Beloved Aunt wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2025 9:13 pm
Heck, Boorman's getting pretty old. My Hope and Glory dreams are getting further out of reach by the second!
He's 92, 93 in January. He didn't look in good shape when he did a Q&A before a 50th anniversary showing of Zardoz in September last year, so glad to see he's still able to have done a newly-filmed interview.
I too would like a new release of Hope and Glory. Like Excalibur, that is also in 1.66:1 (I've seen two print citations of that from Boorman), though I do wonder how many commercial British cinemas at the time could show that. Where I saw it (Southampton) it was certainly cropped into, likely, 1.75:1.
I'd also like to see a black and white Scope version of The General, which I saw that way on its release. Very odd then to see a black and white Scope film at a local cinema, but at least I did.
Arrow's new restoration is as gorgeous as their earlier one of Flash Gordon; the Irish landscapes and the costumes are just stunning to look at. I do wish the producers hadn't removed 40 minutes from Boorman's original cut; the hurried pacing doesn't do the film any favors. Lancelot completely disappears from the film after Arthur learns of his tryst with Guenevere, only to suddenly reappear during the climatic battle. You also get no sense of the actual distance between places because of the speedrun nature of the editing. Sometimes there is no proper buildup to scenes that you should have more anticipation for, when Arthur rejoins with his forces and they come to Leondegrance's aid. Sometimes a shot or scene isn't allowed to breathe, to linger. The closing shot of Arthur's ship sailing to Avalon could have been held longer. On the other hand, the fast pacing means that the film is never boring and there is a great cut spanning decades where Morgana talks to young Mordred while circling him and in the next cut he's aged into the young man who will take on Arthur. Often the passage of time is referred to in the dialogue but this is the one time in the film where it connects with me on an emotional level.
Then you have the overwrought stuff like the crosscutting between Uther climaxing as he rapes Igrayne (made ickier still by Boorman casting his own daughter) and the Duke of Cornwall dying. The kitschy ice cave sets.
The framing of the fight scenes is too tight sometimes, making them hard to follow in those instances. There is a gorgeous wide shot of Arthur and Lancelot jousting that gives you a nice sense of where the fighters are in relation to each other and it gives you the added bonus of taking in the beauty of the Irish scenery as the backdrop. Would Boorman had employed that a bit more often.
And yet, the film works for me, in spite of itself. The 25 minute Holy Grail section is a fantastic little horror short film and I was moved by Percival's arc. Nicol Williamson, Nigel Terry, Nicholas Clay and Paul Geoffrey are all very good. Helen Mirren has a thankless task given Morgana's one-sided characterisation in this version of the tale. Terry Jones' score blends in very well, no mean feat in the company of Wagner and Orff.
Impossible for me not to ponder what could have been with a longer, more patient and complete version but what's there is good enough. I haven't delved into the extras yet and I'm particularly excited about the Neil Jordan documentary, but I feel comfortable saying this is one of the best releases of this year for the spectacular restoration alone.
Markantony wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2025 3:06 pm
Mr Flower, could you talk about the audio on this release? Has anything been able to be done to improve the previous lacklustre fidelity in music/effects?
Many thanks
The mono track has been restored from the original elements by Bad Princess Productions, and the 5.1 remix is a new one as well. It's a substantial improvement over the previous audio in my obviously totally biased opinion. (The elements for the abandoned Dolby Stereo mix have deteriorated and could not be salvaged.)
Mr Flower, just to say i've finally got my hands on a copy and it's a massive step-up in quality, so thank you.
I'm intrigued, are there any production notes remaining regarding the audio as (even for the time) the effects sound temp and the music fidelity sounds a few generations removed...any ideas what happened during production e.g. to the original as recorded music score (presumably in multi-track Stereo as there was a contemporary Stereo LP)?
There have been several reports of audio sync issues on Blu-ray.com, and this post sums it well:
Excalibur 4K - FAQ:
Is there an audio sync issue in Arrow's 4K?
Yes.
Do some people perceive said issue?
Yes.
Do other people perceive it as being totally fine?
Yes.
How can I check which side I'm on?
The Stone Punch, approximately 2h in.
What can I do if it sounds out-of-sync for me?
Adjust audio delay (70ms for 5.1; 140ms for Mono).
What if I can't?
Buy a decent player.
What shall I do if it sounds fine?
Enjoy the film and stop pestering the good people who want a disc recall.
For what it's worth, I too noticed the issue while watching it a few days ago, before I even realized there was a debate. I presumed it was just a poor ADR job since the entire film is as crude as it is beautiful.
