[Cancelled] Evil Dead Regrade (Japanese Herald Laserdisc)

[MrBrown]

I think that OAR was 1.33:1, while IAR was 1.66:1 (or 1.85:1, perhaps?)

At least in Germany, the Theatrical release is stated to be in 1.37:1, on the ofdb.

[spoRv]

Now that you wrote that, it should be 1.37:1 Academy AR - I always forget about this, considering all "full screen" to be 1.33:1, and "wide screen" 2.35/2.39/2.40:1 the same - usually tending to mention film based as 2.35:1 and digital ones as 2.40:1... this whole "aspect ratio affaire" needs a well written thread on its own... anyone?

[PDB]

I don't think it's been brought up over here yet, but the UHD of Evil Dead has fewer digital changes than the 1080p BD.

From blu-ray.com:

"Just watched it. Looks like this is a combination of the altered and untampered version. All moon shots remain fixed. Rob Tapert in the background is still digitally editied out. Things they left unchaged are the lens flares that were painted out on the blu-ray. The lights painted out in the background when they discovered the bridge is destroyed are left unaltered. The crew member's reflection in the cabin window is back!

PQ is great btw. Glad they kept the OAR. Too bad about the extras."

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php...st15615816

Definitely useful if someone can rip the UHD disc, but I guess it's up to you whether or not it's worth the effort. I was actually gonna rip it myself but didn't realize my BD burner was on firmware 1.03, so it won't even recognize the disc.

Thanks for the heads up Dek. That is truly bizarre that it is the same master but not all the fixes have been applied. Not sure how that happens.

Regardless I have a copy of the UHD but was pretty far along with my existing regrade project as is. So I might have to insert the footage or start over. Not sure yet.

[LucasGodzilla]

So I'm going to quickly apologize in advance for making this tangent post since I don't feel like this thing alone is worth a separate thread all of its own.

 The left is my Palace VHS, centre the Herald Videogram LD, and right is a German lobby card... The lobby card taken from a 35mm print certainly looks to be half way between the two.

I took notice of this post from a bit back and I decided to take a little bit of time to try and grade that clip of the movie so that it'd look closer to the color grading of the German Lobby Card with "okay" results (I also cropped it from the O.A.R. or 4:3 to the supposed theatrical 5:3 widescreen aspect ratio).

I haven't been able to exactly replicate it, unfortunately, probably due to my inexperience with color grading and lack of the proper software perhaps, but it's certainly along the lines of the lobby card colors I think. Not enough blue and a tad too exposed though, or so I think, I'm not entirely sure. I'm using the more-recent HD transfer of the movie that came with the 4K Blu-ray so maybe that's contributing to the problem.

Also I don't know why I noticed this only now but for some reason the audio is stupidly out of sync.

[spoRv]

LucasGodzilla, happy to see you are starting your first project! (right?)

It will take (a lot of) time and some (much) effort to get good results, but it will be rewarding... do not give up!

[The_Evil_Dead_Number_1_Fan]

btw. Does anyone know how the theatrical color timing was back in time?

I just noticed that there are in the DVD time at least two different color timings, adding the unique herald LaserDisc Color Timing.

But if you check here http://sd.caps-a-holic.com/vergleich.php?vergleichID=37 you see that especcially in Images 3 and 4 the colors differ not only by slight tunes. (While the Elite DVD is slightly darker, compared to the old Anchor bay.. it still seem the same color grading itself, while it differs from the other Versions more extreme.

Image 5 is another good example, with two very different color backgrounds.. some seem to have a more pink wall lighting, while the Elite and old Anchor bay seem to have the wall more colored lik Ashs face.

No, no no no DEFINITELY NOT !!!!!, ALL of you are PAINFULLY WRONG !!!!!.

You want to know how TRULY The Evil Dead looks in his premiere in 1981 ?????, ok, read:

The 20th Anniversary edition or one of the reprints of it, THAT'S the CORRECT answer, The ONE and The ONLY answer.

