JayArgonaut

Thanks for the clarification and the offer, that’s very nice of you. Yeah, count me in, I would definitely like to see this version. It was very likely the version that I would have seen on ITV (UK) during the 80s but I didn’t pay that much attention to Bond films back then. 😃

What’s your verdict on the 1.66:1 LD’s vs the DVDs and Blu-ray releases, out of curiosity?

I don’t know how accurate these anecdotes are, especially given the myths regarding Dr No but perhaps others can clarify?

https://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/467998-what-original-aspect-ratio-island-earth.html#post7059959

https://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/467998-what-original-aspect-ratio-island-earth.html#post7060685

I never saw the laser disc versions of Dr. No and From Russia With Love so I can’t comment on the framing, but the DVD of Goldfinger is the same 1.66 as the 30th Anniversary Laser Disc (I believe the movie was released in 1.66:1). I did notice differences in some of the video versions of the Bond movies, especially Thunderball, which has VHS versions missing some music and a line uttered while Bond and Leiter are in the helicopter, but spoken by another character (presumably they wanted us to think it was Leiter who spoke the line). Also there are two versions of the line Bond speaks when he emerges from Largo’s shark pool. The current dvd has the music replaced and the “manta ray” line removed, but it has a different version of the 007 music from the original film, and which also is in the new edition of the soundtrack CD.

The line where Bond emerges from Largo’s shark pool: One version is “Now you can tell them about the one that got away” the other is “better luck next time”. All the old CBS/FOX video versions had one version, since MGM/UA took over it has been the alternate version.

Tantive3+1 said:

Does anyone know which of The Godfather laserdisc versions contain exclusive additional footage?

I know the fan edit the Chronological Epic from modernknife used shots from a laserdisc release but I don’t know which one(s).

That, I cannot answer, but I do know that according to a Paramount insider, the 1980 home video releases of The Godfather and Part II contain footage - albeit brief, that is absent from all subsequent home video releases: due to the studio’s careless treatment of the negatives during the mid 80s whilst they were preparing a new transfer.

Source: http://godfathermuseum.blogspot.com/2015/03/screen-shots-and-technical-errata.html

The first transfers were done in 1980 for VHS, CED, and Laserdisc. The original negatives had been used to strike new prints as Parts 1 and 2 were re-issued several times throughout the 70’s and so by the time that they had already been run through the ringer. So even on those first home video releases the print looked like shit. They made a transfer from the negatives onto U-Matic tape.

Paramount was reissuing most of their catalog and Part I and II needed a new transfer… They couldn’t find the interpositive [a first-gen dupe of the original negative] so they glued the negative back together with chewing gum and scotch tape. Only a slight exaggeration. And they complete fucking ruined the negative in the process.

So that’s why you have more visual information in the first-gen releases, simply put the dissolve doesn’t completely mask the image like it does in the second gen transfer. I would guesstimate that for every scene with a dissolve, you’re missing about three feet of footage [about 2 seconds of runtime]. That footage is gone. For good. And the Restoration edition comes from those same botched negatives. They’re only preserved on those first gen home video releases.

ChainsawAsh said:

Get uBlock Origin and leave it on any time you’re visiting a site that offers legally-dubious content. Because those kind of sites aren’t going to be doing much vetting of who they’re selling their ad space to as long as the checks clear.

Good suggestion, I’ve now replaced ABP with uBlock Origin on my driver and there’s a marked improvement in web browsing speed. However, on my computer that I use for visiting sites that offer “legally-dubious content”, ABP is much better at preventing pop-up windows from opening. 😃

I’d definitely contribute towards a complete scan of that print as well.

kchrules said:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058150/alternateversions

and this 16mm clip on eBay which I can’t afford: https://www.ebay.com/itm/16mm-IB-TECH-Film-CLIP-GOLDFINGER-1964-James-Bond-003-Now-with-DIAMONDS/113659583367

Wow! 😮

I love this site, every day is a revelation and education on my favourite films. Is there no way that we could create this version ourselves through dabbling with visual effects and motion graphics software?

