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Last weekend I got to see an advanced copy of the upcoming Kino Lorber/3D Archive release the 1977 3D Chinese martial arts film Dynasty. The film is a lot of fun. The Bluray maintains the original widescreen “scope” aspect ratio and the original film quadraphonic magnetic stereo sound which was flawlessly transfer to the appropriate DTS channels. There are 3 versions of the film on the disc, the standard Bluray 3D which requires a 3D Bluray player and 3D display, an anaglyph versions that will play on any Bluray player and display with red/cyan glasses (1 pair included), and a 2D version. I watched the standard Bluray 3D version. The special features include a short documentary on the Super 3D lens system, 3D Slide Shows of 1950’s/1960’s 3D advertising and a 3D slide tour of a huge department store. The final extra was a 3D animated music video.
As to the restoration and transfer, the original film source elements either no longer exists or are not available (not sure which). This transfer was made from mixing and matching the best theatrical reels from the film, cleaning them up, and restoring the color. The color restoration was fantastic. You can see how faded those reels originally looked by watching the special feature on the Super 3D process which has some pictures of the actual 35mm film. Watching the film itself, you cannot tell they were ever faded.
The only negative things I could see, and they are all from the source material, and could not be cleaned up (they tried), is that some (not all) of the long shots had soft focus and/or slight vertical jitter. In spite of that, it was never bad enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the film. I highly recommend this disc as a must have for anyone who is a fan of 3D and/or martial arts films.
This bluray will be released on April 13, Region "A" locked.
As to the restoration and transfer, the original film source elements either no longer exists or are not available (not sure which). This transfer was made from mixing and matching the best theatrical reels from the film, cleaning them up, and restoring the color. The color restoration was fantastic. You can see how faded those reels originally looked by watching the special feature on the Super 3D process which has some pictures of the actual 35mm film. Watching the film itself, you cannot tell they were ever faded.
The only negative things I could see, and they are all from the source material, and could not be cleaned up (they tried), is that some (not all) of the long shots had soft focus and/or slight vertical jitter. In spite of that, it was never bad enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the film. I highly recommend this disc as a must have for anyone who is a fan of 3D and/or martial arts films.
This bluray will be released on April 13, Region "A" locked.
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