The Alamo restored for blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[ljgranberry]

Had the good fortune to see The Alamo at a screening in Dallas tonight, first time to see on a big screen. I have a feeling the cut scenes added immeasurably to a greater appreciation of the film. Does anyone know the status of reconstructing/restoring the roadshow version, and hopefully releasing it on blu-ray?

 

[bujaki]

Can you divulge the venue? I was unaware of a screening in my neighborhood. Have not seen this since the roadshow engagement of the complete version in Puerto Rico.

 

[ljgranberry]

Can you divulge the venue? I was unaware of a screening in my neighborhood. Have not seen this since the roadshow engagement of the complete version in Puerto Rico.

It was a screening done by the Dallas Film Society at the Alamo Drafthouse. It was a projection of a DVD, and unfortunately it looked terrible. First time I've really seen the film, and it was glaringly evident where the cuts took place. I also looked on youtube, and they are posted out there. Clearly United Artists sacrificed clarity and character development for the ability to get more screenings in.

 

[bujaki]

Thanks, Larry.

 

[Randy Korstick]

The cut scenes add alot to this movie more than usual for cut scenes as many of them fill in missing information. One example: if you add up all the defenders of the alamo in the theatrical cut it comes up short as to how many are actually there. So I always wondered where did the rest of them come from. There is a scene in the directors cut that explains and shows that so it makes the facts correct. There are other scenes like this as well as a resolution with the guy John Wayne has a conflict with over the girl in town. I still have my laserdisc but wish this could be restored for DVD and Blu-Ray.

 

[ljgranberry]

The cut scenes add alot to this movie more than usual for cut scenes as many of them fill in missing information. One example: if you add up all the defenders of the alamo in the theatrical cut it comes up short as to how many are actually there. So I always wondered where did the rest of them come from. There is a scene in the directors cut that explains and shows that so it makes the facts correct. There are other scenes like this as well as a resolution with the guy John Wayne has a conflict with over the girl in town. I still have my laserdisc but wish this could be restored for DVD and Blu-Ray.

Randy, you are so right. This was really the first time I've ever seen the film, and it is jarring where the cuts were done - they seriously hurt the film. I hope Robert Harris or some other expert film preservationist is working to save this, because as it stands the film is a mess with those cuts.

 

[FWAJMB]

Holy Crap!

There is a 13GB HD version of The Alamo that just hit BitTorrent sites. It has the modern MGM logo at the beginning and end, appears to be sourced from HDNet Movies.

The picture is assuredly HD. It's the theatrical version. Film grain - glorious film grain - is apparent throughout. The image is clean and void of detris, but the color seems very slightly unnatural in some scenes.

Now, only if it were ethical to download and keep such a file...