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Cinema Product Reviews

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CIR 35mm splicer
Manufacturer:  CIR
Grade:  F
Reviewed February 2000 by Joe Redifer

Here we have the CIR splicer, which is made in Italy.  The CIR splicer has many good ideas, but unfortunately that really doesn't help the overall outcome.

First of all, the CIR splicer has a little knob on the left that adjusts the "spockets" left and right, so you can easilly create a bit of overlap (or a gap if you are not careful) in your splices without having to do the splicer modification that is elsewhere on this site.  This does not work anywhere near as well as doing the actual modification, however.  That is because the adjustment actually moves the film back and forth.  This does not line up well when you actually splice as the device that cuts the peefs in the splicing tape is not adjusted accordingly.  Also, it is pretty nasty when the splice travels through the projector-- it tends to jump more than usual and is also a bit loud.  So I recommend not adjusting this at all.  There is also a knob on the right side of the splicer that makes the holding sprockets pop up or go away.  I have yet to see a purpose for this.

The splicer itself simply "feels" very cheap.  And it is!  The reason I was given that my theatre purchased them was because "the Neumade's weren't available."  This was probably true.  But if my company would purchase booth supplies from anybody except MTS Northwest Sound, then I'm sure we wouldn't have had a problem.  But that's another review. The quality of the splices are incredibly bad.  If you take lots of time and be very careful, then the splices can be made nearly acceptable. For instance, the splicer has never been able to properly punch out all of the perfs in the tape.  You must peel each little square off yourself.  Then splice the other side and repeat.  If you don't have a completely anal projectionist using this thing, then the sticky squares stay and and it is not fun when it tries to pay out on a platter.  Not to mention that it will attract even MORE dirt.  Yes, I know, FilmGuard would help.  But what kind of projectionist who would not take the time to properly splice would use FilmGuard anyway?  Many times the blades do not properly cut the tape, or they cut a sliver of the film off.  This is even when the blades are brand new.  And then there is the cutter. Only 2 months old, 2 of the cutters on four of our CIR splicers simply stopped cutting all of the way!  They would cut about 3/4 of the way across and then mangle the rest of the film.  Great!  Nothing was visually wrong with the cutter that I could tell.  Maybe it is the base where the cutter slides by.  Either way we stopped using them. Fortunately, all of our tape splices are made with the standard Neumade 35SS splicer now.

If you have one of these splicers, be sure to bitch, whine, and complain until you are able to get a Neumade 35SS.  These splicers have no place in a professional projection booth!

Bottom Line:  Stick to a Neumade splicer for all of your tape splicing needs.