I haven't fully decided whether I'll actually do this or not, but it annoys me enough to seriously consider it. I want to check other sources before proceeding though. My copy of BASKET CASE is the one released by Second Sight in 2012, which I assume to be sourced from the same master as the Image Entertainment release the year before, mostly due to them sharing an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (Blu-ray.com claims the Image one is 1.34:1 but the back of the box says otherwise). The thing that may render this project unnecessary is that there is also a more recent Arrow release from 2018, with a different aspect ratio (apparently 1.37:1). Anyway, I'll get to the point...

The original theatrical presentation of this film seems to have been matted to 1.85:1, but on the negative it's more like 1.37:1. When the elements were re-scanned for Blu-ray, apparently the director chose to open up the frame to show more of the image since he was unhappy with the 1.85:1 presentation. There's a problem, though: possibly as a result of this opened matte, or possibly due to some other reason which currently eludes me, the framing very severely jumps on almost every single hard cut in the entire film on the Second Sight Blu-ray Disc. To show you what I mean, here are some screenshots from QuickTime Player to show both the frame numbers and the extent of the problem I'm talking about:



As you can see, after the cut, the framing starts off high, then jumps very noticeably downwards, then goes back up again to somewhere in the middle. This takes place over about 4 frames. This happens over... and over... and over again, the whole way through the entire film. It's extremely annoying.

The Arrow release was a US/CA exclusive (perhaps due to the relatively recent non-limited-edition version of the Second Sight release having just come out a couple of years prior) so I never got a copy and it's now really expensive, meaning I haven't yet seen it to compare and check whether this same problem is present there as well. It is framed differently though, so it could well be a completely different scan, and may not necessarily have this problem.

Might anybody be in a position to help compare the Arrow and Second Sight / Image releases to work out if it's worth me attempting this rather tedious but potentially worthwhile project?

DOG SOLDIERS is one of my favourite films. I grew up watching horror and this is exactly the kind of mix of horror and black comedy that I love. But here's the trouble: there is no definitive release of this film.

It's a UK film, but since the UK is a PAL region, my DVD copy is not ideal. As far as Blu-ray goes, I think there was one US release from the old DVD master, and then after that Scream Factory did a new scan of a print in association with the director, which unfortunately looks really really poor because it is after all a scan of a 35 mm blowup a few generations away from the original 16 mm negative. The best visual fidelity to date is one Koch Media released in Germany last year, which is reportedly constructed from the original 16 mm negative (interesting because this was previously declared "lost", hence Scream Factory scanning a print). But even that has significant problems.

Some issues with the German UHD / 1080p release:

1. The video levels appear to be wrong, as if it was accidentally encoded with PC RGB levels (0 to 255) instead of standard home video limited levels (16 to 235). When you play it back, it's as if the player thinks it's limited but it's actually full, because blacks look extremely washed out and grey.
   
   
2. There appear to have been missing or damaged frames in the OCN elements somehow, because several frames seem to have been inserted from what looks like the Scream Factory (35 mm blowup) release, which makes the quality inconsistent.
   
   
3. Another inconsistency with the quality is that every time there's an optical effect, the generational difference between the actual negative elements directly from the camera and the several-generations-removed frames containing optical effects is extremely jarring, because there is so much additional grain and so on. This is normal enough for optical effects, but it's severe here because of the 16 mm to 35 mm blowup making the grain significantly more apparent.
   
   
4. Frequently when there is a hard cut, the new 2 or 3 frames are misaligned before the framing is then realigned and remains in place for the remainder of the shot. I found that the Second Sight open matte restoration of BASKET CASE had this same problem, which is also something I have a vague plan to fix (I'll probably crop it back to its original theatrical presentation which will mean I can stabilise each cut, but it'll take forever to do that). I may also consider doing the same with DOG SOLDIERS, but this would be extremely time consuming and tedious and I've got far too many things on my plate as it is.
   
   
5. The English audio has been screwed up pretty severely, with at least two moments I know of thus far where the music or some other part of the audio is completely out of sync, causing it to obscure or even completely replace dialogue. Around 00:03:25 or so, the music builds to a crescendo then stops abruptly in every other audio track (e.g. DVD, Scream Factory BD, and German 5.1 track off this release) but in the English 5.1 Koch has the music fall behind so that it's still blaring when a character speaks instead of being almost silent. There's a similar issue a few minutes later as well (as described here) where a helicopter sound is duplicated in place of an actual line of dialogue, which is subtitled but not actually present in the audio (Koch on left, Scream Factory on right):
   
   
   
   
6. The *German* audio seems to be sourced from a sped up PAL master, because it's all pitch-shifted upwards by ~4%. This makes it somewhat less useful for patching the English audio with, though not necessarily entirely useless.
   

