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Thread started 01/04/05 4:33pm

S3V3N

Find It Here: SOTT DVD REMASTERING Tech Details

Posted here since the other thread devolved into smarmy bickering.

Language - English
Running Time - Approx 1h 25min
Sound (2): 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround or 2.0 Dolby Surround
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (1.78:1), Enhanced For 16x9 Televisions

(c) 1987 Purple Films Company. Distributed Exclusively in Canada by Motion Picture Distrubition LP. Licensed from Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. An Indirect Limited Partner of Motion Picture Distribution LP, Not A General Partner.

My Review:

**** of 5.
Perfectly professional quality. Exactly what I'd expect. Missed 5* because of the packaging and the lack of easy to include features, like captioning. But the menu system appears to include pictures from the Sign O' The Times tour program, so I would guess it was somebody's labor of love.

The colors are perfectly preserved...a dark atmosphere with strobing stained glass hues. Standouts for me: the golden hued camera pan early in "Play In The Sunshine". The clarity was incredible. Sheila E. looks....ha-WOW! in her mini dress. Easily one of the most beautiful women to grace the planet in the last 40 years.

For the skeptical: The mastering is so good you can pick out the continuity gaps. wink

Cost: 18.00 Canadian / Worth: 50.00 US
[Edited 1/4/05 16:49pm]
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Reply #1 posted 01/04/05 6:13pm

squirrelgrease

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Thanks for the review. I shall pick this up. razz
If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot.
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Reply #2 posted 01/04/05 6:18pm

UndercovaBroth
a

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$50? Damn. Still, I'll make an effort to pick it up when it releases. Thanks for the heads up...
Ooh, little darlin' if you're
free 4 a couple of hours (Free 4 a couple of hours)
If U ain't busy 4 the next 7 years (Next 7 years)
Say, let's pretend we're married and go all night
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Reply #3 posted 01/04/05 6:37pm

Scrapluv

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S3V3N said:



Cost: 18.00 Canadian / Worth: 50.00 US
[Edited 1/4/05 16:49pm]


correct me if i'm wrong, but doesnt 18 cdn$ = about $14.72?
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Reply #4 posted 01/04/05 6:59pm

bkw

avatar

Scrapluv said:

S3V3N said:



Cost: 18.00 Canadian / Worth: 50.00 US
[Edited 1/4/05 16:49pm]


correct me if i'm wrong, but doesnt 18 cdn$ = about $14.72?

I'm pretty sure he's saying it has "value" of $50 US.
When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
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Reply #5 posted 01/04/05 7:40pm

squirrelgrease

avatar

UndercovaBrotha said:

$50? Damn. Still, I'll make an effort to pick it up when it releases. Thanks for the heads up...


Currency Conversion Made Easy
If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot.
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Reply #6 posted 01/04/05 7:42pm

Scrapluv

avatar

bkw said:

Scrapluv said:



correct me if i'm wrong, but doesnt 18 cdn$ = about $14.72?

I'm pretty sure he's saying it has "value" of $50 US.


oh ok, i see
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Reply #7 posted 01/04/05 9:59pm

BobGeorge909

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there is no mention of this whatsoever in NPGMC...I don't get it...it's an official relase.
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Reply #8 posted 01/04/05 10:20pm

CandaceS

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S3V3N said:

Posted here since the other thread devolved into smarmy bickering.


omfg An org thread devolved into smarmy bickering!!?? Say it ain't so!!

evillol wink
"I would say that Prince's top thirty percent is great. Of that thirty percent, I'll bet the public has heard twenty percent of it." - Susan Rogers, "Hunting for Prince's Vault", BBC, 2015
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Reply #9 posted 01/04/05 10:37pm

spaceboy

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sounds like SOTT ends up in every collectors cupboard multiple times (every country has it's own release)
Ich bin bei der Neue Kraft Bewegung
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Reply #10 posted 01/05/05 3:53am

metalorange

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BobGeorge909 said:

there is no mention of this whatsoever in NPGMC...I don't get it...it's an official relase.


It's an official release by a company that had a license to do so (Alliance Atlantis). Originally, Warners weren't interested in distributing the movie, so Prince did a deal with another company. To quote The Vault book:

"It did not apply to Prince's contract with Warner Bros. for his dramatic features. Instead, a deal was struck with Cineplex Odeon Films, the distribution arm of the 1,500-screen, Toronto-based theatre chain."

Cineplex Odeon was apparently taken over/merged/became Alliance Atlantis. And they must still have some rights to publish the movie, at least in Canada.

