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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - IMAX 16:9 Preservation (* unfinished project - lots of info *)

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Hey, so if any of you remember a while back, there was a bit of a fiasco with Paramount releasing Star Trek Into Darkness on Blu-ray without aspect ratio expansions for sequences filmed in IMAX. There was a project here to try and do a home-made ‘IMAX Edition’ of the film (http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Trek-Into-Darkness-IMAX-169-Preservation/id/16459/page/1) but thankfully Paramount eventually re-released the film with the IMAX sequences presented in 16:9.

It’s not 3 years later and we have the same issue with the incredibly-divisive Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice…and to add more variables to the mix - there’s also the three-hour Ultimate Edition, with more footage filmed with IMAX cameras.

So the idea is, like with Into Darkness (although there we luckily had the iTunes enhanced commentary to help), we need to find the 16:9 broadcast master of the film - if it exists. The film (theatrical cut) should already be out on a variety of VOD/PPV platforms that should have a non-letterboxed version - if WB’s experience with the TDK trilogy is to go by the IMAX scenes should be presented in their expanded form as opposed to a pan-and-scan of the 2.40:1 crop. And then once we have that, edit the expanded scenes back in…

Which brings me to the Ultimate Edition issue - while it’s easy enough to do all this with the theatrical version, the UE will be a challenge because of extended IMAX-filmed sequences - the opening (one new shot), the Knightmare (quite a few new shots), the title fight (a few new shots), and the epilogue (majorly extended). Snyder’s intention with the IMAX in this film is that there aren’t any mid-scene AR changes but rather the AR stays in IMAX for the whole duration, so (unless by some magic there is a 16:9 broadcast master of the UE) with the new IMAX footage only being available in cropped 2.40:1, there are 3 approaches to handle this:

  1. Put in whatever full frame footage we can, don’t bother about mid-scene AR changes
  2. further crop the new IMAX footage to 16:9 from the existing 2.40:1 crop
  3. balance things out by employing JJ’s ‘inside-outside’ rule for STID or some variation of coherency with the aspect ratio switching. For instance, the start of the BvS fight, there is an additional bit in the extended cut of Superman throwing Batman down an alley before taking him through the Wayne Station building - can have the start of the fight up to that point in 2.40, then the moment Supes takes him through the building, open up to 16:9 and remain there for the rest of the fight.

So there’s that. If anyone knows if a broadcast master that’d be needed is out there, that’s our first step in this…

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Just chiming in to say that I’d also be interested in seeing the IMAX version reconstructed.

I saw the movie on opening day at Air & Space Udvar-Hazy in 2D IMAX-with-laser and the imagery during those sequences was breathtaking.

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Fang Zei said:

Just chiming in to say that I’d also be interested in seeing the IMAX version reconstructed.

I saw the movie on opening day at Air & Space Udvar-Hazy in 2D IMAX-with-laser and the imagery during those sequences was breathtaking.

Saw the theatrical version twice in 70mm here in London, and yes - breathtaking. Which is why WB’s decision on this release was so disappointing…

Anyway - we know Korea’s Naver has the 16:9 master needed for this (but I’m not entirely sure there’s a good way to capture something off Naver + this is at best a 5-6GB file for 1080p which is not ideal…) In the US - maybe DirecTV or RentMoviesOnDemand or Xfinity (or any cable-based VOD) may have this 16:9 version?

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From what I’ve heard (cannot confirm) is that the UHD release on vudu has the IMAX sequences intact.

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ToasterBoy said:

From what I’ve heard (cannot confirm) is that the UHD release on vudu has the IMAX sequences intact.

UHD of the theatrical cut, I presume? (which is interesting too because VUDU UHD is the only place with the theatrical cut in 4K. The 4K disc release is extended cut only - and we know that’s fixed 2.40:1).

If true, this would certainly be a great help. Interesting if that version has varying aspect ratios or just the fixed 16:9 broadcast version.

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Had someone look into the VUDU UHD thing - it’s fixed 2.40:1. 😦

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This might be a wild theory, but here it goes - Zack Snyder became so angry at the fan and critical response to his film and decided to punish us by not releasing the film on its premium format, that is in shifting aspect ratio of cinemascope and IMAX.

Also, in one interview, Snyder and WB did say (I do not remember the original article) that they were changing the tone of the future films not because they accept their faults in making the final edit of BVS, but because fans wanted a certain kind of film. Which basically means that he thinks we lack intelligence or are unable to appreciate finer aesthetics in films because his was poorly received. That’s an insult to us.

