[SUPERCEDED BY 35MM PRESERVATION] The Keep (1983) [Project: Celluloid]

[LucasGodzilla]

PROJECT CELLULOID: Michael Mann's The Keep

So amidst the mess outside, I've been screwing around a bit with the HDTV upscale of The Keep and decided to try and regrade it to what it probably would have looked like on 35mm.

The main problem though was the trailer source I color matched to led to some real funky colors sometimes due to the noticeable fading. As such, in order to fix the issues it led to, I had to take some liberties, leading to a stronger blue push throughout rather than the faded burgundies. Whether or not this is accurate is up for debate, however it can be argued that it does work much to the movie's favor in helping to bolster its dream-like atmosphere at times than the warmer, magenta-pushed colors seen on the HDTV master and the semi-corrected version Sporv released with his Fundamental Collection (Not to mention Mann has been known for pushing blues in his films apparently). So take it as you may, it's just an alternate way to see the movie either way now I guess lol

Original HDTV

Regrade

However, although I consider the grade itself to be done since there's not much I can do unless I suddenly get a better, unfaded source than the trailer posted above, there's still some work to be done on the master itself. Namely, there are some interlacing issues that need to be fixed, and TomArrow has suggested to me the idea of downscaling this blow-up and smart upscaling it back up in an attempt to fake some detail hopefully rather than just blobby smeariness. Once I get that in order, I hope to re-grain it, see if it can be synced with LD audio perhaps, and then go through the final export steps.

Side note, a real shame no proper HD master of the movie exists. I've heard some mentionings at times of people attempting to do a 35mm print preservation of the movie on a few different forums but those attempts never seemed to go anywhere either. So out of sheer curiosity, who would actually donate to see such a restoration effort for this movie?

[HippieDalek]

This is looking good, I can't wait to see the final result

Side note, a real shame no proper HD master of the movie exists. I've heard some mentionings at times of people attempting to do a 35mm print preservation of the movie on a few different forums but those attempts never seemed to go anywhere either. So out of sheer curiosity, who would actually donate to see such a restoration effort for this movie?

An official widescreen DVD has finally been released in Australia by Via Vision Entertainment. I haven't seen it myself yet but I've heard good things about it. When the DVD was announced VVE did hint on their Twitter account that they were looking into a Blu Ray release, so there's a possibility of a true HD master sometime soon.

https://viavision.com.au/shop/the-keep/

If a Blu Ray doesn't appear soon then I'd be up for helping out with a 35mm project. As I said in a recent PM with you, one of the community's most trusted members recently got access to a huge amount of 35mm prints, including an apparently excellent print of The Keep, so that might be a good place to start.