BACKDRAFT, THE STING, BABY DRIVER 4K UHD Reviews + SPENCER (BLU-RAY)
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- 4K reviews to Backdraft, The Sting and Baby Driver plus the Blu-ray to the new release of Spencer. Backdraft is the standout in this selection as it's Super 35 origin belies the astounding image quality provided. It's not the best 35mm transfer so far but it's not far off. The Sting is good but some will find it a little too grainy and Baby Driver is also good but the 2K digital intermediate master shows with the Blu-ray being indistinguishable from the 4K on both my systems. Spencer is a little lacklustre at times due to its combination of Super 16 and Super 35 origins but it suits the production. Sound on Backdraft and Baby Driver are pretty terrific whereas The Sting and Spencer I would describe the sound as suitable or appropriate.
- Фільми й анімація
Thanks for sharing John,the thing that stuck in my mind was the piano music in The Sting Scott Joplin.
It's still an easily identifiable track to this day and that speaks volumes. Even people who didn't see the film back in 1973 can still hum the tune.
John.
Absolutely love The Sting. The amount of people that have never seen/heard of it is actually quite disappointing. Watched the 4K last week and had a great time.
It's a timeless film cburg and it will probably remain that way. Some films are lucky that way but it helps if the story and the production are practically flawless.
John.
Its an amazing movie, so re-watchable.
The card game on the train is so much fun with Newman winding up Robert Shaw to the extreme🤣
@@thekiddie73 I agree. It's proven to be a timeless movie now. I hadn't watched the complete film in many years but what a great film it truly is. Having a cast like that certainly helps though. John.
Backdraft might be my favorite movie. Had family in the fire department and me and my brother would run around in old turn out gear re-enacting scenes. To this day we can quote it line for one.
Great movie for 5 year olds! (Perhaps not in 2022, but in 1992 it was awesome)
I think it's still a great movie today Zach...even though I'm a little older than five. It helps that it looks fabulous on this 4K transfer which is a testament to the quality of the film when it was shot. Super 35 really shouldn't look this good but it often does.
John.
The Sting is a movie that deserves a 4k release and I cannot wait to see this, it is a film I always enjoy watching.
I hadn't seen it for years Stephen and I don't think I've ever enjoyed it so much. I should have shown my Super 8 cut down from Universal 8 but I forgot. Also forgot the gatefold LaserDisc of Backdraft.
John.
I also went on the backdraft set at universal. I was only a child at the time but still remember the heat. Lol. It’s one of my fav films. I have the steel book 4K in my collection.
Damn, I didn't know there was a steelbook! Thanks for ruining my day David!!!
Seriously though, I don't think HMV had the steelbook and I don't tend to purchase from web sellers unless they have physical shops to support our shopping centres and high streets. Spent some time in Fopp over the past couple of days and that has to be the best video store left in the universe. Shot plenty of video with permission too so that's coming soon.
John.
Aww nice one John. Looking forward to seeing them videos soon. The steelbook was a zavvi exclusive. I'm planning a trip a hmv soon 😀
@@SuperDavidstevenson I did get the steelbook of Super 8 from Zavvi but I found that one too irresistible. Most of them I can live without but will happily purchase when I'm out shopping and go into an HMV. I've shot a video in the most successful video store over the past couple of days - Fopp on Shaftesbury Avenue. So that one will be coming soon.
John.
Glad to see you back John, I recently bought The Sting on Blu-Ray but not got round to watching it yet, Cinemas looking well.
The Sting is almost as good on Blu-ray Carl so you'll have a good evening watching that one.
John.
Great video round up! I always like hearing about how movies are transferred and what to look for. Thanks for sharing!
I just bought Apollo 13, Sicario and The Big Lebowski (all 4k) while on sale. Can’t wait to watch a good space movie!
Apollo 13 is absolutely fabulous. I don't have Sicario but I do have The Big Lebowski and need to run that again soon as it wasn't what I was expecting the first time around. I'm a big Jeff Bridges fan so I tend to watch anything with him in it and this one was a rather different role.
John.
I love the sting mate, anything that holds memories for me from the 70s is good enough for me. i was young in the 70s but old enough to take in all them vintage film posters down the London underground etc even the 80s still was great to go to the cinema into the 90s. but the 70s will always hold a smile for me with my mum who is now 80 bless her but still looks half her age. Nice update matey and enjoy your holiday. The god father is being re released for its 50th at the cinema as well.
chat soon matey
David
What about 1975 when the Rollerball poster was everywhere in the London Underground. Both John at Mondo Chelloveck Movies and myself think it may be the best cinema poster ever (those displayed in the Underground were always cropped a little to fit the advertising spaces but Rollerball never seemed to be too adversely affected to me) so what do you think of that one? When we were moving my wife found an original UK quad poster for Rollerball which was a real surprise. I don't recall who gave it to me or when but there it is. I started searching for a second copy for ol' Mondo and it turns out there's a chap on eBay who arranges reproductions of them so I got one of those sent to him. It arrived with him yesterday and he's just put a video up so I'm about to have a watch on our smart TV. I hope the poster looks good: ua-cam.com/video/gPKWh3J2-Y4/v-deo.html
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Very true and do love that rollerball design to. My fave poster artwork has to be JAWS though mate from 1975. Theres too many film poster artwork i love but JAWS is my fave.
@@davidprice6994 Jaws is a classic in every respect including the poster. 'Last Night In Soho' is very special too. I have one sitting here on the floor with me and it's beautiful. I'm very pleased to have it and being double sided, I need a light box to display it. Preferable a quad poster lightbox that will mean posters are easily interchangeable.
John.
im sure those who come to your channel knowing little about film shoots and media formats will learn a great deal about the difference between various film and digital formats and the way that they affect the final quality of the digital transfers. being able to really recongize and study the differences betwen formats is something that I only really became able to do once i started watching more movies in primarily uncompressed blu ray or 4k formats, where all of the detail of the film grain, light rolloff, halation and texture can be seen. I love grain and the way it is used to create different feelings in a movie. for a film like Spencer, the 16mm film may not have the sharpest end result, but the texture provided by such a grainy stock has a look that i find strikingly appealing. I often go so far as to use software to emulate the characteristics in my videos, even though technically my digital camera can acheive much higher quality. still, i have been discussing the idea of shooting a short film on 16mm film with a friend using their bolex camera.
i noticed you also commented that there seems to be more detail in film during daytime scenes. in cinematography, more light is always better, as underexposing the film reveals its grain more clearly. its very common to expose to the right or overexpose the image, then lower the exposure in post to push down the grain detail until it is barely noticeable. in general, the more light entering the camera, the less grain needs to be seen. im utterly mystified by the ability of cinematographers like emmanual lubeszki to do this using almost nothing except for natural light. with barely any additional lighting besides what is offered by the sun and the practical lights in the scene, he makes the celluloid almost disappear completely in films like The Tree of Life, leaving only the naturalness of the scene as if our eyes were there on the set.
Now that's a very good and detailed comment Ariel - thank you. I did mean that it was cameras in general that produce better results in sunny conditions and that's why films shot predominantly outdoors stand a better chance of looking better on our Blu-ray and 4K discs but you filled in the gaps in what I said nicely.
Film stocks are expensive these days but if you do shoot a 16mm film please see if it's possible to get a print struck from the negative. It seems that those facilities have gone the way of the Dodo now but surely someone has to be offering the service. I only ever shot reversal Super 8 so I threaded up and projected the one copy of each film. They've all survived well down the ages though and if you take a look at a video I did about 18 months ago called 'The Super 8 Gauge' you'll see a Kodachrome extract of me as a 2 or 3 year old and it could have been shot last week.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 i will definitely take a look at that one!
Thanks so mutch!
Thank you for the comment Federico.
John.
Thanks John, good to see you back in action, always curious to hear reaction about Spencer from across the pond. Bit of a disconnect over here, but loved Kristen Stewart, that always seems to be the case though!
