Interestingly enough when the movie was on Netflix it used the original theatrical ending instead of the explosion ending. Forgot if it had these sequences intact though but most likely it did.
Just look at the comparison I made of the two blu-ray releases of Rosemary’s Baby. Both the Criterion release and the UK Paramount release are from the same restoration but Paramount didn’t apply bass/hiss reduction on their master unlike Criterion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqOO3fty1Q0
The Criterion mono sounds flat in comparison to the Paramount mono.
Yeah I can see that especially when they have releases where the mono is in one channel where others will have it two channel.
dual mono/regular mono won’t make a difference either if there is hiss and bass reduction involved, sometimes in cases (like with The Godfather) a lossy dual mono track will sound better than a lossless 5.1 track due to lack of hiss or bass reduction on the lossy mono track unlike the 5.1 where there was bass/hiss reduction applied
Yes the 1999 DVD has a very unique mix but was a bit problematic. For the most part it’s mixed very low. I don’t think I’ve been able to watch that DVD without the need of turning the volume up. However there’s points where certain things get louder in the mix so overall it’s not very well balanced. From a quality standpoint it’s pretty good. Very clean with much of the audio crackle removed. If Universal has been able to properly balance it out and not make it so quiet for the most part it could have been a lot better.
Speaking of the VHS’, the 1999 VHS has an uncensored track.
I actually made a comparison video of the 1999 DVD mono and the Blu-ray mono
https://vimeo.com/348112133
Though I’ll admit I did turn up the DVD audio a bit to make it more consistent with the BD mono volume. I used three different clips and especially in the last one the BD mono sounded very muffled yet was the noisiest of the two.Nice. Yeah I had the same issue when I made my LD vs BD comparison video. I initially posted it without any alterations to either track but when I played it back on my TV through our Roku box I realized the LD audio had noticeably lower volume than the BD. Because I didn’t want that aspect to affect people’s opinions on the comparison since I was comparing quality not volume I went back and increased the volume on the LD track. Not by much. Just enough that it was more on par with the BD track.
I’ve also liked Criterion less and less over time because of their mediocre compression methods and they’re very very hiss reduction happy. Some of their releases sound worse than DVD audio. The truth is lossless/lossy encodings won’t mean shit if the remastering isn’t done right in the first place for the audio. People just refuse to accept their issues because of how biased they are about Criterion.
Yes the 1999 DVD has a very unique mix but was a bit problematic. For the most part it’s mixed very low. I don’t think I’ve been able to watch that DVD without the need of turning the volume up. However there’s points where certain things get louder in the mix so overall it’s not very well balanced. From a quality standpoint it’s pretty good. Very clean with much of the audio crackle removed. If Universal has been able to properly balance it out and not make it so quiet for the most part it could have been a lot better.
Speaking of the VHS’, the 1999 VHS has an uncensored track.
I actually made a comparison video of the 1999 DVD mono and the Blu-ray mono
https://vimeo.com/348112133
Though I’ll admit I did turn up the DVD audio a bit to make it more consistent with the BD mono volume. I used three different clips and especially in the last one the BD mono sounded very muffled yet was the noisiest of the two.
Jaws- Mono on 2005 DVD is a tad crisper than mono track on BD and lacks ‘flaws’ that the latter. Mono track on mid-1990’s LD has certain dialogue/effects that are more present than those on the mono tracks on the DVD/BDs.
The Terminator- Mono on Image DVD and LD is better sounding than Mono on MGM DVD. Sound effects are much louder and beefier on the Image releases. However some effects differ between the two.
Frankenstein- Restored VHS and LD sound best though they lack the restored ‘God’ line. 1999 DVD has audio heavily DNR’d while a more flat and a tad muffled sounding track is used on the 2004 DVD and carried over to subsequent releases including BD.
Halloween- Mono on 35th Anniversary BD and 40th Anniversary UHD is a downmix of the surround track, not the original mono. 2007 BD as well as the 35th Anniversary BD included in the deluxe set with all the films has the correct mono.
interestingly enough the 1999 DVD for Frankenstein also sounds much better than the blu-ray, most likely due to the less amount hiss reduction and even better is it appears to be uncensored unlike the VHS releases.
