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Topic: THE WORST COPY IN YOUR COLLECTION

Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God

Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012

posted July 06, 2012 05:48 PM

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Just as a conversation piece,what is the worst film you've ever
had,regarding faults etc.
Mine has got to be "WAY OF THE DRAGON" a 400' col /optical snd
from China or Korea that has nailed just about all of them,picture
float,weave , terrible sound,if Bruce could see what they did to
his film,he'd haunt them.Apart from that,the editing was quite good!

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

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From: Long Island, NY, USA
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posted July 07, 2012 01:11 AM

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It's a horse race for sure...

I have a Blackhawk railroad film titled "When Steam Was King" that has so little contrast that the trains are basically shadows. If it wasn't for the intertitles there would be no telling one from another!

Then again I have my 3x600' "Yellow Rose of Texas" which has all the standard bad print stuff going on plus the bonus of the frame line accasionally wandering up to the middle of the screen. The last straw here is I found out I really don't like the movie regardless of the print quality! (I can forgive a lot if I like the movie!)

I had a chance to buy a print (very cheap!) recently that had the wrong sound track recorded. This would have been a very strong contender for the bottom of the heap. I declined: I like to at least imagine they will be great before I first see them so this whole thing seemed kind of futile!

There come times, usually mid winter, when I've watched all my good stuff at least once and I start to dig towards the bottom of the barrel, but these are so bad I start to look for other things to do before I thread them up!

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Winbert Hutahaean
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From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted July 07, 2012 06:08 AM

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Hugh waht do you mean your print fromChina and Korea?

I never known these two countries released super 8mm for packed (commercial) films. How did you find that film came from Asia.

This is something really interesting as I am Asian and am curios to know about the Asian 8mm scene in 1970-80.

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Winbert

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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God

Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012

posted July 07, 2012 08:26 AM

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Hello Winbert,the print was bought from Derann years ago on
their secondhand list and advertised as an import and has
subtitles in Asian, which if I remember looked like Chinese or
whatever.I honestly don't know how they had the face to put it in a box and call it a film!Having said that,some of the distributors
in the west put out some great "soot & whitewash"prints that
looked like they could have been developed in Newcastle Brown
Ale!

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Pasquale DAlessio
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From: Bristol,RI, USA
Registered: May 2010

posted July 07, 2012 08:40 AM

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Such a waste of Newcastle Brown Ale! I have had that many times on my trips to UK to visit my in-laws. MY wife is from Kent and I love going to the local pubs. I have to remember to duck my head when I go in! [Wink]

[Wink]

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Panayotis A. Carayannis
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 969
From: Athens,Greece
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posted July 07, 2012 12:45 PM

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BRIMSTONE, a big Republic western with Rod Cameron,Forrest Tucker and Walter Brennan, which I liked much when I saw it in the cinemas.The complete feature is so dark and with such muffled sound that is virtually unwatchable.I am still asking myself why I did find it "watchable" and not return it immediately!!

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Osi Osgood
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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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posted July 07, 2012 12:53 PM

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I no longer have it, but a very terrible pirate ciopy of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, that was printed sometime in the early 80's. Incredibly muddy picture, even muddier sound, the only good thing was, well, it was a Disney feature in my own home and the color was at least passable.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Paul Adsett
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posted July 07, 2012 01:24 PM

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Bottom of the heap for me is actually a Derann print .Three Cheers For The Girls, which is a collection of highlights from Busby Berkeley musicals. A great subject, but a dreadful print.

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Bill Phelps
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posted July 07, 2012 05:07 PM

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I have a 400'er called THE GREAT MOVIE DIRECTORS that is so washed out and soft focus it's hard to see on a 6" screen. I have shown it on my big screen and it's really bad...but I pull it out every once in a while because I like the content but the print is dreadful!

I would never show it to anyone!

Bill [Smile]

[Smile]

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Graham Ritchie
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From: New Zealand
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posted July 07, 2012 07:52 PM

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Dont have any, as I have sold them to other collectors [Big Grin]

[Big Grin]

...just kidding [Wink]

[Wink]

Graham.

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Bill Phelps
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posted July 07, 2012 08:05 PM

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Oh...so that's where all these bad prints came from.....

Bill [Razz]

[Razz]

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Gary Crawford
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From: Manassas, VA. USA
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posted July 09, 2012 09:48 AM

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worst ..well... Probably a standard 8mm sound print of White Zombie from Niles. tinny sound...totally washed out faces...

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Mark L Barton
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From: Bristol, South Glos, England
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posted July 12, 2012 05:25 AM

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Not so much a bad print but heres my tuppence worths: the 3x400 Road to Bali print is'nt that fantastic, soft with variable contrast BUT...its actually better than the official DVD release of the film that I have. OK its the full film, but the super 8 release would have made a better master!

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006

posted July 12, 2012 07:27 AM

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Hugh that is an interesting question which I guess we could look at it two ways.
1: The print quality or editing if condensed.
2: The actual content of the film itself.

