International THE ALAMO (John Wayne's extended cut) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I received the same message. The last bit tracking of tracking information is that the package was received at an Amazon facility in Krefeld in Germany on Sept. 15. I’m not feeling good about this.

I got exactly the same tracking information on Sept. 15th being received in Krefeld.

 

[Flashgear]

You guys in the States are usually way ahead of me when it comes to new or newly re-released discs, so I'm very surprised that I received my copy of the three disc Koch mediabook of The Alamo on Monday...DVD of the film, Blu of the film and Blu with the many bonus features...with hardware, I'm currently only capable of taking DVD screen caps, and not Blu caps, but the HD presentation of this 'extended cut' looks great to my as-issued mark one eyeball...

Disc one is the DVD, Disc two Blu has the 2:41 cut, Disc three Blu the 'roadshow' 'director's' cut at 3:22:41 run time with overture and exit music (18 chapters) and Bonus features in HD. I noticed some of the added scenes at about the 2:05 to 2:09 mark, and of course there are other sequences too that make up the extended run time of the 'director's' cut.

 

[Alan Tully]

Germany does a good Mediabook, & releases quite a few of them (France too, but not as many). It's not something that the US & UK do anymore, & I don't think they ever did that many, the only one I have is The Comancheros from Fox. I much prefer a Mediabook to a Steelbook (a disc in a tin).

 

[Pictureman]

I got exactly the same tracking information on Sept. 15th being received in Krefeld.

Guys, just to let you know there are long delays in postal and delivery services across Europe due to a reduction in transport options, cancelled flights etc. I've been waiting up to three weeks for packets which would normally take a day or two.

Your disks are probably waiting to move on to a main hub to be put on a plane.

 

[TJPC]

We had to tell relatives in the States to not be so honest. They would be truthful on customs declarations and when the package arrived we had to go to the big post office downtown and play big bucks in duty. After we told them about this however, suddenly we started getting "boxes of $2.00 sox" instead delivered right to the house!

 

[Capt D McMars]

I once bought a 3D lenticular movie poster of 2001: a space odyssey. Same thing, empty box. Idiot seller put in the description on the box what it was.

sometimes there's such a thing as TMI!!!

 

[Capt D McMars]

Germany does a good Mediabook, & releases quite a few of them (France too, but not as many). It's not something that the US & UK do anymore, & I don't think they ever did that many, the only one I have is The Comancheros from Fox. I much prefer a Mediabook to a Steelbook (a disc in a tin).

Outlaw Josie Wales was released as a Media book as well.

 

[Alan Tully]

Outlaw Josie Wales was released as a Media book as well.

Yup, & Warner also released the 1933 King Kong & The Wizard Of Oz in a Digibook (& they to go for big bucks now) & I'm sure a fair few others, but all that seems to have stopped now, I can't remember anything from the last few years (maybe just too much trouble for them).

 

[Flashgear]

Some informal observations now that I've had a chance to check out the Koch mediabook...

Disc one is the DVD, Disc two Blu has the 2:41 cut, Disc three Blu the 'roadshow' 'director's' cut at 3:22:41 run time with overture and exit music (18 chapters) all in 2.35 A/R...and Bonus features in HD (WS) and SD (1.37).

With the extended cut, I noticed some of the added scenes at about the 2:05 to 2:09 mark, and of course there are other sequences too that make up the extended run time of the 'director's' cut.

It's also loaded with a 'making of' bonus SD feature 'John Wayne's The Alamo' (English original audio, SD, 1:08:06),

Pontiac Star Parade TV episode 'Spirit of the Alamo' (Kinescope, 51:27, English original audio) from November 1959 that was done while filming in San Antonio with Wayne hosting on camera,

An HD slideshow with accompanying music of cast pictures on set (7:31),

A beautiful HD slideshow with accompanying music with many great behind the scenes and publicity pics (16:34),

Another HD slideshow with music of the film's promotional and publicity materials (13:55),

An HD featurette from Koch in German only with Mike Siegel hosting on camera, 'Duke's Traumprojekt' (HD, WS, 38:38),


And a 1991 feature 'John Wayne-Eine Americkanische Legend' (German audio, SD, 1:01:21).

 

[David Norman]

Fortunately I received my disc acquired through eBay in today’s mail and in excellent shape. I haven’t installed the Oppo modification in order to play it yet. Details indicate the 202 minute version listed under “Extras” is in standard definition, as expected. I’m hoping it’s at least anamorphically enhanced rather than window boxed like the Twilight Time roadshow version of Hawaii (1966); I don’t see it specified on the (quite nice) packaging, which of course is all in German

The 202 minute being listed as SD isn't quite correct either -- at least in my definition of the terms. Parts of it are upscaled SD to 720p, most of it seems to be downscaled from the 1080p material the put together for a 202 minute 720p presentation. You can certainly tell where the 'missing footage' was inserted, but even the worst sections are significantly better than any DVD or LD resolution. From people that have compared the true SD extended from the French release to this Koch release it's a significant improvment.

