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A Friend's Reaction To ABC's New Transfer Airing Of Jaws

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Author	Topic: A Friend's Reaction To ABC's New Transfer Airing Of Jaws

Shaun Rutherford Oscar® Winner	Hi there, Surprised that nobody else posted something about this (well, it's not completely music related; I'll post it here and in the other place). ABC aired last night a newly remastered Jaws last night, featuring the deleted scenes restored to the film. What follows does not surprise me. Hey Rocco, I told you Spielberg's been quite the idiot these last few years..... (the following is Tony's writing) Hey, man - this airing of Jaws is WEIRD, man! Seriously - they're using the alternate takes and everything. It seems like nothing's the same. Man - this Jaws airing sucks! The redid all the sound effects! Made them all sound like they came from Hans Zimmer's synth machine. The took out all the old Jaws sound effects and replaced them with modern Michael Bay sht. And they left out sound effects in some places. You know what I mean, All the sound effects have to be louder than everything else...you have to hear the rope making obscenely gratuitous whipping sounds and the harpoon gun has to sound like a laser blast going off and then you hear the harpoon whishing through the air.... The original gun sound effects are replaced with the Dirty Harry sound effect. When the shark rams the boat you don't hear the boards cracking and water squirting anymore...all you hear is this '90's sound effect that sounds like an explosion. Totally unrealistic. They're fkin' with my movie, man. It sounds weird but when I watch Jaws I actually anticipate hearing the sound effects. When the shark blows up it's probably going to sound like a space shuttle or some *. Pitiful times we're in, man. Life is lost when they start fkin' with Jaws. Tony
posted 05-07-2000 11:25 AM PT (US)

Mark Olivarez Oscar® Winner	I have the Special Edition Laserdisc but its been awhile since I've watched it. I did watch some of JAWS on ABC last night and I did notice the sound effects sounded different. They sounded "cleaner" if that makes any sense. As for different takes being used, the only time I saw that was when a scene regarding foul language came up and it seemed they used a different take with the actors saying something different, which movies do from time to time when airing on TV. It beats them dubbing somebody elses voice over it(those who have seen SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT on TV and heard the ridiculous dubbing of Jackie Gleason know what I'm talking about). I did not watch the whole movie, you would have thought they would have the guts to show it in widescreen. The picture looked great and I couldn't really tell how well the new mix sounded because I didn't have my sound system on. As I mentioned I did notice a slight difference in some of the effects and I have no complaint. I would find it weird that Speilberg would go back and re-do all of the sound effects for the movie. I'm not a technical wiz when it comes to transfering a mono track to stereo so I don't know how they did it to the movie. Anyone else notice this too? [This message has been edited by Mark Olivarez (edited 07 May 2000).]
posted 05-07-2000 01:43 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	Oh... is this the version that will be released on DVD?? NP: Nothing yet, probably Alien Complete when I'm not too lazy to stand up...
posted 05-07-2000 02:16 PM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	That's MY question. I already responded to this over at "Just Movies," but I have no real comment except "This is damned irritating." I didn't see that version yet.
posted 05-07-2000 04:06 PM PT (US)

Mark Olivarez Oscar® Winner	I'm sure we will see the original version as it was released. Remember sometimes movies have to be edited for certain scenes and some movies use different takes for TV versions. It's hard to judge a movie for sound when watching it on TV unless you have it on your home theatre system. Remember in the STAR WARS special edition there are some slight variations in the dialogue as compared to the original versions. So maybe they had to use different takes due to the fact the original was in poor shape. For those of us who have the Signature Collection Laserdisc we might as well hang on to it. I'm sure everything will be ok though. NP: JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (Broughton) ***/*** I had to put this on after watching the first 40 mins and being totally bored of NBC's version. I may have to put my Criterion laserdisc on as well.
posted 05-07-2000 07:17 PM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	What concerns me most about the upcoming DVD isn't so much the transfer, which I think will be fine, but the rumor I hear that the documentary will be edited down from what was on the laser disc. If so, this will be a major annoyance and yet another example of how the DVD people seem to go out of their way to give just a little bit less than they did on laser disc for certain titles.
posted 05-07-2000 09:35 PM PT (US)

Shaun Rutherford Oscar® Winner	Yeah, they're cutting the documentary by HALF! Ain't THAT a bitch! They'll (as in studios) give two discs to Armageddon (which, ashamed as I may be to admit, I liked), but Universal can't possibly spare 2 discs for Jaws. On that note, it's too bad that there isn't a DVD Signature Collection of The Frighteners, which had (I think) a FOUR HOUR documentary on the making of the film! Egads! Shaun NP---"The Barrel Chase" from Williams On Williams (speaking of bad editing of sorts, why did he "seg away" from the Jaws theme in this cue?!?)
posted 05-07-2000 11:03 PM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	What a joke that they would butcher the documentary by half on the DVD. That was probably the best "making of" documentary I ever saw about a movie.
posted 05-07-2000 11:16 PM PT (US)

