Brazil (1985)

[dougotte]

What's a "DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 surround soundtrack"?

[benricci]

Originally Posted by hedliniv

So this new Criterion 2 disk will not include the US cut or the International Cut of the film correct? I currently have the French Digibook which is phenomenal!

It does not contain the US theatrical cut, but I believe the Criterion version has always featured the same 142 minute cut as the European releases, so as long as you have the Criterion (142 min cut and the 90-something minute "Love Conquers All" version) plus Universal theatrical version (132 minutes), you've got everything. I could be mistaken...

[Undeadcow]

Originally Posted by benricci

It does not contain the US theatrical cut, but I believe the Criterion version has always featured the same 142 minute cut as the European releases, so as long as you have the Criterion (142 min cut and the 90-something minute "Love Conquers All" version) plus Universal theatrical version (132 minutes), you've got everything. I could be mistaken...

Criterion made slight alterations in the european cut taking some elements from the US release for their own "criterion cut."

[biglou114]

Originally Posted by JimDiGriz

Criterion will be region-locked so its not an option anyway for me. Im quite happy with my French digibook though - transfer looked as good as I could have hoped for and Im very happy with it. Will be interesting to see all the people who said the current shorter US blu cut was the better cut of the two all changing their minds suddenly though

And the Love Conquers All cut...who really wants to watch that anyway?! I never have and I dont want to either - sounds like a travesty from what Ive read. Would be nice to have the Gilliam commentary though.

The Love Conquers All cut is a great lesson of how editing can totally change a movie. It is a great watch from an academic POV.

[benricci]

Originally Posted by Undeadcow

Criterion made slight alterations in the european cut taking some elements from the US release for their own "criterion cut."

Like what? It was my understanding that the cut on the European blu-ray was the same 142 minute cut Criterion has been presenting for years.

[bigbadwoppet]

Other than the opening before the very first scene, the international and director's cut are exactly the same. International started with the screen in black behindthe captions while the dc includes the clouds from the Neverending Story and the song Brazil from the UStheatrical.
US theatrical's basically the same thing, only 10 minutes shorter. It does include one line of dialogue not in the director's cut, that's about it. The different camera angles are in the LCA version, not in the US.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by dougotte

What's a "DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 surround soundtrack"?

That is how the sound was originally mixed for the film. Criterion generally uses the original soundtrack mixes for their releases except on special cases such as the new mixes approved by filmmakers of the studio etc.

It is however uncompressed. I am sure Gilliam is fine with that sound mix for the film. Universal did do a DTS HD 5.1 mix for their edition of their blu... however it seems Criterion are sticking with the more true mix of the film.

Will be interesting to compare the audio on specific scenes between the 2 releases.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by biglou114

The Love Conquers All cut is a great lesson of how editing can totally change a movie. It is a great watch from an academic POV.

Yeah it is craxy to watch that 94 min versions there are so many WTF moments and it is almost essiental viewing for those who like to see how a film can be altered so much... great commentary on that version also.

[Akijama]

Pre-order link:

Brazil Blu-ray

[stvn1974]

Most excited for release since getting a blu-ray player. Pre-ordered. Now Criterion please do Eraserhead.

[Jutty]

Eraserhead would be a good addition also

[budious]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/brazil-faq/

That sums up the differences pretty well. I swore reading elsewhere there were other small differences but my brain goes to mush the older I get.

Small differences like panning camera of Jack's secretary to show the inside of the cooling tower, and more blood on Jack. An alternative take when Jack's daughter is in not his office (LCA above). Source eludes me and I cba to watch all 3 cuts atm. Maybe I imagine it all. Overall, I guess the International and DC are more similar than I remembered.

[oscarmerkx]

I am keeping the original Criterion DVD set

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Originally Posted by oscarmerkx

I am keeping the original Criterion DVD set

Same here!
But I still don't know which blu-ray to get.
This Criterion Blu-ray or the very appealing and positively reviewed French Digibook Collector's Edition.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by dougotte

What's a "DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 surround soundtrack"?

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

That is how the sound was originally mixed for the film. Criterion generally uses the original soundtrack mixes for their releases except on special cases such as the new mixes approved by filmmakers of the studio etc.

It is however uncompressed. I am sure Gilliam is fine with that sound mix for the film. Universal did do a DTS HD 5.1 mix for their edition of their blu... however it seems Criterion are sticking with the more true mix of the film.

Will be interesting to compare the audio on specific scenes between the 2 releases.

I guess dougotte might be wondering about the 'surround' part. A 2.0 recording has 2 discrete separate channels. You can listen to 2 channel recordings thought 2 speakers or through a surround decoder that spreads it into multichannel speakers (3 to 7). Therefore you can mix a 2 channel recording 2 ways: Listening in 2 channels (Stereo) or in multichannel (Surround). Many movies had 4 channels (left, center, right, surround) mixed to 2 channel matrix because Dolby optical sound on prints has 2 discrete channels, also Laserdiscs' superior lossless LPCM soundtracks were 2.0. You would normally listen to this in 'surround' if your theater (or your receiver) had surround decoding. If not you'd hear it in 'stereo' (or on some theater, mono!)

The theoretical difference between 2.0 'stereo' and 'surround' is one is mixed for 2 channel reproduction and the other for multichannel reproduction (the purist approach) tho you can listen to them the other way: stereo decoded to surround and 'surround' straight into two channels. (Like listening to Beatles stereo records on your Surround sound system or playing 2 channel movie soundtracks on your Stereo)

[Dubstar]

I know I'm digressing, but I've never understood why Criterion didn't include the 6-track soundmix of 'The Last Emperor' that was created for the 70mm (blowup) version

I now return you to your regular scheduled 'Brazil' themed thread.

[JimDiGriz]

Dont know if its been mentioned already (Im sure it has) but Brazil looks so much better on blu compared to the DVD - as you'd expect. I was expecting it to look better of course but it was a real '2001' moment for me - better than I was expecting!

So those saying 'Im sticking with the DVD' are losing out. You need to see this in HD one way or another!

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Originally Posted by JimDiGriz

Dont know if its been mentioned already (Im sure it has) but Brazil looks so much better on blu compared to the DVD - as you'd expect. I was expecting it to look better of course but it was a real '2001' moment for me - better than I was expecting!

So those saying 'Im sticking with the DVD' are losing out. You need to see this in HD one way or another!

Well, I don't want to be misunderstood in my claims of keeping the DVD vs keeping the DVD INSTEAD of the Blu-ray.
I simply want to keep the 3-DVD set for it's overall packaging and it being one of the first big DVD purchases I ever made, in fact it was the first Criterion purchase I ever made. Call me a sucker for slips, but the blue translucent slip on the DVD set alone is worth keeping, IMO. I'd also like to see if the supplemental printed materials have been edited down or condensed down. That would also play a factor, since the 3-disc DVD set could fit in more stuff.

[tabbott]

Youre My Boy Blu! , I have to agree with you on the Criterion DVD packaging of Brazil. it is a fine package, and this is coming from someone who also owns the laserdisc set. Now you've got me thinking of buying a multi-disc Blu-ray or DVD blank case in order to hold the contents of both packages in one. I can't say I won't look into it!

[Kuma]

Im definitely keeping my DVD set, the cost alone originally for that one makes it a must. But I think im going to treat myself to this as it comes out the day before my birthday.