In short, both of the feature presentation tracks are out of sync compared to the old Blu-ray track, via objective comparison. The sync is out by the same amount throughout the whole film.
In addition, it's elsewhere reported the TV cut is clearly in sync in a way the feature presentation isn't.
So unfortunately this is all but confirmed as an error on Arrow's part. A replacement disc should be issued.
This film doesn't seem to get a lot of love from cinephiles, but I really admire it (and Zardoz, and a few of Boorman's other less-famous pictures) for being unabashedly stylized in a very purposeful and inventive way. To my mind Boorman is (among other things) one of the great heirs to Méliès in his commitment to achieving spectacular effects through old-fashioned camera trickery and knowing artifice in production design.
One thing that struck me the last time I watched this is how well-calibrated Nigel Terry's lead performance is. It's not naturalistic at all, but it's perfect attuned to the overall stylization. He begins in an almost comically naïve and boyish key, and then changes gears at various junctures until he seems wisened, exhausted, embittered.
I think they've already issued a statement on this matter. Basically it's saying the out of sync soundtrack is a result of going back to the original sound material. They don't consider it a mistake on their part and won't fix it. That's the gist of it if I remember correctly.
MichaelB wrote:Are these actual mastering sync issues, or merely down to John Boorman’s notorious fondness for completely post-synching his soundtracks?
Objective technical sync issues.
EddieLarkin detailed the current findings, which can't be put on the ADR's shoulders.
Last edited by tenia on Tue Mar 17, 2026 4:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
andyli wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2026 3:36 pm
I think they've already issued a statement on this matter. Basically it's saying the out of sync soundtrack is a result of going back to the original sound material. They don't consider it a mistake on their part and won't fix it. That's the gist of it if I remember correctly.
andyli wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2026 3:36 pm
I think they've already issued a statement on this matter. Basically it's saying the out of sync soundtrack is a result of going back to the original sound material. They don't consider it a mistake on their part and won't fix it. That's the gist of it if I remember correctly.
How Kino of them.
IIRC, this was also their response regarding the clear misframing of Hellraiser III and Creepshow 2 (claiming their release was the correct original presentation and all previous releases were somehow changed). Despite this, they fixed both for their respective 4k releases, returning them to the framing of prior releases, which would seem to be a tacit acknowledgment that they were aware they were wrong.
The Blu-ray of The Stuff was misframed as well and the 4k has the same framing issues despite a pre-release version being included that has much better framing (and better coloring).
Annoyingly, they didn't fix the same error on The Stuff UHD, which is still misframed (and blatantly so compared to the alternative cut that is new to the UHD). Edit: jt938 got there first.
At least with Excalibur the problem is fixable if you can adjust sync on your receiver, player or TV (140ms for the mono, 70ms for the 5.1). Though I imagine some people will have set ups that don't allow this.
kindaikun wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2026 6:28 pm
IIRC, this was also their response regarding the clear misframing of Hellraiser III and Creepshow 2 (claiming their release was the correct original presentation and all previous releases were somehow changed). Despite this, they fixed both for their respective 4k releases, returning them to the framing of prior releases, which would seem to be a tacit acknowledgment that they were aware they were wrong.
Unfortunately they didn't do the same for the similarly misframed The Stuff, that UHD is still misframed despite the inclusion of the longer cut on the limited edition bonus disc being correctly framed.
EddieLarkin wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 8:55 amThe sync is out by the same amount throughout the whole film.
That sounds like a very frustrating viewing experience if it's occurring throughout the whole film. Guess this isn't worth picking up anymore?
I'm certainly not claiming this is a case of mass hysteria, and everyone should make their own purchase decisions, but I've watched the disc twice (plus two of the commentaries which both have quiet patches), and for the life of me I cannot see the sync issue. I'm not defending Arrow, they should fix it, but I guess I'm saying it may not be all that noticeable for everyone.
Like certain type of issues, not everyone has the same sensitivity to sync issues. For some, it requires a much bigger async than 140ms (which is about 3.5 frames), while some will already be bothered by 70ms.
You can always check if it doesn't bother you, and if so not care anymore about it as it simply means it's a negligible issue to you.
As someone who used Bluetooth headphones with my TV that had a slight delay (Bluetooth 5 onward has since addressed lag, and many smart TVs now automatically adjust), I only ever noticed it on door knocks
FWIW, I didn't notice it during my viewing a few weeks ago either but supposedly the Sony players (mine is the X800M2) are very good at addressing sync issues.
, approximately 2h in.
