Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Hardback247]

Originally Posted by captveg

The old commentaries would be nice.

They are on the Despecialized Edition.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by captveg

http://www.techradar.com/news/star-w...gn=buffer_trtw

...and we know that Lowry restored the trilogy in 16-bit 4K as far back as 2012, so something like this was always coming. Perhaps getting the OT back into decent shape was part of the package that Disney wanted to inherit when they bought LFL, so that finally lit a fire under George's ass to get the work started.

I'm intrigued by Edwards saying that ILM told him they'd only just finished the restoration, but at a guess I'd say that Lowry were given the reconformed SE negatives to restore and that Lucasfilm/ILM have been digitally stitching the original versions back together a piece at a time.

As I've been saying over and over for a while now: 2017 is the 40th anniversary. Disney/LFL would be insane to miss out on such an opportunity for a restored re-release.

[bobbyh64]

Originally Posted by captveg

http://www.techradar.com/news/star-w...gn=buffer_trtw

That's cool but the article should've made it very obvious if it's the original version that would get released. There was only one sentence talking about the original 1977 version in 4K, and they included the episode number and "A New Hope" in the title. That doesn't make any sense since in 1977 it was just called Star Wars. If the article is talking about the original version, all it really said is that Edwards watched a print of the original version but didn't say if that's the version that would get released. Still, that does sound like encouraging news!

[Hardback247]

Why do people still feel that The Force Awakens is a remake of A New Hope? I think they confuse "remaking" with "paralleling."

What's the story of "A New Hope"? Basically from the opening crawl until the finale, the focus of the movie is to destroy the Death Star which the Empire's new super weapon with the power to destroy an entire planet. The plans to the Death Star which show the weak spot for the Rebels to target are stolen by a band of Rebels (which we see in Rogue One) and left in R2-D2 by Princess Leia who tells him to deliver the plans to Obi Wan Kenobi who would know to deliver it to the Alderaan system. Luke, Han, Leia and the rest of the gang manage to get to Yavin base and deliver the plans at the cost of losing Obi Wan at the hands of Darth Vader and successfully destroy the Death Star thanks to Luke's tapping into the Force.

In Force Awakens? It's NOT about destroying Starkiller base as some would have you believe. It's about the search for Luke Skywalker who has been missing for quite some time with both the Resistance and First Order searching the galaxy for his whereabouts. Resistance pilot Poe Dameron visits Lor San Tekka on Jakku to obtain the information but is forced to leave it inside BB-8 when the First Order arrives looking for the map. Last time I checked, Poe Dameron was an X-Wing pilot and didn't have any hints of royalty, did he? Starkiller base is acknowledged as a threat to the Resistance and the Republic but is never really given much focus to begin with. All it really comes off as is a familiar backdrop that is simply used to help focus on the characters of Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren during the climax. Darth Vader isn't exactly given a huge amount of backstory as opposed to Kylo Ren in Episode 7. And unlike Luke using the Force to destroy the Death Star, Poe manages to destroy Star Killer base after Rey, Finn and the gang blow an opening in the oscillator so he can fly in and destroy it. Was there a moment flying down the trench where someone like Han's spirit comes in and says "Use the Force Poe!" And was there ever ANY indication beforehand of Poe being a Force user? The answer is simple........... No.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

...and we know that Lowry restored the trilogy in 16-bit 4K as far back as 2012, so something like this was always coming. Perhaps getting the OT back into decent shape was part of the package that Disney wanted to inherit when they bought LFL, so that finally lit a fire under George's ass to get the work started.

I'm intrigued by Edwards saying that ILM told him they'd only just finished the restoration, but at a guess I'd say that Lowry were given the reconformed SE negatives to restore and that Lucasfilm/ILM have been digitally stitching the original versions back together a piece at a time.

As I've been saying over and over for a while now: 2017 is the 40th anniversary. Disney/LFL would be insane to miss out on such an opportunity for a restored re-release.

So do you think this is likely the unaltered version they will release?

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Again, Hoth has been blue since 1980. It was not a SE color correction!

Published in 1980:

I can post lots of sources showing how much more white Hoth originally looked throughout the scenes.

[stvn1974]

I was 5 when Empire came out and I remember exactly how Hoth looked.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

So do you think this is likely the unaltered version they will release?

I do think it'll be the original. It might even be "the original rebuilt using current technology to recomp the VFX and stabilize mattes and whatnot". Purists will sniff and turn their noses up, but **** 'em: if it's the original cut of Star Wars looking as good as it can possibly look then thank you sir may I have another?

