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Topic: GWTW On Blu-ray

Graham Ritchie
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From: New Zealand
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posted March 11, 2014 05:19 PM

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A couple of months ago I came across the "70th Anniversary Collector's Edition Giftset", was very surprised at the new price of only $15 dollars [Smile]

[Smile]

The box presentation was impressive and it included heaps of extras including a reproduction of the 1939 Souvenir Program, Commemorative 52 page photo/production art book, 10 frameable color art prints, plus over 8 hours of extras.

Full marks to "Warner Home video" for this stunning blu-ray two disc release....its certainly well worth getting.

Graham.

[Smile]

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Lee Mannering
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posted March 12, 2014 04:00 AM

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Nice read Graham. Every time I see something about Gone with the wind I always recall projecting my super 8 print every Sunday afternoon for 12 months using two Fuji projector and a quick switch over between reels. GWTW used to pack in local film fan friends and we used to end with afternoon tea for quite an event.

One day I may find a decent replacement Super 8 print of GWTW but as yet I have not seen a good used print available as most are either colour gone west or lined up. [Frown]

[Frown]

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Winbert Hutahaean
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From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
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posted March 12, 2014 08:03 AM

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Lee, may I know for what purpose you played the same movie again and again for a year? GWTW is a very long movie, must be tiring and boring for the projectionist.

Btw after 52 weeks (hence 52 plays) any obvious scratch/mark seen on the print.

quote:
as most are either colour gone west or lined up.

I am not a native English speaker, what does this mean?

Cheers,

--------------------
Winbert

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Lee Mannering
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From: The Projection Box
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posted March 12, 2014 08:16 AM

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Hello Winbert. Yes I forget sometimes my moderate humour does not travel.

Re the colour issue I meant changed and of course the lines attributed from miss use.

Showing GWTW so much was really about a set of circumstances where we found a fan base and it turned into a great social gathering of some exceptionally nice people. For some I’m guessing it was more about a get-together as well but as far as projecting what was then a beautiful new print it was a great pleasure, even a privilege to project the 8mm feature so full of colour it painted the screen. In more recent years I have hunted for a equivalent print but the colour of most of them has shifted or suffering from tram lines, sorry scratches. For those of us who had given shows at home in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s and witnessed the superb print quality Derann squeezed from that tiny frame some oh 25 years ago for GWTW it was a bench mark moment.

I’ll find a good print one day to relive the moment again.

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Paul Adsett
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posted March 12, 2014 10:07 AM

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I have the Blu Ray of GWTW, and agree with Graham that it is stunning quality. But the film itself has never appealed to me that much. In common with most 'epic' pictures I find it a bit of a struggle to just get through the thing.
GWTW is consistently voted amongst the best films ever made, but IMO there are very many much better movies. Casablanca for one.

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Osi Osgood
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posted March 12, 2014 12:42 PM

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I agree, Casablanca is a better movie. [Smile]

[Smile]

Much more repeatable. In fact, it's one of the few films that I can never watch enough. You watch that you really wish you could hang out at "Ricks"!

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

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Steve Klare
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posted March 12, 2014 01:29 PM

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quote:
colour gone west

Very interesting...here we would say "gone south". I guess it depends on whichever direction you aren't!

Even fans of the "Gone with the Wind" feature should be glad they greatly adridged the Margaret Mitchell novel. My Mom read the book. She told me the movie actually skips a couple of Scarlett's husbands!

Fiddle-dee-dee INDEED!

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

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Martin Jones
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posted March 12, 2014 02:13 PM

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Am I the only Forum member that has read the book...... but NEVER seen the film.... despite owning the DVD?
Martin

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Retired TV Service Engineer
Ongoing interest in Telecine....

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Steve Klare
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posted March 12, 2014 02:50 PM

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I've read the majority of the James Mitchner epics: if you measure reading according to the weight of the books, I'm set for life! From what I've heard Gone with the Wind is one of those books you need a luggage cart to carry around: kind of a committment.

GWTW really isn't my kind of book anyway. I've been grinding through one biography after another for about 20 years now.

Every so often I hit a real stinker: it takes a lot to make Winston Churchill or Benjamin Franklin seem boring, but I have seen it done.

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

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Graham Ritchie
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posted March 12, 2014 04:34 PM

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Lee

Years ago I bought and watched the video "The Making Of A Legend" its narrated by Christopher Plummer with a running time of 124 minutes. Its absolutely fascinating stuff, and its really a miracle in itself that "Gone With The Wind" ever got made.

