We had some official images released recently for Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D and instantly we can see without doubt there is an improvement to the quality of the remaster which cannot be denied!
Fellow Terminator fan Marcuseus put together some nice comparison images for us to share with you; comparing home release editions of Terminator 2 and the new Terminator 2 3D release…
For starters we can see the color change is part of the remaster, obviously we have a much sharper HD image but the biggest most notable difference (in the images) is restoration of previously cropped off footage, in the above image we can nearly see ALL of the Harley Davidson Fat Boy when previously we could only see the top half of the motorcycle!
James Cameron was a huge fan of the letter-box/widescreen format in his movies (widescreen being his preferred choice for T2), is this now a change of heart from Mr. Cameron or will letter-boxing (the black space at the top and bottom of the movie) still possibly be retained in the 3D release itself, or has Cameron Terminated letter-boxing for this release all together?
We are going to be more or less seeing T2 in a completely fresh and different way to what we have seen previously, it is not uncommon for a remaster to restore previously cropped off edges, we saw this with home releases/remasters of The Terminator (but we are still waiting for our mono sound restore of the first movie- give it to us NOW).
Just look at how dark the Blu-Ray is with fixed aspect ratio, it is as if James Cameron has switched a giant light bulb on. Like the first comparison image- we see more than before. This was a great scene anyway as it evoked so much feeling of Arnold from the first movie, seeing more of the road whipping under the wheels of the bike will surely look more impressive too (if Jim took this option). This is also what made Terminator great, real vehicles, real roads, it added to the realism of the picture. We really do hate unnecessary CGI here at TheTerminatorFans.com!
The bad to the bone scene at The Corral Bar and Grill; imagine what it will be like to re-watch T2 remastered, it will definitely bring more watch-ability to the movie to see it in sharp HD, our eyes are definitely going to be scanning the top and bottom of the screen when we first see it, that is for sure…
We see more and more that the dark blue lighting tone of Terminator 2 is being toned down, this is one of our favorite things about the early work of James Cameron; but it isn’t gone completely.
One of the slogans used for the Special Edition AKA ‘T-1000 Edition’ was “More than meets the eye” also a Transformers slogan Terminator 2: 3D definitely keeps that sentiment going in 2017!
Terminator 2: 3D looks like it was filmed this year and not over 25 years ago… hats off to James Cameron, Lightstorm Entertainment, Hollywood Technicolor and Stereo D; you have all done the fans proud!
A big thanks to STUDIOCANAL and DMG for also making this remaster happen and for reigniting our passion for the series and for re-fueling our hopes that a canon/direct sequel to Terminator 2 can happen and that it will live up to legacy and the high bar Jim set back in 1984 and 1991!
We hope to see more pictures soon, especially of Sarah Connor and The T-1000 in full HD glory!
When the home release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D arrives; we still hope we get the old version on the disc and a 2D version of the remaster on Blu-Ray and DVD for the fans who have not made the leap to Blu-Ray or 3D yet.
Maybe a nice special feature would be the option to switch into a side by side view of the old version and the new version like the images above so we can see how different the versions are and of course some new commentaries and features!
Are we due a new Endoskull boxset? We think so!
6 Comments
I don’t think it’s accurate to call James Cameron a “fan” of letterboxing. Certainly he took advantage of “scope” in theatres, but nearly all of his films shot on 35mm were shot in Super35, the most notable exception being Aliens, which was shot flat and matted to 1.85:1 for exhibition, but even this was for flexibility for home viewing. See also that Avatar was opened up to 1.78:1 for IMAX 3D and home video release. If he’s going to a variable aspect ratio for the T2 3D conversion, this is not much of a variation from his standard practices.
Obviously times have changed and options have increased but we were speaking more about his earlier works and recalling from memory how he did specifically want T2 to be viewed in the letter-box/widescreen format at the time for a truer cinema feel/experience at home.
We have only ever experienced Terminator 2 in the widescreen format. Obviously we don’t know how the film is presented until we see it or until the reviews start coming. Obviously with technology now Jim could trim those faults away if he wanted a specific presentation of the film, or he could even digitally alter the faults out (including those awesome eye melting Hawaiian shorts).
The resolution and detail in these shots is amazing, but I really hope the colour grading isn’t final. The final shot in particular looks very orange and Arnold’s skin looks almost waxy, with very little depth to it compared to the Blu-ray shot. I’d settle for a colour grading around the halfway point between the Blu-ray and the new shots to make it look more modern without completely “ruining” it.
I sincerely hope the images shown in this article do not represent the finished (and radically altered) colour timing of this release.
It’s absolutely horrible IMHO – with a washed out, overly bright visual sheen that doesn’t suit the source material at all. UGH.
Personally, I feel the darker, “contrasty” appearance with the blue push is infinitely superior.
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