The Player (1971) (YouTube, lost for 50 years)

[starmike]

I want to start this post with this blurb from IMDB, posted today:

"Extensive searches for a print of the film had been unsuccessful for many years. Sources had claimed that it was unreleased and/or uncompleted, despite it having a paper trail of promotional material. On April 1st, 2024, the YouTube channel FT Depot posted a fully scanned print of the film that had been discovered in a deteriorating state, making it available for the first time in 50 years."

This film, as far as I can tell, was never released on ANY video format. Not Beta, VHS, CED, CD-Video, LD, DVD, Blu, UHD.

Last night, the YouTube channel FT Depot posted the film which has been lost for over 50 years. In 4K

The colors look good, but there's a ton of damage to the print. It warbles horribly due to humidity, and the audio suffers in spots.

Please read the description, the story of how it was found is fascinating.

So, I think this is the first time a movie has been "released" in 4K without being released ever before on any video format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JV6Biseuoc

[ggg71]

Thanks for sharing. That was a real treat. Man, could Fats shoot a game!

[Kyle15]

It's astonishing how many recent films most don't know about are in hiding like that. The story behind how they're found is just as amazing.
From winding up in piles of trash in a parking lot, to this!

[Nitroes]

Fascinating film, thanks.

For thos who can't watch in 4K in your browser you can download the 7.6GB 4K file @ https://ytmp3.so/en/youtube-4k-downloader

Choose the WEBM (4K) file.

[KcMsterpce]

This is awesome.
As an avid pool player, and a BIG lover of "The Hustler" (and to a lesser extent, "The Color of Money"), I will delight in checking this flick out soon.

It has HDR and Atmos, right? Sure hope so. Also, is the CGI really apparent, or is it subtle - NM, I will just watch the movie.