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Author
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Topic: The Sting
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted August 11, 2008 03:29 PM
The Sting
2 x 400 ft double album
1 x 400ft digest
Universal 8
Possibly the best super 8 digest film ever released, and my personal all time favourite digest , ‘The Sting’ is a film masterpiece which translates beautifully to the super 8 digest form.
Starring Paul Newman , Robert Redford, and Robert Shaw, and directed by George Roy Hill, the film won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Newman and Redford star as two con artists in 1930’s Chicago, out to avenge the killing of a friend by the mob, led by Shaw , by setting up an elaborate horse racing ‘sting’ operation to bilk Shaw out of half a million dollars. Filmed with meticulous love and care and great acting all around, with stunning sets of Chicago streets in the 1930’s, great Edith Head costumes, and wonderful accompanying Scott Joplin ragtime piano music, ‘The Sting’ is a cinematic joy from the first frame to the last. A masterpiece indeed and Hollywood at its very best.
So how well does this wonderful film work as a super 8 digest. The answer for both the 1 x 400 and 2 x 400 versions is very well indeed. The beautiful framing cards used in the feature film are all present in the digests to separate the scenes perfectly, and both versions seem to capture the story extremely well . Naturally the 2 x 400 version has more time for development, but either version flows very naturally and you really feel that you are not missing much at all. This is no hack job - Universal 8 did wonderful editing work on both these digests. The original film format was 4:3 so we get the full picture frame intended by the Director. The digests open and close very nicely with abbreviated credits and ragtime music – there is no abrupt ‘The End’ card which ruins a lot of digests . So I give U8 an 8mm Academy Award for the digest editing of this film.
The S8 print quality is superb, just about the best I have ever seen. Color is beautifully rendered, without excessive contrast or saturation, and definition is pin sharp throughout. The atmosphere of 1930’s Chicago is completely captured. My particular print has now faded slightly, but still retains most of its original glory. Sound quality is excellent. Packaging is also superb, with a hard clamshell case and beautifully printed slip cover. Up to the highest Peckham packaging standards and definitely one to put on display!
Last night I watched ‘The Sting’ on projected DVD. As good as it was, I had the feeling throughout the film that Universal’s super 8 print was superior- it just looks more beautiful for whatever reason.
I suspect that most collectors on the forum already have this one, but if you don’t, seek it out. If you can find a print with only low fading you are in for a ‘reel’ treat. A very repeatable film and an audience winner for inclusion in any film show.
Content A+
Print A+
Sound A
Packaging 10 on the Peckham scale.
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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Tony Stucchio
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 625
From: New Jersey
Registered: Dec 2005
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posted August 14, 2008 08:43 PM
THE STING was my first 800 foot digest, and it took my collecting in a whole new direction starting in the late 70's. (I think I got this one in '79.) For the first time, I felt like I had something approaching a full-length feature of a fairly recent movie. At the dawn of the VCR era (most people, including myself, did not yet have VCRs), people I showed this to were IMPRESSED. My friends would say things like, "Watch movies again? I'm sick of Laurel and Hardy." Then they were speechless after THE STING.
The full-length movie was one of the last "light" films to win Best Picture. No messages, no artsiness, no brilliant camera angles, no legendary actors mumbling dialogue with cotton stuffed in their mouths. (Though Redford and Newman are now legendary.)Just great entertainment. I'm surprised that this won even in 1973. (Not sure what the competition was, but I'm sure that's just a google away.)
I never saw THE STING 2, but I heard it was horrible.
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted August 15, 2008 08:57 PM
"The Sting 2", while not horrible, wasn't the film that "The Sting" was. I used to have a feature copy of "Sting 2" on optical sound Super 8, and while Jackie Gleason tried awful hard
(along with a game Teri Garr), it just wasn't what the first one was. It was worth seeing at least once, and actually, I thought, worth repeats.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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