Max Headroom Preservation Project (* unfinished project *)

A 4 (or 5) DVD set of all of the American Adventure TV show: Max Headroom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt008956
 

I’ve been trying to find the best quality copies of the 14 episode American TV series: Max Headroom to prepare a Box Set of the complete series.

I have all of the episodes from the Tech TV Network in .avi format ranging in size from 300 to 600 MGs. I also have versions on VHS from other Networks. I’m not sure what the differences are in the different edits from the different networks (Sci Fi, A&E, Bravo, Tech TV, etc.) Obviously, I’d like to get the most complete versions. Any help here would be appreciated.

When I find the best versions available I will transcode 3 episodes to a DVD to make 5 disc set that I will make available as a torrent. I have a few decent versions of Coke commercials and the Art Of Noise video. Good copies would be appreciated.

Any help at all on this project would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx, ~leesa I’m not sure where else to post to a forum concerning this project.

http://fanedits.com/fan-project-details.cfm/Preservations-TV/title/Max-Headroom-American-Adventure-TV-series/project/272/category/9/

yeah,

well unfortunately the best version is the japanese laserdisc sets (which i don't have yet)...and

i'm sure they have subtitles:

Session Menu Search/Advanced Quick Search     = Cover available = in all Collections = Available to buy ANA = Analog Sound SRD = Surround P&S = Pan & Scan LBX = Letterboxed SQZ = Anamorphic

Database found 6 titles on query:  max headroom C.  W.    Reference   Title                     Specs  Released   Video   Country  SFXL-004 Best of Max Headroom, The (1987) ANA NTSC Japan   G98F2640 Max Headroom: The Original Story (1985) SRD/ANA NTSC Japan   LV367 Max Headroom: The Original Story (1985) ANA 1986 NTSC USA   SF050-5251 Max Headroom: TV Series Season 1 vol.1 (1988) 1988 NTSC Japan   SF050-5252   Max Headroom: TV Series Season 1 vol.2 (1988) 1988 NTSC Japan   SF050-5253 Max Headroom: TV Series Season 1 vol.3 (1988) 1988 NTSC Japan

good luck..

later

-1

I'm not into this whole torrent thing, but maybe this will help.

http://www.dapcentral.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=MasterList2&file=index&show=13

The DAP rips are good rips. DAP rips always are.

Wow... thanx so much for the feedback.

I'd love to check the DAP versions, but it seems they are ed2k files and I can't seem to get DonkeyHelper to work on my Mac.  It may be futile anyway since it says on DAP that there are no "Maintainer" or "Sources available."

Any help, folks?

~leesa

AT ONE POINT I HAD ALL OF THE EPISODES ON VHS.  I NOW HAVE THEM ALL ON MY iPOD.  LEESA, YOU'LL ALSO WANT TO TRACK DOWN THE ORIGINAL MAX HEADROOM MTV SHOW.  THAT'S WHERE THE CHARACTER STARTED.  FROM THERE IT WENT TO TELEVISION COMMERCIALS.  AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISEMENTS THE TV SHOW WAS CREATED.

There's a DAP BitTorrent tracker. It's not hard to find if you search "DAP" and "tracker", though I think I'm prohibited from linking it here.

Hey Psycho_Dayv:

I have the british movie (done 2 years before the American Series) which is pretty much the same story as the pilot of the American TV show.  A few different actors, but mostly the same concept (Bryce does become a good guy in the series).

I'll have to see if the good folks over at http://www.maxheadroom.com have a list of all the Coke Commercials and such.  I am mostly interested in the Adventure series.

I don't know much about the Max MTV show.  Was it just one season?  I guess I'd better check.

ReverendBeastly:  Thanx for the info.  I found the tracker... d'oh<  As usual, it was staring me right in the face.  My big problem will be that my ratio will be crap for a looooonnng time with all the files I want to D/L... Oh well... sigh.

Thanx to all of you for your involvement and help.  Hopefully I'll get the best versions around and make a nice Box Set for all to enjoy.

~leesa

ReverendBeastly:

I checked the DAP versions and they seem to be the same as the ones that I've found.  Same time, codecs, TechTV...etc..

I wish I knew an expert that was willing to share information about Max.  I'd like to know which version in broadcast were complete.  I have VHS versions of A&E and Bravo and Sci Fi... The Sci Fi ones seemed really cut up... either the Bravo or the A&E ones had awful sound... sigh.

I made one DVD disc w/ the first 3 episodes on it (with PopCorn) last week... and it seems ok...  The problem is the source material on episodes 1 & 2 were 340 MB and episode 3 was 516 MB and was so much better looking and sounding.

So, I'm still looking I guess.

Any help would be great.