I think some people in the film industry get a picture in their head about the Royal Family Alex and they incorrectly assume they can't be at all normal. My experience is that they're just like the rest of us but being in the public eye as much as some of them are causes problems as it would for anyone. Diana was hounded by members of the media almost every minute of her life once she came onto the scene. I think it drove her nuts and that is why she seemed irrational at times. The one time my wife and I saw her we didn't even think about it, gave her a wave and a smile and she did exactly the same thing back. She was being chauffered to the palace for something and given the time of her life that it was, it couldn't have been for a friendly chat. She used to go shopping around where my parents lived and most people just left her alone but the press were always on the lookout so they could get a photo and make something up. What a sad life she ended up having. Kristen Stewart's performance captures the turmoil in Diana's mind really well but the film portrays the Royals in a way that is unrecognizable from the truth.
John.
Great review again John, I'll have to get a copy of Backdraft,not seen that since I sold my Laserdiscs ,enjoy Death on the Nile 👍🏻
I still have the LaserDisc and I should have shown that and my Super 8 reel of The Sting but alas, I totally forgot. Actually got back from London today and Death on the Nile was beautiful.
John.
I have watched "Baby Driver" several times in 4k with the Dolby Atmos system. It's one that I like to show off to my friends and really shows off the difference Dolby Atmos brings to watching a film at home. "Baby Driver" "Fury Road" "Ford vs. Ferrari" "Black Hawk Down" 4k all showcase the Dolby Atmos very well.
Don't rule out trying the other available sound formats on these discs at times Chris because Robocop has possibly illustrated that sometimes the original soundtrack is best. I don't know if Baby Driver had Dolby Atmos originally but if not, it could be worth seeing if the others sound any different and give an overall improvement. Probably not in this case given what you've said!
John.
Got to see Death on the Nile being projected on 70mm a week or two back. I have forgotten how big film can be blown up on screen.
I should have got a video done about the 70mm showing by now but unfortunately I haven't been able to yet. I think I've worked out how they did a 70mm release and why it's no longer 70mm as we once knew it. The dumbing down of cinema picture quality continues unabated! But there are still some good elements to 70mm even when it's not really 70mm.
John.
Great review
Thanks Steffy.
John.
Great overview of these four releases - you provide most comprehensive and honest reviews from a real film enthusiast. Thanks
Thank you Paul. More enthusiasm coming soon as we're back from London and I shot quite a lot of video with an action camera.
John.
Great video. Enjoy the film.
Thank you. Actually saw the film on Monday but had to delay making this review video live in the end as I was so late getting it finished. 70mm still rules.
John.
Another informative review john. Picked up the Sting in 4k and was not disappointed. Remember watching this when it was re-released in theaters in the early 80's here in NZ. Good times.
Thank you Sirius. The Sting has had a couple of re-releases to cinemas over here too but with the rise of streaming I suppose those days are largely gone now. John.
Excellent reviews. I learn so much from your videos, especially about the presence of film grain on 4K discs. Will be picking up The Sting and Baby Driver.
They're both good releases Andrew but Baby Driver may be worth considering on just Blu-ray as it seemed just as good as the 4K to me. All our equipment causes variations though so the 4K may be vastly superior on yours. I've come home from London with a few more discs thanks to Fopp on Shaftesbury Avenue and I got permission to shoot a video in there so that one's coming soon along with The Odeon Leicester Square where I was also given permission to shoot but not in the projection box this time. I need to dig out archive film my colleague shot in the booth in 2006 so I hope I can find it.
John.
Brilliant John really enjoyed your review of all four films. 3 for £30 at HMV sounds wonderful across the pond here i think no such great deal.
By the way loved that you did a video on that HMV store. Oh to live in the UK again. Hope you enjoyed your 70mm experience. Apity the Odeon marble arch is no longer with us I enjoyed the restored version of" Lawrence of Arabia" there. By the way Iv'e been meaning to congratulate your wife on the glittering side curtains to your home cine they are splendid.
All the best Graham.
We saw the 70mm re-release of Spartacus at the Odeon Marble Arch and I think that was 1990 or 91. It was fabulous. I'm not sure Death on the Nile looks quite as good as that and probably not Lewrence of Arabia either Graham but it's beautiful to see such rich colour and density in a top cinema and not to have to put up with a harsh video projected image that is too bright. I know most people don't notice the overly bright images but I do and it tends to wash out the subtleties. All the other West End cinemas were video projecting Death on the Nile which seemed a bit of a waste of time to me when the Odeon had a 70mm print.
John.
Spartacus must have been brilliant on that wonderful Marble Arch screen. I have seen it in 70mm but years ago and I'll bet the restored copy was slot better.
Like you I notice projection and colour when watching a film in the cinema. I loved seeing technicolor, ultra panavision or whatever on the opening credits then they decided to but all that on the closing credits. Not so many want to know all that I guess. And boy do we get a lot of closing credits. Use to be a time when any self respecting movie goer would sit it out to the end but now you don't see that with end credits lasting so long.
That reminds me of a time in south India. Tamil Nadu. We went to see a re-release of "MacKenna's Gold " near the end of the film everyone got up to to leave and I couldn't see the screen so I but my hands around my mouth and shouted out " sit down it's not finished yet" and without turning around they all sat down again until the end. I have to laugh every time I remember that.
@@hildamontes6146 Brilliant Graham! You've reminded me of a time in the Empire, Leicester Square when the opening intros had finished - THX then DTS or Dolby Digital logo following on from their spectacular laser and sound show - we were all pretty much deafened and someone said out loud "Can you hear it?" The audience roared with laughter. Classic. The sound is impressive everywhere today but I still think the 1989 refit of The Empire was the most impressive I ever heard.
I still set through the 3 hours of credits at the end of every film. We weren't the only ones left at the end of Death on the Nile and I was really excited to see the Kodak 65mm credit emblazoned up there for all to see. I expect some actually understand what that means nowadays.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 wonderful John I love all these stories about moments shared in the cinema. You should promote a section in one of your videos and invite people to write in their most interesting moments at the cinema. By the way I was inspired to dig out my copy of "The Sting" not 4k sorry to say but never the less looks good. Haven't watched it in years. Although the plot stays in the mind I had forgotten most of it and what a great film it is. When I can get up to San Diego I'll look for a 4k.
Thanks again for your review.
I seen backdraft in theater when it came out
We should have all been instructed to see Backdraft at the cinema!
John.
More welcome knowledge, thanks John
All being well there will be more knowledge coming soon when I finally get around to talking about the 70mm of Death on the Nile which has taken some working out but I think I'm right. Looks like they've created a negative from the video master which is not exactly 70mm quality.
John.
Lawrence of Arabia coming in July John, can't wait for a review.
@@johnadair4693 I could review that one now without even taking a look at it John. No doubt others will claim the transfer is one of the best ever but it won't be that, it will be the quality of the original 65mm shoot that means it's one of the best 4K discs so far.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 yes your right John,I have the Columbia box set and the transfer is brilliant,I'm sure you will like it .
@@johnadair4693 There you are John, you just fell into what I was talking about... it's not the transfer, it's the master responsible for the exceptional quality. Conversely, if the master were crap then the end product would be crap. John.
Great reviews!!!! I look forward to hear what you think about Death on the Nile, I haven’t seen it myself but I quite liked the 70s version when I saw it on tv one time.
The 1978 version is one of my favourite films of all time Nicole. The interplay between David Niven and Peter Ustinov is perfect but it takes a few viewings to see all the little nuances. This film is better to look at and a a very good film in its own right but I doubt anything will ever quite come up to the standard of the 1978 film. 70mm doesn't seem to be as impressive as it once was but it still has the saturated colour, the density and the random grain to give it the superior film look so that's good enough to get me back to the cinema. John.
It's really funny because I'm going to make a three hours drive this afternoon to watch Poirot on 70mm here in Spain, no matter the country we all end up doing the same.
