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Info: The Black Hole - 1979?

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 (Edited)

What are your guys preferences regarding the opening overture? do you like it or not like it? also does anyone have anything that could potentially become a good extra?

Thanks

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The overture was present when I saw it back in '79. I missed it on all the 80’s video releases.

Not sure if I still have it, but the Anchor Bay VHS box set came with reproductions of the lobby cards and a printed interview with the director, in which the alternate ending is discussed.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Black-Hole-VHS-Movie-Limited-Edition-/141802565196

I definitely still have the early 80’s Laserdisc if you need the original Dolby stereo mix.

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

The overture was present when I saw it back in '79. I missed it on all the 80’s video releases.

Not sure if I still have it, but the Anchor Bay VHS box set came with reproductions of the lobby cards and a printed interview with the director, in which the alternate ending is discussed.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Black-Hole-VHS-Movie-Limited-Edition-/141802565196

I definitely still have the early 80’s Laserdisc if you need the original Dolby stereo mix.

It would be nice to have that VHS Set for sure, would love hi rez scans of those images and possibly a capture of that VHS, and yes we would love to get the LD audio.

I to love the overture and have always remembered the movie with it, but some seem to not like it much for whatever reason, I am leaning towards just having it and get this done but maybe if possible we will make it an option from the menu.

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IIRC, the VHS is the same video master as the early Anchor Bay non anamorphic DVD. Just about every A/B VHS I ever owned had terrible drop out issues with the Hi Fi track. No idea why.

There are several commercials for the Mego toy line on youtube.

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

IIRC, the VHS is the same video master as the early Anchor Bay non anamorphic DVD. Just about every A/B VHS I ever owned had terrible drop out issues with the Hi Fi track. No idea why.

OK then no real need for a VHS cap then, do you have that Set you posted a link to? if so could you do a hi rez scan of those images? also would love the LD audio if you wouldn’t mind.

Thanks

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I need to search for the VHS set. Been a while since I’ve seen it. I apparently have a tame black hole in my house. Over the weekend I found an audio cassette I thought lost or given away twenty years ago.😉

If I find the set, I will take pictures of the tin, scan the lobby cards and booklet.

I have some other Disney items to capture for another member who’s after vintage Disney video logos, so capturing the LD will be no problem. It sounds really good for CX analog. The interesting thing is that the image is actually slightly squeezed, as opposed to true pan and scan. It can be unsqueezed on a modern display, although still cropped at the sides.

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Thanks again and I will follow the thread, at least we have something.

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Great to hear you’re moving forwards with The Black Hole, DJ - a decent transfer paired with the original Dolby Stereo will be quite a treat. Which video source(s) did you opt for?

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Jonno said:

Great to hear you’re moving forwards with The Black Hole, DJ - a decent transfer paired with the original Dolby Stereo will be quite a treat. Which video source(s) did you opt for?

We will go over that later, we are just getting all our source files on our drives now that we are nearing the final stretch with The Warriors.

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Excellent project idea, DJ!

I, too, prefer the film with the overture, so am glad to hear that’s being included. For those who really don’t care for it, the rest of the film is just a chapter-click away.

A few months back, there were two HD caps of TBH on the Spleen – one with (from itunes, I think) and one without (which had a higher overall video bitrate). I grabbed both, did some cutting and pasting to create a hybrid, and added a 35mm grain plate to the entire affair. As a learning experience produced for casual viewing, I was happy enough with the result, but am very excited to see what you guys put together. 😃

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applesandrice said:

Excellent project idea, DJ!

I, too, prefer the film with the overture, so am glad to hear that’s being included. For those who really don’t care for it, the rest of the film is just a chapter-click away.

A few months back, there were two HD caps of TBH on the Spleen – one with (from itunes, I think) and one without (which had a higher overall video bitrate). I grabbed both, did some cutting and pasting to create a hybrid, and added a 35mm grain plate to the entire affair. As a learning experience produced for casual viewing, I was happy enough with the result, but am very excited to see what you guys put together. 😃

Yea I am leaning towards just having the “Overture” and like you said, if it bothers then just chapter past it, really no reason for seamless here when it can be skipped easily enough, 1 thing I would like to know is this, I remember when the overture played it was just on a black screen, there was no “overture” text onscreen correct?

Yea I seen those files on Spleen and we didn’t care for any, the iTunes version I believe was the worst of all.

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Yeah, the overture was over a black screen. (As was Star Trek: The Motion Picture that year.) As it was the first time I encountered an overture, I was slightly perplexed as to why I wasn’t seeing credits at the time.

“Overture” text screens are pretty much a home video invention so people don’t think there’s something wrong with their setup. 😉

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

Yeah, the overture was over a black screen. (As was Star Trek: The Motion Picture that year.) As it was the first time I encountered an overture, I was slightly perplexed as to why I wasn’t seeing credits at the time.

“Overture” text screens are pretty much a home video invention so people don’t think there’s something wrong with their setup. 😉

Cool, that is what I thought, then no more debate lol, overture is staying those that dislike it can chapter ahead.

