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This classic 80s fantasy is officially available in two versions, the 101-minute German Cut (GC) and 94-minute International Cut (IC) that most are familiar with (prominently featuring a title song and new music from Giorgio Moroder). This shorter cut however has not been made available in good quality, the 2013 Blu-ray having an awful looking transfer with heavy grain, an orange tint and an overly dark and soft appearance.
This is not the case however for the GC, which received a newly-restored Blu-ray in 2021. Despite some reviews mentioning DNR, I consider this a superior transfer with finer detail, less grain (not eliminated) and better colour grading, so I used that version as the basis for my first edit “The NeverEnding Story: Hybrid Cut” (https://ifdb.fanedit.org/neverending-story-hybrid-cut-the/), effectively adding a few items from the IC to the GC.
It didn’t occur to me to reconstruct the IC using the GC visuals, that prompt was from @The Wanderer (https://forums.fanedit.org/threads/neverending-story-international-cut-color-correction-fix.28726/). I thought that somebody else (not on this forum) had done the task already, but it turns out that this neglected to correct the GC speed from 24 to 23.976 FPS. When overlaying the GC video on the IC audio, this meant that A/V sync would be gradually lost after each new cut, a problem that plagued my earliest editing attempts until it was pointed out to me.
Since I have the materials to hand I hardly had an excuse not to take a crack at it myself! Almost all the video from the old IC Blu-ray was replaced by equivalent material from the GC transfer. Any IC-exclusive shots that remain, such as the opening titles superimposed over cloud tank effects and German writing on the eponymous book, were graded to match the GC footage as best as possible, the DaVinci Resolve shot-match function proving very useful! “Creative” changes are practically non-existent, save for replacing the modern (with a web address) Warner Bros. vanity plate with a period correct one sourced from the “Time After Time” Blu-ray, and tinkering with a single matte-shot to better blend the artwork with the foreground.
Hope that this is of some interest, but even more so I hope that the studio that owns the rights will commission a proper restoration and home media release of the IC sometime, next year is the 40th anniversary after all! Until then, the edit should be ready very soon (thanks @The Wanderer for previewing), here is an adaptation of a poster for a page image.
This is not the case however for the GC, which received a newly-restored Blu-ray in 2021. Despite some reviews mentioning DNR, I consider this a superior transfer with finer detail, less grain (not eliminated) and better colour grading, so I used that version as the basis for my first edit “The NeverEnding Story: Hybrid Cut” (https://ifdb.fanedit.org/neverending-story-hybrid-cut-the/), effectively adding a few items from the IC to the GC.
It didn’t occur to me to reconstruct the IC using the GC visuals, that prompt was from @The Wanderer (https://forums.fanedit.org/threads/neverending-story-international-cut-color-correction-fix.28726/). I thought that somebody else (not on this forum) had done the task already, but it turns out that this neglected to correct the GC speed from 24 to 23.976 FPS. When overlaying the GC video on the IC audio, this meant that A/V sync would be gradually lost after each new cut, a problem that plagued my earliest editing attempts until it was pointed out to me.
Since I have the materials to hand I hardly had an excuse not to take a crack at it myself! Almost all the video from the old IC Blu-ray was replaced by equivalent material from the GC transfer. Any IC-exclusive shots that remain, such as the opening titles superimposed over cloud tank effects and German writing on the eponymous book, were graded to match the GC footage as best as possible, the DaVinci Resolve shot-match function proving very useful! “Creative” changes are practically non-existent, save for replacing the modern (with a web address) Warner Bros. vanity plate with a period correct one sourced from the “Time After Time” Blu-ray, and tinkering with a single matte-shot to better blend the artwork with the foreground.
Hope that this is of some interest, but even more so I hope that the studio that owns the rights will commission a proper restoration and home media release of the IC sometime, next year is the 40th anniversary after all! Until then, the edit should be ready very soon (thanks @The Wanderer for previewing), here is an adaptation of a poster for a page image.
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