Disappearing 35mm prints

[FilmFiend]

I was wondering what has happened to the 35mm printsof certain titles? I know there have been some movie conventions listed on here and they claim to showing the "last 35mm print" of Halloween III, Happy Birthday to Me and whatever.

If that is true, then what has happened to the prints? Are the studios starting to junk 30 year old films like the silent features and early talkies were junked? The studios don't want to bother with storage and upkeep or what? Are they throwing them out because they are only "dumb old horror films from the 80s?" Were they used so much they fell apart?

If the studios only have one print left I am surprised they are even bothering to rent it out. I think they would keep it locked up.

I hope I don't sound dumb or anything, but I really wonder why the prints of Halloween 3 and Happy Birthday To Me seem to have been "junked."

[springjack]

I was wondering what has happened to the 35mm printsof certain titles? I know there have been some movie conventions listed on here and they claim to showing the "last 35mm print" of Halloween III, Happy Birthday to Me and whatever.

If that is true, then what has happened to the prints? Are the studios starting to junk 30 year old films like the silent features and early talkies were junked? The studios don't want to bother with storage and upkeep or what? Are they throwing them out because they are only "dumb old horror films from the 80s?" Were they used so much they fell apart?

If the studios only have one print left I am surprised they are even bothering to rent it out. I think they would keep it locked up.

I hope I don't sound dumb or anything, but I really wonder why the prints of Halloween 3 and Happy Birthday To Me seem to have been "junked."

With the growing rate of todays technology I believe many studios are transfering their movies to .DAT format because it?s easy to store and they don?t fade with time.

I know your frustration because I also love so see a 35mm print on the big screen but considering the storage and the preservation limitations of the format it is easy for the studio to master their older titles in .DAT format.

If the conversion is rightly done then you have a great print in your hands.

Also, with .DAT format you can then print new 35mm copies but I think that is more expensive to the studios.

Films with .DAT projections are starting to invade horror conventions... at least in Europe.
________
Ford Fox Platform Picture (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Ford_Fox_platform)

[Jeremy]

Properly archiving 35mm prints is expensive and requires a lot of storage space and thus, after a title is finished making the rounds on the theatrical circuit, most studios will junk the majority of their prints (many of which are beaten to shit after a few weeks of theatrical screenings anyway). They'll take one or two in good condition and keep them on hand for repertory screenings, but everything else will get destroyed.

That being said, just because most of the prints have all been destroyed doesn't mean that a film like HALLOWEEN III will cease to exist on film. No big studio or major distributor will ever junk the negative, internegative or interpositive, and independent producers licensing their movie for distribution almost always have a clause in their agreement mandating that the original film, sound and video elements be kept in a certified vault (the exact facility the distributor has final approval over) for the duration of the contract.

[MorallySound]

I was wondering what has happened to the 35mm printsof certain titles? I know there have been some movie conventions listed on here and they claim to showing the "last 35mm print" of Halloween III, Happy Birthday to Me and whatever.

If that is true, then what has happened to the prints? Are the studios starting to junk 30 year old films like the silent features and early talkies were junked? The studios don't want to bother with storage and upkeep or what? Are they throwing them out because they are only "dumb old horror films from the 80s?" Were they used so much they fell apart?

If the studios only have one print left I am surprised they are even bothering to rent it out. I think they would keep it locked up.

I hope I don't sound dumb or anything, but I really wonder why the prints of Halloween 3 and Happy Birthday To Me seem to have been "junked."

As far as actual theatrical prints go, that does indeed happen. It could be an unplayable print, a film that's not booked enough, or maybe they are just clearing space. But the studio would still retain the original negatives and whatnot in a storage vault for titles they own and have materials for, so if a print is needed to be re-struck they can do so. However, with digital technology advancing, studios are far pickier now then ever about booking film prints in their archives and are not lending them out as often, if even at all on certain titles...

This is a bit of a hassle and problem for film programmers like myself, as we program the films the way they were meant to be seen, in glorious 35mm. I would never screen a DVD or Blu-ray that people are paying money to watch on the big screen since they can do so at home, so it's getting trickier and trickier to keep revival cinema alive.

But just because a studio has junked a print does not mean there are absolutely no screening prints left or that title, as there are a lot of film collectors out there whom may have that one rare title, still in pristine (or drive-in) shape.

