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Press Release Warner Archive Collection Announcement: Land of the Pharaohs (1955) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

mskaye

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I would hope the BluRay doesn't look like the TCM cap which is vertically squeezed, and whose color reminds me of that terrible DVD of The Opposite Sex from WAC in which everything black was midnight blue.
the blu ray looks like a more beautiful perfect version of what is on Max. WAC wouldn't have put it out any other way. This is a pet project of Scorsese's too.
 

OliverK

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the blu ray looks like a more beautiful perfect version of what is on Max. WAC wouldn't have put it out any other way. This is a pet project of Scorsese's too.

The Blu-ray will reveal the real quality of the master they have created, let's put it this way. Not a big fan of movies getting released on TV / streaming channels before we see them on Blu-ray but as long as the Blu-ray follows soon I am fine with that.

Edit: Have you actually seen the Blu-ray already?

And indeed Martin Scorsese seems to be a big fan, too bad that we never got to see his own epic The Eternal City ;)
 
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RolandL

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No, Roland, it's the TCM that's squeezed - the HBO-Max is correct and NOT stretched. Furthermore, the TCM looks like crap - look at those skin tones.

They are both stretched. The HBOMax is just stretched more. That's why information is missing on the sides. I never said which one looks better or is correct. I guessing from comments made by others, they don't understand the CinemaScope film process.

The actual image from a 35mm CinemaScope frame would look like this for example (from The Robe):
1c4.jpg


For projection on a CinemaScope screen, it would be un-squeezed/stretched:
1c3.jpg


Here is another example from The Robe where you are seeing the complete 2.66 frame un-squeezed/stretched:
1robe.jpg


Below is from the Blu-ray. They cropped the image mostly on the left side, a bit on the right side, and some on the top and bottom to achieve the 2.55 aspect ratio.
1robeb.jpg


Below is from the first DVD release of The Great Escape. Too much of the left side of the frame is shown.
1g.png


Below is from the Blu-ray and you can see the left side is cropped properly. Also, a bit more info is shown at the bottom of the frame.
1g2.png


So in summary, the HBO Max image from The Land of The Pharaohs does look better. How much is missing/cropped from the original 35mm CinemaScope frame is not known as we don't have that image.
 

RolandL

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Are you actually lecturing me about Cinemascope? Really? You posted two screen caps. The TCM is wrong, period - everyone is too skinny, which is what I meant by "squeezed." The HBO is correct in that the proportions are correct. I'm very aware of what Cinemascope is and how it works, thank you.

Wow Bruce! Take a chill pill. Relax. I did use the word "others" so, not talking about you.

"Others also refers to people in general, not the person you are talking to or about:"
 

skylark68

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“That’s a bingo!”

I’ve been waiting for this one a long time. My original dvd rotted out (believe I posted this on another thread about WB titles no longer working) and received a replacement copy for free on DVD-R from the helpful people at WB. I’m ready for the upgrade!
 

Robert Crawford

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It’s getting a little hot in this thread. Let’s cool the temperature down a bit because Warner is going to release what’s in their best interest. Some of us need to stop crapping this thread with other title requests.
 

Ed Lachmann

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Here's hoping that Land of the Pharaohs does great business for WB Archives. Wouldn't be surprised if it did since this is one of the best in this particular genre. Some other fun films a la The Prodigal and Silver Chalice might have a chance as well as later adventures a la Scaramouche and Knights of the Round Table. One can dream.
 

OliverK

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It’s getting a little hot in this thread. Let’s cool the temperature down a bit because Warner is going to release what’s in their best interest. Some of us need to stop crapping this thread with other title requests.
Hmmm, I think this post was intended for the regular Warner Archive thread?
 

OliverK

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Nope, it was intended for this thread even though afterwards I moved some posts to that Warner Archive thread.
Ah, so you moved these over - thanks for that and I agree that they should not be in this thread.

And back on topic some good reading on Land of the Pharaohs:
 
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DanH1972

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Depending on the state of the camera negatives (or whatever sources WB used), I would imagine the image was cropped, so they could digitally adjust for any gate weave the technicians might have encountered during the scan. You need to give up some image real estate in order to pull off this type of stabilization.
 

DanH1972

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Depending on the state of the camera negatives (or whatever sources WB used), I would imagine the image was cropped, so they could digitally adjust for any gate weave and/or warpage/shrinkage the technicians might have encountered during the scan. You need to give up some image real estate in order to pull off this type of stabilization.
 

mackjay

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A blast from the ancient past, Hollywood-style. This movie should be better known. As "Biblical period" epics go, it's pretty awesome. A cast of literally thousands, and you see all of them. It all looks wonderful in widescreen and saturated color. Jack Hawkins is great and there's eye-candy from Joan Collins or Dewey Martin, depending on your orientation. Great fun. See it by all means. I find the HBO MAX version an eye-popping pleasure to watch
 

Alan Tully

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I pre-ordered this from Wow. I'm sure if I'd waited & shopped around I could have got it a bit cheaper, but I needed cheering up today, & it's not like I buy a lot from Warner Archive, my last order was Ivanhoe early last year.
 

Ed Lachmann

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A blast from the ancient past, Hollywood-style. This movie should be better known. As "Biblical period" epics go, it's pretty awesome. A cast of literally thousands, and you see all of them. It all looks wonderful in widescreen and saturated color. Jack Hawkins is great and there's eye-candy from Joan Collins or Dewey Martin, depending on your orientation. Great fun. See it by all means. I find the HBO MAX version an eye-popping pleasure to watch
I was amazed when I first previewed the old DVD how MASSIVE the crowd scenes were. It really seemed to outdo other crowds in other more famous epics, often breathtaking in scope. I tried to imagine it in HD and now here it is. The majestic Tiomkin score behind it all is sheer brilliance. Yes, it is awesome!
 

haineshisway

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Wow Bruce! Take a chill pill. Relax. I did use the word "others" so, not talking about you.

"Others also refers to people in general, not the person you are talking to or about:"
I have taken a chill pill and am now chilled, but shaken, not stirred. I responded to you because you quoted my post at the top of your response - when you do that it appears that your are ONLY responding to that person, i.e. me. I appreciate your posts, Roland, I do - but I've been around the block with Cinemascope and know exactly how it works. Actually, I've been around the block, period, at my age. :) I saw my first Cinemascope (or Cinnamonscope as my daughter used to put it) film in 1954 - The High and the Mighty and it was Mighty impressive to my young eyeballs. Looking forward to this Blu-ray.
 

uncledougie

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I’ve experienced CinemaScope films on disc in which the so-called “mumps” stretching effect is very noticeable, but Land of the Pharoahs on HBOMax didn’t particularly suffer from this at the extremes. Is there a technical secret for correcting this effect showing on a flat screen as opposed to the curved screen when such films were shown theatrically?
 

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