A bunch of the classic Clint Eastwood movies need to have their original mixes preserved, specifically the stuff from Warner Bros.
This is basically a sort of follow up to by “mono tracks butchered on 5.1 remixes” thread where I basically wanna go into instead about how audio restorations can go wrong. One minor example is Rosemary’s Baby, comparing between the US Criterion and UK Paramount pressings, which are of the same master. The Criterion pressing has noise and bass reduction on it, resulting in the mix sounding flat. But the UK Paramount pressing is free of both bass and hiss reduction so it sounds a lot more alive, vibrant, and more detailed. (comparison here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqOO3fty1Q0) But I feel that there are lots of other movies that Criterion and other companies have noise reduced which hindered the audio presentations, and I wanna know what others you’ve noticed as well.
Decided to upload a brief comparison of the mono on Rosemary’s Baby from both the Criterion and UK Paramount blu-ray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqOO3fty1Q0
the Criterion mono is hiss and bass reduced so it sounds real flat, but the Paramount blu-ray (from the same master) is free of either and sounds a lot more lively and detailed as a result
The Godfather Part III in theaters originally ran at 162 minutes, but for all home video releases a 170 minute “final director’s cut” (it says this only on the VHS cover even though DVD and blu-ray versions are the same) was created while the 162 minute version never made available on home video at least in the US (idk about international home video releases)
That could possibly qualify on this list even though I can’t find any comparisons on any website.
Can you get me a source? If you can’t find one, I’ll put it there anyway, but I don’t want to edit it twice 😁
first of all here’s an IMDB link:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099674/alternateversions?tab=cz&ref_=tt_trv_alt
on this link right before it goes into the video and audio quality reviews it says: “As in all home video releases to date, though not specified and oddly never rerated by the MPAA, Part III is presented exclusively in a director’s cut running nine minutes longer than the theatrical edit.”
https://www.dvdizzy.com/thegodfatherpartIII.html
and here’s another link I found regarding another third version being made and the director’s cut being mentioned
https://www.movie-censorship.com/news.php?ID=14670
here’s a picture of the original VHS cover
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Uc%2B4RjsQL.SX425.jpg
here’s one final link mentioning the director’s cut of 3
https://theasc.com/ac_magazine/May2008/PostFocus/page1.html
to quote: “After working through The Godfather and Part II, the team turned to the much more recent Part III (1990), which required no restoration at all; they did a digital intermediate (DI) to create the director’s cut, a version that previously existed only on home video.”
The laserdisc isn’t even perfect as some are making it out to be. The LD mono accidentally excludes a line of dialogue during the scene where they’re pulling the cage up from under the water. In the original version you were able to here Brody quietly say “Yeah”, but on the LD mono it was omitted. Note that the line is restored on the 2005 DVD and BD mono versions.
Blu-ray includes the original stereo audio as a second option if you go into the audio settings at the menu
The Godfather Part III in theaters originally ran at 162 minutes, but for all home video releases a 170 minute “final director’s cut” (it says this only on the VHS cover even though DVD and blu-ray versions are the same) was created while the 162 minute version never made available on home video at least in the US (idk about international home video releases)
That could possibly qualify on this list even though I can’t find any comparisons on any website.
IT would probably be too much work but i wouldn’t mind syncing the original audio to the directors cut , I’ve never seen the original but it sounds like modernized effects were added to the DC.
I mean if you have the time and patience to do it then be my guest, but if you do it though please share it in PMs with me
IT would probably be too much work but i wouldn’t mind syncing the original audio to the directors cut , I’ve never seen the original but it sounds like modernized effects were added to the DC.
The real question is if you want original audio on the Directors cut or a proper release of the Theatrical cut. The only place to get truly un-altered copy of the film is the Japanese Laserdisc with a reported uncut run time of 99 minutes.
The UK dvd release is purportedly a theatrical cut of the film (listed at 95 minutes) but it is PAL formated and therefore sped up - the audio will not sync with the Bluray releases. Doing an NTSC conversion to slow the frame rate and resync / retone the audio would be a project but it’s been done before.
I’m hoping MrBrown will share a copy of the UK dvd with me so I can look at slowing it back to the original run time.
