Posted by One-Shot Scot on 09/08/05 14:01

<gjbates@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:1126137013.073215.165870@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Can anyone tell me what the extras are and how long they ran?
> I thought it said something about a 5 part featurette. Is that
> everything? It doesn't seem like a lot.
>
> GB


Well, I have the information that you have requested, but you will have to
pay for it. I have placed the information on the bonus material below my
scathing editorial.

Now, we have a matted anamorphic 1.85:1 version of _The Sting_ with lots of
audio options: Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English
(Dolby Digital 2.0), English (DTS 5.1). It might be my imagination, but the
DTS audio tracks seem to be out of sync with the picture. It doesn't matter
in this case because both of the 5.1 audio tracks seem to be dolled up mono,
anyway. The DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 tracks are all that are needed in the first
place.

If you have the original open matte version of _The Sting_, you may miss
some of the picture information that is cut off in the new version. For
example, at 1:32, there is a scene with Eileen Brennan and Charles During in
the whore house. In the original open matte version, you can plainly see
Brennan's hand when Durning pours the beer over it. In the new matted
version, this picture information is nearly lost, because Brennan's hand is
below the matte.

The new matted version will take some getting used to. The original 1.33:1
version seems to capture the authentic 1930's academy ratio movie look. I
know, I know, the director never intended for me to see Eileen Brennan's
hand in the beer pouring scene, because it was never in the original script.
As the bonus material points out, this part of the scene was ad ad-libbed by
Charles During. (And I still prefer the original 1.85:1 DVD release of
_Silverado_ to the re-released 2.35:1 version.)

As always, Universal's packaging of its multi-disk packages is atrocious.
_The Sting_ disks were stacked and a faint haze of the silkscreen imprint
from the disk above can be seen on the play surface, along with all of the
scratches and fingerprints. I had to exchange my first set because the bonus
disk looked like it had been in the Netflix rental library for a couple of
years. It was probably the bottom disk in the stack.

THE STING
Disc 2
Bonus Materials:

The Art of _The Sting_

The Perfect Script: 23:15
Making A Masterpiece 22:57
The Legacy 10:04

(Total running time: 56:26)

Production Notes

Theatrical Trailer 2:14

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