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Our Night Of The Living Dead 1990 project (Released)

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 (Edited)

Ok so me and DJ (and our friend the menu-guy) have worked a lot on Star Wars lately and sometimes we get tired and need to look at something else. DJ came up with the idea of fixing the horrible blu-ray release of Night Of The Living Dead 1990 remake, and we’re close to finishing it.

Originally, NOTLD 90 was colorful and bright, but the blu-ray was color timed to be dark and blue-tinted, also crushing the shadow detail in the process and even clipping some whites too. The clipping resulted in a loss of the grain that is present throughout the whole movie in the original, which we have restored by sampling grain from scenes where it wasn’t destroyed.

And of course we’ve done a color correction to make it much more balanced. In the new color timing they had set the white and black levels differently for each scene it seems, so we first had to use a plugin to get the whole movie back to a more constant balanced look, and then color correct it. The result is a more true representation of this new color timing, since there was no way to make it look exactly like the original.

We chose to do this because even the highest quality version we found using the original color timing, (which was the VuDu HDX version) looked like it was too compressed to make it a clean-looking blu-ray in the end.

EDIT: After some discussions with DJ, we have decided we’re gonna try and include the HDX version too, since otherwise we’d almost be doing a Lucas here, releasing a “special edition” with no unaltered counterpart. On closer examination of the HDX version, I could see now that it’s oversharpened and that’s why I thought it looked more compressed than it actually is. We’re planning on maybe blurring it a bit to get back the cleaner look from before the oversharpening, and then sample some grain and re-add it over the whole movie to cover up whatever compression is left, and also to restore the grain in all scenes where compression might’ve reduced it.

Here are the specs straight from DJ. (Might edit these if we add something)

Night of The Living Dead 1990

Video:
1080p AVC @ 30Mbps avg

Audio:
DTS-HD MA 5.1, Lossless PCM, Dolby Digital 2.0

Subs:
English SDH

Extras:

  • Production Notes scan
  • Director Tom Savini’s Commentary
  • “The Dead Walk” Making-of Featurette
  • Original Theatrical Trailer(BD & DVD versions)
  • Talent Files
  • Isolated Score Track
  • Night of The Living Dead Workprint with Dolby Digital 2.0
  • Fangoria #97 The Return of the Classic Dead - Tom Savini’s version of “Night of the Living Dead” scans
  • Siskel and Ebert review of Night of The Living Dead 1990
  • Joe Bob Briggs Night of the Living Dead reunion from Drive-In Theater in 1992 with the original '68 cast and Tom Savini talking about the original film and the remake
  • Tom Savini’s camcorder footage during the making of NOTLD90
  • Original vs Remake
  • Night of The Living Dead screenwriter George Romero
  • Tom Savini Q&A
  • Night of The Living Dead 1990 review by “Ain’t It Cool News”

this release will be our first BD50 release

Some screenshots:

 

 

 

 

 

If you wanna know more about the film, check IMDB.

We’re probably planning something with the original 1968 version too, and we’ll keep you updated once we get started with that.

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sounds superb!!!!

haven't got this BD release but did hear that it also had some issues with the audio as well. missing sound fx etc. was that fixed as well?

Join the dark side… and get a free cookie!

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I think it's the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track from the blu-ray which had the changes in the audio. The lossless PCM is from the Laserdisc and the DD 2.0 from the DVD, so those will of course be the original unchanged mix.

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Good stuff! I was very disappointed with the Twilight Release. I'm really liking that you guys are including the original PCM mix. As always, I admire that work all three of you put into your projects. 

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Thank you guys for showing interest in this project!

I've written a script which will restore the HDX version to the way it should look, at least close, since there is edge enhancement and sharpening added to it which could easily be reduced with a couple avisynth plugins.

I've also made sure that the HDX version is perfectly synched to the blu-ray version, maybe meaning that the audio tracks could be linked to both, allowing both to be on the same disc. I don't know much about authoring blu-rays but I bet DJ will soon tell me if that's possible.

So hopefully this release will be:

Special edition, advantages: Less cropped, cleaner and more stable image, more horror-ish color timing.

Original version, advantages: Original color timing, more preserved shadow and highlight detail.

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I hope you guys finish it. I'd love a copy of this. I kind of lost the drive for the one I working on when the Twilight Time bluray came out and was so crappy.

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We are closing in on finishing it. The video for both versions are done, but DJ is waiting for the LD audio and then he will synch it, and the menu guy will finish the menu.

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This is great! Loved that remake!

I heard about the poor BD release not to long ago and had hoped by some miracle that this film would get the proper treatment sooner than later! And here we are?! So happy I stumbled upon this site and found some folks that care and respect these films enough to do them some digital justice!

Good luck with the remaster men! And thanks again You_Too for the MySpleen invite - JIM

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 (Edited)

Is there a reason why every sample image is a no show?

