409 Days of Heaven

[ryannichols7]

I checked the website recently and saw new screen caps. Have these been recently added? If so, a potential November re-release!

it was basically guaranteed to happen - Criterion and Paramount collaborated on a new restoration that's debuting at Venice. considering the very high profile of this movie, its a shoe in for a November UHD upgrade/OOP return

as mentioned earlier in the thread, this is a really big movie for me, I'll admit all biases. it's my #1 for the 1970s and a perpetual top 10 entry for me, so you can believe I'm counting the days till I'm able to pick it up at B&N

[andyli]

I checked the website recently and saw new screen caps. Have these been recently added? If so, a potential November re-release!

Are they really new? To be frank those caps look awful, in the same way the old transfer on the Criterion blu-ray does.

[yoloswegmaster]

The screencaps on the site are definitely not new and I used the Wayback Machine to confirm that they haven't been changed at all.

[yoloswegmaster]

Good news, the stills on the site have been updated and a clip from the film has been added, which means that a upgrade is being announced. Here is what the new transfer will look like compared to the previous one:

Old:

Spoiler

New:

Spoiler

[criterionsnob]

That clip can be streamed in 4K and looks pretty great to me. One of my favourite films of all time. Can't wait!

[swo17]

Nov 14

[FrauBlucher]

The new bluray says 2k restoration. I have the old bluray. It says "restored high-definition digital transfer." Are they the same?

[therewillbeblus]

Interesting - this doesn't say "new" and otherwise the language is the same (other than specifying the "5.1" here, though that was clearly the same track from Chris' review) but it doesn't say 2K in the original release's booklet's liner notes. My guess is it's a misprint or the same blu had a 2K scan and didn't advertise it - but worth emailing Mulvaney about it. It would be strange if they updated the original blu-ray with a 2K resto, and then the UHD with a separate 4K resto - seems like a lot of work. If you're going to change it, it would make more sense to apply the same new transfer across the board, right?

[Rupert Pupkin]

So far the 4K upgrade when a Criterion blu-ray already exists implies : they will put the original blu-ray (the picture quality was not that bad to say the least - with Walkabout this is the Criterion blu-ray that I have seen more than 20 times) so we will still have the "time-line" feature since they will put the "old" disk. (I suppose that for Walkabout we will have a slightly different color grading between the UHD and the (old) blu-ray (I think that the restoration for the blu-ray is still excellent) : a color grading for the UHD more like the Second Sight movie (which was only a blu-ray before they went to UHD; too bad).

Same for "The Last Picture Show", even if - it seems to me that on the Paramount 4K restoration box set the blu-ray is not identical to the Criterion release; they use the 4K restoration "downscaled" for blu-ray resolution.

I wish things would be different (like Arrow, for instance "True Romance" looks fantastic using the 4K restoration for the blu-ray) but apparently that's Criterion's "policy".

For instance on "Branded To Kill" it's the "old" blu-ray. And there are no info at all in the booklet on the UHD/Blu-Ray release for the blu-ray transfer; they re-print the booklet with infos only about the UHD feature. You have to put your hands on the old booklet which came initially with the Blu-Ray to find the infos about the blu-ray transfer.
I think that for getting a new blu-ray they should include a new audio commentary audio on the movie or something like this. And if this is a bonus, they could just but the bonus feature on a second blu-ray (seems it will be the case for Texasville) while keeping the "old"/"original" Criterion blu-ray for the main feature/movie. But if they did a new audio track for Days of Heaven I'm not sure that they will press a new blu-ray to integrate this new audio track.
But now that I have an UHD player that does not bother me that much.

[FrauBlucher]

yes, but the new bluray and the old bluray do not share the same description

[Rupert Pupkin]

yes, but the new bluray and the old bluray do not share the same description

I sincerely hope to be wrong and in that case this will be a premiere (Wong Kar Wai "In The Mood For Love" was somehow different because it's a new edit and it comes from the WKW box set for which they had created some blu-ray).
I have just downloaded and watch the UHD excerpt of "Days Of Heaven" it looks gorgeous (with a fine-film-like grain texture), color grading looks a bit different too.
Even in blu-ray resolution a 4K downscaled for blu-ray could be a significant upgrade for this superb movie.

