Bram Stoker's Dracula 4K UHD (1992) (25th Anniversary Edition)

[Jason One]

From previous discussions here or elsewhere I got the impression that the 5.1 mix on all the Blu-rays so far is not a theatrical mix. One difference is an added water rapids sound effect when Elisabeta falls out of the castle in the prologue. (Switch over to any of the foreign dub tracks and the river sound is absent.) This 5.1 mix is reportedly a remix that debuted on the Superbit DVD.

So maybe the 2.0 on this 4K rerelease will be the only way to get any kind of theatrical mix on Blu-ray.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Is it already up for pre-order somewhere? I still tend to stick with Amazon, but they don't have it, yet...

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Jason One

From previous discussions here or elsewhere I got the impression that the 5.1 mix on all the Blu-rays so far is not a theatrical mix. One difference is an added water rapids sound effect when Elisabeta falls out of the castle in the prologue. (Switch over to any of the foreign dub tracks and the river sound is absent.) This 5.1 mix is reportedly a remix that debuted on the Superbit DVD.

So maybe the 2.0 on this 4K rerelease will be the only way to get any kind of theatrical mix on Blu-ray.

I don't know specifics, but the theatrical Dolby Digital mix supposedly had some extra sound effects that weren't in the standard Dolby Stereo (at least according to Criterion's notes on their laserdisc way back when).

Dolby Digital had a very slow rollout compared to DTS a year later, with only a small handful of theaters equipped for it in 1992. Not sure what the breakdown was per country, but it's possible most foreign language dubs were made from the analog version.

[bookcase]

I got the original UHD with slip for $10 a few BFs ago. If I can score the new one for that price, I'll go for it and put it in the original case because I hate steelbooks. Otherwise, I'm content with the original. I can't go down the rabbit hole of double dipping on UHD.

[BluCollector13]

Originally Posted by Waboman

I’ve bought this so many times going back to laserdisc. Even had the Superbit dvd. Remember those? Currently have the supreme edition. Do I need this new 4K…?

I never got rid of my copy because it contained the original subtitles. Also the DTS mix on the disc was a nice way to show off my home theater setups to friends. The new release is a day one priority this Halloween.

[Christian Muth]

Originally Posted by Christian Muth

But not many theaters were equipped for Dolby Digital back then. Most people saw this theatrically in good ole matrix-surround analog Dolby Stereo, and I'm sure that would have been a dedicated mix given that most theaters at the time would be presenting it that way. So from a purely purist perspective, having that mix as a viewing option makes sense to me.

Chris

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Well should people just watch the DVD version since most people don't have 4K players?

Yes, because that's EXACTLY the same as including a legacy mix as a viewing option should somebody wish to watch it that way.

Uh huh.

Let's also ignore that a lot of people watch Blu-rays and UHDs through their TV speakers, and in such a case, a dedicated 2.0 mix would be preferable to having the TV downmix a multichannel mix on the fly, but hey, screw those filthy plebs!

Chris

[-JKR-]

Originally Posted by BNex99

I don't know specifics, but the theatrical Dolby Digital mix supposedly had some extra sound effects that weren't in the standard Dolby Stereo (at least according to Criterion's notes on their laserdisc way back when).

Dolby Digital had a very slow rollout compared to DTS a year later, with only a small handful of theaters equipped for it in 1992. Not sure what the breakdown was per country, but it's possible most foreign language dubs were made from the analog version.

Most likely.

IIRC, Jurassic Park was the first movie to have a major digital sound rollout internationally.

[Lurtz6]

Originally Posted by Christian Muth

But not many theaters were equipped for Dolby Digital back then. Most people saw this theatrically in good ole matrix-surround analog Dolby Stereo, and I'm sure that would have been a dedicated mix given that most theaters at the time would be presenting it that way. So from a purely purist perspective, having that mix as a viewing option makes sense to me.

Chris

As some one currently rocking twin bookshelf speakers as my audio in a smaller apartment the inclusion of Stereo mixes are always welcome!

[Edenbeast]

I can't remember what was the original subtitles were like?

[Christian Muth]

Originally Posted by BNex99

I don't know specifics, but the theatrical Dolby Digital mix supposedly had some extra sound effects that weren't in the standard Dolby Stereo (at least according to Criterion's notes on their laserdisc way back when).

Dolby Digital had a very slow rollout compared to DTS a year later, with only a small handful of theaters equipped for it in 1992. Not sure what the breakdown was per country, but it's possible most foreign language dubs were made from the analog version.

