Grand Prix (the movie) on HD DVD..un-frickin-believable.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:21 am

Guys,

If you own an HD DVD player (it may be out for Blu-Ray too...I don't know), check out Grand Prix.

I got it for Christmas (it was on my list).

JAW DROPPING. It is like someone took an HD camera back into a time machine and filmed all that race footage. The images are practically photo-realistic, ultra sharp and amazing. And they also remastered the audio into Dolby Digital 5.1

If you're a car or racing fan at ALL, and you get a chance to see this in HD, DO IT!

Was this movie really made around 1970? Because with that 65mm film cleanup it sure doesn't look it.

Anyone have any other particular 'favorite' movies for High Def (Watched Superman and King Kong, but neither had the amazing impact on me that seeing Grand Prix in High Def did -- it is the most amazing transfer I've ever seen).

Randy

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:36 pm

Could have sworn you already posted this in the "correct" thread.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:48 pm

Are you baiting me?

I created this thread FIRST because I didn't see another recent thread in which it would go.

Shortly thereafter, I saw an HD DVD thread, and mentioned it there, as well.

Are we going to have a fight every time I create a new thread?

sheesh

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:51 pm

...is this really the kind of forum you want it to be? Where people think that by creating a new topic they have to walk on eggshells because if there's the least bit of redundancy someone is going to rip on you for it?

As for the issue with the TDU posts... I GET IT, OKAY! MESSAGE RECEIVED..so now I gotta spend a fair amount of timing searching for the 'correct' thread lest someone takes offense that a new thread was created.

It's one thing to not want a glut of threads on the same topic, quite another to jump into peoples' face for the smallest infraction.

Randy

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:54 pm

RandyM wrote:...is this really the kind of forum you want it to be? Where people think that by creating a new topic they have to walk on eggshells because if there's the least bit of redundancy someone is going to rip on you for it?

Not people...just you. You're the only one creating the redundant topics. Everyone else has figured it out.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:55 pm

Randy, don't worry man. There's nothing wrong with this thread. You're not expected to dig up a month-old thread for something like this. You posted this well before the HD-DVD thread was bumped.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:58 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:Randy, don't worry man. There's nothing wrong with this thread. You're not expected to dig up a month-old thread for something like this. You posted this well before the HD-DVD thread was bumped.

Fair enough...my bad. I thought he had written the OTHER one first and then created a new thread for the hell of it. My apologies to Randy.

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:01 pm

Wasn't that one of those crazy Cinerama movies? I would guess there's even more black bar than on a 2.35:1 film. It also might be responsible for the better than average transfer.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:01 pm

RandyM wrote:Are you baiting me?

I created this thread FIRST because I didn't see another recent thread in which it would go.

Shortly thereafter, I saw an HD DVD thread, and mentioned it there, as well.

Are we going to have a fight every time I create a new thread?

sheesh

...and you took the bait hook, line and sinker.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:05 pm

Yeah, I did ....

*sigh*.

Randy

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:48 pm

Apologies Randy, this was my fault - in part. Why? Because I actually did what DB was yelling at you for, and it caused him to get confused.

See, I saw your thread about this HD-DVD movie, and it reminded me that I should post some of my impressions about the HD-DVD drive. Since there was a thread specific to thoughts on the add-on drive, I went back and found it and posted my impressions there.

Your thread seemed like the wrong place, since it was more about a single film and racing, whereas the thread dedicated to IMPRESSIONS of the HD-DVD drive in general is a perfect fit for what I was planning to share.

You posted your thread FIRST, and I (stupidly) was inspired by itand thus bumped the older ON TOPIC thread.

The quandry I'm in now is that this thread STILL is supposed to be about Grand Prix on HD-DVD, not thread etiquette. So, I may yet have to go back and make this post in an ETIQUETTE thread so as not to breach etiquette. If I do that, however, I will again bump a thread that is directly on topic while another thread (off topic) has been hijacked to be on topic.

I've got a pistol, and plan to shoot myself in the head immediately following this post - errrr - actually, I need to see if there was a previous thread about shooting oneself in the head...

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:50 pm

As long as you shoot yourself BEFORE you attempt to make a thread about it, all will be fine.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:10 pm

dbd..

Thanks for the apology. Just please know I don't set out to make redundant threads. I honestly look at the top page at the kinds of topics that are already there. If I see precedent for starting a new thread, I do. If I don't, or if I see a better fit, I put it there. A little tolerance and I'm sure I'll find the right 'balance'.

The black bars are very small, smaller than most standard widescreen movies on my projection widescreen. Yeah, I don't know what the deal was with 65mm film, but the result is tremendous. It's almost like this film was WAITING for the era of HD in order to be properly shown outside a theater.

I do laugh a bit as the screen gets split twice, four times, 16 times, all showing the same bit of footage. Not sure who thought that was going to make the movie better!

But the actual driving footage, and there's a lot of it, is otherworldly.

Randy

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:04 pm

Back on topic;

I believe this movie was a standard 70mm release, which means it was shot on 65mm film and the release prints allowed for multiple magnetic sound strips to provide 6-track surround sound. I don't know the exact aspect ratio of 70mm releases, but I believe they are a bit narrower than 2.35:1 cinemascope, but wider than standard, masked 1.85:1 35mm.

Apparently every 65mm Panavision camera was used in the filming of the race sequences. Of course, Frankenheimer is famous for his driving sequences (at which he was and remains the best, IMHO), and he never used any of the usual tricks of the trade, like undercranking and so forth. Garner did all his own driving for the film, which is pretty amazing, I think. The cars were Formula 3 cars, not Formula 1 cars, but still. With one of those big, heavy cameras mounted on the car, it couldn't have been terribly easy to control. There are a few shots on the banking at Monza that I still don't understand how they rigged.

It gets pretty cheesy in some places, but man I love that film and it's a big part of the pull for me to get the HD-DVD drive. I mean, where else do you get Garner, Montand and Mifune in one film? Plus, you get to enjoy the magical modern fantasy of hearing the US National Anthem at the end of an F1 race!!

"Do you ever tire of the driving?"[/i]

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:22 pm

"Jean Pierre! Jean Pierre! Jean Pierre!"

Take care,
PK

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:13 pm

"He's on fire!!!"

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:10 am

"There is no terrible way to win"