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THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955) on Blu-Ray – when? (1 Viewer)

Jack Theakston

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Gramercy Pictures didn't exist in the 1950s either. I'm pretty sure Jack was talking about Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

That is correct. I meant to quote the previous post, but it didn’t take for some reason.

And for what it’s worth, cable TV goes back to the 1950s in North America! It didn’t get its legs until the 1970s, when HBO was formed.
 

Doug Otte

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For those wondering about subtle differences in the mono track; the mix is different.

Compare the scene at the dinner table when they are listening to Mozart. The music is very prominent in the mono mix and at the appropriate level - as quiet background music for dining - in the Perspecta mix.

Just a reminder...

Perspecta-playback.jpg

I haven't had time to watch the actual film yet (but hope to do so this weekend). But, I had a little time before bed to peruse the extras last night. It was interesting to read that Robert Fine had a hand in developing Perspecta. And, it was quite a coincidence because earlier in the evening I'd been listening to a Mercury Living Presence SACD which was produced by his wife, Wilma Cozart Fine.

It's interesting that they were both involved in multi-channel audio protocols in the 1950s.

I have several of her recordings on SACD and was familiar with her name, but don't think I ever knew about Robert.
 

Dick

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Amen! I've tried watching them a few times but about 10 minutes is all I can take. If I'm going to watch a "bad" movie, I certainly don't need their juvenile smugness chattering away for the entire film.

There is simply a particular kind of sense of humor (which obviously many of us share) that delights in goofy stuff like this show, especially when the movies they mock are really, really bad. Some people think the Joel/Mike interstitials are better than the movie commentaries. I disagree with that and think they suck out too much of the film's running time and have insufferable secondary characters. But there are some zingers on most of these shows that have me laughing hard, and out loud. There are scores of often obscure cultural references here in every show that many viewers (especially younger ones) won't get at all, and I appreciate that some intelligence and research has gone into the writing. Can't find too many popular contemporary sitcoms or so-called "comedy" movies that can claim that.
 

TravisR

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There is simply a particular kind of sense of humor (which obviously many of us share) that delights in goofy stuff like this show, especially when the movies they mock are really, really bad. Some people think the Joel/Mike interstitials are better than the movie commentaries. I disagree with that and think they suck out too much of the film's running time and have insufferable secondary characters. But there are some zingers on most of these shows that have me laughing hard, and out loud. There are scores of often obscure cultural references here in every show that many viewers (especially younger ones) won't get at all, and I appreciate that some intelligence and research has gone into the writing. Can't find too many popular contemporary sitcoms or so-called "comedy" movies that can claim that.
I understand why some people hate MST3K but the show introduced me (and I'd be willing to bet many others) to alot of these movies that I now legitimately enjoy in their original form too.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Some people think the Joel/Mike interstitials are better than the movie commentaries. I disagree with that and think they suck out too much of the film's running time and have insufferable secondary characters.

I have seen my share of MST3K features but I've pretty much never watched the interstitials - I would fast forward through them then when I'd tape an episode off TV, and I'll fast forward through them now when I watch them on DVD. I appreciate that some people enjoy them and would never suggest that they be removed, but for me, I was there for the movie commentary and not their fake plot or characters.
 

Brandon Conway

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I have seen my share of MST3K features but I've pretty much never watched the interstitials - I would fast forward through them then when I'd tape an episode off TV, and I'll fast forward through them now when I watch them on DVD. I appreciate that some people enjoy them and would never suggest that they be removed, but for me, I was there for the movie commentary and not their fake plot or characters.

A lot of the interstitials are gems though - Patrick Swayze Christmas being my favorite.

 

Doug Otte

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I finally watched the feature last night and today. The video and audio quality are beautiful, as others have noted.

Thanks to Bob & Team for restoring the Perspecta track. However, I must admit that I prefer the 2.0. I tried the Perspecta last night and again today. Admittedly, my room is problematic, and tweaking would probably help. But, the shifting of dialogue from the center to left and right, even within a single shot, was very distracting. I found the 2.0 track much more enjoyable.
 

John Sparks

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Had a friend watch this but had the wrong AUDIO on. Wow, was he surprised that they offered the PERSPECTA audio, but didn't see it. Always happy to help others with their audio!
 

Doug Otte

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I finally watched the feature last night and today. The video and audio quality are beautiful, as others have noted.

Thanks to Bob & Team for restoring the Perspecta track. However, I must admit that I prefer the 2.0. I tried the Perspecta last night and again today. Admittedly, my room is problematic, and tweaking would probably help. But, the shifting of dialogue from the center to left and right, even within a single shot, was very distracting. I found the 2.0 track much more enjoyable.

Over the weekend, I ran the Audyssey software again on my receiver to reset the speaker settings. Over the years, I had manually played around with the settings to fix specific "issues" I heard. Well, that managed to muck everything up.

After I reset everything, things sounded much better. So, I tried the Perspecta track again. Although it is a little distracting with the extreme panning of dialogue from left, to center, to right, it does sound more harmonious and euphonic. There's a word you don't hear every day!
 

Josh Steinberg

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So I've been trying to avoid blind buys this year, but I made an exception for this because a) this is a movie I've heard about for years and wanted to see in the best possible quality and b) I'm a sucker for antique formats like Perspecta.

I thought the movie was tremendously entertaining and I had a great time watching it. And the soundtrack was so much fun. The sound panning worked beautifully with my home theater setup and was a great treat.

Definitely one of my better blind buys!
 

lark144

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So I've been trying to avoid blind buys this year, but I made an exception for this because a) this is a movie I've heard about for years and wanted to see in the best possible quality and b) I'm a sucker for antique formats like Perspecta.

I thought the movie was tremendously entertaining and I had a great time watching it. And the soundtrack was so much fun. The sound panning worked beautifully with my home theater setup and was a great treat.

Definitely one of my better blind buys!
Of course, for members of my vintage, we all owned the Super 8 "War of the Planets." It was a little weird watching it again as an extra.
 

J. Casey

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Regarding WAR OF THE PLANETS.....I had the much later Super 8mm magnetic sound 18 minute digest (called THIS ISLAND EARTH) that was in color. I suspect they couldn't include that because, like my print, they've all faded to pink/magenta by this time.
 

lark144

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Regarding WAR OF THE PLANETS.....I had the much later Super 8mm magnetic sound 18 minute digest (called THIS ISLAND EARTH) that was in color. I suspect they couldn't include that because, like my print, they've all faded to pink/magenta by this time.
No, I had the silent black & white, which I used to drive my parents crazy by adding my own vocal sound effects, having been unduly influenced by Johnathan Winters albums.
 

RolandL

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So I've been trying to avoid blind buys this year, but I made an exception for this because a) this is a movie I've heard about for years and wanted to see in the best possible quality and b) I'm a sucker for antique formats like Perspecta.

I thought the movie was tremendously entertaining and I had a great time watching it. And the soundtrack was so much fun. The sound panning worked beautifully with my home theater setup and was a great treat.

Definitely one of my better blind buys!

I'm looking forward to watching this and other Perspecta sound titles. My three front speakers are under the image from the projector so it sounds fine for directional dialog.
 

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