Info: Our projects released thread — Page 11

Good luck with that.

I wonder if the English credits on the Japanese BD were done in 1984 in anticipation for the English release (then changed when the film was re-edited), or if they are just a digital facsimile.

Well according to You_Too there is a slight video difference and the Japanese BD is better, but not by much to warrant the extra cost, but according to a PM I got a couple days ago from a member here there is English opening and credits, hey if we end up not needing it then good, but if this can help make this either 2-Disc Set or a single BD50 better then why not try and get it? we are all about making the best damn release we can with what we have lol.

At this point all we are doing is discussing and material gathering anyways, there are still a few titles in front of this, actually You_Too and I have a couple things to finish up on the 2 releases I wanted to try and have out for you guys for Christmas and the the whole Team is taking a much needed break for a few weeks.

Yep, the Japanese BD has just a little bit more grain "preserved", though I suspect that grain to be fake. When using such heavy DVNR on a film, how do you keep the grain at the same time? There's simply no way that grain can be real in my opinion. What do you guys think?

Either way doesn't matter though, since the movie will go through our little special treatment! That is reduction of "edge-enhancement", then sharpening the rest of the details to get a nice balance, then blurring it just a little to match the look of the other BDs and adding the grain from one of those releases to cover up all the DVNR.

Here are some early samples of a test I did with some screenshots a while back: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/54630

We might add just a little more blur before adding the grain though, since I think that might make it look even more natural.

EDIT:

Here's an additional thing some might find interesting. It's an article about the restoration done to the extended (German theatrical) version. After reading it, I just can't believe they were actually talking about using such heavy DVNR. It makes me feel as if those guys really did an amazing job and then some newbie came along and added a filter over the whole thing before sending it to the film company. Unbelievable.

From what I understand, the Dutch blu-ray version of The NeverEnding Story has the best picture quality. The US blu is way too dark, and the German/Japanese extended cuts released recently have been DNR scrubbed to within an inch of their lives, removing any hint of grain it once had.

You_Too said:

Yep, the Japanese BD has just a little bit more grain "preserved", though I suspect that grain to be fake. When using such heavy DVNR on a film, how do you keep the grain at the same time? There's simply no way that grain can be real in my opinion. What do you guys think?

Either way doesn't matter though, since the movie will go through our little special treatment! That is reduction of "edge-enhancement", then sharpening the rest of the details to get a nice balance, then blurring it just a little to match the look of the other BDs and adding the grain from one of those releases to cover up all the DVNR.

Here are some early samples of a test I did with some screenshots a while back: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/54630

We might add just a little more blur before adding the grain though, since I think that might make it look even more natural.

EDIT:

Here's an additional thing some might find interesting. It's an article about the restoration done to the extended (German theatrical) version. After reading it, I just can't believe they were actually talking about using such heavy DVNR. It makes me feel as if those guys really did an amazing job and then some newbie came along and added a filter over the whole thing before sending it to the film company. Unbelievable.

 I agree. It looks like they did an amazing job with the remaster, only to ruin it all in the final stage with DNR. The behind-the-scenes featurette on the German disc shows them restoring it, and it is clearly visible at one point that they have DNR selected on their computer software - you can see their monitors with DNR selected. Usually you don't actually see evidence of them applying it like this.

Amazing film. If I may opine, I hate fake grain. Hate DNR. But I really do frown upon fake grain being added by fans to cover up DNR that was applied by a clueless studio. 

Just my two cents. If the Dutch release looks as natural as I here then it would likely be the source to go with. 

Also, I prefer two BD 25's if there are two cuts. That way one can choose one or both cuts. BD50's need to be bought in bulk to be cost effective and right now I'm out, so there is also that, lol! 

I am assuming they are using the Dutch release as the source for all footage seen in the International cut. They would just be using the German cut transfer for the scenes that exclusively show up in the German cut - in which case fake grain unfortunately seems necessary, so that the DNR'ed German footage blends in with the grain-intact Dutch footage.

Which reminds me, have you given any thought to how you will be handling the shots which run longer in the German cut? I think those comprise most of the additional footage. Will you just switch to the German cut for those entire shots, or can you figure out a way to blend the two sources together?

