Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Huh. The one of C3PO is no contest, the image marked "Blu-ray" wins by a mile. The other shot, neither looks particularly desirable.

The Blu-ray shot on that wins by a mile as well. Look how waxy Obi-Wan's face is. The sabers are blown out, and the gamma level is awful: Vader's back is gray instead of black.

[tylergfoster]

I thought the best source for a restoration of the theatrical cuts of Star Wars would be the version stored at UCLA Film and Television Archives?

I don't think comparing Blu-Ray screencaps to images taken off a Vimeo video are useful.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

The Blu-ray shot on that wins by a mile as well. Look how waxy Obi-Wan's face is. The sabers are blown out, and the gamma level is awful: Vader's back is gray instead of black.

please remember that the "new scan" screenshots are just grabs of a web video!
You can't possibly know the quality from this.

[Riddler95]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

please remember that the "new scan" screenshots are just grabs of a web video!
You can't possibly know the quality from this.

Your right. We have no idea how these new 4K Transfers will look in 1080p on Blu-Ray, we should not judge our opinion by a brief online video. I just hope that these new 4K 16-Bit Restorations will be given to the Original Versions and not the Special Editions...

[LimeiBook86]

At least it's interesting to note that they brag about Star Wars on the frontpage of their website: http://www.rmwusa.com noted as "Star Wars Trilogy: Restoration".

And I'm also exciting to see Goldeneye in the trailer... although I did pickup the BD when it was very cheap.

[shane01]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

Your right. We have no idea how these new 4K Transfers will look on Blu-Ray, we should not judge our opinion by a brief online video. I just hope that these new 4K 16-Bit Restorations will be given to the Original Versions and not the Special Editions...

Honestly, they should release both. It will make George happy, it'll make purists happy, and Fox/Disney will collect handsomely. I bought Star Wars twice on DVD out of the three or four releases. They've already repackaged the Blu-rays once, they may as well re-release the original trilogy next year before Episode VII and use these (possible) remasters to take some more of my money.

And as much as Lucas wishes these original films were shot on video, they deserve a warm and grainy HD release. Even Episode I deserves a decent scan of the original negative. It's an important film in terms of hype/film-lore/legacy that "deserves" respect.

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by shane01

Honestly, they should release both.

Yeah, I don't see a release of this that doesn't either include both or just the Lucas versions.

Just heard from someone I trust that IMAX versions of the OT may be in the works as well, which would track with wanting new 4K masters.

[Riddler95]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

Yeah, I don't see a release of this that doesn't either include both or just the Lucas versions.

Just heard from someone I trust that IMAX versions of the OT may be in the works as well, which would track with wanting new 4K masters.

Maybe there is going to be a theatrical re-release of the Original Trilogy before Episode VII is released theaters.

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

Maybe there is going to be a theatrical re-release of the Original Trilogy before Episode VII is released theaters.

Yes, that's the idea it seems.

I asked my friend and he said it was okay to get a little more specific: apparently this comes from Gary Kurtz, who was there to grab lunch with Carrie Fisher. My friend says Kurtz used the phrasing "as intended," which further implies the theatrical cuts, since I believe he's never been a fan of the alterations.

Obviously, this is pretty much all unverifiable, so I won't be offended if everyone takes this with a few shakers of salt.

[stvn1974]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

Maybe there is going to be a theatrical re-release of the Original Trilogy before Episode VII is released theaters.

"Relive the adventure and excitement that you saw as a kid before it was ruined...coming to a theater near you 2015" would be a great opening for the trailer.

[Riddler95]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

"Relive the adventure and excitement that you saw as a kid before it was ruined...coming to a theater near you 2015" would be a great opening for the trailer.

I have never seen any version of The Star Wars Trilogy on the Big Screen. Hopefully a theatrical re-release will happen next year. I`ve always wanted to watch them in a movie theater.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

"Relive the adventure and excitement that you saw as a kid before it was ruined...coming to a theater near you 2015" would be a great opening for the trailer.

