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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » The Afterlife   » The Towering Inferno - Special Edition

   
Author Topic: The Towering Inferno - Special Edition
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 05-13-2006 05:44 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I just got this special 2-disk version of The Towering Inferno. It's the best special-edition of an old movie I've ever seen, except maybe the 3-disk "Wizard of Oz" collection.

Not only does it have all the expected extras like commentaries, trailers and so on, it has both old and new "making of" features (9 new ones!), a NATO "presentation reel" used to announce the movie to theatre owners, 30 extended or deleted scenes, an AMC Backstory program on the movie, and a lot more.

On top of that, the package includes the original lobby cards (reduced in size, of course) and a 38 page book with cast bios, complete credits, interview with Irwin Allen, color photos from the sets, and even the full story of how this first co-production between two studios (Fox and WB) came to happen. And there's yet another insert with the chapter list, more notes on the production and more color photos.

The movie itself is no slouch, either - one of my all time favorites.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 05-13-2006 07:59 PM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I actually enjoyed this film as well and am somewhat interested in the package you described. Of couse, it will be a matter of minutes before the New Towering Inferno will be made for theatres...probably would have already done it by now if not for 9/11 being too recent and too close a subject matter. And then the new Earthquake. I mean if these films were good enough to make once, they are good enough to make again, right? Posiden is in the can (take that any way you want).

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Chad M Calpito
Master Film Handler

Posts: 435
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: Apr 2006


 - posted 05-13-2006 11:40 PM      Profile for Chad M Calpito   Author's Homepage   Email Chad M Calpito   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, I liked the Towering Inferno. The DVD Package sounds really neat. I may just go out and buy it sometime. [Big Grin]

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 05-14-2006 02:03 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I had a chance to dive into this a little more last night.

The 38-page booklet is actually a reproduction of the press book issued by the studio at the time. It's kind of funny to see the writeup on O. J. Simpson talking about his growing movie career! I think photos were probably added to the book for this reprint.

The NATO presentation reel is kind of cool and appropriately '70s-cheesy. Obviously Irwin Allen was in the crowd at the place where the reel was shown. The reel has Allen on screen introduce himself in the audience. ("Now here's some real movie magic...I'm here on the screen, and I'm also in the audience with you! Take a bow, Irwin!")

The nine featurettes are really interesting, each about 10 minutes long and each devoted to a different aspect of the film's making. In my view the ones on the special effects are the most interesting. Amazing what they could accomplish without digital tricks.

There is also a set of articles from American Cinematographer on disk 2 detailing how the movie was made. Those total about 100 "pages" (screens) on the disk. Haven't looked at them yet.

I forgot to mention the coolest feature -- the price. It has a list price of $19.98, not bad at all for a 2-disk set with all those extras.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000


 - posted 05-16-2006 10:05 PM      Profile for Mike Heenan   Email Mike Heenan   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Just got this set and its pretty impressive so far. I'm surprised some of the surviving cast members didn't do a commentary.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002


 - posted 05-18-2006 06:56 PM      Profile for David Stambaugh   Author's Homepage   Email David Stambaugh   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mike Blakesley
Amazing what they could accomplish without digital tricks.
Amen to that. Movies today need less CGI and more "real".

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Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler

Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001


 - posted 05-22-2006 09:03 PM      Profile for Aaron Haney   Email Aaron Haney   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I picked up the 2-disc set this weekend just because of this thread. It is indeed a great set and a great movie. I had never actually seen it in widescreen before.

Despite there being so many excellent extras included, I was a little disappointed that all we get to see of the miniature sets was a few fleeting glimpses, especially after Allen talked about how large they were during the NATO reel. Maybe there just wasn't that much behind the scenes footage of them shot in the first place.

Many of the interviews described Allen as being extremely well prepared and organized. The storyboards and plans on the wall behind him in the NATO reel reinforce this. Planning a movie like this must have been almost as complicated as building the fictional "Glass Tower" building for real!

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000


 - posted 05-22-2006 09:36 PM      Profile for Mike Heenan   Email Mike Heenan   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
With the "Failure" of Poseidon, it looks like this one is safe from being remade thank god.

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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 05-22-2006 11:17 PM      Profile for John Wilson   Email John Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Amen to that.

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John Koutsoumis
Master Film Handler

Posts: 261
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2003


 - posted 05-23-2006 02:03 AM      Profile for John Koutsoumis   Email John Koutsoumis   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
For those that have a copy what's the transfer quality like?

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Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler

Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001


 - posted 05-23-2006 03:55 AM      Profile for Aaron Haney   Email Aaron Haney   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The transfer is very well done. The compression and image processing are very good. There is a little bit of mosquito noise visible around the opening titles, and a little bit too much edge sharpening visible in a few places, but overall it's up there with the best DVDs I've seen. I'm very pleased with it.

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Bill Gabel
Film God

Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002


 - posted 05-23-2006 05:05 PM      Profile for Bill Gabel   Email Bill Gabel   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure" Special editions were both produced very well by Fox. The next three Special editions from Fox are just as good as those. "Patton", "The Longest Day" and "Tora! Tora! Tora!" are now two disc editions with new transfers. [thumbsup]

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