Roman Holiday Special Edition - DVD Review (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Obviously the LDI route is very expensive and time-consuming (a year) so we need to take stock a bit (no pun intended) and then draw up priority lists.

I completely understand...and I didn't know it took so long! And to think some think LDI uses simple "DVNR" restoration...

Is it still being restored? The AMPAS "Best Picture marathon" schedule lists Wings for a 2003 showing fully restored and with an orchestral score. Is this restoration just something an archive is doing with their print?

 

[DeeF]

Sorry if I'm misinformed.

I have understood that the restoration of Singin' in the Rain was a total digital one. Each of the three black and white positives were scanned in separately to the computer, and then cleaned, sized, and composited digitally. I believe the original negs are lost. This is what has been advertised, anyway, and many questions were asked about the current shape of the original materials, without many answers.

This movie was even shown using DLP, but at Film Forum, it will be shown in 35 mm prints. I do not know whether or not these prints are derived from the digitally restored version, or whether they are prints from a negative several generations down.

 

[Steve_Ch]

Anybody happens to know if this is the same DVD in the Audrey Hepburn Collection set (Breakfast at Tiffanys, Sabrina and Roman Holiday) ?

 

[Jordan_E]

I would go see SUNSET BOULEVARD & ROMAN HOLIDAY in a theater in a heartbeat! I saw YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and CASABLANCA a few years ago in a theater and loved it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Steve,
There has only been one dvd release of Roman Holiday, so yes it's the same dvd.




Crawdaddy

 

[Steve_Ch]

Thanks, safe to buy now .

 

[Robert Harris]

In answer to a request for comment...

Parmount's new DVD releases of BOTH Sunset Blvd. and Roman Holiday or worth a purchase.

I've mentioned my caveat re: Sunset, that being the fact that it does not replicate the look of the film, and the lack of actual film grain structure, and the same holds true of RH.

That aside, as a video release, both are clean and very nicely done, especially taking into consideration the elements available originally for transfer, which were nil.

RAH

 

[Martin Blythe]

DeeF, I'm not sure about Singing in the Rain's restoration. I'll make some calls (unless someone else chimes in first).

Agee, Ace in the Hole is being discussed at the moment actually. No plans, no date, but you never know. So far as touring Roman and Sunset 35mm on the FIAF and archival circuit, yes, that's likely next year.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

#I've mentioned my caveat re: Sunset, that being the fact #that it does not replicate the look of
the film, and the lack of actual film #grain structure, and the same holds true of RH.

Grain can be put back digitally if people really want to
see it. And grain beyond what's in the negative is not
wanted anyway unless the film look was designed for a
specific amount of grain in release prints.
MH

 

[Agee Bassett]

Thanks for the news, Mr. Blythe.

 

[Martin Blythe]

This question is perhaps better addressed to Warner Bros. but I gather Singing in the Rain is indeed available in 35mm derived from the restored version, but it's from the high def transfer.

So to modify what I said, Roman Holiday and Sunset Blvd 35mm film prints are the first derived from a 2000-line digital source. We originally compared 2000-line, 3000-line and 4000-lines and opted for 2000 as the most suitable. To some degree the 2000 lines were necessitated because the original source materials were so much worse off than, say, Singing in the Rain, whose color separations were still fabulous looking.

John Lowry is amenable to a chat some time in early December so we could bring this up with him, since he did the Singing in the Rain restoration, if not the film print derived from it.

 

[oscar_merkx]

Great news about a possible release for Ace in the Hole for next year.
Thanks Mr Blythe, now how about some good news for us Sergio Leone fans and a possible restoration for Shogun.
Thanks again

 

[DaViD Boulet]

And grain beyond what's in the negative is not
wanted anyway unless the film look was designed for a
specific amount of grain in release prints.

I agree with this perspective.
I'm all for the natural "film like" appearance of a DVD movie. However, I most want to see what those source-elements look like, and for me, the film negatives are a valid "source element" to which the DVD should maintain fidelity. If a print was mastered artistically to compound additional grain by the director, then naturally this should be considered the source image. But barring this very explicit use of grain by choice and intention, I'd like to see the image quality of those negatives shine through in full glory.

 

[DeeF]

I'm still confused about the difference between making a 35mm print of the digitally restored Roman Holiday, and making a 35mm print of the digitally restored Singin' in the Rain. Aren't these the same? (except that one is in color). They were both done by Lowry. I'm aware that Roman Holiday was perhaps worse off than the other, but it seems to me they both required new negatives and new prints, straight from the digital domain.

Can anybody clear this up?

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Martin,

I hope I helped with the economics of the situation by buying two copies of "Roman Holiday" (one for my mother for Christmas and one for my aunt for her birthday). And, having seen "The Duellists" restoration process at Paramount last year, I'm looking forward to this week as well. I can't think of a recent Paramount title that I've been unhappy with in terms of sound and image. Keep up the good work (and start cracking the whip with "Once Upon a Time In The West"!).

 

[Martin Blythe]

DeeF, Singing in the Rain was restored on high def resolution at 1080 lines from terrific color sources; Sunset and Roman were restored at 2000 lines from relatively poor source materials. So to answer your question, what's new here is the choice of going to 2000 lines.