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Sony will be releasing "MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL" on 4K Ultra HD on August 26.
(images.blu-ray.com)
Once in a lifetime there comes a motion picture that changes the whole history of motion pictures. A picture so stunning in its effect, so vast in its impact that it profoundly affects the lives of those who see it. That picture might well be MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL, featuring the entire Python gang in this hilarious retelling of the Knights of King Arthur and their quest for the Holy Grail.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Disc One (4K Blu-ray):
- 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY ATMOS TRACK + English 5.1 + English Mono
- Near-Theatrical Version of the Film (in HD resolution) – Experience a slightly shorter version of the film, as seen on VHS!
- 'Tis But A Tribute – 50 Years of Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Over 25 comedy luminaries share their memories of, affection for, and continued fascination with the film
Disc Two (Blu-ray):
- Feature presented in HD resolution
- English 5.1 and Mono
- Audio Commentary with Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
- Audio Commentary with John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin
- 2015 Tribeca Film Festival Q&A with Terry, Terry, Mike, John and Eric!
- Outtakes and Extended Scenes with Introduction by Terry Jones
- Lost Animations with Introduction by Terry Gilliam
- Quest for the Holy Grail Locations with Michael Palin and Terry Jones
- Lego Knights: The Knights of the Round Table in LEGO
- Special Japanese Version
- How to Use Your Coconuts (An Educational Film)
- BBC Film Night on Location
- Three Songs to Sing-Along -Photo Gallery
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Pre-orders are not live yet.
This release is “Native 4K.” As far as I understand it, Native 4K means it was produced from scans of the film negatives, not upscaled. These releases are usually the best possible quality with the crispest and most natural image. They might have needed to do some physical cleaning of the film, and they might have done some touch up’s here and there in post, but Native 4K is ideal, and what you want in a release like this.
From blu-ray.com:
Hopefully this will turn out better than 4K77. Not that 4k77 was bad, its just pretty clear that the film they had access to was pretty heavily degraded when they did their scans
4K77 is based on a theatrical print, official releases are almost always based on the actual camera negative. Theatrical prints are generally a few copies removed from the negative, and were optimized for making lots of copies quickly rather than maximum quality or long-term preservation. The negative would have more detail and color than even a pristine print, and will better maintain it if taken care of.
For sure. I’ve gotta assume they used the master film for scanning Monty Python, and if it was stored properly they probably wouldn’t have to do a ton of restoration and cleaning, but I don’t know the specifics. 4K77’s work is amazing and admirable, but not really watchable to me for exactly the reason you mentioned. I don’t think any amount of cleanup would fix that kind of degradation, though it’s still an incredible representation and artifact of the film’s history. It’s a shame that project was only necessary because of the Lucas’ stubbornness.
Nice :)