Hey everyone, a while ago I thought to myself, 'Why is there no project for this?' So, I have decided to start this project. Williarob's friend has this in his collection, and we have been able to fund the other two so funding this will surely be no problem.

Williarob's friend also has a trailer to this, so that could be a nice little extra. 

Does anyone have the Japanese R2 Pony Canyon DVD? Supposedly has the best transfer of the original theatrical cut.

I can't find much info about it anywhere and would like to see some screencaps to see how it compares to the HK Mei Ah (bad port of laserdisc with burnt in subs).

There is supposed to be a custom DVD out there of the Japanese DVD with english subtitles which weren't included on the official release.

Wow. I was looking up Blu-Ray reviews for Kiss of the Dragon and I did not expect the image quality to be this poor. The picture quality is supposedly horrendous and lacking in detail which is a shame because I love Kiss of the Dragon. I know the movie is almost like a video game complete with "boss fights" but I've always loved it as a straight-forward, no-nonsense action movie. Kiss of the Dragon definitely deserves a better Blu-Ray release because it's an underrated gem I don't hear too many people talk about imo

Hello everyone,

I'll start by saying that I recall the thread Colek posted in regards to working on a similar project. I've not seen his release, just the screencaps that were posted here. But as I understand it, he doesn't have as much time to work on customs these days. I don't wish to step on anyone's toes, but I recall some comments made in my Supercop thread some time ago stating that the ABT remaster would look good with some scene by scene correction/tweaking. Would it be worthwhile for me to take a shot at it?

I should say that I don't have much in the way of resources for ABT's video (I think I've only got the blu-ray and the HK DVD (from the two pack with 'The Killer'), so if anyone knows of a release that has good/preferred colours, I'd be happy to hear any information, comments, and/or thoughts on it.

I've heard the story that John Woo approved the colouration that Ritrovata did for this remaster, but I've always wondered if what he saw on their monitors is the same as what we wound up getting.

Thanks!

Two different versions of PURPLE RAIN. Neither are synced and might need a touch of editing between sides but if you'd like to sync it to the latest BD release, please let me know.

PM me for links.

The VHS might sound just a little better but has a few moments of tape sounds here and there. Nothing some splicing can't handle. Regardless, they are probably closer to the original Dolby Stereo theatrical mix.

Movie: Purple Rain (1984)
Format: LD 11398
https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/55659/11398/Purple-Rain
Output Soundtrack: 24-bit, 96khz, Stereo
Lineage: Pioneer LD 660 > e-mu 0404 > Audacity
Two recordings of this disc were made. One with CX engaged and one without CX engaged.
2.06 GB FLAC. I know 24/96 is probably overkill but with analog I'd rather be safe than sorry.


Movie: Purple Rain (1984)
Format: VHS (1995 release - 0085391139836)
Quality: VG
Output Soundtrack: 24-bit, 96khz, Stereo
Lineage: JVC SR-S365U > e-mu 0404 > Audacity

2.16 GB FLAC

Please PM me for links

not sure if this is tv version or vhs tape that's been circulation around the traders, Trainspotting (1996) International Version - 22 added scenes, original undubbed audio, totally different from U.S. version.  Has anyone got this?

Hello everybody, I tried to make a restoration of the original Friday The 13th trailer.
The Quality is bad, I'd only correct the sharpness and the colours. The first is the original picture.
The second is the corrected picture.



 

Hello everyone,

This was originally supposed to be a quick project (but I ran into computer issues along the way that set me back quite a bit), aimed at removing the blue tint/filter that had been applied to the 2k remaster. The blue filter was most noticeable during night scenes, but I felt it tended to push the whites of the print a bit too far towards looking a bit blue. So I decreased the blue levels a touch as well as hopefully removed the filter. I used the German DVD from Eyecatcher as a reference where necessary.

I should say that I've got no way of knowing if that blue filter was an attempt by the restoration house to correct (what I assume originally was) shooting day for night, but IMO it doesn't exactly represent 'Eastern Condors' the way it's always looked. IMO.

Options for this one are otherwise unchanged from the retail blu-ray:

Cantonese: LPCM Mono
Cantonese: LPCM Mono (alternate)
English: LPCM 2.0
English: LPCM Mono


Noticeable differences in the Cantonese tracks occur during the English dubbing in the first scenes of the film, if I'm not mistaken.

Audio commentaries with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, and Frank Djeng respectively. 







PM for the Mega link. My thanks also to CSchmidlapp.