Because The 20th Anniversary version is THE ONLY one which conserve 1000% its Original Colors / Color Timing ? NONE of the VHS / some DVDs / and less any of the Blu-rays has it, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION, it is 1000% ABSOLUTELY the 1000% TOTALLY PURE and 1000% DEFINITELY the 1000% FULLY PRISTINE version THAT EXISTS, and the BEST looking transfer THAT EXISTS.

The 20Th Anniversary version is 1000% THE EXACT SAME Theatrical Print from 1981, 1000% WHICH ITS ORIGINAL COLORS / COLOR TIMING, 1000% UNALTERED IN ANY SENSE, TOTALLY AND FULLY FREE OF ANY ALTERATIONS OF ANY KIND.

Not a SINGLE other release worldwide can be compared to The 20th Anniversary version, because it is 1000% CONFIRMED The 1000% ORIGINAL Theatrical Print from 1981 in ALL ITS ETERNAL AND HOLY GLORY !!!!!.

Want to watch THE TRUE form of The Evil Dead ?????, like the people do in its 1981 premiere ?????, get The 20th Anniversary version.

Is not the "purest" and "more pristine" version, IS 1000% THE ORIGINAL TRULY AND TOTALLY PURE AND 1000% FULLY AND COMPLETELY PRISTINE VERSION THAT EXISTS !!!!!, Again, THE EXACT SAME ORIGINAL THEATRICAL PRINT FROM 1981, ONLY CONSERVE IN THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER RELEASE HAS IT, NO VHS, NO OTHER DVD, NO BLU-RAY, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

[The_Evil_Dead_Number_1_Fan]

AGAIN, IMPORTANT:

No, no no no DEFINITELY NOT !!!!!, ALL of you are PAINFULLY WRONG !!!!!.

You want to know how TRULY The Evil Dead looks in his premiere in 1981 ?????, ok, read:

The 20th Anniversary edition or one of the reprints of it, THAT'S the CORRECT answer, The ONE and The ONLY answer.

Because The 20th Anniversary version is THE ONLY one which conserve 1000% its Original Colors / Color Timing ? NONE of the VHS / some DVDs / and less any of the Blu-rays has it, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION, it is 1000% ABSOLUTELY the 1000% TOTALLY PURE and 1000% DEFINITELY the 1000% FULLY PRISTINE version THAT EXISTS, and the BEST looking transfer THAT EXISTS.

The 20Th Anniversary version is 1000% THE EXACT SAME Theatrical Print from 1981, 1000% WHICH ITS ORIGINAL COLORS / COLOR TIMING, 1000% UNALTERED IN ANY SENSE, TOTALLY AND FULLY FREE OF ANY ALTERATIONS OF ANY KIND.

Not a SINGLE other release worldwide can be compared to The 20th Anniversary version, because it is 1000% CONFIRMED The 1000% ORIGINAL Theatrical Print from 1981 in ALL ITS ETERNAL AND HOLY GLORY !!!!!.

Want to watch THE TRUE form of The Evil Dead ?????, like the people do in its 1981 premiere ?????, get The 20th Anniversary version.

Is not the "purest" and "more pristine" version, IS 1000% THE ORIGINAL TRULY AND TOTALLY PURE AND 1000% FULLY AND COMPLETELY PRISTINE VERSION THAT EXISTS !!!!!, Again, THE EXACT SAME ORIGINAL THEATRICAL PRINT FROM 1981, ONLY CONSERVE IN THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER RELEASE HAS IT, NO VHS, NO OTHER DVD, NO BLU-RAY, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

[The_Evil_Dead_Number_1_Fan]

The 4K release is NOT OAR!!!

OAR is 1.66:1 and not 1.33:1

Wrong.

[The_Evil_Dead_Number_1_Fan]

Hey guys! 

Firstly; amazing project, the work so far here is fantastic!! (you are actually making a project I intended to undertake myself, albeit my intention was to only use regraded footage to replace frames with hardcoded Japanese subs, in order to preserve as much of the *genuine* grain/dirt/scratches/noise of the laserdisc as possible)

The colour grading of The Evil Dead is a bit of an obsession with me, so I figured I'd share some of my opinions in case it is of any interest or use to the project (though this is purely for info only, not meaning to step on anyone's toes on what is alraedy an amazing regrade!!)

