Friends, gather around…
It’s time to take matters into our own hands and preserve the US cut of The Good The Bad & The Ugly using an extremely rare original IB_TECH from Italy!
For those of you who haven’t been following the other thread, there’s a group of us who are in the process of acquiring a 1971 IB tech 35MM of Il Buono Il Brutto Il Cattivo from a seller in Italy. Here’s a link to the other thread if you’d like to bring yourself up to speed:
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-4k-nightmare/topic/16690/
IB tech prints are known to be fade proof and therefore reflect the actual color timing during the film’s original theatrical release. The 35MM in question is no exception; the colors are solid. Once acquired, this print will be scanned at 4K and used to regrade the colours of the highly controversial MGM 4K BD that has a (piss) yellow/teal push that’s a popular trend nowadays but undermines the artistic integrity of the original theatrical release.
If you’ve read all the bickering in the thread at bluray.com then you probably picked up on those who praise the new MGM bluray believe the colors of the 4K transfer are more faithful to SL’s intent because Sergio Salvati said so. Some also argue that variation between different IB Tech prints could explain the variation between the Mondo 2009 and MGM 2014 restorations. Undoubtedly there’s going to be some variation from print to print but nothing that would explain the huge difference between the Mondo and MGM 4K BDs. It’s inevitable that the Italians will release their own 4K BD. Based on the Leone Film Group trailer and screenshots posted last month in promotion of the Italian theatrical re-release it’s likely the same master as the 4K MGM BD (not surprising since both parties were involved in the latest restoration effort) yet the colours are much better. So what the heck is going on? I suspect there’s some tinkering of colors going on at MGM after the fact. Perhaps even after getting Sergio Salvati’s stamp of approval. Long story short…an unfaded IB Tech of BBC from the initial theatrical run is the best available evidence of how the film originally looked.
The cool thing is we’ve already identified one scene that’s unique to this print and hasn’t been seen in any home release (VHS, LD, DVD, BD) in the last 30 years!
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There’s a small yet highly passionate and devoted group of us that strongly believe this film has been done a disservice by MGM for over a decade for another reason; the original theatrical release in English is the US/International cut. Nothing to debate there. Fans demand this cut - WITH THE ORIGINAL MONO TRACK - but MGM isn’t listening and therefore we will preserve it ourselves. We’ve decided to take matters into our own hands and invest our time and money into producing a <span style=“text-decoration: underline;”>PROPER</span> home release that this film strongly deserves but we need your help!
I will cover the cost of the IB_TECH ($1600) but we don’t have the funds to cover the cost of shipping ($400) and 16-20TB of HDD space ($600?).
There’s already a handful of individuals who have contacted me and wish to donate to the cause but we could definitely use more help. We’re hoping you will contribute to this important endeavour.