I believe the US Laserdisc lands somewhere in between, it has a 96 minute run time but lacks the “Four Tops” soundtrack, however, I believe it does have some scenes and dialog that were later cut and the original sound effects.
I’d still offer to split costs on the Japanese Laserdisc - I’d like to apply some video processing to it and do a 720p scale, I think it will come out quite nicely.
I actually did take care of slowing it down back to its original NTSC speed and uploaded it on MySpleen
Was wondering if anyone here has access to at least the first DVD release of Fast Times because the 5.1 blu-ray mix has a bunch of replaced sound effects and no original mono. (laserdisc would not be a good source considering it most likely has song changes)
The sepia scenes were lost in a fire. A black and white dupe has been used since and re-colored.
Interesting, I have a LD of Wizard of Oz from 1983 and the opening pre-Oz is black and white but the transition to Oz is sepia. Always wondered why some copies of the movie were sepia and some were grayscale
literally how they did that was for that specific shot whenever it transitions into the color what they did was get a double of Judy Garland, did her clothes and skin to make it look sepia, and paint the set of the interior of the house sepia that way it’s possible that it looks like a transition into a color world when in fact it’s not, it was in color this whole time it was just visual trickery (and the reason for the double is cause Garland was off camera for the sepia part of the shot, and after the double walked off camera then Garland came on wearing her colored clothes)
I’m still going to rip the US Laserdisc now that I’ve got the player and the disc out.
I’ve also got a lead on a copy of the Japanese LD - NTSC 99min. Happy to split costs on that if people want to see it ($45 + $10 shipping)
just PM it to me when it’s ready, thanks for ripping it
Mr. Brown gave me a rip of the UK DVD of the theatrical version, so I gotta thank him for providing me with this.
I’d like to to just see them uploaded to YouTube as deleted scenes.
that’ll be practically impossible because most of the cuts are just dialogue or extra shot cuts, only a few instances where actual scenes were deleted
I do not know… I ordered one from ebay… May tell you when I get it… I am a bit confused… What song is the new one… And on which scenes?
the original version of the movie had The Same Old Song by the Four Tops play during the jukebox scenes and the end credits, but VHS releases changed it to a cover of I’m a Believer due to rights issues, and all current versions restore the use of The Same Old Song even though it’s no longer the theatrical version
Sadly the UK one is pan and scan version of the original cut:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004W4H4/
do you happen to know if it contains It’s the Same Old Song instead of I’m a Believer like from the VHS release?
Basically since the first DVD release, the only version available was a slightly shortened director’s cut. Which is about 3 minutes shorter and contained several alterations to the sound mix, like replacing gunshots and a few other things. There hasn’t been a re-release of the original theatrical version since VHS/Laserdisc (yes I know they contain a song being replaced in a couple of scenes) which is a shame considering how good the movie is. I was wondering if anyone has access to a laserdisc rip of the movie or can possibly upload one in the future. I do have the VHS myself but unfortunately I don’t have the technology to rip its contents.
I believe Fast Times at Ridgemont High had some changes as well. Some home video releases had different songs due to licensing but I think this was resolved by the time the film made it to DVD. The surround mix first introduced on the 2005 DVD had some minor effects changes I believe. That DVD as well as the BD does not have the mono. The original DVD and the High School Reunion DVD as far as I know has the correct original mono!
It’s me Pete 1972! You remember when we commented on the Jaws videos? Looks like another film is getting the audio revisionism treatment. According to Digital Bits and some fans, Batman 89’s Dolby Atmos mix has a lot of changes with the sound effects. Gun shots have been altered and the starting up of the Batmobile is changed too. Also Digital Bits said that the Dolby 5.1 on the 4K is a downmix and not the 5.1 that was on the previous Blu Ray.
Figures. (Rolls eyes) Apparently the 4K release of Blade Runner also has audio revisions though I’m not sure off hand what they are.
And yes I do remember you. Nice to see ya again!
actually the audio revisions on Blade Runner date back to when the 2007 Blu-ray was released, and the revisions are only on the final cut, the other cuts have the original sound effects
Some other examples of movies with altered sound effects:
The Godfather (I and II): The first two Godfather films have had several alterations in recent releases, such as ambient wind and birds.