Firstly, for those discussing the colour grading in DVD releases and the blu-ray, I would (personally) disregard those completely from a purist point of view... every single one of those releases are incredibly artificial looking and colours are edited almost beyond recognition [see screenshot comparisons I've taken below - I included both the betamax and VHS version of the original UK Palace release to account for any tape fading]



Once you take all of the digital releases out of the picture and only look at the VHS/Betamax/Laserdiscs, you start getting consistency (at least, after accounting for different hues). 

The Palace VHS/Betamax was released at the same time as the original cinema run in the UK in 1982, before a US theatrical release (not including the 'Book of the Dead' premier of course) and it is my belief that the TRUE colours of 'The Evil Dead' lie half way between the palace release, and the 1985 Herald Videogram Laserdisc from Japan. 

How I came to this conclusion; 

I love the Herald Videogram Laserdisc... It is my favourite release of the movie ever. I love the cool / darker colour tones. These dark/cool tones were also present in the UK Palace release (first ever home video release), in most of the lobby cards lifted from the 35mm, the 35mm trailer, and also the obscure Hindi dubbed version on youtube. However, while I believe the darker/ blue tones SHOULD be there (as opposed to the abysmal warm/light dvd and blu-rays), many laserdisc releases had a bluer image than most other home media  (compare if you will, Jurassic Park laserdisc or James Cameron's Aliens Special Edition LD for example) so while the Herald Videogram Laserdisc is my preferred version, I also believe it may be slightly TOO blue in day scenes resulting in yellow tones to skin.

In contrast, while the Palace release has the nice dark blue tones during the night scenes, it also has far too much pink.. however, check out the image below; 




 The left is my Palace VHS, centre the Herald Videogram LD, and right is a German lobby card... The lobby card taken from a 35mm print certainly looks to be half way between the two. 

To further test this theory, I've thrown the 35mm trailer from Rob's Book of the Dead fansite into the mix, using the end sequence as a reference; 



Palace VHS on the left, 35mm trailer centre, and Herald Videogram Laserdisc on the right - as you can see, after accounting for fading, the UK VHS again looks to be more accurate in overall colour, with the laserdisc accurately representing the dark tones. 


Now, I know the purpose of THIS regrade project is to emulate the laserdisc, and not the theatrical colours, but my reasons for posting these images is that I do not believe the pink tones on the laserdisc to be errors - I think they are more accurate to the source material. 

I'd love you to reconsider the decision in 'correcting' them or at least release a version with them left as seen in the laserdisc (though the project is yours and I love it all the same even with the modifications you have made - very grateful for your hard work!!)


As a side note, my dream project would be to colour grade the laserdisc half way between the palace vhs and the HV ld, using regraded frames from alternate sources to remove the hard coded subs, and then creating a duplicate black and white version and overlapping the two videos to emulate silver retention from 35mm film. Though I'm really keen to get my hands on a capture of a Thorn Emi USA Vhs to see how those colours stack up (I have the thorn emi betamax but no way of capturing it at the minute). I'd like to see if the first USA release has the same colours as the Palace release (such as a blue filter whenever there is a point of view of the evil force at night, or the green tones during night forest scenes) I'm also really curious to see if the palace VHS was the only version to have the dark blue filter during Ash emerging from the cellar (see screens above)

Anyway, looking forward to this release!!

~Auto~

AGAIN AND FOREVER:

No, no no no DEFINITELY NOT !!!!!, ALL of you are PAINFULLY WRONG !!!!!.

You want to know how TRULY The Evil Dead looks in his premiere in 1981 ?????, ok, read:

The 20th Anniversary edition or one of the reprints of it, THAT'S the CORRECT answer, The ONE and The ONLY answer.

