2019-11-19, 08:19 PM
(This post was last modified: 2019-11-20, 01:02 AM by HippieDalek.
Edit Reason: Typo
)
I've been working on Highlander fan preservations for a while (I've already posted two of them here) and I just spotted this thread, thought I'd add what I know.
Here's a list of every Highlander film and version I know of:
Highlander
US Theatrical Cut
French Theatrical Cut
European Theatrical Cut
US "Director's Cut"
Highlander 2
US Theatrical Cut
First European Theatrical Cut
Second European Theatrical Cut
Renegade Version
Special Edition
Highlander 3
US Theatrical Cut - "The Final Dimension"
European Theatrical Cut - "The Sorcerer"
US Director's Cut - "The Final Dimensaion"
Endgame
Theatrical Cut
Producer's Cut
Workprint
The Source
"US Cut"
"Russian Cut"
The Search for Vengeance
Original Version
Japanese Director's Cut
I own at least one copy of each of these versions and I've been trying assemble each version of each film into the best quality currently possible. Here's some notes about each of them and how well I think they can each be restored using current releases :
Highlander
The US Theatrical Cut of Highlander has recently been restored in HD by williarob, it's excellent and you should all check it out if you haven't already.
I recently posted my HD restoration of The French Cut, I believe this is the first time it's been available in HD and in English. It's very similar to the US Theatrical Cut but includes the WWII flashback.
The European Cut is the most complete version of the film and is what's now presented on all Blu Rays globally.
The US "Director's Cut" (I personally feel it's more of a producer's cut) is still easily obtainable on US DVDs, but currently no HD version is available. It's very similar to the European Cut but features some major audio changes and some minimal visual changes. It should be pretty easy to reassemble in HD apart from the final quickening which will either have to be upscaled or the cables manually removed.
Highlander 2
Ironically the US Theatrical Cut of Highlander 2 is pretty easy to get hold of on DVD everywhere except the US. The French DVD has the best PQ but awful sound as well as PAL speedup. The Japanese DVD has much better sound but is letterboxed. I'm planning to combine the two sometime soon to get the best version.
Both European Cuts have been widely available for years on DVDs all around Europe, but all of them are censored in some way and all of them are dubbed into their respective languages. There has only ever been one home release to feature the original English audio and that was on a Hong Kong laserdisc. The European Cut loses some scenes from the US Cut, but gains almost all of the extra ones from the Renegade Cut. The soundtrack is drastically different from the US Cut. I've spent quite some time over the last few years researching this version and collecting all the materials I can, and a few months ago I released the first version of my preservation. I've finally got my hands on the Hong Kong laserdisc so I'm hoping to release a version 2 sometime soon that improves the audio.
The Renegade Version is widely available on DVD but as far as I know there has never been a native anamorphic release. There are some anamorphic releases of this in Europe but as far as I know they have all come from the letterboxed source. While it would be possible to re-construct this in higher quality from other sources it would require a lot of colour grading to match the original which has been heavily red tinted.
The Special Edition is what's now presented on all Blu Rays globally. It's very similar to the Renegade version but has been heavily colour graded again (this time to blue), had new CGI effects added, removed a short sequence and added a few snippets of dialogue.
Highlander 3
The US version was titled "The Final Dimension" and has a heavy red colour grading. The original Theatrical Cut trimmed the two sex scenes down, but they were shown in full on home video releases. So technically that's two versions. The home video version has been available on various DVDs as well as a recent Japanese Blu Ray release. I'm not sure if the trimmed version actually shown in theatres has ever been released on home video.
The European release was titled "The Sorcerer" and has a heavy blue colour grading. It's the opposite of the US Cut; the sex scenes were shown in full in the cinemas, but trimmed for initial home releases. It features a single different line of dialogue and a slightly different soundtrack. As far as I know all DVD releases feature the original full length cut. The German and Australian Blu Rays feature this cut, but sadly the PQ is awful. It might be possible to reconstruct this using the higher quality Japanese Blu Ray of the Final Dimension, but it would require heavy colour grading throughout.
The Director's Cut was released to home video, though I've spoken to someone who swears he saw this version in the cinema. It's based on the "red" US cut and several scenes have been "enhanced" with CGI. It would be possible to make an almost entirely HD version of this but the CGI sequences would have to be upscaled from DVD.
