HTF REVIEW: "The Great Race" (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[Eric Paddon]

Anyone we can complain to at Warner about those audio glitches? Frankly, I just lost all my enthusiasm for getting the DVD after hearing about amateur problems like that. Why they don't have people to spot things like that and stop them from getting out is beyond me.

This is the second time Warner's has screwed up something like this. On the Wizard Of Oz DVD they put the wrong track for the "Jitterbug" supplement and gave us the dull choreography rehearsal track instead of the finished version with the full cast members.

 

[Jefferson]

Wow! YOu are right about the Jitterbug, I thought I was the only person who noticed that.
Yes, we should start a thread in Studio Feedback about Great Race. As stated already, it isn't just the soundtrack, but the bouncing ball onscreen lyrics are messed up as well.
Such a shame.:frowning:

 

[Peter Kline]

This is unfortunate. I like the film alot ---- more the IAMMMMW. I'll wait until they address the MISTAKES.

 

[Gary Kellerman]

I saw this film I believe on New Years Eve of 1965 or '66. I thougt it was an OK film. Jack Lemmon was great in this one. I may have scene it again on tv, but I do believe my only viewing was what I mentioned above.

I believe DASTARDLY AND MUTTLEY came out on tv a few years later. D @ M are sort of a take off of this film to a degree. However there was a furor over the Saturday morning cartoons about 1967 being too violent. D @ M was a result of "the toned down violence". This "violence" thing hit again in the '90s with POWER RANGERS. Same protests by certain groups and some government officials like the sixties only when the nineties "protest" started, there was not a darn reference anywhere to the sixties protest.

 

[Jenna]

This DVD has been on my wishlist for a while...so wouldn't you know that I've been unable to find a copy locally! I'm not a fan of the typical "madcap farces" yet I remember staying up late and seeing this film on the latenight movie lineup and loving that food-fight scene.

This will be #436 IF I can get my hands on it! Why does BestBuy get hundreds of copies of Black Hawk Down yet only a single copy of "oldies" like this.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Hi,

has anybody heard anything new regarding the issues with the sound mix (booing and cheering at the wrong places)?

A guy in the German home cinema newsgroup claims that he has a copy with the corrected mix. I don't know how reliable a source he is, but he also claims that Warner stopped the initial production run and started pressing the corrected discs, but they sent the faulty ones out to retailers nonetheless. Furthermore he says that the disc art on the corrected DVD has white background with the film's title in blue (the "faulty" disc has it the other way around, i.e. white title, blue background).

I don't know if there is any truth to this. I wouldn't put it past Warner to do it tbh, but since the guy doesn't (or can't) reveal any sources to confirm his claims, I'm not so sure. Just thought I'd run it by you to see what you think.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Francois Caron]

Oh man! I was about to ask if anyone has had a chance to compare this DVD release with the previous Laserdisc release before I would go out and buy a copy. But if they have all these problems with the newly remixed soundtrack, forget it!

 

[Mike_S]

I watched THE GREAT RACE last night. Yes, they DO have the opening credits a bit mixed up (booing Tony Curtis as The Great Leslie & cheering Jack Lemmon as Professor Fate). But honestly, don't let that keep you from buying this laugh out loud funny movie. The 5.1 sound is very impressive considering the movie was made in '65 and the quality of the print is outstanding with beautiful colour and no nicks or scratches that I could see on a front projection 84" screen. Some of the comments here would lead one to believe that Warner Brothers have put out a disaster of a DVD. To those that love this movie, BUY IT! To those that think that Warners Brothers treatment of this DVD is a disgrace, well, wait for a 'corrected' version. Just one last thought:
'PUSH THE BUTTON MAX!'

-Mike

 

[Brennan Hill]

Watched this last night, first time since I was a kid. Watched it with my son, we both loved it!

But oh my God, Natalie Wood...Wowwwwwww!

 

[Marty M]

I also noticed the goof in the opening credits. It didn't dampen my enthusiasm at all for a great movie, IMO.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I noticed the reversal of the boos and cheers during the openning right away, and frankly don't remember enough about the bouncing ball sequence to have noticed that glitch.

What I also noticed was that I had a pristine picture, a nice 5.1 mix and one of the greatest comedy epics of all time for $13.99!

I played the featurette in the special features section, apparently a press piece made during the production of the film and therefore also dating back some 35 years. Even this looked like new, much better than most of the making of docs on brand new films.



