I always wondered about The Dead Pool, Dirty Harry film format.
The film is from 1988 and was sandwiched between Bird and Pink Cadillac who were both in 1.85:1, using the same crew. It is listed about everywhere online as 1.85:1.
However, I'm certain when I saw it on opening week, that it wasn't 1.85:1.
Internet says otherwise, but one can't deny it has a weird history on home-video.
Originally it was released on Laserdisc in 1.33:1 clearly open matte (sightly cropped on the sides, opened up above), while all the others were scope widescreen in the box set.
Then the DVD was 1.77:1.
The Blu-ray is 1.77:1 but is extended on the sides, offering more picture all around and it has ton of dead air top & bottom. I think it's edge to edge. If you take the top of the original DVD, and mask the HD version accordingly, you fall at exactly 1.85:1. So the DVD was cropped on the sides.
IMDB lists it as 1.85:1, but I remember seeing the film on the initial release, and it was larger widescreen to me. In fact I didn't notice there was a change in format, beyond that it didn't look shot anamorphic.
Plus the other Dirty Harry films are all Cinemascope 2.39:1, so that would be a bit weird had they suddenly switched to 1.85:1. I would definetely have noticed it in the cinema as I was a fan of the series from way back.
I can understand, as the film was shot very fast in the spring of 1988, and released in the summer, that they went spherical because it was easier and faster to shoot that way, but I don't think it was shot for 1.85:1, though as with all non anamorphic films, it can be formated in either 1.33:1 or 1.77:1 or 1.85:1.
The framing looks totally off and loose in all of the home-video versions, with tons of dead air. Look at this:
I tried masking the HD master on a timeline at 1.85:1 and it didn't improve.
I tried at 1.95:1 and it was still loose.
I then tried at 2.00:1 and suddenly every frame worked.
In fact, all the hairlines fall perfectly on top that way during all the film, even when it involves an extra in the background, like in a bar for example (Clint in front, a waitress blurred in the background). It looks like I found the "common top" line that all the transfer miss.
Becoming wildly popular at the time was the Super35 format, which allowed to release scope prints while shooting very fast with spherical lenses. And that used a common topline.
I think what happened here is, a decision was made to ease off the pipeline, so they went the Super35 way, and it was shown masked in theaters at probably 2.39:1. Maybe history rewrote this as 1.85:1, and documentation was lost? It's definetely not look like it's framed for 1.85:1.
On a note, It's interesting that there is a scope trailer on the laserdisc box set, though it's horribly framed in 2.35:1.
They made the mistake of center framing it. Super35 use a common topline, and the framing should be from near the top of the frame.
https://youtu.be/bhoWUBQ5swM
On another note, looking at the film, I think you can point out easily what scenes are shot by Clint (a few of them, using long lenses, great cinematography and framing) and what others aren't (most of the action). The cinematographer is the same as Bird and Unforgiven. It's a film that definetely is undervalued in the DH saga.
So I will do a quick project, just adjusting the film in 2.20:1. (now 2.39:1)
I wanted to post some captures, but my computer shut down while I was typing this and the encode was lost, due to overheating. So I'm just posting this saved message right now, and will update the post later.
(This post was last modified: 2021-06-23, 07:06 AM by Stamper.)
The film is from 1988 and was sandwiched between Bird and Pink Cadillac who were both in 1.85:1, using the same crew. It is listed about everywhere online as 1.85:1.
However, I'm certain when I saw it on opening week, that it wasn't 1.85:1.
Internet says otherwise, but one can't deny it has a weird history on home-video.
Originally it was released on Laserdisc in 1.33:1 clearly open matte (sightly cropped on the sides, opened up above), while all the others were scope widescreen in the box set.
Then the DVD was 1.77:1.
The Blu-ray is 1.77:1 but is extended on the sides, offering more picture all around and it has ton of dead air top & bottom. I think it's edge to edge. If you take the top of the original DVD, and mask the HD version accordingly, you fall at exactly 1.85:1. So the DVD was cropped on the sides.
IMDB lists it as 1.85:1, but I remember seeing the film on the initial release, and it was larger widescreen to me. In fact I didn't notice there was a change in format, beyond that it didn't look shot anamorphic.
Plus the other Dirty Harry films are all Cinemascope 2.39:1, so that would be a bit weird had they suddenly switched to 1.85:1. I would definetely have noticed it in the cinema as I was a fan of the series from way back.
I can understand, as the film was shot very fast in the spring of 1988, and released in the summer, that they went spherical because it was easier and faster to shoot that way, but I don't think it was shot for 1.85:1, though as with all non anamorphic films, it can be formated in either 1.33:1 or 1.77:1 or 1.85:1.
The framing looks totally off and loose in all of the home-video versions, with tons of dead air. Look at this:
I tried masking the HD master on a timeline at 1.85:1 and it didn't improve.
I tried at 1.95:1 and it was still loose.
I then tried at 2.00:1 and suddenly every frame worked.
In fact, all the hairlines fall perfectly on top that way during all the film, even when it involves an extra in the background, like in a bar for example (Clint in front, a waitress blurred in the background). It looks like I found the "common top" line that all the transfer miss.
Becoming wildly popular at the time was the Super35 format, which allowed to release scope prints while shooting very fast with spherical lenses. And that used a common topline.
I think what happened here is, a decision was made to ease off the pipeline, so they went the Super35 way, and it was shown masked in theaters at probably 2.39:1. Maybe history rewrote this as 1.85:1, and documentation was lost? It's definetely not look like it's framed for 1.85:1.
On a note, It's interesting that there is a scope trailer on the laserdisc box set, though it's horribly framed in 2.35:1.
They made the mistake of center framing it. Super35 use a common topline, and the framing should be from near the top of the frame.
https://youtu.be/bhoWUBQ5swM
On another note, looking at the film, I think you can point out easily what scenes are shot by Clint (a few of them, using long lenses, great cinematography and framing) and what others aren't (most of the action). The cinematographer is the same as Bird and Unforgiven. It's a film that definetely is undervalued in the DH saga.
So I will do a quick project, just adjusting the film in 2.20:1. (now 2.39:1)
I wanted to post some captures, but my computer shut down while I was typing this and the encode was lost, due to overheating. So I'm just posting this saved message right now, and will update the post later.