It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by plinfesty

OK, as someone who has the movie several times in 35mm "scope", Ultra-Panavision 70 (this past decade at the Cinerama Dome), on Laserdisc and DVD, AND on MGMHD, here is my take. This is definitely made from the same master as the MGMHD showing. The opening credits exhibit the same bad wear and fading on the left hand side of the frame, everything else is excellent. Far more information is revealed on both the left and right side of the frame in every shot then what I've seen in any 35mm scope source. This looks like the same imagry exhibited in the 70mm print at the Dome. Only two things are missing from that 70mm print on both the MGMHD and the Blu-Ray, and that is the EntreActe (the music leading into part two) and the police calls (that played periodically through the 20 minute fixed intermission at the Dome - it was actually 20 minutes of black leader with DTS timecode syncing up the calls - a series of three calls repeated twice). Its too bad the Entracte is AWOL here, especially since it was included on previous home video versions. At least the "overture," or song, was returned. It had been missing on the previous DVDs. I think this accounts for the 162 minute and 159 minute discrepencies.


The actual pictorial part of IAMMMMW was what most people saw not only in general release but also during MOST of the roadshows is intact here. The film was cut little more than a month after opening and this is the way it ran in most cities (with the added Entracte, of course. The police calls were allegedly dropped early on as well. I thought they were a little underwhelming when I first heard them).

yes it's glaring omission, since the 70mm print I saw at the AFI Silver in 2002 had the police calls - I don't remember the print being that wide at 2.76 - was the 70mm prints reframmed to the more common 2.20 aspect ratio?

[plinfesty]

I don't remember the print being that wide at 2.76 - was the 70mm prints reframmed to the more common 2.20 aspect ratio?

No, the 70mm print made was an Ultra-Panavision 70 print (standard 2.20 70mm print with an added 1.25 squeeze to it - actually added at the time of shooting and a part of the negative). For this reason an original UP70 lens was sent out on bookings that attached to the theatre's prime lens for 70mm. However, if the theatre used their normal 70mm lens as the prime, it would mean the image would keep the same top and bottom size, meaning the theatre would have to crop the sides once they ran out of screen width. In order to show the entire 2.76 image (as they did at the L.A. showing at the Dome and I believe at the subsequent showings at the American Cinemateche), gthe theatre would have to get another prime lens that projected a smaller image on the screen.

[plinfesty]

Robert Harris has posted on Home Theater Forum a chronology of the edits made ton IAMMMMW. I think it pretty much demonstrates that this is actually the roadshow version that most people saw (minus the Entracte - and those Intermission calls were eliminated early on from other sources I read around the same time). You'll need to scroll down about two thirds.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/foru...-in-blu-ray/30

[Douglas R]

Originally Posted by plinfesty

Robert Harris has posted on Home Theater Forum a chronology of the edits made ton IAMMMMW. I think it pretty much demonstrates that this is actually the roadshow version that most people saw

Exactly. What's on the disc is the same as the roadshow version which I saw (apart from the missing Entr'acte of course). I've been trying to make this point myself but people have continued to refer to it as the general release version.

[Jay_J]

Does anyone know how long Wal Mart has an exclusive on discs like IAMMMMW? The crappy Wal Mart's we have in Canada don't stock them, and have no intention of bringing them in. You can't order them online from Wal Mart because they don't ship to Canada. Thanks, Wal Mart!

[rezpekt]

Originally Posted by Jay_J

Does anyone know how long Wal Mart has an exclusive on discs like IAMMMMW? The crappy Wal Mart's we have in Canada don't stock them, and have no intention of bringing them in. You can't order them online from Wal Mart because they don't ship to Canada. Thanks, Wal Mart!

Usually it two or three months but it might be longer.

[avalon_84]

Originally Posted by LimeiBook86

According to this post on the previous page it is region B friendly.

thank you very much chief

[plinfesty]

I've been trying to make this point myself but people have continued to refer to it as the general release version.

Unfortunately, I think some of the confusion came from Mr. Robert Harris's statements where we referred to this as the 35mm version versus the uncut world premiere version. Also, the information slug that appears on the various home video releases also is mistated about three cuts (world premiere, 70mm, and 35mm general release). That slug incorrectly implies this 35mm general release came out in 1963, when in fact the roadshows were just rolling out at that time.

It would be far more accurate to just say that the cuts exhibited to a paying audience were 1) the world premiere cut and 2) the final roadshow cut, which was also used for the general release version minus the overture, entracte and exit music.

The same situation existed with SOUTH PACIFIC. That film was cut just weeks after the world premuiere, and the film had only opened in a handful of theatres before the cuts were made. So most people who saw the roadshow saw the cut version. And on the Blu-Ray, DVD and laserdisc, there is a note claiming that this was the "General Release version" which it was, of course, but it was also the finalized roadshow version that most people saw.

There were a number of roadshow films that got cut after their debuts while being roadshowed, but keep in mind that roadshows were selling tickets months in advance. They HAD to open by the date advertised, since they had paying customers ready to seeing it then. Oftentimes they had to wrap up a film that wasn't quite in shape yet (as Stanley Kubrick said about 2001 after cutting it down after the first weekend, sometimes its necessary to see the film with an audience several times to see what needs to be cut). And I'll be a bit blunter. I(in the case of IAMMMMW, those cut sequences included in the bonus materials are for the most part redundant. They were essentially just repeating things that we had already seen or learned.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by Jay_J

Does anyone know how long Wal Mart has an exclusive on discs like IAMMMMW? The crappy Wal Mart's we have in Canada don't stock them, and have no intention of bringing them in. You can't order them online from Wal Mart because they don't ship to Canada. Thanks, Wal Mart!

