The Killer - New Restoration

[MrBrown]

I've got the Scanbox DVD release, for just 42 Euro including shipping. (As collector's edition, containing Hard Boiled, Bullet in the Head and Once a Thief as well. )

Did you get the Dragon Dynasty BD?

[alleycat]

Hi jrodefeld, this sounds like a great project just wondered how it's going?

[jrodefeld]

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've been busy with other projects, but I'm back to working on The Killer.

I'm using the Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray as the main source. The problem with it is that they did something called "field blending" to create a 1080i 29.97 source instead of doing the proper conversion to a true 1080p 23.976 transfer. As other people have documented, this absolutely ruins the presentation. It creates ghosting, jittery motion and artifacts throughout the film. It destroys the quality.

Fortunately, I've consulted with some AviSynth experts and I was able to salvage the transfer using this script:

"DirectShowSource("D:\Videos\The Killer Project\1. Images\The Killer\BDMV\STREAM\00005.m2ts")

ConvertToYV12

AssumeTFF()
QTGMC("Slow", search=5, searchparam=4, pelsearch=4, dct=5, tr2=0, chromamotion=true, chromanoise=false, SourceMatch=3, Lossless=2, Sharpness=0.1)
SRestore(frate=25)

Gradfun3()

AssumeFPS(23.976)"

Since Dragon Dynasty clearly used a 25fps PAL master, the first step in the process is to "un-field blend" the source back to the original 1080p 25fps, and finally slow it down to film speed.

All the other parameters I set for QTGMC are there because I wanted to limit the amount of denoising or other processing that it does as much as possible. If I do any denoising, I'll do that as a separate step, first I just want to fix the motion.

Gradfun3 just fixes a bit of banding that is present in the source. And, as I mentioned, AssumeFPS just slows the video down to film speed which is legal for Blu-ray.


It's clear that Dragon Dynasty used the exact same source that Scanbox (and E-M-S) did for the DVDs, except that Dragon Dynasty's Blu-ray contains a lot more detail. Since I've been able to restore the motion, I won't really need to use the Scanbox version for it's video.

However, would someone mind re-uploading the Scanbox version for me? I had it on my hard drive but must have accidentally deleted it at some point. I recall that the audio quality for the original Cantonese was excellent and probably the best of any version out there. So I hope to use that soundtrack as the default on my custom version.

Here are the next steps I intend to take to further improve the video quality of The Killer:

Dirt, dust and scratch removal. I own some very advanced restoration tools that I use to clean-up video. So I'll be using it to remove all the imperfections on the print. The software I use for this purpose is The Pixel Farm's PFClean and Digital Vision's Phoenix.

Next, I'll be restoring the original Cantonese opening titles and ending credits, using another source.

Lastly I intend to color-grade the video using the Criterion version as a reference. I'll be using Dr Dre's Color Matching Tool.

I think I can pull this off and do some justice to this John Woo classic. I'll try to keep everyone informed about my progress.

If you'd like to sign up for my Newsletter to get updates about all the projects I'm working on, and have already completed, you can use the following link:

https://hkrservices.lpages.co/hong-kong-...er-signup/


Please send me a PM if you have the Scanbox DVD and are willing to upload it for me. Thanks!

[jrodefeld]

Okay, lots of stuff to share with ya'll about The Killer.

I've been working hard restoring the opening minutes of the film and I think I've been able to do a decent job so far.  I've color-graded the video using the Criterion version as a reference.

Here's some images:

























Restoring the titles was very complicated and time consuming.  I've worked on projects like this in the past so I knew it could be done.

I uploaded a video of this opening sequence.  YouTube compression doesn't do justice to the picture quality but it gives a good idea of the kind of result I've been able to get thus far:



I'm hoping YouTube doesn't pull the video.  Let me know if you're able to view it okay.

Here's the software I used:

Adobe Premiere
Adobe Speedgrade
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe After Effects
The Pixel Farm's PFClean
Digital Vision Phoenix
AviSynth
VirtualDub
Dr Dre's Magical Color Matching Tool 

I'm sure there's some I'm forgetting.

Anyway, constructive criticism or feedback is welcome.  As far as I know there are no plans for a new official restoration of this film, so it's up to us to do the very best we can to get a decent presentation of this film.  I'll do my very best to make it happen.

By the way, I'm still looking to get my hands on the Scanbox DVD, mainly for the audio tracks.  A kind member of this forum sent it to me a few months ago but I stupidly accidentally deleted it.  So I'm hoping someone would be willing to upload it for me again.

If anyone would like to stay in the loop on this project, as well as learn about the other custom Blu-rays we've already finished, please sign up for our email list using the link below:

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[MrBrown]

I recently got the two John Woo Collector's Editions from scanbox. I may get the audio uploaded this month. But I cannot promise that it happens this month, I only can promise that it happen in January, if I have not the possibility to do it this month.
I also have some other releases of that movie.
Like the slightly different German first release DVD. It contains some really minor differences from the wide spread version.

[PDB]

Your restoration of the credits is looking really good so far.

[jrodefeld]

Your restoration of the credits is looking really good so far.

Thanks.  Needless to say, it is not easy given what the Dragon Dynasty source looked like to begin with.  Plus all the sources that contained the original titles were pretty poor.

I'd like to again mention that I'm looking to see if someone could upload the Scanbox DVD of The Killer.  I know that a couple of people on this forum own it.


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Also, you can check out some of our previous work at this link:

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[MrBrown]

Your restoration of the credits is looking really good so far.

Thanks.  Needless to say, it is not easy given what the Dragon Dynasty source looked like to begin with.  Plus all the sources that contained the original titles were pretty poor.

I'd like to again mention that I'm looking to see if someone could upload the Scanbox DVD of The Killer.  I know that a couple of people on this forum own it.

...

I already have ripped it to my HH, but as I said before, it is possible that it may take until January that I may be able to upload it.

[H A S S A N]

This is looking fantastic and thank you for everything Jacob, Your other Bluray editions of Hard Boiled, Police Story, Police Story 3, Armour Of God etc have all been the best releases of these HK classics EVER.
Please keep us updated with whatever you are doing regarding this release.

[H A S S A N]

I have a few DVD's of The Killer inc the Fox Lober ones so if you need any ripping or some of the elements please let me know J