1: For worst print quality, or annoying voice over it will have to be some of those 400ft reels which found way to our shores. The chap who endlessly seemed to have the need to speak and inform us about all the bits which had been cut out but fell short of saying ‘boy you would have loved to see that scene’.

2: Probably most of us are in the same basket in that many of the films we collect hold some sort of memory, perhaps of our childhood and we overlook the screen quality side of things more often than not. Some of the cutest 200ft films came from Perrys Movies and although not always the sharpest they put out some amazing content which I found fascinating.
On a ramble now.. Perrys were so good to deal with as you got some amazing lists and you could actually telephone Ian at the lab and order a title. Even yet I can hear Ian or Arthur telling me they would run off a new print for me if out of stock which is a priceless memory of film collecting and oh what service.

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Osi Osgood
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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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posted July 12, 2012 12:37 PM

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That's a good point from Lee. Taking his evaluation into account ....

The Columbia Digest of "The Caine Mutiny". The actual print quality wasn't too bad, (though it did seem just slightly washed out in image, but the color was just fine ...

but it was that DAMNED narrarator who talks over (it seems) half the scene before the people in the film actually speak! It seemed like I was watching a travelogue instead of a classic motion picture!

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Joe Balitzki
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From: Charleston, SC, USA
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posted July 12, 2012 01:25 PM

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In some instances, the Columbia Narrator used restraint. After all, with a limited amount of footage that could be included without it the story could be unintelligible. Many Columbia digests are very close to a full 400' feet. Of course, two 400' reels would have remedied the problem. You either love or hate the narrator or the editing or both!

--------------------
Movie Lovers Do It in the Dark

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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God

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From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012

posted July 12, 2012 04:25 PM

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That's very true Joe,but a lot of the time,he just explained what
was happening on screen, or in the case of some of the 200'
Vincent Price extravaganzas,either erroniously or a few seconds
before the event on screen!Still they are good to have.

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted July 14, 2012 11:27 PM

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My worst is a 3 Stooges cartoon episode called "Souperman" from RED FOX. The print is has excellent sharpness and contrast, but the color went completely red-brownish. Not one ounce of blue, green or yellow at all. I don't know why I even keep the damned thing - nostalgia, I guess. It would make a good test reel if I didn't want to risk damaging something I truly cherish.

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Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler

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From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010

posted July 15, 2012 05:35 PM

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I have an abysmal copy of The Playhouse by Buster Keaton. It is a Niles print. It is murky with soft focus, and I guess over the years it has collected some sort of crackly surface amoeba like fungi that becomes more interesting than the film to watch. For anyone familiar with the great master of the underground film makers, Stan Brakhage, he probably would have enjoyed watching the fungi move. Brakhage made films like scratch films and hand painted films on 8mm and 16mm as well as more realistic artistic films. A genius actually, who was a pioneer along with others for modern advertising and music videos. A collection of his films are available by Criterion I believe.

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Desmond Godwin
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From: Ireland
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posted July 15, 2012 07:30 PM

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My 400'version of the 'Sound of Music' The print is grainy. The
sound is muffled and the editing splices are all visible on screen. Add to that the print has now almost compleatly turned red! Like Brad i don't know why i keep it but coz it was among the 1st 'Big' Super8 releases of the 70's. It has for me a certain nostalgic value,so its kept in my collection.

[Smile]

[Smile]

Desmond

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Osi Osgood
Film God

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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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posted July 16, 2012 12:56 PM

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I have heard from many that the 400ft 'Sound of Music" digest is notorious for bad color, possibly even from the beginning when it was printed. It's certainly a hard one to find with decent color. Best to stick with the Derann 3X600ft or the full feature, and in scope, of course.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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John Davis
Master Film Handler

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From: Dunfermline, Fife, UK
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posted July 16, 2012 01:17 PM

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Osi,
I thought you were going to say your copy of the 'Sound of Music' was so bad that the Von Trapp family didn't escape,
[Wink]

[Wink]

John

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Tony Stucchio
Jedi Master Film Handler

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From: New Jersey
Registered: Dec 2005

posted July 24, 2012 10:02 PM

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My U8 400 foot edition of MY NAME IS NOBODY. It is beet red and pulses in and out of focus during the first half. The film is physically ok -- not warped -- so this was a printing error. I picked it up about 3 years ago on eBay and probably should have returned it.

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Douglas Meltzer
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From: New York, NY, USA
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posted July 28, 2012 09:26 PM

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I'd say the worst print I have is a Niles release of the Hitchcock Psycho tour, which looks like a dupe of a dupe of a .....
Coming in at a close second are the Thunderbird Star Trek blooper reels. I'm pretty sure there's an image underneath all that grain.

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Joe Balitzki
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From: Charleston, SC, USA
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posted July 29, 2012 05:42 AM

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I wonder if Niles & Thunderbird accepted returns on such prints. And why even print and sell them in the first place if the results were so bad?

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Movie Lovers Do It in the Dark

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