A Few Words About A few words about…™ Spartacus - in 4k UHD Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[Robert Harris]

It seemed to me that the black level was quite deep in some of the titles when I saw It in 70mm. But maybe my memory serves me wrong.

The main title art came from Saul Bass.

 

[Robert Harris]

The original title art was actually photographs of the busts, with color added in post. Most were about 12 x 24 inches.

 

[roxy1927]

Wasn't that what was in your restoration? Unless I've completely forgotten. What are the titles people are talking about?

 

[Carlo_M]

At the risk of sounding like a suck-up, I always feel a little bit of pride when I see a certain name on the credits of films, knowing we have the good fortune of having him be a part of our wonderful community...

 

[Allansfirebird]

That’s the way the film was released in 1960. I asked Bob Lawrence about it, and apparently there was negative damage/ processing problem on day one. This was the best take, and the easiest fix at the time.

Speaking of Mr. Lawrence, a superb editor, and a dear man, don’t miss his “double slap.” It’s worth viewing frame by frame. And something that most people never see. They feel the impact.

From the camera reports for January 30, 1959. Looks like they only whacked Spartacus twice that day, maybe a couple more times in the long shot.

TIME	SCENES AND SLATES	DESCRIPTION
1:52-2:00	Line up
2:00-2:25	Discuss action - Dialogue, etc.
2:25-2:30	Shooting Sc. 15C 62 - inc. PRINT 15" 63 - PRINT 15"	(50m) med. shot - Spartacus & 2nd Guard roll to F.g. Another Guard hits Spartacus on head - 2 Guards drag him out L. Dia: 2nd Guard - J. Day)
2:30-2:55	Lay dolly track - line up
2:55-3:13	Rig pad to drag double on
3:13-3:20	Rehearsing
3:20-3:30	Shooting Sc. 16B 64 - inc. cam. shadow 15" 65 - PRINT 20" 66 - PRINT 22"	(50m) long shot - Captain runs in from R.b.g. to stop y hamstrung guard - Yells as 2 other Guards drag Spartacus R-L across slope - Camera dollies back with them - They lift Spartacus - Exit L Dia: Captain - 2nd Guard o.s.

 

[PMF]

At the risk of sounding like a suck-up, I always feel a little bit of pride when I see a certain name on the credits of films, knowing we have the good fortune of having him be a part of our wonderful community...

View attachment 75892

Fully agreed.

P.S. My copy is arriving today.

 

[RolandL]

caps-a-holic has a comparison of the 4K to the 2K Blu-ray. Looks like we are seeing more picture info on all four sides on the 4K in some scenes. Also, the 4K is darker than the 2K Blu-ray.

 

[Robert Harris]

caps-a-holic has a comparison of the 4K to the 2K Blu-ray. Looks like we are seeing more picture info on all four sides on the 4K in some scenes.

Mr. Schade, and his gladiatorial team at Universal, have done a magnificent job of preserving grain, and resolution.

 

[trajan007]

Did anyone else have their disc freeze up during the major battle?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Did anyone else have their disc freeze up during the major battle?

I had no issues with playback on my Panasonic UB820.

As for the image itself, I was awestruck initially by how good the pictured looked. As I became engrossed in the movie itself, though, as usually happens I stopped paying attention to how good it looked and just enjoyed the film. Anyway, I cannot image this looking any better on a home video release.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Had a chance to peek at a few minutes of the UHD. The remastered Blu-ray looks and sounds incredible as it is, but as with so many other UHD upgrades of already great releases, it's all in the details. I get the sense that Kubrick wasn't as warm on this as his other films, but I've felt that even if Spartacus is somewhat of an outlier in his filmography - visually, it's plain as day his fingerprints are on the film.

 

[Robert Harris]

Had a chance to peek at a few minutes of the UHD. The remastered Blu-ray looks and sounds incredible as it is, but as with so many other UHD upgrades of already great releases, it's all in the details. I get the sense that Kubrick wasn't as warm on this as his other films, but I've felt that even if Spartacus is somewhat of an outlier in his filmography - visually, it's plain as day his fingerprints are on the film.

He had an active role in the reconstruction / restoration.

 

[RolandL]

Mine came in the mail today. Looks fantastic!

 

[Reed Grele]

Mine came in the mail today. Looks fantastic!

View attachment 75909

Does anyone know whose arm that is?

 

[TonyD]

I am Arm!

 

[dpippel]

Does anyone know whose arm that is?

It's not from the original film. That's newly created cover art for the steelbook release.

 

[Robert Harris]

It's not from the original film. That's newly created cover art for the steelbook release.

The “arm” was an odd creation for the 1990 release.

 

[dpippel]

The “arm” was an odd creation for the 1990 release.

Thanks for clarifying, Robert! From what I've read though, the actual cover on the steelbook was newly done for this release. They must have "borrowed" the arm from the archives.

 

[Carlo_M]

I found the behind-the-scenes footage of how they got the arm for the Steelbook cover art!

 

[willyTass]

Did anyone else have their disc freeze up during the major battle?

sometimes these tricks may help video stuttering

1. disable all CEC from player and TV

2. change your colour space in the Blu ray player to 4:2:2 (from Bob Pariseau at avs)
this decreases the bandwidth of the signal travelling from your player , with preserved original fidelity of the data encoded on the disc

3. disable wi fi from you player

4. all the usual stuff like make sure no dust or finger prints on your disc , make sure your HDMI cable is Premiumcertified , make sure your player firmware is up to date , make sure all HDMI terminations are snug in their sockets and make sure your discs aren’t pressed in Tijuana Mexico (joke )

on my Panasonic 9000 once I changed the colour space settings the player dramatically had less freezing on UHD discs over last 3 months