The saturated colour, the unrivalled density of film and that random film grain still means film is special. Let me know what you think and particularly the opening subtitles if you have them in English because they looked a little soft to me which was a surprise. Could be that sequence had to be finished at lower quality because the subtitles were inserted using a computer and the whole sequence output at 2K or 4K before being transferred to the negative. All a bit of a mystery... but I like a good mystery which is probably why I'm a fan of Death on the Nile.
Have a great time and a safe trip.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Well I've just got home after the movie and I must say that every single penny spent on gas on this trip have been well expended. Thankfully it looks like all 32 copies haven't bean modified for different languages or anything like it, also the cinema have made the effort of buying both the Spanish and English DTS CDs to give the clients the right to choose to watch it in the original English version witch I of course did.
About the sequences with titles I must say that haven't notice such an abrupt different, from my film photography experience the initial war flashback scene looked a bit too grainy like when you overdevelop your film to fix underexposing it. This is the second time in my life to see a 70mm projection been the first Licorice Pizza which now I can clearly see that it was a 35mm blow-up and it's just incomparable to the real thing. So good that the digital effects of the movie where really noticeable, whenever they made aerial shots of landscape (especially the ones of Abu Simbel) that jumped from real film to digital effects to fit the time period of the film the quality just seem to jump five steps down like an old copy that have been played several times. Anyways, I've enjoyed the film quite a lot, way more than Murder on the Orient Express to be honest, and I would really love to see more productions that mind to make film copies so we can enjoy them the way that it has always meant to be done.
Best regards.
Javier.
Very great round up review
Backdraft still is a great movie.
Looking also forward to death on the nile i love those movies
Thank you Pascal. I think you'll enjoy Death on the Nile as it's even better than Murder on the Orient Express.
John.
Great reviews John and thanks for covering The Sting, I’m going to make some time for it this week.
We actually watched Spencer last weekend (digital rental) in 4K with HDR, I didn’t realise some of it was shot in 16mm, makes complete sense as the video quality looked washed out (like a while film covering the lens), I had assumed it was to give it a period look, now I know how they created that :)
As you rightly say, Kristen Stewart was fantastic in it, not one I’ll watch again, but really glad I did see it.
Yes, it's not the most repeatable film now that you mention it but perhaps that Kristen Stewart performance will entice me to watch it again in the future. I expect the 16mm sequences were used to give it that more period, arty look. I don't think any of it was the best looking film quality we're ever going to see but it suits the film. It's almost a dream-like quality and given the portrayals of the Royals, that' probably what it was really; Diana's impression of how her in-laws were.
John.
Great reviews...I already have "Baby Driver" and "The Sting on 4K", love the music and filming and actors on both. Baby Driver is fast and The Sting is slow, interesting contrast in the films from different eras of Hollywood.
Watched "Spencer" the other night, interesting and not based on true facts.
Do not have "Backdraft on 4K" yet, need to buy that, excellent movie with an incredible cast. The fire is it's own character in the movie, congrats to the FX Crew...they did an excellent job. Was nominated for an Oscar for the FX, but it lost to "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". No surprise that it lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, coming in 2nd is no shame compared to that film.
Good comment as usual Bob. I hadn't looked up the oscar situation for Backdraft but completely understandable that T2 pipped it to the post. The computer animation in T2 was groundbreaking and still looks good to this day. Which is more than can be said for a lot of modern films with computer animation in them!
John.
PS you just brigtened up my tea break.
@@hildamontes6146 I should have grown up in England, I have had at least 1 cup of tea everyday I can remember being alive.
English Breakfast/Earl Grey are my favorites. I have a Tea Break Everyday, working from home or office. I always make an announcement..."Tea Time!!!".
@@bobswanson8464 Hello Bob yeah tea-breaks are certainly the best part of the day. I love Earl Grey as well as Darjeeling and green tea.
You can often find us in the garden at tea time for hours.
Thank you for the review of "Baby Driver". I was one of the people who recommended it, mainly for how each movement. background action and even grafitti is synced to the music. I for my part completely disregarded how brutal the movie is, so I honestly feel bad, that you didn't like it for this reason, I should have mentioned that, but as I was completely oblivious to this, I did not mention it :(
Don't concern yourself Nic because I still very much like the film and enjoyed it. I will enjoy it a whole lot more the second time around because I'll be prepared but the impression the film gave from all publicity was a sort of tongue-in-cheek action flick with great driving and a great score. The synchronization of the music to the movement was wonderful. Queen's Brighton Rock to the chase was another highlight. I'm getting on a bit now and I don't tend to like characters in films being shot for no real reason but it probably won't appear so gratuitous the next time around.
John.
Good review John
Good comment Andy.
Thank you John for these brilliant reviews, can't wait for your thoughts on "DEATH ON THE NILE". Michael -South Africa
Death on the Nile - just beautiful. Brilliant film making and worth travelling half way around the world to see one of the 70mm prints. We only had to go 100 miles and I was then given permission to shoot in the auditorium before the film started. It was too dark but at least everyone will be able to see that at least one picture palace has survived all the recent turmoil in London.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Sounds absolutely brilliant (also one of my favourite Christie's).
I might have to make Backdraft my first 4k I don't have a 4k player but I don't think a standard blu ray is coming out and you get a blu ray disc with the 4k set.
It's a very good 4K Matthew. But if you want the best right from the outset then it's Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express. Having said that, they're both so good that it will be difficult to see the difference on most tellies so the thing to do is to look into the wide shots where distant objects or people are in focus and the superiority of the 70mm film or Orient Express should be obvious. Too many reviewers mention close-ups which is the wrong thing to look at.
John.
You can look forward to Death on the Nile in 70mm, John. I haven't seen it in 70mm since the Cinematheque in Oslo is closed due to refurbishing. I've seen it in a standard digital theater; when projected on digital, the film's image is still better than that of new, digitally shot films.
We actually saw it on Monday Roder but I was so late getting this video finished I decided not to make it live and then have hundreds of comments to return home to so just made it live when we returned home today. 70mm may not look as good as it did in days gone by but I could be wrong. I suspect we're losing the knowledge or the capability to get the best out of film prints today but Death on the Nile still looked beautiful. None of the harshness or overly bright imagery offered by video projection so just how a film should be seen in one of the world's top cinemas. I'm still buzzing from it really but it may be the last time we ever get the chance to see a new release in 70mm at a picture palace of old. I hope not.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 You're not wrong. If you ever get the chance to see Baraka from 1992 in 70mm, you'll realize how right you are. As you probably know, one of the issues these days is that the 70mm cinema prints are not real photochemical prints but 4K DI prints. It should go without saying that 70mm prints made from 4K DIs are going to be substantially inferior to real photochemical prints but apperently it doesn't to filmmakers. However, I think the issue goes deeper than that. As you point out, the knowledge and capabilities filmmakers/film lab technicians used to have are slowly beeing lost.
@@loekegaard9 I suspected it was something like that Roder and that explains why I recall the re-release of Spartacus looking unbelievably sharp whereas Death on the Nile at times was not. Of course the computer generated imagery was nowhere near as well defined but we have to accept that with modern film making. I hope the 65mm negative was scanned at 8K though otherwise there really is little point in producing a film print other than the superior colour, density.and the random grain that gives it all such a natural look.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 As far as I know, all new 70mm film productions scan the 65mm negative at 4K, including the Cristopher Nolan films.
The only instances I know of where 70mm productions have scanned the 65mm negative at 8K are Baraka from 1992 and its sequel Samsara from 2011. Baraka has a superior image to Samsara and that goes to prove the point of what we're talking about here. The reason why Baraka, a 70mm film made 19 years before another 70mm film, Samsara, has a better image than its sequel is because Baraka was completed photochemically and Samsara was completed digitally (8K DI). The filmmakers behind Baraka and Samsara didn't even make 70mm cinema prints from the 8K DI of Samsara when that film was released in 2011, despite the fact that the (photochemical) 70mm cinema prints of their previous film, Baraka, are some of the greatest, if not the greatest, 70mm prints ever made. Samsara was released in digital theaters on 4K.
