2021-06-11, 05:52 PM
Die Hard 2 (CE DVD Regrade)
In a roundabout way this project is the completion of this previous project:
https://fanrestore.com/thread-1711.html?...die+hard+2
The older BD of DH2 has a pretty significant red push, while the new streaming master has a green push. Now while the new master might be theatrical accurate (I'm not sure), the old CE DVD looked better and seems more thematically accurate. The CE DVD bathes the movie in shades of blue that is more in keeping with the cold snowy setting.
The video regrading was done via automatic scripting. Once that was complete I modified the black level and shadows to more conform with the CE DVD's levels. After that I went through the entire project shot by shot and fixed any shot/scene the strayed too far from the DVD. After all automatic scripting is not always 100%. That resulted in ~250 shots having their own LUTS and/or modifications. The video was synced to the current US BD. I also cut in the sections with hard English subs from the original US BD into this project as the new streaming master have soft subs.
After that I tried to add every soundtrack I had access to. The Widescreen, Japanese and THX LDs were manually synced requiring anywhere from 100 to 250 edits. The DVDs just required a plus or minus delay as they were mostly frame accurate. One point of difference is that 20th Century Fox logo is different on different video masters so I synced for the first shot cut. The default audio track is the Widescreen PCM 2.0 as it sounded the best to my ears.
Video:
Streaming version of the new master of Die Hard 2 regraded to the blue tones of the CE DVD.
Audio:
1. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Widescreen laserdisc)
2. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Japanese P&S LD)
3. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the THX LD)
4. Dolby Digital 2.0 (from the non-anamorphic DVD)
5. Dolby Digital 5.1 (from the non-anamorphic DVD)
6. Dolby Digital 5.1 (from the CE DVD)
7. DTS 5.1 (from the CE DVD)
8. Dolby Digital 2.0 (from the BD)
9. DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the BD)
Sync:
Fox US BD (plus subs and chapters)
Pics:
Comparisons Pics
CE Regrade/Original Streaming Master
Collaborators and Thanks:
Zoidberg for audio tracks
Buster D for audio tracks