Giles

Before making it's bluray debut, Martin Scosese's Taxi Driver will be projected in Sony 4K Digital for two showings only (Saturday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday, March 22 at 8:00 p.m.) at 146 participating AMC theaters across the US.

As part of the film 35th Anniversary an exclusive mini-poster will be included with the purchase of the ticket.

Here is AMC's link here detailing the theaters presenting this:

Taxi Driver - 35th Anniversary AMC showcase feature in Sony 4K DP

bluetoast

Awesome, thanks for the info. Just sent an email to a few friends.

Indy Jones Fan

I'll be checking this out. I've never seen Taxi Driver so it will be cool to see it on the big screen for the first time.

Gerry P.

Video projection. Pass.

Rypro 525

isn't this more a digital presentation though? Or at least to a point where i don't think theyre just projecting the Blu Ray on the big screen

NoirFan

Can't wait.

PopcornTreeCt

Going to try and see it.

Troy Stiffler

Good question. It's a 4k (approximately 4000 dpi) projector. But where did they get Taxi Driver, at more than 1080p? If I'm not mistaken, digital theatrical releases are shown at 2k. Am I right?

Troy Stiffler

Hell, nevermind. It looks like they did create some magnificent digital copy.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5804

focker

AMC has been doing all sorts of interesting exhibitions recently. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Back to the Future in a theater for the first time as it's probably my favorite movie. I think that was also a digital presentation and it looked great. I'll see if I can coax my wife into going to this one too.

Giles

- new film transfers are mastered at 4K resolution. Film shot with Red One, Panavision Genesis cameras are 4K. (35mm film 'resolution' is actually around 6K.)

- Sony LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicone) projectors project 4K resolution images

- DLP, in turn, has manufactured and will be implementing 4K chips in new projectors.

- Sony releases select movies in harddrive form in 4K. But with more theatres installing Sony and projectors (just hitting the market) with 4K DLP technology, movies in the higher resolution 4K will become more common place. The majority of current films seen in digital projection are 2K

- 3D features are (at the moment) only max out at 2K


because of the new 4K transfer/restoration of 'Taxi Driver', Sony is using this screening to demonstrate to us filmgoers that digital projection can and will equal or look better than what bluray can deliver (which is only 2K). The presentation is a Sony projector exclusive. This is not a 'bluray' image just thrown onto a screen

Giles

extracts from thedigitalbits.com (from blu-ray.com):

Grover Crisp, Senior Vicepresident for Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering for Sony Pictures Entertainment, was recently interviewed by Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits. In the interview, Crisp discusses in great detail the restoration of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (due out on Blu-ray on April 5) and the challenges of film restoration in general.

The full interview is a great read; what follows is only a summary of the main points.

Crisp said that Taxi Driver was only the third film that SPHE has submitted to a "full 4K workflow with no downrezing" (the other two being Dr. Strangelove and The Bridge on the River Kwai), in which "the resulting HD master used for the Blu-ray authoring was derived directly from the final 4K files." This procedure "preserves the essential resolution of the 35mm negative," explained Crisp. Indeed, he said that over the years, Sony has arrived at the conclusion that in a new hidef transfer film should be scanned "at 4K at a minimum," and that "regardless of what the particular element is" (CinemaScope or flat, color or black and white, etc.). He pointed out that larger formats such as 65mm "may require higher resolutions." Crisps admits that the 4K workflow is somewhat challenging, "but it is something that can be controlled."

Scorsese and Taxi Driver cinematographer Michael Chapman were "both involved" in the restoration process; Crisp noted that this is something that Sony does "if it is at all possible." Scorsese insisted that the restoration should look like "a product of the time and place in which it was made," with no attempt to modernize the look or the color palette, with special mention of the shooting scene at the end of the film. Crisp starts by saying that Scorsese "feels it best to leave the film as it is." However, he also explains that there are more issues beyond just "pumping" the color back into the scene which made it impossible to put the color back in.

The biggest technical challenges during video restoration included "enormous scratches running through some scenes," specs of dirt and lost frames due to a torn negative.

The audio restoration was completed at Chace Audio by Deluxe in Burbank. The best element for Taxi Driver was the original mono magnetic master with split dialogue, effects and music. However, Crisp also found the original 4-track stereo recordings of the score on audio tape, which was incorporated into the process. Scorsese had "his own audio experts" create the 5.1 track from the restored elements.

Hunt also raised the hot issue of grain or noise reduction for Blu-ray mastering. Crisp said that at Sony "we don't take the position that grain is an automatic 'problem', and we usually just leave it alone." They are aware of all the digital tools available to alter the grain, but "unless there is a really compelling reason" to do that, they don't. He proudly adds that that decision hasn't earned them negative Blu-ray reviews; "just the opposite, it seems."

Crisp didn't shy away from the ongoing DNR debate. "I really do not like the super clean, waxy look that is often the result of over-processing," he said. "It not only buries detail, but it gives the film an odd feel to it, an artificial feel, that I think detracts from the achievement of the filmmakers and is distracting to discerning viewers, all of which ultimately just cheats the audience. Most filmmakers know what they are doing with the resources at hand and our job, after all, is to replicate the vision of the filmmaker, not to impose our own aesthetic outlook on a film. People are entitled to their opinion on this subject, and lots of people have opinions on this, but we try to take a fairly authentic and neutral approach to every title - and they all differ in certain ways - so that each title looks, feels, sounds, like a product of its time and place, while trying to make them look their absolute best on Blu-ray. And, that's kind of what it's about, you know? I don't think Taxi Driver is a particularly grainy film, so there was really nothing to do in that regard."

