8mm Forum: Gladiator. Scope Derann 2 x 400 extracts

This is topic Gladiator. Scope Derann 2 x 400 extracts in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on May 28, 2017, 04:20 AM:

As we all know Derann did two extracts from this excellent film.
Battle for Germania which i saw at an Ealing convention not long after it was released. This was one i had to get, a few months later it was on Paul Fosters list for £25, i snapped it up and thought it was the bees knees for the scope screen, at the time it was bang up to date. There were a few black lines to right. roll on a few years later i assumed all hopes of getting the coliseum excerpt second hand were out of the question. One did come up for £25 and i soon joined them up, a little surprised that they fit so easily onto a single 400ft spool though but never the less its a great action packed reel & we do get glimpses of two great actors who were never to appear in any more films, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed. Well, roll on another few years and another Germania excerpt came up for sale for £20 so i snapped it up and this one had no marks what so ever so i sold the other one i had. (wish i hung onto it now). No point in trying to take these as a cut down of the film as they are both long extracts but any normal audience will love this action packed reel.
The colours as always are nice and rich and the sound is very good. If you dont have these i would certainly recommend them, and both titles stand alone very well as supporting material for any show you may do.They certainly get any audience in the mood for more & they are Scope winners. Such a pity there was no more to follow. Derann were hoping to get more of these extracts out in along with m ore from the fifth element but it never happened. The prints are very slightly darker than normal but this is not noticed by any audience i have shown the m to.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on May 28, 2017, 04:29 AM:

Beautiful screenshots Tom and these two excerpts are indeed an ideal pairing for showcasing the gauge.
I got these two as a pair only a few years back and they seldom have appeared since I've noticed.
A very tasty addition to anyone's collection though if they're lucky enough to find one or both. [Smile]

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on May 29, 2017, 03:10 AM:

Nice screenshots there Tom.

Not a fan of this film though. I watched it right through
at a private preview we showed.

I found it too much of a cocktail mix of Fall Of The Roman Empire
and Spartacus and Quo Vadis for my taste.

I also found the camera work very annoying during the
Gladiator fight sequences.

I am not a fan of Russell Crowe either.

The opening sequence is probably a huge improvement
over the entire feature film.
[Wink]

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on May 29, 2017, 03:43 AM:

I agree with you there David, we do have this on DVD and i think i have only managed to sit through it the once, it's overly long and also agree that while Crowe does an OK job i cannot think why he was main cast especially when you look at the other Great names in there.
These two reels are perfect for the home screen and pretty much show everything we want to see. [Wink]

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on May 29, 2017, 05:21 AM:

Tom well they did give it a good shot at bringing back this
"Epic" type of genre but failed in my view.

Still who knows i might still be tempted to buy these extracts
if the price was right.
[Wink]

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on May 29, 2017, 05:43 AM:

I thought the Germainia bit had great atmosphere but would the other lot really stand around and take it like that !!!

Seemed a bit daft.

I thought there would be a rush of this type of film after Gladiator.

I suppose there was Kingdom of Heaven and Troy.

Best Mark.

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on May 29, 2017, 05:54 AM:

Yes Mark and those other two were just about okay. [Smile]

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on May 29, 2017, 09:57 AM:

I loved this film and thought Russel Crowe was great in it. That gravelly voice - perfect. My copy of the 1st extract -"The Battle of Carthage" was pretty spot on in terms of exposure but yours is pretty dark from what I can see. I think a few Deranns were like this. The Lord of the Rings extract was dark too.
I remember when I saw the theatrical trailer it seemed boring to me. But I saw it and thought the script was very good- great tale of revenge.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on May 29, 2017, 10:10 AM:

I must admit I thought Russell Crowe was perfectly and correctly cast for his part in this one also.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on May 29, 2017, 01:48 PM:

Its a fine print, unfortunately i only use an old 4mp camera on auto during projection. It causes me problems if i take images of slightly faded films to as it makes the red much more red than they are. [Wink]

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on June 02, 2017, 12:36 PM:

Tom
That more red than red image should please certain people.

[Big Grin]

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