Last of the Mohicans - Original Theatrical Cut - BD-50 *RELEASED* — Page 2

The DTS-HDMA audio is proving to be a little more time consuming than I first anticipated (surprise, surprise, LOL) as there are more changes than I realized in comparison to the R2/R4 TC DVDs and I'm NOT talking about the fact that one is a TC and the other is DDC but there are actually a lot of sound effects that have been modified for the DDC on the BD. Not only that but it's interesting that the first ~17 seconds of the intro music is MISSING on the BD release ( there is an obvious fade-in to it when compared to the DVD audio )
None of this will be a real problem but it does mean that more of the lossy sourced audio will have to be used here and there than I thought originally. I am keeping a log of all the changes and might end up including it in the NFO file when I release this project.

I am also considering syncing the audio commentary track to this release that is present on the BD release and it will be a nice extra, but I haven't listened to it yet and don't know if there are references to the cut scenes that are in the TC but not the DDC. I will work on that AFTER I finish syncing the DTS-HDMA audio track and AFTER I sync all of the languages tracks (which now include: English, Polish, German, Italian, French, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese)

I am also considering including the "making of" featurette that is on the BD release. I will also be including extras (interviews, behind-the-scenes footage) that are NOT present on ANY release. The internet is a wonderful thing and I have tracked down almost an hour of extra stuff (unfortunately all lower quality SD material, but it will still be nice to have especially after I do some "clean-up" work to it) that I will post more info about once the project is complete.

Right now, with the amount of footage I have, and the size of everything, this is starting to look like it might end up being a BD-50 release or a BD-25 (for the main feature) and a AVCHD DVD-9 (although I'm still not sure if it will fit on a DVD-9 and might end up being two BD-25 discs) for all of the extras.

And, of course, I still need to prepare everything for the menus, check if subtitles are proper and in-sync, etc. So it will probably be another week or so before this is released but everyday I'm closer and the most time-consuming part (the encoding of the video) is complete.

Indeed, this is true and even with some of the frustrations of working on such project, I have to admit that it is also fun and satisfying. Thanx for reminding me, I edit my last post, as I do have the French audio as well.

The commentary track should be easier to sync than the DTS-HDMA track which is "showing" me just how many edits (some as little as an extra/missing frame) that there were done all over the place on the DDC.

On topic of the "main feature" and "extras," I am still unsure of whether I'll do two BD-25 or one BD-50 (as it would be very nice to have everything on ONE disc) and I am not sure which I will choose. However, thanx for the suggestion Andrea (I know that it's motivated by the fact that BD-25 is cheaper than BD-50)

I look forward to sharing this with you Andrea, as you are right - this is one you didn't have to do ;o)
Also look forward to sharing with others that will be interested...

Hi jerryshadoe,

once again I'd like to congratulate on this awesome project, the screencaps look great!

If you allow me, can you please include the 1993 LD PCM track?

I say this beacuse among the home video versions available, this is the closest mix to the theatrical audio and it's a lossless. Since the user suntech has the disc and offered to provide it, I think it would be a waste not to use it.

LD PCM tracks are usually so great and it would be a fantastic addtion to your project. So I humbly ask to please reconsider.

Thanks!

As I don't have a LD player, someone else would have to rip the track. However I am happy to include it if someone is willing to rip it and then share it for this project. I am in the process of syncing all the extra language tracks that I have (I'm about 40% through it and should be done by tomorrow - hopefully) and going through the subtitles and making sure those are in sync as well.

When it came to my comment about not wanting to use the LD audio, I was referring to the AC3 track, but the PCM is a welcome addition.

