Old-School Projection Fans Are Grateful For 'Hateful Eight' In 70-Millimeter
Quentin Tarantino's new film The Hateful Eight was just released this Christmas — but in some theaters, the film's launch was a blast from the past.
The movie is showing at 100 movie theaters in 70-millimeter film: an extra-wide format has been out of use for decades, aside from a handful of film connoisseurs and artsy theaters.
Airing the film in 70mm has, in some cases, required renovations.
Before theaters made the move to digital, the standard size of a film print was 35 mm — about the length of a wine cork. If you widen that, you get a higher-resolution picture, which can be shown on a bigger, wider screen.
But movies haven't been shown in 70mm on this scale in decades, not since the era of 1959's Ben-Hur. All of the equipment is old.
"The people that did this 70mm, they're either dead or retired," says Dave Hoag, a projectionist at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Md.
Hoag, along with fellow projectionists Mike Marini and Mike Aloupis, is looking at a print of The Hateful Eight in 70-millimeter.
Aloupis is running the reel. He grazes the side of the prints with his fingers, checking for nicks, bumps, anything weird.
"It could jam or it could catch on the side and just pull the whole slice of film right down the center," Aloupis says.
AFI Silver is one of only a handful of theaters around the country who have projectionists experienced in 70mm. For the usual multiplex to show this movie requires some serious work.
That's where Chapin Cutler comes in. He's the head of Boston Light and Sound, the company in charge of gathering old equipment like reels and lenses and retrofitting theaters so they can show this movie. It can be complicated.
"In one case, we had to chop open a door that had been cemented shut and put the equipment up on the second floor by bringing in a forklift," Cutler says.
Cutler wanted to keep the process as simple as possible for theaters, mostly plug-and-play. So in most theaters, the entire 3-hour-plus movie comes on a single big reel — about four feet in diameter. That film print weighs 220 pounds, and can take four people to carry.
Airing a 70mm film is a lot of work, time and money. But fans of the format say it's an experience that digital projectors can't match.
Chapin mentions one scene in particular, where Samuel L. Jackson is tucked up in the corner of the screen.
"There's some depth. You don't get that in 3-D. You don't get that in any other way except in a format that's this wide," he says.
Quentin Tarantino, a passionate fan of the format, specifically released The Hateful Eight in 70mm to help keep the style of film alive.
"I'm guaranteeing to some degree or another there will be 70-millimeter film prints out there in the world screening for people who care," Tarantino said in a promotional video from the studio.
And some people definitely care. The projectionists at AFI are evangelicals for the church of 70.
Aloupis, for his part, is stunned into silence to hear this reporter had never seen a film in 70mm.
"It's so clear and sharp and — " he said with a sigh.
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Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
At 100 select movie theaters across the country today, if you visit one of them, you will hear this sound. It's the sound of sputtering from an old film projector. And if you look outside the porthole, you'll see on screen Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson huge and talking in a familiar sounding way.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HATEFUL EIGHT")
SAMUEL L. JACKSON: (As Major Marquis Warren) Bring a desperate man in alive is a good way to get yourself dead.
KURT RUSSELL: (As John Ruth) Can't catch me sleeping if I don't close my eyes.
JACKSON: (As Major Marquis Warren) I don't want to work that hard.
GREENE: This might be familiar to you because this is from a Quentin Tarantino movie, "The Hateful Eight." It's being screened in 70 millimeter film. NPR's Andrew Limbong explains why this film format still has followers in these days of digital.
ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: This is what it sounds like when three guys with decades of projection experience look at a print of "The Hateful Eight" in 70 millimeter.
MIKE ALOUPIS: Boy, that's going to look really nice on that screen, man. Whoa.
DAVE HOAG: Yep, oh, yeah.
LIMBONG: It's a tempered enthusiasm. I'm in the projection room at the AFI Silver just outside of Washington, D.C., with Mike Marini, Mike Aloupis and Dave Hoag. They're projectionists here. Mike Aloupis is running the reel. You can hear him graze the side of the prints with his fingers. He's checking for nicks, bumps, anything weird because...
ALOUPIS: It could jam or it could catch on the side and just pull the whole slice of film right down the center.
LIMBONG: Which would not be good, especially for a movie this size. Before theaters made the move to digital, the standard size of a film print was 35 millimeters - about the length of a wine cork. You widen that and you get a higher-resolution picture, which can be shown on a bigger, wider screen. Thing is, movies haven't been shown in 70 millimeter on this scale in decades - not since the era of "Ben-Hur." All of the equipment is old, and as Dave Hoag puts it...
HOAG: The people that did this 70 millimeter, they're either dead or retired.
LIMBONG: Except for the folks at the AFI Silver and a handful of other artsy theaters. For your usual multiplex to show this movie, that's where Chapin Cutler comes in. He's the head of Boston Light and Sound, the company in charge of getting together all the old equipment - reels, the lenses - and retrofitting theaters so they can show this movie.
CHAPIN CUTLER: In one case, we had to chop open a door that had been cemented shut and put the equipment up on the second floor by bringing in a forklift.
LIMBONG: The print itself is pretty heavy, too. Chapin wanted this setup to be mostly plug-and-play - as little tinkering during the movie as possible. So in most theaters, the entire three-hour-plus movie comes on a single big reel.
CUTLER: The platter load itself weighs 220 pounds. It's about four feet in diameter.
LIMBONG: It can take four people to carry. This is a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of money to screen a movie that's mostly dudes hanging out in the same room talking. But Chapin mentions a scene that features Samuel L. Jackson and someone - no spoilers - speaks.
CUTLER: And he's tucked way up in the corner and it's sort of like, whoa, there's some depth. You don't get that in 3-D. You don't get that in any other way except in a format that's this wide.
LIMBONG: For Tarantino, putting out a movie this way, it's bigger than him or his movie. This is from a promo video the studio released.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
QUENTIN TARANTINO: I'm guaranteeing to some degree or another there will be 70 millimeter film prints out there in the world screening for people who care.
LIMBONG: Like the folks at the AFI Silver, Evangelicals for their church of 70. Here's Mike Aloupis again.
ALOUPIS: Let me ask you a question, Andrew, have you ever seen 70 millimeter?
LIMBONG: I shake my head no, and he's both stunned and disappointed and can only make out half-formed sentences.
ALOUPIS: It's so clear and sharp and...
LIMBONG: For Mike and the other people who care, this one's for you. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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