Universal 100th RESTORATION: è la volta buona?

Per il centenario dello studio, la Universal ha programmato importanti restauri del proprio catalogo

Direttamente ha hollywoodreporter ecco l'articolo:

The restorations, which will be released throughout the studio's year-long centennial celebration, took three to six months each and cost $250,000 to $600,000 per title, Universal SVP, Technical Operations Michael Daruty told The Hollywood Reporter and others at a sneak preview of the extraordinarily impressive results on the studio lot on Dec. 1. "This restoration effort was not about marketability and whether we're gonna sell enough DVDs," said Daruty. "That is what we do on a daily basis, but this was a commitment by the company to say, 'We're gonna devote funding and most probably continue that effort year over year, to try and preserve and restore the legacy of the company. We're here to spend the money on these 13 titles and some others, whether we're gonna get our money back in that first year or not.' It's really refreshing."


"It is a profit driver, so supporting the DVD/Blu-ray business is of great importance," says Meyer. "There will be a number of films in collectible book style packaging with memorabilia. It's an area for us to frankly show off and give the audience something they've never seen before." Daruty's team proved Meyer right by showing horrifying damage magically repaired in the coming releases. In Universal's classic monster cinema (which you can expect to see promoted next Halloween), loud hisses, pops, and crackles vanish, making scary footsteps audible. To Kill a Mockingbird loses the appalling graininess in a courtroom closeup. In Out of Africa, Meryl Streep loses a weird wobble in her walk possibly caused by projectors that enlarged the sprocket holes. Pillow Talk erupts with dazzling color and detail. Jaws practically bites your nose off.

Il titoli sono:

All Quiet on the Western Front
The Birds
Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein
Jaws
Schindler's List
Out of Africa
Pillow Talk
Bride of Frankenstein
The Sting
To Kill a Mockingbird

Quì potete trovare un interessante video sui vari restauri:

Da questo si può dedurre che:

- si tratta di nuovi trasferimenti da negativo originale di camera
- la scansione è stata effettuata con un arriscan a 6k, e di cosenguenza con la creazione di un DI 4k. Quest'ultima è una mia supposizione non confermata, ma non credo che abbiano lavorato a 2k.

Ovviamente non commento la qualità della clip: primo è un video compresso su youtube, secondo non è detto che quello sia il risultato, visto che questa è una clip a scopo promozionale. Terzo: non tutti i restauri citati sono completati.
In ogni caso avremmo presto conferme sulla bontà di questi lavori con il primo titolo della lista in uscita, ovvero "Il buio oltre la siepe":