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- Robert Harris
Dennis Hopper's 1980 Out of the Blue is an odd film. And not just by my standards.
A Canadian tax shelter production, with actor Dennis Hopper taking over the director's chair to keep the film going after Leonard Yakir was fired, it's a low-budget affair that has garnered a fan audience unto itself, partially via the support and passion of distributor John Alan Simon of Discovery Films. Discovery was also responsible for releasing The Wicker Man.
The film has now made it way to 4k UHD (domestically via Severin) in a very nicely produced release.
The technical history of the film seems somewhat clouded, to a point at which it needed to be restored a few years ago, in a herculean effort to save what remained of the original cut camera negative.
The following is rumour (in honour of the film's Canadian roots), and comes from posting found on the dark web. No further information as to accuracy, or whether it’s just another conspiracy theory. Was the OCN at any time stored in a bunker in Area 51?
There is no dispute that years ago, a properly color timed IP was produced from the OCN, and presumably still exists, but Discovery desired to return to the OCN in order to offer the film in the best quality possible, and what they found was not promising.
As reported by anonymous sources, at some time between 2005 and 2007, someone (one report mentions Mr. Hopper, another Mr. Yakir, but no one knows. Could have been someone's enraged daughter, after years of sexual abuse) acquired access to the storage facility holding said OCN and took what was possibly (again as reported) a small "axe-like" tool, or chisel to three of the innocent rolls of film, which were doing no harm to anyone.
C. 2019, when the OCN was delivered to the lab, the bad news was reported to the Discovery team. At some point, possibly based upon a chance meeting between Restoration Producer Elizabeth Karr and Natasha Lyonne at a Hollywood event, Ms Lyonne reacted as only a true fan of the film could.
She wanted to help.
Over the next months, (again, as reported via the dark web) a team, including Ms Lyonne and also Ms Sevigny, worked tirelessly, armed with white cotton gloves, razor blades and mylar tape, to repair the damaged footage to a point at which it could reasonably safely go through a scanner. They deserve our eternal thanks.
Due to their work, and that of the Discovery team, the OCN was saved - literally brought back to life - with tens of thousands of instances of digital repairs, and also removing all of the affects of the physical tape repairs. Added was a fresh color grade and stabilization. A new DCP and the just released amazing 4k UHD disc are reference of the labours.
There are more extras on this disc than can probably be found on any other low-budget product, but the fan base, as proven by an amazing successful Kickstarter campaign, demanded it.
And once again, Discovery delivered.
As a film, I still find it a bit over-acted. It's almost as if the acting styles, which might in a normal situation run from 1 to 20, here run from 12 to 20. But it all seems to work in an odd way.
The star of the film is acknowledged as Linda Manz, in reality a non-actor, who just seemed to have a certain way about her that worked - first in Days of Heaven and then in Out of the Blue, as CeBe, a teen girl with some small parent problems. The performance is quite extraordinary.
It's a pity that many viewers, only now discovering her, will have little or no idea who is was (she passed away two years ago at the age of 58). Married, and with two (living) children, as well as grand-children, there is an unusual connection between Linda (Manz) Guthrie and her film Out of the Blue, as her funeral sadly necessitated contributions from a gofundme campaign, which fortunately raised $19,880 via 465 donations (had I known, I would have contributed), and Out of the Blue was saved via a Kickstarter campaign, bringing in $62,011 via 492 backers.
If I were to pick a single candidate for best (now) unknown actress, that honour would probably go to Catherine Burns, for her role in Last Summer, in which she performed a devastating monologue, and for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Ms. Burns passed away in 2019.
Severin's 4k release is lovely. Color and densities seem perfect. Black levels and shadow detail are beautifully handled, and while there is a delicate grain structure, I'm wondering if Severin may have reduced it in some way.
Other than that, I'm I can't be certain about the grain, as my only other reference is the old DVD, this is a glorious 4k release.
For slipcover collectors, the 4k is encased in a heavier than normal heavy paper cover, that works beautifully with its contents.
The 4k is currently available at a special price at Amazon, which I was unable to turn down. A few days ago, the cost was $26.88. It now seems to have gone up to $34.99, which really isn't that far out of line, if one just takes into considered a number of rolls of mylar tape used in bring the OCN back to life. MSRP is $59.95.
When prices react in this way, its usually a signal that vendors are running out of stock, and even if there's a re-issue some time in the future, it may be without the slipcover, so best to sell your Elvis jacket and pony up.
