Thanks, Beastly... I did check and it seems that someone HAS made a DVD from a VHS of the original HBO version. There is a torrent at:

http://zerotracker.com

I looked into it and there are 16 leechers and 0 seeders, so it's going to take god knows how long to get it. I'd also like to know if he was using a first generation VHS and if he did any digital cleanup, because it definitely would need it.

"Twice Upon A Time" (the unedited version) is probably one of the truest "lost classics" there is, considering it was Lucas. It's a great candidate for a preservation effort, since it is unlikely to ever see the light of day.

Someone out there must have a better-than-VHS copy...

It was at 17% four hours ago, so the seeder's been disconnected for a while...

I am also one of the leechers hung up at 17%. I'd like to see what this guy did, he better come back soon!

Just in case he never returns, or his transfer is poop, as I type this I am copying my VHS copy of the unedited version to DVD right now.

It was sourced from an original Betamax recording, so it's slightly better than second gen VHS... but it does show it's age, there are a few dropouts and mistrackings here and there.

Still, the film is totally watchable and I'll do what I can with cleanup filters.

If our seeder never returns, we DO have a backup plan for this film!

I've never seen the unedited version, but I've read about the changes and in order to cut some of the more "PG" dialog, they would have had to cut out footage.

Also, Ibor the Video Gorilla was always showing clips from other films and TV shows (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Happy Days) and I think some of those were cut because they didn't have home video legal clearance (at least the Happy Days one was cut).

It really is a fun movie and the language helped make it more unique and twisted. And it's funny!

And it didn't have much of a release... the studio didn't know how to market it. Essentially, it is a kids's movie, but with a lot of adult language and a few mature scenes. I think they just gave up on it and cut out all the adult stuff for the video release so they could strictly market it as a kidvid.

But we will get the original out there!

Well it's being seeded again right now, so hopefully within the next 24 hours it will be complete.

I'll let everyone know if it's worth downloading. If not, I have my VHS ripped and ready for processing...

Thank you. The extra effort is appreciated.

Well, he stopped seeing at 78% last night and it had been dead ever since... but now he's seeding again and if he can keep it going for another 9 hours I may finally have it tonight.

Maybe he just got home from school or something :-)

Ok, I got it.

It's ok.

Yes, it's the uncensored version, but the quality is mediocre. For some strange reason his left and right sides are clipped a little and it doesn't look like he did any filtering of the image to make up for the fact that it's from a 20 year old VHS tape. Plus I think his MPG encode is poor, I see lots of breakup on edges when there is fast motion.

Maybe I am being hypercritical, if anyone else gets it tell us what you think.

Right now I am experimenting with filters on my VHS grab. Animation is very forgiving of noise reduction and so far I think I can at least have a cleaner image (with no clipped sides) which will also help with the MPG encode.

I also know I can clean up the audio and make it a bit punchier.

When I finish my test I'll post clips of his work and mine and you guys can decide if I should go ahead and do the whole movie.

In the meantime I'll keep seeding with a high upload speed!

Ok, it's a case of apples and oranges.

I think his VHS tape is first generation, which shows in the clarity of his edges and chroma integrity. But his lack of noise reduction and mediocre MPG encode really hurt what is essentially a good source.

Mine is a second gen VHS and no amount of cleanup is going to fix that.

The solution would be to get his VHS in the hands of someone who really has good capture and cleanup skillz. I'll post on to his torrent and maybe he'll see it.

Still, far and away, his is better than nothing! I'll keep seeding.

Ok I left him a PM at the torrent site... hopefully he'll be up for letting us re-capture and clean up his VHS tape!