Help: looking for... "Home Alone 2" - Seeking 35mm/16mm print for scanning

While I know most don’t like this film as much as the first in the series I’m a huge fan of “Home Alone 2”. I also know that both the international and the domestic Blu-Ray discs of the film are rather poor in quality overall. For some time now I’ve been looking for either a 35mm release print, or a 16mm backup print (I know some of these exist, I saw a 16mm print screened back in high school as a student).

Have any others considered any “Home Alone” projects, and/or could anyone possibly point me to a print of this film?

JayArgonaut said:

I can’t offer any help with obtaining a film print but I’m very much interested as to why you feel the H.A.2 Blu-ray is poor quality. The only information I’ve been able to find so far are here: http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=12922453&postcount=69 and then very briefly, here: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2548/homealone2.html

Can you elaborate about the problems please?

What about the HDTV broadcasts? Are they an improvement or have they been sourced from the same master?

Like many on the forums have complained the film has a ton of grain and the bitrate is really starved compared to the Home Alone 1 release. The colors look dull, nowhere near the way I remember seeing the original in theaters. I’ve recorded several HDTV broadcasts, and I do have a 10gb HBO capture that I would rate as being a little better but they clearly still haven’t done a re-mastering of this film. It’s a shame too, considering this would be the 25th anniversary.

cpalmer2k said:

JayArgonaut said:

I can’t offer any help with obtaining a film print but I’m very much interested as to why you feel the H.A.2 Blu-ray is poor quality. The only information I’ve been able to find so far are here: http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=12922453&postcount=69 and then very briefly, here: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2548/homealone2.html

Can you elaborate about the problems please?

What about the HDTV broadcasts? Are they an improvement or have they been sourced from the same master?

Like many on the forums have complained the film has a ton of grain and the bitrate is really starved compared to the Home Alone 1 release. The colors look dull, nowhere near the way I remember seeing the original in theaters. I’ve recorded several HDTV broadcasts, and I do have a 10gb HBO capture that I would rate as being a little better but they clearly still haven’t done a re-mastering of this film. It’s a shame too, considering this would be the 25th anniversary.

The import is on a bd-50. It’s not bit-starved at all

digitalfreaknyc said:

cpalmer2k said:

JayArgonaut said:

I can’t offer any help with obtaining a film print but I’m very much interested as to why you feel the H.A.2 Blu-ray is poor quality. The only information I’ve been able to find so far are here: http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=12922453&postcount=69 and then very briefly, here: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2548/homealone2.html

Can you elaborate about the problems please?

What about the HDTV broadcasts? Are they an improvement or have they been sourced from the same master?

Like many on the forums have complained the film has a ton of grain and the bitrate is really starved compared to the Home Alone 1 release. The colors look dull, nowhere near the way I remember seeing the original in theaters. I’ve recorded several HDTV broadcasts, and I do have a 10gb HBO capture that I would rate as being a little better but they clearly still haven’t done a re-mastering of this film. It’s a shame too, considering this would be the 25th anniversary.

The import is on a bd-50. It’s not bit-starved at all

It also has far superior compression. Only thing it needs would be bonus features.

Does anyone have an Amazon/eBay link to the exact import version you’re referring to? I’ve bought three different discs and ended up with 3 different versions of the USA release repackaged, even though two were advertised as “imports”

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Home-Alone-2-Lost-in-New-York-RARE-35mm-Complete-Feature-Film-/201993770485?hash=item2f07c455f5:g:7ZIAAOSw0UNZcmAX

Would love to see a scan of this at some point but if I were to contribute it would probably be a while as I’ve got a fair amount of other pledges to get through over the remainder of this year

I actually have a very nice UK release print of Home Alone 2 now that I’m sitting on the fence with. I’m debating whether to re-sell it, or whether to hang onto it and try to have it scanned later on down the line.

If you end up hanging onto it for a future scan I’d definitely contribute to it 😃

R.I.P. John Heard March 7th 1945 - July 21st 2017

Just to revive this thread I see where FOX has just released a 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray of “Home Alone 2”. The bad thing is they’ve still stuck with the same BD-25 version they had in the past. Amazon must be cracking down on import discs as well. I have been unable to locate the foreign BD-50 version on either Amazon Germany or eBay. If anyone has, or can easily pick up a retail copy of the BD-50 version I would gladly pay the costs and postage to the USA.

Since my original post I have acquired a 16mm print of “Home Alone 2” and still have access to the 35mm print I previously mentioned. The 16mm print is very nice, but like many of that era it has a 4:3 “Pan and Scan” effect instead of being scope.

Still keen to help out if you get a project going with this bud 😃