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

[Garysb]

Since they closed the Ziegfeld several years ago I can't think of a decent sized theater in NYC that could take advange of a 70MM print . Ah for the days before the Rivoli theater was first twined and then torn down.

 

[Alan Tully]

I don't think a quick scan of a newly made trailer released to YouTube should be taken as representative of either the new 70mm prints (created in the analogue realm) or the upcoming UHD release (for which the transfer source hasn't been announced, and may not even have been done yet).

I agree, it's just a trailer, but if the new Blu-ray does look like that flat greeny mess, then there's going to be online fireworks, & I'll save myself a few bob by not buying it.

...& thinking about it, it is only a trailer, but why not get the colour right for it?

 

[KeithDA]

I bought the Taschen book about the making of the film a couple of months ago, only £12 on Amazon UK, it's over £36 now

Does anyone know how well this book compares with Bizony's earlier book '2001- filming the future' - published in 2000?

 

[lark144]

Since they closed the Ziegfeld several years ago I can't think of a decent sized theater in NYC that could take advange of a 70MM print . Ah for the days before the Rivoli theater was first twined and then torn down.

They could book it into the IMAX screen at Loew's (now AMC) Lincoln Square.

 

[dpippel]

I REALLY, REALLY hope that this color timing is not indicative of the upcoming 4K UHD/Blu-ray release. It looks horrible.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Is there a date for the release?

 

[dpippel]

I believe it was originally scheduled for release on May 8th, and was available for pre-order on Amazon. There's a news bit over on High-Def Digest stating that it's been pushed back to "Fall 2018":

https://www.highdefdigest.com/news/...hd-bluray-update-release-date-postponed/40826

 

[RobertR]

Yet more wreckstoration. Yuk. Every other new release of a vintage film is coming out like this now. I hope this, along with music's loudness wars, is just an extended fad. Perhaps one day this period of madness will be looked back on as a pointless marketing craze, like 1980s-style colorization or "Electronically Reprocessed Stereo" and "Duophonic" recordings of the 1960s and 1970s.

Regardless, cue the usual confirmation bias-ridden posters who will swear blind 2001 was aways meant to be thoroughly tealed and you can't judge its original colour palette based on years of mistimed home video video releases, blah, blah, blah...

The problem is, Hollywood's adoration of teal and orange has been going on for over a decade, and shows no signs of abating. What an annoyance. The fear is that this is what we'll be stuck with, since it seems unlikely that there will be a subsequent corrected version. This was the title that had me finally seriously considering getting a UHD player, and these screenshots have thrown cold water on it.

 

[Jim*Tod]

Thanks. The color on this new trailer does not look at all like any print of the film I have ever seen. The look of the film is very unique. This ain't it.

 

[Brandon Conway]

That trailer is far too green.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Does anyone know how well this book compares with Bizony's earlier book '2001- filming the future' - published in 2000?

View attachment 45475

The Taschen book is a significantly expanded version of the text, containing a lot of new material that's not in the earlier book. The writing style is similar, though.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I don't get why anyone is getting worked up about the UHD since it's really obvious the trailer uses footage from the existing HD master with color tweaking added.

 

[RobertR]

I don't get why anyone is getting worked up about the UHD since it's really obvious the trailer uses footage from the existing HD master with color tweaking added.

It's legitimate to be worried, because it seems there's a real possibility that the colors will be mucked with for the UHD release.

 

[Edwin-S]

First. It is a trailer. Second. It is on YouTube. Hardly, the medium for accurate film representation. Thirdly. The trailer is being seen on mostly uncalibrated computer monitors.

 

[Jim*Tod]

Probably right. I cannot imagine the Kubrick estate, which has been very exacting in the past, would allow anything less than a perfect presentation of the film. Still waiting to see just what venues are going to show this.

 

[RobertR]

First. It is a trailer. Second. It is on YouTube. Hardly, the medium for accurate film representation. Thirdly. The trailer is being seen on mostly uncalibrated computer monitors.

Big differences can be seen in post #54 on "uncalibrated computer monitors".

 

[Konstantinos]

First. It is a trailer. Second. It is on YouTube. Hardly, the medium for accurate film representation. Thirdly. The trailer is being seen on mostly uncalibrated computer monitors.

Can you give me an example of a trailer of a restored film where the subsequent Bluray had significantly altered colors?
I can't think of any right now.
What I see in these trailers I see in the blurays themselves.

Anyway, we'll be here (hopefully) in a few months where the blurays will be released and we'll see if it was representative or not.

 

[John Gilmore]

Still waiting to see just what venues are going to show this.

The Castro Theater in San Francisco is already promoting it on their Coming Soon page

 

[Vincent_P]

Can you give me an example of a trailer of a restored film where the subsequent Bluray had significantly altered colors?
I can't think of any right now.
What I see in these trailers I see in the blurays themselves.

Anyway, we'll be here (hopefully) in a few months where the blurays will be released and we'll see if it was representative or not.

Videa's first trailer for TLE's 4K restoration of SUSPIRIA used an earlier HD video master.

Vincent

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

WHITE TERROR - meaning the fear of a white balance. For anyone who doesn't know, and respecting the level of technical knowledge on this forum, a white balance is when a cameraman presses the white balance button on the camera whilst it's looking at a white card. Any colour cast anomalies created by the location and lighting are cancelled out and white is seen as pure white.

Colour manipulation is easily achieved by using a warmer or colder card so that the camera compensates.

My impression is that the development over the last quite a few years of highly colourful but highly manipulated, non-realistic colour in television was caused by creating the new post of POST PRODUCTION COLOUR GRADER/CONTROLLER. The objective became not realism but artistic colour changes.

That in itself merely copies what has always happened in film and tv - highly detailed colour grading in order to match shots and create a perticular look.

But readers of this forum know that it frequently goes much too far and results in people asking why a production now has a green, yellow, blue or golden cast.

Is it a case of misuse of facilities? This will remain controversial but looking at comparisons a few posts further back I'll add my opinion that the current look of 2001, judging from the trailer, exhibits profound WHITE TERROR. A particular cast is administered rather than have any pure white in the picture.

A most honourable recent exception is MY FAIR LADY. The Ascot scenes are as gloriously white as intended.

I've seen 2001 many times and always in 70mm and can endorse that its white balance was perfect. I believe that we're constantly seeing the products of immature people who can't resist fiddling to prove how clever they are at playing with the colour temperature.