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Author Topic: LotR:EE in theatres in June Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 04-23-2011 02:40 PM                        AMC Theatres will be showing the Extended Editions of all 3 Lord of the Rings movies on June 14, 21, & 28 to promote the upcoming Blu Ray releases. I'm sure these will be digital presentations - they never made 35mm prints of RotK:EE and all of these AMC flashbacks seem to be digital. But the quality seems to have increased in the past few years to "decent," even if it's still not as good as film done right. This gives me something to look forward to seeing in theatres this year http://www.amctheatres.com/Search.aspx?type=0&q=director%27s%20cut%20event  |  IP: Logged Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 06-27-2011 10:38 PM                        Here is my Lord of the Rings Saga: I bought tickets for all 3 at the AMC Promenade. As Joe will be quick to tell you, there are no great theatres in Metro Denver, but I had it on good authority that they would have a 4k presentation on a large-ish screen. The Fellowship of the Ring The image was big and decently bright and sharp. These movies never looked spectacular because of their 2k intermediates, but they can look pretty good. I could see some jagged edges on the subtitles (pixelation), and a scene or two looked "muddier" than I remembered, but overall I was pleased with the picture. And of course it was rock-solid steady and dirt-free. However, there was no audio from the left surrounds. This wasn't horrible, but it was distracting whenever the music would swell through the auditorium, but only on one side. Rainy scenes were unbalanced. Etc, etc. After the show, I hunted for someone who looked like he might have a clue (no small task) and reported the problem and asked that he please see that it got fixed. He said he would. The Two Towers They played the pre-show video (special to this screening) with audio but no video (which honestly was an improvement.) I went out to look for someone who looked like they had a clue, but failed. Instead, I spoke with a girl whose nametag said "Dumb and Dumber" on it. I shit you not. I told her the pre-show was messed up and that there had been problems with the audio on Fellowship and asked her to please have someone go into the auditorium when the movie started to make sure everything was correct. She said she would. The left surrounds were still dead. Afterwards, I went out and asked someone named Guillermo if I could speak with a manager. He explained that he was one. I told him politely about the problem with the audio. Guillermo explained that it was an old movie and that's all the problem was, and that Super 8 had been running in that auditorium without any issues. I said to him that I thought it was unlikely that they had a digital file with very active right surrounds and completely dead left surrounds. He said that it was a 35mm print. I told him that it wasn't, it was digital, and I was astonished that he didn't even know what he had up in his booth. He offered me some free popcorn. I told him I just wanted him to fix the problem. He said he would. - - - Sunday night I called and asked to speak to a senior manager. After 10 minutes on hold, I called back and asked again to speak to a senior manager. I got someone named Chris and told him everything that had happened. He said this was the first he had heard about it, but that he would get it taken care of. Monday night I called back and asked for Chris again, and he gave me an update. He said their tech had investigated, and discovered they had indeed blown out the left surrounds, and that they had fixed it. He also said his general manager had just seen a film in the same auditorium and had been embarrassed that he didn't notice the problem. I thanked him for taking care of it. Chris was very polite and seemed to have a clue. Tuesday night - The Return of the King To be Continued...  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 06-27-2011 10:43 PM                     quote: Geoff Jones They played the pre-show video (special to this screening) with audio but no video (which honestly was an improvement.) Funny, ours started the same way but after about 10 seconds the lamp kicked on according to my contact in the booth. The person who said it was a film print should be fired for complete lack of intelligence about their job. AJG  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-28-2011 12:02 AM                     quote: Geoff Jones Guillermo explained that it was an old movie and that's all the problem was Guillermo is obviously a dickhead. quote: Geoff Jones He said that it was a 35mm print. quote: Geoff Jones He offered me some free popcorn. I told him I just wanted him to fix the problem. He said he would. quote: Geoff Jones I got someone named Chris and told him everything that had happened. He said this was the first he had heard about it See? The prosecution rests, Your Honor.  |  IP: Logged Chase Pickett Expert Film Handler Posts: 142 From: Irving, Texas, USA Registered: Nov 2010 posted 06-28-2011 01:55 AM                     Geoff, I'm so sorry you had to deal with Guillermo. What a dumb ass of a human being.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-28-2011 04:22 AM                     I don't know about that Chase. The historical documents indicate humans 50 years ago had no left ears and these have only evolved since then. Suddenly, Guillermo is starting to make some sense...or it could be the glass of whiskey I just had. Nope...he's a dickhead alright.  |  IP: Logged Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 06-29-2011 08:21 PM                        The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Left Surround Channel Even the smallest person can change the course of the future... of the audio at an AMC cinema where they don't take care of things on their own. They fixed it! To be honest, there were moments during Fellowship and Two Towers where I doubted myself. It's hard to notice the absence of something. Was I just not hearing it? But after sitting through The Return of the King, there is no doubt that it had been out of order before. It was a HUGE difference. Very engaging. The score. The battles. Nazgul screeching as they flew around me! Seeing the Extended Edition in the theatre was a blast - all four and half hours of it! The scope is just so much more epic on a big screen. The victories are more fun when the audience is cheering. When the Witch King rose up and loomed 20 feet tall before Eowyn, it was such an ohhhshiit moment. Better than anything else playing out there. Highly recommended on the big screen! Oh... wait.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-29-2011 09:36 PM                     quote: Geoff Jones The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Left Surround Channel Lol! Glad it all worked out for you. (Well it kind of did)  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 06-30-2011 12:25 AM                     Here's my brief review: Saw them all at the local Cinemark. Fellowship was in house 4, and the other two ran in house number 1. Fellowship looked and sounded great. It looked like film to my eyes and not all glossy like some new DCPs have. Sound mix was just as fun as the original DTS I heard in the same house back in 2001. A great time! Two Towers was stunning. The image was extremely good, very film-like, and had an amazing amount of detail. The sound mix on this was top notch. One of the best sounding films I've heard in house 1 since it went DLP. Return of the King was kinda meh. To my eyes, the DCP wasn't as bright as Two Towers in the same house, nor did it have the rich detail and film-like image. By comparison, Return of the King looked overly processed. Some shots looked wonderful but most of the film looked pretty bad. The sound mix was also very shrill and not nearly as balanced as I remember the 35mm print. Again, this was all in the same house as Two Towers and that movie played much much better. Overall though, I had a blast over the three week period. I'd love to see more studios do events like this. All three shows had great crowds. In fact, ROTK may have done better than the 3D Transformers shows the same night. AJG  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 06-30-2011 04:54 AM                        Why is Return of the King 4.5 hours? I don't recall the extended DVD being that long. Was it?  |  IP: Logged Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 06-30-2011 08:45 AM                        It's 4 hours and 11 minutes. I rounded up. (Plus there was an introduction by Peter Jackson.)  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 07-09-2011 10:21 PM                     and then's there nearly thirty minutes of credits - with all the LOTR fanbase that had their names added to the end credit roll. I watched 'Fellowship' on bluray earlier in the week and wow! the video and the discrete 6.1 DTS sound were outstanding (particularily the latter)  |  IP: Logged

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