Is There Any Reason Why DRAGONSLAYER Couldn't Get A Great 4K Release? (1 Viewer)

[B-ROLL]

!

 

[haineshisway]

View attachment 149628 !

And what a boring ol' world that would be, little rabbit.

 

[titch]

Well, whether Dragonslayer is any good, or not, is obviously up for lively debate. But it does feature legendary stop-motion genius Phil Tippett's dragon, which lifted stop-motion animation to a new level and created one of Guillermo Del Toro's favourite creature designs.

 

[Alex...]

Ask and thou shall receive...

 

[dpippel]

Well, there's that 4-letter word again - "Paramount." Prepare to rolleth thy dice.

 

[Bryan^H]

Crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best.

"Ordinary People" never looked good on home video, but Paramount's most recent release was just awesome. And that was just standard Blu-Ray. I'm hoping for that, except better.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best.

"Ordinary People" never looked good on home video, but Paramount's most recent release was just awesome. And that was just standard Blu-Ray. I'm hoping for that, except better.

It feels like when Paramount releases cult or somewhat ”forgotten” titles (and yes, I know Ordinary People is a Best Picture winner, but it’s not one of the ones frequently brought up in conversation; look how long it took to get a BD release), these tend not to get the egregious degraining or slathering with DNR. Just an observation.

 

[Worth]

Well, there's that 4-letter word again - "Paramount." Prepare to rolleth thy dice.

Paramount is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get.

 

[Carlo_M]

At this point, some hope is better than no hope.

 

[Dick]

And not very well presented, after all these years on many collectors want lists, the release was very much "off handed". And of course no bonus materials...maybe one day, they will allow Criterion to do thier job for them and come out with a Decent Edition of it...for us all!!

There was a nice commentary track from Ray Bradbury himself on the Disney laser disc release back in the 90's. I imagine the reason it wasn't ported over to the Blu-ray is that it was sometimes critical of the studio.

 

[Capt D McMars]

There was a nice commentary track from Ray Bradbury himself on the Disney laser disc release back in the 90's. I imagine the reason it wasn't ported over to the Blu-ray is that it was sometimes critical of the studio.

Well I quess we'll all find out very soon, for it is looking like our wishes will be granted, sometime in 2023!!

 

[Dick]

Ask and thou shall receive...

Peter MacNicol was miscast. The role is simply too juvenile and hip for the story and period. Almost everything and everyone else, especially the very droll Ralph Richardson and the surprisingly three-dimensional King played by a very scarce Peter Eyre.

Well I quess we'll all find out very soon, for it is looking like our wishes will be granted, sometime in 2023!!

Sez who sir?

 

[jayembee]

Sez who sir?

He might be getting mixed up in the cross-discussion of Dragonslayer and Something Wicked This Way Comes. The comment regarding Bradbury on a commentary track was about the latter. Disney, of course, didn't release the former on LD in the US. Only in Japan (albeit pan-&-scan; I have a widescreen Japanese LD that was released by Bandai).

 

[Dick]

Ask and thou shall receive...

Peter MacNicol was miscast. The role is simply too juvenile and hip for the story and period. Almost everything and everyone else, especially the very droll Ralph Richardson and the surprisingly three-dimensional King played by a very scarce Peter Eyre.

He might be getting mixed up in the cross-discussion of Dragonslayer and Something Wicked This Way Comes. The comment regarding Bradbury on a commentary track was about the latter. Disney, of course, didn't release the former on LD in the US. Only in Japan (albeit pan-&-scan; I have a widescreen Japanese LD that was released by Bandai).

The SOMETHING WICKED laser disc was a domestic release also. I owned it.

 

[jayembee]

The SOMETHING WICKED laser disc was a domestic release also. I owned it.

Yes, I know. I said that they didn't release "the former" (Dragonslayer) in the US.

 

[Tino]

Peter MacNicol was miscast.

I thought he was great and believable in the role. Every role I’ve seen him in since always brings me back to his performance in Dragonslayer.

 

[Dick]

Yes, I know. I said that they didn't release "the former" (Dragonslayer) in the US.

Huh? It was released in pan-and-scan on VHS, and in both P&S and 16x9 widescreen on laser disc as well as DVD. It is, from what I've heard, a top-seller for Paramount on video, although it did not perform spectacularly in theaters. I've had three horrible experiences trying to see this looking decent, and at three different venues. The DVD does not do it justice. If this "announcement is for real, I can't imagine that it won't be awesome. I can't wait to see what bonus features will be included.

