E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

The first digital sound film was "Dick Tracy" (June 15, 1990), released in 70mm and using the CDS format.

Actually the first film released in digital sound was the 1982 re-release of Fantasia with a newly recorded score.

I have no indication that "Star Trek VI" was ever released in any digital format. What's your source for that? It was released in 70mm Dolby 6-track mag with split surround. Some historians think the mag tracks were Dolby SR encoded.

Star Trek VI was the first film in Dolby Digital, running at a couple test locations. Newsies was the next one and the official rollout of Dolby Stereo Digital began with Batman Returns. Star Trek IV was the first film to use 70MM 4.1 encoded with Dolby SR, and Star Trek V and VI were both released in that format, with VI being 5.1 in 70MM.

DTS had a lot of capabilities that were never used. When I saw the trailer for "Jurassic Park", it triggered strobe lights in the theatre using DTS. It was never used in the movie itself though. It could have been fun if used with subtlety, but I guess theatre owners would have balked at installing the lights. Spielberg thought DTS was the winning format and he supposedly made a personal investment in DTS.

The teaser with the strobe lights was actually for the sequel: The Lost World.

Spielberg was given a share in DTS in exchange for allowing JP to be released only in DTS. Universal also paid for all the installations for that film, though the majority were stereo-surround only, not six track (DTS theatrical is technically 5.0 with the LFE encoded in the mains and then filtered).

The same day, Sony launched SDDS, with "The Last Action Hero". SDDS had an 8-channel option, but it wasn't used that often.

The additional channels were center-left and center right, mirroring the original 70MM configurations of the 50s and 60s, with added split-surrounds and LFE. ATRAC compression was actually milder than both DTS and DD.

The first Dolby Digital EX (which added a derived rear-center) was "Star Wars Episode 1" (5/19/1999). That film was also the first digitally projected movie. DTS followed up with a similar process, DTS-ES. I believe the first film to use that was "The Fellowship of the Ring" (12/19/01) (but that seems like a long time for DTS to respond, so there might have been a few earlier films).

Fellowship may have been released in DTS-ES but it was mixed for Dolby EX.

The first film to use Dolby Surround 7.1 for digitally projected films was "Toy Story 3" (6/18/10). And the recent "Red Tails" was supposedly released in a few theatres in "Auro-3D Barco 11.1" sound, but the extra channels might be derived in that format. And "Brave", which was released last Friday, is the first film to use the new Dolby Atmos format.

Red Tails was indeed 11.1 with the extra channels conveying height information. Atmos uses up to 64 channels of information to allow precise pinpointing of individual sounds in a 3D space around the listener. Brave only hints at the potential of the system.

[IndyMLVC]

Has this been posted yet?

[Blu-ray] E.T. Spaceship - YouTube

[The Big Blue]

Is that the high dollar German thing that everyone hated?

[FruityOatyBar]

This is one of those releases that I've been waiting for. I adore E.T. and I'm sure it's going to look stunning in high def. Bring it on!

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

There were 70mm prints of E.T. that were 6-track Dolby Mag. I believe the film was also released in 35mm Dolby Stereo, but Dolby's documentation is a little unclear on that. However, it was very rare that a film released in 70mm 6-track Dolby was not also released in 35mm Dolby Optical and it was released in Dolby Digital for the 20th anniversary re-release in 2002.

Dolby Stereo (35mm) mixes were NOT 2 channel mixes. They were mixed as a four channel mix. They were encoded to two channels (Left Total and Right Total) to fit on the stereo optical tracks of a release print and then expanded back into four channels by the Dolby Optical processor in the theatre. But it wasn't like they mixed to two tracks and the process "made up" the other two. You mixed to left, center, right and surround but you had to take into consideration that there wasn't going to be a lot of separation between adjacent channels.

The way it worked was that the Left channel appeared in the Left Total track at unity gain and in phase. The Right channel appeared in the Right Total track at unity gain and in phase. Center appeared in Left and Right at -3db. Surround (mono) appeared in the Left + 90 degrees and the Right at - 90 degrees relative to the front at -3db. The processor was able to look at the levels and phasing in the Total tracks and decode back to four channels (L, C, R, S).

There wasn't a lot of separation between adjacent channels. Left and Right appeared in the Center channel at -15db and the Center channel appeared in Left and Right at -15db.

But it was still a four channel mix.

The first digital sound film was "Dick Tracy" (June 15, 1990), released in 70mm and using the CDS format (and at least in the theatre I saw it in, which wasn't one of Manhattan's better theatres, it sounded like crap). Also released in that format in 1990 were "Days of Thunder" (35mm and 70mm), "Flatliners" (70), and "Edward Scissorhands" (70).

