Halloween [spoRv] *BD-25 RELEASED*

,^…^, presents Halloween [spoRv] - special preserved or Restored version

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Mission: to restore John Carpenter’s Halloween, to recover the 1999 THX DVD color grading, and to add the Criterion laserdisc original soundtrack.

Video sources: 35th anniversary BD; 1999 THX DVD as color reference.

Audio sources: uncompressed PCM captured directly from laserdisc, along with commentary and isolated score from the analog tracks; other soundtracks from BD and DVD.

Subtitles sources: to reflect soundtracks.

Project info:

“Halloween” 35th anniversary Blu-ray is the best version of the movie ever released… except for two things: color grading is different from the acclaimed 1999 THX DVD, and the soundtrack is recreated; infact, the theatrical one was mono. So the 1999 THX DVD video will be used to color regrading the Blu-ray video, while the original PCM mono soundtrack from the laserdisc will be used as main soundtrack; additional commentary and isolated score will be an appreciated addition, I think.

Source Material

Video:

• Halloween 35th Anniversay Blu-ray - main video
• Halloween 1999 THX DVD - used as color reference

Audio:

• Halloween Special Edition (Criterion Collection) - PCM mono
• Halloween Special Edition (Criterion Collection) - analog commentary
• Halloween Special Edition (Criterion Collection) - analog isolated score
• Halloween 35th Anniversay Blu-ray - AC3 commentary
• Halloween - various DVD edition used for foreign soundtracks

Subtitles:

• Halloween - various DVD edition used for foreign soundtracks

Project status: RELEASED!

Final format: BD-25

Video:

• x264 1920x1080, 23.976fps, 30mbps

Audio:

• English PCM 768kbps mono soundtrack - from digital laserdisc track
• French AC3 192kbps mono soundtrack
• German AC3 192kbps mono soundtrack
• Italian AC3 192kbps mono soundtrack
• Spanish AC3 192kbps mono soundtrack
• English PCM 768kpbs mono isolated score & effects - from analog laserdisc track
• English AC3 192kbps mono commentary - from analog laserdisc track
• English AC3 192kbps stereo commentary - from 35th Anniversary BD

Subtitles:

• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Spanish

“Partners in crime”:

• Jetrell Fo, for the 1999 THX DVD source

• Stamper, for the french soundtrack

• Prim, for the PCM mono german soundtrack

• Chewtobacca, for the DTS 2.0 german soundtrack

• Comparison screenshots

Covers:

Blu-ray custom cover (rev. 1.04) (click for larger version):

Blu-ray inside cover (rev 1.00) (click for larger version):

Will it look more like this...

... or this 

Like this...

sorry for the bad quality, but ColourMatch'ing two JPEG pictures is not that easy... (^^u)

Another attempt:

Color wise, is not perfect, but close enough to DVD; but watch the details like clouds... they are blown away on DVD, present on BD/CM.

For the sake of clarification; those DVD shots are not the original theatrical colours as implied by the first post. Those are the digitally "enhanced" colours from the THX remaster. By all accounts available (including Dean Cundey) the 35th anniversary BD has the most theatrically accurate colours of any home video release.

I appreciate that your project is trying to restore the revisionist colours for those who prefer that look but to refer to it as the original colour grading is just incorrect.

That being said, I look forward to seeing your results as always.

Thanks for the input, you are right; I changed those details into the first post.

About what is the right color grading, I wrote my opinion into this post; someone will agree with me, someone else not... but I stopped to trust director's (of photography or of movie) statements like "this is the definitive... right... the one that should be..." some time ago...

if anyone is interested, i did manage to grab a VHS - DVD-R of the original TV version which includes TV adverts

can't remeber where i got it from now

On that second shot with Michael behind the hedge, I don't think it's possible to match the DVD colours with regrading alone. The leaves on the trees to the right of the shot have been separately (digitally) recoloured to bright orange. No matter what changes you make to the overall timing, those trees will always be green unless you can somehow isolate and recolour them the way Criterion did.

I did that test some times ago, posted to Matt's thread; I still must do tests with laserdisc as color reference - don't know if it has the same colors of the '99 THX DVD or not...

The laserdisc has the same colour timing as the old VHS releases which is similar to the 35th Anniversary BD. Here's a shot from Criterion's website:

As far as I know, the only release with the digitally altered colours is the 1999 THX DVD.

Turisu said:

The laserdisc has the same colour timing as the old VHS releases which is similar to the 35th Anniversary BD.

As far as I know, the only release with the digitally altered colours is the 1999 THX DVD.

You know too many things for my tastes... (^^,) OK, you are right, I have just captured that scene, and colors are almost the same of the 35th BD... I was pretty sure the colors were the same of the 1999 THX DVD, but I was wrong...

Well, this is why I ask everytime other's opinion: it's better to know I'm wrong BEFORE the project beginning! Now, the only thing I should do is to find the 1999 THX DVD, and that's all - video wise.

Audio wise, I must capture the laserdisc twice, first for the movie soundtrack, second for commentary and isolated score. But I will not "ruin" my beautiful shiny X9 for a "mere" audio capture... one of the other will do really well.

@zeropc: I have no problem to capture laserdisc's trailer soundtrack.

Thanks, really appreciated! At the moment, another member is willing to upload it ASAP; if it will not be possible, I'll let you know.

The most important thing is to accomplish the mission!

Chewtobacca said:

Andrea, could you post some comparisons of the LD and the 35th Anniversary BD?  The LD screenshot posted above looks similar but not the same, and I'm not convinced.

 

The colours are definitely stronger in the LD timing. But colours and levels were often pumped up for home video releases (hence the overly bright sky). For what it's worth, Dean Cundey had this to say about past home video releases of Halloween and the 35th Anniversary BD:

"Dean Cundey: I was approached actually; John had looked at this new version and thought it looked really good, but suggested that I go in to oversee some final work on it so that fans would finally have the version they deserve. See, a lot of the previous editions were made from a print or a previous digital version and the people working on those versions were just doing what they thought was right. When you have a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox though, that just doesn’t translate; things get skewed.

So I was very impressed by the fact that, for this release, they used the original camera material because they wanted to make this the definitive version. For me, it’s the most accurate portrayal of how John and I wanted Halloween to be seen. Most fans have never seen Halloween the right way either between all the TV, VHS and DVD versions over the years so this Blu-ray is really something special."

Source: http://dailydead.com/exclusive-dean-cundey-reflects-halloween-career-talks-new-transfer/

I only really mention this for the sake of clarity. As has already been pointed out, this project isn't about restoring the original theatrical look, it's about recreating the look of the 1999 DVD which some people prefer.

Lee said:

Let's try this: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Halloween+(1978)+alternate+first+take&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=EC49F7B329571FFC84DCEC49F7B329571FFC84DC

 Woah.

2007 BD (white lighting = not creepy)

'99 THX DVD (blue lighting = creepy)