Synopsis:

This "Hybrid Cut" combines as much HD material from the CGI "Enhanced" 2004 Blu-Ray Director's Cut, with as little SD material from the 1978 Laserdisc cut as possible, while still trying to recreate the original version very closely.

Intentions:

Using the Laserdisc 1978 Cut as a blueprint, I've conformed the Blu-Ray to it, shot-by-shot, down to the exact frame. Where material was missing, I've restored it from the Laserdisc, or the original trailer. When the CGI additions were bad, I've replaced them, where they were reasoanably subtle I've left them in (Hence the "Hybrid" title). Throughout, I've sought to remove or change shots that significantly differ from the Laserdisc, while trying to keep as much HD as I possibly could. The film has also been re-graded shot-by-shot to rebalance the greys and whites, re-saturate flesh tones and general colours and remove unnatural tinting. Although in a few cases the Laserdisc shots have been tinted to match the Blu-Ray (Such as with the gold robot-factory shots). The soundtrack is the original mono mix and is unchanged.

Change List:

00.00.00 - Added FE.org title 00.00.12 - Added TM2YC title 00.01.26 - Adjusted credits to fill frame 00.03.54 - Created new HD version of original colour "grid" shot 00.04.28 - Removed 2 CGI shots of the factory and restored 2 original shots 00.04.38 - Brightened shot of robot 00.05.06 - Cropped control room shot to better match original framing 00.05.14 - Restored closeup of SEN 00.05.19 - Removed 6 DC shots 00.05.51 - Removed CGI shot of the factory and restored original video shot 00.05.58 - Brought forward closeup of SEN 00.06.02 - Restored original video shot 00.06.02 - Restored original shot and regraded it to match rest of "gold" robot shots 00.06.40 - Restored second half of LUH closeup shot by blending, regrading and a minor FX tweak 00.06.42 - Removed 2 DC shots and restored 2 original shots 00.06.47 - Restored original shot and regraded it to match rest of "gold" robot shots 00.06.48 - Restored both original monitor feeds by layering on top of DC HD shot 00.06.51 - Restored 1 shot of videofeed 00.06.53 - Restored both original monitor feeds by layering on top of DC HD shot 00.07.22 - Removed DC monitor shot and brought forward original SEN shot 00.07.24 - Regraded shot to tone down inconsistent blue tone 00.07.51 - Removed extened CGI matte of garage and restored original garage closeup 00.07.56 - Regraded shot to tone down red hue 00.08.06 - Cropped attrium shot to better match original framing 00.11.16 - Removed 1 frame of lizard 00.11.46 - Removed DC insert shot of LUH and blended back in uncut shot of THX 00.11.55 - Moved shot of LUH forwards and brought forward shower shot to original position 00.12.46 - Adjusted colour grade on monitor shot 00.12.54 - Restored original video projection shot 00.13.00 - Restored original video projection shot 00.13.15 - Restored original video projection shot 00.13.21 - Restored 4 original video projection shots 00.13.32 - Restored 3 original video projection shots 00.13.53 - Restored original video projection shot 00.14.04 - Restored original video projection shot 00.14.27 - Restored original video projection shot 00.14.35 - Restored original video projection shot 00.14.51 - Restored original video projection shot 00.14.54 - Restored left half of shot that features a projection 00.14.59 - Restored original video projection shot 00.15.24 - Removed DC shot of LUH and blended back in uncut shot of THX 00.17.34 - Removed 2 DC insert shots 00.17.44 - Removed DC insert shot of SEN 00.18.20 - Restored fade to black on LUH 00.19.37 - Resaturated the 2 sex scene shots 00.20.13 - Restored 2 shots of THX entering chamber 00.20.25 - Restored shot of THX looking outwards using trailer footage 00.20.39 - Restored shot of THX looking outwards 00.20.49 - Restored 1 frame of theatre wide shot 00.21.23 - Removed 2 frames 00.21.43 - Moved 2 minute scene between LUH and THX forwards 00.21.49 - Restored shot of car rounding turn 00.23.09 - Restored corridor shot 00.23.15 - Moved 3 minute talk between THX and SEN backwards 00.23.20 - Restored original video projection shot 00.23.39 - Removed DC room shot and added one frame of THX 00.24.13 - Restored SEN shot to original length 00.24.17 - Removed DC shot of THX and restored original one 00.24.25 - Removed 6 DC shots and restored 4 original shots of SEN and THX 00.25.26 - Removed 7 DC shots and restored 3 original shots of SEN and THX 00.26.20 - Removed 3 DC shots and restored 2 original shots of SEN and THX 00.26.45 - Removed 2 DC shots of SEN and city 00.26.46 - Extended and blended in start of LUH shot to match original 00.26.50 - Put two halfs of LUH back together to restore it to original length 00.27.08 - Shortened end of LUH shot to match original 00.27.08 - Restored original video projection shot 00.27.16 - Restored original video projection shot 00.27.22 - Restored original video projection shot 00.27.32 - Restored original video projection shot 00.27.32 - Restored original longer video projection shot 00.28.58 - Restored 15 frames of black 00.28.59 - Restored shot of THX showering 00.29.06 - Removed 3 DC shots of the city 00.29.38 - Removed CGI wall monitor to keep continuity with next shot 00.29.49 - Removed CGI wall monitor from closeup 00.29.50 - Removed insert shot of monitor and restored THX shot to original length 00.30.11 - Restored original robot shot and regraded to gold 00.30.29 - Restored original robot shot and regraded to gold 00.30.36 - Restored original robot shot and regraded to gold 00.30.51 - Restored original robot shot and regraded to gold 00.31.03 - Restored original robot shot and regraded to gold 00.31.09 - Restored shot of THX working 00.31.25 - Adjusted colours of monitor graphics to be closer to the original 00.31.34 - Restored original robot shot and regraded to gold 00.31.38 - Restored original shot of THX working and regraded to gold 00.31.39 - Adjusted colours of monitor graphics to be closer to the original 00.32.16 - Restored original shot of THX using trailer footage and removed 3 DC shot.

Additional Notes:

- Conformed the Blu-Ray version perfectly length-wise to the shots from the Laserdisc (To the frame) - Used the original Laserdisc mono soundtrack - Added in missing material/shots from the Laserdisc (Upscaled as best I can) - Added in 9 missing shots from the original trailer - Removed the god-awful new CGI establishing shots - (Here's the Hybrid bit) Retained the shots that have minor FX changes, or slightly altered the shots to look more like they originally did. What you'd define as "minor" is down to my personal taste - Created "new" composite shots by blending sources when needed - The Blu-Ray transfer has been entirely re-graded shot-by-shot using the laserdisc as a guide - This edit is 720p (Not 1080p), which allows the Blu-Ray and Laserdisc to be blended quite well.

Other Sources:

Video Sources: "1978 Restored Cut" Laserdisc (approx. 7mins) "Director's Cut" Blu-ray (approx. 79mins) Original Theatrical Trailer DVD (Less than a minute) Audio Source: "1978 Restored Cut" Laserdisc (Mono).

Special Thanks:

Special thanks to originaltrilogy.com members 'SilverWook' for help with the trailer and 'CSD79' for preserving the Laserdisc-Cut and making it available to the public.