 

[jayembee]

Huh? It was released in pan-and-scan on VHS, and in both P&S and 16x9 widescreen on laser disc as well as DVD. It is, from what I've heard, a top-seller for Paramount on video, although it did not perform spectacularly in theaters. I've had three horrible experiences trying to see this looking decent, and at three different venues. The DVD does not do it justice. If this "announcement is for real, I can't imagine that it won't be awesome. I can't wait to see what bonus features will be included.

Sigh. Yes, Paramount released Dragonslayer in the US. Disney didn't. That's why the cross-discussion of Dragonslayer and Something Wicked... is causing confusion.

As for not imagining it won't be awesome, it's Paramount. They've released spectacular UHDs/BDs, and piss-poor UHDs/BDs. I'm hoping for the best, but tempering my expectations.

 

[Dick]

I thought he was great and believable in the role. Every role I’ve seen him in since always brings me back to his performance in Dragonslayer.

Diff'rent strokes... I don't argue that MacNichol is a bad actor -- when given a role that fits him, he is wonderful. As Stingo in SOPHIE'S CHOICE, he acquitted himself alongside Kevin Kline. I simply feel that his character was too broadly written and performed in this film, using modern colloquial English, to fit well into a film with a medieval setting. Disney must have insisted that there be a character that would appeal to the teenagers of 1981, in order to offset the truly scary-as-shit dragon sequences, which were unusual for the studio, even though Paramount co'ed it.

My theatrical experiences:

1. South Portland, Maine. A multiplex. The sound was too loud and distorted, because one of the woofers had a break in it. It rattled with every low-end rumble.

2. Augusta, Maine. Multiplex. The picture was so dark I could barely see anything in the dark cave sequence, which was my favorite from my first viewing. I imagine they were projecting with dimmed bulbs to preserve their lifespan.

3. Belfast, Maine. Single-screen, old theater (like most of these, it has since died and gone to wonderful, atmospheric, venue-with-character heaven). The picture and sound were fabulous. Finally, a decent print! But, no, somebody had surgically removed the entire cave sequence! WTF! So, some asshole out there has a five-minute, 35mm piece of film from DRAGONSLAYER. I hope he or she has fun viewing it. I reported this, but the manager just kind of shrugged. It's what they had, he said. No wonder the theater died.

So, Paramount, bring on a 4K-scanned edition, and I will forgive you of your past sins.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Diff'rent strokes... I don't argue that MacNichol is a bad actor -- when given a role that fits him, he is wonderful. As Stingo in SOPHIE'S CHOICE, he acquitted himself alongside Kevin Kline. I simply feel that his character was too broadly written and performed in this film, using modern colloquial English, to fit well into a film with a medieval setting. Disney must have insisted that there be a character that would appeal to the teenagers of 1981, in order to offset the truly scary-as-shit dragon sequences, which were unusual for the studio, even though Paramount co'ed it.

My theatrical experiences:

1. South Portland, Maine. A multiplex. The sound was too loud and distorted, because one of the woofers had a break in it. It rattled with every low-end rumble.

2. Augusta, Maine. Multiplex. The picture was so dark I could barely see anything in the dark cave sequence, which was my favorite from my first viewing. I imagine they were projecting with dimmed bulbs to preserve their lifespan.

3. Belfast, Maine. Single-screen, old theater (like most of these, it has since died and gone to wonderful, atmospheric, venue-with-character heaven). The picture and sound were fabulous. Finally, a decent print! But, no, somebody had surgically removed the entire cave sequence! WTF! So, some asshole out there has a five-minute, 35mm piece of film from DRAGONSLAYER. I hope he or she has fun viewing it. I reported this, but the manager just kind of shrugged. It's what they had, he said. No wonder the theater died.

So, Paramount, bring on a 4K-scanned edition, and I will forgive you of your past sins.

'Twas a weird time. This was picture #2 of the 2-picture joint venture between Disney and Paramount, where Paramount had domestic rights and Disney had international. Picture #1 was Popeye, which is equally weird, but still likable [Harry Nilsson's songs have a curious earwormy charm].
As to your viewing experiences, #1 reminds me of my first time seeing Titanic, as the theatre in question [now converted into a bank/professional building] had blown its subwoofers from testing out the DTS system a couple weeks prior. #2 I have experienced, but for the uninitiated, dimming the bulbs doesn't preserve lifespan and can frequently result in premature death [the number of bulbs we had blow prematurely when I worked at a multiplex for 2 years during law school was in the double digits until the managers fugred out that underrunning them doesn't preserve lifespan. #3 is truly bizarre.