I can't help speculating that the reversal of the boos/cheers may have been a sort of inside joke done by the guys who transferred the film--a sorta sneaky critique of Lemmon's acting talent vs Tony Curtis'? This glitch just doesn't seem to me the sort of thing that could happen by accident but more something that had to have been done deliberately.

I know different folks have different priorities as far as demanding absolute historical accuracy and can respect that, but personally don't let this detract one whit from my enjoyment of this great film.

After all, we did get the complete roadshow version, with intermission music and all, things could have been worse.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know, when I originally reviewed this
film, I noticed the glitch right off the
bat. I didn't think it overly odd, however,
as I had never seen this film before.

I realize purists are going to want this
corrected. I, on the other hand, was so
happy with the quality of the disc that I
really didn't care.

 

[Trace Downing]

Is anybody actually positive that Booing The Great Leslie, and Cheering Professor Fate is an actual mistake? From first hand experience now, not just a tidbit heard from the second cousin, twice removed, of the landlady that rented out a place to a 25 year old drunk, who once spilled Boone's Farm on Blake Edwards' shirt.
The scene works too well with the rest of the opening credits. The "slide show" credit sequence is full of "mistakes" that must've been easy to do in the early years of nicolodeons. Also, once professor Fate gets "crushed and bumped out" by a re-appearing Great Leslie, the boos come back. If a mistake was made, then it would have to be a deliberate one, since they would have to change the soundtrack from Cheer-boo-cheer, to Boo-cheer-boo.
I honestly think that this is just another madcap "mistake" joke that was originally intended. I don't know, since I was born 3 months after the film was released.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Is anybody actually positive that Booing The Great Leslie, and Cheering Professor Fate is an actual mistake?

Yes. The original soundtrack, as heard in theatres and on all previous video releases (and the French soundtrack, included on the DVD), has booing for Lemmon, cheering for Curtis, and well-deserved wolf-whistles for Natalie Wood. The 5.1 remix on the DVD has the booing, cheering and whistling occur more or less randomly.

I don't think this ruins the DVD (I can always switch to the French soundtrack at the beginning of the credits, and then switch back after the boo-cheer-whistle stuff). But it is a mistake.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Hi,

what's really weird about the messed up opening is that the whistling which is supposed to happen when Natalie Wood's credit appears, happens too early. And then, when her credit does appear, the whistling is repeated, but it's not the same as the first one. Since the French language track has only one whistling I can't help but wonder where they got the extra whistling from! Also, how could they dig up (or make) a second whistling without noticing that something's not right?

Chris

 

[John Morgan]

Maybe someone like Robert Harris can chime in, but if I understand it, when they do a 5.1 mix for home video, they can't just directly put the original 6 channels from 70mm on the video because the sound positioning is different.
My guess, and only a guess, is they had the separate sound elements and sound stems to do the remix for home 5.1 sound. Somehow they misaligned some of the sound.
Someone somewhere mentions the flash bulbs are missing their sound effect in the preparation of the race sequence.

 

[RolandL]

The following posting came from the rec.arts.movies.tech newsgroup.


Hold onto your laserdisc for now. While most DVD web sites and forums
missed it at first watch, there are audio problems on on the DVD that Warner
needs to fix. The following is an interchange I've had with one of the
sites describing the problem:

================================================== ================

Dan,

Here is the official word from Warner Bros., which I am going to append my
review with...
"Thank you for forwarding Dan's letter to us. Since this was first brought
to our attention, we have learned that two versions of the main title credit
sequence were built at the time of original production due to billing issues
between Lemmon and Curtis. The film was ultimately released with the Jack
Lemmon credit in first position (w/hisses), followed by the Tony Curtis
Credit (w/cheers). Unfortunately, the studio neglected to destroy the
alternate version audio master (w/credits in reverse order). The incorrect
audio master was used for the new 5.1 Digital audio remaster which appears
on the DVD. We have obtained the correct audio master and are in the process
of revising the DLT with this correct track."
They didn't address the sync problems with the sound effects, as you see.
I'm going to press them on that issue as well.
Best wishes,
Jeff

 

[Stephen Orr]

My copy has been on back-order since its release date. Should I cancel and wait for a solution to the audio problem.

 

[JeremySt]

has anyone heard about a corrected version? I nearly picked this up today, but since I had not seen it, I figured I'd do a search on the HTF. I found this thread, and now I feel compelled to wait.

 

[John_W_Jr]

I saw this movie when it first came out and I was in my pre-teens. As I remember it, the audience in the theater were booing Tony Curtis and cheering Jack Lemmon (musta been a tough crowd). So this version of the movie sounds correct to me!