Because The 20th Anniversary version is THE ONLY one which conserve 1000% its Original Colors / Color Timing ? NONE of the VHS / some DVDs / and less any of the Blu-rays has it, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION, it is 1000% ABSOLUTELY the 1000% TOTALLY PURE and 1000% DEFINITELY the 1000% FULLY PRISTINE version THAT EXISTS, and the BEST looking transfer THAT EXISTS.

The 20Th Anniversary version is 1000% THE EXACT SAME Theatrical Print from 1981, 1000% WHICH ITS ORIGINAL COLORS / COLOR TIMING, 1000% UNALTERED IN ANY SENSE, TOTALLY AND FULLY FREE OF ANY ALTERATIONS OF ANY KIND.

Not a SINGLE other release worldwide can be compared to The 20th Anniversary version, because it is 1000% CONFIRMED The 1000% ORIGINAL Theatrical Print from 1981 in ALL ITS ETERNAL AND HOLY GLORY !!!!!.

Want to watch THE TRUE form of The Evil Dead ?????, like the people do in its 1981 premiere ?????, get The 20th Anniversary version.

Is not the "purest" and "more pristine" version, IS 1000% THE ORIGINAL TRULY AND TOTALLY PURE AND 1000% FULLY AND COMPLETELY PRISTINE VERSION THAT EXISTS !!!!!, Again, THE EXACT SAME ORIGINAL THEATRICAL PRINT FROM 1981, ONLY CONSERVE IN THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER RELEASE HAS IT, NO VHS, NO OTHER DVD, NO BLU-RAY, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

[MrBrown]

AGAIN, IMPORTANT:

No, no no no DEFINITELY NOT !!!!!, ALL of you are PAINFULLY WRONG !!!!!.

You want to know how TRULY The Evil Dead looks in his premiere in 1981 ?????, ok, read:

The 20th Anniversary edition or one of the reprints of it, THAT'S the CORRECT answer, The ONE and The ONLY answer.

Because The 20th Anniversary version is THE ONLY one which conserve 1000% its Original Colors / Color Timing ? NONE of the VHS / some DVDs / and less any of the Blu-rays has it, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION, it is 1000% ABSOLUTELY the 1000% TOTALLY PURE and 1000% DEFINITELY the 1000% FULLY PRISTINE version THAT EXISTS, and the BEST looking transfer THAT EXISTS.

The 20Th Anniversary version is 1000% THE EXACT SAME Theatrical Print from 1981, 1000% WHICH ITS ORIGINAL COLORS / COLOR TIMING, 1000% UNALTERED IN ANY SENSE, TOTALLY AND FULLY FREE OF ANY ALTERATIONS OF ANY KIND.

Not a SINGLE other release worldwide can be compared to The 20th Anniversary version, because it is 1000% CONFIRMED The 1000% ORIGINAL Theatrical Print from 1981 in ALL ITS ETERNAL AND HOLY GLORY !!!!!.

Want to watch THE TRUE form of The Evil Dead ?????, like the people do in its 1981 premiere ?????, get The 20th Anniversary version.

Is not the "purest" and "more pristine" version, IS 1000% THE ORIGINAL TRULY AND TOTALLY PURE AND 1000% FULLY AND COMPLETELY PRISTINE VERSION THAT EXISTS !!!!!, Again, THE EXACT SAME ORIGINAL THEATRICAL PRINT FROM 1981, ONLY CONSERVE IN THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER RELEASE HAS IT, NO VHS, NO OTHER DVD, NO BLU-RAY, JUST THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY VERSION.

1.: Thanks for letting us know without any real evidence of what you are saying.

2.: There is nothing as a 1000% percentage correct. Because that would not be true correct, but over the top, so like when colors are 10 times more saturated, it would bi kind of 1000%.
% as in "per cent" is "of hundret" so. If you wand to say something is correct, it would be 100%

3.: As the movie might got copied in different states on different stock and by different companies, it even is possible that different countries had slightly different colors and quality.

4.: you are very repertitive in your "comments", and kind of painfully rude, again you bring no proof of what you are stating, or, it feels lmore like you are shouting with al the capital letters and extentive usage of '?' and '!'.