[Released] Highlander II - European Theatrical Cut - Preservation - Version 2!

[HippieDalek]

Earlier today @madmax87 got in touch to let me know that Highlander 1 & 2 will be on German TV next week...on HDTV! I don't think the HD Special Edition has been released in Germany and the channel is owned by the same people who put out the EU cut out on DVD there, so it will most likely be the censored EU Cut. It will be interesting to see if it's a real HD transmission, but even if it's just an upscale the quality will most likely be an improvement over the overly compressed DVD.

Max has offered to capture the transmission so I'll let you know what it's like once I see it. If it's good quality it will probably replace this current version, and it will also be of use for patching up the 35mm print (which I'm still working on...sorry for the silence lately, hoping to show something off in a month or two).

Exciting times! Thank you again, Max!

[madmax87]

You're welcome!

As expected just the DVD master blown up to 1080i/50.
https://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/10067

[HippieDalek]

You're welcome!

As expected just the DVD master blown up to 1080i/50.
https://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/10067

Thanks again for capturing this for me. I tried to watch it on 5Flix last night but I think I'm region locked out. Were you able to compare the televised version to the WebDL? Would you be able to check out the upcoming "HD" transmission of Endgame to see if it is an improvement over the German DVD? Once again I really appreciate your help.

I was expecting it to be the same master, but I was hoping that it would at least be better compressed, but it looks much softer than my DVD to 720 upscale. 

Between the 35mm and the Blu Ray it will be possible to create an almost complete native HD version of the film, I was just hoping to use this "HDTV" version to improve the bits where I'm forced to use DVD footage. 

For a complete comparison here's the same frame from the 35mm. 

[NickMichalak]

Well, I just watched your European Cut Grindhouse version, and it is a very fascinating edit. They cut out some scenes from the US version, added some scenes back in, re-jiggered some chronology that kind of works to an extent, but it still feels rather uneven and is missing some connective tissue. Getting rid of the rock music in favor or using more of Copeland's score was a major highlight. There are some editing ideas I like, and it has a lot more energy to its pace than the US theatrical cut. I'm continuing my research into this film, and this was enormously helpful! The widescreen rip of the US theatrical cut I grabbed from Archive.org had some bad audio mixing, but the Hong Kong Laserdisc audio rip you did sounds a hell of a lot better.

[HippieDalek]

Well, I just watched your European Cut Grindhouse version, and it is a very fascinating edit.  They cut out some scenes from the US version, added some scenes back in, re-jiggered some chronology that kind of works to an extent, but it still feels rather uneven and is missing some connective tissue.  Getting rid of the rock music in favor or using more of Copeland's score was a major highlight.  There are some editing ideas I like, and it has a lot more energy to its pace than the US theatrical cut.  I'm continuing my research into this film, and this was enormously helpful!  The widescreen rip of the US theatrical cut I grabbed from Archive.org had some bad audio mixing, but the Hong Kong Laserdisc audio rip you did sounds a hell of a lot better.

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think part of why I'm constantly fascinated by Highlander 2 is that with all the various versions over the years it's almost like getting to watch the editors work in real time! 

Out of all the official cuts I think the EU version is the best, but like you say it's missing some important scenes and the scene ordering isn't as strong as the Renegade Version. I might make my own edit some day but that would be purely for me rather than meant to be some sort of definitive version ha ha. 

I'm guessing that the widescreen rip of the US you found is from the French DVD; it's got great picture quality but the 5.1 English audio is atrocious. I made a preservation a while ago mixing the video from the French DVD (correcting the PAL speedup), synced it with the US Laserdisc audio and repaired a slightly trimmed shot. 

https://fanrestore.com/thread-2973.html

Send me a PM if you want a copy of that too, and feel free to get in touch if there's anything I can do to help you research for your show.

[interaser]

HippieDalek
I might make my own edit some day but that would be purely for me rather than meant to be some sort of definitive version ha ha.



Dont't forget us HippieDalek 

[HippieDalek]

Dont't forget us HippieDalek 

Oh I'd make it available, I more just meant that I would edit the film to my personal tastes rather than trying to make some sort of definitive version. For instance most of the underground train sequence would probably be on the cutting room floor for me, but I know for others that's an essential part of the "Highlander 2 Experience" ha ha.

[jjsanford1979]

hi
Have to say what an awesome thread and amazed by this project and the shear love and amount of work done to restore and preserve all the H2 versions. I wish I had been able to help in  some way (though it would only have been via donation sadly) as I am fascinated by this film and probably have watched it more times than any of the others including the first one.
I remember buying the eu cut on vhs as a pirate video on holiday in Malta when I was about 11 - back then the sale of pirate films was common practice and most stores in Malta openly sold them. Used to love going on holiday there and picking a few up. Sadly we got randomly checked at customs and the videos were confiscated, so have never got to watch that version.
This thread has also helped me update my dvd/BR collection as I didn't know the German and Spanish dvd were slightly different edits so am on a search for those to go alongside the others I have managed to find. Have also managed to get the Italian dvd which is now on its way (and despite not having a English track) I am so looking forward to finally seeing the eu cut.

[HippieDalek]

hi
Have to say what an awesome thread and amazed by this project and the shear love and amount of work done to restore and preserve all the H2 versions. I wish I had been able to help in  some way (though it would only have been via donation sadly) as I am fascinated by this film and probably have watched it more times than any of the others including the first one.
I remember buying the eu cut on vhs as a pirate video on holiday in Malta when I was about 11 - back then the sale of pirate films was common practice and most stores in Malta openly sold them. Used to love going on holiday there and picking a few up. Sadly we got randomly checked at customs and the videos were confiscated, so have never got to watch that version.
This thread has also helped me update my dvd/BR collection as I didn't know the German and Spanish dvd were slightly different edits so am on a search for those to go alongside the others I have managed to find. Have also managed to get the Italian dvd which is now on its way (and despite not having a English track) I am so looking forward to finally seeing the eu cut.

One of the most surprisingly nice things I've found about doing this project is hearing all the happy stories that people have about this largely hated film. Thank you for sharing  It was the local car boot sale where I'd find all the dodgy VHS tapes when I was a kid. 

Overall I'd say the German DVD is the best version out there for the EU cut. It's slightly censored, but it has all the main visual content in the best quality officially released so far. Just as shame that there is no English language audio (though the German dub is delightfully camp). I think the German DVD is still in print so it's much easier to get hold of than any of the other versions. There are two different German DVDs though, the first one (weird painting of MacLeod from the first film) is a laserdisc transfer without the fairytale ending, while the second one (red background with MacLeod and Ramirez's faces and a sword) is the newer, better quality one. The Italian and Spanish ones are difficult to track down outside of their respective countries. One thing to note is that the Spanish version does have an English audio track, it is however missing the whole "above the shield" segment and no "fairytale ending". 

Happy hunting!

[dvdmike]

When is the neg getting scanned?