What happened to the original MV colors?


ivoryjones

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It's not uncommon for older TV Shows and Movies to look faded and different on DVD than they did back when they first aired, a lot of times this is due to the original prints being copied and used so many times it causes the prints to slowly deteriorate over time, for instance a lot of people complained how faded The Godfather look on VHS and DVD due to the fadedness of the picture quality and enormous amount of screen artifacts (I.E. warps, dirt and scratches) so Coppola had to contact as many people he could find to get ahold of some of the original prints as Paramount's where to the point of disintegration, he managed to get ahold of couple of prints and had the cinematographer Gordon Willis give him the exact color numbers and such so they could restore the film back to it's original color for Blu-ray, Miami Vice sadly didn't get that treatment and I doubt it will due to the music licensing involved even if Michael Mann jumps on board to oversee a restoration unless Universal can get a deal for Blu-ray, that'd be about the only way to restore them properly at this point.

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It's not uncommon for older TV Shows and Movies to look faded and different on DVD than they did back when they first aired' date=' a lot of times this is due to the original prints being copied and used so many times it causes the prints to slowly deteriorate over time, for instance a lot of people complained how faded The Godfather look on VHS and DVD due to the fadedness of the picture quality and enormous amount of screen artifacts (I.E. warps, dirt and scratches) so Coppola had to contact as many people he could find to get ahold of some of the original prints as Paramount's where to the point of disintegration, he managed to get ahold of couple of prints and had the cinematographer Gordon Willis give him the exact color numbers and such so they could restore the film back to it's original color for Blu-ray, Miami Vice sadly didn't get that treatment and I doubt it will due to the music licensing involved even if Michael Mann jumps on board to oversee a restoration unless Universal can get a deal for Blu-ray, that'd be about the only way to restore them properly at this point.[/quote']I never knew Godfather went through that situation! One is inclined to think a blockbuster (and a fine movie) like that would not fall victim of that stuff. But it once was! Very nice info!!!!Any chance that around 2003/2004 Universal Home Video got the songs licensed for the Miami Vice DVDs and for "future media" releases? That would allow more money left to Blu-ray releases. Maybe even for a print restoration this time.My main worry is that Universal people would not even know about this color issue... Or wouldn't care, for the normal buyer wouldn't. Would Universal staff ever know there is such a problem? Is there any way to contact someone there (beyond the ordinary "talks to us" channel) that could at least take a look at the situation?I guess we can't even be sure Michael Mann is aware on this (I bet he is aware, as he's a perfectionist). I wish someone who could take decisions on future releases read this thread and saw its pics and links. Maybe that would already do the trick. Any ideas on this?I'll confess you I'm very happy to learn that members here agree there's a problem, for years I've been thinking I was the only one that cared. I was wrong!My first efforts on spreading this, before miamiviceonline, were unsuccessful, and that was mainly my fault, because I only described the problem, I had no pics/videos/links, but this very thread has them. You get nowhere addressing this issue only "verbally", you got to show and compare sources. Comparing pics from DVDs to old broadcasts, and now to youtube videos from the '80s are necessary and, thankfully, sufficient.
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Any chance that around 2003/2004 Universal Home Video got the songs licensed for the Miami Vice DVDs and for "future media" releases? That would allow more money left to Blu-ray releases. Maybe even for a print restoration this time.

It's hard to say, they still have the rights to re-release Miami Vice anytime on DVD with the music intact as seen by their release of "The Best of 80's: Miami Vice" DVD earlier this year, wether their deal extends to other formats remains to be seen.

My main worry is that Universal people would not even know about this color issue... Or wouldn't care, for the normal buyer wouldn't. Would Universal staff ever know there is such a problem? Is there any way to contact someone there (beyond the ordinary "talks to us" channel) that could at least take a look at the situation?

