DRACULA 1979 on 10/19 (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

All the fuss over Badham's decision to bleach the color out of Dracula (if that's his artistic decision, I have no problem with it) came to mind when I saw a TV trailer for Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow last night.

I saw the film itself this past weekend and the entire film is bleached of color with a dark sepia overlay that it almost may as well have been in black and white. The TV trailer however was colorful and bright from Gwyneth Paltrow's vivid red lipstick to the lush greens of the jungle sequences.

Curious if HTFers who haven't seen the film theatrically will complain about the DVD's lack of color.

Of course, there is a precedent to both Sky Captain and Dracula when John Huston's Reflections In A Golden Eye opened in sepia and a week later all sepia prints were pulled (and apparently lost forever) and regular Technicolor prints substituted.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Certain objects retained their original colour, ie. red, blue, green, however. Think of the red-coated girl in Schindler's List.

A DVD release is overdue. I'd love to see a 2-disc with both colour schemes. You could create a new sepia transfer quite easily using digital colour grading and it would be more acurate. But it is unlikely that this would happen.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I don't think it's that no one cares,there just isn't any information available right now. Also, the disc is now being released on October 19th with the other Universal Horror discs. I'll try to edit the title of the thread.

 

[Robert Harris]

As I recall the original prints of Reflections, the look was less sepia and more of a light golden cast.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

How was this achieved, Robert?

What stock was used on Reflections?

If a film is shot on colour stock, can it be processed with any tint? What about the individual red, blue, green (etc.) colourings - how was this achieved?

Do any gold-tinted prints still exist?

 

[PatH]

This is a good version but I want someone to dig up (pun intended) the Brit miniseries starring Louis Jourdan.

PatH

 

[Alan_Horner]

So is this out and if so, what's the status on the film's color? Curious minds want to know before buying it...

 

[John Hodson]

Well, I dug it out; see here. The only problem is that the Beeb won't sell this overseas...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Curious minds should also read the whole thread. If by "this" you mean the 1979 Dracula, it's already been mentioned here that it doesn't come out until 10/19...

 

[PatH]

To John Hodson:

Any idea why the Beeb won't authorise a Region 1 release?

Pat H

 

[John Hodson]

No idea, sorry.

 

[Will Krupp]

WOW...I LOVED that version as a kid! I remember that PBS ran it on GREAT PERFORMANCES in three parts and then (for a few years afterwards) re-ran all three parts together on Halloween night. The scene in which Dracula's brides eat the baby has been seared in my brain ever since! I've been dying to see this again for at least twleve years now, but I'm also worried that it won't have aged well and I may be disappointed. Anybody in Region 2 seen it lately?

 

[John Hodson]

It's still very, very good. The transfer is, obviously, what one would expect from a TV show of that age, but I think it's the best filmed version of Stoker's novel; the scene where Dracula is crawling up the wall is spine-tingling.

BTW, do a search on Google and I think you'll find US vendors selling it (been a while since I looked, but I think I'm right)

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Johm, did you order from the BBC over the telephone? If so, how recently did you do so? Is it still in print? Why won't the BBC distribute it nationally in all outlets? Very strange practice, as it is a much sought-after film. It's a great adaptation of Stoker's novel, it's very faithful and is beautifully shot with superb performances.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I updated the date in the thread header for
all of you....

....as I was wondering today why my copy did
not arrive yet.

 

[John Hodson]

Couple of years ago; I rang them. A quick 'phone call should sort out whether it's still in print

BTW, you'll probably note that they've since released Cushing's Hound of The Baskervilles, shown on that page, on the 'normal' retail market (in fact they've released all of the available Cushing TV Holmes'; available in a nicely priced box too)

BTW, looking forward to the Langella version too...

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I haven't seen any online reviews yet, but many e-tailers are now shipping - has anyone received it yet?

 

[Mike_Richardson]

Universal hasn't done a mailing of this -- yet -- to critics, which basically leads me to believe they're not sending out review copies (they don't always ship out catalog titles -- actually, they seldom do unless it's a Special Edition or a newer title that's been re-issued).

I'd love to see it, and I have my fingers crossed that this will be the real theatrical deal this time

 

[Gary Palmer]

Just received my copy this morning and had a quick look to confirm/deny any of the issues which have fuelled this particular thread. Sadly, the movie has been replicated in virtual black and white format yet again, and the packaging describes it as: "Home video version - some music rescored". However, the image *has* been given the anamorphic treatment, and the frame has been restored to its full original 2.35 dimensions (the Image disc was not only non-anamorphic, but slightly reframed at 2.15:1).

 

[Will Krupp]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!