OK, I must admit I've contracted the open matte fever... it's subtle, and I think it's difficult to heal from it... so, meanwhile, I thought about the open matte version of the whole Resident Evil saga...

Last edit: 2018-01-26

2002 — Resident Evil

Aspect ratio: that's incredible... there is a fullscreen 1.33:1 in HD here!!! It was broadcasted as anamorphic 720p (even if the page title suggests there was a 1080 version); it is "simply" squeezed vertically, so when restored to proper aspect ratio, it would be 1280x960, as following:



sadly there are no seeders...

There is a 1.78:1 BD (Poland); also a 1.33:1 DVD, but I'd prefer to work with the HD one!

color grading: it seems there is only one

cuts: theatrical - it seems no deleted scenes exist

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2004 — Resident Evil: Apocalypse

aspect ratio: two open matte HDTV found, to wipe out logo; there is a 1.78:1 BD (Benelux, Poland) but the master suffers from field blending, so I think it would be not possible to use it; also both 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 DVDs

color grading: it seems there is only one

cuts: theatrical, extended - the latter uses only 10 out of 20 deleted scenes found on BD and DVD

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2007 — Resident Evil: Extinction

aspect ratio: two open matte HDTV found, to wipe out logo; one of them is faulty, so a third one is needed to get perfect results; also a 1.33:1 SDTV (don't know if DVD exists)

color grading:

1. DVD (nicer and seems quite close to theatrical)
   
2. BD/HDTV
   

cuts: theatrical - 11 deleted scenes found on BD

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2010 — Resident Evil: Afterlife

aspect ratio: until now, the only known open matte HD 1080 is found here (comparison)



bad news, no seeders; good news, only opening scene is open matte. There are also about 3m30s open matte shots found in various HDTV caps, apart the first 5 minutes letterbox (comparison); hence, I'm pretty sure the Arab HDTV cap should have a grantotal of 8m30s shots in open matte; few lines more sometimes on bottom and/or top; also a 1.33:1 SDTV (don't know if DVD exists) but it seems just a cropped version.

color grading: there are three main ones

1. DVD PAL
   
2. BD, DVD NTSC
   
3. Nova TV, MBC and others (similar to PAL DVD, more green)
   
   plus
   
   
4. TV 1000 (similar to PAL DVD, more magenta that could be "cured" lowering saturation)
   

according to various camrips, the Nova TV (et al) grading is very close to the theatrical one!



cuts: theatrical, censored - the latter deleted blood and other gory details, and have an alternating shot; there are extended scenes on BD

Note: it was released as IMAX, as you can see in this trailer (which is 2.10:1)

it's interesting to note that many shots involving CGI are slightly different!

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2012 — Resident Evil: Retribution

aspect ratio: open matte web 1080p is OK - *maybe* another 1080 HDTV could improve quality; the main credits are OAR, but *maybe* they could be recomposited in open matte, using a latter scene; a test is needed test made; the scenes, apart reversed, differs in frame counts, hence can't be used

color grading: it seems there is only one

cuts: theatrical - 5 deleted scenes found on BD

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2016 — Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

aspect ratio: does open matte exist?!?

color grading: 2D and 3D have very different color grading

cuts: theatrical - it seems no deleted scenes exist

Note: this also was released in IMAX, still to find out a proof of its aspect ratio, though

RE4: VAR test clips using two trailers (one 1.78:1 and the other 2.10:1) to improve quality, which is not perfect, but good enough to gives you that "WOW!" factor - or, at least I hope so!


http://www45.zippyshare.com/v/HwWFAG3V/file.html

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http://www45.zippyshare.com/v/22sM4V0a/file.html

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http://www45.zippyshare.com/v/22sM4V0a/file.html

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For this one I used only 1.78:1 open matte version:

http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/Hnv8rYKK/file.html

I believe I have the first 3 films on HD-DVD. I always liked the way they looked.

I managed a way to access those files; sadly, they are not seeded!

They were recorded by MBC, so if some of our Arabic friend - or one who can actually receive those channels via satellite - could keep an eye on it...

Specs for German HD-DVD of Resident Evil ....

Specs for German HD-DVD for Resident Evil: Apocalypse Extended Edition ...

Regarding Resident Evil: Anyone checked the DTS-ES discrete 6.1 english Audio on the German DVD? Is it interesting, or just a 'screwed' upmix?

After the discovery RE1 has been broadcasted 1.33:1 "squeezed" vertically, I could believe (almost) anything!

I don't know hos the BluRay Audio compares to the 5.1 DVD Audio, but the 6.1 Audio was announced to be significant better, compared to other DVDs with 5.1 Dolby...

To be sure, I'll take it!