I wanted to spend a bit more time examining the new Blu-ray of Predator. This is a film that appears to have been shot thin, with all the requisite problems that come along with fast stock, etc.
I believe I may have figured out what we're now looking at.
And from a technological perspective, I've not come away displeased.
Everyone who cares is aware that Disney has gone back to original elements for the scanning of their classics, has de-grained, cleaned and made every effort to create something that is not restored, but rather a new edition created by using the same elements in a slightly different way, as aided by digital technology. The film elements are fully preserved, and I've never thought this a bad thing.
I believe that a similar situation may have occurred here.
I've put out requests through normal channels for information, and have received back very little. Except for a strange comment from someone who may be in the know. And it's led me in an interesting direction.
What I'm thinking is that the new Blu-ray of Predator is not some heavy-handed hack job, where a tech took a pile driver to the grain and then fully cleansed what remained to the point of oblivion.
Rather, I'm beginning to believe that this may be an entirely new film.
Using only the original audio mix as a basis, it appears that either Pixar or Dreamworks Animation, may have been brought in to digitally create an entirely new image for the film, based upon the original photographic information.
I'm thinking this because Predator looks decidedly like Monsters vs. Aliens 3D, but of course not yet in 3D. That may be coming.
If this is what's occurred then the new product is rather beautifully rendered, lifelike, and potentially yet another new process.
The overall concept is brilliant. The more that I think about this, the more I need to return to Patton and Longest Day, as I may have erred in my appreciation of those Blu-rays.
If those were earlier incarnations of this same technology...
RAH
Edited by Robert Harris - 7/1/10 at 2:55pm
