Tweet THIS IS CINERAMA coming to bluray?

I keep reading that David Strohmaier's restoration of TIC is coming to DVD and Bluray in Smilebox version sometime late this year but I can't find any predictions on the release date. Anyone have any insight into this?

I was blown away by the Smilebox version of How The West Was Won and also Strohmaier's Cinerama Adventure documentary. More, more, more.....

Jerry

[Mike Gebert]

Seeing This Is Cinerama at the New Neon 13 years ago was one of the great moviegoing experiences of my life. That said... it's rather static as a film; the point was to film big things in travelogue fashion and except maybe for the Cypress Gardens part, most of them are park-the-camera sequences of things like a Vienna Boys' Choir performance.

Reportedly Cinerama Holiday is the fun one....

No doubt about the travelogue aspect. Most of the Cinerama films were. My favorite was certainly Seven Wonders of the World - saw it umpteen times.

But both This is Cinerama and also Windjammer have been promised for DVD/Bluray release this fall. But no one seems to know when. Here's the trailer for the new release: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lII5rXbxcCs. Was it in 720p. There's also one for Windjammer......

Have you watched the Smilebox version of How The West Was Won?

Jerry

I have all the Cinerama films on DVD and happy to have these pale copies if nothing else ever comes. But the documentary on a disc taken on a screening in a backyard somewhere(UK?) was superb in quality off the screen in that yard so I then knew something had been happening. I got these, probably, around 2 years ago and it was fun seeing The Windjammer again having seen this with my class at the end of 1962 when our Year 8 exams had finished and all the boys who had no summer jobs had to stay on at school until the official year end date. Early this decade when I started getting downloads of notes from various Widescreen sites The Windjammer was often missing on the lists. Outside of How the West Was Won it was the only other one of those titles I had seen in this format. HTWWW I had seen with family and enjoyed it in the same venue that ended up derelict for decades full of water & rats being in the basement of a large theatre that was also left hanging for decades until it was restored as a live theatre house. Brothers Grimm I have in LD.

There were soundtrack LPs of some of these films with, often, gatefold sleeves and booklets attached. I had one but I lost it in a fire and it was valued at US$200 but I got it near the old Model T plant in Detroit for 50c and rescued it out of the hot, humid summer heat not long after the seller got it at a school sale. Why he would put LPs out in the direct sun in a box I will never know. What was funny is that this bookshop operator was talking to a guy from the local city office who was an architect and the guy was telling the operator that he had just sent a plan for the City Square in my city of Melbourne which was part of a competition. In the end no winner was selected and prizes were given and a different plan was used. But the area involved included the old Cinerama theatre(Hoyts Plaza beneath their Regent Theatre). The land was owned by the city whose two concert halls & offices were on the corner opposite. It certainly is a small world.

They announced at Cinecon after the screening of CINERAMA ADVENTURE that all 7 Cinerama films would play at the Cinerama Dome September 28-October 4, 2012 for the anniversary of Cinerama.

[silentfilm]

This is Cinerama and How the West Was Won will also be playing at the Cinerama Theater in Seattle.

http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10280

This is Cinerama and How the West Was Won will also be playing at the Cinerama Theater in Seattle.

http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10280

Well I certainly hope they've upgraded their projection system. After a multi-millon $$$ "upgrade" it looked like they were using birthday candles for projection bulbs and every 10 minutes the image would jump and dance all over the place at reel changes. I stopped going there.

[Christopher Jacobs]

As I recall, the announcement at Cinecon noted that three (or was it four?) of the films would be projected in actual 3-panel Cinerama and the rest would be the digital restorations that are currently ongoing, thanks to increased awareness and funding opportunities that the documentary has inspired over the past several years. Unfortuantely the planned showings are too long after next year's Cinecon for me to stay in LA until they run, due to the fall semester's classes. It would be nice if they bring them back for summer playdates sometime. I'll probably get most if not all of the planned Blu-ray editions, but it would be great to see them with the genuine mechanical marvel of interlocked film presentation. I saw "Brothers Grimm" at the Cooper CInerama in Denver while visiting there as a kid, but have only vague recollections of the experience (helped out greatly by the souvenir book our family bought that explained the process).

