[Cancelled] Mad Max 2/Road Warrior Regrade (Warner 97 DVD and LD)

[PDB]

Apparently there has been a 35mm restoration of Mad Max 2.
Some interesting videos linked in the article also.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/70747

That's cool to see and a great interview. Thanks for posting CSchmidlapp. Miller has always come off as an affable guy in interviews. Anyone see his interview on El Rey?

I'd love to see Road Warrior on 35mm again. I think that movie benefits greatly from a nice grainy print. It fits the mood.

Just my 2 cents PDB.

I think I prefer the DVD, I say 'I Think' because the saturation is spot on to me but it has (Skin tones mostly) a little to much red/purple to it. I've never had the chance to see Mad Max 2 on 35mm so I have no idea what is right. It's always been one of my favourite films and my memory from watching over some 25 years is deep blue sky and super red desert, with Mel Looking a little Sun burnt throughout.
Maybe a compromise between the two is best?

The blue tint night scenes are interesting, Its not something I noticed being different when I viewed the Bluray. If the Blu was indeed taken straight from negatives with no timing correction done to match the release 'approved' final colour timming, this has to be right doesn't it?

Overall, I prefer the LD but I can see why you, Stamper and others prefer the DVD. The more I look at the LD versus the DVD, the more I see that there are pro and cons for each. So your advice about comprise is probably going to be right.

The funny thing is the masters for both the LD and DVD is definitely the same. I found dirt, specks and glue marks that line up perfectly between the two. So any differences in the transfers and tweaking after the master was made.

I started to play around with the LD and DVD, seeing if I can tweak the image a bit. Bring each close to the other. One thing I think the DVD has over the LD in spades is the contrast. So as an experiment I turned up the contrast on the LD rip till is was close to the level of the DVD (Ignore the blurriness) :

LD/LD With Added Contrast
[Image: ld_contrast.jpg]

It helps with the sort of washed-out look that Stamper point out. I also took the DVD and pealed back the red (really magenta) a tiny bit. Since the LD doesn't have the red and that red seems to be a problem with Warner's first gen DVDs, I think its ok to say it shouldn't be there. But I did just a little to start with:

DVD/DVD Minus Red (Actually Magenta)
[Image: dvd_comp_1.jpg]

Both have those cool night blues. Its funny I didn't notice that difference in the night scenes either till I did a one to one comparison. I would think, CSchmidlapp, that those colors are way to specific to be anything but a conscious choice.

There are a few other random scenes that do vary oddly. Like when the Humgus first arrives. The DVD's sky is blue throughout but the LD varies from blue to blow-out white (Notice the too red sky of the DVD in the first pic).

DVD/LD
[Image: dvd_ld_2.jpg]
[Image: dvd_ld.jpg]

So in that case I would use the DVD. So a compromise might be in order.

[CSchmidlapp]

Both have those cool night blues. Its funny I didn't notice that difference in the night scenes either till I did a one to one comparison. I would think, CSchmidlapp, that those colors are way to specific to be anything but a conscious choice.

I agree.

In terms of my comments on the overall re grade please do what you think is best , Its your preservation and it's shaping up to be something really special.

There was talk between me and Stamper sometime ago about putting together a extended cut using the 4:3 DVD and the rare T.V Version. Maybe that's something we could reignite? Maybe it could be included as part of your finished package?

[PDB]

Both have those cool night blues. Its funny I didn't notice that difference in the night scenes either till I did a one to one comparison. I would think, CSchmidlapp, that those colors are way to specific to be anything but a conscious choice.

I agree.

In terms of my comments on the overall re grade please do what you think is best , Its your preservation and it's shaping up to be something really special.

There was talk between me and Stamper sometime ago about putting together a extended cut using the 4:3 DVD and the rare T.V Version. Maybe that's something we could reignite? Maybe it could be included as part of your finished package?

Does that include he extra speech from Pappagallo? Regardless I'd think it would be great to have that stuff on there

[Stamper]

I sadly got my RW DVD stolen, so I don't own the P&S version anymore. Anyone who can provide a copy is welcome. I still have the TV cut DVD thought.

[jonno]

I have had Jonno's PCM audio synced to kk650's release and it is worth including it with yours if you can. Although I seem to remember it was much louder on the left channel and had to do a manual pan to centre it more. Is this how it was on the Laser-disc Jonno?

