[No Longer Available] Big Trouble in Little China Video Fix (Quick Project)

[PDB]

Big Trouble in Little China Video Fix (Quick Project v2.0)

Project Info

As discussed in Zoid's BTILC thread:

https://fanrestore.com/thread-1311.html?...ttle+china

There is a new BTILC master which has subjectively better colors then the old master used on the older BDs. The problem with it is that while the chroma is ok; the luma is a mess with gray blacks. That creates a picture without proper blacks and causes the colors to be washed out.

I know Zoid is working on a regrade based on his 70mm viewing that will have better colors then this but the scope of this project is to just improve the existing video master and combine that with the best audio I could find.

For this project, I found the French BD (Update: got the superior Italian for V2, thanks X5 and Beber) pinned blacks down to blacks, balanced the colors of the shadows, boosted the shadows and mids on a curve(s) and added slight exposure bump. All of this made the blacks truly black without crushing detail and keeps the colors the way they are, outside of the boost and changes made from altering the luma. Some examples:

French BD/Fixed Picture (Out of date pics but you get the idea)
https://i.imgur.com/wnKgby3.jpg

As for the aspect ratio, I was convinced by the discussion in Zoid's thread to leave it be.

On the audio side, I added the PCM 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1 from the Arrow BD and then brought in the 4.1 from the US DVD which is probably from the 70mm mix.

Video:
The French Italian BD with luma adjustments detailed above

Audio: (Updated for V2)
1. DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Italian BD) (default)
2. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Arrow UK BD)
3. Dolby Digital 4.1 (from the US DVD)
4. DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the Arrow UK BD)
5. Commentary
6. DTS 5.1 French
7. DTS 5.1 German
8. DTS-HD MA 5.1 Italian

Sync
Synced to the ITA and FRE BD

Pics
V2


V1
https://i.imgur.com/4S2K6yL.jpg

Collaborators and Thanks (In order of help):
Zoidberg: for his original project and info in his thread
Doombot: for help with the French BD and Arrow BD
Beber: for the Italian BD info
X5gb: for help with the Italian BD

[PDB]

This was just a real quick, off the cuff project. So I could watch the new French BD master with the video fixed and a better English sound selection.

Uploading now. Participating members (aka no newbies) can PM me if they want a copy. I'll keep it posted for a week or two.

Version 2 replaced this version

------------------------------------------------------
Releases for 2018

1. Predator (Itunes Master v1.2)
2. Flash Gordon Regrade (Widescreen Laserdisc v1.0 and V1.1)
3. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (Regrade to DVD-LD v1.4)
4. Die Hard With A Vengeance 35mm Regrade (35 Project #2 v1.2)
5. Tombstone Director's Cut HD + SD Upscaled (Quick Project v1.0)

Releases (so far) for 2019

1. Top Gun Open Matte (Quick Project v3.0)
2. Alien 1999 HDTV Master (Quick Project v1.0)
3. The Fellowship of the Ring Variable Aspect Ratio (Original TC Colors v1.0A)
4. The Fellowship of the Ring Variable Aspect Ratio (Color Corrected v1.0B)
5. Dawn of the Dead Regrade (35 Project #3 v1.13)
6. Conan The Barbarian Theatrical Cut (Quick Project v1.0)
7. Hitcher, The Regrade and Video Fix (v1.1)
8. Big Trouble in Little China Video Fix (Quick Project v2.0)

[Hitcher]

Looks great. Another one of my favourite 80's movies.

[Plissken1138]

Is this looking hot or is it just me?

[Beber]

Might worth it to do it on the Italian BD which is supposed to have better compression. It was shared with me as I shared my own French BD, but my connection being what it is, it would take forever for me to reupload it. Ask X5gb, I'm sure he'll be on board.

[PDB]

Well thanks to X5gb and Beber, I have had a look at the Italian BD and it is true what people say; that the compression is better. Not only that but it appears the Italian's DTS-MA 2.0 has less of a high frequency dropoff than Arrow's PCM 2.0.

The video does still have the same grey blacks....so maybe a V2?

[applesandrice]

Great work, PDB -- as always. I've got to get busy clearing some hard drive space!

[PDB]

Ok I am finishing up a Version 2.

For the video I used the Italian BD that X5 had. I used basically the same settings as V1 except I lowered the mids a little and boosted the shadows more. It creates a slightly flatter picture but it is something you would never notice unless you did a one-to-one comparison. I also upped the bit rate from 30 to 35 to accommodate the Italian's higher bit rate.

Here is what the V2 looks like:


On the audio side I often complain I can't include non-English tracks since I never have access to them. Well can't complain this time.

To start, I added the Italian BD's English DTS-HA MA 2.0 since it sounded better than Arrow's PCM 2.0. I still kept the PCM 2.0, commentary and DTS-HD MA 5.1 from the Arrow. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 are very, very weak on both the Arrrow and Italian discs so I recommend the 2.0s. I kept the 5.1 so people had that option. I also kept the 4.1 from the US DVD since those 4.1 mixes are usually Fox's way of preserving 70mm mixes. But there is no way to be sure. I then added the French DTS 5.1 from the French BD, the German DTS 5.1 and the Italian DTS-HD MA 5.1 from the Italian BD. The final audio will likely be this:

1. DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Italian BD) (default)
2. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Arrow UK BD)
3. Dolby Digital 4.1 (from the US DVD)
4. DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the Arrow UK BD)
5. Commentary
6. DTS 5.1 French
7. DTS 5.1 German
8. DTS-HD MA 5.1 Italian

Give me a few days to put the rest together.

V1 was in sync with the Arrow BD. V2 will be in sync with the italian and french BDs.

[X5gb]

Do you mean 30 to 35 for the bitrate rather than 13 or am I mis-understanding something.

[PDB]

My bad I screwed that up and fixed the post. It will be at 35.