8mm Forum: War of the Worlds feature version

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Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on January 29, 2007, 03:44 PM:

War of the Worlds---Marketing films version.
A few weeks ago I posted a request for someone who could give me their impressions of this feature, but alas, no one responded. I was hoping for guidance before bidding on ebay for a copy...which I won. So I thought I'd post my own review for anyone who's interested.

First, I'm not privy to the history of this print. So I don't know if it came from Marketing with its stereo soundtrack as original equipment or if was re-recorded., but the sound is quite good, with the stereo not too obvious until the barrage of alien ray blasts and explosions late in the film. If it was re-recorded, it's a great job. The print's previous owner said it was in stereo when he acquired it.

Color has held up nearly perfectly. I think most of the color imperfections, of which there are only a few minor ones, were done in the printing , not due to fading. The only real flaw in this print is tht it's printed just a tad light. Night scenes are perfect along with low or normal light interiors, but some of the daylight outdoor scenes suffer some wash out of some details. Also the letters of the Paramount logo are almost totally washed out. Other than that , a very nice printing with perfect focus rivaling 16mm. ...it's not one of those pesky super 8 prints that scream "focus me!" two dozen times in every reel and which usually can't be focused perfectly in the first place. This one is nice...a keeper. If you ever see it out there for sale, grab it. I hope this review will help someone considering buying a print of it.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on January 29, 2007, 09:36 PM:

Good to hear about this print Gary. This is one case where the perfect clarity of DVD is not wanted, as, the sharper and more perfect the image is, the more you notice thew wires holding up the alien ships, (and yet, even with that, it's pretty damn good special effects for the 1950's. In fact these are about the best special effects to come out of the 1950's.)

Here's a bit of trivia: The young man with the tilted up hat who's at the party who says, "Hey, lets go and see" (about visiting the site of the "astroid") is none other than Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (of Little Rascals fame). he was uncredited, but it's clearly Alfalfa!

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