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2001 A Space Odyssey in 70mm

post #1 of 22
2/18/13 at 7:06am
Thread Starter 
I saw 2001 A Space Odyssey in 70mm projection at The Music Box Theater in Chicago over the weekend. It looked great overall compared to any other presentation I'd ever seen of the film.I was surprised that the theater was completely full and then sum I'd estimate 800 to 900 people. The other thing that surprised me was the fact that, as I looked around, it appeared that the majority of those in attendance were 20 to 30 somethings. Angela and I were seated in the second row.

It was a new print and had only been run through the projector once the previous day as a test. The previous night they had had problems with the audio and cancelled the showing. The image had much better detail,with colors which were richer and more realistic. Reds,flesh tones the earth looked blue etc. Background detail was particularly improved You could clearly read Parker on the floating pen for example and, of course, text on things had no ringing. Some scenes were so sharp that it was astonishing, others looked no better than my BD at home. There was a bit of debris on the film here and there and the image was not as stable as the BD with gate wobble and the image moving around vibrating quite a bit at times. Additionally, there was obvious color balance differences at reel changes.

Anyway it was a great experience to see this as it was intended to be shown for the first time in my life (I saw it when I was 13 the first time with my parents).




Art
Edited by Art Sonneborn - 2/18/13 at 6:39pm
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post #2 of 22
2/18/13 at 7:20am
This is one of my all time favorite films. I've been lucky enough to see it in 70mm a handful of times (including on a Cinerama dome screen). It is truely a sight to be seen. Blu Ray can't even capture the same resolution. Hopefully one day we'll have a 4K home theater version taken from a 70mm print.
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post #3 of 22
2/18/13 at 7:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Sonneborn View Post

I saw 2001 A Space Odyssey in 70mm projection at The Music Box Theater in Chicago over the weekend.
Geez Art, you lucky duck. Did you drive to Chi-town just for the movie? Yeah, I'da done it too.... smile.gif

I'd seen it over 100 times in my youth (believing then that I had all the time in the world) including lotsa times in Cinerama and while I love my HD home theater setup there's nothing to compare to the Really Big Screen experience, particularly when it comes to outer space.

I'm sure I went to the Music Box (or whatever it was then called) back in the 70s when I lived there but don't recall it specifically. Sounds like they really tried to do it right! :jealous:
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post #4 of 22
2/18/13 at 8:32am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Laserfan View Post

Geez Art, you lucky duck. Did you drive to Chi-town just for the movie? Yeah, I'da done it too.... smile.gif

I'd seen it over 100 times in my youth (believing then that I had all the time in the world) including lotsa times in Cinerama and while I love my HD home theater setup there's nothing to compare to the Really Big Screen experience, particularly when it comes to outer space.

I'm sure I went to the Music Box (or whatever it was then called) back in the 70s when I lived there but don't recall it specifically. Sounds like they really tried to do it right! :jealous:

Angela and I took the train over,we had dinner and then went to the theater but, yes, the trip was to see the film presentation.

Art
Edited by Art Sonneborn - 2/18/13 at 1:25pm
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post #5 of 22
2/18/13 at 11:28am
was it an actual 70mm print... or a 4k projection???

edit... never mind, I see it on the 70mm page now. good for you, I would have have been there.
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post #6 of 22
2/18/13 at 4:43pm
Full Music Box info:
http://www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/music-box-theatre-70mm-festival

Several other 70mm films of interest...
The 2/18 Lord Jim was cancelled and 2001 will be (was) shown instead.
One more 2001 scheduled for 2/21 at 7:30pm.

Advance tickets might be a good idea. A friend tried getting tickets Sunday night at the theater and wound up going back home.
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post #7 of 22
2/18/13 at 6:55pm
Very cool, Art.

So, in your opinion, how well does the Blu-ray represent the film in terms of overall PQ?
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post #8 of 22
2/18/13 at 7:11pm
I daresay they could do a lot better with a Bluray transfer if they tried: less compression and DNR, maybe Deep Colour. Certainly there shouldn't be ringing around text, unless that is in the original film elements.

Just like DVD, Bluray is not being leveraged to its full potential IMO: possibly to allow the next format to look more spectacular, or because it is just cheaper to put the encoder on automatic than to tailor it for specific scenes.

