Synopsis:
The Terminator, a cyborg assassin from the future, attempts to find and kill Sarah Connor, a waitress who is destined to give birth to a man who will save humankind from extinction.
NOW EXTENDED AND ENHANCED IN EVERY WAY (TIME, SFX, SOUND) & OPEN MATTE
Intentions:
Rewatching THE TERMINATOR comes down to 6 choices for me: Obviously the theatrical cut from the BluRay (everything in place like we know and love (kind of)) with an amazing 5.1 track. Or the Theatrical Cut with its original mono sound (only mono, yes, but with a lot better sounding guns as in the 5.1. mix). Then there is the ENHANCED Edition of Krausfadr: A HUGE improvement in the FSX department (You could say Krausfadr put the future back into the Terminator). Also there are several EXTENDED fanedits out there which incorporate the deleted scenes (I like the DS very much but the most EE I know tend to throw me out of the movie, because of the badish shape the deleted scenes are in). Then there is the edit of skyblue (Terminator: The Resistance CUT) which has an amazing reworked sound design (skyblue redid a lot of the guns, cars, explosions and even people walking by). And finally I have an OPEN MATTE version which shows more of the picture that was filmed (it opens up from 1:85 to 1:78 which is not much but to watch an action flic on a 16:9 screen without bars is frigging awesome anyway!). 6 choices. All have their own reasons to prefer them over another.
I took care of it. And made THE TERMINATOR: THE ENHANCED EXTENDED CUT (OPEN MATTE) (did you see what I did with the title(s)? :-))
Here is what you get with V4.1:
- The picture in sharp 1080p,
- Over 50 % of the movie in glorious Open Matte,
- All 12 deleted scenes up-scaled, polished and masterfully reintegrated into the movie,
- Many of Krausfadrs reworked SFX, fixes and choices of style,
- Other new SFX and movie fixes that you won't find elsewhere (i.e. answering machine fix, scalpel fix, deep fake eye cutting scene fix and the "Grover"-Fix to name just a few)
- A crisp 5.1 soundtrack widely enhanced with a mix of skyblues sound designs and the ORIGINAL SOUNDS OF THE THEATRICAL RELEASE
- An optional original theatrical mono soundtrack (enhanced for the extended scenes of course)
- English subtitles, even for the extended parts
- As a tribute to skyblue who's edit had some ACDC songs backed into it I put two additional optional sound tracks into the mkv file which will Angus-up your Terminator if you are in the mood for it. Option 1: ACDC Trinity (front, back and lovemaking), Option 2: ACDC Lovemaking - all tracks updated to V4
- Even some Fanedit intros and a little after credit fun
Change List:
V1:
I took the Open Matte Version as the basis to expand it with skyblues sound work and a lot of krausfadrs Bonmots (not only on the SFX front) and finally worked hard via sound design and color grading to make the Deleted Scenes fit as best as I could. To make the transitions between the different versions fit better even some plain theatrical scenes found it'sway into it. So here we go: All 5 versions in one.
But I didn't just glued some different versions together. It's a lot more work as it sounds, because krausfadrs edition has a complete different color grading compared to the Open Matte (which has the same as the theatrical BluRay). I had carefully to select where and how to transition between the versions and where it was possible or even a gem to inter cut fast between the three. The same goes for the deleted scenes. Skyblue is a damn sound-Jedi, but he did his magic of updated sounds not in 5.1 but 2.0. So I couldn't just use his soundstream as basis (The Terminator in 2.0??? What was he thinking?) but had to work a lot of his sound effects manually into the 5.1 track.
Along the way I fixed also one continuity error that bugged me since I first saw the movie: I put the pause back into the answering machine message after Ginger got shot.
V2:
New SFX: Integration of StoryX Deepfake of the eye cutting scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky8F1Vzq0U8)
New SFX: The Scalpel Fix
New SFX: When The Terminator talks to the Policeman at the counter you can see now the robot eye linger under his glasses.