When these filmmakers wanted to release Baraka on Blu-ray around 2007/2008, they scanned the original (photochemically completed) 65mm negative at 8K and downscaled to HD on the Blu-ray disc. That is the reason the Blu-ray release of Baraka has been hailed as the greatest video disc ever made.
@@loekegaard9 Thank you for the clarification Roder. What you've said certainly appears to concur with the train of thought I was heading down. Having said that, Interstellar and Dunkirk in 15/70 IMAX looked like they came from the original camera negative... or at least, they did from where I was sitting in the auditorium. Both of those were a few years ago now but I wonder if it's possible that genuine IMAX is having the camera negative cut to match the video master and the prints struck from there. I realize that is unlikely otherwise Death on the Nile would surely have gone down the same process.
I need to see Baraka.
John.
Wonderful reviews John. I picked up the Sting 4K a couple of months ago. Spencer looks very promising, I hope it comes out on 4K in the future. Backdraft I watched many years ago on DVD.
Backdraft looked great on PAL LaserDisc Jesus so I bet it was equally as good on DVD. It's one of those films that was made so well it just looks good on every format it's ever been issued on... particuarly 35mm and 70mm I bet!
John.
Watched the Sting a couple of the mattes didn’t hold up well, but it is a great movie and the best it will ever look.
The mattes probably do still hold up if projected on a huge cinema screen Gary which is what all films were intended for. At the time, when this film was shown on television the clarity was so poor that they'd have stood up on that too. John.
Cracking review John. Saw Death on the Nile last week but will say no more until you watch it.👍
We saw it on Monday. Beautiful. Sadly I knew who the culprits were but I like the way it was all reinvented and played out in this. Kenneth Branagh is excellent as Poirot but Peter Ustinov in that role is always going to be impossible to match.... but he was helped by having David Niven as his sidekick.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Oh it was a good film but realistically, during the time it was set, 40's or 30's, you would not have had rich ethnicities like they showed in this film and the gal gadot character was indian with an indian cousin, really? They wokified it too much and that is why I find myself less at the cinema as hollywood tries to change history or replace what was white characters with black to satisfy their own agenda, too political for me, I just want to go and enjoy a film like upto the 90's and noughties before wokism reared its ugly head!!
@@darkvader7231 I agree with you but I've grown to accept that films set in the past are fictionalizing things a little too much. Saw a documentary on our Queenie recently and it went over the 1977 Silver Jubilee. I am never going to forget a lady who appeared in that who told of her memory as a young immigrant at the time in London somewhere and she and her whole family had kept themselves to themselves up until that Jubilee. Her father was so excited about the Queen's 25th year that he set up traditional cooking from his country in his front garden for the neighbourhood street party. From that day they were all accepted as part of the community. I never experienced anything for that like myself even when I lived in Africa as a child so I can't identify with how confusing and upsetting it must have been to be a child in a country where you were not accepted because you looked like you came from somewhere else. It upset me. I expect I will still point out deliberate re-working of history in films but I'm not as fastidious as i once was and this one is a complete work of fiction after all. The 1978 version is a better film but it didn't look as good as this one.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 True, hollywood does tend to glamourise history and take artistic licence with the subject matter. I remember doing my paper round in 1977 on the silver jubilee and seeing people having street parties but was never invited to them, I was 12 yrs old and the area I did my paper round in was a predominantly white single parents in social housing (chavs in todays language) area and me not being white did feel left out so went home and had my own party with what little I had😁!!
@@darkvader7231 Thankfully times have changed. My best friend at school over here had an Indian surname but it never occurred to me at the time that he and I were from different countries somehow. Many of us in our 50s and 60s now grew up in a country where we had friends from all over the world originally but didn't know it. That has got to be a reason why Britain has changed today and despite their still being occasional problems we all get along. Let's hope that continues and some of the trouble we saw a while ago with statues being pulled down and things like that is consigned to the history books. If I'd have known you back in 1977 you could have come to our Jubilee party. Maybe we should all get together next year for the next Jubilee party?!?
John.
Glad you’re getting out to the theater, John! You’ll have to give us a little review for Death on the Nile. Seems like only NY and LA are getting the authentic 70mm prints here 😩
Gawd, I'd have thought half a dozen or more would have made it over to the States. It's a beautiful image to look at and such a relief after all the video projection we've all had to watch over recent years. I expect video will be sharper and brighter but it won't have the natural look, nor the unrivalled colour and density that only film can provide.
I had to delay this round-up video because it took so long to put together that I only just got it up before we had to get on the train to London. I've shot some video (with permission) in the auditorium of the Odeon. I have some archive video of the projection booth with the 70mm machines in place that I'll have to find for a future video.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I’ll just have to wait until that one hits the home video market to try and see it as close to the original intention as possible…of course if it’s anything like Murder on the Orient Express, I’ll not be able to find that one either! Well, anyway, thanks for the video John, and I look forward to seeing some footage from inside the theater!
What you said about digital scanning making film gran look too sharp is quite interesting. Do you think he said that, as films were projected from prints, not negatives so that degradation in quality would often soften the overall image? So now that we can capture the image from the original source so well, we just aren't used to it looking so crisp? I personally love the look of really crisp film grain - however, I equally enjoy the softer results of 16 like in Spencer. Have you seen his other film, Jackie? Shot the same way, and personally for me is the superior film given how similar they are. I did think the transfer for Spencer was particularly soft, even in the cinema. Just comparing screenshots I can see a lot more texture and detail from Jackie than I can in Spencer.
Hello Luke! No, I don't think it is anything to do with the films being projected from prints. Computer processes are different to photographic processes and scanners scanning a film frame at a high resolution is going to pick up everything and enhance it. The Fifth Element 4K disc had me thinking that a digital sharpen had been applied but given what the chap said in the extra on this disc I think he's confirmed it's just a side-effect of the scanning process. I wonder if an aerial image transfer would produce more natural results but that is more labour intensive so unlikely to ever happen now. Premiere prints and 70mm prints were taken from the original camera negative and I got a bit spoiled with the image quality we enjoyed at all the premiere houses in the West End of London for years. Fine grain, sharp as tack and beautiful to look at. I stopped going to the cinema when video projection was foisted on the top cinemas as the imagery was so lacklustre by comparison. It's better now of course but I reached the point where I would only go to a cinema if I knew a film print was being projected. The trailers before Death on the Nile looked pretty horrible but thankfully Death on the Nile was a film and despite not being as good as it probably should be (probably used a video intermediate somewhere along the line) it still looked beautiful. Better than Dune, that's for sure.
I haven't seen Jackie but I might now that you've told me about it. I think that starred Natalie Portman and I do seem to like looking at her so that's another good excuse to watch it!
John.
As usual; top job on the video. Maybe you should think about doing a video on the best looking 4K blu-rays, true me the best looking Blu-ray I've seen is "valerian" (I found it ok as I did read the comics years ago).
I think Valerian is terrific. I was looking at a book in Forbidden Planet yesterday which I think was The Art of Valerian and if it hadn't have been so massive and so heavy I would have left with that and a whole bunch of other wonderful books on film that I can't afford. Valerian was a 2K master if I remember correctly but it is one of those pieces of work that proves that it doesn't matter what the format is if the origination is good because it will shrink down and still maintain exceptional clarity.
John.
Hey John glad to see you back, another brilliant video and a great showcase of titles there. Whilst I don't have 4K I really find these video interesting and your in-depth knowledge superb.
I've never seen Backdraft but the cast really sells it for me and The Sting looks like a old school classic which would be right up my street which is strange for someone as young as me.
Baby Driver is another Edgar Wright classic that uses the music so well in times with the action of screen and you can see how Edgar Wright love for music in films evolves with Last Night in Soho. It's a fun caper tale with a great performances by the leads.
