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Topic: Why no 70mm?
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Alexander Vandeputte
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 243
From: Belgium
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted January 29, 2012 04:25 AM
Off course there are 70mm collectors, but they are a far and few. They are as scarce as the prints Everything in 70mm is hard to come by: prints, projectors, splicer’s, reels as 70mm was never a common format.
It was reserved for special presentations or top market premiere theatres. A 70mm print could cost up to 10 times the price of a 35mm print. There was a lot of work involved creating those prints: every reel had to be striped, recorded and quality checked after development. Besides, most of the 70mm releases were actually blow ups from 35mm, as only a handful of film were shot in 70mm (actually 65mm). 70mm prints provided a better image quality due to the lesser magnification of the image and had 6-track magnetic sound.
A properly presented 70mm print was a sight to behold. But I think that in a home theatre situation there would be no significant difference between 35 and 70mm. Mind you that all pre 1982 prints are faded by now and since the 70mm era ended in the early nineties, there is only a decade’s worth of unfaded prints around. But sadly also those prints can suffer defects, most of them related to the magnetic tracks getting worn and hissy.
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Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006
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posted January 29, 2012 03:52 PM
Akshay,
Do yourself a favor and Google "70mm film", and you will get a ton of info on it.
70mm projection, especially when combined with 65mm shooting, was and is still the king of visual presentation, be it conventional 70mm in a theatre or especially IMAX 70mm in a specialty presentation.
You cannot even compare frame sizes of 8mm and 35mm, let alone 70mm. There is a world of difference in size and reel requirements.
When I was being trained, we ran "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in 70mm in its first roll-out. The assembled platter print was enormous and must have weighed on the far side of 200 pounds. Once it got rolling, you definitely kept your fingers away... ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Even with good 35mm source material, a 70mm print could result in improvements. Many features, such as "Alien" were rolled out in 70 as part of the opening, and looked fantastic.
If you have Blu-Ray and a large display and want to treat yourself to honest-to-god 65mm origination, "Ben-Hur" or "Grand Prix" will give you a taste of what some of us were lucky enough to see on a massive screen hit with 6000W of Xenon light back then. Thankfully, a handful of theatres around the world still keep up this standard.
To address your original question about "Star Wars": if you ever find a decent print in 70mm of that film, I would highly recommend you don't tell anyone....George likes to keep things under control... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Claus.
--------------------
"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)
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