The Last Emperor

[Arkadin]

another chance for OAR after Criterion debacle.
pre-order up at amazon.uk from Optimum.
scheduled for April 19th.
keep fingers crossed.

The Last Emperor Blu-ray REVIEW

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

another chance for OAR after Criterion debacle.

After all these years, I'm so tired of "The Last Emperor" being the "Criterion debacle." I mean... they did consult with Vittorio Storaro for the release. It's not like Criterion decided on their own accord to go change the aspect ratio for the film. If anything, shouldn't it be Vittorio Storaro's debacle since this is the path he has chosen for the films he's worked on?

CC

[Arkadin]

well everything Criterion does is not always right, simple as that.
I appreciate your respect for Criterion, but they are not infallible, and I'm not sure I understand why it is so hard for you to admit that they made a huge mistake regarding this issue.
Giving in to that nutball was the absolute worst decision Criterion ever made imo.
There isn't one other director that has gone along with his absurd universal aspect ratio ideas, and even if the entire film community suddenly agreed with him, you don't go changing the intended framing of a movie after the fact just to suit your own egoistic desires--even if you're the cinematographer.
it was and is a debacle plain and simple.
I can only hope that Studio Canal didn't make the same egregious error, but I'm not holding my breath.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

another chance for OAR after Criterion debacle.
pre-order up at amazon.uk from Optimum.
scheduled for April 19th.
keep fingers crossed.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0039LAPW...29&camp=211189

The spec:

The Last Emperor - The press release notes that the “film has been fully restored for its Blu-ray presentation and is displayed in 2.0 format at the director’s personal request”. Listed as coded for Region B, features include:

* 1080P 2.00:1 Widescreen
* DTS-HD MA, 2.0 PCM
* Director’s Cut
* Theatrical feature commentary by Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe & composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto
* The Making of The Last Emperor
* Postcard from China
* Theatrical trailer

[nametag]

It says the Criterion one was 2.02:1 on the review here, and tis is 2.00:1? Does the 0.02 really make a noticeable difference?

[Arkadin]

well that's unfortunate, but ultimately not surprising.
that means it is the "new" changed aspect ratio, not the OAR of 2.35:1
guess Storario won again.
and no that small amount won't make any difference.
the 2:1 is the "new" aspect ratio that Storario wants for all films.
also: it is not the "director's special request"; it's the cinematographer.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

well that's unfortunate, but ultimately not surprising.
that means it is the "new" changed aspect ratio, not the OAR of 2.35:1
guess Storario won again.
and no that small amount won't make any difference.
the 2:1 is the "new" aspect ratio that Storario wants for all films.
also: it is not the "director's special request"; it's the cinematographer.

Bertolucci supports Storaro in this so I wouldn't be surprised.

[Arkadin]

I've never read anything about him supporting Storaro's insane change, but if true, I would love to hear his explanation of how changing the intended framing of the film after the fact makes any sense.
absolutely baffling that Bertolucci would agree with that idea.
with Coppola, Storaro's arguments were all based on the decreased resolution of dvd, and a bunch of other stuff that is not accurate when it comes to blu-ray.
I suspect he used the same invalid arguments with Bertolucci for the dvd of "Last Emperor", and I bet that if Bertolucci understood better, he would never agree to this change for the blu-ray version.
I suspect the "support" alluded to on the bd's cover is simply a carry-over from the dvd release, and that he didn't actually agree to anything specific for the bd version.
Anything is possible I suppose.

[John Hodson]

In an interview with Filmmaker Magazine, Storaro says:

"...I remember with Bertolucci when we did The Last Emperor and we watched it on the television screen, we didn't like it at 2.35. We found it was much better at 2:1. Now, I only shoot 2:1. I refuse to not shoot 2:1. And I only transfer with this, even the old films, because I know it's the only solution for the future..."

[KubrickFan]

It's sad to see Storaro still holding to his dated beliefs, especially with the quality of Blu-ray being so much better, and screens getting much bigger. I could understand him doing this in the Laserdisc era, but now? No. He's a great cinematographer, but this has to stop.

[RBBrittain]

How is it that so many of you think YOU know more about how to present a movie than its director & cinematographer? Maybe you're the ones who are being "egotistical".

And just because BD has more scan lines does NOT make Bertolucci & Storaro's decision outdated. Shifting from 2.35:1 to 2.0:1 adds the SAME proportion of scan lines on BD as anamorphic DVD, since both are based on a 16:9 screen.

I'm not saying the director's right 100% of the time (William Friedkin was almost certainly wrong with The French Connection--especially since he didn't consult his cinematographer before his color-timing debacle), but I don't think we have any basis to complain about their decision. It may have been someone else's decision to release the film at 2.35:1, not Bertolucci's or Storaro's; we just don't know. I'd rather stand by their decision to release at 2.0:1 than demand a 2.35:1 version.

[KubrickFan]

Well, for starters, Storaro came up with the Univisium system in 1998. He created it because it would look better at home, since you would see less of the black bars. If that was done in 1998, how do you explain that Apocalypse Now (made nineteen years earlier) and The Last Emperor (nine years earlier) were altered because of that? This is just plain old revisionism so many years after the fact. Plus, it destroys the art Storaro himself created. Both TLE and AN are gorgeous looking movies. If he has the right to do whatever he wants, we have the right to complain about it. I think the original version of a movie should always be included for posterity's sake.