Strangely you can see them if you click on them.

A before/after comparison would probably help lift this project.

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 (Edited)

Bingowings said:

Is there a reason why every sample image is a no show?

Strangely you can see them if you click on them.

I got the screenshot links from DJ back when I posted them. I don't have the full-res render myself so I can't re-post but I'll ask him to do it. It seems he used postimage.org and myself I usually use imageshack, because they keep the pics forever.

Bingowings said:

A before/after comparison would probably help lift this project.

There will be a comparison included on the blu-ray, of our "special edition". But we're also including the original in which we've reduced the edge enhancement.

Here's some comparisons of the special edition before/after, though in DVD resolution:

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Holy dangerous fridge sex!

And Savini thought this was a good idea?

You can hardly see anything.

It's worse than the last three Harry Potter home releases and AVP2:R (though that last one was a mercy).

Thank heavens the Blu-rays are too expensive to pay for... oh ...that means I can't see this preservation... nuts!

First there were silent movies, then came the talkies, then came the... blankies?

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I don't know the details but I doubt Savini did this color timing himself.

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Those before/after shots looks amazing, You_Too! Excellent work!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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Oh, wow! My favorite zombie flick (along with the original). You guys have made my day! Cannot wait for this!

I did some googling about the Twilight Time color issues, and I found this article pretty interesting. It says Sony reportedly made the transfer "with the approval of the film’s cinematographer, Frank Prinzi." It also says Savini calls it "fantastic."

ARTICLE LINK

*shrug* Wouldn't be the first time I have disagreed with a director over changes to a theatrical release. ;) All I know is that I am stoked for this preservation!

Cheers,

DT

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Darth Tater said:

It says Sony reportedly made the transfer "with the approval of the film’s cinematographer, Frank Prinzi." It also says Savini calls it "fantastic."

I bet they showed it to Savini before doing the color timing. There's no way anyone can think it looks fantastic unless they enjoy watching films through sunglasses. :)

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 (Edited)

Approved, my arse. Savini never officially endorsed it and while DP Frank Prinzi did talk to the tech guys beforehand, he never saw the final product, let alone signed off on it. For Twilight Time to say it was an "approved" transfer is deceitful.

http://www.cinemalowdown.com/2012/11/cinema-lowdown-exclusive.html

FRANK PRINZI: I have to let you know that I haven't seen the transfer on Blu-ray, on a good screen, yet. I just saw [a] quick clip on the internet and what I saw looked bad. I was consulted verbally a couple of years back but was never given a "first draft" copy of the transfer to give my true feedback. It went from words to visuals. The range of interpretation is limitless. The words “cool” or “darker” can be taken in so many ways that without a visual marker to refer to, one can go in any direction. From what I hear the direction taken did not bring pleasing results to many.

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 (Edited)

The Griff said:

Made any progress with this, You_Too?

We are done with this, we are waiting on authoring and testing, but this project is almost there, here are the updated specs by the way,

Night of The Living Dead 1990 Special Edition Specs,

Special Edition (Color corrected and fixed Twilight Time video)
Original Theatrical (VuDu HDX version fixed video)

Video:
Special Edition - 1.85:1 1080p AVC @ 30Mbps avg
Original Theatrical - 1.78:1 1080p AVC @ 30Mbps avg

Audio:
Special Edition - DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0, PCM 2.0, Dolby Digital 2.0
Original Theatrical - DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0, PCM 2.0, Dolby Digital 2.0

Subs:
Special Edition - English SDH
Original Theatrical - English SDH

Extras:
- Production Notes
- Director Tom Savini's Commentary
- "The Dead Walk" Making-of Featurette
- Original Theatrical Trailer(BD & DVD versions)
- Talent Files
- Isolated Score Track
- Night of The Living Dead Workprint with Dolby Digital 2.0
- Fangoria #97 The Return of the Classic Dead - Tom Savini's version of "Night of the Living Dead"
- Siskel and Ebert review of Night of The Living Dead 1990
- Joe Bob Briggs Night of the Living Dead reunion from Drive-In Theater in 1992 with the original '68 cast and Tom Savini talking about the original film and the remake
- Tom Savini's camcorder footage during the making of NOTLD90
- Night of The Living Dead screenwriter George Romero
- Tom Savini Q&A
- Night of The Living Dead 1990 review by "Ain't It Cool News"
- Twilight Time booklet
- Comparison video

*also going to have 5 versions of custom BD case art and a custom slipcover*

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Also wanted to mention that this and the Conan project will be our first BD50 releases.

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Wow!

one of my favorite!

Wasnt aware of the bluray release, but to discover that a preservation is done i awesome.

Hope i can get this :)

Thanks again for your hard work guys!

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I love the fact that you guys are doing BD50 releases, we need more projects done this way.

 

Can't wait thanks guys!

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Now this is the case I should use, but I do not think Viva Elite makes black cases.