MovieChat Forums > The Keep (1983) Discussion > 70mm? aka potato?

70mm? aka potato?

posted 13 years ago by punkmechanicalkid
3 replies | jump to latest

I'm slightly confused... isn't 70mm supposed to contain more information than 35mm film? The image quality should be of a higher detail, correct? So why is this so terrible? I'm guessing it has something to do with the transfer from film to the media I'm viewing it from (saw it on Netflix last Summer). All of the Youtube clips look bad as well. Everything is pixelated and out of focus. This must have looked astonishing in person when it was released in the theater, but my god, it's terrible now. I love this film, and feel the cool atmosphere is being hindered by the fact it looks like a TV movie on a crap 80's glass bubble screen TV. What's the resolution on those? Like... 1?

Anyhow, sorry for the rant, just curious why this looks like it was filmed with a potato, when Sound of Music, some 20 years before it, looks like Inception quality in comparison.

[–] jewbo23 13 years ago

It's never been released on DVD due to rights issues and Mann not allowing it. So the transfer on netflix is likely from a VHS. Regardless of what it was originally shot on, if it's transferred from a VHS, it's never going to look great. Would love to see a nice HD transfer. It deserves it.

[–] eer85 12 years ago

The movie was never shot in 70mm (albeit 70mm prints were indeed released), but in anamorphic 35mm (which is generally considered the format with the highest resolution when it comes to 35mm filmstock).
I do have a bootleg of this film and it looks as fine as pretty much any other movie I've seen from that period.

[–] FabioPirovano 11 years ago

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203034889296392&l=176055445 7468112035

"life is Chiaroscuro matter" Fabio