You can already find plenty of reviews on
Akira however the big news is that it is being digitally re-mastered and re-released, with premieres in several
major cities.
The re-mastering process began with a new
Inter Positive (
IP) made from the original negative at
Tokyo Laboratory in
Japan. The new IP was sent to
International Video Conversions (
IVC) in
Burbank, California where the film was color corrected on a
Spirit Datacine film scanner. A vigorous quality check was made of the new HD master, and scenes were selected for
digital restoration. These scenes were uploaded into a digital restoration workstation (DRS) where dirt and scratches were digitally removed. Results of the restoration were checked periodically on a large screen.
Digital projectors were used to test the feasibility of digital projection of the final product. This process puts the new transfer under intense scrutiny but provides superior results for the
DVD and
VHS release master.
For the
audio, a new
English translation from the original
Japanese script was created and new voice talent found to re-dub the entire film. The new dub track combined with the original music and effects was re-mixed to a
Dolby Digital AC3 Surround Sound track. Finally, The new master was approved by
THX.
The official premiere will take place Sunday, May 27th at AMC Media Center North 6 770 North First Street Burbank, California and also at AMC 1000 Van Ness, San Francisco, California.
The official website is located at
http://www.akira2001.com