1:66 on A Hard Days Night (1 Viewer)

[Rob Gardiner]

The long-OOP Criterion laserdisc of AHDN (which uses the same 4:3 transfer as the old MPI DVD) was Director Approved.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Thanks for that confirmation, Ron.

 

[Patrick McCart]

The MPI DVD's video master and the Criterion are not the same. Criterion's is from before the restoration (1987) while MPI's used a 1996 master (same as the version aired on AMC).

Even if it's director approved, it may just be like the Kubrick situation where keeping it unmatted would be fine for the low-res format. Woody Allen asked Criterion to keep Annie Hall and Bananas unmatted, but the DVD's are in their original 1.85:1 format.


Also, one other thing I noticed... you can see the top of the set backing in some shots during the end concert scene. It's not visible in the Miramax DVD, but visible on the MPI.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

But in the long run, isn't it pretty much all up to what the director wants his work to be? I'd say it is.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Patrick,

Thanks for the info. I stand corrected re: the 1996 restoration.

Still, the Miramax looks a little too "tight" to me.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Well, if Lester had supervised AHDN's remaster, I doubt he would have wanted the picture cropped on the sides. Also, it's irrelevant to use what's "director approved" from 1987 in 2006. Different formats, new transfer technology, etc. This is why all that Kubrick "open matte" stuff is kind of outdated (He approved transfers in 1991).

Matting for 1.66:1-1.75:1 is obviously intended if you look at the 4th and 6th shots here: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...ddaysnight.htm

Seeing set rigging is usually a good indicator of what's supposed to be visible or not. For example, Psycho has visible missing ceilings behind those mattes. The Godfather has countless boom microphones.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I don't see anything wrong with showing the top of the stage set in the concert sequence in the film. Heck, if you were actually an audience member at the concert sitting in the rows to watch the stage performance, of course you'd see the set top!

What's noticably improved in those screenshots is that the quality tone is better in the Miramax version. But it's still too tight to me.

 

[Patrick McCart]

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.v...n&q=a+hard+day's+night+aspect+ratio&_done=%2Fgroup%2Falt.video.dvd%2Fbrowse_frm%2Fthre ad%2F5269212780e7aeb6%2F042fc7c5670cfc5c%3Ftvc%3D1 %26q%3Da+hard+day's+night+aspect+ratio%26hl%3Den%2 6#doc_8f434b96ba26c5cd

According to this, Richard Lester approved the 1.66:1-1.85:1 matting for the theatrical re-issue and the new transfer.

 

[Paul_Nyman]

Martin Lewis produced AHDN for the Miramax DVD. Somewhere in an interview he described the remaster to widescreen was discussed with Dick Lester and he gave them his input for it. Doesn't it say anything inside the Miramax case/inserts?

Martin Lewis website is:
http://www.martinlewis.com/resident.html

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Okay, so then the bottom line is that he has, in fact, approved every and any version and appears to be indifferent. So I suppose then it's up to the individual to decide which he prefers.

 

[Ravi K]

Was AHDN hard-matted to any aspect ratio? It might explain the side cropping on the MPI version.

 

[Peter Neski]

Well to me it looks fine in 1:33 ,but best it 1:66
But the 16x9 mode(1:85??)is a little cropped,

still my question is Can they make a 1:66 film in the 16X9
mode with some kind of matte on the side,That would have
been the perfect way to do it,

 

[george kaplan]

Yes, you can anamorphically enhance a 1.66 picture. Disney does it all the time. You do end up with black bars on the side, though for most people it's hidden by overscan.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Exactly. However, Disney would have taken a beaten had they not released this in its OAR.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

This is debatable. I know many fans who were not happy with the Miramax presentation and have since been trying to get the 1.33 from MPI off Ebay for big money.

 

[Paul_Nyman]

I don't own the Miramax release as the sound mix is awful to listen through. Of the group of friends I know that bought it I'll just wait another day for this to be revisted. Buena Vista is known for reissues every five years on certain titles and if they do reissue AHDN they should also give us all the choice of mono audio and the 5.1 mix so we can choose what WE want to listen to!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I agree about the audio, Paul. I was meaning to get to that so I'm glad you did.

 

[Nelson Au]

I took a quick look last night since I have a new plasma TV and I have not seen the Miramax disc on there yet. I saw a sliver of black bar on the left side only and it was at most one quarter of an inch. I didn't measure it. Overscan is factory set. I could look into seeing if I could reset that. Looked good to me, somewhat soft image here and there. I know you guys don't like the audio quality, and the dialogue was bit low. but it was fun to listen to the songs in the remix in this version. I'll compare to the MPI DVD this weekend.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It's a real pity that the British mono mix wasn't included. From how the 5.1 remix sounds, it's vastly superior to the mono track utilized for the "fake stereo" track used on the Universal 1981 re-release, as well as the MPI DVD.

Also, the first and last reels of the negative were lost. I think fine-grain positives were used. However, that means the shots with credits in the opening are, I think, 5 generations away from the camera negative.

 

[Paul_Nyman]

Is the audio any different in other Regions? I read a review around the time the Remaster came out on DVD in the UK and it indicated the audio available there was in DD & DTS, but of course no mono available.