[Shannafey]

As long as there is a good 35mm negative, a new print can always be made. As others have said, storage is tough for prints. Not only space, but optimum conditions. I used to be a projectionist and I do love handling a 35mm print. I have a small collection of Super 8 and 16mm stuff, but in all honesty, I haven't run it in years. There's a lot to be said about a good HD transfer. I've seen a Blu Ray projected and it is, in most cases, better than the 35mm print. You don't get film damage and it is a crystal clear image. The one film I've seen both ways is Serenity and I was very impressed. There are still going to be people out there who want to hold onto a 35mm copy, so like vinyl, 8 tracks, laser discs and betamax tapes there's bound to be print of most cult and classic films out there for years to come. Someone will want to preserve them.

[keepitalive]

As long as there is a good 35mm negative, a new print can always be made. As others have said, storage is tough for prints. Not only space, but optimum conditions. I used to be a projectionist and I do love handling a 35mm print. I have a small collection of Super 8 and 16mm stuff, but in all honesty, I haven't run it in years. There's a lot to be said about a good HD transfer. I've seen a Blu Ray projected and it is, in most cases, better than the 35mm print. You don't get film damage and it is a crystal clear image. The one film I've seen both ways is Serenity and I was very impressed. There are still going to be people out there who want to hold onto a 35mm copy, so like vinyl, 8 tracks, laser discs and betamax tapes there's bound to be print of most cult and classic films out there for years to come. Someone will want to preserve them.

I have to disagree with your comments about HD being better than 35mm. It certainly is not better, even with new movies. In fact I saw 'Footloose' last week, which was shot on 35mm and projected using a digital projector. I was on the 2nd row and could see the damn pixels! It looked more like I was watching a huge TV screen than a cinema screen. I never had this problem with 35mm grain which was much more bearable than pixelation.

On the other hand, films like Avatar which were shot digitally and projected that way look awesome. So I am totally against this cheap way of showing old films and charging the same price they would charge if they were screening a 35mm print. It is essentially ripping people off, and I can tell the difference even if many other can't. They screened Jaws at my local cinema recently and I was really excited as it's my favourite film and I wasn't born when it came out, so this was a golden opportunity. However, I phone the cinema and they're showing a DVD. No thanks. 3mm or nothing for me when it comes to films like that. :(

[undertime]

I hope I'm not too late to join this conversation! :D I was looking for threads for 35mm printds via google and this one came up. Never posted here before but I thought I could add something to the conversation. I worked in a movie theater in England a few years ago, and whenever they wanted a 35mm print, there would usually only be one available and the projectionists told me that they only keep one copy of the majority of films. They can only do this becuase of problems with storage space. After the films have come to the end of their theatrical run most of the films will be destroyed, and one of two will be kept in their library. These are the copies that get loaned out to cinemas that want 35mm screenings.

The truth is that the bulk of these movies were junked years and years ago and it's not something that happened recently. You'd probably be suprised to know that even popular titles like Star Wars and Jaws are rare on 35mm these days! It's doubtful that the studios won't be pressing any new copies thanks to the ease of projecting digitally.

I can give you a list of films that they only have one copy of in the UK.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Citizen Kane
Poltergeist
Suspiria
Repulsion
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Saturday Night Fever
Grease (original print)
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
The Shining
Psycho
Halloween

However, there's no sign of Ghostbusters, Evil Dead, Back To The Future, The Wizard Of Oz, Star Wars, Night Of The Living Dead or any of the other classics that frequently turn up in american theaters.

Obviously the prints that are rented out to be screened are not the original prints that came out of the camera, those would indeed be locked up and archived somewhere and would only be used by proffessionals to remaster new prints from. What they mean when they say 'last remaining prints' is that they have the last remaining copies or copy. Halloween III and Happy Birthday To Me are cult films, so Universal would probably only archive one for future showings.

Hope this helps.

I was wondering what has happened to the 35mm printsof certain titles? I know there have been some movie conventions listed on here and they claim to showing the "last 35mm print" of Halloween III, Happy Birthday to Me and whatever.

If that is true, then what has happened to the prints? Are the studios starting to junk 30 year old films like the silent features and early talkies were junked? The studios don't want to bother with storage and upkeep or what? Are they throwing them out because they are only "dumb old horror films from the 80s?" Were they used so much they fell apart?

If the studios only have one print left I am surprised they are even bothering to rent it out. I think they would keep it locked up.

I hope I don't sound dumb or anything, but I really wonder why the prints of Halloween 3 and Happy Birthday To Me seem to have been "junked."