Hello everybody, happy to have a new forum centered around preservations and such! For my first post, I thought I'd start with a request...

I do not know if The Thing From Another World (1951) has ever been released or broadcasted in HD at all, but in the chance that it has, I'm hoping it can be transferred for burning to BD, whether that is 25 or 50gb. I haven't been able to find anything about this film existing in HD, but then again I'm not the most seasoned in hunting these things down (no pun intended).

Any chance we could preserve this film? I doubt it will ever appear on blu-ray at this point.

So I did some searching around on the internet for you and here's what I found:

-there is a russian site called vdownload that claims to have a 720p copy of the movie (although only in russian) BUT it won't let you view it unless you pay for a premium membership. (which is $5/month) You can preview the SD footage but it is of VERY low quality (the entire movie is a 210MB download)
-Over on rutracker, there are two DVD5 versions available:
An R1 B&W release which looks decent (judging by screenshots)
An R2 COLOR release which actually looks pretty good

Here, my thoughts on creating an HD copy would be using the PaNup technique that Andrea mentions in one of the other threads. You would also be able to make two versions: a B&W version, as well as a color version. Both torrents are still active and contain Russian and English audio tracks. If you need any help navigating the site (as there is NO English version) feel free to PM me

I hate colorization but I have just got to take a look at that color version. I too would love an HD version, the only hope may be the Warner Archive BD program or their instant video site.

(2015-02-06, 03:40 PM)jerryshadoe Wrote: So I did some searching around on the internet for you and here's what I found:

-there is a russian site called vdownload that claims to have a 720p copy of the movie (although only in russian) BUT it won't let you view it unless you pay for a premium membership. (which is $5/month) You can preview the SD footage but it is of VERY low quality (the entire movie is a 210MB download)
-Over on rutracker, there are two DVD5 versions available:
An R1 B&W release which looks decent (judging by screenshots)
An R2 COLOR release which actually looks pretty good

Here, my thoughts on creating an HD copy would be using the PaNup technique that Andrea mentions in one of the other threads. You would also be able to make two versions: a B&W version, as well as a color version. Both torrents are still active and contain Russian and English audio tracks. If you need any help navigating the site (as there is NO English version) feel free to PM me

Would there be any benefit to taking the color release and removing the color? Or does the coloring process change the image too much that in B&W it wouldn't match the original image 100%?

@ PDB - I agree that colorized versions of films usually look like sh*t, but there are rare exceptions where it appears to be done decently. In this case, the color version actually looks really well done.

@ oh_riginal - If you are looking to make an HD copy that is only in B&W, then yes you could use the color release as well. What I mean by this, is basically taking the NTSC B&W DVD and upscaling it to 1080p, then take the PAL Color DVD (and make it B&W), upscale it to 1080p as well, slow it down from 25fps to 23.976fps (so it matches the NTSC runtime), then (assuming that there is a spatial-temporal alignment) you overlay the two upscaled videos on top of each other. This help bring out all the detail, (as there will be different parts of detail missing from both version that will "balance" each other out when layering) it also helps reduce artifacts, both those found on the original DVDs and the ones from the upscaling process. Finally, you layer REAL 35mm film grain on it (which makes it appear to have more detail, as well as the fact that it also helps hide some of the aritifacts), mux it with the UNALTERED (since it's already a lossy 192kbps AC3 file) NTSC DVD audio and "ta-da," a nice "remastered" 1080p BD-25 release is "born."

(2015-02-07, 01:34 AM)jerryshadoe Wrote: @ PDB - I agree that colorized versions of films usually look like sh*t, but there are rare exceptions where it appears to be done decently. In this case, the color version actually looks really well done.

@ oh_riginal - If you are looking to make an HD copy that is only in B&W, then yes you could use the color release as well. What I mean by this, is basically taking the NTSC B&W DVD and upscaling it to 1080p, then take the PAL Color DVD (and make it B&W), upscale it to 1080p as well, slow it down from 25fps to 23.976fps (so it matches the NTSC runtime), then (assuming that there is a spatial-temporal alignment) you overlay the two upscaled videos on top of each other. This help bring out all the detail, (as there will be different parts of detail missing from both version that will "balance" each other out when layering) it also helps reduce artifacts, both those found on the original DVDs and the ones from the upscaling process. Finally, you layer REAL 35mm film grain on it (which makes it appear to have more detail, as well as the fact that it also helps hide some of the aritifacts), mux it with the UNALTERED (since it's already a lossy 192kbps AC3 file) NTSC DVD audio and "ta-da," a nice "remastered" 1080p BD-25 release is "born."

I think I get what you're saying, but how would I do the grain part? I work with FCP 7, Apple Color, and CS4 AE, if that helps you point me in the right direction. There are grain filters in Apple Color and AE, but I don't understand what you mean by real 35mm film grain. How would I obtain this? Thanks.

Also, yes I will need help with navigating the language of the torrent site, since I can't read it at all!

Ok, so I'll send you a PM and we will continue this conversation there...

I watched the 720p version; grain is over the top - dunno if reflects the original quality, though.

OT: personally, I did not like the movie at all - dialogue all over, sometimes overlaps, almost no music, creature is ridicolous (even for those times) and appears for what, one minute perhaps? and not terrifing at all - actually quite boring - and the end is dreadful... The Thing, that IS a great movie.

This was released as part of the Warner Archive in 2018: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Thing...ray/48166/

Thanks DoctorM, I didn't even know about the BD...

What I watched probably was from JP; the US BD has bigger frame size and much less grain; anyone should go for the latter.
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=12638&d2=8055&c=3267