Enhancement: Reworked every Extended Scene with filmgrain (which makes them integrate much smother into the movie), at some I even updated the color grading
Continuity: Now the POV of the Terminator is always in Open Matte
Fixed some 5.1 sound issues and a sync issue
updated Fanedit Network Intro
minor fixes here and there
V3
- finaly fixed the frame rate issue that the previous versions had
- I improved the sound of almost every extended scene (for some parts this is a big step up)
- got rid of some annoying "hissing" in some of the extended scenes (that were in the original deleted scenes
- Added a second full of still frames of the Cyberdyne Building to the end which smoothes the fade to black
- AS AS WHOLE NEW ADDITION (as service for the purist among you) I'm gonna ad another optional AAC track with the original theatrical mono track from the laserdisc (of course with all the extended scenes worked in) so you can choose if you want to watch the movie with my with skyblues magic upgraded 5.1 sound or with the original theatrical mono sound experience.
Additional Notes:
V4:
V4 brings a huge update in the sound design and the color grading. It brings back a lot of the original theatrical sounds. It even brings some new SFX and film error fixes. It also fixes some bugs too. And It has chapters now. Of course it kept all the good stuff you liked from the former versions too.
Here are the main changes for V4:
- Soundtrack:
While working on integrating the original theatrical mono track for my release of V3 I recognized how many of the sounds they changed for the bluray release. I didn't know that. Don't get me wrong, I still think the 5.1 Soundtrack of the Bluray is amazing but they changed nearly every gun sound for it too. And seldom for the better I have to say. I did upgrade the 5.1 sounds with skyblues amazing sounds for the older versions but realised now that the original theatrical sounds are sometimes even better than his. So I updated my 5.1 track again, now with a lot of those amazing original theatrical sounds. Often as a blend with skyblues sounds (for the guns, his have more punch but the original mono shots are sounding cooler). So you get a more modern sounding soundtrack now (skyblue) which is at the same time more true to the original. All backed into an amazing 5.1 soundtrack (the original theatrical mono soundtrack is still integrated too in V4 so you can compare the sounds if you like). I really like what I did here (best out of Bluray, skyblues updates and the theatrical mono sounds - sometimes as they are and sometimes blend in an even better hybrid sound).
I restored the ominous theatrical "sword-sound" of the title sequence they killed off for the bluray.
I added a "Thud-sound" when Reese is letting himself down from the balcony of the warehouse at the beginning. I mean he comes down from two meters and you don't hear it? WTF? That had bugged me for a long time and finally I fixed it.
There is more. It's impossible to list it all. The changes and upgrades in the sound department are legion.
- FSX and fixes of movie errors:
Additionally to all the SFX changes and updates of the earlier releases I got from u/krausfadrs fantastic version of the movie (i.e. more believable future spaceships and scenes, no more flinching of the Terminator, a tone of blood at the Police Station Bloodbath, the addition of a thousand flies at the Dead Cat Motel, a more believable Terminator-Head in the truck, Uncle Machetes amazing version of the walking Terminator skeleton, StoryX deep fake of the eye cutting scene, my own answering machine pause fix and on and on) I exchanged for V4 TWO MORE SFX SHOTS of the skeleton in the Factory with way better versions that StoryX made. They are short but quite effective. There is the moment where Kyle and Sarah are kind of trapped and the Terminator-Skeleton comes around the corner. In the original there is this nanosecond where you can't help but be reminded of Grover by the Muppets. The new SFX shot fixes that and makes it more badass.
The other one comes directly after that when Sarah and Kyle are walking backwards to the Stairs and the skeleton follows them. In the original, due to the practical model of the skeleton it looks not into the camera (which it should, because that's where Kyle and Sarah are). Well, now it does. It's a cool little upgrade that looks way better than the original.
