Blu-rays from 35mm print sources? (1 Viewer)

[Gromilini]

Hi all, I figured if anyone could answer this, it would be the learned members of the HTF. I'm curious to know what blu-rays are commercially available that were sourced from scans of 35mm prints (as opposed to original negatives, or some intermediate step), and what is your opinion of the video/audio quality?

 

[Worth]

I'd imagine that it's very rare. The only one I can think of is The Final Terror. I haven't seen it, but just going by the screenshots, the quality seems pretty mediocre.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Final-Terror-Blu-ray/95568/#Screenshots

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Another one is Young Mr. Lincoln, from Criterion.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...ds-about-™young-mr-lincoln-in-blu-ray.355577/

 

[Rob W]

Kino's Nothing Sacred and A Star is Born (1937) are from original Technicolor nitrate prints from the Selznick estate. Some people on this forum expressed dissatisfaction with the visual quality of these discs, but having seen the same actual prints projected at Eastman House in Rochester, I can say the discs are very close to the picture we saw in 35mm.

 

[revgen]

Many of the releases from the label Code Red come from 35mm prints. While they don't look as good as their competitor Vinegar Syndrome, which usually scans OCN's and IP's, the 35mm print sources have an authentic "grindhouse" look.

 

[Alan Tully]

I don't think a colour print will ever look that good, too much contrast. You could get away with it from a b/w print, but it would depend how many generations away it was from the original, you want as much detail in the dark areas as possible. No problems with the sound, sound from a positive optical track sounds great, from a negative optical track, not so great, thin & sibilant. There has been posts about problems with optical sound on here before.

 

[OliverK]

Detail can be really good in the case of contact / premiere prints but these are very rare.
I agree that it is extremely hard to get contrast right, on both the higher and the lower end.

One of the reasons that what has been released often looks underwhelming is also that most of these movies never looked really good in the first place.

 

[Robert Harris]

Many examples derived from dupes of 35mm prints.

 

[Vincent_P]

The English-language inserts (including the entire English-language opening credit sequence) for Synapse's TENEBRAE were scanned from a 35mm print.

Synapse's THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD was scanned from a 35mm answer print (the film was shot in 16mm and blown-up).

Vincent

 

[mBen989]

The Giorgio Moroder version of Metropolis.

 

[B-ROLL]

The Giorgio Moroder version of Metropolis.

Much of the 2010 restoration is from a 16mm print that was found in Argentina ...

According to the Criterion Blu-Ray- Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" was scanned from a negative derived from a print ... The Original Negative was burned in a fire and and alternate version negative was thought to be burned in a different fire but they believe that negative is the source of later versions in 1933 & 1951.

An uncensored barely run print was was found in a janitor's closet in an Oslo, Norway mental institution and that is the source of the negative Criterion used for their new blu-ray ...

 

[Patrick McCart]

Criterion's Safety Last! was sourced from Harold Lloyd's personal 35mm nitrate print. Looks gorgeous. UCLA's analog restoration from the same print looked fantastic in 35mm, though without the extra cleaning.

 

[OliverK]

Funny you should be mentioning Safety Last! Watched it a few days ago and a great time was had by all. Detail was very satisfying and in fact stunning at times. And not to forgot what a great movie it is, we need more Harold Lloyd on Blu-ray.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

According to the Criterion Blu-Ray- Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" was scanned from a negative derived from a print ... The Original Negative was burned in a fire and and alternate version negative was thought to be burned in a different fire but they believe that negative is the source of later versions in 1933 & 1951.
An uncensored barely run print was was found in a janitor's closet in an Oslo, Norway mental institution and that is the source of the negative Criterion used for their new blu-ray ...

Why the detour via this negative? What is to be gained this way? Scan the print at 4K with large dynamic range scanner and be done.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Although this is television, the Doctor Who story "Spearhead From Space" was sourced from 16mm (which is what it was shot on).

 

[Brian Kidd]

I would think that there are quite a few transfers of older or lesser-known films that are derived from prints rather than from the OCN or even IP. In some cases, prints are the only extant sources available. They aren't ideal, but if a print is all that is available, it's better than nothing.

 

[Vincent_P]

Why the detour via this negative? What is to be gained this way? Scan the print at 4K with large dynamic range scanner and be done.

I'm guessing the print is likely very fragile at this point so the owners will only allow access to the dupe negative that was printed from it.

Vincent

 

[Vincent_P]

Scream Factory's new Blu-ray of the 80s horror film HELL NIGHT was scanned from a 35mm print as the pre-print elements have gone missing.

Vincent

 

[OliverK]

Why the detour via this negative? What is to be gained this way? Scan the print at 4K with large dynamic range scanner and be done.

It is possible that they did not have access to the print for one reason or another or they could dramatically reduce dirt and scratches through wetgate printing. Proper manual cleanup still is very costly and automated tools have been less than stellar espeically with problematic content at least until recently.

 

[B-ROLL]

Why the detour via this negative? What is to be gained this way? Scan the print at 4K with large dynamic range scanner and be done.

I'm sure the print (circa 1928) was Nitrate so to preserve the film, it was transferred to Safety Film as an inter-negative so that other (Safety) prints could be made ...The Original print is held by the Danish Film Institute and the restoration was by Gaumont who apparently hold the copyright to the film. Maybe the Danes weren't that Great about shipping the Nitrate print to wherever Gaumont had the restoration done ...
From the Criterion website:

• New 2K digital restoration of the film by Gaumont, presented at 24 frames per second
• Alternate presentation of the film at 20 frames per second with original Danish intertitles