Not really, the only way to contact Universal about this is via their site http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/, I don't really think they listen though as they've been notorious for subpar quality products before unless the director or a huge fanbase gets involved, Scarface for instance has never really got a true restoration, the first DVD in 1998 was considered an atrocity and the 2003 release was criticized for it's awful sound mix, they finally broke down and had the company that restored the James Bond movies in 2006 remaster the print and give it a new sound mix in 2007, although for Blu-ray they used that print but artificially tinkered with it a bit to cut back on grain and now it's got a problem with inconsistencies in terms of picture although the sound is heavily boosted due to the new lossless audio mix.

I guess we can't even be sure Michael Mann is aware on this (I bet he is aware, as he's a perfectionist). I wish someone who could take decisions on future releases read this thread and saw its pics and links. Maybe that would already do the trick. Any ideas on this?

I think he is probably aware of the problem and is waiting for Universal to get off their duff and re-issue them for Blu-ray, when Heat was re-issued for Blu-ray in 2009 Mann came in and supervised the new transfer slightly tweaking the colors to make the movie look more realistic, the result is probably one of the best looking Blu-rays in the Warner Bros. catalog, I don't know if anyone from Universal hangs around here but I'm pretty sure they are aware of this site as it's really has taken off and has become the top site for Miami Vice, it's possible as one of the search results when I just typed in Miami Vice blu-ray was the blu-ray thread on this site.

I'll confess you I'm very happy to learn that members here agree there's a problem, for years I've been thinking I was the only one that cared. I was wrong!My first efforts on spreading this, before miamiviceonline, were unsuccessful, and that was mainly my fault, because I only described the problem, I had no pics/videos/links, but this very thread has them. You get nowhere addressing this issue only "verbally", you got to show and compare sources. Comparing pics from DVDs to old broadcasts, and now to youtube videos from the '80s are necessary and, thankfully, sufficient.

While I wasn't around in the '80's to watch them when they first aired or on USA for the first re-runs but I noticed when I first bought the show on DVD they lacked the vibrancy and contrast my old taped re-runs from Spike TV and TV Land had and seemed kind of faded, even the later re-runs on SLEUTH had an overall better quality in terms of vibrancy and contrast. Although when I got my Blu-ray player earlier this month I tested Vice on it and it does enhance the picture a bit, it certainly looked better upscaled than some of the previous efforts so a release designed for Blu-ray with Mann's supervision would probably do the trick, just have to wait and see.
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http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/, I don't really think they listen though as they've been notorious for subpar quality products before unless the director or a huge fanbase gets involved, Scarface for instance has never really got a true restoration, the first DVD in 1998 was considered an atrocity and the 2003 release was criticized for it's awful sound mix, they finally broke down and had the company that restored the James Bond movies in 2006 remaster the print and give it a new sound mix in 2007, although for Blu-ray they used that print but artificially tinkered with it a bit to cut back on grain and now it's got a problem with inconsistencies in terms of picture although the sound is heavily boosted due to the new lossless audio mix.I think he is probably aware of the problem and is waiting for Universal to get off their duff and re-issue them for Blu-ray, when Heat was re-issued for Blu-ray in 2009 Mann came in and supervised the new transfer slightly tweaking the colors to make the movie look more realistic, the result is probably one of the best looking Blu-rays in the Warner Bros. catalog, I don't know if anyone from Universal hangs around here but I'm pretty sure they are aware of this site as it's really has taken off and has become the top site for Miami Vice, it's possible as one of the search results when I just typed in Miami Vice blu-ray was the blu-ray thread on this site.While I wasn't around in the '80's to watch them when they first aired or on USA for the first re-runs but I noticed when I first bought the show on DVD they lacked the vibrancy and contrast my old taped re-runs from Spike TV and TV Land had and seemed kind of faded, even the later re-runs on SLEUTH had an overall better quality in terms of vibrancy and contrast. Although when I got my Blu-ray player earlier this month I tested Vice on it and it does enhance the picture a bit, it certainly looked better upscaled than some of the previous efforts so a release designed for Blu-ray with Mann's supervision would probably do the trick, just have to wait and see.

Television releases on blu ray are still scattered - so could be waiting a while for MV:D
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  • 1 year later...