~leesa

This was a terrific series and I've wondered when it was ever going to be released on dvd.  Once you get to the point of working on it, let me know if you need any help.

I actually went to the Comic-Con and there was several editions of the Max Headroom series available - many had special features already included. 

Hey Mitch:

Thanx for the info.  I work in comics, but this is the first Comicicon in a long time that I haven't gone to.  All the versions I've seen are no better quality than the ones I've got in .avi format... and the usual extra features are the Coke commercials and the Art Of Noise video... I've got most of that.  But I'd sure like to see any new versions.

None of the versions out there are legit.  If you check out MaxHeadroom.com, there's some info there about Lorimar, etc..  I worked for a small DVD company that wanted to license the property a few years ago... but it was a real mess, so we couldn't get very far at all.

What I'm looking for is good quality complete versions. (See above)  I'd like to find out which broadcast versions are the best in terms of quality and completeness.  If anyone knows more, please get back to me.

~leesa

Just wondering if there were any updates on this.

Sorry... I kinda hit an impasse of sorts.

I can't seem to find enough info on which broadcast versions were complete... had the best sound... best picture.  Any help would be appreciated.

I'm trying to find good copies digitized from the Japanese Laser Discs.  So far no luck.  I'm not even sure how many episodes were released in Japan.  My research says they released the first 6... but I've heard different stories.  I saw a box set once a long time ago on clearance... i didn't grab it.  My bad.

~leesa

I found the whole series on a torrent.  Video quality looks good, audio varies from ep to ep.  Only problem though is that they're taken from TechTV who apparently cut down the opening credits to bare minimum.  Anyone know if the original credit sequences are out there to be had?

For those having problems with the downloads:

go to: http://tracker.dapcentral.org/index.php?page=torrents&category=5&order=filename&by=ASC

register and click on the MAX HEADROOM image on the right side; you should get some episode lists with blue arrows.  Download Utorrent and click on the blue arrows and it should load up in your Utorrent just fine (I'm doing it right now...).

Do those have the original opening credit sequences?

Ziz said:

I found the whole series on a torrent.  Video quality looks good, audio varies from ep to ep.  Only problem though is that they're taken from TechTV who apparently cut down the opening credits to bare minimum.  Anyone know if the original credit sequences are out there to be had?

Thanx so much for responding.

You probably have the .avi versions that have been floating around for years.  The big problem, besides the bad edits, are that they have a few different codecs... so data players like my Phillips DVP 5140 won't play either the video or the audio on a few of them.

If you look back through this Thread you can find posts that point to TV Archive Projects that have them available... and you can compare the file names if you like.

I have tapes of the complete series from SciFi TV and A&E (or was it Bravo?) that I'd digitize, but my research says they are both edited.

The whole idea of this Project was to find unedited versions... so far... zip.

Thanx again!

~leesa

Ok.  I haven't watched thru all of them, just scanned a few minutes here and there.  I found the the pilot and the second episode on and old tape of my own, so that's my basis for comparison for the opening credits.

Good versions of these things have gotta be out there somewhere.

Any progress on this?

I just got a hankering to watch this again.

Btw, according to Wikipedia, there was a Japanese DVD relese of the original UK pilot.

Has anyone seen that anywhere?

Edit: Cinemageddon

From TheDigitalBits.com:

In announcement news this morning, you may have heard the good news from Shout! Factory: Thanks to a new partnership with Warner Home Video, they're bringing the original Max Headroom... TV series to DVD later this year! Yes, you read that right! They're already hard at work creating a wide range of new bonus content for Max Headroom: The Complete Series, and will be mastering the episodes from original elements to ensure the highest quality. VERY cool news indeed - TV fans have been waiting for Max on disc for a LONG time. Watch for additional details in the coming weeks.

Yes... it's wonderful, isn't it?

Awesome!!!

I was working for a small DVD company and spent a long long time a while back trying to figure out the licensing for these.  It was a real mess.  I'm amazed they got through.

Yippee!!!

From what they were saying in Shout! Factory's forum, I get the impression it took them a long while to sort things out too.

No word on the UK movie, but S!F are known for their plethora of extras... and there are a lot of Max stuff out there.

It's funny, I just finished watching the DAP Project releases.  I guess I don't need to save them now.

Soo... is anyone thinking of fan editing together the UK movie and U.S. pilot now to make some sort of super cut?

The British Movie version (pilot) is readily available in good shape as a torrent or rapidshare... probably because it was "officially" released in Japan.

"Supercut?"  That sounds cool to me... except... different actors, silly.

leesa said:

"Supercut?"  That sounds cool to me... except... different actors, silly.

Not entirely.  I just don't know if there is enough overlap to be able to extend anything

Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, William Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg)... and Max.