TAF Restored Masters

[PDB]

The best option here would be to take out the chroma entirely and release it in black and white, the way the director originally intended.

Thanks but no thanks. If you want it in near black and white, just stick with the commercial BD. Anyway, the director didn't get his wish, and the film was in fact shot in full color.

I have Devil Rides out on BD and the old DVD. I thought to upscale the old SFX and put them back into the BD master (which has the same color issues as Brides and HOD) but never got around to it.

To be honest, if I were to do another Hammer title, I would do Curse of Frankenstein. Did you ever do a comparison, PDB, between the iTunes HD master of the DVD and the BD? I'm curious which is a better starting point; for what it's worth, I believe recalling the iTunes HD master is superior.

In any case, despite being sourced from misaligned seps which are horrendously soft, both ALSO seem to be undercontrasted and too bright, much like Horror of Dracula's initial DVD.

Yeah, I recall the itunes being better but it was really splitting hairs. I'm not sure COD is worth your time right now since Warners is suppose to be working on a new remaster with (rumored) better elements then what they gave the UK. But those are rumors

[The Aluminum Falcon]

I fell behind on my release schedule a bit, so I made up for it by releasing Dracula '58 a bit early!

Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Le Samourai, and Dracula are now all available.

Unfortunately, because of reasons that have been discussed in this thread, I'm indefinitely postponing my version of Dracula '79. It really requires more extensive color correction, and I don't think I'm personally invested enough in the film to be the right person for the job.

BUT, the good news is now I'm interested in hearing from you guys what should be the new TRM014.

OPTION 1: Curse of Frankenstein (1957): Restored UK Master

The UK BD is horrendously soft; moreover, it's too bright and too magenta shifted with no blues at all. It was likely taken from the color separations combined without any color correction. This is a color-corrected version of that, which visually goes rather well with my Dracula release. (Incidentally, I did do a comparison with the iTunes master, which despite having slightly better contrast and color, does have less detail/sharpness).

BD

Restored UK Master


BD

Restored UK Master


BD

Restored UK Master


OPTION 2: Revenge of Frankenstein (1959): Restored US Master

Though better looking than it's predecessor, the Mill Creek BD is an old master which is still too bright and magenta, as well as somewhat undersaturated. Again, it now looks like other Hammer titles.

BD

Restored US Master


BD

Restored US Master


OPTION 3: Casino Royale (2006): "35mm" Reconstruction

Out of keeping with TRM's normal purview of films, this is more a fun project than anything, but here's the uncut UK BD graded to resemble the HD trailer () uploaded at 007 Dossier. The overall look leans a lot more on blues and lacks the yellow tint of the BD. In particular, Craig now stands out as a blue-eyed Bond.

Sample Screenshots:




OPTION 4: Annie Hall (1977): Non-Yellow

The BD has low contrast and a yellow shift. This custom takes that look out and resembles more contemporary 70s films. Curious how it looked theatrically, as I've never seen this in 35mm and the yellow could be intentional, but this makes for an alternate experience. It now resembles the DVD slightly more closely.

BD

Non-Yellow


OPTION 5: Stolen Kisses (1968): "35mm Reconstruction"

If you thought I was done doing French films, then you might be wrong...  The second sequel to The 400 Blows, this is actually one of Truffaut's best and a personal favorite. The FR release is pretty good. Wanted to see what it looked like with a more saturated "35mm" look.

Sample Screenshots:
BD

Custom


BD

Custom


BD

Custom


Let me know below if you guys are interested in any of these titles!

[PDB]

Well since you already worked on it. I vote for Curse. As a second I choice I'd say Casino since that grading looks nice.

(Not an Allen fan, so take that into account)

[IcePrick]

IIRC The UK BD of Casino Royale is not uncut. It has BBFC cuts while the US BD has different PG-13 cuts.I know the Scandinavian release is fully uncut.

[zoidberg]

There is an uncut UK (rated 15) casino royale, I've got it

[IcePrick]

Okay. I wasn't aware. Is it from the 50th anniversary box set?

[Chewtobacca]

Yeah, the initial UK release (including the Deluxe Edition) was cut (though not as heavily as the US one), but there was a later release that was uncut.

[The Aluminum Falcon]

Brides of Dracula and Curse of Frankenstein can now be found in the usual places.

Not that the schedule for future titles had to be shuffled up a bit.

[Stamper]

Vote for Casino too! Interesting experiment.

[The Aluminum Falcon]

Not sure if MySpleen will allow me to up Casino Royale, but I'll check. In the meantime, released a custom version of On Her Majesty's Secret Service! It's the BD transfer color-corrected with LD mono and fixed opening/closing credits. More information in the respective thread.

Also up is an HD remaster of the excellent old Never Say McClory Again fan edit.