Hey! Got some new pics from the MV logos, from '80s broadcasts (my VHS tapes were a mess, I learned how to "restore" them and they're great now!).The pics are not from US broadcasts, so the originals could be slightly different (but one can see the film prints are obviously in very good shape and they were only about 2 years-old by the time of the broadcasts in my Country!).

 

El Viejo:

 

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Viking Bikers From Hell:

 

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Everybody's In Showbiz:

 

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I just want you to know that I'm trying to get settings that will make the official DVDs look a bit like the MV I used to watch in the '80s. I'm using Windows Media Player and will post some settings on the episodes above (to be used on WMP). If anyone wants to test it, just play the eps from the official Universal DVDs on Windows Media Player and use the configurations below. it's better to watch the eps with lights off.

 

On Windows Media Player:

 

1) Windows media player> enhancements> video settings

 

then:

 

2a) El Viejo Hue: - 4Saturation: + 22Brightness: - 26Contrast: + 87

 

2b) Viking Bikers From HellHue: - 4Saturation: + 28Brightness: - 25Contrast: + 90

 

2c) Everybody's in Showbiz Hue: - 7Saturation: + 36Brightness: - 42Contrast: + 7

 

If someone could post pics of MV logos and scenes from the original NBC broadcasts that would be very nice. But for what I've seen on youtube, it was a good deal like those pics above.

 

Edited by ivoryjones
spacing got all wrong
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  • 2 months later...

In all honesty I haven't really noticed any problems with the actual episode content on the official DVD's. Comparing some of my old VHS tapes with reruns from USA network (early 90's) and the fx network (mid 90's) I think the DVD's are superb with the quality and restoration! :thumbsup: The TV Land reruns (2005-2007??) are also really good and the colors are vibrant and noticeable.However, I did notice that on a lot of the DVD's...the opening montage with the logo and theme song were NOT restored or remastered. :evil: A lot of the openings had faded or "darkened" colors as they looked like they were taken from old reruns (or even original broadcasts) but never restored. You can even notice dust, some kind of "grit", and "damage" during the opening scenes in some episodes. :eek:It's not a huge deal to me, as it appears most of the actual episodes are in superb quality, but it would have been nice if they'd have restored everything--including the opening montage and theme song, and made sure the original colors were used. ;)

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I think it's with the Miami Vice logo (pink or white glow era) that the differences between the '80s sources and the 00's DVDs are more apparent... But after comparing the DVDs with some '80s sources it seems that entire episodes were affected: it's only that in the openings everything is more evident.

 

 

Here's a pic from "Down for the Count part II" NBC promo (taken from youtube)

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Here's a pic from "Down for the count part II" on DVD (the white line of the road became pink, the building blue lights became weaker, and there's a great loss of contrast - but it's not fair to compare sharpness and resolution details, as it's a DVD X online videos comparison!):

 

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To praise the great video mvnyc shared with us here ("By Hooker By Crook" on the NBC airing) also for its colors:

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And here's the DVD (Crockett looks red haired and even the bed sheets colors changed completely to a light purple, again the prints are getting red with aging):

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Made for Each Other, first broadcast, NBC (thanks again to mvnyc!)

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Made for Each Other on DVD:

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Edited by ivoryjones
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I still have all the original broadcasts on VHS (bumpers included, commercials deleted). I only wish there was a way to get them to you!

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The reason for the differences are largely the result of low luminance bandwidth and the extremely limited chrominance bandwidth used by VHS. VHS was not capable of capturing the brightness and darkness or the color correctly. Stuff would look super bright and washed out and colors couldn't even be seen. The DVDs are far closer to the way the picture is supposed to look, but there are still details which can't even be seen on current televisions. Someone would need to increase the video resolution and expand the color gamut beyond the current standards. That would make the show look even more different than those VHS or DVD screenshots.