By the way, the extended cut for BvS was a completely different movie. Miles and miles better than the thetrical cut in my opinion. I’d go so far as to put it closer to ‘The Dark Knight,’ especially due to the way the plot is intelligently interwoven. The ext cut is more cohesive and makes the intentions and actions of the characters absolutely clear. Like TDK, it also now plays like a thriller. The theatrical cut in comparison feels like a pointless exercise.

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Papai2013 said:

This might be a wild theory, but here it goes - Zack Snyder became so angry at the fan and critical response to his film and decided to punish us by not releasing the film on its premium format, that is in shifting aspect ratio of cinemascope and IMAX.

Also, in one interview, Snyder and WB did say (I do not remember the original article) that they were changing the tone of the future films not because they accept their faults in making the final edit of BVS, but because fans wanted a certain kind of film. Which basically means that he thinks we lack intelligence or are unable to appreciate finer aesthetics in films because his was poorly received. That’s an insult to us.

By the way, the extended cut for BvS was a completely different movie. Miles and miles better than the thetrical cut in my opinion. I’d go so far as to put it closer to ‘The Dark Knight,’ especially due to the way the plot is intelligently interwoven. The ext cut is more cohesive and makes the intentions and actions of the characters absolutely clear. Like TDK, it also now plays like a thriller. The theatrical cut in comparison feels like a pointless exercise.

Haha, think his wife said during the JL set visits a short while back that “people don’t like to see their heroes deconstructed”. So not quite as wild as you put it, especially given that the writer (Chris Terrio) has been teasing even before release that future films will be lighter.

But thing is though - it’s not an insult, that’s the demand of the marketplace. It’s not a question of appreciation, it’s about what people want to see in these big budget blockbusters and studios and filmmakers delivering on them, which is absolutely paramount with these sorts of films, not to mention for what’s apparently the most expensive movie of all time. I don’t feel the approach Snyder took is a faulty one - although from the perspective of the studio and other parties I can see that it may be. It’s ballsy as hell to take these iconic characters with their history and expectations and then apply such a divisive take to the material tonally - that’s what I appreciate. That’s the reason Alan Moore did Watchmen not with the actual Justice League, but with allegories of these characters. Taking the iconic characters and planting them firmly in our world not in a ‘grounded way’ the way Nolan did with Batman but literally dropping them into our cynical world, and crafting a political thriller out of it, that’s not what people expect…

And agreed on the extended cut, it’s fantastic. Don’t think we’ll ever get a 3hr operatic epic superhero film like this or Watchmen again. I’d guess Snyder was as unhappy as anyone at having to cut his film down even further for theatrical release (same happened with Watchmen too).

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Antovolk? Have we met before?

Ol’ George has the GOUT, I see.

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Bumping this - has anyone seen/found that 16:9 broadcast version anywhere?

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Sounds like the only version that exists is that Korean VOD. It’s possible too that WB might pull a Star Trek Into Darkness and re release it next year with an IMAX cut.

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jojockful007 said:

Sounds like the only version that exists is that Korean VOD. It’s possible too that WB might pull a Star Trek Into Darkness and re release it next year with an IMAX cut.

Yeah, until they start airing the film on TV, feel the Korean 6GB version is the best there’ll be anyway…

Now question is - how would one go about getting it.

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Gonna bump this again - has this premiered on TV yet maybe? I’m hearing it hits HBO next month.

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Comments say 11/26 @ 6PM EST

she/her
mwah

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Ooh, cool. Hopefully someone caps it…wonder if the film is debuting on any other TV channels, maybe internationally, in the next few weeks?

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Bump - reminder that BvS airs on HBO Saturday…would be great if someone could cap it so work can start on this. I might be able to get something done with HBO Now…?

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antovolk said:
Do online channel format is or whether he will be available after the show?
Bump - reminder that BvS airs on HBO Saturday…would be great if someone could cap it so work can start on this. I might be able to get something done with HBO Now…?

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Not sure if it’ll air again but it should be available on HBO NOW/HBO GO after the airing. maybe someone can somehow also pull the file from that?

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Okay, so it did air on HBO and it was the broadcast 16:9 version with the IMAX scenes expanded.

I’m trying to somehow work out a way to pull video files from HBO Now online, has anyone managed to record the airing last night?

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UK folks - BvS is airing on Sky Cinema on New Year’s Day…question is, will it be the open matte.