Mango

UPDATE: I’m a little more than halfway through the first season. Exporting as mp4’s was resulting in far worse quality, so these will be released as HD mov files. I’ve also decided to pretty much go in order and release each season as I complete them.

I’ve started work on a fun little project to restore all of the SD episodes of AVGN in HD. My process is simple, using DVD rips (the blurays are far lower quality for some reason) upscaling in Topaz Video Enhance AI to HD, then a bit of color correction in Final Cut Pro. Some of the earlier episodes will have to be stitched together from low quality youtube sources as some scenes were altered on the DVD versions, i.e. the Rocky review from season 1 having clips from the movies removed to avoid copyright infringement.

This project, like many of my others has no specific scheduled release date, and will be extremely time consuming. I’ll probably release episodes in groups of say 3 at a time, and the final project will be folders of mp4 versions gathered by season.

a_purist said:

Mango said:

a_purist said:

Hi, Mango!

What have you decided for this scene?

Second Sight UK 40th:

Second Sight Seriously Ultimate Edition UK:

The Seriously Ultimate Edition is much closer to the laserdisc, so mine will be similar to that.

Perfect!

Mango said:

V4 Coming soon!

Great news! But for a flawless finish, in my humble opinion, this film should have:

• The OAR, all Blu-ray releases are open matte (1.78:1 all but german UHD) and should be 1.85:1 (1920x1036, black bars on the top and bottom 22px each)
• Bryanston Pictures logo at the beginning. You can find it on the Blu-ray release of John Carpenter’s “Dark Star”.

https://www.closinglogos.com/page/Bryanston_Pictures

Let me know if you need any help.

Good ideas. Will definitely do that. 😃

LHUX said:

speaking of which?
someday of someone in this website gets ahold of a 35mm negative of toy story.
we should contribute in this work.

There are already multiple projects to restore Toy Story to how it looked theatrically.

JonathanArthur19 said:

This is interesting: https://twitter.com/jonogibbs/status/1371269635740332035

Maybe it is good that Mango decided to buy the 35mm Print of Shrek, I’m curious if it’ll look better than the “4:1:1 subsampling compressed at 98% quality JPEG images”

I heard about that too. It’s kinda funny since I remember getting a comment on the trailer I did on youtube saying something along the lines of “The digital files can just be re-rendered at any resolution”. Looks like thats not the case.

Charles Threepio said:

I might have been half-joking when I suggested a “no thanks whatsoever to Donald John Trump and Michael Eisner” credit, but I was joking nonetheless. If nothing else, we should at least be grateful this project hasn’t been cancelled altogether on account of the pandemic.

Eh, I’m too big a fan of the movie to cancel it altogether. That guy is really starting to get on my nerves though.

LHUX said:

where is everybody?

What part of “be patient” is not getting through to you?

LHUX said:

today is April 22nd 2021.
exactly 20 years since shrek met its debut.
and no 35mm.
we failed the mission all thanks to the global pandemic.
now what do we have to do?

It’s still going to happen, regardless. It’s kinda sad we missed the anniversary, but it will still happen.

itsguppy said:

what scanning place are you using?

It’s a private scanner. Their identity and location are being kept secret.

SpacemanDoug said:

I do know for a fact that the blu-ray of Teen Wolf is incorrectly pitched, not sure if the DVD has the same issue

Also I will say that the remix for Animal House is indeed quite annoying, but at least it has the original songs cause I know one of the DVD releases changed a bunch of them (I think the double secret probation edition)

Yeah, I’ve heard about the Teen Wolf soundtrack being messed with. Such a shame because the video is great on the Scream Factory Blu-ray. As for Animal House, maybe someday I’ll sync the laserdisc audio to the blu ray.

I find it extremely frustrating that the 4K bluray of Animal House STILL will not include the original mono soundtrack. The last release to have it that I know of was the DVD. Hopefully, it’ll at least be a better presentation videowise. The original bluray had really gross colors.

Soupdrinker0 has informed me that there is a digital version in HD. I had a look, and it’s better than anything an upscaler could do. For that reason, this project is cancelled.

It’s unbelievable and almost insulting that one of the most important films in cinema history remains unavailable in HD. Rumors have spread about a Criterion blu-ray for years, but it seems doubtful that it will ever happen at this point. Perhaps one could assume that this film is deemed too shocking even to this day. Ever since its initial release in 1932, “Freaks” has been the subject of controversy, criticism and censorship. To this day, the uncut version is lost, and will probably never see the light of day.

Nevertheless, I think an HD Upscale, done the same way as my “American Movie” project will be the only way to see this film in high definition, even if artificial. It’s better than nothing. Source is the 2004 Warner Bros DVD. Film will be upscaled in Topaz Video Enhance AI, and regrained and contrast adjusted in Final Cut Pro.

Still working on finalizing everything on American Movie. Coven should be a lot easier since it’s in B&W. Also working on another HD upscale at the same time.