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The reason for the differences are largely the result of low luminance bandwidth and the extremely limited chrominance bandwidth used by VHS. VHS was not capable of capturing the brightness and darkness or the color correctly. Stuff would look super bright and washed out and colors couldn't even be seen. The DVDs are far closer to the way the picture is supposed to look' date=' but there are still details which can't even be seen on current televisions. Someone would need to increase the video resolution and expand the color gamut beyond the current standards. That would make the show look even more different than those VHS or DVD screenshots.[/quote']Indeed the VHS can't handle print resolution, as even the DVD can't (but the latter is by far closer to it). Nevertheless, the '80s VHSs have the advantage to reflect the prints when they were still brand new, so they were not getting redder nor fading nor loosing blue tones. The Miami Vice DVDs clearly show Miami Vice print aging. That's why you can never ever see pure white anymore on the "white glow" of Miami Vice, as it became a little reddish. And that goes on with entire episodes, though in the opening it's more evident.The most ridiculous case to me is the climax of "Duty and Honor". At least on the '80s broadcast I've seen there was a beautiful blueish tone when Castillo and Nguyn Van Trahn got into Spinosa's house. On the DVD there was only a dim yellowish tone. Incredible lighting turned into standard cop show dark scene...For countless times, blue neon from the '80s became green neon on the DVDs, as prints got warmer and yellow/red/orange tones transformed the tones.
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I think some colors have changed a little, but I agree with Tekka...the DVD's are much closer to the way the picture is supposed to look. I think they have restored the original colors and look for the most part as they originally aired in the 80's! There could be a few differences here and there between the old airings and the DVD's...but some of that could be there was too much damage or too much fading with the old prints that they had to add in some new color and it changed it somewhat. With some of the logo pics above, you can tell some differences for sure. But, overall I think the DVD versions are better and more how they were when they originally aired in the 80's. The old airing versions look really aged--and everything is frizzy, "frazzled", and "smooshed" together. The colors are hard to discern and they're really out of focus! But, I do think with the DVD's some of the colors on the logos were changed...I don't know why, but maybe there was so much damage/fading with old airings that they had to change it somewhat to restore it. But, overall the old airings I have (some original airings and some reruns from USA and fx) are still faded, "darker", and more out of focus than the DVD's. However, the TV Land airings I have are way better than the older airings and look as though they have been remastered...they look almost as good as the DVD's.I just have issues with the openings, with the theme song and logo. They were not restored and are faded, out of focus, and show dirt, "grit", and damage from age. I think they took old airing's openings and left them in...and just restored the episode content itself. :rolleyes:

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I just have issues with the openings' date=' with the theme song and logo. They were not restored and are faded, out of focus, and show dirt, "grit", and damage from age. I think they took old airing's openings and left them in...and just restored the episode content itself. :rolleyes:[/quote']I'm glad I noticed this last paragraph of yours. Something I have suspected for a long time about the intro is that it was filmed in 16mm as opposed to the 35mm used for the show. 16mm and 35mm are two sizes of film which look different. 16mm film usually has a slightly different hue (often more pinkish), and larger grain and dust since those take up more space on the film. 35mm usually has fewer color problems. Dust and grain are also less noticeable since the film resolution is much higher on 35mm. The dust and grain just can't take up as much of the picture.The BBC used to use 16mm almost exclusively on their tv shows up until the 1990s. All their classic television programs were shot on 16mm because it was cheaper and more portable than 35mm.Take this intro to the classic BBC program All Creatures Great and Small. If you watch the film, it has all kinds of grain and the colors are slightly off. Totally normal for 16mm at the time.

https-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7Z1q9hL2I

Here is the intro from the 2006 rebroadcast of the MV pilot. You can tell there is a difference between the way the film looks at the very beginning with Tubbs and the intro. The film in the intro has large grain and the hue of certain scenes is off. It totally looks like 16mm film.

