1776 - 2 Cuts Available on Blu-Ray 6/2

[Jedbu]

Wonder if Eric Paddon will be there...

http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angele ... 8-20150306

[AndyDursin]

I'm hesitant about this new "recut"...but it's about time we had a high-def presentation of this. My eyes can only take watching a standard-def upscale every year for so long.

[Eric Paddon]

For those who've waited years to see it on Blu-Ray etc. its a nice development. I may buy it for archival purposes but I suspect I will be sticking to my LD cut transfer simply because I know Hunt is not going to offer the full LD cut as an option which means restoring the Overture/Entr'acte of the LD as well as the full length version of "Piddle" and also giving us the beautiful underscore in the John-Abigail sequence in the tower leading to "Compliments" which was present in all versions from the beginning until the DVD. Hunt's intransigence over the years regarding the LD and his constant rewriting of history on the subject of how that came to be has never sat well with me and its why my vote of protest was to never own the DVD and maintain my annual viewing of the LD cut. Even though its non-anamorphic and faded and washed from the use of workprint footage in some instances its still something that holds a special place in my heart from when I first experienced it in 1991 and it has over nearly 25 years become for me the "standard" cut. I doubt I'd be able to give another version a fair shake unless I knew that the version I am familiar with was presented as an alternate option but given Hunt's hatred for the whole LD cut and his duplicity regarding the "illegality" of the Overture/Entr'acte that his fans keep echoing, I'm not going to hold my breath on that point. For me the easier thing to do is no longer argue the matter and register loud protests and accept what is and just stick to what I prefer for my own viewing.

[Eric Paddon]

Now that I've learned that this theatrical cut is just the DVD cut with one meaningless line added and none of the LD material, this thing for me is a classic case of nothing to see so I shall move along.

[AndyDursin]

Blu-Ray due out June 2nd.

[Eric Paddon]

Link doesn't work.

[AndyDursin]

It worked before. They must have jumped the gun and taken it down.

[AndyDursin]

BTW have you seen this Eric? Not sure how he gets away with selling it, but I should pick it up just the same (lol).

http://www.ioffer.com/i/1776-1972-speci ... -572316290

I might wait to see what the new cut actually is before buying though.

[Eric Paddon]

I just may go for that because the idea of seeing the proper LD cut in this presentation intrigues me greatly with the Overture etc. I have NO faith that the official Blu-Ray will be a cut I can be happy with. I will not watch a version of the film that truncates "Piddle". It's possible this amateur one alas has the DVD version of the tower sequence with the underscore removed which would bother me, but I would stomach that in a cut that has the long "Piddle" version as well as the Overture etc. which I KNOW is not going to be in the official version.

[AndyDursin]

On the description for that ioffer disc, he claims only 4-5 minutes were lifted from the laserdisc -- how is that possible? Isn't the laserdisc longer than the last DVD edition, or is he not counting the Overture/Intermission?

[Eric Paddon]

He said 4-5 minutes of *footage* from the LD which has to be the full version of "Piddle" and I think also the beginning of the John-Abigail conversation prior to "Yours, Yours, Yours" which would be separate from the Overture/Entr'acte which was just a blue screen and logo created for the LD.

I decided to bite because if this cut looks good on Blu-Ray and has only the missing background music in that one scene I'd be willing to accept this as a Blu-Ray viewing copy and that would actually soften my attitude toward an official Blu-Ray from an archival standpoint, plus I could always get a bigger case and store this Blu-Ray with the official one on my shelf. This is what I did when I put the old "Major Dundee" DVD in a three disc Blu-Ray case with the TT release of that.

[Jedbu]

Eric-let us know how this disc looks. If you give it a passing grade I will also order a copy, since I want as complete a version as is possible to get as well as looking and sounding more than passable.

[AndyDursin]

Glad I mentioned it!

Yes, let us know Eric before we place an order. Thanks for being the test subject!

[Eric Paddon]

Anything to not have to watch a version of the film without the Overture or a short version of "Piddle."

I can infer a couple other things from his description:

1-He restored the tag re-entrance of Lee for "The Lees Of Old Virginia" which the DVD also dropped and was unique to the LD.

2-He also restored a line during the Congressional debate where Adams quotes Tom Paine and then Jefferson, reading a book then looks out the window and sees a young girl who smiles at him as we hear the Adams quote of Paine.

3-He did *not* restore the underscore to the John/Abigail tower scene prior to "Compliments" by using the LD sound mix for that scene.

[Eric Paddon]

Well it came. And let me say this. Anyone who loves this film and also loved the LD cut MUST have this copy. In an instant, the whole problem of what is and isn't going to be in the official release is taken care of thanks to the effort of this person in taking both DVD and LD and creating a version that is the perfect viewing copy for me. My LD transfer is now at long last retired.

I was wrong about a couple assumptions. EVERYTHING that was part of the LD cut is in here. The Overture/Entr'acte, all the footage Hunt took out for the DVD and more importantly he has given the option of either the LD sound mix or the DVD sound mix which means the critical scenes where the underscore was changed or eliminated on the DVD are now thanks to this still present and with the higher quality footage of the DVD cut for all the other scenes that in the LD cut were in rough quality. The four minutes of LD footage put back in is in rough quality and looks blurry because of the upscaling to get it to match everything else in the anamorphic format but I'm not going to complain I'm just glad its ALL there.

I have placed it in a three-disc Blu-Ray case. When the official Blu-Ray comes out I'll get it for archival purposes to see some of the supplements but this way this cut can be inside it as the viewing copy without any regrets on my part and in official packaging to go on the shelf.

He did an outstanding job that would not make you think this was a boot. This is what the official Blu-Ray release should have been on all levels in terms of cut of the film and sound options.