yes Moth3r, it's true that the original R1 does seem to contain some additional detail. I think you're right, the new release has been contrast boosted and smothered, and consequently the sky is blown out, which is unfortunate, because you lose some subtle wispy clouds in many shots. However, it's exceedingly grainy and dark. Plus, if you look at the right edge, you'll see the new release contains a bit more of the image, which I would like to keep since it makes a difference in some scenes.

I'd like to at least try an avisynth script on the original R1. Is there anywhere I can get scripts for degrain and saturation boost?