Space Kaijuu

I have the FLAC, as well, in case you need it.

I don't know what channel showed the German HDTV version. I don't see any watermarks or logos to identify the channel.  It was probably a subscriber service.  It's possible they used a Non-German HDTV rip and just synched the German dub to it since the opening and titles and closing credits are in English with no German subtitles but I haven't seen another 1080p HDTV source other than the French version and the video for the German version is obviously different from the French version.

So much for the hope of one more full season.  I just hope the remaining episodes will at least provide SOME closure to the series, even if they don't lead right into ep III.

Harmy said:

@Space Kaijuu: I managed to improve that whole shot quite a bit but there is still some inevitable blurriness around the Dewback.

 

 

Awesome.  The bluriness on the dewback didn't really bother me since it was supposed to be off in the distance, anyway.  For some strange reason, that guy talking to the stormtrooper just stood out because his lower half was sharp but his upper half was blurry and yet the stormtrooper he was talking to looked fine.  I don't know why such a minor detail stood out so much when I was watching the scene.

Ah, that would explain the movies I've seen where the widescreen version had more picture information on the sides but the full-frame version had more information at the top and bottom. 

I remember all the problems with the Titanic film print from working at a theater that had it when I worked there.  For some reason, they used a really cheap film stock that wasn't intended for the longer movies.  As the movie got closer to the end the film would start to buckle in on itself and eventually get tangled in the "brain" unit on the projector until the film broke and the movie got interrupted.  We had to have someone stand at the film platter and physically push the film back into place as it unwound for the last 45-60 minutes of the movie.  It was such a pain.

We had the film tangle and break about halfway through the credits once and all these old ladies came out complaining that they didn't get to hear the end of that Celine Dion song and demanding a refund.

Were you able to fix the blurry-headed guy talking to the Stormtroopers outside of the cantina?

For a long time they said the series would end with Season 5 but then Cartoon Network and the producers of the show decided to extend it beyond that because it was so successful.  Hopefully, a lot of people are still going off of the idea that they are following the original 5 season plan.

If not, I've always suspected that they would end the series with a feature-length movie that leads into episode 3.  I'd like to see one more season to wrap up the series, but I'd be okay with a movie that wraps everything up.

As far as edits, I've often wondered how hard it would be to just edit the multi-part story arcs into their own movie versions.  It would probably take some tweaks and adjustments to make sure they flow properly as movies rather than separate episodes, but it might be a worthwhile project.

Treadwell said:

You (or those reporting it) might've been misled by the fact that the scene was altered during a later stage of editing the film....before release. When Sotheby's auctioned off a bunch of cels from the film, one of them showed Baby Herman inserting a bill or two into his assistant's cleavage (remember, he was sending her off to bet on a horse for him). In the final film, this shot is replaced by a closeup of Eddie.

There were a few late changes like this, toning down some of the adult elements. ADR of Wise Ass saying "bull schtick" instead of the other word, and Maroon telling Eddie he has a lot of "brass" instead of balls.

...but, again, these were pre-release "changes", if that is even the right word.

That would make sense.  I remembered reading that something was changed in that scene but couldn't remember what it was or why and none of the video versions appear to be any different.

This is another one of those movies where it's hard to separate fact from fiction on a lot of the supposed changes.  There are a lot of unsubstantiated rumors as well as a few edits made to the TV version that have been listed as edits to the home version, instead.

edit: I was able to acquire the German HDTV rip and it's the censored version.

I would suspect they were pan-and-scan rather than open matte.  Open matte means the film was shot at 4:3 ratio and the top and bottom were cropped in the theater to give the wider 1.66:1 or 1.85:1 ratio.  When the video is presented in open matte, you get more picture information at the top and bottom of the frame than what was shown in the theater.

Pan-and-scan means that the film was shot in the wider aspect ratio (usually 2.35:1 or hard-matted 1.85:1) and then the sides are cropped off to make it fit a 4:3 display.  Information is lost from the sides of the original and often the area that's shown is panned or scanned to make sure that the section of the film with the most visual elements or action is visible.

Was it open matte or pan-and-scan?  Generally, 2.35:1 films were shot on 70mm or Cinemascope 35mm anamorphic frames.  Open matte films are generally shot at 3:4 and matted to 1.66:1 or 1.85:1.  I know there were a few exceptions, but they weren't common because matting a 4:3 35mm frame down to 2.35:1 ends up looking like crap.  Given the budget Titanic had, I have a hard time believing they wouldn't have shot it on 70mm.

