I’m just starting work on a 4K THX-1138 restoration project. Unlike other restoration projects that cobble together the Italian 35mm print, the Director’s Cut Blu-ray, and the laser videodisc release, I’m going to use the Director’s Cut Blu-ray for the most part, and only splice in segments from the Italian 35mm print as necessary. I’ll also try and re-edit a text shot that resulted in the laser videodisc release being used at one point in that project, resulting in a rather noticeable flaw at the very start of the next shot, so that only the highest quality sources will be used.

I’ll do this in 2 versions. Initially, I’ll conform the Blu-ray, with spliced-in Italian 35mm segments as necessary, to the 1971 theatrical cut, which trimmed the scene with SEN and the children near the end and rearranged a few scenes in the middle leading up to THX’s imprisonment. Later on, I’ll do the 1977 Director’s Cut. Both times, I’ll retain the MPAA card at the start (the 1971 theatrical cut will use the GP card from Patton, while the 1977 Director’s Cut will use the PG card from The Evictors).

Restoration processing will be done with EBSynth, Blender (for color correction), and GIMP. I’ll also use GIMP to edit the text shot I’d mentioned earlier, and I might consider testing EBSynth’s potential for depth map generation (for purposes of 3D conversion) on the climactic chase sequence. If necessary, I might also attempt a color restoration of the black and white 35mm print I’ll be using as a guide for the 1971 theatrical cut.