No, more like "Come see the version those nerds in IT were so butthurt about not getting on Blu-ray"

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by shane01

Honestly, they should release both. It will make George happy, it'll make purists happy, and Fox/Disney will collect handsomely. I bought Star Wars twice on DVD out of the three or four releases. They've already repackaged the Blu-rays once, they may as well re-release the original trilogy next year before Episode VII and use these (possible) remasters to take some more of my money.



And as much as Lucas wishes these original films were shot on video, they deserve a warm and grainy HD release. Even Episode I deserves a decent scan of the original negative. It's an important film in terms of hype/film-lore/legacy that "deserves" respect.

There is no negative of episode I, at least not in the way we think of it. The movie was shot on film but finished digitally, that's why they went back to the original 2K master for the Blu-ray. The reason why it looks as smooth as it does is because it was given a Lowry pass, and they either clean forgot to regrain it (unlikely) or they were told not to.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No, more like "Come see the version those nerds in IT were so butthurt about not getting on Blu-ray"

I haven't quite worked out the wording but there's gotta be a 'who's the more butthurt' quote in here somewhere.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

I have never seen any version of The Star Wars Trilogy on the Big Screen. Hopefully a theatrical re-release will happen next year. I`ve always wanted to watch them in a movie theater.

You should & hope you get the chance

Don't listen to the whiners that think it was ruined

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

Yes, that's the idea it seems.

I asked my friend and he said it was okay to get a little more specific: apparently this comes from Gary Kurtz, who was there to grab lunch with Carrie Fisher. My friend says Kurtz used the phrasing "as intended," which further implies the theatrical cuts, since I believe he's never been a fan of the alterations.

Obviously, this is pretty much all unverifiable, so I won't be offended if everyone takes this with a few shakers of salt.

A very smart man..and just as much as responsible for the greatness as Lucas. I am not going to get jazzed buy this until we have some better evidence that this will happen. Would love to see the UOT in the theater once again.

[Geoff D]

One other thing: see that comparison shot of the x-wings as they're about to dive? The gamma's much higher on the new shot, resulting in a darker, denser image which is exactly how they need to be done to mask the garbage mattes properly. (This was done for the Mi4K version of Ghostbusters; the shot of the terror dog bounding across the street is darker for a reason.) Obviously visible mattes aren't a problem in either version of that x-wing shot, but I spotted a few elsewhere in Star Wars and there's loads of them in Jedi's space battle.

(Folks might be right when they say that they may just be Lowry's original scans that they're working from, because the framing is all but identical to the old masters. Thankfully the raw scans are just that, raw, so even if they're a good 10 years old they won't have all of those post-processing nasties (frozen grain ahoy!) baked into them.)

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

One other thing: see that comparison shot of the x-wings as they're about to dive? The gamma's much higher on the new shot, resulting in a darker, denser image which is exactly how they need to be done to mask the garbage mattes properly. (This was done for the Mi4K version of Ghostbusters; the shot of the terror dog bounding across the street is darker for a reason.) Obviously visible mattes aren't a problem in either version of that x-wing shot, but I spotted a few elsewhere in Star Wars and there's loads of them in Jedi's space battle.

(Folks might be right when they say that they may just be Lowry's original scans that they're working from, because the framing is all but identical to the old masters. Thankfully the raw scans are just that, raw, so even if they're a good 10 years old they won't have all of those post-processing nasties (frozen grain ahoy!) baked into them.)

Yeah, but scanning technology has vastly improved from 10 years ago. I will be very disappointed if they are still using the same old, damn 10 year-old scan raw or not. They need to get off their arses and do this RIGHT.

[Geoff D]

Oh I agree, but I was looking at it from a 'glass half full' kinda aspect, should these turn out to be the old scans repurposed.

[Riddler95]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

(Folks might be right when they say that they may just be Lowry's original scans that they're working from, because the framing is all but identical to the old masters. Thankfully the raw scans are just that, raw, so even if they're a good 10 years old they won't have all of those post-processing nasties (frozen grain ahoy!) baked into them.)

If they used Lowry's scans from 2003/2004 wouldn't that mean that they used the 2K Scans? This could be a 4K Conversion instead of a Restoration in 4K.