RYAN’S DAUGHTER: Discussions for a BD Release (2015 - 2024) (1 Viewer)

[cinemiracle]

The trouble with having films restored and released onto bluray is that there are probably hundreds of titles that demand such a release. It would take many years for the money to be made available in order to restore the wanted films. One has to be very patient and just wait. All things come to those who wait.

 

[Stephen PI]

Thanks for filling in the film stocks, I was sure about Ben-Hur having been shot on 5248 and Lawrence on 5250 but I was not quite sure about Spartacus as it was produced when Kodak introduced 5250.

From all the 70mm prints that I have seen of major Hollywood productions Ryan's Daughter and Cheyenne Autumn probably impressed me the most with regard to detail and clarity and sadly both have not yet been released on Blu-ray.

Additionally, LOA and RD were shot spherical 65mm, unlike Ben-Hur and Spartacus, which might have made a slight difference, would it not?

 

[OliverK]

Additionally, LOA and RD were shot spherical 65mm, unlike Ben-Hur and Spartacus, which might have made a slight difference, would it not?

Indeed I would expect this to make a slight difference with everything else being identical but I am not sure if it would really be noticable in the case of UP70 / Camera 65. I think that a bigger issue may have been that ultimate sharpness and detail were attained by contact printing from the camera negative and of course by having a big negative area to begin with.
So as long as there were contact prints the UP70 / Camera 65 movies should achieve almost the same quality as spherical productions as in that case it would be the same negative size and the same printing process.

Unfortunately that applied only to Ben-Hur and Mutiny on the Bounty, all the other movies made in the process did not get 70 mm contact prints in their initial releases from what I have gathered or at least they must have been extremely rare as these movies were usually shown flat or on cinerama screens where they were predistorted in printing. I have seen the predistorted prints of Khartoum and The Greatest Story Ever told and pans look horrible on up to 90 degree screens plus everything is obviously stretched vertically to varying degrees, I really cannot enjoy those prints very much but both look very sharp so I would think that the difference that the taking process may have made is not as big as one might think.

As for Spartacus it came from a smaller negative and went through an optical printer so it would indeed be expected to look a bit weaker like all movies released in the Super Technirama 70 process. I still think that the ca. 7 to 8 Super Technirama 70 productions that I saw in 70mm looked very good with the exception of Sleeping Beauty that looked less impressive.

 

[DP 70]

I saw Ben Hur from a 4K DCP at Bradford on Sunday on the Cinerama screen and it looked really great.

 

[OliverK]

I saw Ben Hur from a 4K DCP at Bradford on Sunday on the Cinerama screen and it looked really great.

I saw it at the Schauburg 70mm festival and since then I have been waiting for the 4k version to be released by Warner.

Since then I have learned that a catalog title does not really have to look good to be released on UHD so I would not be surprised if it takes another two or three years to arrive on UHD.

 

[PMF]

[...]One has to be very patient and just wait. All things come to those who wait.

True. But don't forget, this thread was initiated some 49 months ago;
which, at a monthly announcement rate, is the equivalency of 147 plus titles.

 

[PMF]

I saw it at the Schauburg 70mm festival and since then I have been waiting for the 4k version to be released by Warner.

Since then I have learned that a catalog title does not really have to look good to be released on UHD so I would not be surprised if it takes another two or three years to arrive on UHD.

A 4K/UHD of "Ryan's Daughter" (1970) would be an amazing thing to have and to own;
especially if "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) and "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) were to be released within the same format.

As it was, these 3 films were designed by David Lean and Freddie Young as a canvas termed as "The Elements" trilogy;
to which each of these efforts won a competitive Oscar for Best Cinematography, and all within an 8 year span.

Freddie Young - master cinematographer - his legacy is deserving of these same heights and uniformity.

 

[PMF]

Speaking of 4K/UHD and a Freddie Young uniformity of his triple-play perfections;
one has to wonder out loud if "Doctor Zhivago" would be a successful candidate for this format?
I say this because "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Ryan's Daughter" were shot in 70mm;
to which both would seem to be a slam-dunk dream in terms of reference quality and 4K excellence.
Yet, with "Doctor Zhivago", we have a film that was shot in 35;
so with this, we may have to ask that necessary question. Will Yuri be able to board his train?
If the answer is "Yes", then hopefully Warner Brothers (vs. WAC) will do a 4K/UHD upgrade;
as they had so magnificently done with "2001" and "Blade Runner".

 

[Robert Harris]

Speaking of 4K/UHD and a Freddie Young uniformity of his triple-play perfections;
one has to wonder out loud if "Doctor Zhivago" would be a successful candidate for this format?
I say this because "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Ryan's Daughter" were shot in 70mm;
to which both would seem to be a slam-dunk dream in terms of reference quality and 4K excellence.
Yet, with "Doctor Zhivago", we have a film that was shot in 35;
so with this, we may have to ask that necessary question. Will Yuri be able to board his train?
If the answer is "Yes", then hopefully Warner Brothers (vs. WAC) will do an upgrade;
as they had so magnificently done with "2001" and "Blade Runner".

IMHO, yes.

 

[Alan Tully]

All this makes me wonder if Sony have gotten around to working their magic on Freddie Young's 65mm photography on Lord Jim (1965).