So basically Prince and the NPGMC have nothing to do with the release and probably won't even acknowledge it's existence. If it's not completely controlled/owned by Prince, he isn't interested in promoting it.
[Edited 1/5/05 3:54am]
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Reply #11 posted 01/05/05 4:06am

uptown1

S3V3N said:

Posted here since the other thread devolved into smarmy bickering.

Language - English
Running Time - Approx 1h 25min
Sound (2): 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround or 2.0 Dolby Surround
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (1.78:1), Enhanced For 16x9 Televisions

(c) 1987 Purple Films Company. Distributed Exclusively in Canada by Motion Picture Distrubition LP. Licensed from Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. An Indirect Limited Partner of Motion Picture Distribution LP, Not A General Partner.

My Review:

**** of 5.



Perfectly professional quality. Exactly what I'd expect. Missed 5* because of the packaging and the lack of easy to include features, like captioning. But the menu system appears to include pictures from the Sign O' The Times tour program, so I would guess it was somebody's labor of love.

The colors are perfectly preserved...a dark atmosphere with strobing stained glass hues. Standouts for me: the golden hued camera pan early in "Play In The Sunshine". The clarity was incredible. Sheila E. looks....ha-WOW! in her mini dress. Easily one of the most beautiful women to grace the planet in the last 40 years.

For the skeptical: The mastering is so good you can pick out the continuity gaps. wink

Cost: 18.00 Canadian / Worth: 50.00 US
[Edited 1/4/05 16:49pm]


Is this the one that Amazon.ca is advertising here:

http://www.amazon.ca/exec...87-0188348

????
[Edited 1/5/05 4:07am]
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Reply #12 posted 01/05/05 4:31am

kdavis

avatar

uptown1 said:


Is this the one that Amazon.ca is advertising here:

http://www.amazon.ca/exec...87-0188348

????


Yes, that's the one.
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Reply #13 posted 01/05/05 9:59am

Scrapluv

avatar

kdavis said:

uptown1 said:


Is this the one that Amazon.ca is advertising here:

http://www.amazon.ca/exec...87-0188348

????


Yes, that's the one.


kdavis, you should write a review on amazon.ca to let people know this is the real deal
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Reply #14 posted 01/05/05 11:03am

deebee

avatar

Hmmm.... I've got a couple of questions, if anyone can help me out:

1) The widescreen format - I take it, then, that this is because the dvd has been made using the original version that went to cinemas (which was presumably in widescreen), as opposed to a 4:3 picture being cropped at the top & bottom? (sorry if this is a silly question)

2) 5.1 soundtrack - When they do these reissues of dvds which were originally recorded in stereo, how do they create the rear/ambient tracks (and for that matter, the central one)? Presumably, some kind of crowd noise track was recored at the time and then put into the stereo mix, but to actually have that, wouldn't you have to go round to Prince's house and get him to dig it out.....?

3) NTSC on PAL TVs - I'm thinking of buying this, but can anyone tell me how NTSC dvds look on PAL TVs (I'm in the UK)? I know that your dvd player has to be able to handle R1/NTSC dvds, etc - but do they actually look any different/worse than R2 ones, and do you actually notice?
"Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin
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Reply #15 posted 01/05/05 11:24am

kdavis

avatar

Scrapluv said:

kdavis said:



Yes, that's the one.


kdavis, you should write a review on amazon.ca to let people know this is the real deal


I did, but it doesn't look like it's been posted yet... biggrin
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Reply #16 posted 01/05/05 11:46am

ufoclub

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The SOTT movie was not done in stereo, it was done in Dolby surround originally. It had a rear track back in 1987. and a center channel...

I think it was most likely considered a 4.1 soundtrack.... left center right rear (mono) and subwoofer.



2) 5.1 soundtrack - When they do these reissues of dvds which were originally recorded in stereo, how do they create the rear/ambient tracks (and for that matter, the central one)? Presumably, some kind of crowd noise track was recored at the time and then put into the stereo mix, but to actually have that, wouldn't you have to go round to Prince's house and get him to dig it out.....?
[Edited 1/5/05 11:51am]
[Edited 1/5/05 11:53am]
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Reply #17 posted 01/05/05 5:05pm

squirrelgrease

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deebee said:

Hmmm.... I've got a couple of questions, if anyone can help me out:

1) The widescreen format - I take it, then, that this is because the dvd has been made using the original version that went to cinemas (which was presumably in widescreen), as opposed to a 4:3 picture being cropped at the top & bottom? (sorry if this is a silly question)


Yes, the widescreen would come from an original print that went to theaters back in '87. As discussed elsewhere, this would be the first time a widescreen version of SOTT has been released for the consumer.