I wonder if the Parker Pen bit could be resolved in Bluray with the right tweaking.
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post #9 of 22
2/18/13 at 9:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Sonneborn View Post

It was a new print and had only been run through the projector once the previous day as a test.

It was a new print? I'd just assumed that the only ones out there were the ones Kubrick supervised back in the late 90's. The particular print I saw over the summer at the AFI Silver was likely one of them. It was a little beat up in places (there were marks that kinda looked like sprocket holes down one side of the screen during one of the spacewalk sequences, almost as if the film had come out of the sprockets and been clawed up during some previous screening). Overall it was amazing to behold, though. I had several "never noticed that before" moments (still haven't seen the blu-ray). The soundstage was visible at the very top of the frame during a couple shots in The Dawn of Man.
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post #10 of 22
2/18/13 at 11:38pm
Did you notice HAL's voice coming from every speaker, even the surrounds? At home this effect is not nearly as pronounced.
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post #11 of 22
2/19/13 at 6:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidHir View Post

Very cool, Art.

So, in your opinion, how well does the Blu-ray represent the film in terms of overall PQ?

Very well actually. I expected the models to appear much sharper but, generally, the techniques of photography did not result in huge difference, that I could see, they appeared only slightly sharper here and there. The full size sets, on the other hand, were much clearer generally including the space walk at the antenna which was jaw dropping, the floating pen, the BBC interview etc . The colors were much richer and more true IMO in that the american flag in the conference room the red was red,the earth in the background was blue without the green cast at the edges and the flesh tones were generally more realistic looking and the star gate scene had fantastic rich saturated colors throughout. The large differences I could see for sure were, of course, the total lack of ringing which is ubiquitous in the BD and particularly distracting in high contrast scenes like text on the pod,or the Floyd conversation with the Soviet group for example.

In favor of the BD is the gate wobble which was significant in some of the 70mm scenes.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Fang Zei View Post

It was a new print?
The MC specifically announced that it was a new print and that our viewing was only the second time that this print had ever been projected.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil S. Bulk View Post

Did you notice HAL's voice coming from every speaker, even the surrounds? At home this effect is not nearly as pronounced.

The audio was superior to anything I've experienced with 2001. I can say that I was very focused on the visuals but no doubt HAL sounded like his voice filled the room.


Art
Edited by Art Sonneborn - 2/19/13 at 6:45am
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post #12 of 22
2/19/13 at 7:39am
Lucky you Art smile.gif

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for a possible showing at the Zigfield in NYC. Would love to see it in 70mm cool.gif

I actually saw the movie the 1st time around in a drive-in with my parents and I recall being on the monkey bars in the little playground under the screen during the opening monolith scene, how screwy is that (now that I am thinking about it), monkey bars & monkeys/apes eek.gif...

Gman
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post #13 of 22
2/19/13 at 7:58am
they need a complete restoration in 4k for this movie... ASAP
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post #14 of 22
2/19/13 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Sonneborn View Post

The large differences I could see for sure were, of course, the total lack of ringing which is ubiquitous in the BD and particularly distracting in high contrast scenes like text on the pod,or the Floyd conversation with the Soviet group for example.

Completely agree. I watched the BD a few months back and the ringing/edge enhancement is annoying.
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post #15 of 22
2/19/13 at 5:18pm
A 70mm showing is coming to my town soon, hope it's not as beat up as Playtime was.
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post #16 of 22
2/20/13 at 6:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Sonneborn View Post

I saw 2001 A Space Odyssey in 70mm projection at The Music Box Theater in Chicago over the weekend. It looked great overall compared to any other presentation I'd ever seen of the film.I was surprised that the theater was completely full and then sum I'd estimate 800 to 900 people. The other thing that surprised me was the fact that, as I looked around, it appeared that the majority of those in attendance were 20 to 30 somethings. Angela and I were seated in the second row.

It was a new print and had only been run through the projector once the previous day as a test. The previous night they had had problems with the audio and cancelled the showing. The image had much better detail,with colors which were richer and more realistic. Reds,flesh tones the earth looked blue etc. Background detail was particularly improved You could clearly read Parker on the floating pen for example and, of course, text on things had no ringing. Some scenes were so sharp that it was astonishing, others looked no better than my BD at home. There was a bit of debris on the film here and there and the image was not as stable as the BD with gate wobble and the image moving around vibrating quite a bit at times. Additionally, there was obvious color balance differences at reel changes.

