Blazing Saddles

On June 29, Warner Home Video (WHV) will commemorate the
three-decade birthday of the great comedy classic "Blazing Saddles" by
releasing a new 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD featuring
additional scenes and 5.1 audio. The unforgettable Mel Brooks comedy,
Warner Bros.' most successful ever, is listed as #6 on American Film
Institute's (AFI) list of the best comedies of all time -- "AFI's 100
Years...100 Laughs." Also on June 29, WHV will debut a second Mel
Brooks film on DVD, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."
The new "Blazing Saddles" DVD will also include Brooks'
commentary, a Madeline Kahn featurette, a cast reunion documentary,
and will feature "Black Bart," the 1975 television pilot inspired by
the movie. Both titles will be available for $19.97 SRP.
"Blazing Saddles," first released in 1974, grossed nearly $120
million at the domestic box office and has gone on to sell more than 3
million videos and DVDs. The Western film genre spoof is one of
Brooks' top commercially successful films, along with "Young
Frankenstein," also released that same year.
"Blazing Saddles" stars Cleavon Little as an unlikely sheriff in
the town of Rock Ridge, Harvey Korman as the villain, Madeline Kahn as
a Marlene Dietrich-style chanteuse, Gene Wilder as the wacko Waco Kid,
and Brooks himself as a dimwitted politico. The film was nominated for
three Academy Awards(R) -- Supporting Actress for Kahn, Best Editing,
and Best Song.
Also on June 29, WHV will debut Mel Brooks' "Dracula: Dead and
Loving It" -- a comic reinvention of the Bela Lugosi classic about a
Transylvanian vampire who works his evil spell on a perplexed group of
Londoners. Directed and co-written by Brooks, who has a starring role
as well, the film also features Harvey Korman, Leslie Nielsen, Peter
MacNicol, Steven Weber, and Amy Yasbeck. There is also a cameo
appearance by Brooks' wife, Anne Bancroft. The DVD extra content
includes the theatrical trailer and commentary with Mel Brooks,
writers Rudy DeLuca and Steve Haberman, and actors Steven Weber and
Amy Yasbeck.
Photos available at www.whvdirect.com.

Robbo

Robbo wrote:

>
> On June 29, Warner Home Video (WHV) will commemorate the
> three-decade birthday of the great comedy classic "Blazing Saddles" by
> releasing a new 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD featuring
> additional scenes and 5.1 audio. The unforgettable Mel Brooks comedy,
> Warner Bros.' most successful ever, is listed as #6 on American Film
> Institute's (AFI) list of the best comedies of all time -- "AFI's 100
> Years...100 Laughs."
> Also on June 29, WHV will debut a second Mel
> Brooks film on DVD, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."

Rent them both for a "In the name of humanity, Mel, what HAPPENED to you
after you moved to LA?" double feature...

Derek Janssen (Seriously: The "Dracula" bits *without* Leslie Nielsen
are sadder than the ones with)

Derek Janssen

Robbo <> wrote:


: On June 29, Warner Home Video (WHV) will commemorate the
: three-decade birthday of the great comedy classic "Blazing Saddles" by
: releasing a new 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD featuring
: additional scenes and 5.1 audio.
(snip)

Hmmmm.. it was originally released in glorious MONO sound. How do they
make 5.1 out of that?? Is it anyway like they make 3D Viewmasters out of
"flat" 2D pics?

Richard in Boston, MA, USA

Richard G Amirault

>
Hmmmm.. it was originally released in glorious MONO sound. How do they
> make 5.1 out of that?? Is it anyway like they make 3D Viewmasters out of
> "flat" 2D pics?
>
> Richard in Boston, MA, USA
>

I don't fully understand the procedure, but mono films such as "The Wizard
of Oz," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Monty Python and the Holy
Grail," and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" have all been released onto DVD
in recent years with 5.1 Dolby Digital audio tracks. Of the above mentioned
titles, all but "The Wizard of Oz" included the original mono track as an
option.

Bill

What I want to know is, when is somebody finally going to release Silent Movie
and High Anxiety on DVD?


"It makes me proud. So proud of you. I see innocence shining through."

Adam and the Ants - Dog Eat Dog

Electro Robo Boogie Bot

One way and the best results come if you have the original sound stems, music
and dialogue, a true stereo with separation can be done, otherwise Chase Sound
can better expalin how that do it if they only have one mono track

HungInSI

Richard G Amirault <> wrote:
> Robbo <> wrote:
>
>
>> On June 29, Warner Home Video (WHV) will commemorate the
>> three-decade birthday of the great comedy classic "Blazing
>> Saddles" by releasing a new 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD
>> featuring additional scenes and 5.1 audio.
> (snip)
>
> Hmmmm.. it was originally released in glorious MONO sound. How do
> they make 5.1 out of that??

Same way they remaster old albums into stereo. The audio track for
a film isn't recorded all at once. All the seperate parts: dialogue, music,
sond effects, etc. are recorded seperately on different tracks. For the
original mono soundtrack, they went and mixed all of these elements
onto one track. For a stereo or surround remix, they take all the original
elements and mix them into mulitple tracks.

-Jay

Jay G

Jay G wrote:

>
> Same way they remaster old albums into stereo. The audio track for
> a film isn't recorded all at once. All the seperate parts: dialogue,
> music, sond effects, etc. are recorded seperately on different
> tracks. For the original mono soundtrack, they went and mixed all of
> these elements
> onto one track. For a stereo or surround remix, they take all the
> original elements and mix them into mulitple tracks.
>
> -Jay


you're right, but what you are describing is REMIXING. now for films where
the original soundtrack elements may be missing, a process that applies to
MASTERING is used.

every sound you hear sits somewhere on the audio frequency scale. with a
parametric EQ you can do a pretty good job of isolating something like a car
horn, a doorbell ring, a plate breaking or an explosion and send it to its
own track for mixdown later. these sounds are fairly common and more often
than not are sitting in a library somewhere or the foley calvary can be
called in. the musical score for a film usually still exists so whats left
for the most part is dialogue. this can be isolated and sent to its own
track. actors rarely speak at the same time so each actor can be sent to
their own track. now we have all the elements to make a new soundtrack, the
musical score, the dialogue and the sound effects.

its simple enough that you could do this on your own with fairly cheap
multitrack software, a sound effects cd, the soundtrack recordings, a
parametric EQ plugin and a bit of patience.


you know those really goofy novelty songs where someone does a "duet" with a
long dead star or family member? listen closely next time, maybe with
headphones. you can hear when the original elements are used or picked right
off a mono master and placed in the new recording.

el stinky

I thought Mel didnt like commentary. It was his justification for no commentary
on "the producers" (though "spaceballs" did have commentary).

Metlhd3138

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 14:54:29 GMT, "Bill" <> wrote:

:
:>
:Hmmmm.. it was originally released in glorious MONO sound. How do they
:> make 5.1 out of that?? Is it anyway like they make 3D Viewmasters out of
:> "flat" 2D pics?
:>
:> Richard in Boston, MA, USA
:>
:
:I don't fully understand the procedure, but mono films such as "The Wizard
f Oz," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Monty Python and the Holy
:Grail," and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" have all been released onto DVD
:in recent years with 5.1 Dolby Digital audio tracks. Of the above mentioned
:titles, all but "The Wizard of Oz" included the original mono track as an
ption.
:
But how good do they sound? Do they manage to get good separation and
sound?

Dan_Musicant