What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Ed Gordon]

It will be interesting to hear what Graham reports about Sensurround on his disc. There definitely is Sensurround on the 35th Bluray anniversary release:

...Like Star Trek before it, Universal’s excellent restoration takes the pillow off the speakers, and it sounds sharp, clean and brand new. For this review, I compared the 1999 movie DVD, the 2003 TV DVDs and the new Blu-ray directly, and the previous iterations are not even in the same league. As a bonus, a recreation of the original theatrical Sensurround mix is in full effect, now spread out to DTS-HS MA 2.1-channel mono instead of the 1.1 of the DVD. Sure… what was earth-quaking in 1978 isn’t window-rattling by today’s standards, but it’s accurate to the source and that’s what counts.

Same goes for the Battlestar Galactica - 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray [4K UHD] version:

Primary English audio is offered here in a lossless 2.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix, which recreates the original theatrical mono with low-frequency Sensurround. (Battlestar Galactica and its compilation sequel, Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack in 1979, were the last films released using the Sensurround process). It’s the same mix included on the 2013 Blu-ray, which is fine as there’s not much that could be done to improve on that original sound experience while still being faithful to it. The mono audio has been spread out to the front left and right, with the Sensurround information directed to the sub channel for a bit of low-end rumble. Dialogue is clean and easily discernible, with a nice bit of sonic play involving com chatter during the space combat scenes.

The UHD + HD 2 disc set is available on Amazon for US $16.33.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Graham,

Does the Blu-ray have a Sensurround audio track similar to Universal's Earthquake Blu-ray? I also recall the feature was cropped for its release in theatres.

[Graham Ritchie]

As much as I liked watching Battlestar Galactica on Super8 and although sadly the print is fading away, tonight I did watch the full feature on blu-ray with both the picture and sound quality DTS 5:1 I thought were very good indeed. The projector was the Panasonic with its recently new lamp did look good.

Who remember going to the cinema to see it in 1978? I did and boy does time pass. However its still fun to take a step back in time with this one. I understand its out on 4K as well, anyway watching it on blu-ray tonight was very enjoyable..

[Brian Fretwell]

A couple of episodes of "Man in a Suitcase" the 1960's series, restored by Network including (in honor of his recent demise) the one featuring Donald Southerland.

[Steve Klare]

The night of July 3rd (In anticipation)

Shorts:

Sounds of Arizona (S8, 'scope): We get to visit Arizona in the early 1960s: Cowboys, Indians, the desert, square dancing, the Grand Canyon Suite and the Tucson Boys Choir including a bespectacled young man who is very likely an early John Denver!

Royal Viking New England, Canada Cruise (16mm): We get to join a cruise out of New York headed north along the New England coast all the way up to Montreal. (This film was cheap on eBay but may work out very expensive in the long-run. Now my wife and son want to go on one of these cruises!)

Feature:

1776(projected DVD): The 2nd Continental Congress wrestles with the issue of American Independence in the months before that first 4th of July (-at least as we now understand the date). There is a lot of singing and dancing I really doubt happened in Congress at the time!

What it does well is show the desperation of the Patriot cause at that moment and show how people who opposed Independence had a pretty reasonable case against it. In truth, there was another five years of war to come, and seven until real peace came. These were not times to rejoice for anybody for a very long, bloody time.

This movie is actually influential in my family. When I was young, I saw this movie a number of times and it made me interested in History. Decades later we had a hurricane, and it took days for cable TV to come back. In the meantime "TV" was all from recorded video and one day when 1776 was on, my son saw it and became very interested too. He's taken a number of college History courses.

-So often, history repeats, even when it's the history of History!

[Graham Ritchie]

"Das Boot" last night projected using the Panasonic, good movie, but had forgotten how long it was at 3hrs and 28min, excellent picture and sound. If you like submarine films, this one would have to be at the top of the list.

PS....Regarding "JAWS" the other night its hard to imagine that its now been 50 years since the cameras started rolling during the summer of 1974. Many of the cast and film makers since then are no longer with us, how time passes.

[Brian Fretwell]

Will have to look out for that one Ed, last night I watched JAWS using the Panasonic

Opps wrong trailer

I do remember adverts for a Jaws rip-off film featuring a large bear, also called "Claws". the Peckham Odeon had a massive cut out of a bear advertising it!