I got the french version and checked a few of the known alterations in the later releases.

The Baby Herman middle finger is there.

The Betty Boop nip-slip is there.  This is the only version I've seen that has this.

There are a few frames during Jessica Rabbit's musical number where the slit in her dress looks like it might be a little more revealing (even though you don't really see anything).  There are rumors that the theatrical version had a frame somewhere that shows her panties/vagina but every story claims it's in a different spot and there's not solid evidence.

The scene with Baby Herman smoking in the baby carriage appears to be unaltered.  There are some reports that the scene was altered but I haven't found any proof.

The scene with the writing on the bathroom wall matches all the other versions I've seen.  I've yet to find any proof that the phone number was ever actually there.  One version of the story claims that the number was in place throughout the scene and people were calling Michael Eisner's home number because of it.  Other versions of the story claim it was only there for one frame or that it was Jeffrey Katzenberger's number instead.  Another version of the rumor claims that people didn't find it until after the laserdisc was released but I remember hearing people claim the phone number was there before the movie was actually released on home video.

The scene with Jessica Rabbit's panty-shot is unaltered.

There are various dubious reports of different clips that were edited out, but solid proof has never been offered.

I haven't done a frame-by-frame comparison yet, so there may be other differences.  The blu-ray version uses the same transfer as the Vista Series DVD, so it will have the same alterations.

Edited the correct and update some information.

According to the Home Theater Forum review, it's in SD, as are all the extras except for the shorts.

The scene was actually reinstated for the tv broadcast premiere in the late 80's, so maybe it's sourced from an old video master?

I kind of figured that would happen but one can always hope.  I knew about the TV version using the scene but I thought it might be nice to have a version that could potentially be used to make an extended cut.

Doctor M: I haven't had a chance to compare the laserdisc version with the french HDTV version.  If I can acquire a copy of the HDTV version I will try to find time to make a few comparisons.

Will the Blu-Ray version of 2.1 have the 1985 laserdisc remix?

I decided to write out the process I'm using, partially so I don't forget and partially to share.  Here's what I've been doing:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Convert stereo audio to 5.1 DTS surround


Programs Needed:
Goldwave
Surcode DTS Encoder

Part 1 - Goldwave

Open the audio file in Goldwave.  The sample rate needs to be either 44.1 khz or 48 khz.  If it not already one of these formats, click on "Effect -> Resample",

choose 44.1 or 48 khz depending on the current sample rate, and click "OK" to resample the audio.

Click on "File -> Save As...," at the bottom of the window set the "Save as type" option as "Wave" and the "Attributes" option as "PCM signed 16 bit, stereo."  Select

a location, name the file "source.wav" or something similar and click the "Save" button.

Click on "Edit -> Channel" and select "Left." Click on "File -> Save Selection As...," verify the "Attributes" option is set to "PCM signed 16 bit, mono," and save

the file as "Left Front.wav" or something similar.

Click on "Edit -> Channel" and select "Right." Click on "File -> Save Selection As...," verify the "Attributes" option is set to "PCM signed 16 bit, mono," and save

the file as "Right Front.wav" or something similar.

Click on "Edit -> Channel" and select "Both."  Click on "Effect -> Stereo -> Reduce Vocals," use the default settings, and click "OK" to process the file then click

on "Effects -> Invert".

Click on "Edit -> Channel" and select "Left." Click on "File -> Save Selection As...," verify the "Attributes" option is set to "PCM signed 16 bit, mono," and save

the file as "Left Surround.wav" or something similar.

Click on "Edit -> Channel" and select "Right." Click on "File -> Save Selection As...," verify the "Attributes" option is set to "PCM signed 16 bit, mono," and save

the file as "Right Surround.wav" or something similar.

Close the file and, when asked if you want to save, click "No."  Reopen the "source.wav" file and click on "Effect -> Filter -> Low/Highpass."  Under the "Settings"

section, click the radio button next to "Dynamic" on the right-hand side. Now change the settings to the following:

Under Cutoff Frequency:
Initial Cutoff = 80
Final Cutoff = 120

Under Settings:
"Lowpass" selected
"Dynamic" selected
Steepness = 5

Click "OK" to process the audio, click on "File -> Save As...," set the "Attributes" option to "PCM signed 16 bit, mono," and save the file as "LFE.wav" or something

similar.

Close the file and reopen the "source.wav" file. Click on "Effect -> Stereo -> Stereo Center," use the default settings, and click "OK" to process the file. Click on

"File -> Save As...," set the "Attributes" option to "PCM signed 16 bit, mono," and save the file as "Center.wav" or something similar.