 

[jayembee]

Germany does a good Mediabook, & releases quite a few of them (France too, but not as many). It's not something that the US & UK do anymore, & I don't think they ever did that many, the only one I have is The Comancheros from Fox. I much prefer a Mediabook to a Steelbook (a disc in a tin).

It depends on what you mean by "that many". I don't know about the UK, but in the US, there have been about 150 of them, half of which were released by Warner. Over here, they were referred to as "DigiBooks". My count doesn't include "DigiPacks" which had discs in cardboard sleeves bound together like a book. I don't consider those to be DigiBooks.

 

[uncledougie]

The 202 minute being listed as SD isn't quite correct either -- at least in my definition of the terms. Parts of it are upscaled SD to 720p, most of it seems to be downscaled from the 1080p material the put together for a 202 minute 720p presentation. You can certainly tell where the 'missing footage' was inserted, but even the worst sections are significantly better than any DVD or LD resolution. From people that have compared the true SD extended from the French release to this Koch release it's a significant improvment.

That’s good to hear. The LD had decent quality for its time, but the restored footage was evident there, also, albeit very welcome to have. Since it was originally released in Todd-AO presumably at 2.20:1, does this version at 2.35:1 crop the 70mm projection ratio, or was that version recomposed such that the 35mm visuals had more side to side information?

 

[Alan Tully]

It depends on what you mean by "that many". I don't know about the UK, but in the US, there have been about 150 of them, half of which were released by Warner. Over here, they were referred to as "DigiBooks".

I had no idea there was that many, but how many are released now? (or in the last few years). Germany are still knocking them out, & making a good job of them.

Anyway, back to the Alamo. I still haven't looked at the longer version. It was supposed to be my main Christmas Day film last Christmas, but I was ill & didn't watch it, maybe soon.

 

[jayembee]

I had no idea there was that many, but how many are released now?

Now? Zip. There might've been a couple released since I stopped keeping tabs -- because they seemed to stop coming out -- but as far as I can tell, there haven't been any released here since early 2018.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Now? Zip. There might've been a couple released since I stopped keeping tabs -- because they seemed to stop coming out -- but as far as I can tell, there haven't been any released here since early 2018. it sems COVID killed the Media Book releases!!

Yeah, it seems that COVID killed the media book releases!!

 

[cremers andre]

The 202 minute being listed as SD isn't quite correct either -- at least in my definition of the terms. Parts of it are upscaled SD to 720p, most of it seems to be downscaled from the 1080p material the put together for a 202 minute 720p presentation. You can certainly tell where the 'missing footage' was inserted, but even the worst sections are significantly better than any DVD or LD resolution. From people that have compared the true SD extended from the French release to this Koch release it's a signif

The 202 minute being listed as SD isn't quite correct either -- at least in my definition of the terms. Parts of it are upscaled SD to 720p, most of it seems to be downscaled from the 1080p material the put together for a 202 minute 720p presentation. You can certainly tell where the 'missing footage' was inserted, but even the worst sections are significantly better than any DVD or LD resolution. From people that have compared the true SD extended from the French release to this Koch release it's a significant improvment.

The 202 minute being listed as SD isn't quite correct either -- at least in my definition of the terms. Parts of it are upscaled SD to 720p, most of it seems to be downscaled from the 1080p material the put together for a 202 minute 720p presentation. You can certainly tell where the 'missing footage' was inserted, but even the worst sections are significantly better than any DVD or LD resolution. From people that have compared the true SD extended from the French release to this Koch release it's a significant improvment.

Hello the long version is good in 16/9 as for the cinema version

 

[cremers andre]

Heureusement, j'ai reçu mon disque acquis via eBay dans le courrier d'aujourd'hui et en excellent état. Je n'ai pas encore installé la modification Oppo pour pouvoir y jouer. Les détails indiquent que la version de 202 minutes répertoriée sous "Extras" est en définition standard, comme prévu. J'espère qu'il est au moins amélioré de manière anamorphique plutôt que dans une boîte à fenêtre comme la version du roadshow Twilight Time d'Hawaï (1966); Je ne le vois pas spécifié sur l'emballage (assez joli), qui est bien sûr tout en allemand. View attachment 155526

Bonjour la version longue est bien en 16/9 comme pour la version cinéma

 

[cremers andre]

Fortunately I received my disc acquired through eBay in today’s mail and in excellent shape. I haven’t installed the Oppo modification in order to play it yet. Details indicate the 202 minute version listed under “Extras” is in standard definition, as expected. I’m hoping it’s at least anamorphically enhanced rather than window boxed like the Twilight Time roadshow version of Hawaii (1966); I don’t see it specified on the (quite nice) packaging, which of course is all in German. View attachment 155526

Hello the long version is good in 16/9 as for the cinema version

 

[Nick*Z]

Is any of this region free?

Never mind, I found my answer. Region B locked only. Like so many other great movies, off limits to the US and Canada. Makes no sense. Not in this day and age. None at all.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Is any of this region free?

Never mind, I found my answer. Region B locked only. Like so many other great movies, off limits to the US and Canada. Makes no sense. Not in this day and age. None at all.

Multi-Regon Bluray Player...stop frustrating yourself, many have!!!