Regarding future catalog releases from Sony, the VP informed while the negative of Lawrence of Arabia has already been scanned (at 8K), restoration is not completed yet and "will certainly take a year to complete." Other projects in the works include The Caine Mutiny and The Guns of Navarone.


~~~

it'd be great if Sony would premiere the 4K transfers of 'The Caine Mutiny' and 'The Guns of Navarone' in theaters as well, prior to their bluray releases.

ruddiger_718

Just used my 2 for $9 code from SocialLiving for this. I'm really excited. I wouldn't admit it before, but >looks around

Ash Ketchum

It also premieres for a two-week run starting today at the Film Forum in New York. It's being advertised as a 35mm restoration.

I'm curious to see how it plays to a contemporary audience. Where are the laugh lines now? What parts will shock them now?

RagingBull80

I'm going to see both showings in my area seeing that this is my favorite movie.

Ash Ketchum

I went to see it last night at the Film Forum in New York, a day after watching the DVD, the 2-disc collector's edition that came out in 2007. And, yes, Film Forum showed a 35mm print.

Three scenes in the new print were darker--too dark, if you ask me:
1) Travis's walk up 57th St. after coming out of the taxi garage after applying for the job there.
2) Travis's encounter with the candy stand cashier at the porno theater. (The cashier is played by De Niro's then-girlfriend, Diahnne Abbott.)
3) The "philosophical" discussion between Travis and Wizard, the older cabbie played by Peter Boyle, on the street outside the cafeteria.

What was the audience reaction like? Pretty lethargic. Nobody really reacts to anything in movies anymore. There were a few laugh lines in the scenes of the cabbies bantering and the scene where Travis courts Betsy in the coffee shop. But the audience never laughed as one. It was only just a few people making the effort to laugh. When I would see this back in the '70s with a full house, the crowd would react to everything! In really interesting ways, too. But then it was all part of the zeitgeist of that year.

So my questions to young viewers seeing this for the first time:
What are your thoughts?
What shocked you? (If anything)
What made you laugh?
What did you find realistic?
What did you find particularly unbelievable?
What did you learn from it?

Thanks.

E Unit

Taking the wife tonight to see this at the AMC in Austin. I'm very eager to see this in restored digital.

caligulathegod

I don't think we have any 4K in town, so I'll wait for the DVD. I saw the last restoration theatrically 15 years ago.

PopcornTreeCt

Thinking about taking a new date to see this movie but I feel like it'll turn out like Travis' date with Betsy.

E Unit

First movie date by taking her to see Travis Bickle? Do tell how that one turns out if you do. I'm taking my wife to see this as payback for making me watch Leap Year.

Pizza

Somehow "Taxi Driver" doesn't scream out as a date movie.

DeanoBKN

It figures the weekend this is airing, I have to work an overnight inventory. FML.

Geofferson

^ You can always go on Tuesday.

mhg83

Went to this last night. Great video and audio. It's been years since i last saw Taxi Driver so a lot of stuff felt fresh. i at the movie theater scene when all the snacks and beverage Travis gets costs under $2. Times have certainly changed.

Was pissed my theater yet again didn't receive the mini posters or maybe they're hoarding the posters for themselves?

PeterMartin

Saw this last night at AMC Northpark in Dallas. To my untrained eye, it looked gorgeous. Three issues arose for me:

1) We had to wait 20 minutes for the movie to start, which is equivalent to the time that would normally be devoted to an ad or two and then 5-7 trailers. During that time we just had the same 10 pre-show slides gliding on and off. Very irritating.

2) Audience reaction: I enjoyed sharing a laugh with the 40 or so people there during scenes that are humorous, such as Betsy and Tom's office interaction or Travis and Betsy's coffee meet. But not so much when the laughter continues during scenes that aren't funny, especially in the latter part of the picture.

Only one or two younger men were laughing, but it was distracting. Maybe it was nervous laughter to deal with the increasing tension? Or maybe they've been conditioned by watching too much recent Hollywood fare?

3) Aspect ratio: I knew something was off when the Columbia Pictures logo appeared and it was cut off -- you couldn't see it all. I should have gotten up to complain immediately, but I curse myself because I knew I'd miss the first 5-10 minutes finding an employee, trying to explain what the problem was, etc. And the main titles displayed just fine, if a bit tight, and it looked so gorgeous ... sigh. My bad on that end.

But: they should have got it right in the first place. It wasn't a drastic, horrible experience -- it's still a brilliant, shattering movie -- but the end titles, displayed in the upper right of the frame and cut off at the top and side, reminded me that I hadn't seen the film as it was intended to be shown.

Original aspect ratio was 1.85:1, so I'm not sure exactly what the problem was. I'm tempted to go again on Tuesday, but, if I do, how do I explain / complain to make sure it's shown correctly?