Manos: The Hands of Fate (Harold P. Warren, 1966)

[MichaelB]

The BFI has very little money for restorations - except in the smallest-scale projects, they almost always need funding partners. For instance, there's no doubting the historical importance of The Great White Silence, but the Discovery Channel footed much of the bill. But in that case they benefited handsomely, as footage of the actual Scott Antarctic expedition of 1910-13 clearly came well within their remit, so it was a completely symbiotic relationship.

[Duncan Hopper]

Its worth noting that Martin Scorsese did make a generous donation to the Hitchcock fund.

[MichaelB]

Its worth noting that Martin Scorsese did make a generous donation to the Hitchcock fund.

Already noted. And indeed acknowledged.

[Duncan Hopper]

Doh! And I had read your post. To be fair, I had just been reading that annoying thread on Brit Movie.

[MichaelB]

Yes, the Scorsese donation came several weeks after that thread fizzled out.

[HerrSchreck]

The BFI has very little money for restorations - except in the smallest-scale projects, they almost always need funding partners. For instance, there's no doubting the historical importance of The Great White Silence, but the Discovery Channel footed much of the bill. But in that case they benefited handsomely, as footage of the actual Scott Antarctic expedition of 1910-13 clearly came well within their remit, so it was a completely symbiotic relationship.

Of course the vast majority of such entities cannot subsist without help. Those who fund the restos are a compliment to those who actually perform the restorations themselves. . Thus the mile long list of contributing individuals and and entities that scroll upon opening or closing of the presentation of a recent restoration.

This is business as usual, whether the funding comes from the private sector for the government sector.

[eerik]

What amazes me the most is that they said only $10k was needed to make the restoration happen, whereas Universal says they spend up to $600k for their crappy restorations.

Now that they have raised over $30, they are going to restore the film, make new 35mm prints and 2K DCP, produce special features, and release it on Blu-ray. And everyone who donated at least ten dollars will get some sort of free stuff (T-Shirt, Blu-ray, poster, etc.) as well.

[David M.]

What amazes me the most is that they said only $10k was needed to make the restoration happen, whereas Universal says they spend up to $600k for their crappy restorations.

What restorations are those? The term seems to be used very loosely. A lot of Universal catalog title BDs I've seen are just old CRT scans with heavy doses of noise reduction

[eerik]

Universal Celebrates 100th Birthday With New Logo and 13 Film Restorations

The restorations, which will be released throughout the studio's yearlong centennial celebration, took three to six months each and cost $250,000 to $600,000 per title

[David M.]

Well, I'm sure those will be the real deal. Who said they were crappy? Are any of them out yet?

[eerik]

Well, I'm sure those will be the real deal. Who said they were crappy? Are any of them out yet?

First reviews and screenshots for To Kill a Mockingbird are already out. This is discussed in the Universal Blu-ray thread. And then there's this featurette where they discuss and brag about what they are doing. Other than fixing the print damage, etc. normal restoration processes, they "manage" film grain (i.e. DNR up to eleven) and too other stupid things.

[matrixschmatrix]

Write up about the process of finding and restoring the print. It's neat to see a film restoration story in a non-film buff context.

[David M.]

Well, I'm sure those will be the real deal. Who said they were crappy? Are any of them out yet?

First reviews and screenshots for To Kill a Mockingbird are already out. This is discussed in the Universal Blu-ray thread. And then there's this featurette where they discuss and brag about what they are doing. Other than fixing the print damage, etc. normal restoration processes, they "manage" film grain (i.e. DNR up to eleven) and too other stupid things.

Yeuch... there are some legit reasons for wanting to "manage" film grain, but assuming those DVDBeaver captures are accurate, it really doesn't look very nice at all.

Sorry - back to Manos...

[eerik]

Fundraiser has ended with $48,130 donated by 818 backers.

[Minkin]

Perhaps the greatest 8bit game ever (love the other touches - Giant Claw and Robot Monster + Torgo in an airplane)

[tachyonEvan]

What's the story/update on this restoration? Not seeing any quantifiable update other than they met their goal.

[CSM126]

Perhaps the greatest 8bit game ever (love the other touches - Giant Claw and Robot Monster + Torgo in an airplane)

Loved those references. Also loved the Castlevania II: Simon's Quest reference (What a horrible night to have a curse!).

[mfunk9786]

What's the story/update on this restoration? Not seeing any quantifiable update other than they met their goal.

There are plenty of updates on the restoration process at http://www.manosinhd.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, Blu-rays and DVDs will become available by the end of this year for people who donated - no word on a full release.

[tachyonEvan]

What's the story/update on this restoration? Not seeing any quantifiable update other than they met their goal.

There are plenty of updates on the restoration process at http://www.manosinhd.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, Blu-rays and DVDs will become available by the end of this year for people who donated - no word on a full release.

That site doesn't appear to have posted anything other than assorted screencaps for the past few months.

[mfunk9786]

It's coming. It's being worked on, hence the screencaps during the process. One guy is working on it, so he should be cut plenty of slack as he works. He's just getting the t-shirts and pins from the Kickstarter in the mail, with discs to follow later on once they're pressed.

[tachyonEvan]

It's coming. It's being worked on, hence the screencaps during the process. One guy is working on it, so he should be cut plenty of slack as he works. He's just getting the t-shirts and pins from the Kickstarter in the mail, with discs to follow later on once they're pressed.

Oh, I'm not "I want my Manos and I want it now!" by any means. I was just curious, since I didn't see any specific updates. I just found out about this project today, and I think it's awesome that he's doing this. I'm really interested in picking up a copy once they're available, too. This is really cool.

[mfunk9786]

I'm hoping that he is able to press a release available to people who didn't donate, even though I'm selfishly secure in the fact that my $50 donation secured my Blu-ray. The best way to get more concrete information on this is by posting on the project's Facebook page, linked to on the website.

[Adam]

On a jazz BBS that I frequent, there is a discussion of sorts on the music in Manos, which is supposedly pretty great. I've not seen the film.
That thread: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index. ... try1213260" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[impossiblefunky]

I'm going to see the Rifftrax version of Manos this week. A shame that it's not the restored version.

[mfunk9786]

This really would have been the perfect time to debut it. I always hate the filler at the Rifftrax Live events (there was some acoustic guitar player a few ones back singing songs about zombies or whathaveyou who was absolutely unbearable) but it'll be worth wading through it to enjoy another take on Manos.