Chase&August unregistered	While we're on the topic of making of documentaries, as anybody ever seen the old one called "From STAR WARS to JEDI: The Making of A Saga?" I believe it aired for the first time back in 1983, just after the release of JEDI. I have it on tape (haven't watched it in awhile, though), but I recall that it was about two hours long. It showed the puppeteers inside Jabba the Hutt and how the operated him, Phil Tippet posing for the camera after coming out of the Rancor costume, test footage of the Speeder Bike chase using actual STAR WARS action figures (instead of a stormtropper being thrown into a tree, it's Boba Fett), and much MUCH more. It's loaded with behind-the-scenes stuff, including lots of footage showing the costume crew designing, sculpting, and trying out the alien costumes. (There's even a humerous moment in which someone trying the Gamoerrean Guard outfit chases Phil Tippet and the rest of the crew through the costume area, wielding a huge battle axe.) There's another humerous bit, between takes, where Mark Hamill lays next to Carrie Fisher on Jabba's dais and talks to the camera. Mark Hamill: "The biggest problem, after I fall, is rolling out of the way to avoid the Gamoerrean Guard who falls on top of me, because he weighs about 200 pounds." A moment's pause, then-- Carrie Fisher: "And he's played by me." There's so much stuff in this making of that I can't even recall half of half of it. But I still remember Scalacious Crumb's line as the aliens get boxed up to be flown from SF to England: "Hey! Anybody know what the in-flight movie is? Oh, boy, I hope it's RAIDERS." Chase [This message has been edited by Chase&August (edited 08 May 2000).]
posted 05-07-2000 11:58 PM PT (US)

Greg Bryant Oscar® Winner	It sounded like they were using a remastered print. The music in the 25th anniversary broadcast was in stereo (surround). I've never owned the Laserdisk, but the music and everything else has in the past been in single channel mono, including the 20th anniversary videotape released in 1995. Most of the sound effects were in mono, but occasionally a few were in stereo.
posted 05-08-2000 08:50 AM PT (US)

Nicolai P. Zwar Oscar® Winner	The time has come for Criterion DVDs.
posted 05-08-2000 09:58 AM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	There are Criterion DVD's. The only problem is that the company has changed its focus from a decade ago and is more interested in giving the full treatment to some very lousy or obscure films. So far, I've only picked up "A Night To Remember" (which duplicated the laser version) and "Charade" from them. They did say at one time that they were going to release a DVD version of their "Spartacus" laser disc, but this appears to have been put on hold for now.
posted 05-08-2000 10:05 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	I've heard much praise for at least some Criterion DVDs, although I don't have one myself yet. I think they did 2001 and The Life of Brian, among others, so I'll get those sooner or later. NP: Donnie Brasco (Doyle)
posted 05-08-2000 10:17 AM PT (US)

dex Oscar® Winner	I think Criterion's worst release was "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932. Sure, it was remastered and looks fantastic, but other than a commentary by a film historian and a color bars test(!), there was nothing else. No trailer, no deleted footage (and there was some, though maybe it didn't survive in the 68 years since it was released), no cast/crew bio/filmographies. Chase - I think I have seen that "Star Wars to Jedi" Making Of. It did have a lot of stuff. I seem to remember them showing one part, where Mark Hamill is rehearsing the part where he orders C-3PO to tell the Ewoks he will use his magic if they don't do as he wishes. His line ended with, "Tell them," and him and Harrison Ford both launched into a routine where they kept it saying simulatenously until Hamill got it right. Then off-screen, you hear Carrie Fisher ask, "Oh, can I do it, too?" to which Hamill and Ford both simply say, "No." I'd love to see that again, though. [This message has been edited by dex (edited 08 May 2000).]
posted 05-08-2000 10:37 AM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	There is no Criterion DVD release of 2001. The laserdisc version had some interesting supplements that were different from the ones MGM used on it's later CAV release, so much so that having both of them were a must (though neither had a commentary track alas, and only some vague hints about what was left on the cutting room floor). I'm hesitant to pick up the current DVD of 2001 since the extras are not only less than both Criterion and MGM CAV editions, but there's also my distaste for the fact that the classic MGM films now have a Warner Video label all over the packaging. There is something that just doesn't seem right with that picture. Plus, Warner insists on using those inferior cases.
posted 05-08-2000 12:28 PM PT (US)

Chase&August unregistered	dex - Yes, that rehearsal part is funny (there's actually many funny moments throughout the documentary). Eric - What exactly is "CAV?" I see that alot regarding Laserdiscs and such, but have never figured out what it stood for. Chase
posted 05-08-2000 12:38 PM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	What CAV means is that only thirty minutes is on one side of the disc as opposed to the usual sixty and this is the only format in which one can freeze frame, slow-mo or frame advance a laser disc. Because CAV meant more sides and discs they were always more expensive if you wanted to experience the full range of laser options. With DVD, every movie is now basically the equivalent of a laser disc CAV now in terms of freeze frame, slow-mo and frame advance.
posted 05-08-2000 12:53 PM PT (US)

Chase&August unregistered	Okay. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Chase
posted 05-08-2000 01:20 PM PT (US)

majestyx Oscar® Winner	CAV - Constant Angular Velocity CLV - Constant Linear Velocity CAV means the the disc spins at the same RPMs for the entire playing time of the disc. That is the reason less information would fit onto one side of the disc. CLV is the way CDs and CLV LaserDiscs are played back. The speed usually ranges from 600RPMs at the beginning (center) of the disc, down to about 200RPMs at the end (on the outer edge) of the disc, in the case of CDs. I'm not sure what the specs are for laserdiscs.
posted 05-08-2000 01:26 PM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	Earlier I said I was reluctant to pick up "2001" because of the packaging. I go out and in Sam Goody's find a copy in the older MGM packaging! A silly reason perhaps for getting it, but sometimes the way a collection looks on the shelf can influence a lot of purchase decisions.
posted 05-08-2000 03:37 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	quote: Originally posted by Eric Paddon: There is no Criterion DVD release of 2001. Hm. I really thought so. NP: The Fly 2 (Christopher Young)
posted 05-08-2000 04:21 PM PT (US)

Shaun Rutherford Oscar® Winner	maj, Dang you're smart. Shaun
posted 05-08-2000 04:46 PM PT (US)

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