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Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines - March 04 (1 Viewer)

Greg_M

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DVDFile reports Fox will release "Those Magnificnet Men in Their Flying Machines" as part of an Easter Promotion (March 04). DVD includes the extras from the laser disc.
 

oscar_merkx

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here are the specs for those that don't have the ld

an anamorphic widescreen transfer, an audio commentary by director Ken Annakin, a featurette, behidn the scenes and effects footage, storyboards, still galleries and theatrical and teaser trailers. Retail will set you back a mere $14.95.

:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Steve Christou

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Finally! Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines was one of the first titles I looked for when I got into dvd, it's been a long wait. And looking forward to seeing it in it's OAR for the first time too.:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Mike_S

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I guess I'll have to 'retire' my LD of TMMITFM. It has a first rate commentary by the director and a few other tidbits of information. It looks like all of this is being ported over to the DVD. I hope there is more in the way of supplements on the DVD. A very enjoyable romp of a movie. They don't make 'em like this any more folks!

-Mike
 

Adam_S

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I just caught the very first screening of the restoration in 70mm.

I think you guys are going to be very, very pleased. The print was absolutely stunning. The colors were spectacular, and the flight footage (especially the stuff against the sunset) took my breath away. There are a TINY few instances where they apparently used 35mm dupes, I can only presume that hte 65mm negative was not extant for these brief shots segments. The longest shot that seemed slightly off was perhaps 7 seconds long, and I only counted three or four other shots that didn't look quite right, all of these were very very brief but distinguisable by extra grain and a yellowish-faded look. In all I'd be surprised if those scenes amount to more than 30secons of the feature, and they did not distract me at all. I must reiterate that the print is absolutely gorgeous (and the movie was a positive delight as well).

Congratulations on a magnificent restoration fox, I will definitely be picking up this DVD!

It's disapointing to see that horrible cover art, I'd love to see something classy like Hello Dolly or the Fox Studio Classics cover art for this film. Or best yet would be if fox went the WB route and used the real poster art. The Egyptian had a beatuiful looking poster with illustrations by the titles illustator--that should be the dvd cover!

the commentary should hopefully be pretty good, director ken annakin told some great stories after the screening, and he did so with very little prompting, it gives me high hopes for the film. Fun tidbit, the reason the scottish flyer wears the leg brace/cast is that he got drunk the night before shooting started. He tripped, fell and injured himself outside an english pub. They almost cut him, before they decided to work in the leg as a character quirk.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Folks,

Tell me a little bit about this film.

I never saw it, but would consider buying
it under your recommendations.

Thanks
 

Stephen PI

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I was at the screening too Adam. I thought the picture was a little dark or dense in places, but very good otherwise. It was the sound that really bothered me, it was awful. There was no bass, mostly all middle range, and very little separation in the music. As far as I know the original audio format, as mixed by Gordon K. MaCallum at Pinewood, was a four-track mix and 'spread' to six for the 70mm release. I am hoping that the problems are only with the Egyptian Theatre and that the track, as done by Chace, will translate correctly to the dvd.
 

Greg_M

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Ron,

The film is basically the same as "The Great Race" which opened the same year. Instead of autos the race involves planes and an assortment of quirky characters. There's the hero, the villian, the girl, and the odd assortment of period planes. Not as much a cartoon as "Great Race" the film is more British in humor (Even Benny Hill is very low-key)

The cineamtography is spectualar and the film has an expensive 70MM look to it. If you liked "The Great Race" and I remember your posting you did, than this film might be a good follow up.
 

Adam_S

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come to think of it, the sound was the weakest of all five films that screened at the Egyptian. However, I felt the print was up there with Hello Dolly, excepting the few instances I mentioned above. Certainly the dynamic range of Mad mad mad mad World was much more impressive. I can't comment on whether the print was too dark, I've never seen the film before. The colors were quite rich though, the reds in the british uniforms and the dusty plains of "arizona' came through magnificently.
 

Eric Paddon

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I found the film much weaker than "The Great Race" (which reminds me, when is Warners going to fix the screwed up audio in the credits???), the chief problem being Stuart Whitman who I found totally uncredible as a hero (and my ears may have played tricks on me but I think this film has one of the earliest utterings of the word "shit" by a character).
 

DouglasBr

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Having watched both films with my kids recently, I find the humor of "The Great Race" more cartoony, with Jack Lemmon far more hammy than I remembered him when I saw it as a kid. (The Natalie Wood character is more grating to me too, for that matter.) "Magnificent Men" does seem a little bit more understated as a comedy, but only slightly.

Also, wasn't there "Those Daring Men in their Jaunty Jalopies" around this time, much like the other two films? Can't say I remember much, except some witty lines from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

Stuart Whitman was a bit flat in the role of the adventurous American, and I don't recall anyone saying "shit" in the film.

Good movies, but not great imho.
 

Douglas R

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I found the film much weaker than "The Great Race"
I agree with the above. It's also a less glossy film without the same big budget production values. I thought it good fun, although the humor was rather forced, with too much slapstick. It features many British comic actors (eg Tony Hancock and Eric Sykes) who I enjoyed but whose personas may be unfamiliar to American audiences.
 

PaulBigelow

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One of the first movies I can remember seeing -- and a opening theme song that *sticks* in your head.

"they go up-ity, up, up,"
"they go down-ity, down, down"

Brings back memories of Midway Island in 1966. Can't wait.
 

Dick

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I feel it is far superior to THE GREAT RACE, to which it is often (unfairly) compared. Cashing in on IAMMMMW, Blake Edwards went wa-y-y over the top with RACE, whereas this film, while still (mildly) slapstick, is more grounded (sorry) and believable and does have that British humour sensibility. Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) comes off well in a funny role. Watch out for that sidecar!
 

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