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Originally manufactured by Pioneer USA in 1989, and was eventually repressed by Pioneer Japan in August 1991.
Japanese pressings have a ‘MADE IN JAPAN.’ notice printed on the bottom-left of the rear cover, and the disc labels have a ‘Manufactured in Japan’ and ‘Printed in Japan’ notice after the CBS/FOX copyright.
The gatefold includes liner notes about the making of the film, details the “Blue Max” medal that in the film Bruno Satchel (played by George Peppard) desires, and also talks about the planes used in combat during the First World War (but primarily focuses on the Fokker tri-plane).
The film’s Intermission is located on side two, chapter 10, with a ‘Return from Intermission’ following on chapter 11. Both intermissions have a visual of the “Blue Max” medal as seen in the original theatrical release, and fade out once they conclude. ‘Intermission’ briefly fades in (for the first Intermission) and stays on-screen for a while, before it fades out.
Although this release is stated as simply being in Stereo, the CBS/FOX Video ‘Special Widescreen Edition’ logo indicates this as a ‘Stereo Surround’ release, which in simple terms means this has a matrixed stereo soundtrack (which I assume is unbranded Dolby Surround), however this film was presented in both Stereo 6-track and 4-track forms, which probably uses the latter, but is unclear which version exactly.
The transfer appears to be a lot more vibrant and bright compared to the 2003 DVD, which is dark and doesn’t have as much color as this release strangely. However in some portions of the film, a little over half the screen appears slightly orangey, which is noticeable in some scenes. But interestingly, the 20th Century Fox logo looks a bit darker than usual compared to the film itself.
I’m pretty sure that the video transfers for both pressings are the exact same, and that there’s little-to-no difference between them visually. |