NEW SCREENSHOTS COMING SOON

ray_afraid said:

Oh wow! I love this film.
Will you be doing the deleted scenes as well?
The scene in the Burger King drive thru is one of my favorite things.

Yeah, I probably should. Why not? 😃

I’ve decided to include an upscale of “Coven” as a bonus feature. It will also be an HD MOV file.

This project as well as my Weird Al project is on hold until this fall. I want to finish some of my other projects (TCM, Tron, The Howling, American Movie, and one TBA) before starting work again.

As for Shrek, with the pandemic still going, we’ll just have to be patient. Thanks you all so much for your support.

American Movie is now on blu-ray. Mark told me himself in an email that an HD remaster of Coven is in the works.

Spring might not be possible, got kinda distracted after a trip to Florida, but it will happen sometime in the near future. Still working out ways to finalize everything. New preview images will be released within a few days. 😃

LHUX said:

JonathanArthur19 said:

LHUX said:

Mango said:

JonathanArthur19 said:

There is a 4K Blu-Ray of Shrek coming out soon anyways, plus I think Mango wants to be safe due to Covid which is understandable, so maybe stop trying to rush him to finish this?

^

seriously? its Shrek’s 20th Birthday
we need that scan by now

Dude Do you not know how stupid you sound, do you not know that we’re are in a global pandemic?? Don’t you know that Mango wants to stay safe and the shipping to scan it will be delayed? Dude you stop being like “We need that scan by now” and “You should scan it by now” Well, why don’t you find a print online, buy it and scan it yourself if you want it that bad.

look i understand but doesn’t mango scan?
i have seen 35mm scans by him.

No I don’t. Shrek has to be sent to a scanner before it can be scanned, and the last thing I’d want is for there to be any issue with shipping it due to the pandemic. Just relax. It will happen eventually.

JonathanArthur19 said:

There is a 4K Blu-Ray of Shrek coming out soon anyways, plus I think Mango wants to be safe due to Covid which is understandable, so maybe stop trying to rush him to finish this?

^

Seems unnecessary. The bluray is a very nice scan of the 35mm negative. Looks exactly how it’s supposed to and has the original stereo soundtrack.

Here’s a little teaser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aEVEcuoUkQ

Just eat it! (still from the restoration)

Every video from 1980 to 2013 upscaled/remastered in 4K with restored audio and hours of bonus content.

Will be released as MKV files in corresponding folders.

Music Videos:

1. My Bologna [1980]
2. Another One Ride The Bus (Live On The Tomorrow Show) [1981]
3. Ricky [1983]
4. I Love Rocky Road [1983]
5. Eat It [1984]
6. Eat It (Coverage Take) [1984]
7. I Lost On Jeopardy [1984]
8. This Is The Life [1984]
9. Like A Surgeon [1985]
10. Dare To Be Stupid [1985]
11. One More Minute [1985]
12. Living With A Hernia [1986]
13. Christmas At Ground Zero [1986]
14. Fat [1988]
15. Patterns [1988]
16. Money For Nothing / Beverly Hillbillies * [1989]
17. UHF [1989]
18. Smells Like Nirvana [1992]
19. You Don’t Love Me Anymore [1992]
20. Polka Your Eyes Out (Live On Dr. Demento’s 20th Anniversary) [1992]
21. Jurassic Park [1993]
22. Bedrock Anthem [1993
23. Bohemian Polka [1993]
24. Headline News [1995]
25. Amish Paradise [1996]
26. Gump [1996]
27. The Alternative Polka [1996]
28. Spy Hard [1997]
29. The Saga Begins [1999]
30. It’s All About The Pentiums [1999]
31. Polka Power [2000]
32. Bob [2003]
33. Angry White Boy Polka [2003]
34. Don’t Download This Song [2006]
35. I’ll Sue Ya [2006]
36. Virus Alert [2006]
37. Close But No Cigar [2006]
38. Pancreas [2006]
39. Weasel Stomping Day [2006]
40. White & Nerdy [2007]
41. Do I Creep You Out [2006]
42. Polkarama [2006]
43. Trapped In The Drive-Thru [2008]
44. Craigslist [2010
45. Skipper Dan [2010]
46. CNR [2010]
47. Ringtone [2010]
48. TMZ [2011]
49. Party In The CIA [2011]
50. Another Tattoo [2011]
51. If That Isn’t Love [2011]
52. Whatever You Like [2011]
53. Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me [2011]
54. Perform This Way [2012]
55. Polka Face [2012]
56. Tacky [2014]
57. Word Crimes [2014]
58. Foil [2014]
59. Handy [2014]
60. Sports Song [2014]
61. First World Problems [2014]
62. Lame Claim To Fame [2014]
63. Mission Statement [2014]
64. North Korea Polka (Live On John Oliver) [2017]
65. The Hamilton Polka [2018]
66. Your Horoscope For Today [2023]

Bonus Features:
The Compleat Al [1985]
There’s No Going Home [1996]
The Weird Al Show [1997]
Behind The Music Special [1999]
VH1’s Driven Special [2002]