70mm movies

[floyd]

Are there still movies filmed in 70mm? I remember growing up there were a few cinemas that boasted 70mm projectors. Not all movies were filmed in 70mm so there wasn't always the opportunity to see it that way. About 10 years ago when I was living in Berlin during a film festival they screened Hitchcock's Vertigo in 70mm, I was blown away both by the film and the picture quality.

Now I never see anything about 70mm and I'm just wondering if it even exist. It seemed to me to be much more panoramic than most movies.

This is probably movie 101 stuff for you film buffs out there but it would be interesting to get some comments.

[thegage]

You can try this link for a start: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/index.htm

A lot of the 70mm-specific information is buried in other discussions, but it is a great place to peruse and learn.

John K.

[macready]

I believe the last film shot on 65mm was Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" in 1996. It is very, very expensive. I remember seeing the 70mm re-release of "Vertigo" in 1996. That film was shot using the Vistavision process and transferred to 70mm for the the re-release. The picture quality was amazing.

[Steve Hoffman]

That Muppet movie about the Black Castle or whatever the heck it was called was shot in 70.

70 was just a way to get a wide screen image without having the distortion of the CinemaScope and Panavision lenses. Great films like BEN HUR, THE MUSIC MAN, etc. were shot in 70. Problem is, the DVD's of these films were done from the 35mm versions with screwy aspect ratios...

A lot of films in the 1970's were shot in 35mm and then blown up to 70 like RAIDERS, STAR WARS, etc. God knows why. Rather pointless. Just adds grain.

[macready]

A lot of films in the 1970's were shot in 35mm and then blown up to 70 like RAIDERS, STAR WARS, etc. God knows why. Rather pointless. Just adds grain.

This was done well into the 80's so discrete uncompressed "70mm Six Track Dolby Stereo" 4.0 or 4.1 or 5.1 soundtracks could replace the regular stereo or Dolby A matrix track. Films such as SUPERMAN, APOCALYPSE NOW, and PINK FLOYD: THE WALL also had 70mm discrete soundtracks with split surrounds. This stopped after the modern 5.1 digital formats arrived.


http://www.in70mm.com/newsletter/diverse/screenings.htm

[Pinknik]

A lot of films in the 1970's were shot in 35mm and then blown up to 70 like RAIDERS, STAR WARS, etc. God knows why. Rather pointless. Just adds grain.

I assume it still happens now and then. TITANIC was the last film I remember people talking about having a 70mm blow-up done. I've never personally witnessed one, but I've read that if care is taken in the blow up, the projection of the 70mm print to a huge screen can be more impressive, image-wise, than trying to project the 35mm print to the same screen. Dunno. I guess, now, IMAX and the various large screen amusement park type films are the main users of 65/70mm film formats. I'd love to see a well done presentation of a dramatic film shot in and presented in 65/70. For instance, I'll probably only see LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or TORA!TORA!TORA! on DVD.

[Pinknik]

For those in Los Angeleez:

http://www.egyptiantheatre.com/archive1999/2005/70mm.htm

[floyd]

70 was just a way to get a wide screen image without having the distortion of the CinemaScope and Panavision lenses. Great films like BEN HUR, THE MUSIC MAN, etc. were shot in 70. Problem is, the DVD's of these films were done from the 35mm versions with screwy aspect ratios...

.

Does anyone know if there are any dvd transfers of any 70mm shot that do use the 70mm print?

Thanks for the link John K was looked around some other sites and found some interesting info. I was lucky enough to grow up very near to a couple theatres with 70mm projectors. Going to a movie on that big of a screen was quite and experience.

[Pinknik]

The new collectors edition of BARAKA is from the 70mm print. I would assume that some of the IMAX DVD's are also, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

[Steve Hoffman]

Does anyone know if there are any dvd transfers of any 70mm shot that do use the 70mm print?

Thanks for the link John K was looked around some other sites and found some interesting info. I was lucky enough to grow up very near to a couple theatres with 70mm projectors. Going to a movie on that big of a screen was quite and experience.
DVD I don't know, but the Fox laserdisc transfers of Oklahoma and South Pacific that came out in the middle 1990's were the first 70mm to digital film transfers released.

[macready]

Does anyone know if there are any dvd transfers of any 70mm shot that do use the 70mm print?



The Tron DVD is from a restored 70mm print, and looks great.

Here are a couple more links regarding 70mm sound formats

http://www.mtsu.edu/~smpte/table.html

and a list of all films that were presented in 70mm 6 track magnetic Dolby Stereo.

http://www.in70mm.com/lists/various/70mm_dolby_stereo.htm

[ZIPGUN99]

The last 70mm movie shown around my area was HOFFA starring Jack Nicholson, the previous one was FAR AND AWAY dir. by Ron Howard, starring Tom Cruise. Haven't noticed a 70mm logo on a movie ad since then.
The first Tim Burton BATMAN I loved in 70mm...the night scenes looked great. Wonder if it was blown up from 35mm.

Douglas Trumbull's 70mm BRAINSTORM starring Natalie Wood and Christopher Walken really looked great when I saw it on the big screen in '83. It doesn't have quite the impact when you see it on TV.

[JoelDF]

70mm films that were not anamorphic or VistaVision 35mm blow-ups were usually shot on 65mm film stock, like "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Alamo", "Ben Hur", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Far and Away", "Hamlet", "Lawernce of Arabia", "Muppet Vision 3-D", "My Fair Lady", "Oklahoma" and "South Pacific" to name just a few.

