MovieChat Forums > Fando y Lis (1972) Discussion > Fantoma vs Anchor Bay

Fantoma vs Anchor Bay

posted 18 years ago by happyreflex
9 replies | jump to latest

It doesn't look like anyone has done a comparison, so I'd like to get any opinions I can. The recent Anchor Bay release looked just plain crappy. Seriously. Non-progressive, pasty-looking grays, weird pans that looked very artificial in a way I can't really explain. Didn't anyone else notice this? Not that it bothers me too much, since I've never liked this film, but Anchor Bay still has no excuse. It looks to me like a direct PAL port without conversion to NTSC. And the restoration credits list the crew at Tartan (UK), which strengthens my suspicions. Surely, the Fantoma disc people have raved about must have looked better.

[–] iscream22 18 years ago

Yeah man, Fando Y lis doesnt look that great from Anchor Bay, however El Topo and The Holy Mountain are stunning and just plain freaking amazing!

*for shizzle*

[–] johnrhand-1 18 years ago

Oddly enough, I think the version of La Constellation Jodorowsky included in the box set looks slightly better than the version I remember seeing on the Fantoma Fando Y Lis DVD. The new dvd also has more subtitle options.

[–] maturity 18 years ago

I just compared and have to agree. The Anchor Bay DVD has edge enhancement. It's less sharp. Not as smooth. It crops the sides off the Fantoma. The running times are within a second and most of the chapters are in the same places.

The sound's also weaker and less clean. The title cards are better on the Anchor Bay, but video is worse overall. It looks like they dubbed the Fantoma and did a poor job. Ironically, the Anchor Bay has a slightly higher bitrate.

[–] SloanReese 18 years ago

Thank goodness someone else noticed. I watched the Anchor Bay version last night and I could of sworn it was in some wierd pan-and-scan version. I had seen the Fantoma version a few years ago, but couldn't remember what the transfer was like. On the back of the Anchor Bay DVD it says it's in letterbox, and there were very thin black bars on the top and bottom, but it was in no letterbox format i'm aware of. I'm going to try to find out more info.

-The Evil Hand

[–] timothyeraw 18 years ago

The Tartan Region 2 Pal DVD is fantastic! You need to get this version if buying. Great extras to!

[–] NateManD 18 years ago

I agree, the old fantoma DVD is much better. The Anchor Bay release of Fando& Lis seemed too dark.

[–] SPECKstarfire 15 years ago

The Fantoma looks pretty righteous.

[–] joneshiro 13 years ago

i'm half and half on this movie, i think it looks great visually but after a while it starts to drag and could have used better editing/a shorter runtime. of course this was his first feature, and even he says people will be disappointed because of that. he didn't know what he was doing or how to make a film.

so after saying that, i will say that i finally watched that disc out of the box set this week. i'm glad it's been addressed here, and i'm glad i didn't get rid of my fantoma dvd when i acquired the box set. it had been almost ten years since i last watched it but even then i noticed things that seemed 'off' from what i originally saw, and definitely noticed strange panning techniques. anyway, not sure how long it will be before i revisit this one again, but again i'm glad i still have the old edition as well. i guess the anchor bay disc will come in handy when wanting to watch la constellation again.

[–] 13 years ago

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