Now you should have 6 seperate .wav files.


Part 2 - Surcode DTS Encoder

In Surcode DTS Encoder, click on "Setup -> New" to clear out any previous settings.

Click on "Options -> Encoder Options...," Set the "Sample Rate" option to match the sample rate of your source files, put a check in the box next to "Attenuate Rear

Channels 3dB" and click "OK."  The "Attenuate Rear Channels 3dB" works well on music and most audio but if you notice that the surround channels sound too quiet you

can leave the box unchecked.

Click on the buttons for the front, center, LFE, and rear channels and load the corresponding .wav files.  Click on the "Destination" button and set a location and

filename for the new file. For best results, save the file as either a DTS Wave file or padded DTS file.

Click the "Encode" button to encode the audio after verifying that the "Start" option is set to 00:00:00.00 and the "End" option is set to the end of the audio.

The additional footage for the extended version of the movie was mastered for the laserdisc release.  From what I understand, Fox didn't want to go back and remaster the footage again for DVD, so they used the LD transfer.  I haven't seen any details released on the Blu Ray but if they intend to include the extra footage for the Special Edition, they will have to do a new master. 

I recall the original DVD being released fairly early on with a relatively cheap price tag, as well, so I'm not surprised that the quality isn't the best that it could be.

I would love to use the upcoming Blu-Ray along with the various HDTV rips to create an uncensored version of the film.  I have a rip of the original issue Laserdisc with the mostly uncensored version of the film, which I've compared to the later censored versions in the past.  There are two obvious changes and several other minor changes that I recall.

The obvious changes were Baby Herman's middle finger and Jessica Rabbits panty shot. I'm not sure if the Betty Boop nip slip was censored out on the LD or if the video just wasn't high enough definition for it to actually be visible, but I never saw that one.

There were a number of smaller changes as well.  A lot of the scenes with Jessica Rabbit had part of her dress reworked so that it hid more of her legs and I think there were some other smaller elements that were altered or removed.  Even the two DVD versions had different spots altered. Maybe someone could go and catalog all of the changes that were made.

Does anyone know if the Blu-Ray is supposed to have the deleted "pig head" scene included in HD?  One of the DVDs had it in SD format but it wasn't a very clean transfer from what I saw.

Thanks for the guide!

I tried it out and it works well.  One thing I did that improved the overall sound was to use Effect -> Stereo -> Stereo Center to create the center channel instead of changing the maximum dB and EQ.  Also, for the rear channels, I used Effect-> Stereo -> Reduce Vocals along with the invert.

djsmokingjam said:

The upcoming Koch Media 6-disc set from Germany will include all four official versions of the film, including the Director's Cut, US and European theatrical versions in HD and the Sci-Fi cut in SD.

http://www.kochmedia-film.de/dvd/details/view/film/die_armee_der_finsternis_ultimate_edition_2_blu_rays_4_dvds/

Very nice, but I don't see where it indicates which versions are HD and which ones are SD. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't end up only including the European and US theatrical cuts in HD and all the other versions in SD. Even the Region 3 version shows various signs that it was put together from multiple sources, so it's uncertain whether enough HD resources exist to reconstruct the full Director's Cut in 1080p.

Also, that site lists the audio as Dolby Digital 2.0 only, which is kind of disappointing if true.

Don't get me wrong, though.  Even if some of the additional footage from one of the international releases was included in HD, that would be a bonus.

The HD versions of the film have all been pretty bare-bones.  The HD-DVD had a SD version of the original trailer and the Blu-Ray release had a making-of featurette along with the alternate ending in SD.  The Blu-Ray versions are heavily over-processed, as well, which seems to remove quality from the video along with the film grain. The HD-DVD transfer is currently considered to be the best HD version but it's not without it's own issues.

The Aluminum Falcon said:

Nien Nunb said:

I doubt will ever be a full screen HD release of anything, let alone BTTF.

Counter-point: Evil Dead was released on Blu-Ray open matte, even though it was likely shown in theaters in 1:85. Of course, they included a widescreen version as well.

Speaking of odd TV broadcasts, I saw Videodrome on Encore in open matte HD. Sadly couldn't record it. Maybe Back to the Future will be shown in the same way.

From what I understand, Evil Dead was originally made to be shown in the theaters as open matte but composed so that it could be matted to 1.66:1 or 1.85:1. The wide-screen version was originally created for the DVD release to allow for more picture detail and carried over to the Blu-Ray release.