[crcook84]

This isn’t really a question as much as some information I thought might be good to have posted somewhere.

There was a Blockbuster near us that was closing down. So, I decided to get some DVDs and Blu-rays at heavily discounted prices. I found Terminator 2 on DVD and planned on buying it. Well, with all the versions out, that’s easier said than done. The most recent versions out (not including the Blu-ray, you’ll find out why later) are the Ultimate and Extreme Edition DVDs. IGN compared the two and what they decided was the Ultimate edition was the fan version because of its extras while the Extreme edition was the best looking transfer of the movie. As such, they decided it was a tie.

Well, I’d like to give a different perspective on the film. My dad worked at CBS/FOX Video during the 80s and ended up doing the transfers for quite a few Fox films. (One factoid I’m particularly proud of is the fact that he handled the negatives of the STAR WARS films.) As such, I believe I would go so far as to say that he is an expert on film types. I told him how Cameron decided to shoot T2 using Super 35 stock and asked if the film could work on Blu-ray. (I couldn’t actually remember what the stock was and I ended up saying Super 53 and Super 38. That’s when he brought up Super 35 and Super 70. By the way, this was a candid conversation.) He said “If it was shot on Super 70, the resolution is there. But, if it was shot on Super 35…you might want to buy the DVD just to be safe.”

So, according to him, even though film is a higher resolution, some film types are better than others when it comes to DVD or Blu-ray. So, unless you’re going to nitpick at the quality of the transfer when it comes to these two editions, it’s not worth fighting over. My suggestion, 2k is for DVD and 4k is for Blu-ray. As for 3k…well, if the Blu-ray is at a decent price, I’d say go for it.