Flexicon9

I see... makes sense that it was the US debut of the DC on HDTV as the hybrid cut was done shortly before that particular broadcast.  It really is a good option if you want the unrated cut in HD.  The guy put a lot of effort into it and it looks/sounds really good.

Not for nothin' but some guy on Youtube put his 35mm IB Tech screening up in its entirety and besides a flicker on this video transfer due to the mismatch of frame-rates between camera (30fps) and projector (24fps), the damn thing is pretty cool.  I'd never seen this film (I know, I know) but you guys got me curious.  So I just watched the whole thing and man, it was awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEX49eJW1M4

I guess the colors are right at least.

I purchased the Criterion DVD when it was released years ago and still have it... after watching it recently I decided to look around for HD options, already aware from reviews that the various Blu-ray releases have been somewhat underwhelming.  The MGM HD Channel aired what they referred to as "the world premiere of the director's cut" (their language - I know he just considers it the MPAA unrated version) and it was okay looking but not great.  Was it really the 'world premiere'?  I don't know... thought the unrated version had been around for years.  Maybe this was the first HDTV broadcast of the unrated cut?  Okay it was HD yes, but not that impressive.  Then I found a hybrid of the recalled Sony Blu-ray and an HDTV broadcast of the unrated version.  I have to say the clarity and overall color timing was much, much better than the MGM HD broadcast.  Some guy put it together and it's the best HD Robocop I know of so far.  The audio track was strong and it even included the director's commentary.  It's definitely a quality project and worth a look.

(his notes:  The majority of this project utilizes the theatrical Sony Blu-ray as the main source with additional uncut sequences from an HDTV broadcast being spliced in where necessary... the DTS track was taken from the MGM Blu-ray and the commentary is from the Criterion DVD.  Grain has been added to the HDTV source sequences to achieve visual parity to the Sony Blu-ray.)

I prefer the Blu-ray in the vast majority of scenes as well, but the WOWOW does have its strengths... especially in the jungle and when they lift the ark out of its tomb... the golden glow is just right on the WOWOW during that sequence.  Also, that last shot in the warehouse (matte painting) has the shadows a little more correct in the WOWOW.  The Blu-ray brightens that warehouse up a little too much and it loses some of its mystery.  Faces do lean towards the red hue in the WOWOW though and that's one area where the Blu-ray definitely trumps WOWOW.  They both have pros and cons but I'm glad I grabbed the WOWOW.  If anyone is curious, just do a free 5 day no risk trial with usenet.net and the only other thing you need is SABnzbd.  There's a simple tutorial on YT that answers all your questions.  Simple, fast and I had no problems at all.

Got the WOWOW in English off Usenet... it's around 7 gigs in 720p.  I think I like the first part better in WOWOW because the jungle should be green not gold.  Then after that point I like the Blu-ray better.  Oh well.  I saw Raiders about 20 times in the theater when I was a kid and I couldn't tell you what's right or wrong, but the Blu-ray seems to look like what I remember after the South America sequence... kinda like Harmy's re-coloring of Star Wars back to '70s style the Raiders blu seems to harken back to that type of visual warmth.

'60s Technicolor Rocks.  I have a new appreciation for my SE box sets... watched Thunderball last night and everybody's tan.  I dare say Thunderball may boast the best looking Bond babes of the '60s.  In fact it's no contest.  Auger, Paluzzi, Beswick and Peters... good lord.

 "The UE is on all DVD releases, and has correct contrast mostly, but with revisionist color timing that ruins some sequences. TSWLM BD is an all new non-Lowry master. But the color is not fully correct either. No original audio too."

Thank you for the information... that's great to know.  I think I'll go ahead and pick up the UE of OHMSS just so I have a clean copy without so much contrast boosting... I like the Blu-ray but it's a little too bright.  The SE DVD has the shadows and sunsets just the way I like them, not to mention the great colors.  OHMSS is my favorite Bond film and I bought those SE box sets back when they came out so I'm used to that version.  A couple of years ago, the film aired in HD on the Universal HD Channel in the U.S.  It was cropped to 1.85:1 to fill a 16x9 display but it looked really good.  I imagine it was pretty close to the UE specs as it was super clean but not blown out.  The detail was rather amazing.

 "I think those corrected SE's don't actually exist..."

Yeah, I don't either.

The SE DVD of OHMSS from the year 2000 seems to have great color timing and a good brightness level... well balanced.  The Blu-ray pumps up the contrast to much and blows out the image a bit too much.  How does the UE DVD rate in image quality vs. the other discs as far a color and brightness?  I know Lowry cleaned it up but is it less bright than the Blu-ray?  Also, is the recent DVD repackage that was released in 2012 exactly the same transfer as the UE DVD?