereo composite track that we are planning to use as well to give viewers the choice. My preference is always for the clean mono, but the stereo here is quite vivid and directional, with John Barry's exceptional score showcased among the dialogue and effects to great effect.
Extras will be necessarily sparse -- we do have the John Barry score in crisp, clear mono as an isolated track, and we have a new commentary featuring the witty, acerbic, and insightful screenwriter Lem Dobbs, and myself, babbling like idiots about why the film is important.
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.
We invite any of you who cares to join us in the celebration.
All best,
Nick.