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4arNrZClZg

What I suspect happened is that a 2nd unit film crew (2nd units usually film outdoor scenic type stuff without any actors) was sent out with a 16mm camera and told to go film a bunch of exciting hip scenes of Miami. A 16mm camera would allow them to do it cheaply and more easily since 35mm cameras are large, expensive, and incredibly difficult to acquire(The 35mm Panavision cameras used to film Miami Vice can only be rented or leased). They probably filmed all the stuff for the intro long long before they ever started filming the pilot. It was probably footage they put together to pitch to executives....I guess that film class I took in college paid off. It made me aware of at least a few things about film.:cool:
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Hmmm that explains a great deal, always wondered why somehow I had this weird feeling like the intro film quality just didnt look quite right sometimes, most notably in the later seasons.wonder why they didnt refilm it for the second season once the show really took off in popularity?also I remember that the science fiction reviewer I follow on blip tv, Sfdebris mentioned that also for doctor who during the tom baker era (The Sontaran Experiment review specifically) said that they sometimes shot on VHS for the outside shots to save money and because at the time it was the only way they could add effects to it.maybe they used that tactic for the intro as well?

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I must confess my main frustration also is the opening titles, especially the transformation of the blue/pink logo with the white glow (seasons 3-5) into the green/purple logo with a white-pinkish glow (that happened with the DVDs and the late '90s Columbia House VHSs).So honestly most of the time I feel just like ViceFanMan does: my main issue is with the openings.Together with the logo, I feel strange about how the sea became "vinegar" and its foam nearly red sometimes. Do you remember how sometimes the sea in the opening looked like an unreal blue sea? Well I loved that, and that just vanished from the DVDs. Miami Vice was to me a lot about "out of this world" looks, and in the DVDs everything looked a bit "ordinary" to me...So we could also wonder if some dumb team involved in the home video release thought the original look of MV was just wrong and decided to make it "normal"? That would have started already on the Columbia VHSs. Thinking more about that, there's something that's annoying me. Do you think that Universal home video used any kind of digital/automated color correction for the DVDs? If that's possible, then maybe that was the problem and that would explain why it all seems more obvious on the opening.This question comes from a particular scene from the DVDs... It comes from "Vote of Confidence" and the scene in which Barry Bloom finds Angelica Payson dead. He washes his face and then moves, and while he moves the whole room changes in color!!!! One can see the Venetian blinds turning from green/blue to pale beige on the DVD (please watch the eps at 33'00'' or see pics below) !!! I just watched my Broadcast recording (not NBC, and it is a trash recording, it was on EP speed  :(  ) and it was deep blue all the time!!! My conclusion is that some kind of "threshold" filter was used, as it's unlike that the prints would have changed/faded that drastically within a single take. Maybe that same filter messed up the opening titles all the time and scenes here and there as the openings might have crossed out some color level all the time...

Vote of Confidence DVD (overall blue)

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Vote of Confidence VHS (overall BLUE!!!)

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Vote of Confidence DVD (turned into pale beige!)

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Vote of Confidence VHS (not a change in color! Still BLUE!)

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Filter or not, I still have the guess that the prints aged as a whole, became redder and faded as a whole, but we see it a lot more on the logo because it just shows it better. Is it because the logo has plain colors???? Is it because it was a kind of "paint" that was filmed into print??? I don't know. I don't even know how the logo was generated by the MV production.Have you noticed how in some eps (5th season if I do remember, Borrasca for sure) the logo changes a bit in color from left to right??? Is this another sign of print aging (sometimes it seems redder to the right)? Also don't know.Tekka, I never thought about 16mm! Maybe someone close to the production one day could give us a clue on that? I'm know very curious on it!And what about the telecine process (I mean by that the conversion from print to video)??? I always thought it had to do with it at least in part.To my eyes, films on TV during the '80s looked colder, with stronger contrasts, and usually even a kind of "zoomed" frame, compared with today's experience on TV (and, of course, I'm thinking about 4X3 here in all cases).I have to quote something out of Miami Vice here to give an example. I know at least another production that suffered a lot in home video. I'm talking about a horror movie called "The Howling" (1980) by Joe Dante. There was a famous transformation scene in it in which according to the director Joe Dante it looked on theaters more or less like its 1995 Laserdisc Special Edition release (the print transfer was supervised by Joe Dante himself for that release, and the scene looked real blueish, just like some old Miami Vice night scenes seasons 3-5 had that I now miss). But on home video VHS that was always messed up according to the Director. He said that before the DVD releases, but I must add on the DVDs too it was messed up. I have pics about this movie issue also, I can post them if that's not that much away from topic.A more recent example: I watched "Matrix" on theaters and was astonished as how the first DVDs had nothing to do with the theaters color. The "on purpose" greenish look became beige. Perhaps there was a filter or some genius decided to "make it normal" on DVD...