Haven't seen Spencer but heard some decent things but it isn't my sort of film.
Hope you enjoyed Death on the Nile, Take care John and look forward to the next video
Greetings Pete. Spencer isn't for everyone but I know a lot of people around the world really do have an interest in our Royal Family which is just as well as it helps to ensure Britain remains a fairly major player in the world. It's very well made but the fictional aspect had to be pointed out because some will think it's based on fact. Baby Driver is a bit of a one-off. If it hadn't have had a couple of brutal shootings in it I think I'd have liked it even more but I'm getting old and I don't tend to like blase violence for no reason these days. Having said that, I still love films like The Terminator so I need to think on this some more. Backdraft just hasn't dated. And we're never likely to see a film like it again because no one would insure the production let alone a major studio finance and green light it in the first place. The searing heat in the Universal Studios tour set was frightening and I didn't hang around getting out of there... and that's why that Super 8 sequence is that short!
John.
Baby Driver is still on my plan-to-watch list but your comments about the violence is giving me pause. On the other hand, as a kindred lifelong film fan, I absolutely adore The Sting.
I think all us true film fanatics appreciate The Sting Henri but if you're young and fairly new to an appreciation of film it may take a few years to fully comprehend how good it really is. As for Baby Driver, if I'd have been prepared for some violence in what I expected to be a light-hearted action film with great music it wouldn't have bothered me. Now you're prepared you should really enjoy it because it is good fun despite a few people being shot when I didn't feel there was any need for that sort of thing.
John.
Hi John, Baby driver = Absolutely brilliant, best bit? The on foot chase scene set to hocus pocus by Focus, with the gun shots in time with the music. Think about it, that's 2 Edgar Wright films were the main character is listening to music to escape from reality.
That's interesting Clive. I hadn't thought of that. I suppose my interpretation was that he had to shut out the tinnitus in order to function at his best and the more extreme the situation or the requirement, the heavier the track he played. I don't know Hocus Pocus so that was probably after my time. I did twig Brighton Rock by Queen though! A dangerous track to play whilst driving!
John.
Death On The Nile..you must tell us all how it was!
Beautiful Timothy. I shot some video in the Odeon so I'll cover that a bit soon and then do a review when the 4K comes out. That's the plan anyway.
John.
I ain't seen Backdraft since I got rid of my old PAL laserdisc, perhaps it's time to get an upgrade.
I forgot to show the PAL LaserDisc in this video but I may include it in a future video along with the Super 8 cut down of The Sting. You just can't get the staff these days! As for the 4K being worth an upgrade Steve, oh yes! It's a revelation but I wasn't exactly surprised by how good it looks as that original LaserDisc was always rather special so that was an indication that Backdraft always looked pretty darned good.
John.
Great reviews John :) I haven't seen The Sting so might have to check it out. Backdraft is one of the best films of 1991 in my opinion with great cast and performances by Kurt Russell and William Baldwin. I can understand that some people think it has a bit unrealistic fire scenes but I still like this film and can recommend it to those who haven't seen it yet.
You're a film fan so I can guarantee you are going to appreciate The Sting. It's probably a better film than I've given the impression of in this review but I may have been a little too cautious because it's not a modern type of big action blockbuster. Maybe some youngsters will surprise me and tell me they love it whereas I tend to think they're only into comic books brought to the big screen these days.
John.
Talking of optical illusions, the screen in your viewing room looks like it needs to be pulled tighter, it appears to have ripples on the surface. This might be just a lighting issue, but it has bugged me since you moved. Michael Beeny ex UCI technical Engineer.
There have always been ripples in it for the 30 years we've had it Michael. Projected image occasionally shows them up but it's even rarer now I've put the bands on the sides - even the titles don't seem to be finding them. If the projector was straight on it would be better still. It's amazing what you can get away with when projecting and consider the alternative which is watching the telly and all seems perfectly fine! I never much enjoyed watching films on a television set.
John.
Great session, John. I loved it.
Thank you uncle Cliff. We met up with cousin Anne on Monday for Death on the Nile so she may even make a brief appearance in the next video.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 That's nice John,I did see that Anne posted the event on faceake. I look forward to your next session. Take care and best wishes to Susana
@@cliffordtracy1989 Keep well over there Cliff. I suppose we'd better all cancel our trip to Kiev now!
I think cousin Anne really enjoyed herself which made our trip all the more enjoyable. I've told her the next special cinema outing will probably be a genuine IMAX 15/70mm film at the BFI IMAX in the Waterloo Bull Ring. That is even more impressive than standard 70mm at the Odeon but you can't beat seeing a 70mm film in an old style picture palace. I'll be showing the auditorium of the Odeon in a forthcoming video as I was given permission to shoot it.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 That will be fantastic. Yes, no Kiev now!
Hey John, nice job! I need to get The Sting . I love Baby Driver and its Atmos soundtrack is demo. Backdraft is famous for the soundtrack even back in the laserdisc days, though I’ve never loved the movie. Spencer is on my list to see. I really enjoy these roundups. Thanks from California
Thank you as always Rob. We have just returned from London and I have a couple of videos to put together from that trip so more are coming soon!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 can't wait to hear your thoughts on the 70mm presentation of DOTN. The trailers look epic.
@@Celestialrob It's a beautiful film Rob and I expect the 4K disc will be up there with the best of them. The computer animated shots are a little too obvious owing to the substantially reduced picture quality but most people wouldn't notice. Starts in the WW1 trenches with french speech being subtitled into English and the subtitles were a little soft which was surprising but other than that a richly colourful, natural looking film presentation at over 50 feet wide. Had a few video projected trailers beforehand and they looked overly bright and harsh. Glad we hadn't paid for a poxy video presentation of the film but then I wouldn't have been there if it hadn't have been film. Video in the home is one thing, it's another thing in one of the world's top cinemas.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 what an amazing experience. When I lived in Brussels, the then largest cinama in the world, The Kinepolis, had weekly 70mm prints on a Thursday. I had so many amazing experiences including 2001, Top Gun, Pink Floyd The Wall.... very envious of your trip to Leicester Square
@@Celestialrob I really need to establish how the 70mm prints were produced because I suspected a digital master to replace the negative but there was a bit of neg dust evident so at some stage a negative is produced. I just hope it's the original camera negative and not a dupe from the 8K or 4K digital intermediate. I do think 70mm prints were superior in days gone by but it's been a long time. 15/70 IMAX prints certainly looked sharper than this did - for much of it anyway.
John.
Love the content John. Thanks for doing what you do. Is it me or is your screen sagging? I’ve had it happen to me. Just wondered if it’s the light or if it is.
The screen's always been like that James. Ten feet is too heavy for a roll down screen but once you project on it the creases aren't visible. Occasionally a panning shot will wobble a bit but the alternative is to watch the telly so sod that!
John.
I went to Death on the Nile on 70mm in Amsterdam a week and a half ago. It looked splendid! And while the original is just about my favourite film of all time, I did enjoy this one a lot more than the Branagh Orient Express.
Well, well... the 1978 Death on the Nile is one of my all-time favourites too. Ustinov and Niven are absolutely perfect together and the rest of the cast isn't bad either!!!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 It's wonderful, there is no film I've seen more times. It has so many great quotes as well. Anyway, look forward to hearing what you think of the Branagh version. - do not allow evil into your heart, it will make a home there.
Some great titles ther John 👍👍 That hmv 3 for £30 is unreal.....I went straight on to ther website and found out they only deliver within the UK...😔😔... Zavvi hav a similar deal but not as many titles.
I hope HMV get this sorted out soon Roy because they are missing out on a rather large market. Today we visited 'Fopp' which is a subsidiary and I shot a video in there. I don't think anyone is going to quite believe this fantastic diminutive film and video store right in the West End of London if they haven't been there in person. Went in oak, came out broke!
