Turisu said:

Well after all these ringing endorsements from people that clearly know this movie a lot better than I do, I've decided to crack and swap my BD for the wowow version.

I'm guessing rutracker is the place to go for this, but there are several versions on there and I haven't a clue which is the version being discussed.

Any and all help much appreciated. :)

Check your PMs

It's a bit over-sharpened and there are still a couple of gamma issues with slightly blown out highlights, primarily in the Ark opening sequence. But they are less severe than the blu ray and the color is MUCH better, and pretty accurate to the 35mm version IMO. It's sharper than the blu in most places. The sound is the original mix from what I can tell, but the surrounds are too loud. I had a big smile on my face watching it last night. I have been so unhappy with the blu ray that it was a joy to watch.

It would be interesting to know who did this version and why it was only shown in Japan. The HD master shown on US TV was the Lowry remaster (and now is the blu ray version). I wonder if this was the original 4k restoration and then Paramount felt they had to mess with it for the blu ray release by re-timing and remixing.