Posted by unglued on 07/15/06 14:40

Steve wrote:
> On 14 Jul 2006 11:37:20 -0700, "unglued" <dragonseed@spray.se> wrote:
>
> >New digital technology makes it easier and cheaper enhance old prints.
>
> But the point is the owners of the film have in many cases the camera
> negatives, or the best production elements of their films. You can't
> make an worn out circulating print look like "New." It took two
> million dollars to restore "Sunset Boulevard" because no decent
> elements had survived due to several changes in the library ownership.
> Having a studio own the rights to a film means that film remains
> protected. A studio that collapses and loses control of its prints
> means their films ALL end up being inferior dupe prints. You can't
> make a dupe 16mm print look worthwhile.

That certainly is ONE point, but like I said a large proportion of the
worlds cineast population can't afford to pay for multi-million dollar
resaurations of old films and they don't expect a film from the ´30s
to look new they just want to see it because they love films, and, have
no reason to be loyal to film studios trying to milk them.
And often as not they don't even have that choice because a major
studion doesn't want to or is too ineffective to release a lot films
there is a demand for.
In principal, what you're saying is "If you can't eat at a 5 star
restaurant there's no point in eating at all."


>
> .. Steve ..
> \
> .. Steve ..
> >I've noticed that even my cheap dvd-recorder does automagic stuff when
> >I transfered my old vhs tapes to dvd producing a better copy of the
> >film. I personally can't justify the expense of collecting Criterion
> >dvds even though I would dearly love to. Besides which oodels of
> >vintage American films are just not released here in Europe and
> >ordering from the States puts you at risk of paying customs duty on top
> >of the inflated prices.
> >I recently ordered a version Cukor's David Copperfield from the States
> >but it turned out to be a Taiwanese version shipped from Taiwan. The
> >quality was quite acceptable, the price was low and I hadn't been able
> >to find the film anywhere else, so for me it was a great deal. The idea
> >of Asia as a receptical of lost Western film gems is sort of attractive.

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