[In progress] True Lies - open matte, film regraded

[maksnew]

Is there any news on this project?

[spoRv]

In the vault with the others, I should be back work on them soon - it is still so hot here, that when I have (few) free time, I just can't do anything but rest!

[ablehdTVer]

You never know, Cameron may actually FINALLY approve 'his' versions for release :-)

Awesome film, really overdue a proper release

Looking forward to yours in the meantime, if I can help let me know !

[Beber]

So, I've been playing with Dr. Dre's tool, and here's what I obtain:

Trailer from DVD / Latest German DTheater remade version / Result:

[LucasGodzilla]

So, I've been playing with Dr. Dre's tool, and here's what I obtain:

Trailer from DVD / Latest German DTheater remade version / Result:

Just thought I'd post in frames from the 35mm print scan for comparison's sake.

[Beber]

I have that 35mm scan, too. I think, sometime in the future, I'll give it a shot using both the trailer and the scan as references as I'm still not convinced that first reel should look this dark and overly blue. But first, I need to learn how to use those LUTs things in DaVinci Resolve.

[Doctor M]

I had thought we were going to see an official release, but I read this recent article today: https://www.filmstories.co.uk/features/t...k-problem/
You'd think, unable to continue filming Avatar, Cameron would have taken the past couple months and finalized some BDs for us.

Anyway, I dug out my old open matte 720p-DTS D-Theater rip from 2007 and noticed there is far superior versions around now.
Comparing a pile of screenshots on HDBits, which now has a 1080i rip from the D-Theater source (which isn't open matte for some reason, possibly a German release(?), possibly found on Usenet(?)), an open matte web-dl (with Starz logo), a 4k scan of an LPP print and the Starz OAR web-dl.

The LPP scan is too soft and light and shadow detail are flattened. The 1080i D-Theater is good, but low on grain and softer.

The "True Lies 1994 1080p WEB-DL DD+5.1 H.264-ABM" release is the real winner. 2.35:1, no logo, better detail, intact grain, and a E-AC3 640kbps track. A little color correction and it could be the ideal version for now. No need for grain clean up or grain plates or much of anything else.

Maksnew already posted a screenshot comparison there, and I leave it to him/her if it gets reposted here for your viewing.

Other thoughts:
I have never seen a single homebrew film transfer that didn't look wrong. I would take a film scan with a grain of salt. Your best bet for a reference would actually be the DVD (PAL if you're picky). Cameron would have approved the colors on it.

The LPP film release has a DTS track rip from a cinema disc(?). It's 768kbps, there is also a 1510kbps D-Theater track available (although my old one has 768kbps).

[Stamper]

A kind soul here passed me the Cinema DTS discs.

I may sync those to the ABM version that is on my list.

[Beber]

Your best bet for a reference would actually be the DVD (PAL if you're picky).  Cameron would have approved the colors on it.

I seriously don't think so. It's the usual 90s transfer with ugly red push. And I don't see how True Lies would be acurate on DVD just because it's Cameron's movie, and that would automaticly mean we should assume he approved it, when all of his other movies on DVD were inacurate. Plus, all the HD transfers look pretty much the same anyway, being derived from the same source anyway. Seriously, the trailer on the same DVD looks already so much more like film, and of course the 35mm scan. Those are clearly the best references to me.

But thanks for putting the ABM on my radar. I haven't found it yet, but I'll be searching for it. The best one I have at the moment is True.Lies.1994.REGRADED.German.DL.1080p.HYBRID.x264.READNFO-BLOODSUCKERZ. It's in scope (even reframed a bit by the German guy who made it and polished it a bit while at it), being DTheater sourced. For open matte, you have to go the HDTV or WEBrip/WEB-DL route as far as I know.

[nafroe]

I also vaguely remember seeing that someone shared the full bitrate DTS track from the D-Theater which was synced to the 35mm scan