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Robert Harris

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Don Siegel's quintessential sci-fi classic, the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, is one of those films that once viewed, will not be forgotten.

With ties to the real world, and politics galore, it's up there with the sci-fi greats.

Unfortunately, it was created during an unfortunate era in the world of cinema.

SuperScope.

Photographed open matte, presumably designed for projection in 1.85, it has ended up overly cropped, with seemingly no means of correcting the problem.

How both an original negative, as well as a fine grain protection master, could both go missing is beyond me, but that's the rumor.

What remains is a 2:1 anamorphic image, presumably from a dupe printing negative, and for that generation, especially through an optical stage, it looks quite nice. Certainly as good as original SuperScope prints, which were 2:1.

There were about twenty films that used variants of the process, inclusive of the least likely, Olivier's King Henry the Fifth (1945, three-strip Technicolor, 1.37).

Olive's new Signature Edition release, is more about extras than the feature, which looks as nice as it possibly might.

But it's those extras which push this Olive edition into Criterion turf.

As to the track, one can only wonder why the original Perspecta wasn't included.

Image - 5

Audio - 3.5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Upgrade from previous Blu-ray - Yes, for extras

Highly Recommended

RAH

 
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Robert Crawford

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I have the previous Blu-ray, but I won't upgrade until I see the pricing lower than it's currently at. If it gets down to $20 then I might bite on it for the bonus material. I've read the encoding is better on this BD release than the previous release.
 

David Norman

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How both an original negative, as well as a fine grain protection master, could both go missing is beyond me, but that's the rumor.


RAH

Obvious answer -- it inserted itself into another movie's container and is hiding in plain site pretending to be a Navy Documentary on Personal Hygiene or maybe in the :Song of the South" canisters to go where nobody will ever look and be able to survive unmolested forever on the bottom shelf tucked safely away forever.
 

RolandL

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As to the track, one can only wonder why the original Perspecta wasn't included.

How expensive is it to convert Perspecta to 3.0? What's the cost for 3D Film Archive to convert mono tracks to 3.0 (and they do a excellent job!)?
 

BobO'Link

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I have the previous Blu-ray, but I won't upgrade until I see the pricing lower than it's currently at. If it gets down to $20 then I might bite on it for the bonus material. I've read the encoding is better on this BD release than the previous release.
Deepdiscount - currently $21.99 + $1.99 shipping (unless you add something to get at/above $25 for free shipping). No sales tax for many locations.
 

Tino

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Don Siegel's quintessential sci-fi classic, the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, is one of those films that once viewed, will not be forgotten.

With ties to the real world, and politics galore, it's up there with the sci-fi greats.

Unfortunately, it was created during an unfortunate era in the world of cinema.

SuperScope.

Photographed open matte, presumably designed for projection in 1.85, it has ended up overly cropped, with seemingly no means of correcting the problem.

How both an original negative, as well as a fine grain protection master, could both go missing is beyond me, but that's the rumor.

What remains is a 2:1 anamorphic image, presumably from a dupe printing negative, and for that generation, especially through an optical stage, it looks quite nice. Certainly as good as original SuperScope prints, which were 2:1.

There were about twenty films that used variants of the process, inclusive of the least likely, Olivier's King Henry the Fifth (1945, three-strip Technicolor, 1.37).

Olive's new Signature Edition release, is more about extras than the feature, which looks as nice as it possibly might.

But it's those extras which push this Olive edition into Criterion turf.

As to the track, one can only wonder why the original Perspecta wasn't included.

Image - 5

Audio - 3.5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Upgrade from previous Blu-ray - Yes, for extras

Highly Recommended

RAH
I’m a bit confused. Is this version 1:85 or 2:1?
 

Tino

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I asked because in another thread the poster said it was 1:85 but preferred the 1:66 version.
 

octobercountry

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I have this on order, and am looking forward to going through all the extras. I am a bit ticked off about the missing Perspecta track, though. Oh, I know Perspecta was only "fake" stereo, but still it would have been nice to hear it.

As for the aspect ratio, yep, it's a pity that the original elements are missing and we're locked into 2:1. Still, honestly, that isn't all THAT different than 1.85:1. Look at the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. The intended aspect ratio would only add picture to half of that space; it isn't a huge difference. ( I'm sure I've viewed many films in the cinema in the past which had their pictures cropped to a greater degree, due to careless projection...)

yxC7Lrv.jpg
 

Powell&Pressburger

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I also agree that the 3.0 Perspecta audio should have been inlcuded. In fact the release choild have been pushed back to include it.

Without it just feels like a rush job, True this release is about some extras including a finally included commentary track
 

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