Warner announces Forbidden Planet for November (1 Viewer)

[DouglasRobert]

It's about time.

Now I can add it back to my collection.

 

[RobertR]

Excellent news, and a must for fans of this marvelous film. I wonder if a Hidef release is forthcoming?

 

[Kevin M]

Any word on who is doing the commentary? Also, I wonder where they got the stems for the 5.1 track?

 

[Billy Fogerty]

How many people here have seen FP in the movies. I remember seeing this when it first came out, and many times after. I have seen this film 29 times in the theater,over a coarse of years. I still think FP and the original WOW are the greatest scifi movies made. I think FP was the first time MGM ever made a scifi film, and it took a few years to make. This I remember from reading Famous Monsters of Filmland back then. The sound track with no music is also a great innovation. Remember the pictures in the magazine of who did it. Filmes in Cinemascope, great color. WOW,what a movie. The spaceship and Robbie showed up in a few Twilight Zone's later on. Great concept ,Altare 7 and the Krell. I hope warners does this right.

 

[Matt Hough]

I saw it in a theater as a young kid, and it overwhelmed me with its size and scope. When the three of them go exploring one of the shafts, the enormity of it all scared me to death.

I like the current DVD fine (wasn't the aspect ratio cheated on this release?)

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Thrilled. Though I really want this in HD!

I hope the restored audio is true to the original mix. WB is a great studio but one place they fall short is their common practice of "home theater remixing" historic mixes and destroying the integrity of the original sound-placement (ie, losing original directional dialogue etc.).

The stereo tracks on the old laserdisc sounded FANTASTIC. If they could just get this new DVD to sound as good as that... we'd be well served.

-dave

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Agreed. This is one of the few cases where I thought the sound on a DVD was grossly inferior to a laserdisc stereo track. Presumably the 5.1 track is being derived from the original 3- or 4-track master, but I wish they'd simply do an exact replica of the highest fidelity track from among the original theatrical mixes and not necessarily try to "upgrade" every film. Or at least make the original track an option.

I also wonder if this is a strictly video "restoration" or if the original film elements were worked on. If so, I'd certainly love to see this film in a real theater for the first time. This is the kind of thing that deserves an IMAX roadshow release. Is somebody still planning that ill-advised remake? I'll bet they could piggy-back on the release publicity for that by putting the original into limited release on some really big screens.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Billy Fogerty]

Would love to see a remake,but I just don't think it will have the same class as the original. Just as War of the Worlds just didn't compare to the George Pal original. Great idea if it were done right.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Some films should simply never be remade. No one would think of rewriting War and Peace to make it more "modern" and acceptable. But try stopping them from remaking Casablanca (as if any other version could ever compare to that perfect match of script, stars, directors and bit players.) How many versions of Miracle on 34th Street have there been? How many can hold a Christmas candle to the original? Would anyone be mad enough to go Welles one better with Citizen Kane, this time in color and with a computer-generated Xanadu?

Sometimes Hollywood should just leave well enough alone.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Billy Fogerty]

AMEN!!

 

[Joe Fisher]

Damn 29 times!!! I've only seen Forbidden Planet twice at the movies. Both times at the Lafayette Theater in Suffern, NY.

Can't wait for the SE in November.

 

[Dick]

This film showed up in a Lewiston, Maine cinema (long since closed) as part of their "Midnight Movies" series in 1980. I drive thirty miles two nights in a row to see it on a big screen, as I'd only seen it on t.v. before that. My suspicion is that the coming Warner DVD will run rings around the theatrical print I saw, but it sure was wonderful viewing this in a theater. Never get tired of it.

 

[Jack Theakston]

I found that WB's newst 35mm print of FORBIDDEN PLANET is quite well processed-- color is well timed and vibrant, image sharp, and most importantly printed on a good stock with proper labwork. As much as I'll enjoy this on DVD, there is NOTHING like seeing it on the silver screen (particularly when you're seeing it on a BIG screen).

 

[Shawn Cornwell]

Not sure how many times I've seen Forbidden Planet; growing up in the 1970's, it was a staple at Saturday afternoon "kiddie" matinees (The Day the Earth Stood Still and Cat Ballou are two others titles that were shown many times), and I never grew tired of seeing it. I'm sure Warners will do this title justice with the deluxe release.

 

[Larry Schneider]

One thing that's impossible to recreate, even with super-duper equipment and software, is the experience of seeing a great film for the first time - I remember how much the invisible tiger scared me when I saw this as a little kid.

 

[Shawn DuHast]

Exactly the same here, being scared by the invisible monster when small in FP, along with War of the Worlds and that metallic unscrewing of the top of the meteor/spaceship.......
Never forgotten either of them......

 

[John Sparks]

I saw it 5 years ago on a newly struck print exclusively for that showing.

It was so wide that the film went over the ends of the screen and the screen was wide!

A $75,000 Robby was there to take pictures with and so was George Wallace (Commander Cody and Chief Bosan).

After a question and answer period, you got to take your picture with Robby and George..a perfect night.

Also, the print was so clear, you could almost see the paint strokes on the railing in the Krell lab!

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Gee, these days you can pick one up for a mere fifty grand at Hammacher Schlemmer.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Billy Fogerty]

Yup, 29 times. I saw it 3 times when it was released. That was 3 days in a row. Then years later it would be teamed up as a double feature. Usually with something like Earth vs the Flying Saucers, Deadly Mantis, 20,000,000 Miles to Earth.........etc. The CinemaScope print had to be larger than 2:35 to 1. The scope of the Krell lab was awesome.
My second all time film was War of the Worlds. Saw that 18 times in the theaters, usually on a double bill also. Ahh,what memories.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Saw this projected via 35mm at the Sci-fi film festival a couple of summers back at the Laffayette theater in NY with my dad. It was my first time seeing it on film (gorgeous print) and his first time since first seeing it in theaters during its original theatrical run!

What fun.