The Difference a restored cut can make (Seven Samurai)

[whiskeytown]

I recently received my Oppo HD981 in the mail, thanks to the fine recommendations on this forum -

One of my big gripes with the LG was it's tendancy to stretch all 1.33-1 stuff to 1.85, so I celebrated my new 4:3 viewing angle on my LCD TV with the restored cut of Seven Samurai -

holy crap - and that ain't just the Oppo talking, though it does very well -

I'm looking at the restored Seven Samurai print that Criteron released, and it's a lot crisper then the previous cut they released on DVD - (which I bought as a 4 pack) -

allow some screen captures, if you will - and these are PC created, so you get an idea of the clairity, which I noticed IMMEDIATELY with the upconverting DVD player at 1080i but are clear even here in still frame -

the motion and lighting are twice as good as before, and the detail really stands out - it's my understanding they've also done this for Ran, Yojimbo, Rashamon, and a few others where they restored a decent copy to near original status - and while you may not see much difference in the 620x480 pictures, everything about the sound, motion, contrast, and detail is enhanced much better then the previous cut -

old intro


new intro


A lighted scene - note the wash of the first image esp. here -



and one more dark capture for detail reference - def. less bright wash in the 2nd one -



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thanks to the El Diablo forum for the DVD player recommendation, BTW - running into a Sony 55"LCD -

pax
RB