Just got to thinking. I know there’s a cap of Superman 3 from some ITV affiliate - are there any other caps of the extended cut in circulation? I’m wondering if perhaps another cap could be used to compensate for flaws in the one I have.
By the way, I’ve been doing comparison shots to try to determine the best approach for certain scenes in Superman 2.
As far as I know I have all available version of Superman 3 TV version that have been put to DVD
Yorkshire TV version. (Single layer DVD)
BLAX version. (Single layer DVD)
Unknown source PAL capture (2 x Single layer DVD)
1986 ABC version (Single layer DVD) (missing first 50 minutes)
I also released a version which combined the the firt 50 minutes from PAL capture and the 1986 ABC version. The ABC version is the best picture quality of them and contains the original commercials. I edited those out and added the missing beginning from the second best quality source.
I think this version is currently the best all around quality version you can get although it isn’t complete. I hadn’t noticed until after it was released, but the “Smallville Flash” part of the drinking scene is missing. It’s present in the BLAX version and the YTV version, but not the ABC or 2 disc PAL version. It’s probably worth going though all versions just to see if there are any other bits exclusive to the different captures.
I think a best version could be created using the movie and deleted scenes from the bluray, and filling in the rest from VHS. It would be nice to get a good quality source to work from, particularly for those 50 minutes missing from the ABC cut, but idealy the whole thing.
I’ve made some progress on Superman 2. I have pan and scanned about 2 hours of the bluray to recreate the TV cut. Still need to do the last half hour. The whole thing is going to need colour correcting to match all of the different sources. I’ve used the opening and end credits from a HDTV rip since the whites are blown out on the bluray and they look bad. I’ve also done this for a few shots where detail is lost from the blow out, explosions and stuff like that. The VHS footage still needs to be upscaled and added in. I’m looking into how to do that in best quality.