They were then transferred to 70mm for the extra width to carry the stripped on multi-track mag soundtracks.

All IMAX films are shot on 65mm horizontally.

70mm blow-ups of 35mm films are still better than yet another transfer to 35mm theatrical print stock - that's one less generation of grain at that size in the picture because the interpositives (struck from the negatives) used to strike the prints are usually low-grain and low-contrast.

There were some movies in the late 90's that actually married the 5.1 DTS soundtracks to 70mm. I believe that "Titanic" had some showings in 70mm with DTS.

[househippie]

That Muppet movie about the Black Castle or whatever the heck it was called was shot in 70.
The Dark Crystal (1982) - Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

I saw this in 70mm when it first came out to all the fanfare and hoopla. I think I fell asleep. :o

[Steve Hoffman]

The Dark Crystal (1982) - Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

I saw this in 70mm when it first came out to all the fanfare and hoopla. I think I fell asleep. :o
Me too. I thought it bit. :)

[Oatsdad]

The Dark Crystal (1982) - Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

I saw this in 70mm when it first came out to all the fanfare and hoopla. I think I fell asleep. :o

I also never liked it. And I've now reviewed the stupid thing three times! Excellent visuals, boring story...

[XMIAudioTech]

There were some movies in the late 90's that actually married the 5.1 DTS soundtracks to 70mm. I believe that "Titanic" had some showings in 70mm with DTS.

Yes, 'Titanic' did have some DTS70 prints made.

There are several other late 90's/early 2000's films that also had DTS70 prints struck, but only for the European market, and possibly only Sweden or Norway at that. Some of these titles included:

Independence Day

The Rock

Armageddon

...among others.


What really needs to happen is for a filmmaker to make a true honest-to-goodness blockbuster along the lines of a LOTR or Harry Potter film using 65mm origination and the DTS70 soundtracks (uses the same hardware as 35mm DTS, only the reader changes) and one might see some REAL hi-def cinema: Even the best DLP systems can't come close to 35mm 'Film Done Right™' and 5/70mm shot on 65 would blow that away hands down!

The 35/70mm projectors are still out there, most notably the Norelco AAII (aka Philips DP70) (only one of two projectors ever to win an Oscar) (http://www.dp70.com/), Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 (http://cinemeccanica.it/eng/indexflash.htm) , Century JJ (http://www.strong-cinema.com/products/projection/#Century) , and a couple new-production models from Kinoton (http://www.kinotonamerica.com/cinemaEquipment/fp75e.asp) . Much of this gear is still cranking out glorious shows as we speak in 35mm in cinemas worldwide! :love:

Vive Le FILM!

-Aaron

[macready]

Yes, 'Titanic' did have some DTS70 prints made.

There are several other late 90's/early 2000's films that also had DTS70 prints struck, but only for the European market, and possibly only Sweden or Norway at that. Some of these titles included:

Independence Day

The Rock

Armageddon

...among others.


Here is a list of all 70mm DTS films
http://www.in70mm.com/lists/various/70mm_dts.htm
http://www.in70mm.com/newsletter/1996/46/70mm_dts/dts_images/70mm_dts_2.gif

[Ken_McAlinden]

The R1 DVD of Vertigo (as well as the preceding laserdiscs) was transferred from a large format element. Vertigo was shot in VistaVision, but the restoration elements were created to 65mm film. If you do the math, the film surface area use by a 65mm frame "windowboxed" to 1.85:1 is almost identical to an 8 perf 35mm frame "letterboxed" to 1.85:1. Performing the restoration this way allowed for 70mm theatrical presentations of Vertigo.

Regards,

[Steve Hoffman]

Got to see a real VistaVision IB Tech print of The Ten Commandments at the Paramount screening room about 15 years ago. WOWIE! It was a treat. Since VistaVision is a 35mm process (the film is just shot sideways for the "scope" effect") the existing prints are in non-fading Technicolor. 70mm was always Eastman Color which is why most 70mm negs can't be used; they have lost most of their colors except red.

[macready]

That Muppet movie about the Black Castle or whatever the heck it was called was shot in 70.


Dark Crystal was shot anamorphic "scope" 35mm. There was a 70mm 6 track Dolby Stereo blow-up though.

[Steve Hoffman]

You sure? (Guess so). Hmmm, someone lied to me.

Maybe I was thinking of TRON?

[macready]

You sure? (Guess so). Hmmm, someone lied to me.

Maybe I was thinking of TRON?

Very possible, it was the same year, 1982. You should take a look at this list http://www.in70mm.com/lists/various/70mm_dolby_stereo.htm Almost every film on that list was shot on 35mm film and the 70mm release was a blow up of the 35mm elements to allow the 6 track discrete Dolby soundtrack. Here is a complete detailed list of all 70mm blow-up films. http://www.in70mm.com/lists/blow_up/index.htm

[XMIAudioTech]

Maybe I was thinking of TRON?

Quite possibly, as all of Tron's live action sequences were shot in 65mm [Super Panavision 70] (the SFX scenes were shot in 35mm VistaVision)...

-Aaron

[XMIAudioTech]

70mm was always Eastman Color which is why most 70mm negs can't be used; they have lost most of their colors except red.

Unless they were made/duped after mid-1982 when the new low-fade Eastman stocks came into prominence.

-Aaron