Pre-Order 2001: A Space Odyssey (4k UHD) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[CarlosMeat]

I noticed the red edges too, but I thought they might have been caused by my glasses. Hope they're not present on the disc.

This is now a concern since you are the third individual all at different venues to see this fringing. I also saw it on Pools suite as his dead body rotated after being released, black shadows were replaced by intense red fringing. I had hoped it was a projection issue.

 

[Robert Harris]

Not understanding all this talk of edge enhancement - makes no sense to me at all, not with Warners.

It’s not edge enhancement.

What this is telling us, is that the film was not properly restored.

As a simple comparison, I invite viewers to examine My Fair Lady...

and identify the dupes.

It appears that someone neglected to return to the separation masters, and scan and recomp the dupes, in the digital domain.

This is done in any serious film restoration, and as I’ve noted from the beginning, 2001 is a simple, textbook restorative effort. There’s no heavy lifting here.

It’s impossible, that anyone with a serious understanding of restoration, would allow this.

Unless, this is a digital non-restoration, in which case it’s fine, and this is not marketed as a restoration.

That would be a pity, but they’re different concepts, and work strategies, entirely.

I was presuming a restoration. But I’ve been wrong before.

It’s just that this is not your normal, vanilla catalog title.

It’s Kubrick.

It’s 2001.

Unless it’s not.

RAH

 

[owen35]

You make note of dupes being “clearly that.”

Can you please take that a bit further? This was the digital 4k presentation, correct?

Dupes should be absolutely transparent to original photography. You should see no difference.

I'm no expert on this stuff, but the 4K version I saw last night (D.C. - Air and Space Museum) looked gorgeous!! I was noticing things I had never seen before, and I had just recently saw 2001 at the IMAX at Air and Space when Douglas Trumbull spoke. Night and Day difference. I even noticed when Bowman is getting ready to "blast" out of the pod, that the shot is slightly out of focus, having set the focus point on his wrists. Never saw that before.

 

[Robert Harris]

I'm no expert on this stuff, but the 4K version I saw last night (D.C. - Air and Space Museum) looked gorgeous!! I was noticing things I had never seen before, and I had just recently saw 2001 at the IMAX at Air and Space when Douglas Trumbull spoke. Night and Day difference. I even noticed when Bowman is getting ready to "blast" out of the pod, that the shot is slightly out of focus, having set the focus point on his wrists. Never saw that before.

If this was handled, as it appears, there will be an interesting, and identifiable difference between original footage, and dupes.

Original footage should be brilliant.

Dupes far less so, and with occasional fringing.

An interesting dichotomy.

 

[usrunnr]

You make note of dupes being “clearly that.”

Can you please take that a bit further? This was the digital 4k presentation, correct?

Dupes should be absolutely transparent to original photography. You should see no difference.

Many shots were less sharp and showed more grain. Yes. 4K laser Imax. Is that not what makes a dupe clearly visible?

 

[usrunnr]

No, my regular prescription glasses. I don't know where you got the idea that 2001 is being shown in 3D.

Responding to previous post here. Of course it's not 3D.

 

[usrunnr]

Duplicate post deleted.

 

[usrunnr]

"It appears that someone neglected to return to the separation masters, and scan and recomp the dupes, in the digital domain.

This is done in any serious film restoration, and as I’ve noted from the beginning, 2001 is a simple, textbook restorative effort. There’s no heavy lifting here.

It’s impossible, that anyone with a serious understanding of restoration, would allow this.

RAH

Perhaps this is what has happened. I wish Warners would address this publicly.

 

[Craig S]

I saw it yesterday at the Bullock Texas State Museum IMAX in Austin, which has a 75' screen & 4K Laser projection. There were about 40-50 people in attendance. I was seated pretty much dead center.

Overall it was very impressive. The image was absolutely clean as you would expect from digital (in comparison to the 70mm print of LoA I saw on Saturday, which was in pretty bad shape in some places). Grain was noticeable but not distracting. Color was as it should be to my eyes. I didn't notice any halos or fringing, but then I was trying to just enjoy the show and not look for flaws. Only thing that did stand out were some shots where it appeared the whites were blown out - the main example I remember is the flyby of the Discovery.

Sound was excellent. We did have the directional dialog. "Also Sprach Zarathustra" filling the theater was heavenly. Only thing better would have been a live orchestra playing the score!

My favorite part was "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite". The whole sequence was absolutely spectacular. The colors popped off the screen.

It was far & away the best presentation I've seen of the film, although as I've never had the privilege of living near one of the great 70mm or Cinerama palaces that's not saying much. My initial viewing in 1969 (11 years old) was at the tiny on-base theater at the now-closed K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in the upper peninsula of Michigan. So I was glad to have had the opportunity to see this presentation.

 

[Worth]

Are there even a lot of dupes in this film? As I understand it, the effects were accomplished by backwinding the film in camera, rather than optical printing.