John.
Like Jaws I think I own The Sting on every format I've owned, I'm sure I have it on NTSC Laser Disc somewhere. Its a smooth whiskey of a movie for me. Awesome soundtrack, cast, and very very easy viewing. Love it.
I hadn't seen it for years so it was even more enjoyable almost seeing it like the first time again... although I do have a 400ft cut down on Super 8 so that scuppered it a little but not too much. I should have shown that Super 8 in the video.
John.
Oh it would be nice to give us a quick look in a future video maybe. Cheers John.
Evening John hope you're doing well. It's not often you find a modern film with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio is it? Are there many more modern films with that aspect ratio? Am I right thinking it's used in "arthouse" films? Stanley Kubrick used it as well and, as you know, used different ratios in the same film.
It does seem to be rare to have the original European widescreen ratio these days but I expect that even when it has been used to shoot a movie it still gets masked down to 1.85:1 at cinemas as that's the accepted dimension now. I may be wrong but knowing how little knowledge there is out there does suggest it's rather pointless trying to do anything at all differently any longer.
John.
Some of the best 4Ks in my collection are IMAX movies. They always look fantastic on a 4K tv . There was 21 IMAX/Giant screen movie release on 4K so far and I can’t find and more information if any more will be coming out soon. I plan on doing a collection video on my entire IMAX collection in April. If you are interested in checking that out. Great video as always, keep up the great work.
That's a good idea for a video. Make sure these IMAX movies are genuine IMAX first though because it's possible some of them are not. Mission Impossible Fallout is one to be careful of although I have to admit that the pair of 'IMAX' video sections look terrific even if they're not really IMAX. Having just seen the 70mm of Death on the Nile I need to find out exactly how they're producing the 70mm prints because however good it may have been, it's not quite how I remember 70mm so they must be up to something. The dumbing down of image quality for the modern audience continues unabated it seems.
John.
Real fire, but without the real smoke! Although the scenes would have been very different if they were shot in zero visibility so I can understand why fires in movies are always magically smokeless.
It was all done with gas Gaz which was the only viable way really. I suppose that if they'd have filled the sets with smoke they'd have killed half the cast and crew so I guess some spoil sport put they kybosh on that one!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Haha I was in a fair few building fires during my time as a fireman & to be honest 95% of the time I couldn't see my hand in front of my face so not really ideal for most movie action scenes. Although if done well by someone cleverer than me I've always thought showing what it's like inside of a real fire could maybe work & I can tell you it's a lot more claustrophobic & unnerving being in a fire when your sight & hearing are practically useless!
@@northeastcorals No doubt computer imagery could add that sense of disorientation nowadays Gaz. I don't think any studio is going to allow real fire like we saw in Backdraft though so probably the whole thing will have to be drawn in on a computer and that's going to be a bit of a step backwards after Backdraft. I can't even imagine what real building fire would feel like and I certainly wouldn't have the nerve to do it for a living so it's just as well people like you are around to do it for us!
John.
Great review John and nice movies. I looked for Backdraft and The Sting but they didn't have them in my local HMV so I got Looper,. Last Action Hero, In the Line of Fire,. Inception, Black Hawk Down,. Spiderman into the spiderverse, Schindler's list and The Shawshank Redemption all on 4k and my wallet got hit hard so I won't be buying movies for the next few weeks. Plus In the Line of Fire only has the 4k disc so I hope they don't do the same as Arrow Video.
Funnily enough I returned home with In The Line Of Fire a few days ago Andrew. I haven't opened it yet but I don't mind if it's just the 4K in there as I have the PAL LaserDisc too. Having said that, the image quality on that particular LaserDisc is terrible so I don't know how they got that one so horribly wrong when you think that Backdraft on PAL LaserDisc is almost perfect. And yes, I forgot to show the gatefold LD of Backdraft in this video... and the Super 8 cut down for The Sting. You just can't get the staff these days.
John.
I thought Line of Fire had mostly excellent good image quality in 4k.
Would like to hear your review on "Death on the Nile". Saw it on Valentines Day with my wife.
A beautiful film. Not a bad cast either and of course, the story is one of the best even if I did manage to guess the culprits having seen the 1978 film about 100 times! I'll talk about it a bit in a video shortly but a full review should probably wait for the 4K disc which should be one of the best ever, if not the best.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I was with my wife when we saw it in the Cinema. I had to learn over about 7 minutes into the movie and told her "Who Dun It". She hates it when I do that, but what proof would I have if I waited until the end.
-I need to bring a note book and write it down instead of telling her, would help my marriage a bit. :)
@@bobswanson8464 You're a naughty boy Bob!
So happy to hear your thoughts on Baby Driver - hands down one of my favorite action flicks of the last decade. Have you seen Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy?
I've only just discovered Edgar Wright owing to Last Night In Soho Bryan but I did see his earlier works such as Shawn of the Dead which was good fun. Baby Driver was bloody good but I don't tend to like seeing people being randomly shot so that was the downside for me. The driving was fabulous, the acting was fabulous and the soundtrack was fabulous. The Blu-ray disc face is memorable too even if the 4K isn't. That Michael Myers gag is unforgettable.
John.
@Lawrence Windrush Ah yes, Leon at Leon Talks Films did a short review of that one a while ago. I never particularly liked the band but they were good fun to watch on Top of the Pops every now and then. John.
I wish we had 3 for 30 in the U.S. Instead we get stores closing left and right . 🤷🏻♂️
I remember the days in America when there were video and music stores everywhere. Perhaps now that F.Y.E. is in the same group as HMV and Fopp over here we'll see them transform a little to become more representative of the great stores we have over here.
John.
I love The Sting but lots of mixed reviews. Some saying too soft, others saying artistic intent. Got in on UHD and while I'm sure best it's ever looked I'm going to eBay my copy. Some shots a sharp and crisp, while others are soft and to my eye look as if excessive DNR has been applied, although maybe it's the source. I'll wait till a "boutique" house do a transfer to see if that fixes what I'm seeing.
The soft shots were slightly out of focus at the time of filming so you'll never see an improvement there. There is a little too much film grain but it could have been intentional although this modern method of cine transfer via scanners does exacerbate film grain so that's why there is sometimes the need to smooth out the image afterwards. It would be interesting to see an aerial image to scanner comparison these days but I suppose aerial image is labour intensive and therefore too expensive to make it viable any longer.
John.
I was very happy seeing the quality of the 4K transfer on Backdraft, and I personally think it's a film that many younger generations, such as myself, should get into. I've always been a big fan of Ron Howard, and I would love to see some reviews of his other films should they come to/if they're on 4K.
My first experience of Backdraft was a few years ago, when I regrettably bought a DVD of it as I saw it was reduced. It was the first release of the film on DVD, back in 1999. The disc was in terrible quality, it was stuck in non-anamorphic mode, and it seemed like some of the film had been cut off during one scene. I eventually threw it away and got the Blu-Ray, which is much better, although I might buy the 4K at some point.
Great review, looking forward to more of them.
- Cameron.
You've reminded me that I should have shown the PAL LaserDisc on camera Cameron because the quality of the video on that was exceptional. The gatefold sleeve helped as well. Ron Howard's a great film maker - Apollo 13 anyone?
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Perhaps you could show what that looks like in your next video, even if it's unrelated to what you're showing. I recently started to collect some of the more favourable Laserdiscs, and the quality on them is way better than I thought it would be. It's much nicer to physically see them in person.
- Cameron.
@@reel8423 I wish modern disc releases were still issue in LaserDisc packaging because just like LPs that makes a heck of a difference to the overall impression. If I ever do a video from our video library room then I'll try to remember to pull Backdraft out and show it.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks, and thank you for all the content over the last few months.
@@reel8423 You're welcome ReelCCG and thank you for saying so.
John.
Still blows my mind what you said on the Interstellar review, that you'd need a 45k disk to capture the IMAX to its full potential. The 4k still looks pretty great but def makes you think.