Yeah, just three in 3-strip: This is Cinerama, How the West Was Won, and [...]Grimm, plus some short goodies. All the rest are supposed to be shown in, um, glorious HD.

Having seen both How the West was Won (in 3 strip) and also in digital Smilebox I would have to say the Cinerama effect is better in Smilebox because the elimination of the distractions of the join lines. In viewing HTWWW at the Hollywood Cinerama dome last year, the curve screen was a real plus, but you still were aware of the join lines. At home on an 9 foot screen, the color and depth were real pluses with the Smilebox process. Later the same year we were back at the Dome for the digital Smilebox version of "Windjammer." It was a great experience despite the rough shape of the print they master from. If it wasn't for the digital tools and the commitment to this restoration project by director David Strohmaier, and John Sittig, director of Cinerama there will be no films to view. I doubt that there will be very many actual 35mm film showing of the original Cinerama documentaries since I understand a new print of HTWWW cost close to $100K. The digital Smilebox looks great on the big screen and we should be thankful that these wonderful films that document the cultures of the 1950's will live again.

Here is the link to the online press release
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2011/cinerama/index.htm

At Cinecon, those guys explicitly said that they're not eliminating the join lines; it's part of the charm of Cinerama. The blending on HTWWW was a special job by HP, who is not involved with the new HD versions.

Nick
Thanks for the update from Cinecon. I'm surprised that it was stated that the join lines would not be eliminated on the restorations. If you go to Davd's posting of the coming attraction trailer for the blu-ray release of "This is Cinerama" the join lines have been minimized. http://youtu.be/lII5rXbxcCs
It may have been meant that 35mm showings would not attempt to minimize these lines.
Bill

No, man, they were talking about the new videos.

Well I see that they're now showing some DVD boxes for each of the films. But still, no one seems to be talking about a release date for any of them.

Apparently there is a new restoration process that someone has developed that will restore the color to those awful Eastman Color prints of such as Seven Wonders. But I suspect these will be a lot longer in showing up in the market place than TIC and Windjammer.

Jerry

Apparently there is a new restoration process that someone has developed that will restore the color to those awful Eastman Color prints of such as Seven Wonders. But I suspect these will be a lot longer in showing up in the market place than TIC and Windjammer.

Jerry

Actually, it's not a new process. It's an evolution of the Digital ICE process licensed to many scanner manufacturers. What's new is that it's now able to be applied to motion pictures instead of only still photos.

Here's the company that's doing the restorations:

http://www.imagetrendsinc.com/" target="_blank

There's some nice images of the restoration on this page:

http://www.in70mm.com/news/2011/trends/index.htm" target="_blank

Derek

To Paul Allen, and to all at the Seattle Cinerama: thank you for showing TIC and HTWWW yesterday, 10/16. A splendid time, well worth the trip to Seattle. We appreciate your efforts.
/ SRP /

To Paul Allen, and to all at the Seattle Cinerama: thank you for showing TIC and HTWWW yesterday, 10/16. A splendid time, well worth the trip to Seattle. We appreciate you efforts.
/ SRP /

Reports from Jeff Joseph (of Sabucat) are that the presentations were the worst the 'the absolute worst I've ever attended".

See post #41 at this URL:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... ost7051879" target="_blank

Derek

>Reports from Jeff Joseph (of Sabucat)

My wife and I have wanted to see original Cinerama for at least a decade. With digital replacing film, we knew Seattle was a rare opportunity and dropped everything to go. We don't take it for granted we will ever have the chance again. My hat's off to anyone who has the courage to cross their fingers and run three projectors at the same time. The three shows we saw on 10/15 and 10/16 ran fine, no show-stoppers.

Classic film is a labor of love. Brittle perfectionism could break its heart. Being discerning--but not demanding--will help it grow. About half of those in line with us to see Lawrence had never seen the film before. About half of those seated with us at HTWWW were in their early 60s, revisiting the early '60s. Both shows looked sold out. To my hosts in Seattle, and to everyone keeping the classics alive on the screen: thank you.

