[Canceled] The Great Escape HDTV Version

With the Criterion remaster, this is no longer needed



The Great Escape HDTV Version (v1.1)

Project Info:

I dug this up off an old hard drive and like a lot of my projects it just requires the audio sync to be finished...

When the US BD came out, even though it was a new scan, many people did not like the new dark, cool teal and blue color timing. It was very different compared to the older CE DVD:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare...escape.htm
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=2391&d2=2390&c=490

whereas the older CE dvd was warm with oranges and yellows. A pretty significant difference. Luckily, the older scan had been broadcast several times in HD over the years (like HDNET in the US). I took 3 separate recording and combine them together to create a version with the most frames possible, so GE can now be enjoyed in bright, warmer colors.

I also took both the (now rare) PCM mono and analog commentary from the Criterion LD and synced them to this project, bring back the original sound of the Great Escape.

Note:  This is not synced to the US BD. I didn't do a full count but even with 3 copies, the HDTV was some 70-ish frames off the BD.

Video:
3 HDTV broadcasts combined to create the best overall version and then run through light de-haloing and de-blocking with no color correction

Audio:
1. PCM 2.0 Mono (from the Criterion WS LD)
2. PCM 2.0 Stereo (from the HDTV broadcast)
2. PCM 2.0 Mono Commentary (from the Criterion WS LD's analog tracks)

Pics:

MKV Pics


BD/HDTV

[dwalkerdon]

looks great!!!

[applesandrice]

Another terrific project! Thanks for taking this on.

i like stuff like this, thank you in advance

[Lio]

It drives me nuts to see vibrant colors scrubbed away in BD releases. Glad to see the film looking as good as it should!

[BronzeTitan]

That first shot is the proverbial "sore thumb" because it needs finer tuning than applied to the rest of the film. But to keep it a quick project, it might only be applied to those shots that clearly need toning down. As you can see from the graphs, the R-G-B corrections are not simple turn-the-dial fixes. An eye-dropper is a must for guiding the corrections . .

NOTE: I didn't do exhaustive matching for this quick proof-of-concept, only on the sky. For real, picture areas should be numbers-locked or numbers-corrected as needed to make the targeted fixes.

Does anyone know what classic UA logo goes with GE?

[BronzeTitan]

YouTube has a few opening clips from VHS and DVD from 1986 to 1998:

Opening to The Great Escape 1998 DVD [True HQ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IroV1KjtUM

Opening to The great escape 1996 vhs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avGNOF6Isxc

Opening to The Great Escape 1986 VHS   <-- notice no swipe over the letters for the "modern" look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4cwUztROkE

Thanks but sadly those descriptions are right and those are all strictly 80s era and on UA logos. The 1963 version would look radically different. I think something like around 2:19 to 2:30 in this video:

https://youtu.be/t8EEWu4XRHA

Pre Transamerica purchase

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Original US prints DID NOT open with any UA logo at all, as it would usually be a "released through United Artists" in-credit tag at the end. In this case, having no logo at the front would be accurate for UA titles released up to late 1967/68, as it wasn't until then that Transamerica enforced an opening logo to appear on all new productions and well as attaching one to reissue prints (a trend that carried on into the 80s and is prevalent somewhat today).

Overseas prints however, would have carried a 2.35:1 scope version of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DrLAlOpTnc

The "Hexagon" as it was named, was said to be exclusive on foreign 35mm release prints of American UA titles and UK productions from the early 1940s up to the Transamerica purchase.

This page has all the full info you need http://www.closinglogos.com/page/United+Artists