8mm Forum: Goldfinger

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Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on November 16, 2007, 03:33 PM:

This gem has been in the Derann catalog for several years now, but a print had always eluded me until this week. I didn't notice a previous review of this one so here is a brief overview. I understand Derann had two printings of this one..which may have differed in some way. I don't know which printing this one is...but I can say that it's pretty close to a perfect print. Outstanding color values with natural skin tones and good tonal balance...sharpness is as good as any super 8 print I've seen with the possible exception of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Sound is a very very strong mono with good deep bass and plenty of treble. Picture steadiness is perfect. I noticed no physical or negative blemishes to speak of. It seems to be slightly cropped at top and bottom..but not by much at all. It's pretty much full screen.
Came on 600 foot reels to me, but I don't know if that is the way Derann ships it. Overall, Goldfinger is solid Super 8 gold. I couldn't give it a higher rating.

Posted by Robert Babun (Member # 1873) on February 05, 2012, 01:31 AM:

I understand 20 prints were run from the first negative.
Then a new negative was sourced from France.
Are there any members out there who can provide information on how to tell the later edtion prints from the first printing?
The lab leaders may be marked in some way that allows a distinction to be made?

The Derann prints were issued on four 600' reels in white card board boxes with a full colour label.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on February 06, 2012, 09:34 AM:

I'll try to remember to take a look at the leader and see what it says....somebody out there might be able to make sense of it.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on February 06, 2012, 11:09 AM:

I also have a pristine copy of this fabulous print. Goldfinger is my favorite 007 film. When Steve Osborne offered it to me a couple of years ago I jumped right on it. It's also in "stereo". It arrived on 4 x 600' tuscan reels in cases. I have since mounted it on 2 x 1200' Elmo reels. However, I saved the original leader when I edited the reels together. I went to recheck the leader and there is no markings on it at all. It just starts with dark leader then goes into the beginning of the film. But, I have to tell you I can't believe the quality of this print. It will stay in my collection until the very end. I would be curious to know what this film is worth now. Because I know they are few and far between. I'm hoping to get more 007 features in the future. I do have "7" 400' reels with trailes and TV spots on them including "Never Say Never Again" and "Quantum Of Solace". I just won a reel on Ebay that is supposed to have "The Incredible World Of James Bond" on it. This was a TV special from 1965 which was a tie in with the relase of "Thunderball". It was sponsored by Brylcream " A little dab will do ya". And spawned an LP titled the same name as the TV special. [Big Grin]

Posted by Robert Babun (Member # 1873) on February 06, 2012, 11:51 AM:

This may be difficult if the leaders have no markings.
Is there any one who knows for certain they have a print made from the first negative?
I guess you can be certain if you preordered directly from Derann and you received your copy before you heard the news that the negative had been damaged.
What I would like to know as well, was there an improvement in the quality of the prints made from the second negative?
"Goldfinger" full length on super 8 is considered by many collectors as an exceptional print.
Gary, you state slightly cropped, please let me know the aspect ratio, is it 1.66?

Any one else with a copy please let me know what your print is like?

"THE FRENCH RESCUE 007"
"With only twenty features printed, Part One of the negative to the new release 'GOLDFIGER' just fell apart!
Being such a premiere title, the chances of a new negative to Part One matching the existing material were pretty slim. Derek Simmonds was adamant the quality be the best available and word went out that new material was needed.
Buck Labs who had done such a fine job on the first batch, located the new pre-print material in Paris! The French still fanatical about cinema, see the 007 films re-issued on a regular basis, hence the availability of brand new material. New 8mm prints should be on sale abot now." (Film For The Collector, Issue 11, page 4, September 1988).

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on February 06, 2012, 07:22 PM:

I wonder if any of the prints had info on the leader? Mine was dark from the very beginning. The tail was the same way. I was surprised that there are no details on any of the leaders. I would still like to know what this is worth. And the fact that it is stereo should make it worth more I'm sure. My print doesn't look cropped at all. And it sure is complete. I have watched Goldfinger in all formats more the 30 times through the years. I can even recite the dialog word for word. It's just my favorite of the 007 films. I actually had the opportunity to sit in the real Aston Martin DB5 many years ago. What a rush I got from that. Second only to being allowed into Pinewood Studios 007 Soundstage back in 1996 on one of my visits to UK to visit my wife's family. [Eek!]

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on February 09, 2012, 07:06 PM:

I would love to see that print because I thought my feature print of Forbidden Planet was the best I ever seen. And you said it's pretty close to a perfect print. Outstanding color values with natural skin tones and good tonal balance...sharpness is as good as any super 8 print I've seen with the possible exception of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? I love Goldfinger but my favorite is THUNDERBALL I just can't get by the jet pack scene and the beauty of the women. I would love to have a feature of that someday. I only have a gem of a trailer that is a fine print. I met once a Goldfinger girl at a screening on the edge of Hollywood Pussy Galore( Honor Blackman) she was nice and also said Thunderball was her favorite .

Here is a picture of me and her just to prove a point

And if that were not enough I got the 007 himself to say he liked Thunderball the best of his films. A picture of Sean and me meeting at a Hollywood party ! Nuff Said!

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on February 09, 2012, 07:46 PM:

Great stuff Laksmi!!

James.

Posted by Akshay Nanjangud (Member # 2828) on February 10, 2012, 02:01 AM:

You guys have such exciting titles! Goldfinger, Thunderball, Forbidden Planet. Then you get to meet all these stars too!