/ SRP /

"How the West was Won" is due to play on Channel 5 in the UK on Saturday.

The review in the Radio Times says it contains "some violence".
Gee, who would have guessed!

>My wife and I have wanted to see original Cinerama for at least a decade. With digital replacing film, we knew Seattle was a rare opportunity and dropped everything to go. We don't take it for granted we will ever have the chance again. My hat's off to anyone who has the courage to cross their fingers and run three projectors at the same time. The three shows we saw on 10/15 and 10/16 ran fine, no show-stoppers.

Classic film is a labor of love. Brittle perfectionism could break its heart. Being discerning--but not demanding--will help it grow. About half of those in line with us to see Lawrence had never seen the film before. About half of those seated with us at HTWWW were in their early 60s, revisiting the early '60s. Both shows looked sold out. To my hosts in Seattle, and to everyone keeping the classics alive on the screen: thank you.

/ SRP /

While I can understand and appreciate the complexity of running Cinerama films, there's no excuse for bungling the projection of those 70mm films. A couple of my local venues have run those same 70mm prints without any difficulties. There's no reason why the Seattle festival organizers shouldn't have been able to do so. Given Mr. Joseph's credentials as a film archivist, his comments should be treated very seriously. Saying that he wouldn't loan any of his prints to the festival speaks volumes.

Derek

After all these years I'm still wondering why they bothered to re-issue THIS IS CINERAMA for showing on REGULAR SCREENS in 1973!

The Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles will be showing all the restored Cinerama films in September, along with the last film to ever be shot in Cinerama, a short called "In the Picture." Here is footage from the shoot Saturday at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. The camera makes a loud whooshing sound as it films, which must have resulted in looping of all dialogue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p8OALI74h0

I watched How the West Was Won in Smilebox on a 3d tv with 3d simulation...WOW! It looks as though you actually have a curved screen coming out of your living room wall. I hope they release more movies in Smilebox...there were so many wonderful films made in 70mm in addition to 3-strip Cinerama films that would look great in Smilebox.

We keep hearing that this is coming reasonably soon, but it neverseems to happen. Does anyone have ANY clue about it? Or is it just wishful thinking and rumors??

Jerry

While I can understand and appreciate the complexity of running Cinerama films, there's no excuse for bungling the projection of those 70mm films. A couple of my local venues have run those same 70mm prints without any difficulties. There's no reason why the Seattle festival organizers shouldn't have been able to do so. Given Mr. Joseph's credentials as a film archivist, his comments should be treated very seriously. Saying that he wouldn't loan any of his prints to the festival speaks volumes.Derek[/quote]

And to think I almost went to a couple of those screenings. I'm so glad I'm not the only one aware of the ongoing "issues" at the Cinerama. I've been complaining about them for years.
Until I hear otherwise, I will continue my boycott of this theater. I hope Mr Allen is proud of how all his money was spent.

I noticed on the Flicker Alley website that they are releasing "This Is Cinerama" and "Windjammer" on blu-ray and DVD soon. On their webpage is a scrolling list of films, with these two among them - and in Smilebox! Can't wait.
Alistair

http://www.flickeralley.biz/" target="_blank

It would be very interesting to release a smilebox version in 3D so the screen would have a dimensional curve.

This is good news and it is hoped that the job has been done well. I do have these as reference copies but really want the How The West Was Won type quality. The Windjammer(not he 1937 George O.Brien on out there) I saw with a school class back in when it was new and loved it. Also saw HTWWW when it was new and have the Blu Ray. Seeing that there is mention of 7-track audio in the text on Flicker Alley one wonders what they had available to use for the current restoration. The specs would be handy on their page. Not up as I write on Amazon, I will place an order as soon as they are.

IF all goes well, I guess they will attempt the others. There had been talk of the restoration of the Russian film in their version of Cinerama but I have hard nothing for a long time.

Classic Felix will have it to purchase or rent as soon as its released. As of today, the release date hasn't been announced.

Jerry

Contacted Flicker Alley via their website to enquire if their upcoming Blu-rays of "This Is Cinerama" and "Windjammer" would be region-free. Great news - the answer is yes!
Alistair