Shout Factory Press Release: Earthquake Collector’s Edition (1974) (1 Viewer)

[Peter Apruzzese]

The filmed for TV scenes literally add nothing to the film. They actually do the opposite.

Since that version is on an entirely separate disc, you don't have to *ever* see them again.

There was a gentleman at Universal, who should get some kudos, as he was behind the process.

Waldon “Waddy” Watson, who among many other accomplishments, was behind the engineering for Sensurround.

He, fortunately, was with us in April of 1982, when we opened Napoleon at the Dome in 70mm 6-track, for which we had recorded very low frequency organ passages...

And a tiny twenty-five cent part went awry in the sound system, and Sensurround cut in.

That must have been interesting, did the audience notice or was it caught in time?

Waldon O. Watson - one of those names that, for some reason, I always remembered from the credits even when I was a kid. Along with Murray Spivak (who I learned about by reading 'The Making of King Kong' over and over again).

 

[Robert Harris]

Since that version is on an entirely separate disc, you don't have to *ever* see them again.



That must have been interesting, did the audience notice or was it caught in time?

Waldon O. Watson - one of those names that, for some reason, I always remembered from the credits even when I was a kid. Along with Murray Spivak (who I learned about by reading 'The Making of King Kong' over and over again).

Oh, yes. It was noticed. We all ended up back in the booth.

 

[Marco S]

The sensurround people, I think Sound Chamber, from North Hollywood, started selling the system to the new Discos that were opening up. I was working at the Cabaret (The Zoo in TGIF) and at closing, I played the album soundtrack on the system and it sounded real good. There were two different versions of the soundtrack LP. One had the short earthquake and the other had the long.

 

[Tino]

I always thought that sequence worked. Although I don’t recall whether the aircraft was attempting to land or take off.

Can’t tell if your joking or not.

In any case it was attempting to Land

 

[RolandL]

Link?

Here

 

[Robert Harris]

Can’t tell if your joking or not.

In any case it was attempting to Land

Being serious. At least it worked back in 1974-5, or whenever it was broadcast. Possibly not so well today.

 

[deepscan]

Gotta say these are disappointing extras.


DISC ONE:

• BRAND NEW 2K REMASTER OF THE THEATRICAL CUT OF THE FILM
• Audio Options: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.1 w/Sensurround audio and 2.0
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Original TV Spot
• Original Radio Spots
• Vintage audio Interviews with Charlton Heston, Lorne Greene and Richard Roundtree
• Still Galleries – movie stills, posters and lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos and matte paintings and miniatures

DISC TWO:

• BRAND NEW 2K REMASTER OF THE TV VERSION, featuring over 20 mins of made-for-broadcast footage (presented in 1.33:1)
• NEW Sounds of Disaster: Ben Burtt talks about SENSURROUND
• NEW Scoring Disaster: The Music of EARTHQUAKE
• NEW Painting Disaster: The Matte Art of Albert Whitlock
• Isolated TV scenes – Play them without watching the TV version of the film
• Additional TV scenes (taken from best available film elements)

I don’t give a shit about the terrible TV scenes!

Nothing disappointing about it. This is good enough for me! Look forward to this release!

 

[Tino]

Nothing disappointing about it. This is good enough for me! Look forward to this release!

Im looking forward to it too. Day one purchase. Just disappointed in the lack of substantial extras.

 

[darkrock17]

I'm not disappointed with the extras, they're 100 times better than what Universal themselves would ever do.

I would have liked to see a few featurettes about how they did the effects and stunt work, as well as a piece on the history of the Earthquake ride at both Universal Studios in Florida and Hollywood. I saw a video about the ride on YouTube a couple months ago and was very surprised that pre-show used to have the guests/riders reenact a few of the stunts from the film.

Those two items I would have liked to be included on this release, but since there not it wont be the end of the world for me. Shout worked with whatever Universal was willing to share with them to create what we're getting and that I'm good with that.

 

[Jack P]

I'm late learning about this and I am glad we're getting a new release that also includes the TV cut. I think one thing that hasn't been brought up in this thread regarding this and other TV cuts of Universal films of the 1970s is that the 2008 Universal fire destroyed the tape transfers of a number of these that were being used for TV airings. That's the reason why the TV cut of "Two Minute Warning" had to be sourced from an off-air recording and it's also I think the reason why the long TV cuts of "Airport '77" and "Midway" haven't been seen in years. If they had to source the "Earthquake" TV cut from a TV airing, I won't be surprised. I think it is good that it is being included because at the very least it will mean we can shut down one area of bootleg selling that does include those longer TV cuts.

I've always found it odd though that Universal shot new footage for TV when there was cutting room floor material from the original shoot they could have put back in. For instance, there was a scene that explained why Stewart Graff hit his breaking point and decided to cheat on Remy, because after her fake suicide attempt he discovered that she had an abortion without telling him (a slip-up by Dr. Lloyd Nolan who was introduced earlier in the film as their regular doctor). Also cut were scenes showing Barry Sullivan and the scientists after the quake making it clear they weren't killed.

Not that it would have helped because compared to "Towering Inferno" and "Poseidon Adventure", "Earthquake" is very bad with not very interesting main characters (the scientists at the beginning are the most interesting ones and the film should have had characters like that as the focal point). But I'm glad we're getting this kind of presentation just the same.

