Lawrence of Arabia 4K UHD (1962)

[shy86]

Yeah I prefer just to have Gandhi and Lawrence Of Arabia by themselves. The others I am not really interested in. Not saying they are not any good, but I haven't seen them.

[chewbabka]

I love Strangelove and Mr. Smith, but I’m skeptical that the UHD will be a worthwhile upgrade given the 35mm BW source and the quality of the existing BDs. I really only want Lawrence...

That said, I won’t be devastated if I’m required to upgrade those two to get Lawrence. I could always sell the ones I have no interest in, especially as it looks like each title has its own case.

[captainsolo]

Individual release for me as well as historian minded me can't stand non series non-chronological collection boxes.

Firstly I'm so happy they finally are doing LoA but even happier it's spread over two discs with all of the old content.

The notion of an Atmos remix is troubling but since the audio hasn't really been much worked on since the '89 restoration and subsequent modernizations of that same track into 5.1 it could be an improvement in terms of technicalities if nothing was changed.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

The box set is nice, but I really doubt I have any need to re-buy Mr. Smith or Dr. Strangelove. Even for Lawrence, I'd be happy with a plain case release so I can drop it in my big laserdisc-sized gift set of the Blu.


By the way, I've had a bit of a collection going for LoA. I had owned the very first "fabric case" DVD and the Superbit DVD, then replaced that with the Blu-ray gift set. Since then, I managed to find both the CAV and CLV Criterion laserdiscs, as well as the rare 1983 laserdisc of the pan & scan shortest cut version.

The P&S laserdisc is an absolute travesty.


(laserdisc overlaid the Blu-ray)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who collects multiple older releases of favorites and does transfer comparisons.

You thought pan n scan LD was bad try the horror of renting it on pan n scan VHS as a kid with no other options! That said I'm sure the latter was framed a bit better. That LD cap shows some interesting color in spots but is just appallingly framed.

The Criterion is a must for video history purposes and the nice bit of extras. Their transfer is very good for the time and the 2.0 pcm sound should be near identical to the 1989 restoration 2.0 Dolby SR. I've heard the Sony columbia lbx first LD is pretty good and may use the Criterion master. I've been tempted to get the later 90's columbia LD but it suffers from laser rot.

Still have my 2 disc woven case DVD which I kept for the packaging like my 2 disc Kwai DVD. I didn't keep the other releases (like I probably should have) once getting the Laserdisc box size Blu-ray collector's set. in fact I can only store that box with my other oversized LD boxes that refuse to fit on shelves like Fantasia, T2, My Fair Lady and Dances With Wolves!

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Individual release for me as well as historian minded me can't stand non series non-chronological collection boxes.

Firstly I'm so happy they finally are doing LoA but even happier it's spread over two discs with all of the old content.

The notion of an Atmos remix is troubling but since the audio hasn't really been much worked on since the '89 restoration and subsequent modernizations of that same track into 5.1 it could be an improvement in terms of technicalities if nothing was changed.

If Sony audio engineers were smart they would use Atmos' capabilities of five screen channels to represent the original directionalized roadshow mix.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If Sony audio engineers were smart they would use Atmos' capabilities of five screen channels to represent the original directionalized roadshow mix.

This is what I'm hoping since they finally did so on the new Spartacus 7.1 mix-but of course it's entirely possible LoA doesn't have the same degree of directionality in its mixing.

[tsetse27]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

The box set is nice, but I really doubt I have any need to re-buy Mr. Smith or Dr. Strangelove. Even for Lawrence, I'd be happy with a plain case release so I can drop it in my big laserdisc-sized gift set of the Blu.


By the way, I've had a bit of a collection going for LoA. I had owned the very first "fabric case" DVD and the Superbit DVD, then replaced that with the Blu-ray gift set. Since then, I managed to find both the CAV and CLV Criterion laserdiscs, as well as the rare 1983 laserdisc of the pan & scan shortest cut version.

The P&S laserdisc is an absolute travesty.

thank you for the post... sometimes I do have the urgent to find and watch old P&S VHS / LD on CRT TV, to remind myself how it used to be and appreciate for the techology...

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

This is what I'm hoping since they finally did so on the new Spartacus 7.1 mix-but of course it's entirely possible LoA doesn't have the same degree of directionality in its mixing.

