©1973 Universal Pictures. All rights reserved.

Catalog Number 11-001
Format Standard Play CAV
Extended Play CLV
MPAA Rating
Running Time 129 minutes
Release History

Standard Play Version

Mono
Pressing Location DiscoVision Carson
Label Color Blue
Retail Price $15.95
Year Issued 1978
  Initial Master Re-Master
Side Frames Running Time Frames Running Time
1 41,019 28min 29sec    
2 41,005 28min 28sec    
3 39,301 27min 17sec    
4 41,667 28min 56sec 37,232 25min 51sec
5 24,327 16min 53sec 28,359 19min 41sec
187,319 130min 05sec 186,916 129min 48sec
Dead Side Various
Ratings
Video Transfer
Audio Transfer
Replication
Packaging
Large Open-Top
Open-Top
Side-Open Sticker
Printed

Pressing Notes

The video transfer of The Sting is bland and unremarkable. It appears faded and at times out of focus. While the colors are sharp, they are hampered by the overly robust contrast which gives everything a harsh edge. The reds are especially noisy. There are obvious watermarks (blue spots) about 26 minutes into side 1. There are poor splices which manifest themselves by the image hopping through the telecine gate. The audio received equally poor treatment. Foot falls are too sharp and overly pronounced. The musical score, which brought ragtime back to the forefront in the early 70's, is dull and unexciting. The ADR used to bring the harsh language down from an "R" to a "PG" rating is all too noticeable. DiscoVision elected to use the red bumpers for sides 2-5.

There are two different masterings of sides 4 & 5 which incorporate a very different side break. The majority of the copies were issued with the "Re-Mastering" numbers above. On the initial mastering, side 4 continues for another 4,435 frames, to a natural fade to black in the film. Side 5 then begins with "The Sting" title card. Make certain that you have matched all the sides when assembling a set to prevent a 3 minute overlap of the film, or an equal missing chunk. The table above shows both versions.

Known Dead Sides

Extended Play Version

Mono
Pressing Location DiscoVision Carson
Universal Pioneer Japan
Label Color Red
Retail Price $29.95
Year Issued 1981

Side Chapters Running Time
1 2 43min
2 2 42min
3 4 45min
8 130min
Dead Side Various
Ratings
Video Transfer
Audio Transfer
Replication
Packaging
Large Open-Top
Open-Top
Side-Open Sticker
Printed

Pressing Notes

The CLV edition of The Sting replaced the CAV version and was spanned across 3 sides. The jackets were too small for 2 discs and bulged at the lower edge. Rumors claim the last of the Extended Play editions were manufactured out of the Universal Pioneer facility in Kofu Japan. However, I have not seen a Japanese pressing of the DiscoVision Extended Play edition.

This is the exact same transfer from the CAV edition, and bears the identical problems from the earlier edition. The actual pressing looses points for random color flashes and an annoying problem on side 3 which seems to simply skip fields now and then. The standard "shrinking numbers" bumpers were used on this version.

Known Dead Sides

Release History

The Sting was issued in December 1987 from MCA/Universal Home Video as a 3 sided CLV/CAV version (Catalog #: 11001) Pan & Scan edition. The title features windowboxed opening and closing credits. Some of the odd watermarks are still present, but the transfer is a much needed improvement over the DiscoVision editions. Universal issued this title in the same full frame aspect ratio in March 1998 (Catalog #20168) as part of their early DVD catalog.

Universal issued a Special Edition on DVD (Catalog #27902), as a 2-disc edition, in widescreen for the first time, with a remastered soundtrack in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio. They also issued the film on HD-DVD (Catalog #32810) in 2007.

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Updated: March 4, 2007
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