I'm still waiting for my print of Jaws to be done and there is another delay while Andec are trying to hopefully sort out a problem. I wanted to wait for Jaws to arrive before I ordered any more prints, but this will not get done for a few more weeks/months yet so I decided to order and pay for Jurassic Park before the deadline ran out where this would be unavailable. I sent the money to Dave earlier this week and he sent me a email back telling me he could order a new print which could take months but he also had a spare print there with a slight stripe issue where the stripe edged into the picture area for 3 minutes but apart from that it's a "great" print he said. It was supplied on the original reel in a Bonum case with artwork. He offered me a discount so I grabbed it. Dave sent me back a partial refund and posted it strait away fast shipped via Fedex and in less than 3 days I had it in my hands AND THERE WAS NO CUSTOMS CHARGES TO PAY, maybe that is all part of Fedex. I inspected the film and Filmguarded it. The stripe problem is near the begining and it's just a slightly wider stripe for a section so sound should be unafected. There was no lab splices there and the stripe is smooth all across.
I projected the film and it's brilliant. Sound is excellent as is picture. The stripe issue doesn't really bother me too much, you just see it on the right hand edge of the picture and it goes in and out, in and out (better than a green scratch down the middle!). You just have to look at the centre of the picture and absorb yourself in the film and it then passes and the frame goes back to normal for the rest of the film. The sound is totally unaffected by this and is excellent all the way through. This stripe issue lasts for 3min 14secs (I timed it) which in a 28min film is not that much. It comes in around the time when the dinosaur eggs are hatching and as I say lasts just over 3 minutes. I'm glad it's early but probably would have been less noticeable in the night time scenes.
I'm so glad to have this despite the stripe problem as I couldn't bear waiting and waiting for a new print, maybe I'm dissapointed now I didn't order one when it first came out but the cost put me off then until I saw the quality and editing of those who did buy it.
Overall I just love this digest and are proud to own it and have already run it twice and will run it later today. I love the Sharpness, Good colour, Excellent sound, Stability, Editing is excellent and has just enough of the main titles and end credits to please me as the film plays out the music is still going in your head. A perfect digest in 28 minutes.
but, but, but...........
The one thing I do dislike about this digest is where it goes from full frame to letterbox and back again. It does this several times throughout the film and some spectacle is lost particularly when it is used for the first time when we the visitors in the jeep it then moves to a wide letterbox shot of some dinosaurs and makes it seem like it's a film clip spliced in, not what they are seeing from the Jeep. It also goes letterbox a few times more but I suppose this couldn't be helped. Some trailers do this as well like the recent Xmas Trailers Reel. After watching this film for the second time I kind of like got used to this letterboxing as this is how it is.
Overall a fantastic film I now have a copy of and a lovely Christmas present just in time for the big day. I will look forward to Jaws now hopefully not too far away and a perfect print when it arrives .