 

[PMF]

I'm not surprised. I thought Kubrick cast Keir Dullea & Gary Lockwood because of their almost complete lack of onscreen charisma, & he certainly didn't give them any interesting dialogue to say. The characters briefly seen in the first part of the film (& even HAL) have more personality. It must have been part of Kubrick's plan.

Everything is part of the Kubrick plan. As I've stated before, Keir Dullea trained under Sanford Meisner; and one does not get to train under his diagnostic eyes through having a possession of lacks. Mr. Dullea may have put forth one of the greatest "don't act" performances set to film.

 

[Robert Harris]

Are there even a lot of dupes in this film? As I understand it, the effects were accomplished by backwinding the film in camera, rather than optical printing.

Yes

 

[PMF]

It wouldn't surprise me if cues and control for the house lights are included in the IMAX DCP. The timing was too perfect to be set by the local theater during it's first screening.

I agree- we stayed till the very end of Mama Mia 2 for the 10 sec extra scene after the credits and the house lights went down and then back up again - obviously for it! There was only us and a cleaner left to appreciate this....

Is this the guy who does digital clean-ups?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Gonna see this at the Lincoln Square IMAX (70mm) in Manhattan tomorrow at their 5pm screening -- seems maybe 1/4-to-1/3 full at this point w/ some decent seats (near center) still available. Anyone else going to that screening?

Isn't a fave for me, but a good friend, who's never seen it in entirety, wanted to go... and I've never actually seen it big before -- wondering if I should revisit it on the old BD w/ my modest 100"-plus FP setup first (as last time I saw it was probably on DVD some years back on my old 61" DLP RPTV)...

_Man_

 

[usrunnr]

Yes

Perhaps Mr. Harris will see this Imax (hopefully Laser) presentation soon, and he can straighten this all out. Except for a single, very powerful publicity release from Warners' , the origin of the new restoration has remained completely inert, its origin and purpose still a total mystery.

 

[dpippel]

I see what you did there...

 

[Robert Harris]

Perhaps Mr. Harris will see this Imax (hopefully Laser) presentation soon, and he can straighten this all out. Except for a single, very powerful publicity release from Warners' , the origin of the new restoration has remained completely inert, its origin and purpose still a total mystery.

I probably don't need to actually see it. The reports from the field seem to tell the story, as I noted above.

An incomplete restoration, created from a scan of the extant camera negative, and old dupes created during the neg's service period.

Most of it should look stunning.

 

[Ray H]

Everything is part of the Kubrick plan. As I've stated before, Keir Dullea trained under Sanford Meisner; and one does not get to train under his diagnostic eyes through having a possession of lacks. Mr. Dullea may have put forth one of the greatest "don't act" performances set to film.

On the commentary and various interviews Dullea and Lockwood basically say the characters are what they are. They were chosen for this mission due to their stoicism even under the greatest stress and pressure. Not to mention, they're basically on day 100 or whatever of a very monotonous routine.

 

[PMF]

I had planned for days to make a Monday drive to the nearest IMAX; but a funny thing happened on the way to my Kubrick pilgrimage.
I ended up turning the car off the highway and came back home.
For those lucky enough to see "2001" in its proper venue, I find within myself the best of jealousies.
But I didn't want to take the crap-shoot.
I got to thinking about IMAX and what its supposed to represent.
And how IMAX should be today's equivalent to a 70mm Roadshow experience at a palace theater, which always delivered and made it worth the 2 plus hour round-trip.
And the more I thought about IMAX, the more I felt a resentment towards them.
Here's why.
I resent that they do not offer a 4K experience in each and every one of their theaters; as mine was billed as a 2K deal.
I resent that IMAX figures that they can short change certain regions with a take-it-or leave-it compromise; while still riding on their name and charging the same price.
I resent that Warner's painfully courted those die-hard fans who are not technically in-tuned to the differences between a Nolan print, a 2K, a 4K and a film that should had been fully, completely and painstakingly restored from the OCN without any half measures.
Between Warner's and IMAX, I knew that I was still not going to get that "ultimate" trip.
Warner's and IMAX has treated this important masterwork with a great deal of inconsistencies, mixed-formats, mixed-signals, mixed-marketing, mixed-messages and mixed theaters.
I will only travel a great distance for venues that are across-the-board and across-the-nation consistent in its known quality.
Guess that last shot will be through the UHD;
but, due to this year's experiments with "2001", I will still refrain until the reviews are in.

 

[dpippel]

All valid points, but at the end of the day you denied yourself a very pleasurable and amazing experience, even at 2K. Could the situation be improved? Absolutely. Will it be? Who knows, which is why I decided to go to my screening anyway even though it wasn't optimal. My thinking was this - would I ever get a another chance to experience 2001 on the big screen? Probably not. So I went. I don't regret my choice for a single solitary minute, but I respect your principals.