Dark Star (30th Anniversary Collector's Edition)

D

DaveP

Guest
I have always loved this film, unfortunately I made the mistake of buying it when it first came out on DVD. It is in letterbox 4:3 format and I have refused to watch it.

This 30th Aniversary edition claims to be anamorphic 16:9. Can anyone confirm this and is the print any good. I'd swear the other version was a copy from VHS!

It's £10.99 at CD-Wow

Dave
 
Sounds like they have taken the same D1 master tape and made a DVD with a slightly higher bitrate, rather than getting a new master from made from film.
 
Holy cow 30 years !

Now I feel old!
 
sort of on the same subject. is there a good transfer of 'silent running' out there on DVD?

Also just got round to watching '2001' the other night and have to say i was well impressed with the PQ.

Dean
 
Amazon UK are offering both DS (30th) & SR for 22 quid
 
Beware - UK R2 "Silent Running" is 4:3 pan & scan. :thumbsdow
 
Originally posted by the_pauley
Beware - UK R2 "Silent Running" is 4:3 pan & scan. :thumbsdow

Actually, it's roughly 1.78:1 letterbox - non-anamorphic! Very average transfer, but can be found pretty cheap. I got rid of mine and replaced it with the R1 SE which has a better 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer and a number of interesting extra's including...

"Feature-length audio commentary from director Douglas Trumbull and star Bruce Dern
Behind the scenes stills gallery
'The Making Of Silent Running' featurette
'Douglas Trumbull: Then And Now' featurette"

R1's the one to go for :smashin:


As for the new 30th Anniversary edition of Dark Star, it sounds like a complete missed opportunity to me. The film needs a thorough and careful remastering, don't just give us a anamorphic version of an old print!:nono:

If they had got Carpenter or O'Bannon to do a commentary, then I probably would have double dipped, but as it is I'll be sticking with my old R1 disc until they upgrade the title properly.
 
Copy of "Silent Running" I looked at in HMV recently states 4:3 on the cover, as it does on Play.com. Have there been two UK R2 releases I wonder? Still this wouldn't be the first time a disc has had the wrong aspect ratio on the cover.

Recent case in point "The Vikings". states 4:3 on the cover when in fact the disc is a rather nice 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer.

Cheers for the heads up on the R1 "Silent Running" - just picked it up at DVD Soon for £9 delivered! :smashin:
 
Apparently Dan O'Bannon is all up for a special edition of Dark Star. But if he does, John Carpenter won't touch it.
 
It's a shame O'Bannon and Carpenter can't work out their differences after all these years as it would be great to hear them both record a commentary together.

But as you say, it'll probably never happen.
 
Just recieved the 30th anniversary version from play. The Picture quality is terrable. It's non anamorphic desbite the packaging stating "WIDESCREEN ANAMORPHIC" in big letters accross on the front, the only thing that's anamorphic are the menus, total ripoff, perhaps it's meant to be a joke. The picture is soft and full of dirt, easily the worst transfer i've seen in ages, and definately taken from the same old master tape as the old version. I'm sending it back for a refund.
 
I phoned up play this morning and the chap who answered the phone didn't really know what i was talking about, it was painful trying to explain, although after indicating I buy hundreds of DVD's from them he talked to his supervisior and eventually approved the return.

This is how it looks in anamorphic widescreen
darkstar2.jpg


This is how it looks in 4:3
darkstar1.jpg


Which one looks right to you?
 

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