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3D A Quick Preview of Arch Oboler's "The Bubble" Coming in 2014 (1 Viewer)

Peter Apruzzese

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Just wanted to post some impressions of the upcoming 3-D release of Arch Oboler's The Bubble, courtesy of Bob Furmanek's 3-D Film Archive and coming to Blu-ray 3D in 2014 via Kino Classics.Bob invited me to preview a check disc of the film and it was quite a treat. The Archives' technical director, Greg Kintz, has done shot by shot 3D correction of the original SpaceVision photography and the results are nothing short of stunning. As I described to Bob, it was one of the "smoothest" 3D Blu-ray presentations I've ever seen. Each shot blended perfectly and fit in precisely with the preceding and incoming shots. Virtually no eyestrain anywhere. I understand the original camera negatives were used for the HD transfer and they needed significant color correction also. I'm hoping Bob can post before and after scans to demonstrate the work that went into this transfer. Greg also painstakingly erased all the splice lines from every edit, if he hadn't done that extra work the film's 2.35 aspect ratio would have needed to be over-cropped by an unacceptable amount to hide them.And for those who desire off-screen effects (in the current parlance, "popout"), this film has them. In spades. Including one of the greatest single off-screen effects I've ever witnessed, which must be seen to be believed. The movie is an intriguing science fiction tale told and performed with sincerity. No, it's not "2001" or "Forbidden Planet" but it's not trying to be. I can't imagine any fan of 3D would be disappointed in this presentation when Kino Classics releases it later this year.
 

Todd J Moore

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I will buy it specifically for two reasons:

a)to support my friend Bob, who more than deserves all the support we can give

b)to support the release of vintage 3D movies on 3D Blu Ray.

BTW, any news on precisely when in 2014 this is coming out?
 

bgart13

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If it's in check-disc stage, then I'd think within the next few months.
 

SAM33

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I'll be buying all of Bob's releases no questions asked.
Can hardly wait!
 

Peter Apruzzese

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bgart13 said:
If it's in check-disc stage, then I'd think within the next few months.
Bob didn't say when specifically, just that it's definite for 2014. I should have been clearer, it wasn't a check disc from the studio - it was Greg's "final".Original Trailer:
 

Bob Furmanek

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Peter, thank you very much for posting your comments. Your support and enthusiasm mean a lot.

Thank you also to everyone that has responded with their interest in this release. As many of you know, it's been in the works for a VERY long time and is truly a labor of love. Please allow me to share a little background on this project.

The original camera negative is the only surviving 35mm element on this film. None of the people that have owned the rights over the years have spent the money to create a back-up, preservation 35mm master.

For the past 30 years, these elements have been handled very poorly. The last time they were stored in an actual film vault was in the late 1970's when Monarch held the rights. Since then, the cans have been in warehouses and public storage lockers. In fact, when we finally rescued the negative a few years ago, it was stored in an outdoor storage unit in California with no temperature or climate control. Here's where the negatives sat baking for five years.

Bubble-storage-small.jpg



The cans were banged up and rusty with masking tape labels identifying it as "Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth." The tape was falling off several of the cans and the film was filthy.

Before transferring, the negative had multiple ultra-sonic cleanings. When we finally had it scanned, we found that much of it was faded from the years of bad storage. Thankfully, there was no shrinkage or vinegar syndrome.

Available funds for this project were not sufficient to do a wet-gate scan (four times the cost) so we have had to do manual dirt clean-up and repair to minimize the damage. The results are outstanding and the picture is sharper and brighter than anyone has ever seen before.

The original opticals for fades and dissolves are filthy. Some of them look as though they were lying on the floor. Those dupe sections were cut into the negative and have been there since day one.

Greg Kintz (Technical Director for the Archive) has painstakingly gone through every optical one frame at a time in order to minimize the dirt and damage.

It's not scrubbed clean like some of the studio-funded restorations which can cost several hundred thousand dollars, but it's a vast improvement over any previous version of the film.

You'll be seeing more of the image as well. In theaters, the Space-Vision prints were badly cropped in order to overlap the above/below 3-D image onto the screen. In addition, when the film was edited by Igo Kantor in 1966, he used a standard splicer instead of one conformed for anamorphic elements which would have given much thinner splice lines. As a result, at every cut, there are huge splice lines across the top and bottom of the image. Greg realized that too much important visual information would be missing if he simply cropped off that much height so he went to work removing every single splice line at each cut. As you might imagine, this was VERY time consuming but the results are worth it.

More than anything else, Greg has optimized the alignment from shot to shot for flawless 3-D. As Peter mentioned, it's now very easy on the eyes and truly demonstrates Charles F. Wheeler's superb stereoscopic cinematography.

We have also restored the original spoken introduction for Space-Vision and the opening title which was cut in 1976 when the film was re-issued.

Sadly, the cuts that were made after the initial bookings in late 1966/early 1967 are lost.

I've seen THE BUBBLE many times over the past 38 years. I can tell you that it has never looked this good before. I believe you will be very pleased with the upcoming 3-D Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

In closing, let me say this: Greg Kintz does excellent restoration work. So far, every vintage title on 3-D Blu-ray has had alignment issues which he could have corrected. It would certainly enhance any 3-D release if Greg were brought on board to optimize the presentation.
 

Matt Hough

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Remarkable salvation effort, and you're to be HUGELY commended! This just makes getting our hands on this all the more tantalizing! Can't wait!
 

aPhil

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I'll buy it as well. Saw "Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth" at the old Janus Theater in Greensboro, NC, in the early 1980s, and it was one of the few 3D films released or re-released in that era in which I experienced good projection — I also saw "Metalstorm" at the same theater (around the same time) and the 3D projection was also good, but there were many theaters showing 3D films that were so poorly projected that I left and asked for my money to be returned.
 

Matt.Koz

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Thank you, Bob, for all your great work! I trust I'm not alone when I say that this will be a definite "blind buy" for me. I hope it begins to resonate with the studios who are sitting on a wealth of "golden age" 3D that there is a rabid fan base out there willing to shell out their hard-earned cash for these folms when they may not have otherwise for their flat, 2D counterparts. Would "Man in the Dark" be gracing my shelves had it been a 2D release only...most likely no. I have to imagine that I'm not alone.
 

StephenDH

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Charles Smith said:
Seriously can't wait.
Same here. I read a very scathing review of "The Bubble" when it first came out in the UK. I was 12 and never got to see it at the time. After seeing it once during the brief 80s 3D stampede, I went to see it again the following week with my other half and even she was amazed by the 3D.
It's shame there's no technical fix for terrible acting but I suppose one can't have everything.
 

Bob Furmanek

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Thanks Matt, I hope that you're right!

I hadn't seen the film in many years and have watched it multiple times now during the restoration process.

I think Michael Cole and Deborah Walley are very good in their roles. They convey the range of emotions quite well.
 

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