Edited by ivoryjones
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is with the openings.Together with the logo, I feel strange about how the sea became "vinegar" and its foam nearly red sometimes. Do you remember how sometimes the sea in the opening looked like an unreal blue sea? Well I loved that, and that just vanished from the DVDs. Miami Vice was to me a lot about "out of this world" looks, and in the DVDs everything looked a bit "ordinary" to me...So we could also wonder if some dumb team involved in the home video release thought the original look of MV was just wrong and decided to make it "normal"? That would have started already on the Columbia VHSs.Thinking more about that, there's something that's annoying me. Do you think that Universal home video used any kind of digital/automated color correction for the DVDs? If that's possible, then maybe that was the problem and that would explain why it all seems more obvious on the opening.This question comes from a particular scene from the DVDs... It comes from "Vote of Confidence" and the scene in which Barry Bloom finds Angelica Payson dead. He washes his face and then moves, and while he moves the whole room changes in color!!!! One can see the Venetian blinds turning from green/blue to pale beige on the DVD (please watch the eps at 33'00'' or see pics below) !!! I just watched my Broadcast recording (not NBC, and it is a trash recording, it was on EP speed:cry:) and it was deep blue all the time!!! My conclusion is that some kind of "threshold" filter was used, as it's unlike that the prints would have changed/faded that drastically within a single take. Maybe that same filter messed up the opening titles all the time and scenes here and there as the openings might have crossed out some color level all the time...Vote of Confidence DVD (overall blue)Eingefügtes BildVote of Confidence VHS (overall BLUE!!!)Eingefügtes BildVote of Confidence DVD (turned into pale beige!)Eingefügtes BildVote of Confidence VHS (not a change in color! Still BLUE!)Eingefügtes BildFilter or not, I still have the guess that the prints aged as a whole, became redder and faded as a whole, but we see it a lot more on the logo because it just shows it better. Is it because the logo has plain colors???? Is it because it was a kind of "paint" that was filmed into print??? I don't know. I don't even know how the logo was generated by the MV production.Have you noticed how in some eps (5th season if I do remember, Borrasca for sure) the logo changes a bit in color from left to right??? Is this another sign of print aging (sometimes it seems redder to the right)? Also don't know.Tekka, I never thought about 16mm! Maybe someone close to the production one day could give us a clue on that? I'm know very curious on it!And what about the telecine process (I mean by that the conversion from print to video)??? I always thought it had to do with it at least in part.To my eyes, films on TV during the '80s looked colder, with stronger contrasts, and usually even a kind of "zoomed" frame, compared with today's experience on TV (and, of course, I'm thinking about 4X3 here in all cases).I have to quote something out of Miami Vice here to give an example. I know at least another production that suffered a lot in home video. I'm talking about a horror movie called "The Howling" (1980) by Joe Dante. There was a famous transformation scene in it in which according to the director Joe Dante it looked on theaters more or less like its 1995 Laserdisc Special Edition release (the print transfer was supervised by Joe Dante himself for that release, and the scene looked real blueish, just like some old Miami Vice night scenes seasons 3-5 had that I now miss). But on home video VHS that was always messed up according to the Director. He said that before the DVD releases, but I must add on the DVDs too it was messed up. I have pics about this movie issue also, I can post them if that's not that much away from topic.A more recent example: I watched "Matrix" on theaters and was astonished as how the first DVDs had nothing to do with the theaters color. The "on purpose" greenish look became beige. Perhaps there was a filter or some genius decided to "make it normal" on DVD...