That's the basic maths but whether or not you could ever really fully capture what was on an original IMAX negative is open to question. I expect that transferring any film via a scan is limiting the possibilities but even though it appears that some rectification has to be done owing to the harshness generated by scanning it is amazing how well these modern video transfers turn out. I think they used to be more natural and smoother but we didn't have the clarity we're getting today. In other words, I'll put up with exacerbated film grain if we are offered video transfers like we get now. Jaws is probably the best 35mm transfer so far and that was scanned at 5.6K. That would make 65mm negative about 15K and IMAX is three times the picture area of 65mm/70mm. Apocalypse Now is about as good and that was 4K so perhaps Jaws just had better resolution on the original negative. I'll get to the bottom of it all one day.
John.
Hello John, hope your well, You're probably watching Death on the nile in 70mm as I type this, very jelous my must say, haha.
there is a theater in melbourne called "the sun theater/the astor theater" and they screen 70mm prints around 20 times a year, and every one of there screenings of death on the nile is on 70mm.
sadly no theater here in sydney is screening it yet, which is a shame since I really want wait to see the picture quality of modern 70mm film stock (and I believe you said they used the finest grain modern film stock they could for shooting). so that should be a fun comparison between the 4k disc and the 70mm print of death on the nile.
A theater somewhat close to me is screening "Grease" from 1978 on 35mm this sunday and I am thinking of attending, since I have never seen anything on 35mm before. I've only seen 2001 on 70, close encounters and that amazing trailer reel you sent me on super 8 (thank you once again for sending that wonderful reel).
All these films you showed off in this video look great, I NEED to purchase that "the sting" 4k because it looks like such a beautiful film.
A fun little detail about that scene you liked in Baby Driver, is the production of baby driver could not get the rights to the halloween michael myers mask, so they asked Mike myers from Austin powers if they could wear masks of his face, Mr. Powers thought it was funny and let them use it.
here is a link to a UA-cam video that explains it better: ua-cam.com/users/shorts4-m_sHn1Cr8
I watched a fantastic film the other day (now one of my favorites) called "Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles", its a fantastic slow burn film and I thought it was brilliant.
I would highly suggest watching it if you have the chance.
Sorry for the huge paragraph, Hope you had a great time at Death on the nile on glorios 70mm, perhaps a review of the picture quality and sound quality could be something to consider (?).
Anyways, Have a great day, John! I have my nice cup of tea with a biscuit tonight.
Greetings Clark. It took me so long to put this video together than in the end I just got it finished in time to get the train to London so I left it 'unlisted' until we returned yesterday. Death on the Nile is beautiful but I feel that modern 70mm is not the same as it was before. It still has the unparalleled saturated colour, the unrivalled density and the natural look only provided by random grain but it's not as sharp as I recall 70mm for much of it. It could be that there is more computer work in it than I realized (the full CGI scenes are perceptibly lower quality but quite a margin) so it's possible there is computer art in scenes that do not appear to have it thereby lowering the quality. It's also possible that the original camera negative was not used for the 65mm prints and this concurs with what fellow enthusiast and subscriber Roder has said to me in a comment. If that's the case then at some stage a dupe negative was struck from a digital intermediate because there is occasional neg dust visible (white specks on the print - the black specks are dirt on the print being screened but they're even rarer) which confirms a negative has been used.
Anyway, I shot the cinemas in Leicester Square and actually inside the auditorium of The Odeon. Couldn't get permission to video in the booth this time but I'll see if I can find archive video that a colleague shot when we were in there in 2006 to show the 70mm projectors. Also, shot a couple of other top cinemas in the centre of London and the top video store in the nation... possibly the world. So there's quite a lot in the pipeline plus a review of a new horror film called 'Caveat' that arrived in the post yesterday from AIM Media which is very nice of them. A horror film that's actually quite scary but shot on a budget of practically nothing. Fairly unique in the modern world methinks.
I need to look up 'Jeanne Dielman' but I expect it's a new French film so tell me more.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I guess we will have to find out how good the 4k of DOTN looks like, seeing that Murder on the orient express looks so bloody good, death on the nile should look the same if not better. Shame they shoot this all on 65mm film stock and then do the CGI in 2k, feels like such a waste, I would have been happy to wait longer for the film to come out if they had done the CGi in 4k, but that would take 4 times the amount of time.
Jeanne Dielman is a movie about a housewife who lives with her son in an apartment, doing her daily chores, but slowly she realizes something and isnt the same anymore.
its 3 and a half hours but the film is split into 3 parts, each part takes place on a day. I watched one part per day and I believe that it is the best way to watch it.
The criterion collection released a blu ray of it and I have ordered it, so it shall be here at my doorstep soon.
there were 70mm blow ups for a new film from director "Paul Thomas Anderson" called licorice pizza, it was shot on 35mm but from what ive heard, the picture quality is pretty good.
Have a great day John
@@ClarkTeddles The Prince Charles cinema just off Leicester Square have one of the 70mm prints for Liquorice Pizza. I had a look at the trailer but it's not my sort of film judging by that. I wonder if they're editing the camera negative to strike the 70mm blow-up prints. This is something I do need to find out.
I agree with you about all the 2K computer effects but I expect the cost of producing 4K computer imaging has a bearing on how they are finally output as much as the time. Time is money and waiting four times as long, tying up an effects house's super computers is going to add one heck of a lot to the bill. Making a film is a business and it's all about making a profit just like all business and all work. Once film fail to make a good return we can kiss the industry goodbye so let's hope there is a market for them for a long time to come. Although I have to say that it would probably help if cinemas were screening something different and potentially superior to what we can screen at home. How about 70mm whenever possible?
Jeanne Dielman sounds really interesting and I need to look that up for a purchase soon. Having just spent a fortune in Fopp I'd better resist for a while. Right now I'm listening to the soundtrack of Blade Runner on vinyl so that confirms I have no willpower.
John.
I've heard a lot of people say Terminator 2 is one of the worst 4k transfers ever, but I honestly thought it looked great... Really crisp, clear and one of the better 4k releases - Either that or my eyes aren't working properly.
I'm just not seeing the waxy look on people's faces that people suggest and the HDR makes some of the scenes look really excellent - I'm viewing on a 65" QLED TV with all the smoothing and post processing effects etc off and the video file runs from my PC to TV via HDMI 2.1 cable - again with all post processing type effects off.
I am wondering if people maybe have some sort of post processing happening with their equipment.
Either that or my palette just isn't as finely tuned and put off.
Murder on the Orient express I think is still the gold standard when it comes to picture quality, colour and brightness. Was the Nile a worthy follow up?
Death on the Nile is a better film than Orient Express Bob but I'm not sure the 70mm prints are quite what they should be. I'll try to establish exactly how they are produced but I have my suspicions and subscriber Roder seems to have confirmed that I'm right. Still beautiful to look at though thanks to the saturated colour, density and random grain that only film can give us.
I nearly purchased T2 on 4K yesterday but I know I won't ever watch it all the way through so I opted for something else. I wish I had bought it now because what you have said about digital processing on televisions is wholly possible. All of that nonsense is minimized as much as possible or off completely on both my systems. T2 was a Super 35 shoot but I saw a 70mm blow-up which looked astonishingly good. It's possible the scanning of the original Super 35 negative exacerbated the film grain to the point they've had to smooth it all a little too much but we have to learn to be a little forgiving. After all, we are getting cinema quality video for the home now for as little as £10 a film. I still find this almost unbelievable. It also saves me having to track down film prints of a favourite film which is just as well because I'd need an even bigger house by now.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 A better movie? That is high praise indeed! I'll definitely need to add it to my watch list.
Your trip to HMV the other week was a nostalgia trip... Reminded me of Woolworths, John Menzies and Our Price... Its pleasant to see they are being sensible and moving with the times by diversifying their stock.