Can I ask how much you guys paid for those titles back then?

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on February 10, 2012, 02:38 AM:

I don't know but RED FOX, KEN FILMS ,CASTLE, MARKETING INTERNATIONAL,and UNIVERSAL 8 is were my prints were coming from in those days. Films were about $59.95 for 400" sound and $269 for most features . Some Titles like GONE WITH THE WIND went for outlandish $749.95. I had to save up for most of them and my digest were mainly what was affordable.I still have all my old catalogs. I got to meet many stars because for over 30 years I was a film critic for a magazine published in Hollywood and England.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on February 10, 2012, 03:40 AM:

You may ask....but if I tell you I might have to kill you! [Cool]

Posted by Akshay Nanjangud (Member # 2828) on February 10, 2012, 05:06 PM:

Pasquale, ha ha ha. Please reconsider the death threat.

Laksmi, I recognize: Tom and Nicole, Wesley Snipes (?), Robin Williams, Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek, Mel Gibson, Drew Barrymore, Peter Jackson (?), George Lucas, James Cameron (?) possibly with Linda Hamilton(?) or Kathryn Bigelow(?), and I have no clue about the senior couple. Please verify. [Smile]

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on February 10, 2012, 05:34 PM:

Akshay

Charlton Heston and his wife? [Confused]

I paid 350.00 for Golfinger 3 years ago.
Worth every penny of it. [Big Grin]

Pat

Posted by Akshay Nanjangud (Member # 2828) on February 10, 2012, 05:42 PM:

Pasquale, I didn't mean to ask you what you paid in today's market. I was asking what the featuress were priced at when they were released. Laskmi answered it pretty well though. Now that you've mentioned it, $350 for a good color sound print seems like a very good price.

Posted by Robert Babun (Member # 1873) on February 10, 2012, 08:25 PM:

Regarding todays value of "Goldfinger":
Recently, a copy sold, after 28 bids for 281 Euros on ebay Italy.
About 350 dollars US, so it is holding its value well.
Brand new in September 1988 when first released by Derann the print was 231 UK pounds including VAT.
By November 1993 the price was 290 Uk pounds including VAT.
I believe VAT in 1988 was 15%, at todays exchange rates the prints seem to have held their value almost 100% compared to the iitial price in 1988.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on February 10, 2012, 10:08 PM:

James Bond Will Return!

Posted by Akshay Nanjangud (Member # 2828) on February 10, 2012, 10:43 PM:

What would you guys was the peak for film collectors? I mean when were film features in very high demand, the prices were high, etc. Having been on the forum for a few months now, it looks like the highest demand is for color features. Take great movies like The Private Life of Henry VIII. or My Man Godfrey or Buster Keaton and Chaplin features or Murnau and Fritz Lang's work, these go pretty cheap in comparison to the prices you mention.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on February 10, 2012, 11:24 PM:

Akhsay, those B/W and faded color films were mostly released in 1970s during the peak of 8mm. This is what I told in different thread that the price of a full feature was around $149 - $179.

Then there was a second round of 8mm in 1980s when Derann, Red Fox, Kempinski and CHC released many full feeatures in excellent quality. And the prices are like mentioned above by Lakshmi and Robert B.

If you want to see how the quality of these films and the price nowadays, you can see the below link that just ended recently.

West Side Story: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/200700481572 ----> $450!
Abbys, the: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200686310570 ----> $450!
Terminator: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200693810106 ----> $399
Beauty and the Beast: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200684734663 ----> $175
Independece Day: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200681541458 -----> $450 !!

ps: there are pleanty of nice screen shots there.

quote:
it looks like the highest demand is for color features

It is not always B/W film will fall into lower price. If that B/W film was released during the second round of 8mm then the price would be still expensive like this one:

Elephant Man: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200686465656 ---> $330 !!

I hope this can give you a better explanation of 8mm scene.

cheers

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on February 11, 2012, 01:51 AM:

HESTON AND HIS WIFE yes Pasquale ! You guys named them all .

Posted by Akshay Nanjangud (Member # 2828) on February 11, 2012, 03:02 AM:

Winbert, thanks a lot for those links. Actually, I even followed those auctions. Of all those prints, I'd have liked Beauty and the Beast, sharp colors there! That black-and-white feature The Elephant Man is amazing too.

I'd love to have a good scope lens and watch a suitable feature sometime in the future. Let's see.

Posted by Keith Ashfield (Member # 741) on February 11, 2012, 03:51 AM:

Just for Laksmi, screenshots from Derann's release of "Thunderball" in Scope. Unfortunately, the battery on my digital camera "gave up the ghost" preventing me from getting the underwater shots. Perhaps next time???

[ February 11, 2012, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: Keith Ashfield ]

Posted by Luis Caramelo (Member # 2430) on February 11, 2012, 06:57 AM:

hi! fellas,nice talk about james bond,i love it too,i also get in my collection goldfinger and thunderball,but i have some changes in my dinning room so i,m afraid i can,t screened scope
movies only in flat,so i would sell my scope prints witch one of them
it,s thunderball,maybe we can make a deal

regards:

luis caramelo

Posted by Robert Babun (Member # 1873) on February 11, 2012, 11:02 AM:

Hi Luis,

You have a private message.
Please hold "Thunderball".

With many thanks,

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on February 11, 2012, 05:01 PM:

Well done Laksmi and thankyou for sharing those very impressive
pictures, I'm sure you can tell a tale or two.Also thanks to Keith
for the great screen shots, looking forward to some more!

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