[Idea] Robocop (1987) UAR version

[spoRv]

OK, managed to find the TC Italian DVD (DTS); now, it will be great to find out both German and Spanish TC (French multichannel to), if they exist - and I suspect they do, even if probably they were very old edition, or, like Italian, one of the two disc edition labeled as "Director's Cut" (hence so difficult to find!)

UAR missing shots: finally I produced a decent version of the scene with Bob and the two girls; far from perfect, but considering sources are low def (a non anamorphic DVD and a laserdisc) with very different color grading, I'm pretty satisfied. Now, few other shots could be tested, then produced, then added to the final version. But I run out of HDD space - seriously, I deleted everything possible... I must wait for a bit...

[crissrudd4554]

Well I tried DVDDecryptor and SmartRipper and somehow its not ripping them right. When I put them together there's no smooth transition. Either the end of one clip is missing something or the start of the next clip is. So I guess (gulp) I'm gonna have to rip this the old fashion way......................

[spoRv]

OK, finally got the Italian TC DVD; should choose a track, probably I'll use AC-3 448kbps instead DTS 755kbps, as the latter has a roll-off on high frequencies. English and commentary tracks are the same of the Sony BD.

Still looking for German and Spanish TC audio tracks, as well as multichannel French.

[Jetrell Fo]

I like the Sony Blu-ray plenty so I'm more interested in your Criterion 1:66:1 plans.

[spoRv]

First let me finish this UAR project!

Working on the fixed UAR shots (the ones which are not available on FS TV, but are on FS LD); quality of them (PAL FS LD + Criterion DVD) is of course lower than TV+BD, but I'm happy to see much more image than BD alone, and they blend better - I prefer to have the same aspect ratio, albeit with a lower quality, than a "jump" from UAR to letterbox back to UAR; at the end, those last few seconds, so I guess is a good trade-off.

About audio tracks: according to DVDCompare, there are for sure French and German theatrical cut DVD:

R2 Collector's Edition France - MGM Home Entertainment
R2 Special Edition Germany - MGM Home Entertainment

now, no info about Spanish editions, but often they are not listed there, so I'm pretty sure it exists.

[Stamper]

But the sound on those is the same crap 5.1 as the Sony disc for french no?

[CourtlyHades296]

I think that the French LPCM would be fine.

[spoRv]

But the sound on those is the same crap 5.1 as the Sony disc for french no?

Don't know... *maybe* it is the *right* track (read: the same master used for LD, but multichannel).
Of course, if it will be the botched one, only LD version will be included.

[crissrudd4554]

Hope you will succed! Meanwhile, can you post some images before 1h22m?

In particular, frames I posted in post #80 https://fanrestore.com/thread-2098-post-...l#pid42713
so we can have a comparison between your DVD, Sony BD and French LD grading (through UAR regrading)

Finally got around to this. I have grabs from the Image DVD and two VHS editions I captured years ago. The second VHS looks like it may be be an open matte version of the print used on the DVD. 




















Also just curious of what way you'll be doing with this shot. The first VHS has the green light reflecting off Clarence's face while the second VHS and the Image DVD the green is reduced noticeably. I don't have any of the BD releases but I recall the 2007 DVD having the green while the 2001 DVD had the reduced green. I have the latter two DVDs but they're at my other place right now so I can't post grabs presently.

[spoRv]

Thanks a lot to crissrudd4554 to have provided the TC US DVD with 2.0 audio track, that should be the same found on the Image PCM LD; even if it's only AC-3 192kbps, unless someone would find/provide/capture the PCM from laserdisc, it is the best way to get a track near the theatrical one.

Also put the Italian track from DVD in sync; it's curious that it has one frame more than BD, while the US DVD has three missing ones - in the same place, after explosion at Bob's and before drug factory.

Colors: Italian DVD seems like the 2007 MGM US DVDs, while the US DVD (which lacks the MGM logo at the beginning), has a different grading, often very similar to French LD, while the latter in some shots is completely different from any other versions.

Also just curious of what way you'll be doing with this shot. The first VHS has the green light reflecting off Clarence's face while the second VHS and the Image DVD the green is reduced noticeably. I don't have any of the BD releases but I recall the 2007 DVD having the green while the 2001 DVD had the reduced green. I have the latter two DVDs but they're at my other place right now so I can't post grabs presently.

I can confirm that the Italian DVD has the "green face" - and so it should probably share the same 2007 US DVD color grading. Strangely, the French LD is the same - one of the few (if not the only) shots with colors similar to Italian DVD.

Finally the patches are ready; going to (re)watch the movie, this time in Italian, to check everything will be OK; if so, the final UAR version will be ready soon - it will need only to be regraded as French LD.

As I wrote before, I plan to work onto the 1.66:1 HAR version (Hybrid Aspect Ratio) - basically, it will be the upscaled Criterion DVD with a BD "slapped" onto it, to get HD quality for the central "slice". But further tests are needed, because the Criterion is the only version (AFAIK) that uses a different master, with a very slight rotation, but noticeable warping (or, at the contrary, all the other versions are warped, and it is the only right...)
If I'll find a proper BD (it seems the old MGM BD has very similar contrast, and "compatible" colors), I'll leave out the actual "Criterion-esque" UAR version, because, in that case, it will have no sense, as I have not used the Criterion as direct color reference, but only as inspiration, hence sometimes colors are different - even if color/contrast wise it retains the spirit.