Now, back to syncing... ;o)

SIDE-NOTE: It turns out that the HDTV source actually has a 5.1 AC3 track, NOT a 2.0 and the reason MediaInfo showed 2.0 (as well as the players I use) is because it was muxed incorrectly and once I "threw" the file into MKVcleaver I was able to demux the 5.1 track. So now I am wondering, if (after stretching it back to NTSC) whether to include it as well. I, now, have 4 English tracks: the Brazilian R4 NTSC 5.1, the R2 5.1 (stretched back to NTSC), the HDTV 5.1 (stretched back to NTSC) and the DTS-HDMA 5.1 sourced mostly from BD (about 2 and a half minutes are still sourced from the R4 lossy track) Would including ALL of these be TOO completest of me? Space is NOT an issue, as this will definitely be a BD-50 release as the "main feature" (with all language tracks - and only two of those english options: the DTS-HDMA and the R4) already will come out to ~26-27GB and I will NOT sacrifice video or audio quality just to make it fit on a BD-25. Anyway, I'm rambling now so back to work...

Oh noooo, not the piggy bank! I guess I'll have to get you a new one ;o)

The release will fill the disc up as much as possible, as I have acquired even more "extras" for the project and am still finding more stuff on the internet. Being able to search in languages other than English has yielded some positive results ( I just have to convert the stuff to a proper AVC BD-compliant format.) So that, I'm happy about...

But not all is good news. On topic of audio tracks, I have to report that the German 2.0 audio that I found is actually corrupt and, therefore, missing about 10 minutes throughout the movie at different points. I have tried everything possible to try to "salvage" the file but it looks like it was either encoded wrong (as the video in those spots is missing too) or it got corrupted during upload/download. To make things worse, the links where I downloaded the file are now dead so there's no chance of re-download and I can't find it anywhere else. On topic of the Spanish 2.0 audio, the quality is HORRIBLE, as it's actually dual-mono, obviously sourced from VHS, AND encoded at 56kbps 22KHz MP3. It's sounds like you're listening to it through a tin can and, subsequently I have decided to NOT include it either.

So, on that note, if there is ANYONE that could share the German, Spanish, or English PCM Laserdisc audio, that would be awesome. I doubt that anyone will as I realize I'm new on this forum, not known by anyone and probably not taken as seriously as some of the die-hard fans on here. No worries, guess I have to "climb the ladder" and prove myself to be competent first ;o)

I have all remaining audio tracks synced (which includes English, French, Italian [thanx Andrea, for supplying that], Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and isolated-score track) except the audio commentary track, which I'm about half way through now.

As far as hint from Andrea about splitting the file... hmmm, well the BD release of the film (the official release) has the movie in one file on the BD-50 and it's 35.5GB (in one file) and there is no lag anywhere on the film around where that transition occurs so I don't think that will be a problem like it was with DVD9. I have looked at filesize of other movies on BD-50 and have seen the same pattern. Only way to verify this on home-made discs, is for me to burn a BD-50, once I have the project complete, and see what happens.

will test a BD-50 burn soon...

I will NOT re-encode the final encode that I have now. The reason for it is that it looks nice at the 25mbps that it's encoded at. I have done some test and, discovered myself, this movie looks better at 25 vs 20 and I noticed that the grain is actually NOT as evident as with the higher bitrate. Maybe there is a difference in this depending on the movie footage on-screen... Not sure...

So, right now I'm in the process (~80% done) of getting a re-encode of the HDTV broadcast to 720p with German 5.1 audio, so I will actually be able to include it. As far as the audio and subtitles that I have included so far, they are as follows:
English 5.1 Custom DTS-HDMA 24bit @~3800kbps
English 5.1 AC3 @384kbps (sourced from R4 NTSC Brazilian DVD)
English 5.1 AC3 @448kbps (sourced from R2 DVD, slowed down to 23.976fps)
Isolated Score 5.1 AC3 @384kbps (sourced from R4 NTSC Brazilian DVD)
Audio Commentary Track 2.0 AC3 @384kbps (sourced from BD, re-synced to this cut)
French 5.1 AC3 @448kbps (sourced from HDTV, slowed down to 23.976fps)
Italian 5.1 AC3 @448kbps (sourced from R2 DVD, slowed down to 23.976fps)
Polish 5.1 AC3 @448kbps (sourced from R2 DVD, slowed down to 23.976fps)
Brazilian Portuguese 2.0 AC3 @384kbps (sourced from R4 NTSC Brazilian DVD)
Russian 5.1 AC3 @448kbps (sourced from HDTV, slowed down to 23.976fps)

and, for subtitles, I have: Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Swedish. (for some reason I am having problems ripping the Brazilian Portuguese subtitles from the R4 DVD)

