1984 (1984)

[Akijama]

https://www.criterion.com/films/29140-1984

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, supervised by cinematographer Roger Deakins, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interviews with director Michael Radford and cinematographer Roger Deakins
New interview with David Ryan, author of George Orwell on Screen
Behind-the-scenes footage
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by writer and performer A. L. Kennedy
New cover by Fred Davis

This masterly adaptation of George Orwell’s chilling parable about totalitarian oppression gives harrowing cinematic expression to the book’s bleak prophetic vision. In a rubble-strewn surveillance state where an endless overseas war props up the repressive regime of the all-seeing Big Brother, and all dissent is promptly squashed, a profoundly alienated citizen, Winston Smith (thrillingly played by John Hurt), risks everything for an illicit affair with the rebellious Julia (Suzanna Hamilton) in a defiant assertion of humanity in the face of soul-crushing conformity. Through vividly grim production design and expressionistically desaturated cinematography by Roger Deakins, Michael Radford’s 1984 conjures a dystopian vision of postwar Britain as fascistic nightmare—a world all too recognizable as our own.

[Hoke Moseley]

Post this thread one more time so we really know it's coming.

[Member-222782]

I've never been able to finish watching the film but now it looks like I'll get an opportunity to do that. I'm sure Criterion will do the film justice.

[Smegma]

Which soundtrack version?

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by Smegma

Which soundtrack version?

I would hope they get both

[Gacivory]

Missed out on the Twilight Tike disc, so this is great!

[dancerslegs]

Timely release, I'd say.

[Poya]

I get the feeling this thread is gonna be locked soon...

[yellowcakeuf6]

This film had an interesting look. Of course it was a photochemical process, but it will be interesting to see how it turns out on BD.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by Smegma

Which soundtrack version?

Listing states "original mono soundtrack" so do they mean director's final cut or the theatrical hybrid score? Seems oddly noncommittal for Criterion.

[PowellPressburger]

Their credits page lists both artists... but would be nice for Criterion to clarify

[Member-167298]

This is the movie the world desperately needs right now.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

This is the movie the world desperately needs right now.

Have had a couple of bans in the past for being explicitly political so I'll just say my thoughts on the matter can be summed up by my (geographically accurate) stated location.

[yellowcakeuf6]

From Deakins's website:

"I spent many weeks doing tests at the lab before we settled on a particular bleach bypass process and that was way before production started. I would not say the lab 'invented' the process because they developed one after learning that something along these lines had been tested by Technicolour in Italy and also developed by Kazuo Miyagawa for a film he shot for Ozu. I believe both of those processes manipulated the Inter Negative or Inter positive whereas the process we used for '1984' was a printing process. This gave each print a really rich black whilst desaturating the colours by about 50%, a look that is not repeated when using the Inter Negative or Positive. Our lab, which was Kays film lab, did not know the exact details of either of these alternative processes. The Technicolor process was probably patented and Kasuo Miyagawa, a chemist in his own right, never gave away his secret formula to anyone.
That is not just my memory talking because all our dailies were printed using the bleach bypass process at some expense to production. Using this process there was so much silver retained in the print that we had projection problems caused by the emulsion overheating. That I could not make up. So the choice of the process could not have been made in post and Mike was not fretting any more than any passionate director does over the look of the picture. I know from previous experience that he would have had no hesitation in letting me know if he had been fretting."

[javi92]

Will buy again

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Poya

I get the feeling this thread is gonna be locked soon...

Why?

[Arawn]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Missed out on the Twilight Tike disc, so this is great!

Did that release actually sell out? I didn't think it was going to.

[JEDGAR1000]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Why?

Because people can never seen to refrain themselves from political arguments.

[HD Goofnut]

I have the TT disc and it looks great. Is this going to look better?

[JEDGAR1000]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I have the TT disc and it looks great. Is this going to look better?

Better may be debatable when the time comes (e.g. Charade), but it'll be a new 4k transfer so most likely.