[rse]

I think that the creators of the film (director, cinematographer, etc.) can do whatever they want to their film for a video or any other releases as long as they also include the original cut/aspect ratio/color, etc.
Even the master fiddler George Lucas has released the Star Wars trilogy in its unaltered state.

[The Driver]

Originally Posted by rse

Even the master fiddler George Lucas has released the Star Wars trilogy in its unaltered state.

Yes, hidden under layers of trash and stashed away on a 2nd disc of another release of his bastardised CGI-perfected revisionism.

The Criterion release of TLE is quite beautiful and I have to be honest and say I wasn't aware of any controversy. It's not bothering me either because framing/reframing can be done for several reasons but they should always be very very clear about it and include the true (original) version where possible (no reason not to I assume here).

This is not possible with Star Wars as George Lucas has actually boiled down the oriignal film elements to gelatine and eaten them. That's what I heard.

Either way I'd discount, for now, the UK disc as it's highly unlikely to come up to the standards of the North America release although it may be the only option for those who can't play Region A titles and aren't multiregion.

Criterion release @ Blu-Ray.com https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-La...y-Review/1196/

[nknizam]

Can anybody advise whether this Uk released bluray is region free? Thanks

[AnimeOnBlu]

Originally Posted by nknizam

Can anybody advise whether this Uk released bluray is region free? Thanks

Region B Locked.

[The Driver]

UK review up https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-La...-Review/10203/

Looks pretty nice.

[Damage Inc.]

Sorry to dig up an older thread, but I just wanted to post my two cents on the aspect-ratio-"issue":

I'm one who agrees that the intended aspect-ratio should be left intact.
Then, I don't know whát the intended aspect-ratio for this film was, I'm thinking it was the 2.39:1-one,
unless by "TV-screen" they meant the monitors on-set and changed it for the final version.

In any way, changing it from 2.39:1 to 2.02:1 means that there's less in width, right?
Well, it sure shows, because the framing of the film on this BD annoyed me quite a bit.
There are plenty of shots in which there are people or object júst outside the image, or sometimes just half of it, which makes it even more obvious.
An example would be the scene with the Emperor and his two wives in the car, where his face is cut in half because of the "zoomed" framing.

I have to agree to that it was a mistake using this very uncommon aspect-ratio which made for pretty ugly and annoying framing on such a beautiful film.
Occasionally aspect-ratios it can be optional and still work though.
For example

[Show spoiler], there is 'American Psycho', any release, which would be "letterboxed" (on a 16:9-screen) compared to the German release which is "open matte".
This basically means that the "black bars" are left off of the film and show you more, and I really think it makes that film look better.
The intentional aspect-ratio was the "letterboxed" version, which is fine, but in this particular case, I found the "open matte"-version to be better.

But the case of "TLE", it really cuts off the image on the sides and it doesn't do the framing and thus the film justice.
It sometimes even looks like something had been cut off vertically, but I don't know if that's just the original framing or also a part of the 2.02:1-framing.

Overall it's quite a beautiful transfer though, but I think it's quite necessary for the original aspect-ratio to be used to restore the cuts off the image.
I wish they would release this in a DigiBook and make it more "Deluxe" INCLUDING the Director's Cut in HD, much like 'Amadeus'.

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by Damage Inc.

Sorry to dig up an older thread, but I just wanted to post my two cents on the aspect-ratio-"issue":

I'm one who agrees that the intended aspect-ratio should be left intact.
Then, I don't know whát the intended aspect-ratio for this film was, I'm thinking it was the 2.39:1-one,
unless by "TV-screen" they meant the monitors on-set and changed it for the final version.

In any way, changing it from 2.39:1 to 2.02:1 means that there's less in width, right?
Well, it sure shows, because the framing of the film on this BD annoyed me quite a bit.
There are plenty of shots in which there are people or object júst outside the image, or sometimes just half of it, which makes it even more obvious.
An example would be the scene with the Emperor and his two wives in the car, where his face is cut in half because of the "zoomed" framing.

I have to agree to that it was a mistake using this very uncommon aspect-ratio which made for pretty ugly and annoying framing on such a beautiful film.
Occasionally aspect-ratios it can be optional and still work though.
For example

[Show spoiler], there is 'American Psycho', any release, which would be "letterboxed" (on a 16:9-screen) compared to the German release which is "open matte".
This basically means that the "black bars" are left off of the film and show you more, and I really think it makes that film look better.
The intentional aspect-ratio was the "letterboxed" version, which is fine, but in this particular case, I found the "open matte"-version to be better.

But the case of "TLE", it really cuts off the image on the sides and it doesn't do the framing and thus the film justice.
It sometimes even looks like something had been cut off vertically, but I don't know if that's just the original framing or also a part of the 2.02:1-framing.

Overall it's quite a beautiful transfer though, but I think it's quite necessary for the original aspect-ratio to be used to restore the cuts off the image.
I wish they would release this in a DigiBook and make it more "Deluxe" INCLUDING the Director's Cut in HD, much like 'Amadeus'.

There's a Criterion digipak, check it out.

[Damage Inc.]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

There's a Criterion digipak, check it out.

You mean the one Criterion-release that is out there?
But a DigiPak means it's only a cardboard packaging right?

Well, wouldn't be much use to me anyway; I only have a Region B PS3.