I'm still hoping someone will come through with the LD PCM audio. Now I have to encode all the extra footage (that's not from the official BD release) and then put together a menu and chapter marks and... etc...

This is coming together and should be finished within next few days ;o)

All rite... so all of the video and audio is edited, synced, encoded, muxed, subtitles verified to be in-sync, chapters file created, and now...

well, all of it adds up to around 39-40GB so far... am now creating the menus for the BD and creating the covers...

Everything should be done real soon, I'm just testing different settings and backgrounds for the menus.

Here's a preview of the front cover (still working on back):

ok, sorry people... I realize that last post was very lack-luster for the cover.

HOWEVER, hear me out. I always loved the original cover that was on all posters, laserdiscs, vhs & dvd releases and then... what the hell happened to the cover on the bluray release? were they smoking crack with a methed out green giant while riding a drunken unicorn in a psychedelic haze on the other side of the moon realizing they are a gerbil inside of Andy Dick's ass? wow, maybe I went on a psycho rant there, sorry... but seriously, the blu-ray cover is atrocious. So I wanted a nice version of that cover (which took some googling for a little while) and finally found a nice poster version with just the title and Daniel-Day Lewis. Found a very similar font and only inserted "original theatrical cut" on the front because I think it's an awesome picture and should be preserved "as-is." Now, that I have completed the side and back of the cover, it looks EXACTLY like I wanted, even though it took a few hours ;o)

So, I present you the ENTIRE cover that will be used for this release (will finish up the menus and stuff within the next couple of days and then this will be complete for release) :

This is the FIRST cover I have ever designed, so any and all comments are welcome ;o)

Great Work on the Cover. 

Has any one figured out how many versions of this film are out there? I know of two different soundtracks with different artists. I know I saw two different versions of this movie before the Directors cut was released. I know of three versions of Michael Mann's take on "Red Dragon",  "Manhunter". Just Wondering.

Thanx for the kudos ;o)

As far as how many versions of the film there is... well, there are three:

-Original Theatrical Cut (what was released on R2/R3/R4 DVD, Laserdisc, and VHS)
-Director's Expanded Cut (what was released on R1 DVD)
-Director's Definitive Cut (what was released on Bluray)

jerryshadoe said:

Thanx for the kudos ;o)

As far as how many versions of the film there is... well, there are three:

-Original Theatrical Cut (what was released on R2/R3/R4 DVD, Laserdisc, and VHS)
-Director's Expanded Cut (what was released on R1 DVD)
-Director's Definitive Cut (what was released on Bluray)

Ok I have all three. I am wondering if there was a Cable version, Because for "Manhunter" I had , The VHS Version, The Version I taped from Showtime and I have the Anchor Bay Limited Edition 2 disk set with the badly transferred Directors cut. I suspect that Showtime broadcast the "Hybrid Version of "Manhunter" As it wasn't the same as either the DC or the Theatrical Version. I suspect the LOTM has similar versions floating around out there.

If this is the case, then I'm unaware of it with LOTM. The source that this project is based on is a "cable" version, as it's sourced from a SKY-HD broadcast in Europe, but it's actually the "theatrical cut." there may be a TV edit (from when the show made it to broadcast TV in the late 90s) but I doubt that it will have any extra footage. However, you never know what rare recording might be floating around out there in the world...