Anyway it was a great experience to see this as it was intended to be shown for the first time in my life (I saw it when I was 13 the first time with my parents).


Art

Good move to sit up front considering the smallish screen. I still think that The Music Box doesn't provide the proper large format experience due to the size of the screen. I viewed a brand new print in 2001 at the Virginia-I don't remember a problem with gate wobble (or anything else, for that matter)-perhaps that was caused by deficiencies in the projector? I saw 2001 a couple years later at the Music Box-it broke down just before the climax and came right back on with a few seconds to spare. Not one of my great experiences at the theater.
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post #17 of 22
2/20/13 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSchu18 View Post

they need a complete restoration in 4k for this movie... ASAP
They need to give 2001 an 8K restoration. The current Blu-ray was fine at the time of its first release but technology marches on. Studios were still feeling their way around digital film scans and other issues. A new transfer released today on Blu-ray would look even better than the current disc.
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post #18 of 22
2/27/13 at 8:29am
Art's experience pretty much matches my own with 2001. I've always thought 70mm is the ultimate way to see it. I have to admit, however, that I was very impressed with the 4k showing of LOA last year. Fantastic detail, and of course there were no problems with gate wobble.
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post #19 of 22
2/27/13 at 10:07am
If there was gate wave the print was old. Newer prints, especially brand new, won't have any noticeable gate wave on properly maintained equipment.

I missed out on seeing this in 70mm last Christmas. I was out of town for the entirety of the 70mm festival in NYC and couldn't do a damn thing about it. I wanted to scream. Loudly!

Thank God I had a chance to see it in 70mm some years ago in Hartford, CT. Blu-Ray cannot even approach what I saw displayed in that giant screen.
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post #20 of 22
2/27/13 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantom Stranger View Post

They need to give 2001 an 8K restoration. The current Blu-ray was fine at the time of its first release but technology marches on. Studios were still feeling their way around digital film scans and other issues. A new transfer released today on Blu-ray would look even better than the current disc.

Yes... But I will settle for a 4K wet gate scan.
Come to think of it, Barry Lyndon needs a 4k wet scan also.
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post #21 of 22
3/5/13 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Sonneborn View Post

I saw 2001 A Space Odyssey in 70mm projection at The Music Box Theater in Chicago over the weekend. It looked great overall compared to any other presentation I'd ever seen of the film.I was surprised that the theater was completely full and then sum I'd estimate 800 to 900 people. The other thing that surprised me was the fact that, as I looked around, it appeared that the majority of those in attendance were 20 to 30 somethings. Angela and I were seated in the second row.

It was a new print and had only been run through the projector once the previous day as a test. The previous night they had had problems with the audio and cancelled the showing. The image had much better detail,with colors which were richer and more realistic. Reds,flesh tones the earth looked blue etc. Background detail was particularly improved You could clearly read Parker on the floating pen for example and, of course, text on things had no ringing. Some scenes were so sharp that it was astonishing, others looked no better than my BD at home. There was a bit of debris on the film here and there and the image was not as stable as the BD with gate wobble and the image moving around vibrating quite a bit at times. Additionally, there was obvious color balance differences at reel changes.

Anyway it was a great experience to see this as it was intended to be shown for the first time in my life (I saw it when I was 13 the first time with my parents).

Art

Hey Art,
you have no idea how lucky you were - for decades most if not all new prints were so lackluster that they were unfavourably compared to 35mm and you get to see a new and hardly played print - well done!
And now imagine how close you were sitting, possibly at less than 2/3 of the screen width away and no pixels, aliasing, whatsoever - gotta love 70mm biggrin.gif
Oliver
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post #22 of 22
3/5/13 at 12:23pm
I saw this screened in conjunction with the "Kubrick at LACMA" exhibit, which includes props, models, film posters, scripts and personal effects, on display throughout several rooms. Very worthwhile exhibit if you're in the L.A. area; it will be here until June.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=210107&highlight=lacma
https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/stanley-kubrick
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