There seems to be some debate about which version is more accurate, from what i have read it seems the Dutch release has the more accurate colors but the print has some dirt or damage im not certain? the US release is too dark, and the latest German release has too much dnr, personally i would like to see the US release with colours corrected, as for adding grain to dnr'd movies that does not bother me if the end result is good. I'm sure this will turn out great which ever version/versions TB choose .

Btw whoever suggested to do Neverending Story to Team Blu was Genius ;)

The U.S. transfer is not just too dark, it also has black crush, and the grading has a lot of that blue/orange dichotomy. For example, take the Ivory Tower scene; if the Derann digest clip I found on Vimeo is any indication, it did have a golden "dusk" look to it in the original timing, but on the U.S. BD, those hues seem to have been digitally pushed to the point where color detail that's not gold or orange or amber or brown is drowned out.

Here's another example. The climax from the DVD - start at 1:22. (Forgive the lower quality, it's all I could find, and the gamma seems to be too high - though that just may be the standard higher-gamma/lower-contrast look used from the 80s up until the decline of CRTs)

Same scene, U.S. Blu transfer.

Look in the background whenever the lightning flashes. In the DVD clip, you can see color details like the brown wood of the shelves. In the Blu-ray, everything is shades of blue. Missing color information of this sort may well not be recoverable, even with YouToo's methods.

Thanks for the info on the U.S. release, do you know how the german release compare as far as color accuracy?

No. I'm sure it's better than the U.S. version though.

The Derann clip on Vimeo is just an excerpt of a digest - maybe I should contact the guy who posted it.

Matt_Stevens said:

Amazing film. If I may opine, I hate fake grain. Hate DNR. But I really do frown upon fake grain being added by fans to cover up DNR that was applied by a clueless studio. 

Just my two cents. If the Dutch release looks as natural as I here then it would likely be the source to go with. 

Who doesn't hate fake grain, but even though we'd add "fake" grain it would not truly be fake since it's taken from the grain heavy US BD and scaled to the frame size of the extended version. So it's just grain from another print of the same movie, used to make it look better after blurring the oversharpened edges. It won't look fake.

Also, the Dutch release is the international version, with the color timing we're all used to from VHS or whatever. So anybody who likes the international version with the old colors can just get their hands on that one.

The extended version has been restored to the original color timing and doesn't have dirt and scratches or crushed shadows/highlights, that's why it will be used as source and not the Dutch BD. The Dutch BD will be used to cut and synch our finished extended version to make an international cut with the original colors, since the international cut in the new package is the same horrible version as the US BD.

Kingherb said:

There seems to be some debate about which version is more accurate, from what i have read it seems the Dutch release has the more accurate colors but the print has some dirt or damage im not certain?

The way I got it, the Dutch BD is accurate to what it's always looked like on home video, but the new remaster is matched to the original prints.

Kingherb said:

Btw whoever suggested to do Neverending Story to Team Blu was Genius ;)

I did! LOL :D

SilverWook said:

Baronlando mentioned in an unrelated thread that an HD version of the original 1979 theatrical cut of The Warriors has been spotted in the wild. Has anyone seen it, and does it have the original mono?

I doubt Paramount is going to release this on Blu anytime soon.

 Has the original version of The Warriors ever been available on Blu Ray or HD DVD?. I would love to have a 720P or a 1080P copy of this movie without the horrible cartoon inserts. 

I sure would love to do The Warriors, I to really hate that added comic crap, but the only way to do it is by upscaling the DVD and using that for the parts needed, maybe we can look into this later at some point and see if it can be done.

Haven't seen the movie in ages. Be interested to revisit it with the team_Blu disc.

I watched The Warriors on Netflix back in 2011 and, as far as I know, it was the theatrical cut (no comic book nonsense). It was in HD as well. Unfortunately, it expired and hasn't been back on Netflix since. But an HD transfer of the theatrical cut does definitely exist.

IcePrick said:

I watched The Warriors on Netflix back in 2011 and, as far as I know, it was the theatrical cut (no comic book nonsense). It was in HD as well. Unfortunately, it expired and hasn't been back on Netflix since. But an HD transfer of the theatrical cut does definitely exist.

 Now I would love to get this, but I will believe it when I see it lol, I have searched and searched and have yet to see this version anywhere.

Thanks but I have no idea how to get that on my PC for use lol.