"Sgt. Pepper" movie DVD - what's the DTS track like?

Having had the misfortune of seeing the "Sgt. Pepper" movie when it was in theaters in 1978, I can't bear the thought of watching it again for any reason. And yet I'm curious about the indication that this DVD has a DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Can I presume that this is some sort of fake surround processing? I can't imagine they would have gone back and remixed this turkey in 5.1. But how cool would it be if all those songs *were* mixed in 5.1?

Does anyone have this DVD who can answer this?

J. D.

Did it ever came out in DVD?

I have it and, (scary to admit in a public forum) actually like it. My gut is the surround is processed, but it's actually not bad. The movie starts with some history on the story line that is done in stereo and then it opens up to surround. I think I paid less than $10 to Amazon for this, so it was not that big an investment..

If you really hate the movie, my gut is that the surround mix is not going to do much to change your opinion.

Steve

jdmack said:

Having had the misfortune of seeing the "Sgt. Pepper" movie when it was in theaters in 1978, I can't bear the thought of watching it again for any reason. And yet I'm curious about the indication that this DVD has a DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Can I presume that this is some sort of fake surround processing? I can't imagine they would have gone back and remixed this turkey in 5.1. But how cool would it be if all those songs *were* mixed in 5.1?

Does anyone have this DVD who can answer this?

J. D.

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J. D. your review of S.P. couldn’t be more true! What a disappointment this movie was considering that Peter Frampton and the Bee Gee’s were some of the most popular artists of the 1970’s era. This could have been a cool movie like “Rocky Horror”…maybe…with a slightly different script. The main problem with the movie as I saw it then is that the cover versions of Beatles tunes were too wimpy. It was the late 70’s and I was 19. With bands like the Sex Pistols and Clash bringing in a new era to music (whether it was wanted or not), wimpy Beatles tunes (and I was a hardcore Beatles record collector then) covered by a disco band and musicians who used to do heavier rock only a few years before, made watching this movie: “a real drag man.” Looking at one of the beginning songs “With a Little Help from My Friends.” They’re hardly even playing the song! There's no energy behind the music. They "teeny boped" the soundtrack IMHO. Even the Columbian weed I smoked before entering the theater did not help matters. Still, I would own this for the curiosity it is and “time capsule nature” of this film if one did not pay too much. If a proper surround mix of the music was created it might not be perhaps as bad as I remember it. It certainly brings back vivid memories of the late 70’s. Sorry, don't mean to sound so opinionated about the movie, it probably deserves a second look now.

I've got this on DVD, but loaned it to a friend several months ago, so I can't re-listen to answer the question.

I will say this, though: the covers of the Beatles' tunes may be wimpy, but there is some relentless funky-ass crazy brilliant bass playing throughout.

In all fairness, I should give this movie another shot and rent it. After all it was 31 years ago. I'm 50 now and one's view of things change. How a particular work of art/movie is perceived through the test of time also changes matters. This movie isn't that bad is it?

Is the surround mix re-channeled stereo or does it have a real multi-channel mix? If so, might pick this up.

Old Quad Guy said:

This movie isn't that bad is it?

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Well, it's really just a matter taste, right? YES. It is THAT bad.

Old Quad Guy said:

Is the surround mix re-channeled stereo or does it have a real multi-channel mix? If so, might pick this up.

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I may not have it in my hands, but when I bought it (for a whopping $6) a year ago, I watched it and I don't remember anything stunning about the mix. This is purely nostalgia for me... and relentless funky-ass crazy brilliant bass playing.

I want to revisit this question. I saw the DVD this past weekend for $10. Does anyone know if the music is true 5.1 or some sort of fake surround?

J. D.

Definitely fake.

I've a copy buried here somewhere, but not something I'd go out of my way to watch again. It was, as I remember, originally released in Dolby Surround, so there is some kind of real MC mix, but it's limited by that format. At the least the songs should be more or less stereo, but given what it is I doubt anyone took the time or expense to go back and remix it in any way.

The project was, however, misguided from the outset. The casting is a very odd mix regardless of popularity. The Bee Gees and heartthrob Frampton (at least that was how he was being marketed at the time, rather than the pretty solid guitarist he actually was) were proxies for the Beatles, which only displayed their limitations all the more. Then someone hires a former rock journalist to write a disjointed, nearly inchoate screenplay, then add George Burns, then.....well, it's a pretty rough ride, IMO. That said, to be fair the music and some of the performers transcend limitations, and it's no accident that Aerosmith and Earth, Wind & Fire landed hits out of this otherwise messy debacle. If you watch the film you begin to realize almost no one involved seemed comfortable with it, as if they were in over (or under) their heads. In the end the whole thing still seems pointless, though why it was made was understandable (though when filming began "Saturday Night Fever" was not the surprise success it would become, not the Bee Gees suddenly hugely popular in the third act of their career).

ED

I have both a full 35mm Dolby A Stereo print of Sgt. Pepper and several 70mm 6-track mag reels. From playing the 70mm reels in 6-track and comparing to the DVD, the DTS track is a direct transfer of the 6-track master. One difference is the 6-track master is in stereo before it opens into surround while the 35mm Dolby Stereo mix is mono until it opens to full stereo surround when Dougie Shears bursts through the doors with the Sgt. Pepper horn.

