Ghost in the Shell

[Koopa Luath]

If and when we manage to get this done in 1080p, I suggest starting things off with a parody of those anti-piracy messages seen on old RCA/Columbia and Australian CBS/Fox tapes that detail how their official tapes look different from everything else (e.g. the red leading edge on RCA/Columbia tapes, hence "if it isn't red, it isn't real").

Soon as my Blender skills get up to snuff, I'd like to volunteer to produce the parody PSA.

[Doctor M]

So, "our" 1080 version is the "Judgment" one?

Yes. According to Anidb, the 1080 is Judgement and 720 is PSNR. There is a third version apparently from the same source, but it has a very small file size and isn't worth tracking down.

[CSchmidlapp]

I remember going through all this when I was putting together my custom.
In the end I used the UK Blu, colour corrected and added a grain plate.

Out of all the releases the French disc actually is the closest to the Theatrical Colours! I was lucky enough to see an old UK release print a few years ago.

[Evit]

I would wait to see the most recent Italian release before spending a lot of time on fixing this or that. I'm planning to buy it but I'm waiting on some... actually ANY type of offer on Amazon. There has been none so far.

[BronzeTitan]

About that French version ... with lots of pics! 
http://www.hidefninja.com/community/thre...nce.83217/

More info ... on the French restoration! 
http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearti...61268.html

But maybe English would help?    
https://translate.google.com/translate?h...61268.html

Timothy Killian: The Ghost in the Shell movie as featured in our new Blu-Ray and DVD editions has been restored from an HD video file (1920x1080), scanned from an HDCAM-SR sent expressly from Japan to the US for A new digitization following our supported requests. Indeed, we have long sought the best possible video source by multiplying requests for access to the material of the various rights holders (USA, UK, Japan), and by obtaining the various editions available on the market in France. The US and Japan, to make sure we had the best possible source.
...
Upon receipt of the last digitalisation from the HDCAM-SR, we decided that it was necessary to restore the video here in France in order to offer an image quality that meets our expectations.
...
When we looked at the video file, we noticed a number of apparent defects, which are also found on previous editions already available on the market: video noise in the image, gelatin chips, scratches, lack of Stitched [Google Transl. sic?] on the background. At that time, we had no other options except to use a restoration of the last file obtained.
...
On relatively recent digital masters (years 80-90), 3 are used mainly: removal of telecine faults; Degrading, and enhancement of image sharpness. It is the combination of these three elements that make it possible to obtain a new master with an improved image, denoised, while remaining faithful to the original film. For older films, the effects of light pumping, image stability and cropping can be added to the list.

To watch the restoration-samples video in HD, download it with this link:
http://fr.vid.web.acsta.net/nmedia/33/17...hd_013.mp4
Frankly, both sides of the split-screen video look (mostly) the same. Because it's only 1280x720?. I was hoping for examples of the interlace ghosting/damage.

[Doctor M]

About that French version ... with lots of pics! 
http://www.hidefninja.com/community/thre...nce.83217/

More info ... on the French restoration! 
http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearti...61268.html

But maybe English would help?    
https://translate.google.com/translate?h...61268.html

Timothy Killian: The Ghost in the Shell movie as featured in our new Blu-Ray and DVD editions has been restored from an HD video file (1920x1080), scanned from an HDCAM-SR sent expressly from Japan to the US for A new digitization following our supported requests. Indeed, we have long sought the best possible video source by multiplying requests for access to the material of the various rights holders (USA, UK, Japan), and by obtaining the various editions available on the market in France. The US and Japan, to make sure we had the best possible source.
...
Upon receipt of the last digitalisation from the HDCAM-SR, we decided that it was necessary to restore the video here in France in order to offer an image quality that meets our expectations.
...
When we looked at the video file, we noticed a number of apparent defects, which are also found on previous editions already available on the market: video noise in the image, gelatin chips, scratches, lack of Stitched [Google Transl. sic?] on the background. At that time, we had no other options except to use a restoration of the last file obtained.
...
On relatively recent digital masters (years 80-90), 3 are used mainly: removal of telecine faults; Degrading, and enhancement of image sharpness. It is the combination of these three elements that make it possible to obtain a new master with an improved image, denoised, while remaining faithful to the original film. For older films, the effects of light pumping, image stability and cropping can be added to the list.

To watch the restoration-samples video in HD, download it with this link:
http://fr.vid.web.acsta.net/nmedia/33/17...hd_013.mp4
Frankly, both sides of the split-screen video look (mostly) the same. Because it's only 1280x720?. I was hoping for examples of the interlace ghosting/damage.

Thanks, so that will be crap. Grain is scrubbed, visible edge enhancement and colors are dull. Whoo, they worked hard to turn out another bad release.
Don't know how much of the softness and banding is from the recompression and 720p conversion.

Why is this movie so hard to get right?

[spoRv]

I wonder if a better Japanese HDTV version exists, maybe WOWOW...

[Ronster]

This is possibly worth checking out if you tackle GITS 2 is the music video anthology as apparently there is some extra shots that are not in the feature film.

I have the UK DVD for the original GITS and this film.

[BronzeTitan]

If the French restoration team is fully correct (in this English translation anyway), then no source of GITS, of better quality and/or lack of "damage", exists. They indicated that only the "last one" (Japan?) was the best to use (which I think would be expected, it being a Japanese film). And it looks like 720p was what they were working with from all the sources they obtained. That would explain the grain-scrubbing, because it was to be further enlarged to full HD.

If there is a version of that 720p .WMV available, it might be the earliest (and best) source to reference. Can anyone post screen-caps of it's opening helicopters-tracking frames (of the bad -interlacing I previously posted from the [Judgment] HDTV source)?

[Beetwaaf]

Does anyone know if there are any screencaps out there of the Japanese 2017 re-release?

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N12EY85/

Supposedly it's not pillarboxed like all previous blu-rays, the previous japanese release is even better than the french (the grain is still there etc.) but this seems like it quite possibly could solve the issues that have plagued previous releases.