H.B. Halicki’s entire filmography: The late director responsible for Gone in 60 Seconds, The Junkman, and Deadline Auto Theft, would have cried if he saw the numerous audio changes made to every single one of his movies. Not only have all the sound effects been altered, but Gone In 60 Seconds also has new, inferior music, along with several missing scenes (including most instances of profanity!). His widow is the one responsible for these changes, and she has outright refused all requests for an unaltered release.
Dirty Harry series: Among the most infamous stereo remixes in terms of changes made, all of the films in this series were butchered when released on DVD. Sadly, the Blu-Rays do not include their original soundtracks, so your best bet with these would be the Laserdiscs.
An American Werewolf in London: The film was remastered in stereo in 2001 for its 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, this meant that all of the sound effects were replaced, and the audio has also been slowed down for some strange reason. This is another film that didn’t get its original soundtrack on Blu-Ray, but its very first DVD release from 1997 does include it.
Smokey and the Bandit: Another film with altered sounds for its stereo remix, but luckily, the recent Blu-Ray features the mono.
1941: The “Director’s Cut” of this Spielberg bomb has a few slight sound additions.
Duel: Spielberg’s first film has also been ruined by its remastered version. I don’t know what sounds they added or changed, as I haven’t seen the movie. I’m guessing they changed the truck’s horn or something like that.
Halloween (1978): Apparently, modern thunder noises have been added. They also added tons of atmospheric insect sounds in the nighttime scenes. When Annie is inside of her car, you can still hear the insects even though she is supposed to be inside.
Mad Max: Severe alterations in the 5.1 mix, and there are even some original ones that have gone missing!
Psycho: Tons of added foley to scenes that are supposed to be silent. The worst thing is that this even includes the famous shower scene, where they added new water foley effects and squeaky faucets.
In The Heat of The Night: I have never seen this movie, but it apparently suffered a lot when remixed in stereo. This includes annoying ambience sounds (they added a distant train horn, for Christ’s sake!), and horribly reverbed audio (Ray Charles now sounds like he’s singing in a bathroom).
The Sound of Music: Not only are there modern thunder and rain sounds at one point, but some original sounds are absent!
Vertigo: One of the most infamous remixes of all time. The 5.0 remix on Blu-Ray removes most of the added foley (gunshots and footsteps), but there’s still some ambient wind sounds.
Rocky (the first film): Added foley and out-of-place reverb (why is there reverb in a parking lot?).
The French Connection: New car sounds and city ambience. Luckily, the Blu-Ray includes the mono track.
Evil Dead (the original): Several random sounds are missing in the stereo remix, possibly a side effect of the severe noise reduction applied. I’m not sure if the Blu-Ray features the mono or not.
The Conversation: Added foley, which has the result of making everything sound too busy. This one also has the mono track included on Blu-Ray.
Chinatown: Pretty much every time a gun is fired gets changed, as well as every scene of Jack Nicholson in a car. Another one where they have the mono included on Blu-Ray.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Another awful mess of added foley and insect noises. Even when the characters are inside with closed windows, you can still hear the insects! Horse hoof noises are also replaced, as well as all the explosions. The mono is featured on this Blu-Ray, too, but only on the American release.
Barry Lyndon: More altered explosion sounds.
My Favorite Brunette: According to an irate Amazon customer, the Blu-Ray released by Kino has added modern foley effects such as doors opening and paper crinkling.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory: This anime classic received a 5.0 remix with different sound effects that are totally out of place for something that was originally released in the 80s.
Oh yeah two you left out were Animal House and Blues Brothers
Animal House had several small sound effects replaced and remixed the soundtrack. Blues Brothers despite being originally released in stereo still had several sound effects replaced, the songs remixed to sound more modern, and the score in at least a couple places was revised a bit.I knew there was something up with the soundtrack of The Blues Brothers! Last summer, I was watching it on some movie channel with my father and some of the car sounds in the final chase scene sounded a little too “modern” for 1980. Does the Blu-ray have the mono track on it?
original mix was actually stereo, and sadly no it doesn’t include the original English stereo