MANHUNTER & MIAMI VICE (w/DVD Comparison Stills) (* unfinished project *)

I am working on two Michael Mann films.  One that was really great, and one not so much.  The great one here is MANHUNTER.  This film directly inspired one of my own short films.  I’ve previously worked on an extended edition of MANHUNTER, and have all the different DVD releases of it to do so.  Though, I need to re-rip and convert everything now that I know the right settings for it all after starting my Star Wars PT fan edits (which I am all doing simultaneously with these other two edits).  Nearly everything will be in here.  To me, this is “Definitive Cut” of the film because I no longer have to choose which version to watch (and always have to miss out on something, even if it’s just one shot I really like).

The other film is MIAMI VICE.  Man, was I disappointed in this film when it came out.  MAJOR fan of the TV series (which I entrely discovered on DVD), and I loved the trailers.  Didn’t get the film that I saw in those trailers.  Trying to fix that by trimming things down and combining elements from the theatrical and unrated editions while adding some familiar music in new ways.  I have Gekko’s fan edit, but I want to do some different things with it.  Also, Gekko altered the aspect ratio by cropping off the sides of the frame.  This will perserve the original 2.40:1 ratio.  Likely to be call the “Definitely Miami” cut after the iconic season two episode guest starring Ted Nugent.

On a side note, I was going to do a straight extended edition of “Constantine,” but the quality of the deleted scenes on the DVD are nearly workprint quality presented in non-anamorphic widescreen.  I didn’t like how it was all looking.  Maybe, if I had access to Blu Ray, and they were anamorphic on there, I could get that content in a more seamless quality.  Regardless, it didn’t mean all that much to me.

-NJM

I'm now reconstructing my extended edition of MANHUNTER.  I'm paying close attention to the video and audio quality, and trying to pick the best quality source based on clarity, color, and brightness.  The MGM DVD release is generally brighter and has a little more image area, but the Anchor Bay THX version is sharper and has stronger colors and highlights.  The MGM release is also more yellow while the THX is more blue.  The Anchor Bay Restored Director's Cut is just plain dark, and I'm only using it for extended or previously deleted scenes.  So, I'm mixing source material even within a single scene, and adjusting colors and brightness levels to make it seamless.

The videotape sourced scenes from the Director's Cut & Restored Director's Cut DVDs have been been given the best color correction possible.  Flesh tones are still a little orange, but the whites are now white and the blacks are blacker.

-NJM

Thought I'd put things into perspective.  I've downloaded Leonenut's Manhunter Extended Edition, and I see that the best quality source material wasn't used.  Looks like he mainly utilized footage from the Restored Director's Cut, but as you see below, that is the worst of the three.  Not only are the colors desaturated, but it's also the darkest transfer of all three.  The desaturated colors seem to be an issue with the Anchor Bay Divimax releases (such as the Halloween Divimax DVD).

-NJM