Interesting! Goldfinger is among my favourite Bond’s and films in general. 😃

What’s your source for the information on the UK version?

Another classic example…

The 1999 VHS re-release of The Rescuers was infamously withdrawn from sale and Disney issued a recall-exchange on sold copies after the image of a topless woman was discovered within a scene.

https://www.apnews.com/a7bbd4ded93b44288336c1f9ae0b7d60

Again, surprised that no-one else had mentioned this one already: pre-1998 home video releases of American Graffiti contain the original opening shot of the restaurant, which was revised for the 25th anniversary with the addition of a CGI sunset.

http://kipsamericangraffiti.blogspot.com/2010/12/trivia-revising-american-graffiti.html

I’m surprised that this one hadn’t been mentioned already: the analogue home video versions (BETA, VHS, LD, CED, VHD) of Back to the Future, featured the closing card below that confirmed plans for sequels.

The “Special Longer Version” of Star Trek: TMP as seen on TV, VHS, BETA, VHD and LD, has never been (officially) released on digital home video. It differs from both the Director’s Edition and the theatrical version.

Williarob, that was a fascinating read, thanks not only for writing it but taking the time and effort to bury this urban legend once and for all. Posts like that are why I enjoy being a member of this site. 😃

Likewise.

Poita, I hope that your mum is on the mend very soon.

LordZerome1080 said:

I’ve never heard of an Xbone before. 😜

😃

https://www.cinemablend.com/games/Xbone-Nickname-Disrespectful-Xbox-One-Says-Major-Nelson-58934.html

😮 Me? No, I wish I had that kind of money to spare right now!

I meant would you be curious enough to tackle such a project at some point?

Curious enough to consider creating such a version?

Uh, S.W. that link directs to an entirely different but certainly interesting “feature”, perhaps worthy of a preservation in itself. 😄

😃 Here’s the correct URL, I hope:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/35mm-Feature-The-Man-with-the-Golden-Gun-Complete-James-Bond-Roger-Moore-1974-/254028497820?_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

TMWTGG is among the tapes that Williarob bought, so maybe they can confirm this for you. 😃

Shades of SuperShadow. 😄

https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/star-wars-supershadow-spoilers#

Williarob said:

Also, somebody on this forum bought one of these '82 tapes and says it is censored the same as the rest, despite what is claimed in the MI6 thread:

http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6662

Perhaps it is just a rumor started by somebody who wanted to jack up the price of his old VHS tape on eBay 😉

I’d still like to see the tape though, if only to debunk the rumour once and for all, so my offer to buy that lot still stands. (I believe the fact that the Dr No tape has a 20th Century Fox label, rather than a CBS/Fox label proves it is an '82 tape and not an '84)

I for one, look forward to reading your article on this topic. It was quite telling that the person in question, shared other Bond material throughout the thread - but yet nothing connected to the '82 tape, not even a phone recording of the TV screen showing the uncensored scenes. Also, they didn’t respond when other posters expressed an interest in seeing the release digitised and shared. 😃

https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/7092/goldeneye-workprint/p2

Neither do I and any machine that I could even obtain over here would likely be PAL.

Perhaps a member of the community with a BETA VCR could help out?

JEDIT: removed misleading eBay listing.

Some potential leads, with this one being a very strong candidate (albeit expensive) for the release that you seek:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Betamax-HiFi-Lot-of-6-James-Bond-Movies-Moonraker-Thunderball-Dr-No-Golden-Gun/352396361267?hash=item520c75be33:g:D-EAAOSwLWBbPBOu:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

There are also these CBS-FOX releases from 1984, much cheaper, but very likely censored, given what you have you described with the subsequent home video versions:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DR-NO-JAMES-BOND-007-BETA-RARE-1962-Sean-Connery-Ursula-Andress-CBS-FOX/163468161030?hash=item260f763006:g:IloAAOSwOAVaTUTp:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true

https://www.ebay.com/itm/James-Bond-Dr-No-1984-Sean-Connery-VHSshop-com/253384697917?hash=item3afee7a83d:g:UbUAAOSwcuZaZqin

Kamdan said:

The Complete Novel is seen as a novelty style release and not a “Lucas-y” replacement. Coppola allowed the release of theatrical version of Apocalypse Now, so he’s above that type of thinking. The reason there’s a HD master is because when the film plays on television, they will have the original theatrical version instead of an extended version.

