Spartacus (1960) (Restored Edition)

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterFan

It's not a typo. Both 2.20:1 and 2.35:1 are correct. See my previous post.

Typo may be the wrong word, but 2.35 is still not correct as the OAR for the film. The fact that some 35mm prints may have been in 2.35:1 doesn't mean that was the aspect ratio the film was shot in, or intended to be exhibited in, since it was exhibited in 70mm.

[JohnCarpenterFan]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Typo may be the wrong word, but 2.35 is still not correct as the OAR for the film. The fact that some 35mm prints may have been in 2.35:1 doesn't mean that was the aspect ratio the film was shot in, or intended to be exhibited in, since it was exhibited in 70mm.

Pretty sure most (if not all) 35mm prints were 2.35:1 and the 2.20:1 was reserved for 70mm showings for events such as roadshows.

I'm not sure if the current Blu-ray is a roadshow version or what since I've read that the original premiere version was 202 minutes.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterFan

Pretty sure most (if not all) 35mm prints were 2.35:1 and the 2.20:1 was reserved for 70mm showings for events such as roadshows.

I'm not sure if the current Blu-ray is a roadshow version or what since I've read that the original premiere version was 202 minutes.

The current BD is the 1991 restored version, which is actually longer than the original 1960 theatrical version. The even longer versions people talk about are cuts that were shown at test screenings but never commercially released, as far as I know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta...nd_restoration

The film has a very complicated history, with many versions.

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

I finally got to watch this yesterday, and I can't believe I had never seen it before.
Needless to say, it's one of my top 10 movies now.
What a masterpiece!
This is by far my favourite Stanely Kubrick film now!

Well Kubrick, who disowned the film did take over the film from Anthony Mann.
This was Kirk Douglas's baby all the way, Kubrick though listed as director wanted little to do with this film in later years and like i said before disowned the film.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yes, it's a very clean, robust-sounding mix nonetheless. The best thing about it IMO is the replication of the original directional dialogue across the fronts (the 70mm mix had 5 screen channels and 1 surround), the speech doesn't just come from L,C,R but also from in-between them as 'phantom' screen channels.

It's brilliantly done but the review seems to miss out on it completely, saying that the dialogue is "center balanced". Add to that the surround disparity and it makes me wonder if we've listened to the same movie!

Totally agree with you.

I wonder if the reviewer was actually paying attention to the audio while watching it.
Seems like he was so awestruck by the picture quality that he forgot to listen to it. Who could blame him though?

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by L'armée des ombres

Well Kubrick, who disowned the film did take over the film from Anthony Mann.
This was Kirk Douglas's baby all the way, Kubrick though listed as director wanted little to do with this film in later years and like i said before disowned the film.

Why? It's his best movie by far IMHO. See, all this would make for a wonderful in-depth documentary.

I did get the feeling that Kirk Douglas was esentially the man in charge from the interview.

[Nissen]

Here's one I've done for the new Spartacus remaster.

The beautiful German poster is superior to the actual retail artwork in every way. I really can't come to terms with modern media packaging's aversion to painted artwork, I really can't.



PM me for downloads.

[kingdoxie]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Why? It's his best movie by far IMHO. See, all this would make for a wonderful in-depth documentary.

I did get the feeling that Kirk Douglas was esentially the man in charge from the interview.

The fallout from his experience on this movie is the reason Kubrick left Hollywood for England to make movies. He was a replacement director and didn't have complete control like you see in all of his subsequent films.

[sartana]

After seeing how gorgeous a 35 MM horizontal film restoration like this can look like on BD, l would love to see Robert Harris do the same and oversee the transfer for the "Ten Commandments" for an eventual 4K BD.

[ditcin]

Originally Posted by sartana

After seeing how gorgeous a 35 MM horizontal film restoration like this can look like on BD, l would love to see Robert Harris do the same and oversee the transfer for the "Ten Commandments" for an eventual 4K BD.

The Ten Commandments looks damn good on BD, thankfully. But yes, it would be nice if it were done right for UHD.
I hate the new 5.1 mix, it's bland compared to the Laser/DVD one.

