[Request] Highlander 3 - Director's Cut Scenes

[HippieDalek]

^ Interesting!  The JP BD definitely looks better than the DE.  As you say, it's generally closer to the US DVD, but a few shots look a bit more like the DE BD.

I re-watched the JP BD the other night and the scene with Alex talking to the detective in the bar (5th picture) looked startlingly different from the rest of the film. Like you say it's closer to the DE BD. I've been meaning to go and check the colouring of that scene on other releases.

[Chewtobacca]

Yeah, the fifth picture is the one that stood out as being like the DE.  Maybe the JP BD is a combination of different elements.

[HippieDalek]

Yeah, the fifth picture is the one that stood out as being like the DE.  Maybe the JP BD is a combination of different elements.

Wow, yeah there's definitely something weird going on with that scene on the JP BD. Look what I found once I got it onto the editing table:

JB BD Bar scene frame 1!


JB BD Bar scene frame 2!


They must have cut from one source to another for some reason. Such a shame as the colouring of the shot in frame 1 looks so much nicer. Interestingly the DC DVD has the bluer colour timing too, despite overall looking quite red.

Also been having a play with the DC scenes that BigRob sent me. They look pretty good for a letterboxed 4:3 DVD, but the shot of Kane stealing the glasses in particular looks awful when mixed with the HD footage. 

Still plenty to experiment with though.

[Chewtobacca]

They must have cut from one source to another for some reason.

Yeah, that confirms it. Not checking for flash-frames at splice points is such a rookie error.

[HippieDalek]

Yeah, that confirms it.  Not checking for flash-frames at splice points is such a rookie error.

I've just ripped my DE BD and compared that scene to the JP DB and they are identical. Really weird. Still the best version of the scene we have to work from, so hopefully I'll be able to tidy up the exposure and colour.

[Bigrob]

One of the questions that I asked on here a while back was about the original US theatrical cut of Highlander 3.

Managed to fish the thread out

https://fanrestore.com/thread-1546.html

Can't seem to find any info on it at all!

[HippieDalek]

One of the questions that I asked on here a while back was about the original US theatrical cut of Highlander 3.

Managed to fish the thread out

https://fanrestore.com/thread-1546.html

Can't seem to find any info on it at all!

As far as I know  the US home releases were like you say: first the Director's Cut with extended sex scenes and the added CGI scenes, then later the European Cut which also had the extended sex scenes but also some audio changes ("All those years" and Bonnie Portmore" at the end)

Ironically here in the UK we got the censorship the other way around; the sex scenes were intact in the cinema then cut for VHS (back for DVD though). 

The Japanese Blu Ray contains the closest I know of to the US Theatrical Cut; the original soundtrack ("400 hundred years" and "God Took a Picture" at the end), but also contains the extended sex scenes. I imagine this is the full intended cut before it was trimmed down for US cinemas. As far as I know the censored version has never made it to home video, though I imagine the cuts were carried out similar to the UK VHS. 

The Japanese releases of 3 have always been a bit odd. All the advertisements and home video covers have "The Sorcerer" title, but the Japanese LD contains the Director's Cut and the Blu Ray contains the US Theatrical. 

Hope this helps

[HippieDalek]

Colour correction isn't my strongest point, but I've tried to alter the DE/JP Blu Ray bar shots to more closely match the US DVD, while also trying to make the scene as a whole better matches the look and feel of the surrounding scenes. I've ended up with something kind of in between. It's not perfect, so I'd appreciate any feedback. 

US DVD


DE/JP Blu Ray


Altered DE/JP Blu Ray


EDIT: Yikes, that looks far to red now I look back at this on my other monitor. Mileage may vary...

[Chewtobacca]

The result looks too red to me, but I don't think either the JP/DE BD or the US DVD look right anyway, so...  You could try merging the chroma of your altered video with the original in AviSynth.

[HippieDalek]

The result looks too red to me, but I don't think either the JP/DE BD or the US DVD look right anyway, so...  You could try merging the chroma of your altered video with the original in AviSynth.

Yeah, coming back to it I definitely agree; far too red. Whenever I try colour correcting I work on it for so long that I can't tell what looks normal any more. I definitely feel that the Blu Ray version needs to be more red than it is, as the rest of the film has an overall red tinting. 

I'll try your suggestion with AviSynth.