- Color grading:
I regraded the complete Tech Noir parts. That's also a thing that bugged me since I was working on the movie but felt too inexperienced to fix it. Well, what can I say, it has its advantages when you're finally reaching V4. So I got rid of all those popy happy clappy smiley tones of the bluray and changed them into a more cool and darker blue-ish feel. I think that adds to danger when the Terminator searches for Sarah and underlines the horror of the following shootout perfectly. Well done, Jay. Well done!
I also regraded again some of the extended scenes where I still wasn't satisfied with the outcome of the earlier versions. Mainly the one which is a follow up to the theatrical scene when they build the bomb sticks. Because it's an extension of that scene it stands out when the color matching is off. I think I nailed the grading now which helps immensely (I also put crickets chirping under it - which follows the scene before too).
In the factory finale I started in the versions before with the grading and the scenes of Krausfadrs edit and switched after the explosion of the Terminator to the Open Matte material (because I thought the more OM the better I guess). I ditched OM for this part now. The whole factory is now made with Krausfadrs amazing grading. It's one of the best graded film moments I've seen in my life. Now the whole final battle gets that sweet crome-ish Krausfadr treatment. It's so much more intense now.
Speaking of Open Matte. There's still around 50% of the movie in OM in V4 and now even the very last part of the movie (Sarah driving through the desert and taping for JC) is too. I regraded that part also which is not a big addition but looks less bright-ish than the bluray now.
There are a lot of little grading additions along the way of the whole movie which I can't list all.
At the end, a storm is coming and Sarah drives into the desert. Or is she? Or is she only driving into a painting of a desert? It always looked like the latter, didn't it? Krausfadr did the best he could in his edit but even he couldn't save this scene for me if I'm honest. The mother of the future still drove into a frigging painting. And she still does in my V4. This scene is beyond redeemability. Period. BUT if so why not go the other way around and close this fantastic classic with a little wink of an eye. My eye to be exact. I found a cool 35mm scan of the movie which has this part as Open Matte 4:3. That's my final gift to you: You see Sarah now driving into a 4:3 screen that looks MORE than a painting than ever. With film dirt and scratches and all. But therefore you're also gonna see much more of the painted sky and clouds than you have seen EVER before, which could be seen as a plus, I guess. And on top of that your humble fan editor uses this quirky but original depiction of Sarah's final offset shamelessly for his own gain to state whose fan edit it is you are watching. Isn't that something? After nearly two hours presenting the movie in the best quality I can, throwing endlessly fixes and upgrades at you, you could've only wet dream of in all those lousy years of your life before you encountered this amazing edit, I'll end it with kind of the opposite. Haha. 25 Seconds of pure joy. I had so much fun making that. And it's a frigging 40 year old movie after all. Call it a little nod to that. ;-)
- Chapters:
Finally V4 got chapters. Some with quite funny titles (i.e. "Last Day Of Disco", "Kyle Shot First", "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"). And all the extended scenes have an entry too so you can find them quickly now.
Special Thanks:
Some Words of Reddit-Users about this edit:
"Just finished watching your edit for the 3rd time. I am perfectionist myself, because in everything I do I am trying to do my best. I can see the same passion in your work also, some people may not see the small little details , but you did, and fixed it. I follow many excellent fans editors, and you're one of the best 10th. Keep up the good job."
"this edit is INCREDIBLE, watching in bite sized pieces but HOLY! its really good!"
"Watched it twice already! The words that comes to mind watching this are: Bravo, Masterful and Definitive. Best version yet especially with the main 5.1 track that you’ve enhanced in all the right places and the tech noir scenes now look like tech noir lol. Well done Superzwei you’re setting the new standard with this!"
"Incredible edit, the one that I wanted to see for a long time and now I have. Almost like a completed life milestone. If you are terminator aficionado - this edit is a must see."
"This masterpiece is a dream come true. Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time and effort to making this wonderful film. In a way, it was like seeing it for the first time, I didn't know what I was going to find. I love this movie so much. Thanks for sharing."