This documentary is also included in the Blu-ray release.

To watch this restored movie in 1080p High Definition is amazing to watch. To think that this film was made "74 years ago" and filmed in stunning "Technicolor" its hard to watch and imagine that all this was originally made way back in late 1930s.

Without doubt, as time has gone by "Gone With The Wind" has become a true historical classic movie, that has immortalized many of the actors "Vivien Leigh" being just one.

Graham.

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Paul Adsett
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posted March 12, 2014 06:00 PM

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Well I agree about Technicolor - the best film process ever. These old classic movies, shot in the 3-strip process 70 or more years ago make modern color films look pretty crappy.

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Lee Bombard
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posted March 13, 2014 12:06 AM

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"My Mom read the book. She told me the movie actually skips a couple of Scarlett's husbands!"

Scarlett had three husbands in both the book and the movie. However the movie loses two of her three children from the book...

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Lee Mannering
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posted March 13, 2014 04:33 AM

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I see the other forum is on about the super 8 print now. Amazing how news travels. [Cool]

[Cool]

Yup watched the making of doc many times and possibly the most comprehensive ever done for a film I guess. The information contained within it used to drive the interest in the film itself somewhat and first seen in the large black box VHS set I recall. What a amazing companion to the feature film.

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Graham Ritchie
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posted March 13, 2014 12:58 PM

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Lee

If I remember right and this was long ago I remember reading of a collector who was trading in or selling back to Derann his Super8 copy of GWTW, and was commenting that Derann would could not offer him that much. The reply from them, was that GWTW was not an easy sell and could sit on the shelf for while.

Thinking back to those long ago remarks from Derann, how popular was it?

Graham.

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Thomas Dafnides
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posted March 13, 2014 07:06 PM

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GWTW is a great movie ...its production values never cease to amaze me, virtually, every other movie from that period looks like it was made in the 30's...but GWTW....it almost seems like a modern production, done recently.
Trivia...the producer, Selznick wanted Errol Flynn to play Rhett Butler, but he was tied up in another contract. Clark Cable was second choice.
Selznick had the screenplay re-written 8 times before production...a brilliant condensation of a 800 page novel.
Traveling around the country, it is amazing how much resentment many Southerner's still bear for the "yankees". So many families were devastated by that war, and their stories are passed down to the present generation.

[ March 14, 2014, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: Thomas Dafnides ]

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Graham Ritchie
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From: New Zealand
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posted March 14, 2014 01:20 PM

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Thomas

Talking about those feelings, I remember one incident while I was serving my motor trade apprenticeship close by to the American submarine base in Scotland back in the 1960s.

I was on the petrol pumps, when a American serviceman came in with his car to fill up. While I was filling his car I noticed his car was full up with all his stuff, he looked at me and said... and still to this day remember those words.....I am moving to get away from those "DAMN YANKS"...

I was taken by surprise, but thinking about what he said and how forceful he said it, made me think that he must have come from the South.

Last night I watched "Restoring a Legend" made in 2004 and its amazing how those people at Warner Bros came up with the software to re-align all three Technicolor elements of GWTW.

I think it would be fair to say that GWTW has never looked and sounded so good. The Restoration brought out from the three negatives, something that was always there in those prints, but we were unable to see it.

So folks, if you want to watch those amazing end results of a lot of work that was put into it by Warner Bros you will need to buy the blu-ray [Smile]

[Smile]

Graham

[Cool]

[ March 14, 2014, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: Graham Ritchie ]

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Lee Mannering
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From: The Projection Box
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posted March 23, 2014 04:06 AM

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Graham. I don’t think we will ever know the sales figures for these 8mm releases or as I often call them escapes!. Gone With The Wind is a long’un and as mentioned puts plenty of ware and tare on one’s possibly expensive projector so these days the Super 8 feature is a bit of a turn off for most particularly with very limted spares on the shelf. The couple of trailers that were issued are a nice keepsake of the film and of good quality so it is worth having those for a memory of former screenings. I spotted the steel tin blu-ray of GWTW so will probably take the plunge and stick with that as they have by all accounts done a smashing job. In reality although I am devoted to 8mm I can’t deny that this particular Blu-Ray will be a must have if you enjoy the film and having inspected quite a few 8mm prints for sale in more recent years hunting for a replacement now with that beautiful colour gone, blotches now showing on LPP prints and the Agfa prints no where near as good it seems only one direction to go.

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