 

[darkrock17]

I've always found it odd though that Universal shot new footage for TV when there was cutting room floor material from the original shoot they could have put back in. For instance, there was a scene that explained why Stewart Graff hit his breaking point and decided to cheat on Remy, because after her fake suicide attempt he discovered that she had an abortion without telling him (a slip-up by Dr. Lloyd Nolan who was introduced earlier in the film as their regular doctor). Also cut were scenes showing Barry Sullivan and the scientists after the quake making it clear they weren't killed.
.

That scene might of been considered taboo for NBC even though earlier back in 1972 Maude tackled that topic. That scene would made Stewart and Remy more relatable than just a couple who just can't stand each other.

 

[William Kucharski]

So, I quickly saw the specs the other day and I could have sworn it said that the film will contain the original Sensurround track that many of you have been asking about.

If this is true, what exactly do you expect from that track? I mean, is it going to provide enough LFE signal to crack the plaster in your home?

They could have easily borrowed one of the existing Mark I generators from Dolby and used that and encoded the output onto the LFE track; they did not and in fact I believe the audio tracks are simple ports of the ones from the Universal Blu-ray so the Sensurround track actually has less bass than the 5.1 track.

Worse, they seem to have taken the audio for the Sensurround "warning" trailer directly from a clip on YouTube, complete with its bad echo and phasey digital artifacts. This despite the fact I know at least one collector offered Shout! Factory the use of a pristine 35mm print of the Sensurround trailer for them to convert.

I completely agree with you. Sensurround is a theatrical gimmick that truly only worked in a theater (and by most accounts, wasn't worth writing home about).

That is not at all true; anyone who experienced actual Sensurround in a real theater will never forget it. You really did feel it more than hear it, the best example I can give is the bass at a rave or EDM concert that you feel more than hear.

Dolby Cinemas can do something similar today, but the subs in Dolby Cinema theaters are not located in back of you as well as in front, are usually not playing infrasonic frequencies, and certainly not at over 100 dB for the entirety of a long sequence like the main quake in Earthquake.

Sensurround was a wonderful effect, but I have never yet heard (or should I say felt) anything that reproduced that same effect.

The fact that the "original trailer" on the disc is a stretched letterbox 4:3 version tells me a lot less time and effort was spent on this than could have been; seeing that was just sad.

The best benefit is the theatrical cut really does look better than it has since projected in theaters in 1974.

 

[William Kucharski]

The filmed for TV scenes literally add nothing to the film. They actually do the opposite.

But they do change it slightly.

The sequence in the pawn shop on the TV version makes it clear that Jodi's neighbors were telling the truth when they said they had a suitcase of jewels because an old lady just gave it to them.

It comes off as merely a lame excuse in the theatrical cut.

This may be because TV censors at the time felt more justification was needed for Lou to shoot and kill him in the diner.

Ironicaly that sequence is included only as an extra in the TV cut because they couldn't find materials good enough to include intercut with the TV version of the film, but I personally have those scenes on SVHS that look better than what they upscaled for the deleted scenes.

Once again the collector community had better sources for at least some bits, and offered them to Shout! Factory, but they were not interested.

 

[William Kucharski]

Being serious. At least it worked back in 1974-5, or whenever it was broadcast. Possibly not so well today.

It did.

As a huge fan of the movie as a kid, I still remember that they needed to hit speed 180 to take off again.

Yes, it looks silly to me today, but it worked well for pre-teen me.

 

[Will*B]

I watched my copy of the new Shout! Factory Earthquake last night.

As reported in another forum, the theatrical version's aspect ratio appears to be closer to 2.2:1 than the correct 2.39:1 original. I initially thought my TV's overscan settings had reverted back to factory setting...

Can anyone offer any explanation for this? I don't have access to the old BD, but I'm assuming that a significant amount of picture information is being lost on the sides of the Shout! image...

 

[William Kucharski]

Can anyone offer any explanation for this? I don't have access to the old BD, but I'm assuming that a significant amount of picture information is being lost on the sides of the Shout! image...

Perhaps the new scan was done based on a 70mm print; 70mm prints had an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 to make room for the magnetic soundtrack.

 

[Will*B]

Perhaps the new scan was done based on a 70mm print; 70mm prints had an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 to make room for the magnetic soundtrack.

That would certainly make sense; Shout's version also features the Sensurround warning and the R-rating at the start of the film - perhaps those were on prints only.

Shout say they performed a 2K transfer of "original film elements" rather than original camera negative, so perhaps they used a 70mm version for some reason.

A lot of the shots definitely look a bit cramped on the sides...

 

[William Kucharski]

That would certainly make sense; Shout's version also features the Sensurround warning

Unfortunately that Sensurround warning is horrible - it literally uses the audio from a poor quality YouTube clip.

 

[B-ROLL]

That would certainly make sense; Shout's version also features the Sensurround warning and the R-rating at the start of the film - perhaps those were on prints only.

Shout say they performed a 2K transfer of "original film elements" rather than original camera negative, so perhaps they used a 70mm version for some reason.

A lot of the shots definitely look a bit cramped on the sides...

I am certain the film was not R upon release as I was thirteen when it came out and the only question the cashier asked is if I wanted Loge seating? ...

 

[Tino]

Definitely PG. Always