[No Longer Available] Die Hard 2 (CE DVD Regrade)

Die Hard 2 (CE DVD Regrade)

In a roundabout way this project is the completion of this previous project:

https://forum.fanres.com/thread-1711.htm...die+hard+2

The older BD of DH2 has a pretty significant red push, while the new streaming master has a green push. Now while the new master might be theatrical accurate (I'm not sure), the old CE DVD looked better and thematically accurate. The CE DVD bathes the movie in shades of blue that is more in keeping with the cold snowy setting.

The video regrading was done via automatic scripting. Once that was complete I modified the black level and shadows to more conform with the CE DVD's levels. After that I went through the entire project shot by shot and fixed any shot/scene the strayed too far from the DVD. After all automatic scripting is not always 100%. That resulted in ~250 shots having their own LUTS and/or modifications. The video was synced to the current US BD. I also cut in the sections with hard English subs from the original US BD into this project as the new streaming master have soft subs.

After that I tried to add every soundtrack I had access to. The Widescreen, Japanese and THX LDs were manually synced requiring anywhere from 100 to 250 edits. The DVDs just required a plus or minus delay as they were mostly frame accurate. One point of difference is that 20th Century Fox logo is different on different video masters so I synced for the first shot cut. The default audio track is the Widescreen PCM 2.0 as it sounded the best to my ears.

Video:
Streaming version of the new master of Die Hard 2 regraded to the blue tones of the CE DVD.

Audio:
1. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Widescreen laserdisc)
2. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the Japanese P&S LD)
3. PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the THX LD)
4. Dolby Digital 2.0 (from the non-anamorphic DVD)
5. Dolby Digital 5.1 (from the non-anamorphic DVD)
6. Dolby Digital 5.1 (from the CE DVD)
7. DTS 5.1 (from the CE DVD)
8. Dolby Digital 2.0 (from the BD)
9. DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the BD)

Sync:
Fox US BD (plus subs and chapters)

Pics:


Comparisons Pics
CE Regrade/Original Streaming Master


Collaborators and Thanks:
Zoidberg for audio tracks
Buster D for audio tracks

[Hitcher]

Very nice.

I have the Special Edition boxset (THX digitally remastered) so if there's anything you need from it - like the named chapters - let me know.

[dwalkerdon]

looks really good!

[ac3]

would like to sync the PCM LD to the 4K version if anyone has it.

[weegee2392]

Looks pretty nice!

Very nice.

I have the Special Edition boxset (THX digitally remastered) so if there's anything you need from it - like the named chapters - let me know.

Thanks for the offer Hitcher but I've used the BD's chapters and subs so everything is in sync with that.

[Hitcher]

Very nice.

I have the Special Edition boxset (THX digitally remastered) so if there's anything you need from it - like the named chapters - let me know.

Thanks for the offer Hitcher but I've used the BD's chapters and subs so everything is in sync with that.

No problem. 

Ready to call this done. Participating members (aka no newbies, low posters) can PM me if they want a copy. Please allow me a day or two to get back to you. I'll keep it posted for a week or two.

The DVD had a few shots that were inconsistent with its color scheme. I fixed 2 or 3 but left the rest as is. Overall I really like the color of this regrade better then the official HD releases even if it might not be theatrically accurate. The file is roughly 35-36GB. That's because I wanted to add as much, varying audio as possible. Having said that, the audio from the widescreen LD seems the best overall.

If you find anything odd about the release please PM.

Colors look great on this. I also like the fact there are a lot of audio options. I may be a newbie but I certainly like what I am seeing on this forum. I find the whole process of fan restorations interesting and look forward to learning more.

Die Hard 2's home release situation always bugs me. IIRC, the trilogy has been using the same masters from 2007 all this time in blu ray releases. That's 16 years of looking wrong with no official alternatives. One of the reasons why I've never let go of my dvd copy with the bluer hues. While no longer available, I gotta commend everyone who worked on this version to get it more accurate to the original release. While Die Hard 2 is not the most popular film, it drove me crazy that no one seemed to notice or care about the drastic color timing shift with the blu rays. Ruins the look of the film for me.