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

[PDB]

Note: This thread is old and this project has changed a lot. I would suggest reading this first post then reading the latest postings and work your way back

Formally this was one regrade project, now it has two additional MM2/RW projects to form a Mad Max 2 Collection, similar to my Blade Runner collection

Project Info:

The basis of this project is to color regrade the Blu-ray (BD) to look more like the 1997 DVD and 1994 laserdisc (LD). The DVD unfortunately has a red/magenta bias which is similar to all early Warner DVDs. The LD, which uses the same master, is less red and tends more towards orange and yellow but is over saturated and has less stable black levels. Basically, both come from the same master but their individual details vary enough to make them each unique. So in the end, I will regrade this to the DVD but provide an alternative regrade to the LD.

Furthermore, the DVD grade was further modified by balancing the shadows and removing a bit of the red/magenta bias and re-balanced the colors and black level slightly with some small amount of luma recovered from the original BD. The LD has had it's black levels adjusted and some small amount of luma recovered from the original BD

Since members here wanted each of the titles preserve, Mad Mad 2 and Road Warrior, I decided to re-create the shorter the US Theatrical cut (aka the International cut) found on all media up until the BD using the DVD grade while the longer Mad Max 2 will use the laserdisc grade.
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1. Mad Max 2 (Regrade to the 1994 LD v1.0)

Video:
2013 Blu-Ray (Extended Cut) video color regraded to the 1994 LD

Audio:
1. PCM 2.0 44.1 KHz Dolby Surround/ Stereo (from the 1994 Warner Laserdisc)
2. PCM 2.0 48KHz Dolby Surround/Stereo (from the 1994 Warner Laserdisc)
3. DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the Warner BD)
4. Possible Isolated Score


Pics:
LD Regrade WIP (not all shots have the final grade yet)

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2. The Road Warrior US Theatrical/International Cut (Regrade to the 1997 DVD v1.0)

Video:
Project number 1 cut down to match the US Theatrical cut and regrade to the DVD video.

Audio:
1. PCM 2.0 48KHz Dolby Surround/Stereo (from the 1994 Warner Laserdisc)
2. DD 5.1 (from the DVD)

Pics
DVD Regrade WIP (not all shots have the final grade yet)

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Pics

BD/BD regraded to DVD


Thanks:
Jonno - big thanks for the PCM track, LD cap and end Warner logo
Tas007- for the recreated Saul Bass logo


https://i.imgur.com/15fmmxV.jpg

[DoomBot]

The color grading is looking awesome PDB. That new Mad Max movie has me excited as well. I hope it's as good as the trailers make it out to be.

[Lee]

Hot damn! You're knocking the ball out of the park again!

[PDB]

Stamper:
Thanks for the nice words. Is the french in sync with the BD? Not sure what subs/soundtracks this is going to have at the moment. I definitely want Jonno's Dolby Stereo/Surround track as the main track. Optionally, I was thinking maybe the lossy 5.1 track from the BD. I was also thinking of trying some remixes of the Jonno's DS soundtrack into 5.1 using some of the Dolby Surround decoders that I was collecting a few year ago (Fosgate Model 5, Shure HTS, etc) That last part is a wish list that may not happen

Doombot:
Thanks Doombot. I'm hoping and praying the movie looks as half as good as the trailer. I wasn't 100% sold of Hardy in the beginning, maybe because its change, but that trailer changed my mind. Can't wait. And thanks for your help and advice.

Lee:
Thanks Lee, I love the enthusiasm hopefully the regrade will live up to expectations.


One of things I wanted to include is the old Saul Bass Warner Bros logo. It was on the old DVD and on the 35mm print I saw. I was hoping to create it in HD using the logo from another movie but its hard since WB seems to have removed that logo from a lot of old movies and the only ones I can find are 2.35/9 and they don't work
[Image: saul.jpg]
So I may just upscale the DVD's logo

I'm going to keep the titles Mad Max 2 instead of changing them back to Road Warrior.

One last thing interesting I noticed. The night scene when Max is leaving has a very striking blue filter on the DVD that is non-existent on the BD. Its a huge difference

BD/BD regraded to DVD
[Image: mm2_4.jpg]

[Booshman]

One of things I wanted to include is the old Saul Bass Warner Bros logo. It was on the old DVD and on the 35mm print I saw. I was hoping to create it in HD using the logo from another movie but its hard since WB seems to have removed that logo from a lot of old movies and the only ones I can find are 2.35/9 and they don't work
[Image: saul.jpg]
So I may just upscale the DVD's logo

If you want a HD source that matches the WB logo on the bottom check "Enter the Dragon", it has the exact one. I have it ripped and saved as lossless avi if you would like me to send it to you.

[spoRv]

Just out of curiosity, what's about the laserdisc color grading?

[Stamper]

It's the same as the DVD. Same master.

[PDB]

One of things I wanted to include is the old Saul Bass Warner Bros logo. It was on the old DVD and on the 35mm print I saw. I was hoping to create it in HD using the logo from another movie but its hard since WB seems to have removed that logo from a lot of old movies and the only ones I can find are 2.35/9 and they don't work
[Image: saul.jpg]
So I may just upscale the DVD's logo

If you want a HD source that matches the WB logo on the bottom check "Enter the Dragon", it has the exact one. I have it ripped and saved as lossless avi if you would like me to send it to you.

Well like minds think alike, Booshman. That bottom pic is from Enter The Dragon (the top Road Warrior DVD).Basically the RW is different dimensions with more at the top and bottom and occurs at a faster speed. I thought that these were incomparable with the 2.35 logo and I would need a different source but in writing this reply I started to play around with the logos in Photoshop:

DVD overlayed and streched to fit the 2.35
[Image: saul_1.jpg]

The differences I saw are just a distortion of compressing the 2.35 image. So I guess if I can figure out how to do the same things in Premiere I can fix it. The Enter does say presents so I will have to find a way to mask that out

Yep same master as the LD. I had that LD long ago and got rid of it when the DVD came out since they were the same (before I realized the joys of PCM Dolby Surround)

Edit: Well I can stretch the DVD to fit the 2.35 but the other way around, the way I need it, is a bit trickier

[Image: bd_01_40_09_16_Still029.png]

[spoRv]

NTSC LD chroma has 480 horizontal lines Vs 240 of DVD, while only about 200 (in the best case) vertical TV lines Vs about 240 of DVD... so, which would be the best to use as color reference?!?

(never thought about this, right?)

[Lil Brutto]

I'm REALLY looking forward to this. Pulling off the Saul Bass Warner logo would be awesome!