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Becket DVD Release on 5/27/03 (1 Viewer)

Robert Crawford

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According to DigitalBits, MGM is releasing one of my favorite films from the 1960s, "Becket". However, I am a little leery about the video presentation of this release due to some earlier talk about the lack of a restoration done by MPI who had ownership of this excellent film. I'm waiting to hear about the film elements used by MGM in this release and I sincerely hope they didn't screw the pooch in regard to this release.





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Robert Crawford

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Oops, now I'm really concern and I will wait for reviews before ordering this dvd due to what I've heard about MPI not restoring nor doing much work with the elements they used.




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David Lambert

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Crawdaddy, I believe when the search function becomes available again you will find that there's been an existing thread about this for weeks, perhaps even a couple of months.

Here is an article that appeared in Video Store Magazine last week. It goes over digital sound restorations done by Chace Productions for DVDs: Ben-Hur, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, The Exorcist, Fitzcarraldo, The French Connection, The Godfather trilogy, The Magnificent Seven, North by Northwest, The Terminator, Yellow Submarine, Citizen Kane, & Singin' In The Rain.

While Becket wasn't specifically mentioned in the article, the magazine version was accompanied by an illustration of two guys who work there (perhaps the owners, I forget). It had them standing in front of their equipment. I was excited to realize the screen behind them showed the title card for Becket! :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Robert Harris

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I wouldn't confuse the fact that work is being done on Becket toward creating new preservation elements on the track and comping the picture with any DVD release of the film.

To the best of my knowledge the two have nothing in common.
 

Parker Clack

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I too look forward to one of my favorite films being released to DVD. I hope they get it right.

Parker
 

Joe Caps

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If anythign, its probably jsut a transfer of the old laser release. the sound was the biggest problem there. I'm told it was taken from a print, but they did it wrong. As I recall the right channel ws on the right, the middle in the middle and the left channel also ended up in the middle. KaKa
 

Robert Crawford

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I remembered a thread going back before Christmas, but that was three months ago. I don't have a good feeling on this dvd release.
 

Patrick McCart

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We just finished The Canterbury Tales in senior English, so I'm looking forward to this film on DVD. (We did a some background on Thomas a Becket before reading the Chaucer material)

MPI can do great transfers when they have great materials. Their transfer for Help! on DVD lacks obvious digital artifacts...and looks amazing. Of course, it had to be restored first. Perhaps the same can be done for Becket.

Any reason why MPI has the rights to the film? Paramount originally released the film.
 

Steve Christou

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Great news, great film, restored or not it can't possibly be worse than the pan/scan monstrosity I still have lurking in the shadows...


Is it me or did the end of that sentence just get a bit creepy? brrrr...
 

David Lambert

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Robert Harris said:

Well, sir, I'll let the picture caption speak for itself:



"Randall Smith (left) and Greg Faust mixed 5.1 for the DVD release of Becket".

I'm always pleased for your input. I absolutely admire what you do, and your talent for doing it. In this case, however, I hope Video Store Magazine is correct.
 

David Lambert

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Update: I just located the old thread from Dec. 21st that mentioned the 5/27 release date, and linked to Amazon orders.

In it, I posted a link to MPI that - at the time - said "Coming soon on DVD: Becket".

It's different now. It says "Coming soon on DVD: "Becket! Platinum Edition" completely restored."

Waaaa-hoooo!!!!


Or, to once again put this in my customary manner:

[rant]Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (dances around the room naked!) [/rant]
 

Robert Crawford

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Just remember that completely restored has been on a lot of the dvd boxes from Artisan and the results looked nothing like what you expected from restored elements. I'm going to take a wait and see approach to this dvd.
 

Bill McCamy

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Dang it. I'm getting impatient. I want this film. I'm not sure if I've seen it since its release in '64. (Or was it '63?)

I almost ordered it, but after reviewing this thread, I think I will wait for a review or two.
 

Bill McCamy

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RAH,

I'm sorry, but your warning sounded like Elmer Fudd.


But I will be very, very wary.
 

Bill McCamy

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With release sheduled for May 27, I thought I'd ask whether anyone has had the opportunity to assess the quality of this dvd.
 

Julian Lalor

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I understand Becket has been cancelled. Certainly, no online e-tailers have it listed as even coming soon.
 

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