You can order from Amazon marketplace: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Blu-ray

[Graboid]

Watched the wally world exclusive blu-ray last night and I must say, it looked stunning---the best I have ever seen it (I had the laserdisc extended version too). I recommend it to anyone who loves IAMMMMW. Also, I thought the audio was great as well. No problem with the center channel volume like some reported, and no problem with the lip sync either. I have the Oppo BDP-93 player with all firmware updates done. I would love to see a restored roadshow cut released on blu some day, but If it doesn't include the theatrical cut I will keep this one as well.

[whitesheik]

Originally Posted by plinfesty

Unfortunately, I think some of the confusion came from Mr. Robert Harris's statements where we referred to this as the 35mm version versus the uncut world premiere version. Also, the information slug that appears on the various home video releases also is mistated about three cuts (world premiere, 70mm, and 35mm general release). That slug incorrectly implies this 35mm general release came out in 1963, when in fact the roadshows were just rolling out at that time.

It would be far more accurate to just say that the cuts exhibited to a paying audience were 1) the world premiere cut and 2) the final roadshow cut, which was also used for the general release version minus the overture, entracte and exit music.

The same situation existed with SOUTH PACIFIC. That film was cut just weeks after the world premuiere, and the film had only opened in a handful of theatres before the cuts were made. So most people who saw the roadshow saw the cut version. And on the Blu-Ray, DVD and laserdisc, there is a note claiming that this was the "General Release version" which it was, of course, but it was also the finalized roadshow version that most people saw.

There were a number of roadshow films that got cut after their debuts while being roadshowed, but keep in mind that roadshows were selling tickets months in advance. They HAD to open by the date advertised, since they had paying customers ready to seeing it then. Oftentimes they had to wrap up a film that wasn't quite in shape yet (as Stanley Kubrick said about 2001 after cutting it down after the first weekend, sometimes its necessary to see the film with an audience several times to see what needs to be cut). And I'll be a bit blunter. I(in the case of IAMMMMW, those cut sequences included in the bonus materials are for the most part redundant. They were essentially just repeating things that we had already seen or learned.

Kramer was up against the wall to meet the opening day of Mad World at the Dome. He went in four weeks later and made his final cut, which is the one he preferred. So all these people (and there are many) who think they saw the 192 minute version in roadshow did not - they would have had to have seen it in the first four weeks of its run because after that it didn't exist. I saw it twice during that four-week period. The cut roadshow presentation is what mostly everyone everywhere saw, so they have what they fell in love with. While it might be fun to see the longer cut for history purposes, we have what Mr. Kramer wanted and liked. All the cut material is, as pointed out above, redundant.

[Tom_Clark]

I'd like to think that what Kramer wanted was the original 192 minute cut. I think he had something like a full year to work on the editing after principal photography was completed. I don't see why he had to rush for the November opening at the Cinerama Dome.

I think what happened was that even the critics who liked the movie said it was too long. For instance, the New York Times review of November 19, 1963, which is highly favorable (it made the year-end 10 Best List), says this:

"It's a wonderfully crazy and colorful collection of 'chase' comedy, so crowded with plot and people that it almost splits the seams of its huge Cinerama packing and its 3-hour-and-12-minute length. ...

"The only trouble with the whole thing is that it runs too long. There is simply too much wild confusion, too much repetition of similar things. There comes a time when the senses and the risibilities cry stop. One feels in complete accord with the actors when they and the film end up swathed in bandages, in traction in a hospital ..."

I think United Artists and Kramer, after reading the reviews, decided to cut a half hour out of it.

I would prefer the 192-minute version, because I think there are a few holes in the version we're used to, especially concerning the activities of the police and some of the character motivation. For instance, I always wondered why Otto Meyer, the most greedy, vicious and ruthless of all the characters, would go out of his way to help that guy he gave the ride to. Well, a cut scene shows he most certainly did not want to, but was forced to.

Actually, I love this movie so much, I'd probably prefer Kramer's first 210-minute cut. I'd like to see Sylvester steal the car, and see what problems Culpepper was having with his mother-in-law, for instance.

[OneWayFilms]

I personally thought the whole beginning drug a bit too long. From the time the man died and the time everyone started racing at the mad frantic pace, it took too long.

But once the race was on....it picked up.

[Arkadin]

that's one of the exact things I thought as well.
there's just nothing I can do about the fact that this classic just isn't my type of movie, but it looks great and I'm super happy I have finally seen the film because I've been reading the title for years and years.

[that1guystudios]

Just watched this today for the first time ever on Blu-ray. What a funny film, and what an AWESOME transfer! Way to go Fox/MGM!

[Coqui2k]

Free VUDU CODE FROM the Blu-ray VMBJJULURHZLD3RT

[Graboid]

Thanks for the code Coqui2k

[Coqui2k]

No problem

[shadowsip]

One Wal-Mart near me didn't even have a slot for this.

I was able to find three of them at another I picked up two one for me and one for a co-worker.


-Brian

[bigshot]

In the late sixties "too long" was an epidemic. Just about every big movie was too long. Personally, I prefer the short version of this one. Too long in a comedy is deadly.