Not necessarily, because in the past ten years, whenever I’ve seen The Outsiders and Apocalypse Now on TV, they have always been the extended versions. Coppola is not entirely above the Lucas “type of thinking”, because he and Paramount destroyed the original negatives for the Godfather films, so that only the 2008 restoration masters are available.

When the BBC have aired Warner title, Amadeus in recent years, it has always been the director’s cut. There’s several other films with similar situations regarding TV airings.

I love this thread. 😃

^…^ said:

Yes, DVB transmissions started around 2004 IIRC, and DVD recorders were available around that year…

The only way to have an high quality OT version - but I strongly doubt it was transmitted - is a D2MAC european satellite broadcast, and a S-VHS (or other high resolution tape recorder) or a MUSE japanese satellite broadcast (using an high def master) and a W-VHS recorder… well, dream is still free - for the moment!

In Italy? Here in the UK, DVB transmissions began in the late 90s. I remember selling the DVB set-top boxes back then during my wonderful time in retail. 😉

https://www.onhistory.co.uk/timeline/1999/

^…^ said:

OK, I searched all the web, from the surface to the deep, and still not found an MPEG2 version of EP1… or, better, there was at least a small version, around 9GB, but I guess there should be another - like the Cinemax ones - around 16/17GB… if someone is aware of its existence, please let me know.

Plus, it will be great to have a confirmation that there is an HDTV of the EP1 theatrical version - as it should have been broadcasted, following few scarces sources - while it seems there were no 1997 SE HDTV broadcast record - even if there are rumors that EP4 and EP5 were transmitted in UK, while EP6 was the 2004 version.

I can confirm that ITV aired IV-V-VI in 2002. I recorded EP-V onto VHS via my (SDTV) DVB set-top box during that run. I’ve still got the cassette somewhere. It was the 1997 SE version and they were all cropped to fill 16:9. The post 2004 ITV airings used the 2004 versions and as mentioned before, ITV now airs the post Disney sale versions with the revised Lucasfilm intro.

Here’s a clip from the intro to a recording of the TESB airing.

https://youtu.be/WoTG848XDFQ

What’s wrong with the Blu-ray that a preservation would be required?

The Digital Bits awarded it an A+

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/spirited-away-gkids-brd

You’re welcome. 😃 Mediainfo doesn’t tell me the exact audio and video bitrates for .TS files. If you know of a program that can, let me know and I’ll check them again.

Audio: English, 48.0 khz, 2 channels, AAC LC (LATM)
Audio #2: English, 48.0 khz, 1 channel, AAC LC SBR - visual impaired commentary*
Compression mode: Lossy
Bit rate mode: variable
DVB Subtitles: English

TPM: Overall bit rate: 3,759 kb/s
AOTC: Overall bit rate: 3,453 kb/s
ROTS: Overall bit rate: 4,125 kb/s
TESB: Overall bit rate: 4,091 kb/s

*Only TESB has the visual impaired commentary track.

Great! 😃

Unfortunately, I don’t have all of them. I recorded Episodes I, II, II and V during 2018.

The broadcasts all share the same technical stats:

Video: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC 1920x1080 25fps.
Audio: AAC (mp4a) 48000Hz (TESB also includes a 2nd audio track with a visual impaired commentary.)
Subtitles: DVB Subtitles.

TPM: 4.074 GB
AOTC: 3.758 GB
ROTS: 4.595 GB
TESB: 4.434 GB

The file sizes would be even smaller if the adverts were removed, so these are very likely on the lower end of quality, compared to the other HDTV recordings, but here’s some samples for you to judge.