8mm Forum: castle/universal8-sound quality

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on March 29, 2006, 12:34 PM:

hello fellow members,does anyone out there hear the diffence in sound between the old castle/universal 8 films.the films to which imean are bride/son of frankenstein,wolfman,frankenstein meets the wolfman.the castle one reelers appear to be recorde louder than their universal8 400footers.anyone know why this is or noticed it. andy.

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on March 29, 2006, 03:18 PM:

I seem to remeber creature from the black lagoon 200 had booming sound and one million years BC, like to get those again.
Great fun these old bangers.
Best mark.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on March 29, 2006, 03:52 PM:

Probably because CASTLE was a classy upstanding icon in the industry and when the "suits" at Universal usurped the 8mm division they ruined everything with lousy prints, lousy packaging and lousy business decisions. I mean, c'mon, "Incredible Shrinking Woman"?! What the hell were they smoking in the lounge the day that decision was made? Chances are, they decided to go with a crap-ass printing house that was more economical, margin-wise, and they could still charge full retail. My print of "Bride Of Frankenstein" (400' version)is just crud - ther's even about 12 seconds of audio loss because the print is so bad. It happens in the scene where Thesiger and Clive are climbing the stairs to Thesiger's living quarters. The sound just goes out and then comes back when there seated. Don't get me started........ My print of "Dr. Cyclops" is nice cruddy sepia with very little, if any, blues and greens left. I'd be embarassed to sell it - that's how awful it looks. My "Phantom Of The Opera" and "Thsi Island Earth" are total Mars-Red. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on March 29, 2006, 04:28 PM:

hello brad.dr.cyclops always had that sepia tint you speak off;as for the rest well-bloody hell the editors for the most part must have been drunk when they done the cutting.i have to admit though jaws1x200ft is possibly the best ANY company ever done.andy.

Posted by Barry Attwood (Member # 100) on March 30, 2006, 01:55 AM:

Andy,

Jaws was a very well edited 200', but I think the 200' of "Buck Rogers" U8 put out was superbly edited, if you want to see how an 8 1/2 to 9 minute cut should be then get a copy of this reel.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on March 30, 2006, 03:40 AM:

Andy, strangely, I never noticed the sound difference. Castle/U8 always sounded OK, as opposed to some Ken films that sometimes had too much bass.
Never saw the 200fter of Jaws, but, IMHO, the cut-down remains one of the best, if not the best, 2x400ft ever produced.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on March 30, 2006, 09:10 AM:

U8 released some abominations but they suprisingly had quite a few decent edit jobs. Yes, the 10 minute 15 second "Jaws" may be the best ever, but the 2x400 version of "The Jerk" is incredibly well done. While not great films, the 1979 "Dracula", "The Hindenburg", "Battlestar Galactica", and "High Plains Drifter" are all nicely cut.
Barry, Thanks for the "Buck Rogers" news. I'll have to check it out. The 2x400 edit was not a great job.

Doug

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on March 30, 2006, 09:15 AM:

I remember when U-8 first released those two great digests. Jaws and Buck Rogers. Each came with a free (small) movie poster, and both really filled the 200 foot reels, running 9 and 10 minutes.

"Buck Rogers" played sort of like a well done promo, but still told the story. "Jaws" was edited to perfection, and was the only full-frame edition of that movie. The 2 x 400 version was released in letter-box or scope.

Nick.

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on March 30, 2006, 10:01 AM:

I have to agree on "The Jerk"... it's well edited and keeps the pace and flow nicely. There are one or two jumps in the story that I noticed (where did his girlfriend come from all of a sudden?) but these are really minor IMHO. Also I thought the sound was pretty good, particularly during the disco dancing scene - that music really filled my screening room, not bad for a single-track mix [Smile]

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on March 30, 2006, 12:47 PM:

Going back to Andy's original question, I too noticed the difference in sound levels. I inter-cut the 200 & 400 versions of both 'Incredible Shrinking Man' and also 'The Mummy's Ghost'
On each occasion the Castle 200ft version had a better modulated and rounder soundtrack. However the b/w print quality on the 400 footers was much better than the 200'
Swings and roundabouts I suppose.
Mal

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on March 30, 2006, 05:54 PM:

In reference to the sound-

The older (castle) releases had consistantly good sound, with strong, clear sound, and always the same. On the U-8 releases, the sound was acceptable, and sometimes very good, but inconsistant. On several U-8 2-parters, the sound level changed from reel one to reel two (Jaws and The Jerk come to mind). I would have to turn up the volume a little on reel two, and on quiet scenes, a very slight hiss could be heard. Still, it was acceptable (to me, anyway).

On "The Jerk"-
Jan, are you sure there wasnt a scene introducing Steve Martin's girlfriend (Peters)? I could have sworn it was there.

I bought this digest before seeing the full length version (it was dirt-cheap [Smile]

! I remember watching it for the first time, and understanding the whole story very well. Now that's good editing!

Maybe I'll pull out my print this weekend and check it out again to see if that scene is there. I'll do a fade check while I'm at it.

Nick.

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on March 30, 2006, 10:03 PM:

It would seem that now I, too, have a good reason to watch my digest of "The Jerk" again. It's possible that I just didn't pay attention during a crucial moment the first time around. [Smile]

(I did see the complete feature a long, long, long time ago, but damned if I can remember one bit of it...)

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on March 31, 2006, 10:55 AM:

Jan & Nick,

I believe Jan is correct. I think reel 2 introduces the couple with them sitting in the back of a truck.

Doug

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 31, 2006, 01:36 PM:

as i remember it was Bill Davidsons review of the 200ft of Jaws which stated the print and sound quality of this short was one of the best ever on 8mm. I did own the 200ft of High plains Drifter which was good quality but Clint Eastwood Himself was so unhappy with the dialogue changes he is alleged to have made sure his films didnt get onto 8mm again, (thank gawd they sorted it in the 2 x 400ft)

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on March 31, 2006, 03:05 PM:

hello everyone,i noticed that on my second hand son of frankenstein.this was intercut with the universal8 400ft and the castle 200footer.andy.

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