Interesting - I certainly wasn't aware of that throughout the editing or my own viewings. Give me til the weekend to dig out the Audition edit and look at the waveforms.

That first sync was based off the 1991 laserdisc, but I'm leaning towards the 1994 widescreen edition (which PDB is looking at for one of his colour references) for this new version. I'll make some comparisons before settling on a final decision.

In any event, if a capture of the 1991 P&S video is useful for a project, give me a shout.

[CSchmidlapp]

Does that include he extra speech from Pappagallo? Regardless I'd think it would be great to have that stuff on there

Ive never actually seen the 'Lost' Version, Just read about it and seen the clips / Comparisons independently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdZ30QVRRVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObOxZKepqo

I sadly got my RW DVD stolen, so I don't own the P&S version anymore. Anyone who can provide a copy is welcome. I still have the TV cut DVD thought.

In any event, if a capture of the 1991 P&S video is useful for a project, give me a shout.

A copy of the TV cut DVD would be awesome Stamper, and it would probably mix great with a capture of the P&S VHS Jonno.
It's PDB's project so it's really up to him, I don't mind assembling the 'Lost Cut' but just need the material.
Another way is taking the Blu ray and matching the P&S with cropping and pans ect. The final would be a SD 4:3 version, but that would be a hell of alot of work!

Perhaps we should all put our feelers out for a copy of the P&S DVD, do you know anymore about this addition Stamper (Region 1)?
The You Tube clips above could be included as if all else fails

It might be nice to collect all the Bonus Material available around the world to make this Mad Max 2 release the most complete available.

Some Details Here
http://www.madmaxmovies.com/mad-max-2-th...index.html

All these would make a great DVD to accompany PDB's BD (I gather that is how you we're going to release?), and as I say I don't mind creating it if I can get the material.

---

I also have a Japanese Program somewhere that I got off EBay years ago.

http://www.madmaxmovies.com/mad-max/publ...index.html

It has some great photos and art work. I will try to find it and get it scanned.

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I have had Jonno's PCM audio synced to kk650's release and it is worth including it with yours if you can. Although I seem to remember it was much louder on the left channel and had to do a manual pan to centre it more. Is this how it was on the Laser-disc Jonno?

Interesting - I certainly wasn't aware of that throughout the editing or my own viewings. Give me til the weekend to dig out the Audition edit and look at the waveforms.

That first sync was based off the 1991 laserdisc, but I'm leaning towards the 1994 widescreen edition (which PDB is looking at for one of his colour references) for this new version. I'll make some comparisons before settling on a final decision.

Ive just gone to have a listen to make sure it was not me going crazy and it was one of the files I lost in my epic 3TB hard drive crash! Gutted!

Might be worth using both for completest reasons.
I adore the 'Star Wars De-specialized Editions' as much for there audio preservations.

[Stamper]

I can upload the DVD of the lost to a private link.
Matching / mixing it to an old VHS would be great, it would ensure a constant "quality" thorough lol
The original pan & scan dvd is the flip side of the original 1997 first MM2 DVD release. Should be easy to get on ebay or other for like 25 cents.

[spoRv]

It might be nice to collect all the Bonus Material available around the world to make this Mad Max 2 release the most complete available.

Well said! We haven's set a new "Bonus projects" category for nothing...

Indeed, I'm working hard on two new bonus projects, trying to gather as much material as possible; they are The Arrival and Cube 2 - even if I must admit they are not the most important, famous, best movies around, they "deserve" somehow to have a Bonus disc... the first has very little extra material on DVD, while the second has more, but scattered around many different editions... a MM2 Bonus disc will be a great thing to add to any fan collection!

[jonno]

A copy of the TV cut DVD would be awesome Stamper, and it would probably mix great with a capture of the P&S VHS Jonno.

Sorry, my post was ambiguous - I meant the video from the 1991 P&S laserdisc. It'll still match up well, being marginally better resolution than the equivalent VHS.

I can dig out a link for the old PCM sync if you want another look - it's still on my cloud storage.

[Stamper]

Awesome, I'll work on ripping the DVD of the TV cut and will PM you guys the link.