[Graham Ritchie]

There is even a "Jurassic Park" version

I took a couple of photos of the old lamp from the Panasonic after removal, although the new one has no markings on it regarding its origin the screen shots taken with the new lamp look fine. The last time I checked the price of a new original lamp it was in the region of NZ$500 and that was a while ago. The non branded replacement being NZ$129 was the only way to convince my finance controller ie Yvonne to let me buy it.

The old lamp after 15 years the mirror still looks good, however I still think its best not to push those high pressure lamps to much past there recommended life.



The image with the new non branded lamp








I must throw this in of Jurassic Park as well...enjoy... its very clever

[Ken Finch]

Sorry , miss typed the title of the documentary. It should have been “ Nicky’s Children” I am on holiday in the Wye Valley at the moment and the internet signal is poor. That’s my excuse anyway!, I used the Sony projector in my loft cinema when we lived in. Maidstone and at my present address for a while until r.placed with an Eps of EMP 51. This was replaced with my current Epson when the lamp failed and it was cheaper to replace it with a more up to date Epson with double the lamp life on the long term than the cost of the replacement lamp for the EMP51. The new projector was less than half the price of the older pone and less than the original old Sony. It also upscales dvds to blu ray definition.

[Ed Gordon]

Graham, that Claws trailer is a purrfect parody of the Jaws trailer (pun intended)! Wouldn't it be fun to insert that trailer into your usual batch of coming attractions? Watching for audience reactions to moments like that is one of the benefits of being a projectionist.

Ken, I agree that projected VHS looked far better than one would expect. A 5 foot screen might be pushing though. At $1000 that Sony 200E seems expensive, but back in the day, I could not afford to buy a video recorder when they were going for $1500.

[Ken Finch]

“One Life” is well worth watching. I saw it at our local cinema. I also have a dvd of an earlier documentary about the story. It is called “Nicole’s Children”. On the subject of Video projectors, my first one was Sony 200E. it cost £1,000 at the time. It was cylindrical in shape, had an lcd diplay and powered by a 50watt, 12 volt halogen dichroic bulb. It provided quite a good display from vhs with a picture about 5ft width.

[Graham Ritchie]

Will have to look out for that one Ed, last night I watched JAWS using the Panasonic

Opps wrong trailer

[Ed Gordon]

Mad Max is back

If you saw Mad Max: Fury Road and hated it like I do, or loved it as most fans and critics did, I think you will enjoy the latest Mad Max saga. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is actually a prequel to Fury Road. What makes Furiosa better that Fury Road is that this one actually has a plot. The review below is from IMDB:

I feel many go into Furiosa expecting a Mad max movie, and at its core it is so much different. With its predecessor being Fury road, Furiosa had a very high bar to achieve. However, these 2 movies are so different, while they may seem similar they are completely different action movies. Furiosa takes on a much more different aesthetic with the use of slightly more darker and less vibrant colors, a much different protagonist, and a more complex story. The use of cgi is pretty disappointing, if you have a keen eye you can pretty easily the digital doubles and green screen. Anya Taylor-Joy gives an absolutely amazing performance. Dare I say she is better than Charlize Theron in Fury Road? Absolutely! Chris Hemsworth was also great and hilarious. Furiosa, while it may have many flaws, is one of the best action movies to come out in recent times, and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves. Furiosa is in no ways perfect, but do I love it? Yes.

[Ed Gordon]

Graham, your old Sanyo VP was much like my first projector. It is amazing just how good a picture they produced considering the best connection they provided back then was S-Video. As I recall, the DVD had not be introduced at that time.

One Life looks interesting. I'll look for that one.

[Graham Ritchie]

Hi Ed

I have had a excellent run with Video projectors over the years my first one was this one I still have it and it still goes but its pretty grim by todays standards that's for sure.



Our old projection box.

The next projector was this Sanyo, it was a big leap forward to the old one.


Then came the Panasonic later the Epson.

Saturday night at the movies on blu-ray was "One Life" based on the true story of Sir Nicholas Winton, starring Anthony Hopkins. I would certainly recommend watching this film.