It happens sadly, its one of the dangers of modernizing a series. Although Ferrariman I know of a guy on I think either blip or someone else called the cinema snob who's mentioned something about a VHS to DVD - R converter I believe.so it might be possible to convert it and then use something like the VLC player to take screencaps of the now burned to DVD and to the computer originals, figures though that there's probably a good chance that the reason why the TR looks washed out compared to the daytona in the night scenes might be because of the dvd transfer. and I think one of the few times on the dvd they actually used the original prints and left it was the end scene

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PJTgo7myF8

hell if you want an example of how different the dvd transfer is just look at the pilot they aired in 05 or 06, his shirt looked dark blue in it, then in real life when Cooper and Burnett found it it was more a purpilish blue!
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This is a VERY COOL VIDEO, Kavinsky!!! Thank you!Indeed it's hard to figure why the end of Freefall on DVD looks better than the rest of the ep, color-wise.Many takes of the clip you post come directly from Freefall, but many ones don't, and they look better than the respective scenes on the DVDs. Do you know from which sources they come?

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https-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7Z1q9hL2I Here is the intro from the 2006 rebroadcast of the MV pilot. You can tell there is a difference between the way the film looks at the very beginning with Tubbs and the intro. The film in the intro has large grain and the hue of certain scenes is off. It totally looks like 16mm film.

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4arNrZClZg

What I suspect happened is that a 2nd unit film crew (2nd units usually film outdoor scenic type stuff without any actors) was sent out with a 16mm camera and told to go film a bunch of exciting hip scenes of Miami. A 16mm camera would allow them to do it cheaply and more easily since 35mm cameras are large, expensive, and incredibly difficult to acquire(The 35mm Panavision cameras used to film Miami Vice can only be rented or leased). They probably filmed all the stuff for the intro long long before they ever started filming the pilot. It was probably footage they put together to pitch to executives....I guess that film class I took in college paid off. It made me aware of at least a few things about film.:cool:
This is very true...and I bet you're right! I don't know as much as you about the kinds of film for sure, but I do know that 16mm was cheaper (literally and figuratively ;) ) than 35mm. I've seen other things filmed in 16mm (usually old TV shows or movies) and you can definitely tell a difference between that and 35mm. That 2006 re-broadcast of the intro to the "MV" Pilot TV movie, however, did look pretty dang good compared to the reruns in the past...and maybe even the DVD. ;) I'm wondering if they didn't "polish" it up at least some before airing it again back in 06. :cool:Wouldn't there be a way to restore the old 16mm intros though...make them look better, for DVD's and/or Blu-Rays if that ever happens? Even if there was more "opportunity", so-to-speak, for dust and or grit to gather on the old prints of 16mm stuff...couldn't they still clean that up and restore it?
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This is a VERY COOL VIDEO' date=' Kavinsky!!! Thank you!Indeed it's hard to figure why the end of Freefall on DVD looks better than the rest of the ep, color-wise.Many takes of the clip you post come directly from Freefall, but many ones don't, and they look better than the respective scenes on the DVDs. Do you know from which sources they come?[/quote']I dont know I just found that when trying to look up the original end scene and found this custom one that has snippets from the original brodcasts in it that were not in the original end scene.and from what he said he, the maker there specifically did that to avoid a copywrite strike Thomaz Kravezuk 5 months ago I upload this video edited because copyright infrigement. NBC Universal was going to exclude the original. so he must have the VHS ripped to his computer there and mixed it in with the dvd cuts probably using premier or sony vegasas I do not remember the hell with this burnout scene with the TR from down for the count PT2 being in the end montage along the quick pass with the daytona from sons and lovers being in it originallyWith the pilot being shown as a promo for the movie. given the fact that they had some sort of running monalogue between the two main actors of the movie playing during or before the commercial breaks maybe Michale Mann personally supervised the restoration of it? As I remember in interviews he was very proud of his work on the pilot specifically.and I can see why.
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I always thought the primary colors were blue and ink but watching some of these shots from the dvd they appear purple and green ?:D:rolleyes:

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I always thought the primary colors were blue and ink but watching some of these shots from the dvd they appear purple and green ?:D:rolleyes:

The logo colors during the starting of the show didn't always just have teal and pink. The first season had more pink, light gray, and redish orange (once the glow was established). Second season had more of a sea-green (or aqua) and pink. Third season had sort of a darker teal, or light blue, and pink with a white glow. I think it was around season 4 when the purple and teal-green, with still the white glow, was implemented.Now, the color scheme to the show itself did involve a lot of teal & pink, and/or aqua and pink. But, oddly enough the logos at the beginning were not always those colors. Later, the logo for marketing or advertising purposes, was done in the typical teal and pink.
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The logo colors during the starting of the show didn't always just have teal and pink. The first season had more pink' date=' light gray, and redish orange (once the glow was established). Second season had more of a sea-green (or aqua) and pink. Third season had sort of a darker teal, or light blue, and pink with a white glow. I think it was around season 4 when the purple and teal-green, with still the white glow, was implemented.Now, the color scheme to the show itself did involve a lot of teal & pink, and/or aqua and pink. But, oddly enough the logos at the beginning were not always those colors. Later, the logo for marketing or advertising purposes, was done in the typical teal and pink.[/quote']My main frustration about the DVD (and there are others!) is what I believe to be a complete wrong showing of the 3-5 seasons logo. At least here in my Country original broadcasts, the 3-5 seasons logo never ever looked like it does nowadays on DVD. I was completely addicted to the darker blueish teal "Miami" with the pink "Vice" and the blinding white glow (not unlike the cover logo of the album "Miami Vice II"). On DVD, it became a kind of aqua/purple with a dimmed white-pinkish glow. That still gives me a good amount of frustration (really!).ViceManFan, in my Country, TCM channel has just started a run on Miami Vice. For the first time ever, I could see the first 3 episodes opening titles restored. Even in the '80s, at least here, there was a lot of grain and scratches especially on the "Rodriguez eps" openings. Somehow they're completely gone on this cable run. So people at cable are doing a better job than Universal as far as the opening is concerned. They also kept the Universal logo at the ends and the famous "Santa Claus" line from "Heart of Darkness", absent on DVD. The bad side is that there's a lot of compression, so here and there one can see the digital "artifacts" around...But funny is that the "restored" opening seemed to be zoomed in. The logo and the actors names are a lot bigger now...
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My main frustration about the DVD (and there are others!) is what I believe to be a complete wrong showing of the 3-5 seasons logo. At least here in my Country original broadcasts' date=' the 3-5 seasons logo never ever looked like it does nowadays on DVD. I was completely addicted to the darker blueish teal "Miami" with the pink "Vice" and the blinding white glow (not unlike the cover logo of the album "Miami Vice II"). On DVD, it became a kind of aqua/purple with a dimmed white-pinkish glow. That still gives me a good amount of frustration (really!).ViceManFan, in my Country, TCM channel has just started a run on Miami Vice. For the first time ever, I could see the first 3 episodes opening titles restored. Even in the '80s, at least here, there was a lot of grain and scratches especially on the "Rodriguez eps" openings. Somehow they're completely gone on this cable run. So people at cable are doing a better job than Universal as far as the opening is concerned. They also kept the Universal logo at the ends and the famous "Santa Claus" line from "Heart of Darkness", absent on DVD. The bad side is that there's a lot of compression, so here and there one can see the digital "artifacts" around...But funny is that the "restored" opening seemed to be zoomed in. The logo and the actors names are a lot bigger now...[/quote']I suppose they didn't broadcast in the English language in your country or did they?Perhaps your networks restored the episodes they had in their archives?The screens-shots you showed actually where over-contrasted, so you could try and modify the contrast values on your tv. You must keep in mind that the networks and tv sets where of the analogue type back in the days, they didn't yet have the crystal clear digital attributions of nowadays.I honestly believe the logos and colors where meant to look like the dvd, but that somehow they got that glow and color due to restrictions of a technical nature. Of-course to you it's what you remember seeing on tv that counts and as such those new crystal clear images don't look the same.Like the syaing goes, it's all in the eye of the beholder.
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