[BoSoxFan]

I just watched Trumbo and

[Show spoiler]It was very interesting to see Kirk Douglas employed Trumbo for writing the screenplay for Spartacus and really helped him off the blacklist.

I don't really think its a spoiler but i don't want to mess up anyone's viewing of Trumbo.

[filmmusic]

I'm just watching Spartacus Bluray. (from the zavvi Uk steelbook).
I'm experiencing an audio deficiency at 25.16'', some popping sounds. (just before "First rule..")
I wanted to confirm if this is in the US disc too, if anyone could help please.

[42041]

Originally Posted by sartana

After seeing how gorgeous a 35 MM horizontal film restoration like this can look like on BD, l would love to see Robert Harris do the same and oversee the transfer for the "Ten Commandments" for an eventual 4K BD.

You're a bit out of the loop The Ten Commandments was already restored in 4K and looks as gorgeous as one could possibly hope for.

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by sartana

After seeing how gorgeous a 35 MM horizontal film restoration like this can look like on BD, l would love to see Robert Harris do the same and oversee the transfer for the "Ten Commandments" for an eventual 4K BD.

Ten Commandments Blu-ray already comes from a 6K Scan and a 4K Restoration just like this Spartacus release.... There's nothing to improve or change for Ultra HD

http://www.renewtheaters.org/blog/20.../#.Voq1ahXhC9I

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...mandments/6201

[Page14]

Originally Posted by Page14

It's 6 weeks after the post above and I finally got to see this great restoration of an even greater movie. Gorgeous!!!

But what is prompting this post is that I too, have run into the exact same issues mentioned above.

Luckily, I could watch the movie even though I have to select the special features to see it. (Really screwy!) On the down side, I haven't figured out a way to access any of the special features. When I try, either the movie starts playing again or the screen just goes blank.

Like the poster above (35mmDreams), I also have a Pioneer blu-ray player (which I love), although mine is the BDP-23FD model. I've never had an issue with any other blu-ray disc.

???

Just wanted to update the above post. I tried playing my Spartacus blu-ray disc on somebody else's blu-ray player and it plays great. So I have to conclude that the problem is indeed my player. I still need to install the latest firmware, but even if that fixes the problem, I think it's time for me to start shopping for a new player.

[JohnCarpenterFan]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

The current BD is the 1991 restored version, which is actually longer than the original 1960 theatrical version. The even longer versions people talk about are cuts that were shown at test screenings but never commercially released, as far as I know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta...nd_restoration

The film has a very complicated history, with many versions.

I've read a few comments from Robert Harris and apparently this restored edition is a reconstruction of the premiere version which had a few scenes missing from the preview version that were cut by Kubrick and Kirk Douglas.

[sartana]

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

Ten Commandments Blu-ray already comes from a 6K Scan and a 4K Restoration just like this Spartacus release.... There's nothing to improve or change for Ultra HD

http://www.renewtheaters.org/blog/20.../#.Voq1ahXhC9I

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...mandments/6201

If the info in the first link you provided is accurate, then they indeed scanned the Original Large format Camera negative. The only discrepancy I see is they scanned at 6K rather 8K.

[HeavyHitter]

RAH's thoughts on The Ten Commandments.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topi...ts-in-blu-ray/

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by sartana

If the info in the first link you provided is accurate, then they indeed scanned the Original Large format Camera negative. The only discrepancy I see is they scanned at 6K rather 8K.

8/35 gives you 6K MAX resolution. Spartacus was also scanned @6K.

8K scans are used for 65mm (5/70 or 15/70) films only (maybe the only exception is Doctor Zhivago by Warner Bros)

Arri reference formula:

VistaVision (8/35): 37.72 mm × 24.92 mm: 6286 × 4153 pixels
Technirama (anamorphic 8/35, 1.5x ): 38 mm × 25.20 mm: 6333 × 4200 pixels

65mm (5/70): 52.48 mm × 23.01 mm: 8746 × 3835 pixels (also anamorphic 1.25x)

[Jaymole]

I am still holding off on getting this as I am hopeful that Criterion will release this on Blu-ray.