[proposal] 007 Purist Redux

[captainsolo]

As many of you know, I've researched these films for an eternity. I'm still in the process of obtaining the best information on the 20 original films in terms of both picture and sound, in order to finally have accuracy in video. Currently I think the best way to achieve this would be to:
1. Purist edition: Using primarily the SE DVDs combined with Laserdisc PCM original audio, and some LD for cropped transfers, missing frames etc. for a truer representation of how the films looked. Possibly upscaled to 720p akin to the new GOUT from Darkjedi/U2. Since the SE DVDs are essentially like the GOUT in terms of representation this seems pretty straightforward.
2. Eventually do a complete regrading of the BDs, once more print sources become available for comparison. Also, some BDs seem to not use the Lowry transfers so more research is needed.

Lastly, 4K DCPs are starting to make theatrical appearances and these may have been further tweaked.

[spoRv]

Great ideas here... happy to have you here!!!

[Lee]

What should I look for on where the Blu-ray releases have gone wrong? I have all of the Connery 007 movies on Blu and they look pretty good to me.

[jonno]

A great project, Captain. Indeed this enterprise might prove even more successful than those that work from the GOUT, seeing as the Bond SEs are at the very least anamorphic.

Using the Star Wars projects again as a reference, do the BDs provide a safe standard for scene and frame counts? If the HD versions were the basis for picture and sound syncs, then at least the edited materials would be somewhat future-proof.

One area where I might be able to assist is the original UA/TA/MGM studio logos. I've spent an unhealthy amount of time researching these and finding good quality sources, so let me know if they'll be of use!

[captainsolo]

Lee, the primary focus would be on color and color depth in addition to contrast and the way the films were completely de-grained and then slightly re-grained. If you grew up with or saw any regularly before 2006 they will look and feel very different. Additionally the 5.1 remixes of all pre-TSWLM are godawful failures. (TB's stereo remix excluded)

Jonno, it would be lovely to restore original logos. Only OP and IIRC AVTAK have theirs on older issues. Indeed it would be best I think to utilize the BDs as they should not lack any frames, being of the highest source. We could base everything off of their configurations, as for the most part there really are very little differences across the board. Only the odd cuts on the OHMSS SE really.

[nafroe]

One area where I might be able to assist is the original UA/TA/MGM studio logos. I've spent an unhealthy amount of time researching these and finding good quality sources, so let me know if they'll be of use!

This is something that is a pet peeve of mine... It has always irritated me when films get re-released and modern studio logos are used to replace the originals, ratings cards, etc. When they do this, it feels a bit like I am taken out of the film for a moment.

[captainsolo]

After doing yet even more digging, it seems the SEs are hit or miss when it comes to accuracy or fidelity to the source. They were originally done starting 1995 for the GF and TB CAV boxset reissues and each film was supposed to follow in a deluxe package before the format died. A few trickled out in 1998 and all were resurrected as the SE DVDs. These were heavily compressed due to the heavy amount of extras added to each DVD. Doing direct comparisons reveals that at times they are very similar and at other times completely different.

[The Aluminum Falcon]

Bump.

If anyone is interested in getting HD versions of the Lowry UE masters for You Only Live Twice (1967) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) BEFORE they were contrast boosted to death for the BDs, there are HDTV versions from 2007(!) being seeded on a certain Russian torrent site. I recall people back on originaltrilogy were interested in OHMSS in particular, but no one could find a seeded torrent or a newsgroup file still in retention. In any case, they're available now for those who want them.

That all being said, these aren't the best of quality. I compared it with the UE DVDs: there's a visible uptick in detail, but the MKV HDTV files are only 720p and compressed with the inferior XVID codec (2007, right?).

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position where I can afford to be continuously seeding these, so I'm relying on the seeders who handed it off to me. If this doesn't work, I can upload the files to a file-sharing site.

There's a torrent for Thunderball, which also looks very different on BD, but I haven't been able to get the whole file yet.

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On a separate note, does ANYONE have an open matte version of Skyfall? I remember seeing it in IMAX and being quite disappointed with the BD's cropping.

With PDB working very hard to release the IMAX version of MI: Ghost Protocol, I thought maybe there's a source out there for an equivalent Skyfall project.

[jerryshadoe]

PDB and I talked about a Skyfall IMAX project around the time he started thinking of doing MI: GP and the problem, so far, has been finding any source that is not cropped. In researching this for him, I even pulled down the old CAM/TS releases and a DVDscreener copy, but they all are cropped. There have been airings of the film (supposedly with the IMAX shots uncropped) on television (in the UK, if I remember what I read in another forum) but I have not been able to find any caps (in any quality) online to verify this or even screenshots

[nafroe]

From my understanding, the UK HDTV broadcasts of Skyfall were 16:9... Somewhere in between the current BD cropping and the full IMAX frame seen in those theaters.  It's a damn shame that the IMAX version has not been released officially on home video as it is the only way I experienced the film in theaters.