Doesn't the DVD have a 5.1 mix? Well, the center channel might be free of the score for you to get the dialog and much of the sound effects. Decode that Dolby Digital track and you can work with that center channel maybe.
It does have an AC3 mix. What would you suggest for decoding it down to individual channels?
Honestly, I think even trying to do that would probably be going in the wrong direction. Track down the Laserdisc. Get it into your computer with that full-bodied, lovely uncompressed PCM stereo soundtrack. Then edit in the footage to match the cut on the Laserdisc, leaving the sound as is. That would make a lot more sense.
I agree, but the problems with that are 1) While finding Laserdiscs isn't so tough, finding a player (and someone with a player who has the know-how to capture it in the computer) is a lot tougher... 2) In analyzing the first half of the U.S. version, I've already found one scene that was in the U.S. version that is not in the director's cut. It's short (and completely meaningless) and could be cut in the interest of reauthoring with the director's cut as the source, but that may cause some incongruity in the soundtrack. I was surprised to find this; I expected things to just be cut from the D.C. - not added, but if there are more of them, it could prove difficult.
The Blu-Ray Big Blue Director's Cut UK Release has ONLY FRENCH LANGUAGE (yes ONLY the DUBBED track!)
While that was initially true, it has been fixed by the distributor. It's now in English (but it still has the Eric Serra score.)
IMHO, what needs to happen is:
The video from the Blu-Ray
The primary audio from the 5.1 AC3 track on the DVD
Audio totally replaced by the analog audio from best source available during passages where Conti's music is clearly superior to the Serra stuff.
The DVD and Blu-Ray are available enough. The key is finding a HIGH QUALITY audio track of the US Version.....
That would certainly be the best/purest way to go, but I don't have the Blu-Ray (only a BD rip which was down-rezzed to 720p -- fine for me since my projector is 720p) and even if I did, I have no means for burning the finished product to BR media.
I have the American Theatrical Release of "The Big Blue" on Laser Disc. With the Bill Conti Score.
Awesome! Do you have an LD player? If so, would you be willing to connect its audio outputs to the mic input of your computer and capture the audio? If you don't have a player, it sounds like Chuck Pennington does; would you consider loaning it to him so he could capture the audio?
Speaking of special projects, I just ended work on 1776, restoring the superior sound mix from the LD as well as the deleted scenes
Chuck, if BigBlue1963 can't do the audio capture from LD, would you consider doing it?
The Big Blue American Theatrical Cut IS available now. It's a featured supplement on the Region 2 Bluray of The Big Blue from Optimum Entertainment in the U.K.
I'm fairly certain that's incorrect, Joe. Technical details for that edition show that it contains the original (132-minute French) theatrical release (Eric Serra score), the 168 minute director's cut, a couple of trailers and a "the making of" featurette. That's it. I hope I'm wrong and you're right... I emailed Optimum to get a definitive answer, but I'm pretty sure Besson is blocking the release of the version with the Conti score.