Endgame
Like Highlander 2 the Theatrical Cut of Endgame is available widely in Europe but not the US. The DVDs of this version are pretty high quality so I've been thinking about making a mostly-HD cut of this, upscaling the unique footage from the native 576 line PAL DVDs. I've heard rumours of a HD version being shown on TV, but I've not been able to verify them.
The Producer's Cut is the most widely available version, and is even on UK Blu Ray. It's not the best PQ as it's from a very old HD master but it's better than the US DVD.
The Workprint was included as a bonus on the US DVD. It's got a lot of great extra footage but as it's a workprint the quality is pretty rough. This is likely as good as it will ever get. There is an alternate workprint that I believe was shown to fans at a convention prior to the film's release, it was never officially released but was leaked and shared on VCDs back in the day. I used to have a copy but have long since lost it, but from memory it was identical to the workprint shown on the DVD except the scenes of the Christmas tree being delivered to the priests were cut.
The Source
Bizarrely the film was first released on DVD in Russia. I've seen a lot of people claim this was a pirate release but it was genuine. It was quickly shared all over the internet and the intensely bad reaction caused the producers to re-edit the film for it's US release. Ironically this was the first version to be released on Blu Ray and is arguably the best way to watch the film...if you have to.
The heavily re-edited US cut was first shown on TV in a censored form, then later released to DVD in an uncensored version. It's available on multiple DVDs but some have been cropped down to 1.85:1. It's available in it's cropped form on Spanish Blu Ray but it's an atrocious transfer. I've heard it's also now been released on Blu Ray in a multi film pack in the US but I've not seen this release.
As both cuts of the Source are now available on Blu Ray it's the only one that doesn't require any kind of preservation...plus it's awful.
The Search For Vengeance
The original cut of the anime film is the most widely available. It has been released in most territories on DVD and has even been released on Blu Ray in France (including English audio).
The Japanese Director's Cut was released a few years later and expands on the characters. It has only been released on DVD in Japan and again it features English audio. Much like Endgame I'm tempted to make assemble a mostly HD version of this using the French Blu as a basis for most of the film and upscaling the unique footage from the Japanese DVD. I'd also add some English subtitles so I could enjoy the Japanese audio which features quite a few famous anime voice actors.
Sorry for the wall of text; I love Highlander and I love alternate cuts of films, so I can get pretty enthusiastic about this. Hopefully it's useful to everyone here. Let me know if you have any questions, corrections or additional information.
Here's a list of every Highlander film and version I know of:
Highlander
US Theatrical Cut
French Theatrical Cut
European Theatrical Cut
US "Director's Cut"
Highlander 2
US Theatrical Cut
First European Theatrical Cut
Second European Theatrical Cut
Renegade Version
Special Edition
Highlander 3
US Theatrical Cut - "The Final Dimension"
European Theatrical Cut - "The Sorcerer"
US Director's Cut - "The Final Dimensaion"
Endgame
Theatrical Cut
Producer's Cut
Workprint
The Source
"US Cut"
"Russian Cut"
The Search for Vengeance
Original Version
Japanese Director's Cut
I own at least one copy of each of these versions and I've been trying assemble each version of each film into the best quality currently possible. Here's some notes about each of them and how well I think they can each be restored using current releases :
Highlander
The US Theatrical Cut of Highlander has recently been restored in HD by williarob, it's excellent and you should all check it out if you haven't already.
I recently posted my HD restoration of The French Cut, I believe this is the first time it's been available in HD and in English. It's very similar to the US Theatrical Cut but includes the WWII flashback.
The European Cut is the most complete version of the film and is what's now presented on all Blu Rays globally.
The US "Director's Cut" (I personally feel it's more of a producer's cut) is still easily obtainable on US DVDs, but currently no HD version is available. It's very similar to the European Cut but features some major audio changes and some minimal visual changes. It should be pretty easy to reassemble in HD apart from the final quickening which will either have to be upscaled or the cables manually removed.
Highlander 2
Ironically the US Theatrical Cut of Highlander 2 is pretty easy to get hold of on DVD everywhere except the US. The French DVD has the best PQ but awful sound as well as PAL speedup. The Japanese DVD has much better sound but is letterboxed. I'm planning to combine the two sometime soon to get the best version.
