djsmokingjam said:The 720p version floating about on the Net is from the Monsters HD broadcast, and it's the same widescreen transfer as the Ultimate Edition DVD.
I did a comparison between the 720p HDTV rip and the Book of the Dead version, here.
djsmokingjam said:The fullframe version on the recent Anchor Bay Ultimate Edition undoes all the changes
Both the fullframe AND the widescreen versions on the 'Ultimate Edition' restore the changes - as well as the 'Book of the Dead' version before them.
Another tweak I had noticed on the Elite version, which I hasn't been mentioned yet, is that some junk frames have been removed during some of the animated sequences. These are also restored in the later Anchor Bay releases.
Moth3r said:I've adapted the old script I used for Star Wars laserdisc comparison screenshots to illustrate the differences between the US Elite Entertainment DVD and the Japanese Herald Videogram laserdisc:
That's great, Moth3r. I started doing my own little comparison last night and this certainly makes things alot easier.
dark_jedi said:Griff you going to upload those anywhere?
I'd love to but unfortunately my bandwidth isn't has generous as it used to be. Also, my ED1 Treasures is version 1.0 (I believe the version on usenet is 1.1) and has been split over two DVD5's instead of being contained on a single DVD9, so it would be best not to distribute that one.
I could certainly send out a copy of the ED2 discs to whomever has the facilities to share them online with everyone else or even start a PIF chain.
Just recieved and briefly checked out both the ED and EDII projects courtesy of djsmokingjam. Wow. What a trove! Its gonna take me a while to work my way through all these wonders but congratulations and a job well done to everyone involved in these two amazing projects!
EFNY was posted on the newsgroups 162 days ago.
http://tinyurl.com/escapenewyorkhdtv
You'd need a Giganews or Astraweb account to fetch it. Astraweb's retention is only 160 days but they will be upgrading to 270 days in the near future.
Alternatively, shoot me a PM if you'd like my help in getting a copy.
dark_jedi, do you know if your hidef version of KING KONG '76 differs at all from the French (?) HD-DVD? I ask because it may be a preferable source to your HDTV one.
Also, do you have the HDTV broadcast of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK? I got the whole thing (~13GB) off usenet some months back. Its infinitely superior to the horrible SD-upscaled blu ray release from Optimum. See?
Good luck, dark_jedi. I look forward to your results!
Just spent the last hour going through EMPIRE on my 120" projector screen. Its breath taking. The colour correction makes a huge difference from the quite excellent WG version, too. Thank you, sir!
But, damn, I'd forgotten about the horrible 97 SE 'scream'. I guess its a trade-off between that and getting old Boba's voice back.
One question, however: is that just the DVD audio commentary? If so, I'm kinda thrown by its inclusion since its quite readily available. Surely the video could have used the extra bitrate? But anyway...
Bring on JEDI (sans Hayden) !
djsmokingjam said:Copies will be going out already to See No Evil and The Griff for their help finding materials for the project
If you sent it, it never arrived.
Astraweb's service is outstanding. They're up to something like 150 days retention now and 110GB for 25 is a steal.
A quick question about Blu Ray file structure: Is the main feature (ie. the movie) usually incoporated whole into a single .m2ts file?
I ask because my Popcorn Hour played back the .m2ts sample files (networked from my PC) just fine and, as long as the entire movie is contained within a single file, I think I'd prefer to watch these releases this way, as opposed to burning them to DVD and playing them back in my BD player.
TIA.
Absolutely no problem. Just as long as the final product is done to your satisfaction, I can wait.
One question, however:
You say you intend to provide EMPIRE with an optional alternate pre-Special Edition laserdisc audio track. How do you intend to sync it to the SE elements that you do not remove? Will you be substituting portions with the DVD audio? I assume the added shuttle sequence would require the most audio tomfoolery?
I checked out the sample projected in 1080p at about 12 feet diagonally and it looked fine.
There is indeed an improvement in the jump from 720p to 1080p but not as much as there is from 480p to 720p. There's the law of diminishing returns in effect from that point on and 720p is usually more than adequate, even at ridiculous sizes.
But, yes, back to the subject of this topic. I'm very eager for this project to come to fruition. Been waiting for those promised screenshots for a while now!
P.S. Test sample worked perfectly on my old Panasonic DMP-BD10, burnt with DVD Decrypter.
I'd figured as much. I'd almost settle for a fade to black at this stage...
Still, I'll be all over these once they're done. Best of luck to ya. I'm most excited about these - and I've got the Wookie Groomer 12 gig'ers.
Probably an impossible request but I might as well make it anyway:
...no 'Jedi Rocks'? Please?