The Outsiders (1983) Servanov Theatrical HD Reconstruction (Released)

Thank you for viewing my fan reconstruction of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders (1983). This is a fan reconstruction of the theatrical version of the film, available for the first time in high definition. Previously, the only version available in HD was the extended “complete novel” version, which cuts out scenes as well as adds scenes to the film. The extended cut also replaced many of the original titles, opticals and much of the wonderful Carmine Coppola score.

This fan reconstruction used the official Blu-Ray as the main source for the video, and some footage, not included in the Blu-Ray, had to be replaced with a DVD version upscaled to HD and with color correction to match with the surrounding BD footage. Some titles were also recreated in HD, such as the Warner Communications “worm” logo (which had for many years been replaced by the modern logo, and was not the logo used in the theatrical version). The Zoetrope Studios logo and the “Francis Ford Coppola Presents” card were also carefully recreated digitally in HD. Additionally, audio was taken from the official 1983 LaserDisc to serve as the main audio source. The same LaserDisc (along with a VHS copy) was used as a timing reference, to ensure that the reconstruction was as accurate as possible. Thank you, and please enjoy the theatrical version of The Outsiders (1983) for the first time in HD.

The file can be found on Reddit under the r/megalinks subreddit.

VIDEO SOURCES:
-2014 Blu-Ray of The Outsiders: The Complete Novel
-2008 DVD of the theatrical version of The Outsiders

AUDIO SOURCE:
-1983 LaserDisc of The Outsiders

TIMING REFERENCES:
-1983 LaserDisc of The Outsiders
-1983 VHS of The Outsiders

Video Specs:
1:31:11 (h.m.s)
1280x720
.m2ts Format
9.92 Gb
Data Rate: 14031 kb/s
Total Bitrate: 15567 kb/s
23.976 frames/second

Audio Specs:
AC3
Stereo
Bitrate: 1536 kb/s

Kamdan said:

You wasted your time. The theatrical cut is available in HD to stream.

Where can I find it? It may not actually be in HD, just an upscale, or it may be actually the longer Complete Novel Version.

x5gb said:

Having a look around it appears to available to purchase for streaming on Amazon.com in both the theatrical and complete novel versions.

I see it now. I have trouble believing it actually is the theatrical in HD, though. If that is, that would be the first and only official release of the theatrical cut in HD ever. I don’t know where they would have gotten an HD master for the theatrical version, since Coppola got a little Lucas-y and has never wanted an HD release of the theatrical cut. Upon that, the restoration in 2005 which added the scenes, also took out some scenes and redid titles. Upon that, any release besides the VHS copy that has the wrong WB logo. More recent home video releases have the “shield” logo, while the true theatrical cut has the “worm” logo used in the 70s and 80s. So the amazon stream, if it really is a shorter cut in HD, will probably not be the “true” theatrical cut. I’m not sure, though. I haven’t watched the amazon stream version in HD of the “theatrical” cut.

Kamdan said:

The Complete Novel is seen as a novelty style release and not a “Lucas-y” replacement. Coppola allowed the release of theatrical version of Apocalypse Now, so he’s above that type of thinking. The reason there’s a HD master is because when the film plays on television, they will have the original theatrical version instead of an extended version. The same can be said for other Warner releases like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Woodstock and JFK. All of these are available for streaming in both their theatrical and extended versions to stream.

Replacing the Warners logo is about the only noble thing you’d have to do, since the Blu-ray edition of the film screwed up having the modern logo, despite Coppola’s original commentary stating it’s the Saul Bass logo.

Hmm, I didn’t know that, makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for the info.

To be honest, if you’re going to do it you should do it right: use the best available video source (the Bluray), then splice in the scenes you need from the webdl, and encode back to Bluray compatible 1080p 38000kbps video (or whatever the Bluray bitrate actually is) and either PCM or DTS-HD MA audio.

jjdout said:

Hi Servanov,
How can I get a copy of this? Can’t stand the complete novel version. I keep hoping there will be a blu ray of the theatrical cut, but still nothing. The reddit/mega link is dead. dying for an HD copy of the theatrical cut. Can you help me out?
Thanks,
jjdout

Yes, I am a bit low on Mega space, so I will upload it to Archive.org, check in about a day or so.

Kamdan said:

The Complete Novel is seen as a novelty style release and not a “Lucas-y” replacement. Coppola allowed the release of theatrical version of Apocalypse Now, so he’s above that type of thinking. The reason there’s a HD master is because when the film plays on television, they will have the original theatrical version instead of an extended version.

Not necessarily, because in the past ten years, whenever I’ve seen The Outsiders and Apocalypse Now on TV, they have always been the extended versions. Coppola is not entirely above the Lucas “type of thinking”, because he and Paramount destroyed the original negatives for the Godfather films, so that only the 2008 restoration masters are available.

When the BBC have aired Warner title, Amadeus in recent years, it has always been the director’s cut. There’s several other films with similar situations regarding TV airings.

Babu freeek said:

Here you go (link removed by moderator)

Thanks! I already sent the user a higher quality, less compressed version, but that’s a great way to watch it, too!

If Amazon video has the theatrical version in HD, wouldn’t there also be the risk of it being pan and scan?

SpacemanDoug said:

If Amazon video has the theatrical version in HD, wouldn’t there also be the risk of it being pan and scan?

To answer that question, I don’t believe so, unless they have some reason to use a 4x3 or 16x9 master, which I can’t imagine why they would. Also, I dug into it a little bit and the amazon version is probably not a high definition version of the theatrical version. In fact the amazon reviews from people talk about it being the director’s cut when you watch the film from amazon. I have seen several TV airings and they either use the complete novel version or they use the theatrical from the same SD master. Again, I can’t be certain about amazon, but I do doubt they have the theatrical in HD. If someone can confirm/deny this with screenshots and/or footage, that would be awesome, thanks!

Hmm, interesting! I suppose that would be a step in v2.0! I can’t be sure of bitrate and any quality loss from streaming compression, so I’ll still definitely continue this effort to have a lower compression version for those who want to watch, unless, of course a BD comes out. I understand that apparently Coppola or whoever’s in charge of HV releases has a bad habit of having some, well, let’s just say “confusing” methods of choosing what version goes where.

Funny how just two years ago the theatrical cut finally got its first HD physical release with the 4K remaster, even has the original Saul Bass logo for both cuts

I guess the only thing that would still be worthy of this version is it does have the original stereo mix, since the 4K only has a 5.1 track (not that it’s really revisionist to begin with, it appears to just be a remixed version of the stereo track)