Yes indeed, Dolby Digital was a much more expensive system, so theaters were slow to adapt. DTS by comparison was a lot more economically priced for theaters, and of course being tied into the big theatrical roll-out of JURASSIC PARK also helped. Sony's SDDS system also made it into a lot of theaters, in that case largely because Sony owned many of the theaters it was being installed in at the time. To be honest, I can't even recall any local Dolby Digital theaters in my area of NJ back then, but there were plenty of DTS and SDDS ones in the mid-1990s to choose from.

Chris

[Christian Muth]

Originally Posted by Edenbeast

I can't remember what was the original subtitles were like?

There's one shot on the existing UHD with an original subtitle, the intertitle indicating the location when it fades into London after the prologue. All the subs were in that same font and style originally.

Chris

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by Edenbeast

I can't remember what was the original subtitles were like?

If you have the digital version, you can see them there.

[houseca]

Originally Posted by Lurtz6

As some one currently rocking twin bookshelf speakers as my audio in a smaller apartment the inclusion of Stereo mixes are always welcome!

Soundbar-only here. Because my apt is smaller than yours is.

[andreasy969]

Originally Posted by Edenbeast

I can't remember what was the original subtitles were like?

Like this:


just sampled from this:


And oh, yes:

[PonyoBellanote]

The Godfather flashbacks.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jason One

From previous discussions here or elsewhere I got the impression that the 5.1 mix on all the Blu-rays so far is not a theatrical mix. One difference is an added water rapids sound effect when Elisabeta falls out of the castle in the prologue. (Switch over to any of the foreign dub tracks and the river sound is absent.) This 5.1 mix is reportedly a remix that debuted on the Superbit DVD.

Foreign dubs at the time frequently had different sounds or SFX or music levels. The 5.1 mix is native.

Originally Posted by BNex99

I don't know specifics, but the theatrical Dolby Digital mix supposedly had some extra sound effects that weren't in the standard Dolby Stereo (at least according to Criterion's notes on their laserdisc way back when).

Same thing for 70MM and 35MM mixes and even discrete 4.0 and 2.0 matrix mixes. Enemy Mine is one such movie.

Originally Posted by Christian Muth

Yes, because that's EXACTLY the same as including a legacy mix as a viewing option should somebody wish to watch it that way.

Hey, you're the one using the "lowest common denominator" argument in favor of the 2.0 over the 5.1

Let's also ignore that a lot of people watch Blu-rays and UHDs through their TV speakers, and in such a case, a dedicated 2.0 mix would be preferable to having the TV downmix a multichannel mix on the fly, but hey, screw those filthy plebs!

Most TVs don't support DTS so they're converted to 2.0 PCM in the player.

Originally Posted by Lurtz6

As some one currently rocking twin bookshelf speakers as my audio in a smaller apartment the inclusion of Stereo mixes are always welcome!

TrueHD and Atmos mixes are built from 2.0->5.1->7.1 and up, not the other way around actually.

Originally Posted by Christian Muth

Yes indeed, Dolby Digital was a much more expensive system, so theaters were slow to adapt. DTS by comparison was a lot more economically priced for theaters

Yes, because Universal literally gave away 500 installs FREE to theaters with Jurassic Park. What they didn't do is tell people whether it was DTS "S" (stereo 2.0) or DTS-6 (5.1) - a lot of people who saw Jurassic Park in "DTS" were hearing it in matrixed form...if you saw it in your typical "shoebox" cinema it was certainly stereo surround. SDDS also had a 4-channel version for the typical AMC shoebox theaters as well that was actually pretty decent considering. Dolby Digital for a while was aimed at the large 70MM-type houses but that changed when they introduced their cheaper all-in-one decoder that could handle Dolby A, SR, or SR*D (5.1 digital).

[Christian Muth]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

...

Hey, you're the one using the "lowest common denominator" argument in favor of the 2.0 over the 5.1.

I did no such thing, I simply said offering it as a viewing option made sense, and several other people in this thread who don't have expensive surround sound systems chimed in and agreed.

But hey, I guess those filthy plebs shouldn't be watching UHDs anyway, right? I mean, HOW DARE THEY!!!

Chris

[CreasyBear]

I kept my Superbit DVD specifically because it had the original subtitles. Guess I can kiss that one goodbye.

[andantelise]

I guess I'm going to have two versions of the film, one with HDR and another with DV.

[AdmiralNoodles]

I'm gonna wait for the standard release of this newer release, and not SteelBook. (Not a fan of those.) For the og cinema audio too!
I mostly got the 30th Anniversary announcement correct with my guess, except for the packaging. Should have been Digibook with vinyl slipcover instead of SteelBook.
Forgot to mention I own the OST CD, and have the booklet with it in the current 4K release. Third disc. The Criterion Collection Laserdisc commentary is only 174MB, and ac3.