LoA had a 6 track 70mm mix originally. 5 screen channels and 1 mono surround spread around the theater.



Of course, with this being a reconstructed soundtrack to begin with from late 1980's ADR overdubs of the surviving cast and sound alikes for various missing pieces of dialog stems, it really depends on how the re-mixing engineers want to position these elements since the Atmos track is from scratch.



They're either adhering to roadshow practices of the day with various Atmos enhancements, or it's an entirely new sonic presentation.

[lgans316]

Disappointed by the lack of IMAX-Enhanced / DTS-X

[Mister_Kidd]

Sorry I haven’t been following this thread. Is it for sure not going to be available as an individual release?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Mister_Kidd

Sorry I haven’t been following this thread. Is it for sure not going to be available as an individual release?

It hasn't been officially confirmed, but it is almost certain it will get an individual release a bit after the box set releases.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by lgans316

Disappointed by the lack of IMAX-Enhanced / DTS-X

Shhhh... don't give them any ideas!!!

[pbarragan]

Originally Posted by professorwho

It hasn't been officially confirmed, but it is almost certain it will get an individual release a bit after the box set releases.

Hopefully so. I think there was a foreign site that had it listed for a June release. But it's no longer on here.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by lgans316

Disappointed by the lack of IMAX-Enhanced / DTS-X

[NotASpeckOfCereal]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

I can see them making Mr. Smith and Dr. Strangelove exclusives since they probably wouldn't be the highest demand.

For me, Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove is a strong #2 to LoA, if not runner up to #1.

Chris

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by NotASpeckOfCereal

For me, Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove is a strong #2 to LoA, if not runner up to #1.

Chris

In terms of the film itself, absolutely. What's great about Dr. Strangelove is that it's the sort of film that's extremely forgiving when it comes to picture quality because extra graininess and contrast add to the semi-documentary feel.

Lawrence, though, really needs the best quality. It's interesting how it wasn't really until Blu-ray you could get the impact of the "dot" on the horizon during the desert rescue of Gasim. You can't really see anything on DVD until a bit later. In the theater, it's quite a sight because of the detail.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Shhhh... don't give them any ideas!!!

They will stick with the downgraded Dolby versions for now and do a single release on its own for real collectors

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by professorwho

It’ll probably be split exactly like the Japanese Mastered in 4K Blu-ray;

Disc 1 is a BD-100 and has the first 139 minutes, while Disc 2 is a BD-66 with the final 87 minutes. I think that’s how it’ll be laid out, and is the optimal way to do it. Neither disc would be pushed to its limit, allowing high bitrates like the press release says.

I should think that would be the split, given that as I recall, that's precisely where the intermission in the film is.

We also have to remember that this will probably be a global disc set, with all available language tracks provided on the film, possibly including more than one DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. For example, the Japanese Mastered in 4K Blu-ray has DTS-HD MA 5.1 in both English and Japanese. So a 2xUHD set is really for the best.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

LoA had a 6 track 70mm mix originally. 5 screen channels and 1 mono surround spread around the theater.

Of course, with this being a reconstructed soundtrack to begin with from late 1980's ADR overdubs of the surviving cast and sound alikes for various missing pieces of dialog stems, it really depends on how the re-mixing engineers want to position these elements since the Atmos track is from scratch.

They're either adhering to roadshow practices of the day with various Atmos enhancements, or it's an entirely new sonic presentation.

I've never had the opportunity to see the 70mm 1989 prints or anything vintage outside of some old trailers. I've always wondered what the original 70mm release print six track mix was like and if it had major sound/dialog panning across the screen channels. It's an amazing thing when done right but it seems it was really luck of the draw if the mixer messed around with it or not back in the day.
Older restorations would try to maintain it but not always and especially not for video. I was shocked at the new Spartacus 7.1 mix having full panning and RAH confirmed it was the first time they had presented it fully outside of the 70mm prints on the 1991 restoration. Everything else had been a custom made Dolby SR track with far less panning and was only slightly improved when they redid it a bit for the Criterion DVD 5.1 ac3.

[Droste]

Yes Lawrence on a uhd Disc
I’m very Happy when that happens.