Not rushing but how soon do you think you could have the scans and LD audio?

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I can probably get started on the Laserdisc capture this weekend. Haven’t begun the search for the VHS yet.

P.S. Do you have the original mono for The Warriors?

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SilverWook said:
The interesting thing is that the image is actually slightly squeezed, as opposed to true pan and scan. It can be unsqueezed on a modern display, although still cropped at the sides.

On that note, I thought you might appreciate this TBH faq, if you haven’t read it before. The section on the original home video releases contains a lot of information. 😃

http://www.oocities.org/area51/shire/6822/tbh_faq.html

Original Laserdisc, Videotape, and CED release:

As far as I know, these releases were all made from the same print and video master.
The transfer is unusual - it is an anamorphic pan and scan. In order to fit more of the original widescreen (2.35:1) image of the film onto the television screen (which has an aspect ratio of 1.33:1) the telecinist apparently transferred this film anamorphically at approximately 1.85:1 (hence the thin, vertically stretched look of the characters in this transfer of the film; circles look somewhat elliptical). Since the telecinist didn’t squeeze the entire image on the video there still is some panning and scanning necessary during the film. (A good example is in the opening credits, where the telecinist had to pan & scan on the Director of Photography, and Story By credits.) The anamorphic presentation does however reduce the amount and severity of panning-and-scanning, and the use of jump cuts as compared to the Disney Channel Version.

The color (weak and off tone wise) as well as the contrast and detail in the transfer are quite poor. There is also some smearing evident in the transfer, an artifact of the old tube telecine video cameras used to transfer the film. (The difference between this and the DVD transfer is like night and day.)

Sound is ok. Laserdisc and CED sound is stereo, the VHS videotape is linear mono. (No details available on the BETA version - please contact me if you own this.)

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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SilverWook said:

I can probably get started on the Laserdisc capture this weekend. Haven’t begun the search for the VHS yet.

P.S. Do you have the original mono for The Warriors?

Yes that is taken from the NTSC DVD and is our main audio along with DD 5.1 and I believe a French track.

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dark_jedi said:

SilverWook said:

I can probably get started on the Laserdisc capture this weekend. Haven’t begun the search for the VHS yet.

P.S. Do you have the original mono for The Warriors?

Yes that is taken from the NTSC DVD and is our main audio along with DD 5.1 and I believe a French track.

I have a “new” VHS Hi Fi tape of The Warriors. I can capture the audio if you can use it.

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

dark_jedi said:

SilverWook said:

I can probably get started on the Laserdisc capture this weekend. Haven’t begun the search for the VHS yet.

P.S. Do you have the original mono for The Warriors?

Yes that is taken from the NTSC DVD and is our main audio along with DD 5.1 and I believe a French track.

I have a “new” VHS Hi Fi tape of The Warriors. I can capture the audio if you can use it.

Is it any different then what is on the DVD? from everything I read the DVD has the original audio, and it is actually to late now I am actually testing our finished BD now lol.

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SilverWook said:

No difference, just uncompressed.

Another thought for Black Hole extras. Archive.org has nearly the complete run of Starlog magazine, and they did several articles devoted to the film at the time.
https://archive.org/details/starlogmagazine

That is cool for sure and right up there with what we do, but I have no idea what issues and probably to expensive to get and then to try and scan.

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You can download the high resolution scans from the site for free. I’ll try to search for the issues with Black Hole articles in them. The initial designs for the robots are a thing to see. 😃

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I have no idea where you could locate these, but even outside of the project I’d love to see two Disney TV specials commissioned to tie into the film’s release in 1979 - The Adventures of Major Effects and Black Holes: Monsters That Eat Time & Space. Both feature effects work by Mike Jittlov, and I’ve never been able to find copies of either despite my best efforts. (A 20-minute excerpt from Major Effects is on YouTube, including some of the Black Hole tie-in footage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6PBnuA-yWc)

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djsmokingjam said:

I have no idea where you could locate these, but even outside of the project I’d love to see two Disney TV specials commissioned to tie into the film’s release in 1979 - The Adventures of Major Effects and Black Holes: Monsters That Eat Time & Space. Both feature effects work by Mike Jittlov, and I’ve never been able to find copies of either despite my best efforts. (A 20-minute excerpt from Major Effects is on YouTube, including some of the Black Hole tie-in footage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6PBnuA-yWc)

I actually taped the Major Effects special when it was broadcast on Qatari television back in the early 80s. It’s in PAL, the colours are weak, and there are burnt in arabic subs, but you’re welcome to it if you’d like. Drop me a PM if you’re interested.

Visit my *NEW* Star Wars on Video Collection site:

http://www.swonvideo.com

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That open is on the Laserdisc. 😃

And that’s amazing you have the Major Effects special, VideoCollector! I haven’t seen it since 1979. As a good chunk is from Jittlov’s Wizard Of Speed And Time, it could probably be patched from another source. Wish I had it on Laserdisc, as it’s still not out on DVD.

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