Both European Cuts have been widely available for years on DVDs all around Europe, but all of them are censored in some way and all of them are dubbed into their respective languages. There has only ever been one home release to feature the original English audio and that was on a Hong Kong laserdisc. The European Cut loses some scenes from the US Cut, but gains almost all of the extra ones from the Renegade Cut. The soundtrack is drastically different from the US Cut. I've spent quite some time over the last few years researching this version and collecting all the materials I can, and a few months ago I released the first version of my preservation. I've finally got my hands on the Hong Kong laserdisc so I'm hoping to release a version 2 sometime soon that improves the audio.
The Renegade Version is widely available on DVD but as far as I know there has never been a native anamorphic release. There are some anamorphic releases of this in Europe but as far as I know they have all come from the letterboxed source. While it would be possible to re-construct this in higher quality from other sources it would require a lot of colour grading to match the original which has been heavily red tinted.
The Special Edition is what's now presented on all Blu Rays globally. It's very similar to the Renegade version but has been heavily colour graded again (this time to blue), had new CGI effects added, removed a short sequence and added a few snippets of dialogue.
Highlander 3
The US version was titled "The Final Dimension" and has a heavy red colour grading. The original Theatrical Cut trimmed the two sex scenes down, but they were shown in full on home video releases. So technically that's two versions. The home video version has been available on various DVDs as well as a recent Japanese Blu Ray release. I'm not sure if the trimmed version actually shown in theatres has ever been released on home video.
The European release was titled "The Sorcerer" and has a heavy blue colour grading. It's the opposite of the US Cut; the sex scenes were shown in full in the cinemas, but trimmed for initial home releases. It features a single different line of dialogue and a slightly different soundtrack. As far as I know all DVD releases feature the original full length cut. The German and Australian Blu Rays feature this cut, but sadly the PQ is awful. It might be possible to reconstruct this using the higher quality Japanese Blu Ray of the Final Dimension, but it would require heavy colour grading throughout.
The Director's Cut was released to home video, though I've spoken to someone who swears he saw this version in the cinema. It's based on the "red" US cut and several scenes have been "enhanced" with CGI. It would be possible to make an almost entirely HD version of this but the CGI sequences would have to be upscaled from DVD.
Endgame
Like Highlander 2 the Theatrical Cut of Endgame is available widely in Europe but not the US. The DVDs of this version are pretty high quality so I've been thinking about making a mostly-HD cut of this, upscaling the unique footage from the native 576 line PAL DVDs. I've heard rumours of a HD version being shown on TV, but I've not been able to verify them.
The Producer's Cut is the most widely available version, and is even on UK Blu Ray. It's not the best PQ as it's from a very old HD master but it's better than the US DVD.
The Workprint was included as a bonus on the US DVD. It's got a lot of great extra footage but as it's a workprint the quality is pretty rough. This is likely as good as it will ever get. There is an alternate workprint that I believe was shown to fans at a convention prior to the film's release, it was never officially released but was leaked and shared on VCDs back in the day. I used to have a copy but have long since lost it, but from memory it was identical to the workprint shown on the DVD except the scenes of the Christmas tree being delivered to the priests were cut.
The Source
Bizarrely the film was first released on DVD in Russia. I've seen a lot of people claim this was a pirate release but it was genuine. It was quickly shared all over the internet and the intensely bad reaction caused the producers to re-edit the film for it's US release. Ironically this was the first version to be released on Blu Ray and is arguably the best way to watch the film...if you have to.
The heavily re-edited US cut was first shown on TV in a censored form, then later released to DVD in an uncensored version. It's available on multiple DVDs but some have been cropped down to 1.85:1. It's available in it's cropped form on Spanish Blu Ray but it's an atrocious transfer. I've heard it's also now been released on Blu Ray in a multi film pack in the US but I've not seen this release.
As both cuts of the Source are now available on Blu Ray it's the only one that doesn't require any kind of preservation...plus it's awful.
The Search For Vengeance
The original cut of the anime film is the most widely available. It has been released in most territories on DVD and has even been released on Blu Ray in France (including English audio).
The Japanese Director's Cut was released a few years later and expands on the characters. It has only been released on DVD in Japan and again it features English audio. Much like Endgame I'm tempted to make assemble a mostly HD version of this using the French Blu as a basis for most of the film and upscaling the unique footage from the Japanese DVD. I'd also add some English subtitles so I could enjoy the Japanese audio which features quite a few famous anime voice actors.
Sorry for the wall of text; I love Highlander and I love alternate cuts of films, so I can get pretty enthusiastic about this. Hopefully it's useful to everyone here. Let me know if you have any questions, corrections or additional information.
Program material is recorded on the other side of this disc...