In 1991, also in CDS were "The Doors" (35/70), "Hudson Hawk" (35), "Terminator 2" (35/70), "For the Boys" (35) and "Final Approach" (35). I have no indication that "Star Trek VI" was ever released in any digital format. What's your source for that? It was released in 70mm Dolby 6-track mag with split surround. Some historians think the mag tracks were Dolby SR encoded.

In 1992, there was just one film, "Universal Soldier" (35) that was released a few weeks after the release of "Batman Returns" (6/19/1992), which was the official first release of Dolby Digital, although there was a film released in March of that year called "A Far Off Place" that reputedly also used Dolby Digital. The advantage of Dolby Digital is that the regular optical track, usually Dolby Optical SR, was also on the print, which both provided a backup if the digital system failed and provided single-print compatibility for theatres that hadn't installed digital sound as yet.

CDS had some technical failures and since there was no optical backup track, everyone jumped on board to kill the format. It probably would have done fine if it were allowed to develop more and the media hadn't jumped on the bandwagon. It was a joint venture between Kodak and ORC.

The first film to use DTS was "Jurassic Park" (6/11/93). Since DTS used separate CDs, it didn't need compression and had supposedly better sound, but once you got past first run theatres, half the time the CDs didn't show up in the box. In that case, the audience heard the Dolby Optical SR track. DTS had a lot of capabilities that were never used. When I saw the trailer for "Jurassic Park", it triggered strobe lights in the theatre using DTS. It was never used in the movie itself though. It could have been fun if used with subtlety, but I guess theatre owners would have balked at installing the lights. Spielberg thought DTS was the winning format and he supposedly made a personal investment in DTS.

The same day, Sony launched SDDS, with "The Last Action Hero". SDDS had an 8-channel option, but it wasn't used that often. My experience was that the overall fidelity of SDDS was inferior to DTS and Dolby Digital, although there are people who swear that SDDS was the better format. While you still see 35mm prints with SDDS (especially when a print has all four formats: Dolby Optical SR analog, DTS time code, Dolby Digital (between the sprocket holes) and Sony SDDS (on both edges of the film), Sony "gave up" on the market years ago and stopped producing any playback processors for theatres. But it's a moot point now that 35mm prints are disappearing and most theatres only have digital projectors.

The first Dolby Digital EX (which added a derived rear-center) was "Star Wars Episode 1" (5/19/1999). That film was also the first digitally projected movie. DTS followed up with a similar process, DTS-ES. I believe the first film to use that was "The Fellowship of the Ring" (12/19/01) (but that seems like a long time for DTS to respond, so there might have been a few earlier films).

The first film to use Dolby Surround 7.1 for digitally projected films was "Toy Story 3" (6/18/10). And the recent "Red Tails" was supposedly released in a few theatres in "Auro-3D Barco 11.1" sound, but the extra channels might be derived in that format. And "Brave", which was released last Friday, is the first film to use the new Dolby Atmos format.

so was the 70mm 6-track mix for E.T. baby boom or actual split surround?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

so was the 70mm 6-track mix for E.T. baby boom or actual split surround?

Baby boom

Spielberg's first 5.1 channel (70MM split-surround) soundtrack was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

[michinman]

Dee Wallace -> Yummy Mummy

[IndyMLVC]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion about this. Cannot WAIT for it.

[SomeFilmBuff]

Another Spielberg movie I regretted not having on home video. I'm also anticipating this Blu Ray, a long with Jaws.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC

I'm surprised there's not more discussion about this. Cannot WAIT for it.

I prefer walkie-talkies....discuss!

[TheDrunkenSpy]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I prefer walkie-talkies....discuss!

Don't make me reach through the internet and slap you silly.

[OneWayFilms]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I prefer walkie-talkies....discuss!

There's nothing more to discuss on this, basically it's a matter of personal opinion. Some like it/some dont.

Keep your dvd with the 20th anniversary, because the blu wont have it, sadly. I would vote for a reelase with BOTH versiona available, but since it isn't, I'm glad teh ORIGINAL is being released.

[lolwut]

I really hope we get the digibook in the US.

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by lolwut

I really hope we get the digibook in the US.

nooooooo!!! a slipcover would do just fine

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

nooooooo!!! a slipcover would do just fine

Another vote for Digibook. At least they have content...whereas slipcovers are redundant packaging that make it harder to open your discs.

[rickah88]

Digibook with a slipcover please!

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Digibook with a slipcover please!

[FruityOatyBar]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Digibook with a slipcover please!

I really don't care either way. I find slip covers pointless and I almost always toss them out anyway. The digibooks can be cool, but lately they seem to be packed with a bunch of fluff instead of essays or something that would give you insight into the creation of the film.

Just having E.T. in HD will be enough for me. I can always get a custom cover art if it ships with a bad one.

[Deciazulado]

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Blu-ray Limited Spaceship Edition

[shamus]

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC

Has this been posted yet?

[Blu-ray] E.T. Spaceship - YouTube

does the bluray fit into the top of the spaceship?