As bas as this film is, I love it - and Aerosmith owns Come Together. Another great bad film on DVD is Can't Stop The Music and it's in DTS ES Discrete.

Well, Disclord's post made me go back and listen again. It does open up nicely when the Bee Gees & Peter Frampton appear, but I put my head up really close to the surrounds and the center. The surrounds are definitely not the stereo mix wrapped around, but other than some reverb, there's not much in them (just enough to give you the sensation that it's wider than stereo). You can hear the hi-hat and snare, but not much else. The center DOES have isolated vocals, but you also get a lot of the incidental movie sounds (cars, jets, etc.).

O.K., well, the more I listen, the more I hear (imagine that). Still nothing of note in the surrounds, but on "The Long and Winding Road" you can treat yourself to a "guitars only" mix in the center (after the lead vocal), and on "Mean Mr. Mustard", before the movie noises and spoken vocal enter, you can treat yourself to a "bass only" mix in the center.

On "She's Leaving Home", the vocoder vocals are in the FL & FR, and there's nothing but movie noises in the center until the human vocals enter. You can actually hear the tape hiss increasing in the center before the human vocals enter. You can hear Robin Gibb's vocal completely dry and isolated, but then those silly movie noises interrupt.

On "Got to Get You Into My Life", you can hear the lead guitar, brass, and vocals isolated in the center. Still just light reverb in the surrounds. "Come Together" is pretty much everything except drums in the center.

So I was totally wrong - it's not fake; it can't be. But it's not a good surround mix, either, unless you like hearing some isolated parts in the center.

OK, "likes" all around for everyone who responded. Thanks! I guess I'll stick with my vinyl copy of the album unless I find a copy of this DVD for $3.00 or less.

J. D.

Disclord said:

I have both a full 35mm Dolby A Stereo print of Sgt. Pepper and several 70mm 6-track mag reels. From playing the 70mm reels in 6-track and comparing to the DVD, the DTS track is a direct transfer of the 6-track master. One difference is the 6-track master is in stereo before it opens into surround while the 35mm Dolby Stereo mix is mono until it opens to full stereo surround when Dougie Shears bursts through the doors with the Sgt. Pepper horn.

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I was wondering if there were 70mm blowups of this one. From what you're saying, it sounds like the 70mm prints were mixed after "6-track" migrated from 5 screen channels + mono surround to what we now think of as "5.1".

Might be interesting to list how many DVD/Blu-ray 5.1 tracks are straight copies of the 70mm 5.1 mixes and not some recent revision. Certainly any of the pre-"Superman" classics won't be true 6-track mixes, though I don't imagine it would be too difficult to mix the 5 fronts down to 3 reasonably well.

Oh, and I'm kinda awestruck that you can actually play the 70mm mix!

Disclord said:

I have both a full 35mm Dolby A Stereo print of Sgt. Pepper and several 70mm 6-track mag reels. From playing the 70mm reels in 6-track and comparing to the DVD, the DTS track is a direct transfer of the 6-track master. One difference is the 6-track master is in stereo before it opens into surround while the 35mm Dolby Stereo mix is mono until it opens to full stereo surround when Dougie Shears bursts through the doors with the Sgt. Pepper horn.

As bas as this film is, I love it - and Aerosmith owns Come Together. Another great bad film on DVD is Can't Stop The Music and it's in DTS ES Discrete.

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You have the equipment to play 70mm 6 track magnetic straight off the 70mm film print? Wow, that's serious gear. Can you project the picture as well or only play the audio?

(Now that's what I call a Home Cinema - able to project 70mm and play the 6 track magnetic sound.)

My baby got this for me for Xmas...she confessed that it traumatized her when she saw it..(she was about..7 years old)...and it traumatized ME now...
First of all , the message of the bad guys "We hate Love, we hate Joy, we LOVE MONEY" is only too prophetic , since that is how most people are "wired" now...
Yes there are MANY cringeworthy moments, but , overall I found it very enjoyable.
The soundtrack is discrete whereas most of the incidental music and some songs (especially "I want you" towards the end-the rears are going WILD!), but found it disappointing that the only two "guests" and mostly , my favorite ones , Aerosmith and EWF are only in Stereo...

To their credit, I found that the BeeGee's version of Sgt Pepper ROCKED (really great harmonies!) and that the incidental pop/rock had a great sound- think I saw that the musicians were Frampton's band: Bob Mayo and Stanley Sheldon (really big rounded bass sound!)

The scene with everybody in the end was a huge bonus...Robert Palmer??? Tina Turner???

As my baby put it, "it's too bad we don't have a prancing Billy Preston in real life to make it all better and back to normal"

It's a cheap DVD and I think it's worth it...

kap'n krunch said:

... but found it disappointing that the only two "guests" and mostly , my favorite ones , Aerosmith and EWF are only in Stereo...

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"Got to Get You Into My Life" isn't stereo - you can hear the lead guitar, brass, and vocals isolated in the center, but there's not much in the rears.

dr. simple said:

"Got to Get You Into My Life" isn't stereo - you can hear the lead guitar, brass, and vocals isolated in the center, but there's not much in the rears.

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thanks for the info...it's just that .. I don't have a center...(the apt. is a matchbox!)

kap'n krunch said:

thanks for the info...it's just that .. I don't have a center...(the apt. is a matchbox!)

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Ah... that's too bad for this disc, because the center is very discrete. Too bad there's not much in the surrounds.