Q: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)/The Last Supper (1995)

[wongfeihung]

Film's US poster has the Dolby Stereo logo but the end credits has a Dolby Stereo Digital logo.

The Warner Archive BD has only a 2.0 track.

So was this released theatrically in 5.1?

Seems unlikely the credits would be wrong... but the poster and BD suggest otherwise.

[zoidberg]

There is a German blu with 5.1 although this could be a remix.
Was the Dolby logo something like Dolby Stereo SR-Digital (Verify Theatre Format)? In the early years of digital audio on 35mm, only some prints of a release would have digital tracks, the rest just analogue, many films didn't get a digital mix at all due to the extra cost. The word salad logo covered all the bases

[wongfeihung]

The logo reads:

Spectral Recording Dolby Stereo Digital in Selected Theatres Worldwide.

If that's accurate (and I've no reason to assume it wouldn't be) there must have been at least some 5.1 screenings in the U.S.

Makes me wonder though why Warner Archive would only include a 2.0 track when the company are notoriously prone to remixing everything to 5.1 (the US DVD and LD also had only a 2.0 track).

I don't know if there's any way to tell if the German disc's 5.1 is legit.

[zoidberg]

The phrasing of the Dolby logo is deliberately vague but covers all 3 options of the time: Dolby Stereo (analogue type A and SR) and discrete digital AC-3. The number of selected theatres worldwide could be zero

[wongfeihung]

The phrasing of the Dolby logo is deliberately vague but covers all 3 options of the time: Dolby Stereo (analogue type A and SR) and discrete digital AC-3. The number of selected theatres worldwide could be zero

I was under the (wrong?) impression that Dolby only used the "Digital" on their logo when it was 5.1

But I guess sticking with 2.0 is the safest option.

Thanks.

[zoidberg]

Looking on dvd comparison a number of European/international DVD releases also have a 5.1 soundtrack, so maybe there was a discrete theatre mix, but it's weird that the US DVD/blu only have 2.0 if that is the case

[wongfeihung]

Found another film that has a Dolby Digital Stereo logo on its credits but appears to have only ever been released in 2.0 stereo/surround... The Last Supper (1995).

Wonder how many other films this applies to?

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Probably the case of the US release (which came out first under Warner) having the initial Dolby Stereo on 35mm runs while the later international releases (handled by Polygram) had DD 5.1.