2) 5.1 soundtrack - When they do these reissues of dvds which were originally recorded in stereo, how do they create the rear/ambient tracks (and for that matter, the central one)? Presumably, some kind of crowd noise track was recored at the time and then put into the stereo mix, but to actually have that, wouldn't you have to go round to Prince's house and get him to dig it out.....?


5.1 sound that was not recorded originally that way(as in SOTT) would have to be "lifted" from a stereo or Dolby Surround source. The assigned engineer would have to bring up the crowd/ambient noise(rear), vocals and instruments(front and center), and re-record five discrete channels, as well as a low frequency channel. This is not the optimum way to get an enveloping mix, but it's more-or-less the only way with older films.

Of course, Prince probably has multi-channel mixes of these live songs, but we know better than to expect his cooperation.
If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot.
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Reply #18 posted 01/05/05 5:22pm

Scrapluv

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mine shipped today, so i should receive it within a week or so
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Reply #19 posted 01/05/05 5:29pm

TheAStarr

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how come amazon says the release date is Jan 25? And yet you are all getting yours.
Starrfighter
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Reply #20 posted 01/05/05 6:22pm

kdavis

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I have a decent surround system here, but I'm not too very impressed with the 5.1 mix. Maybe I'm so used to just hearing it in stereo, but the 5.1 mix seems too 'muddy' or something.
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Reply #21 posted 01/06/05 4:56am

metalorange

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kdavis said:

I have a decent surround system here, but I'm not too very impressed with the 5.1 mix. Maybe I'm so used to just hearing it in stereo, but the 5.1 mix seems too 'muddy' or something.


That's probably because, as Squirrelgrease observed above, it is just the stereo track that came with the original cinema print that has been artificially split up. It would be a bit like trying to seperate out the original eggs from an omelette. You really need the master tapes and individual channels - and Prince's co-operation.
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Reply #22 posted 01/06/05 5:47am

sandrined

The release is for January 25.(was expecting for January 4)

It will be on sale in Canada at HMV, and other DVD and Music shop.
We can find it too on the web at Amazon (HMV) 18 CAD $.

http://www.amazon.ca/exec...31-0596867


And at Columbia house Canada too, more expensive around 28 CAD $.
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Reply #23 posted 01/06/05 7:40am

kdavis

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metalorange said:

That's probably because, as Squirrelgrease observed above, it is just the stereo track that came with the original cinema print that has been artificially split up. It would be a bit like trying to seperate out the original eggs from an omelette. You really need the master tapes and individual channels - and Prince's co-operation.


Yup, and then they seem to have made it really bass-y too (on the 5.1 version), which just makes it muddy sounding, to my ears.
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Reply #24 posted 01/06/05 8:29am

metalorange

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Back when everyone was really skeptical about this dvd release, I decided to email the company and get them to confirm it.

Here is the reply I just got:

"Thank-you for taking the time to write to us here at Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Group, Home Video Department.

Alliance Atlantis released "Prince: Sign O'The Times" on DVD on Tuesday January 4th, 2005. You should be able to purchase this DVD from your local video retailer or by going on-line at www.hmv.ca."

They didn't answer my other question about whether it was a transfer from the master material, but anyway...
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Reply #25 posted 01/06/05 9:53am

Scrapluv

avatar

kdavis said:

metalorange said:

That's probably because, as Squirrelgrease observed above, it is just the stereo track that came with the original cinema print that has been artificially split up. It would be a bit like trying to seperate out the original eggs from an omelette. You really need the master tapes and individual channels - and Prince's co-operation.


Yup, and then they seem to have made it really bass-y too (on the 5.1 version), which just makes it muddy sounding, to my ears.


Does the 2.0 mix sound better?
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Reply #26 posted 01/06/05 12:03pm

kdavis

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Scrapluv said:

Does the 2.0 mix sound better?



I LOVE the 2.0 mix - it is nice and clear.
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Reply #27 posted 01/06/05 7:43pm

ufoclub

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The original print was encoded in dolby surround from at least a four track master.... right? it was not stereo!
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Reply #28 posted 01/06/05 7:48pm

PurpleRainDanc
r

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I Know It'z Prince,,,,But I'm Not Payin $50 4 Any DvD Ok? LoL
Sumtimez It Snowz In April


Joy y don't u love me baby joy y can't u love me baby

Joy come on and love me baby joy in repetition
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Reply #29 posted 01/07/05 4:39am

Scrapluv

avatar

PurpleRainDancr said:

I Know It'z Prince,,,,But I'm Not Payin $50 4 Any DvD Ok? LoL


it cost me $23 including shipping
[Edited 1/7/05 4:50am]
[Edited 1/7/05 4:51am]
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