Terminator
2:
Judgment
Day
was
—
and
is,
for
some
—
the
standard-bearer
for
bombastic
tentpole
action
films
after
it
was
released
in
1991,
but
many
of
its
fans
have
been
less
than
enthusiastic
about
its
Blu-ray
releases.
In
recent
years,
though,
people
who
love
the
movie
have
been
restoring
it
using
35mm
prints,
and
one
of
those
efforts
has
been
making
the
rounds
over
on
X.
Jon
W.,
who
frequently
posts
about
movies
and
projects
like
these,
compiled
a
few
screenshots
in
a
thread
comparing
the
new
version
with
other
transfers.
They
didn’t
credit
the
person
working
on
this
directly,
but
did
post
a
screenshot
of
text
from
“the
person
who
restored
Terminator”
—
Googling
some
of
it
verbatim
led
me
to
Rob’s
Nostalgia
Projects.
The
background
in
the
fan
version
(top)
implies,
like
the
shadows,
a
sun
that’s
low
in
the
sky.Image:
Jon
W.
A
big
part
of
this
effort
is
aimed
at
“fixing”
the
coloring
of
this
movie,
which
is
very
muted
throughout
—
that
was
pretty
common
in
a
lot
of
movies
back
then,
especially
grim
films
like
Terminator
2
or
Robocop.
I’m
not
sure
it’s
an
improvement,
but
I
do
like
some
of
what’s
seemingly
aimed
for
here.
Take
the
fan
project’s
(top)
now-much-warmer
shot
from
a
scene
in
which
Robert
Patrick’s
T-1000
questions
some
youths
about
John
Connor's
whereabouts
and
other
versions
of
the
movie.
It
makes
the
scene
feel
more
like
it’s
set
in
the
early
morning
or
late
evening,
which
makes
sense
given
the
long
shadows
in
this
and
other,
adjacent
sequences.
I’ve
always
thought
there
are
parts
of
this
movie
that
are
too
cold-looking
for
me,
and
this
gives
it
some
life
it
doesn’t
otherwise
have.
The
fan
restoration
(top)
goes
for
bluer
shadows.Image:
Jon
W.
But
there
are
a
lot
of
places
it
doesn’t
work
—
for
instance,
the
transition
from
these
blue
shadows
to
the
sandy
colors
where
the
sun
hits
the
ground
is
too
harsh.
Comparing
this
shot
to
the
lower
one
from
the
Blu-ray,
as
well
as
my
almost
30-year-old
copy
of
The
Ultimate
Edition
DVD,
it
seems
like
the
dustier
brownish
gray
of
those
transfers
is
just
how
director
James
Cameron
wanted
it
to
look.
Arnold
is
so
orange
now!Image:
Jon
W.
The
fan
version’s
heavy-handed
coloration
also
shows
up
in
the
above
shot,
where
much
of
the
detail
that
was
there
before
ends
up
crushed
in
blown-out
reds.
But
the
Blu-Ray
version
of
this
scene
has
a
weirdly
salmon-colored
pall
that
goes
redder
a
few
moments
later.
Again,
I’m
not
sure
it’s
better,
but
the
fan
version’s
colors
do
feel
a
little
more
consistent
at
times.
Is
the
deep
contrast
better?Image:
Jon
W.
Ultimately,
the
biggest
benefit
this
transfer
gives
the
movie,
in
my
opinion,
is
letting
the
movie
be
grainy.
People
complain
that
the
Blu-ray
transfers
overuse
digital
nooise
reduction,
resulting
in
a
sort
of
waxen
look,
and
seeing
the
film
grain
in
1080p
is
really
comforting,
somehow.
It’s
just
a
shame
the
color
grading
feels
so
unpolished.
Still,
I
applaud
efforts
like
this
as
much
as
I
do
the
folks
who
brought
us
the
Star
Wars
theatrical
restoration
project
known
as
“The
Silver
Screen
Edition,”
which
attempts
to
deliver
the
version
of
that
movie
as
it
was
shown
in
theaters
originally
before
it
even
had
“Episode
IV:
A
New
Hope”
added
to
the
opening
text
crawl.
I
might
not
prefer
this
version
of
Terminator
2,
but
it’s
still
fun
to
watch
in
the
same
way
that
turning
the
color
saturation
down
on
my
TV
just
to
see
how
my
color
movies
look
in
black
and
white
is.
Especially
when
you’ve
seen
the
same
movie
a
hundred
times,
and
you
just
want
something
a
little
different.
(Originally posted by Wes Davis)
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