[ryannichols7]

for reference, the old description:

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, editor Billy Weber, and camera operator John Bailey
- New Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (with DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary featuring Weber, art director Jack Fisk, costume designer Patricia Norris, and casting director Dianne Crittenden
- Audio interview with actor Richard Gere
- Video interviews with Bailey, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and actor Sam Shepard
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Adrian Martin and a chapter from director of photography Nestor Almendros’s autobiography

and the new one, which is rather different:

2K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, editor Billy Weber, and camera operator John Bailey, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Audio commentary featuring Weber, art director Jack Fisk, costume designer Patricia Norris, and casting director Dianne Crittenden
Audio interview with actor Richard Gere
Interviews with Bailey, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and actor Sam Shepard
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Adrian Martin and a chapter from director of photography Nestor Almendros’s autobiography

Cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang

I sincerely doubt the old master (which was used by Criterion, Imprint, and Paramount on their respective Blurays) was a 2K restoration. it was clearly a DVD-era "high definition" master that definitely shows its age now. a 2K restoration would certainly look better than that, but what do I know. I've watched that particular master countless times and am very ready for the bump this UHD is gonna give it

still one of Criterion's best ever efforts in terms of extras and packaging too. the full on Andrew Wyeth cover is top notch, and literally every extra is terrific - the commentary is one of the best crew/technical ones ever, I wish Gere's interview was longer, Bailey and Wexler break down the look of the film real well, and it's a treat to hear Sam Shepard. Adrian Martin going on to expand on his essay with his commentary for Imprint is the only thing I wish was somehow ported over, but I don't mind having that edition sit on my shelf, if just cause it keeps the more original artwork.

this and Wings of Desire represent two of my very top movies being upgraded by Criterion in the same year, I'm very grateful. somehow both beat The 400 Blows!

[DeprongMori]

No chance of a late addition of a 4K UHD restoration of Lanton Mills to the release, I’m guessing. They’re probably saving it for the eventual Badlands upgrade. ;^)

[pzadvance]

Ha! Back when i lived in LA, i learned the only way to see Lanton Mills was on a VHS copy at the AFI. I called ahead and they said they had it and had viewing rooms available, drove over, got to the desk and told them I’d reserved it, they brought it out… and then asked for my AFI ID. Only available to students and alumni, apparently! It was sitting right there on the desk! So close…

[tenia]

The Blu-ray is going to be the old one, as for every other Criterion UHD upgrade. There is 0 chance the movie got TWO new restorations, one in 4k and one in 2k, and that Criterion would use one for the UHD and the other for the BD.
In particular, the 4k restoration states only Malick supervised/approved it, while there were also Bailey and Weber for the older HD one, and the 2k restoration blurb states exactly the same 3 people.

[swo17]

Except the old Blu-ray went OOP, so this may be an exception and include an updated Blu-ray just like Le Cercle rouge

[therewillbeblus]

Don't Look Now was also OOP, and these were both in print much more recently than the Melville- plus didn’t Le Cercle Rouge’s blu ray use the same transfer as the UHD? It just makes zero practical sense why they would implement more effort to give two different transfers here and have one be an upscale if the last transfer when they could just either apply the same 4K transfer to blu or re-use the old blu. I bet it’s a typo

[FrauBlucher]

I just got a response. They said it’s the old bluray but didn’t answer the 2k question. Awaiting another response.

EDIT: Here is the response....

Thank you for the follow up. Please note that the restorations for the out of print 2010 Blu-ray release and the upcoming Blu-ray release of DAYS OF HEAVEN are the same.

While the initial release was called a "restored, high definition digital transfer," language for the upcoming release has been revised to say "2K digital restoration."

I hope this clears things up, but please let us know if you have any other questions at this time.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Sorry, I had Columbia in my mind when I wrote Paramount instead.

Regarding a new blu-ray (and transfer) of Days Of Heaven.
I have checked my blu-ray and liner notes.
The transfer is "digitally restored, approved by Terrence Malick..."
Audio : DTS-A Master

I think that at the time, when not specified the transfer was a 2K scan.
They started to write "4K scan" for movies like "All That Jazz", etc... even if at that time there was no UHD release; only blu-ray. Some other labels did the same thing for their blu-ray; even now for Millenium Mambo in the US unfortunately.

Thus, I'm afraid that the blu-ray is probably the same than the original release which was a 2K scan.

EDIT: well, unfortunately this was the answer from the office too

[swo17]

Nov 14

I just noticed this has been pushed back to Dec 5, so it presumably won't be available during the November sale

[hearthesilence]

Richard Gere paying tribute to Nestor Almendros at the Oscars shortly after his death and appropriately immediately after making a statement in support of AIDS research.

[flyonthewall2983]

This came back to me rewatching of all things, The Crow. Beyond the narration there’s maybe nothing I remember directly relating either plot to each other but I recognized some semblance of influences just beyond what was trendy at the time. The early 90’s not the late 70’s, that is.

[Stefan Andersson]

Interesting quote from a 2015 article:
"/Lee/ Kline shared some fascinating “war stories” about working with the creators of films that Criterion had restored. He recalled that Terrence Malick insisted on reducing the color saturation of “Days of Heaven” during a digital restoration.

Because the film had been hailed on its 1979 release for its brilliant color, Kline questioned him. Malick refused to reconsider. “I realized he was right – the film has a better look without it,” Kline said."
https://www.indiewire.com/features/craf ... ion-64250/

[MichaelB]

Probably worth flagging upfront that that article is more than a decade old.

[Stefan Andersson]

Probably worth flagging upfront that that article is more than a decade old.

Thanks for pointing this out to me! I´ve updated my post accordingly.