Image – 4.75 (Dolby Vision)
Audio – 5 (Monaural)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Makes use of and works well in 4k - 4
Upgrade from Blu-ray -Yes
Recommended
RAH
A Canadian tax shelter production, with actor Dennis Hopper taking over the director's chair to keep the film going after Leonard Yakir was fired, it's a low-budget affair that has garnered a fan audience unto itself, partially via the support and passion of distributor John Alan Simon of Discovery Films. Discovery was also responsible for releasing The Wicker Man.
The film has now made it way to 4k UHD (domestically via Severin) in a very nicely produced release.
The technical history of the film seems somewhat clouded, to a point at which it needed to be restored a few years ago, in a herculean effort to save what remained of the original cut camera negative.
The following is rumour (in honour of the film's Canadian roots), and comes from posting found on the dark web. No further information as to accuracy, or whether it’s just another conspiracy theory. Was the OCN at any time stored in a bunker in Area 51?
There is no dispute that years ago, a properly color timed IP was produced from the OCN, and presumably still exists, but Discovery desired to return to the OCN in order to offer the film in the best quality possible, and what they found was not promising.
As reported by anonymous sources, at some time between 2005 and 2007, someone (one report mentions Mr. Hopper, another Mr. Yakir, but no one knows. Could have been someone's enraged daughter, after years of sexual abuse) acquired access to the storage facility holding said OCN and took what was possibly (again as reported) a small "axe-like" tool, or chisel to three of the innocent rolls of film, which were doing no harm to anyone.
C. 2019, when the OCN was delivered to the lab, the bad news was reported to the Discovery team. At some point, possibly based upon a chance meeting between Restoration Producer Elizabeth Karr and Natasha Lyonne at a Hollywood event, Ms Lyonne reacted as only a true fan of the film could.
She wanted to help.
Over the next months, (again, as reported via the dark web) a team, including Ms Lyonne and also Ms Sevigny, worked tirelessly, armed with white cotton gloves, razor blades and mylar tape, to repair the damaged footage to a point at which it could reasonably safely go through a scanner. They deserve our eternal thanks.
Due to their work, and that of the Discovery team, the OCN was saved - literally brought back to life - with tens of thousands of instances of digital repairs, and also removing all of the affects of the physical tape repairs. Added was a fresh color grade and stabilization. A new DCP and the just released amazing 4k UHD disc are reference of the labours.
There are more extras on this disc than can probably be found on any other low-budget product, but the fan base, as proven by an amazing successful Kickstarter campaign, demanded it.
And once again, Discovery delivered.
As a film, I still find it a bit over-acted. It's almost as if the acting styles, which might in a normal situation run from 1 to 20, here run from 12 to 20. But it all seems to work in an odd way.
The star of the film is acknowledged as Linda Manz, in reality a non-actor, who just seemed to have a certain way about her that worked - first in Days of Heaven and then in Out of the Blue, as CeBe, a teen girl with some small parent problems. The performance is quite extraordinary.
It's a pity that many viewers, only now discovering her, will have little or no idea who is was (she passed away two years ago at the age of 58). Married, and with two (living) children, as well as grand-children, there is an unusual connection between Linda (Manz) Guthrie and her film Out of the Blue, as her funeral sadly necessitated contributions from a gofundme campaign, which fortunately raised $19,880 via 465 donations (had I known, I would have contributed), and Out of the Blue was saved via a Kickstarter campaign, bringing in $62,011 via 492 backers.
If I were to pick a single candidate for best (now) unknown actress, that honour would probably go to Catherine Burns, for her role in Last Summer, in which she performed a devastating monologue, and for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Ms. Burns passed away in 2019.
Severin's 4k release is lovely. Color and densities seem perfect. Black levels and shadow detail are beautifully handled, and while there is a delicate grain structure, I'm wondering if Severin may have reduced it in some way.
Other than that, I'm I can't be certain about the grain, as my only other reference is the old DVD, this is a glorious 4k release.
For slipcover collectors, the 4k is encased in a heavier than normal heavy paper cover, that works beautifully with its contents.
The 4k is currently available at a special price at Amazon, which I was unable to turn down. A few days ago, the cost was $26.88. It now seems to have gone up to $34.99, which really isn't that far out of line, if one just takes into considered a number of rolls of mylar tape used in bring the OCN back to life. MSRP is $59.95.
When prices react in this way, its usually a signal that vendors are running out of stock, and even if there's a re-issue some time in the future, it may be without the slipcover, so best to sell your Elvis jacket and pony up.
Image – 4.75 (Dolby Vision)
Audio – 5 (Monaural)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Makes use of and works well in 4k - 4
Upgrade from Blu-ray -Yes
Recommended
RAH
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