2022-01-12, 01:52 PM
Inspired by @Klexos' Wizarding World Ultimate Definitive Editions, I thought it would be amazing to restore Stanley Kubrick's films to 4K HDR with the full 1.37:1 camera negative aspect ratio.
@Klexos' phenomenal Harry Potter restorations have near-seamlessly combined the official 4K Ultra HD releases with AI upscaled versions of the open matte 4:3 DVDs and 16:9 open matte TV broadcasts to create the fullest presentation for each film in the highest quality possible. Each film varies aspect ratio between scenes due to the Super 35 framing of the films with the most common aspect ratio being around 1.66:1. AutoOverlay is used to composite the CinemaScope 4K UHD restoration on top of the upscaled 4:3 and 16:9 transfers, while gaps with the final composite in a non-square aspect ratio is made square by applying a blur filter on the gaps.
The following Stanley Kubrick films were shot in 1.37:1 to be cropped to 1.66:1 (Dr. Strangelove) or 1.85:1 (the other films) and are in 4K UHD and/or Blu-ray in 16:9 1.78:1 (except for Dr. Strangelove, which is in the intended 1.66:1):
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- The Shining
- Full Metal Jacket
- Eyes Wide Shut
Their early DVD releases were in open matte 4:3 but these vintage SD presentations now look blurry on modern 4K displays and the current 4K UHD restorations look amazing. And the 4:3 1.33:1 images still have some horizontal cropping to fit the 1.37:1 image in a 1.33:1 picture.
So why not take a page out of @Klexos to restore the 1.37:1 presentations in 4K HDR?
Eyes Wide Shut is still not in 4K UHD but I have a feeling that it is inevitable and the other three 4:3 Kubrick films are already available in 4K UHD.
Dr. Strangelove's 4:3 presentations (like the Criterion LD) also have variable aspect ratios with the film shrinking to 1.66:1 for some scenes, I think there should be two variants of Dr. Strangelove: one with a constant width (1.37:1 shrinking to windowboxed 1.66:1) and one with a constant height (1.37:1 expanding to 1.66:1).
Each film can have their 5.1 remixes as well as the best quality version of the original mono mix (except for Eyes Wide Shut, which has always been in 5.1).
So:
Dr. Strangelove: 1994 US/Japan Columbia LaserDisc mono mix
The Shining: 1999 US DVD mono mix
Full Metal Jacket: 1999 US DVD mono mix
The final picture would be in 3840x2160p 4K HDR and 4K SDR image with a mostly consistent aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and blur on some sides that are outside the 16:9 and 4:3 areas, as well as HDR and SDR variants of Dr. Strangelove in the two Constant Height and Constant Width presentations, as well as cut-down European version of The Shining in addition to the extended US cut.
Their earliest NTSC DVDs would be the easiest way to get digital versions of the 4:3 open matte versions but PAL DVDs from a similar time period may have higher resolution picture and no judder at the cost of inferior audio thanks to our old PAL speedup and being harder to find.
Unfortunately, I have very little HDD space and I have a toasty toaster of a PC that has no hopes of AI upscaling films over two hours long from 480p to 4K.
These would definitely look especially amazing in CRT PC monitors like those fancy 2560x1920p ones.
P.S: I see that the 1999 DVD of Eyes Wide Shut is rated R unlike the later releases which are Unrated but they have the same length.
Apparently, the only change between these versions is that the orgy scene had some CGI to cover up some of the more explicit nudity in the R-rated version while the international releases had some alterations to the soundtrack.
The UK version is visually uncut but had some alterations to the soundtrack that are not present in the US and Australian DVDs, though it is indeed in 4:3 according to eBay listings.
I am not sure if the US Blu-ray has the uncut soundtrack either.
Ideally, the combo for Eyes Wide Shut would be:
- 4K UHD (when it comes out)
- Visually-uncut UK DVD
- 4K UHD DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio (when it comes out and if it is uncut)
@Klexos' phenomenal Harry Potter restorations have near-seamlessly combined the official 4K Ultra HD releases with AI upscaled versions of the open matte 4:3 DVDs and 16:9 open matte TV broadcasts to create the fullest presentation for each film in the highest quality possible. Each film varies aspect ratio between scenes due to the Super 35 framing of the films with the most common aspect ratio being around 1.66:1. AutoOverlay is used to composite the CinemaScope 4K UHD restoration on top of the upscaled 4:3 and 16:9 transfers, while gaps with the final composite in a non-square aspect ratio is made square by applying a blur filter on the gaps.
The following Stanley Kubrick films were shot in 1.37:1 to be cropped to 1.66:1 (Dr. Strangelove) or 1.85:1 (the other films) and are in 4K UHD and/or Blu-ray in 16:9 1.78:1 (except for Dr. Strangelove, which is in the intended 1.66:1):
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- The Shining
- Full Metal Jacket
- Eyes Wide Shut
Their early DVD releases were in open matte 4:3 but these vintage SD presentations now look blurry on modern 4K displays and the current 4K UHD restorations look amazing. And the 4:3 1.33:1 images still have some horizontal cropping to fit the 1.37:1 image in a 1.33:1 picture.
So why not take a page out of @Klexos to restore the 1.37:1 presentations in 4K HDR?
Eyes Wide Shut is still not in 4K UHD but I have a feeling that it is inevitable and the other three 4:3 Kubrick films are already available in 4K UHD.
Dr. Strangelove's 4:3 presentations (like the Criterion LD) also have variable aspect ratios with the film shrinking to 1.66:1 for some scenes, I think there should be two variants of Dr. Strangelove: one with a constant width (1.37:1 shrinking to windowboxed 1.66:1) and one with a constant height (1.37:1 expanding to 1.66:1).
Each film can have their 5.1 remixes as well as the best quality version of the original mono mix (except for Eyes Wide Shut, which has always been in 5.1).
So:
Dr. Strangelove: 1994 US/Japan Columbia LaserDisc mono mix
The Shining: 1999 US DVD mono mix
Full Metal Jacket: 1999 US DVD mono mix
The final picture would be in 3840x2160p 4K HDR and 4K SDR image with a mostly consistent aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and blur on some sides that are outside the 16:9 and 4:3 areas, as well as HDR and SDR variants of Dr. Strangelove in the two Constant Height and Constant Width presentations, as well as cut-down European version of The Shining in addition to the extended US cut.
Their earliest NTSC DVDs would be the easiest way to get digital versions of the 4:3 open matte versions but PAL DVDs from a similar time period may have higher resolution picture and no judder at the cost of inferior audio thanks to our old PAL speedup and being harder to find.
Unfortunately, I have very little HDD space and I have a toasty toaster of a PC that has no hopes of AI upscaling films over two hours long from 480p to 4K.
These would definitely look especially amazing in CRT PC monitors like those fancy 2560x1920p ones.
P.S: I see that the 1999 DVD of Eyes Wide Shut is rated R unlike the later releases which are Unrated but they have the same length.
Apparently, the only change between these versions is that the orgy scene had some CGI to cover up some of the more explicit nudity in the R-rated version while the international releases had some alterations to the soundtrack.
The UK version is visually uncut but had some alterations to the soundtrack that are not present in the US and Australian DVDs, though it is indeed in 4:3 according to eBay listings.
I am not sure if the US Blu-ray has the uncut soundtrack either.
Ideally, the combo for Eyes Wide Shut would be:
- 4K UHD (when it comes out)
- Visually-uncut UK DVD
- 4K UHD DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio (when it comes out and if it is uncut)
![[Image: 118946.png?1673149411]](https://card.exophase.com/2/0/118946.png?1673149411)