 

[OliverK]

All this makes me wonder if Sony have gotten around to working their magic on Freddie Young's 65mm photography on Lord Jim (1965).

For now they have worked their magic on a new 70mm print some 10 years ago - it is magnificent.

I am sure that in due time they will also revisit Lord Jim in the digital realm but as the negative is probably in better shape than some other titles it may take a backseat to for example Barabbas that could require more work sooner. I also would presume that Barabbas was shot on Eastman 5250 stock and not the later 5251 that would have been used on Lord Jim.

 

[PMF]

Speaking of 4K/UHD and a Freddie Young uniformity of his triple-play perfections;
one has to wonder out loud if "Doctor Zhivago" would be a successful candidate for this format?[...]

IMHO, yes.

Ah, yes, Mr. Harris. This is just what the "Doctor" ordered.

Well then, short of any further restorative work, the rest is up to Warner Brothers.

To date, WB has given us 4K/UHD transfers of "The Wizard of Oz", "The Shining", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Matrix", "Blade Runner" and "Unforgiven"; all of which were voted upon by The American Society of Cinematographers as their Top 100 films of visual influence for their centenary year of 2019. Likewise, "Doctor Zhivago" was also cited and is part and parcel to this prestigious recognition.

Fingers crossed.

 

[RMajidi]

This is obviously not the time to be clamouring for new restorations and releases. Just the same, it’s been an unusually long time since @PMF posted here. Since I see he is back on the HTF boards (welcome home, Philip), I thought it mightn’t hurt to at least put some things back the way they were by bumping this thread.

 

[PMF]

This is obviously not the time to be clamouring for new restorations and releases. Just the same, it’s been an unusually long time since @PMF posted here. Since I see he is back on the HTF boards (welcome home, Philip), I thought it mightn’t hurt to at least put some things back the way they were by bumping this thread.

Much obliged, Ramin. I’ll try to think of something to post that’s both uplifting and apropos for these uncharted times. Until then, let us always be cognizant and ever watchful of each other.

 

[Alan Tully]

This is obviously not the time to be clamouring for new restorations and releases. Just the same, it’s been an unusually long time since @PMF posted here. Since I see he is back on the HTF boards (welcome home, Philip), I thought it mightn’t hurt to at least put some things back the way they were by bumping this thread.

Oh I dunno, at grim times like this we all crave a bit of normality, & here, that's asking about new restorations & complaining about the colour on some releases. I hope all of our whacky gang are still around in six months time.

 

[Flicks*]

Oh I dunno, at grim times like this we all crave a bit of normality, & here, that's asking about new restorations & complaining about the colour on some releases. I hope all of our whacky gang are still around in six months time.

Ryan's Daughter will be 50 years old this year. It was released on the 9th of November 1970. A 50th anniversary Blu-Ray release would be fantastic.
This is a recent photo of

Oh I dunno, at grim times like this we all crave a bit of normality, & here, that's asking about new restorations & complaining about the colour on some releases. I hope all of our whacky gang are still around in six months time.

 

[Flicks*]

Ryan's Daughter will be 50 years old this year. It was released on the 9th of November 1970. A 50th anniversary Blu-Ray release would be fantastic.
This is a recent photo of

the schoolhouse taken a few weeks ago at sunset.

 

[OliverK]

Oh I dunno, at grim times like this we all crave a bit of normality, & here, that's asking about new restorations & complaining about the colour on some releases. I hope all of our whacky gang are still around in six months time.

Very well put - a bit of distraction and many movies to watch can go a long way to keep us both inside and sane.

 

[PMF]

Ryan's Daughter will be 50 years old this year. It was released on the 9th of November 1970. A 50th anniversary Blu-Ray release would be fantastic.
This is a recent photo of the schoolhouse taken a few weeks ago at sunset.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: refer to attached file and photo of Message #836
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Beyond words.

Wish I could plunk down a bedroll and camp out on that very spot.

I showed this photo to a gentleman who is 70 plus years. Without speaking of Ryan’s Daughter or where this photo was taken, I asked of his impressions.

The first thing he said was, “Is that Ireland?”

I was floored and asked, “Have you seen Ryan’s Daughter?”

He answered, “No, I don’t think so”.

I further went on, “Then how did you know it was Ireland?”

He replied, “By the structure of those old houses they have over there.”

All the more to my intrigue was in learning that he had never even traveled to this great land.

What a testament to the lasting genius and meticulous designs of John Box.

Thanks to Flicks* for this contribution.

 

[Flicks*]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: refer to attached file and photo of Message #836
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beyond words.

Wish I could plunk down a bedroll and camp out on that very spot.

I showed this photo to a gentleman who is 70 plus years. Without speaking of Ryan’s Daughter or where this photo was taken, I asked of his impressions.

The first thing he said was, “Is that Ireland?”

I was floored and asked, “Have you seen Ryan’s Daughter?”

He answered, “No, I don’t think so”.

I further went on, “Then how did you know it was Ireland?”

He replied, “By the structure of those old houses they have over there.”

All the more to my intrigue was in learning that he had never even traveled to this great land.

What a testament to the lasting genius and meticulous designs of John Box.

Thanks to Flicks* for this contribution.

The schoolhouse was built especially for the film, but it wasn't a set. It was an actual building, built in 1969, specifically for the film by local builders to traditional designs. Here are some more photos of the schoolhouse and the area