[Idea] Fistful of Dollars (1964) - Multiaudio / Multisub / Multiversion / Multi-AR

[Koopa Luath]

At long last, restoration efforts are underway for Fistful of Dollars, the first of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns. At present, audio tracks are being restored as best as possible; Italian, German (1965 and 1979 dubs), Castilian Spanish, and Japanese (1976 dub AFAICT) audio tracks now have a base mono FLAC master at 192 kHz/24-bit which I might refer to should any additional changes (such as anti-censorship) be made. Restoration of the French audio track is currently in progress; I've just finished the anti-censorship process and only have yet to sync the audio to the restored mono track included as part of a repack and restore the music cues at the start and at the end. English, Turkish, Hungarian, Mexican Spanish, and Portuguese track restorations are pending. My aim for the audio track restorations is to have as much consistency across audio elements as possible.

Preview links to the restored FLAC masters, screenshots, and cover art to come at a date to be determined.

In the meantime, here's a preliminary spec list for my restoration:

VIDEO
Resolution: 1080p (BD), 480p (NTSC DVD), 576p (PAL DVD)
Aspect ratios: 2.35:1, 1.33:1, and 1.78:1 (each on separate masters)

AUDIO
Italian (mono)
German (1965 dub) (mono)
German (1979 dub) (mono)
German (1979 dub) (Dolby Stereo 4.0: left, center, right, and surround)
Castilian Spanish (mono)
Japanese (1976 dub) (mono)
French (mono)
English (mono)
English (6-track: left, left-center, center, right-center, right, and surround)
English (Dolby Stereo SR 4.0: left, center, right, and surround)
Turkish (mono)
Hungarian (mono)
Mexican Spanish (mono)
Mexican Spanish (Dolby Stereo SR 4.0: left, center, right, and surround)
Brazilian Portuguese (mono)

SUBTITLES
English
English SDH
French
French SDH
German
German SDH
Spanish
Spanish SDH (Castellano)
Spanish SDH (Latino)
Italian
Cantonese
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
Greek
Hungarian
Japanese
Mandarin
Norwegian
Portuguese
Swedish
Turkish

The above spec list is not final, which is most true for the subtitles; I might have to drop some of the subtitle options, ultimately, and I have no illusions that I'll be able to get everything I want for this project. But I'll do my darnedest with what I do have.

[captainsolo]

Out of curiosity are you using the MGM or Italian restoration source and with what language credit titles.

[Koopa Luath]

The Italian restoration source. As for the titles, the original Italian titles will be used, with additional title sequences recreated using a font as close to the original Italian credits font as possible for the German, Spanish, French, and English versions, as well as for the Italian re-release that credited co-star Gian Maria Volontè, composer Ennio Morricone, and director Sergio Leone under their real names (the foreign-language title cards themselves will be recreated based on extant materials that I could find). For the Japanese version, I plan on making an original title sequence, with animated footage from the actual title sequence, that more closely reflects Japanese title sequences from the period such as that for Yojimbo, complete with the Eirin certificate number on the title card itself.

[Stamper]

Excellent, I noted in some repacks out there on blogs from France that for example offer Dollars more in mono french, that the french mono track was loudly compressed to the point it's unlistenable, all the dynamic range is destroyed and every low sound is as loud as the loud sounds.

So maybe check out the foreign tracks with an ear about preserving versions with dynamic intacts.

If any mono track sounds loud, compare with alternatives.

I know it's huge work, but you are enterprising a huge release!

[KryptonKing]

This sounds fantastic. The audio options alone remind me of Harmy's Despecialized. 

In reference to your post above about the different titles, are you planning to release a different version for each language or will you be using seamless branching of some sort? Or did I mis-interpret your post 

[Koopa Luath]

I intend to use seamless branching for each language and cut.

[Koopa Luath]

Oh, question: sound effects-wise, how can I tell if a track is a fold-down of a 5.1 mix?

[captainsolo]

You'd have to spot the new effects still in there for one but IIRC there aren't any on the Fistful English remix. The simplest answer would be to directly compare against a mono mix and see if there is any additional information in the other track that suggests it was folded down from multiple channels.

[Koopa Luath]

Anyway, I'm using this tool to measure the dynamic range of my masters. I'm trying to aim for a PLR of 11 and a minimum PSR of 8 whenever possible.

[iguanaclerk]

Kino is apparently releasing a new 4k master bluray of this next year.