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Restored SPARTACUS OCT 6. (1 Viewer)

youworkmen

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Is this actually a new restoration of the film itself or just a new HD master of the restoration to replace the abysmal one released on Bluray by Universal
 

Mike Boone

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Jim*Tod said:
Wow---so both SPARTACUS and MY FAIR LADY by the end of the year. Good news indeed.

Absolutely ___ ___ right!!! Those 2 films will basically complete having all of my favorite films on blu.
 

lukejosephchung

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youworkmen said:
Is this actually a new restoration of the film itself or just a new HD master of the restoration to replace the abysmal one released on Bluray by Universal
According to previous reports, this restoration is in fact a brand-new 4k image harvest from the original camera negatives...Universal is putting its full weight into getting this done right, apparently.
 

rsmithjr

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Encouraging but my policy about Universal stands: no purchases until trusted reviews!


The other classic title mentioned today is Sony's 1776. I will pre-order that one.
 

Allansfirebird

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Bring on the tears of joy!


kirk-douglas-o.gif
 

Thomas T

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I'll still be holding on to my Criterion for the wealth of extras that won't be ported to the upcoming blu.
 

Vincent_P

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lukejosephchung said:
According to previous reports, this restoration is in fact a brand-new 4k image harvest from the original camera negatives...Universal is putting its full weight into getting this done right, apparently.

The negatives were faded in 1991. I imagine they'd have to combine the negatives with at least one of the black-and-white separation records to reclaim the color if this is truly the case.


Vincent
 

Mike Boone

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Thomas T said:
I'll still be holding on to my Criterion for the wealth of extras that won't be ported to the upcoming blu.

Absolutely!! Particularly fascinating, IMO, is the extra about the problems that Stanley Kubrick had with the studio bosses concerning the film's content as he was shooting Spartacus. This feature allows us to read the communications Kubrick was receiving on a regular basis from Universal, in which he was warned to shy away from certain areas, or greatly water down others.


Every serious Spartacus fan has known for years about the famous bathing scene being cut before the film's 1960 release, because of the suggestive comments made by Crassus. But who would have guessed that the Universal brass would forbid Kubrick from including a scene where milk stains could be seen on the garment worn by Varinia. I guess, horror of horrors, Universal wanted to protect the sensibilities of those viewers in 1960 who would have been shocked or upset at the realization that women in ancient Rome actually nursed babies.


After reading about all of the BS from Universal that Kubrick had to put up with, in the midst of trying to manage all of the disparate elements of his first big budget feature, (and a mammoth production, at that) few would be surprised if Kubrick ever admitted in a diary somewhere, that he'd had a passing thought about fulfilling his responsibilities with a completed film, and then visiting Universal's offices so that he could personally strangle someone.
 

Mark_TB

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Isn't Criterion still on good terms with Universal? I wouldn't be surprised to see a Criterion edition another year or two down the road. But this will do for now. So glad I held out on buying the previous BD.
 

Matt Hough

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After my (non-anamorphic) Universal DVD of Spartacus went bad (my first Universal DVD of Vertigo also went bad), I bit the bullet and bought the Criterion DVD, and that's what I've used to view this film ever since. After reading the reviews (which were as bad as any reviews of a top tier Blu-ray release that I've ever read) of Universal's Blu-ray, I declined to buy it even heavily discounted.


So, I'm cautiously optimistic about this new release. Hopefully, there will be a big upgrade from what was offered before. However, forgive me if I wait for reviews before purchasing.
 

David_B_K

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Matt Hough said:
After my (non-anamorphic) Universal DVD of Spartacus went bad (my first Universal DVD of Vertigo also went bad), I bit the bullet and bought the Criterion DVD, and that's what I've used to view this film ever since.

Interesting. I also lost both those same discs to DVD rot (or whatever it was).
 

Dr Griffin

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Matt Hough said:
After my (non-anamorphic) Universal DVD of Spartacus went bad (my first Universal DVD of Vertigo also went bad), I bit the bullet and bought the Criterion DVD, and that's what I've used to view this film ever since. After reading the reviews (which were as bad as any reviews of a top tier Blu-ray release that I've ever read) of Universal's Blu-ray, I declined to buy it even heavily discounted.


So, I'm cautiously optimistic about this new release. Hopefully, there will be a big upgrade from what was offered before. However, forgive me if I wait for reviews before purchasing.

I knew about the complaints of the first Blu-ray, but bought it anyway. Now I can hopefully sell the old disc to some blissfully clueless collector.
 

Alan Tully

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I knew about the complaints of the first Blu-ray, but bought it anyway. Now I can hopefully sell the old disc to some blissfully clueless collector.
Good luck with that. The old Blu-ray has been at bargain basement prices for so long, I think you'd be lucky to get a couple of dollars for it.

I'm glad it looks like Universal are releasing this & not Criterion, so it probably won't be locked to region A, & so many people on the net are dissing this even before there's a release date, come on, give Universal a chance.
 

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