1776 4K UHD (1972) (50th Anniversary Edition)

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by TravisTylerBlack

Wonderful news. I’m sure this will utilize the existing 4K restoration, which is already positively sumptuous via the current blu. The film itself is an absolute delight, if course. I’ve watched my copy every July 4th since it was released 5 or 6 years ago and it never grows tiresome. The music is charming, unpretentious, and the cast is 5 stars across the board. (One of a precious few examples where almost the entire original Broadway ensemble was utilized.)

The 2015 disc was encoded with an added layer of color depth/picture information that’s only
visible when viewed on a Sony display with “mastered in 4K” mode enabled. Not quite HDR, but certainly nothing to scoff at as the native 4K SDR streaming version actually looks inferior from both a compression and fine detail standpoint.

That "mastered in 4K" thing was/is utter marketing bollocks IMO. If the stream looks worse it's because it's a stream, not because the Blu-ray is doing some voodoo bullshit.

[AdmiralNoodles]

Excellent news! Glad I procrastinated on wanting to buy the current Blu-ray disc release.

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

not because the Blu-ray is doing some voodoo bullshit.

Alright. In that case I really need to figure out the actual reason behind all of this levitating furniture. Was blaming my copy of 1776 this whole time!

[Deciazulado]

1776 4K Blu-ray

[Bond84]

Wow, I've never heard of this film. For a moment, I thought this was by the same Peter Hunt who did OHMSS

[moviebuff75]

One of my favorite films.

[JangleRockSTP]

Runtime:
2 hr 21 min (141 min)
2 hr 45 min (165 min) (director's cut)
3 hr (180 min) (Laserdisc)
2 hr 48 min (168 min) (extended Blu-Ray cut)
2 hr 58 min (178 min) (Special Edition)
2 hr 46 min (166 min) (restored)

Sound Mix: Mono
Color : Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Negative Format: 35 mm
Cinematographic Process: Panavision (anamorphic)
Printed Film Format: 35 mm

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068156...ef_=tt_spec_sm

[MifuneFan]

That's a lot of versions. Was Ridley Scott secretly behind this.

[arthurblenheim]

Originally Posted by TheBondFan

Sony releases 1776 but not Panic Room...

What's wrong with 1776?

[arthurblenheim]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

And while this film has its followers, very interesting choice for 4K from Sony

According to IMDB, 1776 was shot in ultra-widescreen anamorphic 35mm. That sounds like a good choice to me. I'm also a fan.

[arthurblenheim]

Originally Posted by filmgenius89

The original theatrical cut was never included on any blu-ray. The first blu-ray had two differing extended versions, which i could never figure out what the difference is (and they differ by about a minute!)

Some shots are longer, such as when, near the beginning of 1776, John Adams is singing "Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve/'Til Then." The scene is longer. It was cut down because the director thought the longer scene distracted from the pacing. That's why it's an alternate version that is not the "restored cut" version. That "extended Bluray cut" has alternate versions that are alternate takes and extended scenes that the director deliberately removed and wanted them to stay removed, but he also wanted people to see what the movie would have looked like if they had been there in context of the whole film. The "restored cut" is the one the director prefers. This renders the DVD "director's cut" obsolete, actually. The Bluray is very good, and it contains a director commentary that explains this stuff. And, I'm guessing the 4K will have the same content as the Bluray version, with the movie upgraded to 4K. I'm a fan of this film.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by arthurblenheim

According to IMDB, 1776 was shot in ultra-widescreen anamorphic 35mm. That sounds like a good choice to me. I'm also a fan.

I wouldn't call 2.35 anamorphic "ultra wide".

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I wouldn't call 2.35 anamorphic "ultra wide".

Everyone exaggerates size online Geoff, get used to it!

[arthurblenheim]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I wouldn't call 2.35 anamorphic "ultra wide".

2.35 is ultra-wide as far as I'm concerned. That's why I said it. Let's not argue semantics.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by arthurblenheim

2.35 is ultra-wide as far as I'm concerned. That's why I said it. Let's not argue semantics.

You should get a look at Ben-Hur or Hateful Eight is alls I’m saying. Super-ultra-mega widescreen

[arthurblenheim]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Are there any other big nation building films for different countries?

Originally Posted by bongozoid

China have done a few.

China doesn't have Free Speech.

[arthurblenheim]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

You should get a look at Ben-Hur or Hateful Eight is alls I’m saying. Super-ultra-mega widescreen

Or, How the West Was Won, which, according to this website's phone app, is 2.89:1. I love this website's application! Or, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which is 2.76:1. Or, The Hateful Eight and Khartoum, which are both 2.75:1. And, what do these four movies have in common? They're all shot for Cinerama exhibition. This reminds me, Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is getting a Bluray, the other three-screen Cinerama movie. I love Cinerama movies. I hope they all get 4Ks--well, most of them. 2001: A Space Odyssey looks absolutely fantastic on the 4K. Is 2001 the only Cinerama film to release to 4K? Think of how great these other epics would look. I would love to see Hallelujah Trail and Grand Prix in 4K.

[DMRI2006]

For those not aware -- because I see a few people commenting like this is George Lucas revising Star Wars or whatever -- 1776 is absolutely not one of those instances where the the "Director's Cut" was a revision or some afterthought. It's actually (with one or two very minor tweaks) the original cut of the film. Much like the Director's Cut of Ridley Scott's Legend was the original cut of the movie before it was recut/rescored/etc.

The theatrical cut of 1776 was never released on DVD or Blu-Ray previously for a reason -- it's a bastardized re-edit of the original 3-hour version that was finished and assembled, but never seen until laserdisc. The producer Jack L. Warner cut it to shreds for a variety of reasons (he didn't like one of the songs, he allegedly didn't like whatever)...and it doesn't hold much of any artistic relevancy, other than it was released to theaters and was the version people watched on TV. Not the director or writer or whoever wanted it kept in circulation. But even then though you hardly ever see any fan of the show clamoring to watch the theatrical cut -- it's not a "nostalgia" thing, fans of 1776 simply don't care to watch it.

If you want to see the film, the songs, and the source material as it's best supposed to be seen, the theatrical cut is the version you WOULDN'T want to watch.

[moviebuff75]

This is definitely a case where the original theatrical version is NOT the one to watch...and love.

[1924]

Remember watching this in school. Main thing I remember is Ben Franklin singing about homicide and him wanting to go to sleep