On note of project: I am creating the BD-50 with multiAVCHD as "we speak" and will be posting results and release info within next few hours ;o)

Getting excited for this project!

ok people, bare with me for just a few more hours...

shortly after my last post I had a power outage here and my first attempt at authoring the BD failed miserably. the second and third attempts were massive failures, as the menus were not set up properly and froze every time I attempted to view the "titles" menu. now, I'm on my fourth attempt and I think I finally have it figured out. Then I will burn another disc to make sure it works rite and "ta-da!", we will have a release ;o)

FINALLY, this project is completed and has been released on that internalorganthatyoudontneedbutmostofusstillhave.org ;o)

Final size 38.59GB

Looking forward to comments after viewing. Enjoy people ;o)

Anyone that needs access and doesn't have it, please PM me for details...

jerryshadoe said:

FINALLY, this project is completed and has been released on that internalorganthatyoudontneedbutmostofusstillhave.org ;o)

Final size 38.59GB

Looking forward to comments after viewing. Enjoy people ;o)

Anyone that needs access and doesn't have it, please PM me for details...

 Going to download now, thanks for all the hard work jerryshadoe. 

Congrats jerryshadoe! I know how tough it is to put releases together, especially when its your first, so relax and give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it!

I look forward to seeing what future releases you have in store for us. :)

Many thanx for the kudos from everyone. Can't wait to hear opinions after people watch it. I'm still working on my pain in the a** "new adventures of winnie the pooh" project and have a couple more "in the drawer." Will start new threads for the "in the drawer" stuff, as I get closer to completing them.

on topic of this release: I am happy with the results, considering the sources I had to work with. By this, I'm really talking about the extra (not on BD) "bonus" footage things that I included, as the main feature looks great. If I ever get higher quality sources for it, which is highly unlikely, I will re-do the release. For that matter, if we ever get a higher quality source of the theatrical cut, I will re-do that as well but, for now, this is as good as it gets. I am proud of the lossless audio restoration I did for this cut, sounded great on my surround system. Switching between my custom lossless track and the R4 or R2 lossy audio, everyone that was at my house for the "test screening" (numerous family members, friends, and neighbors) noticed a significant difference especially clarity and background sounds (not just in rears) that really "came out at you." Some might say that this is due to the fact that I used the lossless audio from the BD, and although this is true, actual usage of that source was only about 60% of the movie. I realize many will say that there aren't that many different scenes, altered dialogue and such, but they would be WRONG. Just for starters, the intro music on the BD is faded in at ~17 seconds later than the OTC audio (due to different studio logos) but also the timing of the music there is WAY different until the "punch" at the title card for the movie. There were numerous places in the movie, where the BD and OTC would line up perfectly as far as video frames being identical, but the music would be playing at different timings, where certain "punches" or instruments beginning would play up to +/- 350ms off of each other, just to be perfectly in sync 2-3 seconds later. The sound effects were timed differently in other scenes, where the music starts at the same time, with both BD and OTC video lining-up, but within 10 seconds from that start point the two would be completely out of sync both video and audio, also by anything up to +/- 350ms. So I had to, very carefully, go through the entire movie and splice the hell out of the audio to put it together. All the lossy sourced audio was given a lot of TLC before being spliced into the lossless sourced audio. I could barely tell the transition points when I watched the movie (nobody else noticed) and I think it was only because I worked on it so much that I just knew where they were. All of this is probably extra info that most won't care about, but for those few (any myself) I wanted to share this before I forget. Also, I forgot to mention, that the background audio on the commentary track will be out-of-sync in certain points to what is on-screen, as I didn't want to cut any of the commentary out, so I did the best I could to keep it in sync while still retaining all of it.

Also, if anyone wants this, but doesn't want to take the ratio hit on the internalorgan,
PM me for a private alternate ;o)

Wonderful project. One of the best of it's time and quite memorable to me.

Thank you for all of your hard work.

Great project! and great hard work!

was looking for this version for a long time!!