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Post #1336066

Author
HippieDalek
Parent topic
Highlander 2 - 35mm Scan (In Progress) (a WIP)
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1336066/action/topic#1336066
Date created
17-Apr-2020, 12:34 PM

I hope it’s ok to write something like this as my first post but I’ve talked about this project in detail on other forums and quite a few people have suggested I should write about it here too.

Over the past year or so I’ve carried out a few projects to preserve some of the Highlander franchise’s more obscure cuts, in particular the US and EU Theatrical cuts of Highlander 2. For these two projects I used various home releases to create high quality SD restorations.

A few people brought some Highlander 2 35mm prints to my attention, so I proposed a project to try and obtain and scan one of these prints. Well there was enough support for the project and I’ve now bought a Russian print of the EU cut of Highlander 2 and it’s in the process of being scanned. So far reel 1 has been scanned with the scanner planning to continue working on the remaining reels this weekend. Reel 1 has presented a few problems, and there are more splices than we expected, but both the colour and detail levels are pretty nice, and the rest of the reels appear to be in much better condition.

The scanner sent me a few sample videos the other day:
https://vimeo.com/407910159
https://vimeo.com/407910189
https://vimeo.com/407910219
https://vimeo.com/407910249

Once I’ve got the scan I plan to combine the video with the English language audio from the Hong Kong laserdisc (the only known official uncut home release of the full English language soundtrack of the EU cut) and put out a “grindhouse” release. After that I’ll work on restoring numerous shots from the 35mm print to combine with the Blu Ray Special Edition Cut to produce a full HD version of the EU Theatrical Cut, and then the shorter US Theatrical Cut. As the Blu Ray isn’t the best quality I may then try to restore more of the 35mm print with the aim of a further release that uses as little of the Blu Ray as possible.

So thanks to the support of fans this project is well under way and definitely happening. If anyone here would like to help out or contribute in any way then please get in touch. Please feel free to make any suggestions or feedback.