Yea...didn't work for Superman Returns however...that'll teach'em.

What we really need is special editions of all three movies. Maybe Shout or Arrow could do it.

Did You guys noticed how many shots from dailies are on turtle power documentary?
I think they had access to these by interviewing Steve Barron and they have a lot more of that.. maybe ?
Did they post here how they come to get these shots ? These are dailes from camera lens recorded to video camera, so all takes are there , deleted, bloopers and alll that.
Maybe we should ask them about that stuff and if they can show more.
On 1:20

0:30

or this entire vid

Just found this interview and Josh says Steve Barron was let go during the end of the film cause it was too dark
https://soundcloud.com/i-was-there-t...with-josh-pais

I'm curious if Barron had anything to say about that in his commentary on that German DVD from a few years back.

Does he specify what exactly it was in terms of the footage that got Barron fired or sacked?

I haven't had a chance to listen to the interview yet (COME ON LUNCH!), but it's my understanding that Golden Harvest thought the film was literally too dark. Not as in the tone of the film or script-- simply the cinematography exposure.

Director of Photography John Fenner did a ton of testing on style/intensity of lighting to make the Henson suits look as good as possible. Too bright and they looked utterly cartoonish (SOTO). They went with a very dim look to the film, but Golden Harvest wanted the film exposure "pushed" (over-developed... brightened) in post-production. Notice people complaining about the film grain? That's a result of pushing film exposure.

To my knowledge, Barron and Menke were let go from the film after their initial edit was complete. Golden Harvest took over from there, handling the score, soundtrack, further edits, etc.

Would it be possible to remaster the movie without the excessive film exposure from the negative or is the original unedited footage needed? The latter is most likely scrapped after production ended.

Pais merely states Barron was taken off the film at the end. There isn't a whole lot of elaboration. Considering he probably had zero presence on the film during post-production, I doubt he knows many details about the issue either.

I stand corrected. I've always thought it was a stylistic choice, particularly in the minimalist flashback sequences. I do think the grain adds a little texture and gives it a gritty, urban look.

So many interesting details here. There needs to be an entire book or a feature length documentary centered solely on the making of this film.

I heard this too, but had it confirmed that it wasn't like a firing. They just didn't really let him anywhere near the editing room.

I was under the impression the grainy look of the film was just typical of the film stock Golden Harvest used for it's films generally. Japanese films looked a lot more grainy than Hollywood ones back then.

True, not every shot would have had a pushed exposure. A lot of the grain we see is the native film stock. I'm not 100% on exactly what shots Barron was referring to... maybe just the flashbacks? All dark scenes? It would be cool to have some clarification. Anyway, yeah... the film was low budget on everything save for the puppet FX. I'm guessing a faster film stock was used by Fenner, which would be more sensitive to light, therefore requiring less lights on set. A key feature of faster film stocks? Grain. I'll do some poking around.

On the firing thing-- I'm wondering if it was as simple as a contractual thing? Barron and Menke might have only been contracted for their initial cut. Perhaps internal Golden Harvest post-production teams in China were far cheaper than continuing to pay Barron and Menke? This is of course all speculation... Barron never seemed to have a negative tone while talking about the process, after all.

This may be a little shallow, but damn, Judith looks good. The years have been very kind.

I loved hearing that Robin Williams was a fan. He would have been a great Professor Perry, especially if they stuck with him being a secret Utrom. Williams probably had a great Krang performance in him.

I'm really thinking this might just happen after all. We just got the recently announced to be released of the score on vinyl. Fingers crossed tightly.

I realize this is off topic but how's the Ghostbusters docs going? I don't visit the GB Fans site any more so not up to date with the Buenos documentaries.

They announced on their FB pages that Cleanin' Up the Town is looking to hit right in time for the first film's 35th anniversary. So, knock on wood, it looks it's coming out next year, the first doc at least.

So basically Barron finished shooting his movie and then wasn't allowed to be an editor? First of all, you generally don't have a director involved in the editing because they're not going to be objective. Second, how was he "fired"? Was Steve Barron at any point hired to be an editor? No. He was hired to direct the movie and he completed his job.

I'd think not having a director in the editing room is a recipe for disaster, but what do I know about filmmaking.

It’s the polar opposite. An editor makes hard choices and a director is too attached to the stuff they shot to let it get cut. Ever noticed how while generally more informative, directors cuts usually suck.

This has not been my experience. Almost every Director's Cut I've ever watched contained crucial pieces of plot and character development which were clearly cut for running time or to appease the ratings board, not to make the film any better.

It's entirely possible that we watch completely different kinds of films, but I'm curious what you're basing your opinion on.

I will say that the "Apocalypse Now" DC had a few slow spots, but so did the rest of the movie so it didn't really bother me. And the ending of the theatrical cut of "Legend" made more sense, while the rest of the movie was better served by the DC. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Precisely.