Yeah I am almost thankful my palette maybe isn't quite as stringent as others and I remain blissfully unaware, because when I look at T2 I am not at all put off and just see jaw droppingly good quality film (again all digital post processing on my TV and PC is off - which could be the difference).
It's the Theatrical 4k cut I have - not sure how many cuts there are out there. Not sure if the 4k extended cut was released or not but the Theatrical kept things tight, well paced and is my preferred version.
Yep, I agree, we are pretty spoiled for what we have these days. I can still remember as a youngster in the late 80's/early 90's recording movies off a 4:3 analogue TV with a rather fetching wood grain veneer (funny to think back then it was just "the TV", we only say analogue now because digital broadcasting is a thing) - Making sure to pause when the adverts came up (or watching out for the marker in the top corner of the screen alerting to the incoming adverts).
Then when DVD came out, it always stunned me you could pause the movie without the screen distorting and rolling/shaking about... Also no more rewinding the video before taking it back to the rental shop!
You are going to need multiple rooms just to store your collection. The film reels must take up a significant amount of space!
Update - I just checked the T2 video using a media info tool. It does not have HDR strangely.
@@suavebob I have the 1978 Death on the Nile on Super 8 so I've seen it a lot of times. I almost know the script and every little look the cast members give each other. It is a great film. Actually, I have quite a few features on Super 8 and those combined with all the shorts, cut downs, trailers, cartoons and adverts makes for a rather large collection but it's now all in one place with most of the 35mm prints in the same room. The disc collection and the old VHS tapes are in a separate room but upstairs as they're not so heavy and there's less chance of them coming through the floor!
Even if T2 isn't perfect, I would be that it's never looked so good on home video. I will always prefer to run my Super 8 feature of it though. My friend had the 35mm master print for that but let a fellow collector have it last year. Super 8 meant some of us could enjoy real big screen home cinema through the years and now we can put home video to use in the same home cinemas and never have to watch a film on the telly again if we really don't want to. I am still amazed by how far video projection has come so quickly.
John.
Hi John, have you checked out house of gucci yet? I just got the blu ray today cos there wasn't a 4k release. Great video as always 👍
If it had have been a 4K disc release I'd have probably purchased House Of Gucci but I just couldn't seem to find the enthusiasm even though it's a Ridley Scott with a fabulous cast. I'm sure I'll get it eventually. But what about the latest Clint Eastwood?... just a DVD and not even a Blu-ray! Maybe someone in the EU will make a Blu-ray available of that one.
John.
Funnily enough someone at work highly recommended The Sting. That and your recommendation might tempt me to buy. Great video as always John. Hope you enjoyed Death on the Nile. Any chance of The Green Mile 4k review upon its release?
Death on the Nile is beautiful and to be able to see it projected from 70mm film made it all the more enjoyable rather than a harsh, overly bright video projection. A work of art for sure but not as good as the 1978 version even if it looked so much better. The 1978 was just about a perfect film. The Sting is another one of those so you'll have to see if you can find a copy singing like a bird (i.e. going cheap).
As for The Green Mile, I expect I'll take a look at the 4K eventually but probably not when it's first out as I have seen it so often that I don't feel like I want to watch it again yet. A very good film but Mr. Jangles is the star of the show!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 might have to add the 1978 version to my list as well. Thanks to your video's the list is getting longer by the week. Fair enough about the Green Mile. I just heard it was much improved over the blu ray which for me wasn't great.
Genuinely look forward to your video's John.
@@KeepYaHeadUpTS The DVD of The Green Mile was good Darren so perhaps we should all just stick with that. I think I purchased that one to watch on the train from Paddington to Cornwall when it was first out and have probably run it another 3 or 4 times since then. HMV and Fopp have the DVD of the 1978 Death on the Nile for £3 at the moment. I haven't ever seen in it on DVD but I expect it's pretty good. There is a Blu-ray too but I don't think that will be just £3.
John.
How was Death on the Nile John?
I'm going to do a video on it Siddique. It's not 70mm as I remember it so the buggers are up to something these days. However, the good news is that the unrivalled saturated colour of film was there, the unmatched density was present and the random film grain gave it the natural look that is only given by a real film. I think I know how the prints were produced but I'll have to be careful because it's possible I'm wrong but basically it looks to me like they produced a negative from a video master and struck the 70mm prints from that. What a terrible thing to do to the reputation of 70mm and I wonder how long they've been doing this. I saw an extract from Dunkirk at the BFI IMAX a few years ago and that still looked like 70mm of old so I hope it's a recent downgrade that's been adopted. I could be barking up completely the wrong tree of course so I'll have to be careful how I say all this.
John.
I love The Sting. And I think you sell the ADHD generations short - they could love it too. But it’s grainy as hell. Always has been. Any attempt to clean it up will take away from the feel of the movie. And that iconic soundtrack? Should be listened to on vinyl, complete with pops and skips. I actually have the HD-DVD and that has “too much fidelity” IMO. Don’t want to think what it looks like in 4k.
It looks pretty good in 4K Bill. I expect they had to soften it up a little following the scan but it gives me the impression of a 35mm print running in the home. It's not one of the best by any means but it's rather nice. I'm very happy with it and glad I finally took the plunge. I should have looked at my Super 8 cut down and shown that box in this video but I completely forgot. Forgot to show the Backdraft gatefold LaserDisc too. You just can't get the staff nowadays!
John.
While there is much to admire, for whatever reason, the last few Edgar Wright movies just didn't entirely work for me. I suspect it's just a matter of taste. Ron Howard is similar to me in that regard. It's hit and miss with him. Sadly, "Death on the Nile" is not being projected in 70mm anywhere near me in the States. How was it at the Odeon?
Death on the Nile was beautiful and a very good film. What a cast and what a great looking piece of work. Some of the computer images stand out for the far lower quality but that has to be forgiven because there's just no way that can stand up to 70mm. Opening sequence with world war one in the trenches and the subtitles for that were a little soft but otherwise about as good as we're ever likely to see in a cinema again. The video projection for the trailers was so harsh by comparison to the natural looking, colourful imagery of 70mm. The way all films should be made and projected... if only it could be afforded.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I'll check it out - in digital projection, of course. Thanks!
Please tell us how much your full super8 version of alien cost in 1990 or 1991
£299. The second copy was about £150 but made up of second hand odd reels over a period of time. Today a full length Super 8 of Alien could sell for more than £1,000 which seems a little outrageous to me. Being able to watch that film on our ten foot wide screen at home was a dream come true and I have still not tired of being able to screen it even though the 35mm is substantially better. Video of any form for this film doesn't really get me too interested as a result.
John.
Can you buy it on 35mm somewhere?
@@randersonctr77 You never could buy 35mm Russell but some prints avoided the crusher and found their way into the hands of collectors. I think the 35mm Director's Cut print cost me £122 including post. Not as easy to run as Super 8 but wonderful to be able to put a reel on at a time and see it as it really was back in the day. Sound is another matter and I hope to finally investigate all sorts of upgrades if we ever manage to get the builders in to re-work the rooms in the house so there'll be room in the cinema to do something special with 35mm.
John.
Hi John. I was particularly impressed with "The Sting" transfer. Such a great movie.
PS Have you read that Nolan is shooting his new movie (at least in part) in IMAX Black and White? Can't wait to see how that turns out!
Bloomn' heck! Black and white is even sharper than colour Dan so I can understand why he's doing that. We'll need a group visit to the BFI IMAX for that one.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I have a feeling that the movie is going to be a masterpiece and almost certainly an Oscar contender. A group visit is a brilliant idea!
@@danhardcastle But I bet none of it will understand what the heck the film is about! Well, it's Christopher Nolan after all.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 From what I understand its a (relatively) straight forward biopic about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. No doubt there'll be some kind of Nolan-esque approach to the story structure to keep us on our toes!
@@danhardcastle Nolan-esque... that term's going to stick. I'm thinking time twisting, dimension shifting confusion coming up.