Posted Wed Nov 7, 2018 at 03:59 PM PST by Tom Landy
Frank Capra's classic holiday film will be hitting 4K with a new remaster this month.
Paramount is preparing It's a Wonderful Life for 4K Ultra HD (digital only) on November 20.
George Bailey is a small-town man whose life seems so desperate he contemplates suicide. He had always wanted to leave Bedford Falls to see the world, but circumstances and his own good heart have led him to stay. He sacrficed his education for his brother's, kept the family-run savings and loan afloat, protected the town from the avarice of the greedy banker Mr. Potter, and married his childhood sweetheart. As he prepares to jump from a bridge, his guardian angel intercedes, showing him what life would have become for the residents of Bedford Falls if he had never lived.
The studio spent over a year painstakingly restoring this treasured film, using the original nitrate negative along with two fine grain masters made in the 1940s. Each element was carefully scanned using the very latest technology to both preserve the delicate negative and create the best possible digital image. Fortunately, 13 of the 14 reels of the original negative survived, but portions had begun to deteriorate so the best image was selected from one of the three original sources on a shot-by-shot basis. The result is a more vibrant and detail-rich picture than has ever been available before.
The release will also include new interviews with contemporary filmmakers and restoration experts about the movie’s extraordinary sound, music, cinematography and visual effects, as well as the meticulous process of preserving and revitalizing this iconic masterpiece.
You can find the latest specs for It's a Wonderful Life - 4K Ultra HD linked from our 4K Release Schedule, where it is indexed under November 20.
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