Is there any chance to preserve PCM from LaserDisc of Kurosawa masterpiece Dersu Uzala?
Criterion LaserDisc:
Dersu Uzala was transferred from a 35mm anamorphic color reversal internegative in the Cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Both the English and Russian soundtracks were created from separate 35mm optical soundtrack negatives.
http://akirakurosawa.info/forums/topic/dersu-uzala-038-dodeska-den-laserdiscs/
Unfortunately, there is still no trace of the new 2-4k or upcoming Blu-Ray. Really sad.
The best looking release is from Artificial Eye 2011 re-release DVD.
http://www.cineoutsider.com/reviews/dvd/d/dersu_uzala_2011.html
The only soundtrack on offer is a Dolby 2.0 mono track, one that was absent from the previous release and that is, research suggests, very likely the one that accompanied the film’s more widely seen 35mm release. What is missing here is the earlier disc’s Dolby 5.1 surround track, which we can presume was sourced from 6-track original that accompanied the 70mm screenings. It’s great to have the mono track back, but the 5.1 track was superior in almost every respect, being richer, with a greater range (the trebles are slightly crisp on the mono track) and more inclusively mixed, particularly in its reproduction of the sounds of nature – the room-filling blast of the Siberian winds are vivid enough to make even a heated home feel cold. Thus full marks for including the 35mm mono track, but we have to knock a couple off for not offering the 5.1 alternative. I can probably live without the English dub from the earlier release, but it was still better than many I’ve listened to and was also 5.1.
Shot in Sovscope 70 the Soviet Cinerama.
Sound Mix: 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)| Mono (35 mm prints)