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by captveg

The old commentaries would be nice.

I would bet that the release will be similar to TFA, as in the "Episode #" moniker will be dropped, and the packaging for any future releases of the classic SW films will be:

Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

For the PT as well. It's just better branding/cleaner that having the cumbersome EPISODE # text.

But they can't have/do true 4K masters for EPISODES II and III, considering how they were shot, right?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

But they can't have/do true 4K masters for EPISODES II and III, considering how they were shot, right?

Well, considering that the vast majority of UHD Blu-ray releases are 2K upscales I don't think that's a problem any more. And FYI Phantom Menace exists in its finished form as a 2K master even though it was shot on film, so that would have to be upscaled too (re-rendering the VFX is not an option because ILM can no longer read the project files, and redoing the VFX from scratch would mean a bill of tens of millions of dollars).

[ElvisForever]

Originally Posted by Hardback247

They are on the Despecialized Edition.

Yes, I got those burned to bluray. Most excellent! I even had used ink jet printable discs and then silicine prayed to make water proof.

Then I read the new version cane out that was scanned to negative so gave that away. Still haven't got it!

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Well, considering that the vast majority of UHD Blu-ray releases are 2K upscales I don't think that's a problem any more.

The only question is whether they go back to Episode I and truly remaster it or keep the digital look that Lucas wanted to match II and III.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

The only question is whether they go back to Episode I and truly remaster it or keep the digital look that Lucas wanted to match II and III.

See my edit above, sir (I knew what was coming ). Shooting on film is no guarantee of anything when every single shot in the finished film (well, bar one shot) has some sort of digital element and/or tinkering which has locked it in at 2K rez.

If they go back to the 2K master again (like they did on the Blu-ray) for a UHD upscale then we can only hope that they leave the DNR at home this time.

[motorheadache95]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I do think it'll be the original. It might even be "the original rebuilt using current technology to recomp the VFX and stabilize mattes and whatnot". Purists will sniff and turn their noses up, but **** 'em: if it's the original cut of Star Wars looking as good as it can possibly look then thank you sir may I have another?

To be honest, if Lucas' Special Editions had been done with the care and subtlety of Ridley Scott's Final Cut of Blade Runner, I wouldn't have ever given two shits about having the completely unaltered versions at all. So if there are fixes like that throughout the films but essentially its the original cuts without any of the Special Edition onward Lucas revisions, I would be fine with that.

Either way, I really hope this release is coming, and coming soon. They can release it as a premium product and overcharge it and I'll pay it, I don't care. These are a long time coming, and as long as they're remastered properly they'll be the prize items in my film collection.

[Bobbyjoe766]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

dat 40th anniversary tho

When the 40th anniversary passes by and still nothing,then what?

[rexcrk]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

When the 40th anniversary passes by and still nothing,then what?

Then we wait for 50!

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by motorheadache95

To be honest, if Lucas' Special Editions had been done with the care and subtlety of Ridley Scott's Final Cut of Blade Runner, I wouldn't have ever given two shits about having the completely unaltered versions at all. So if there are fixes like that throughout the films but essentially its the original cuts without any of the Special Edition onward Lucas revisions, I would be fine with that.

Either way, I really hope this release is coming, and coming soon. They can release it as a premium product and overcharge it and I'll pay it, I don't care. These are a long time coming, and as long as they're remastered properly they'll be the prize items in my film collection.

Well, there's still some stuff in the Final Cut that I don't like, changes to the actual movie itself I mean, but yes: if the SE changes had been done as sensitively and attentively as Blade Runner's were and with minimal ****ery as to the actual narrative then most folks would've been fine with it. I think that's what most were expecting, even.

I dunno if there'll be that level of Final Cut-style fixing to the OT (like the reversed Imperial insignia on the flopped shots, or the colour timing on that one shot of Luke at the homestead) but I've just got a sneaky feeling that they've tarted up a few bits here and there, not to add anything that wasn't there previously but to tighten it up in general.

[Mighty Max]

Just curious, as someone with only a tablet and now way to make them, is there a way to get a BD of the DeSpecialized Trilogy and the Revisted A New Hope?

[Nicolawicz]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I do think it'll be the original. It might even be "the original rebuilt using current technology to recomp the VFX and stabilize mattes and whatnot". Purists will sniff and turn their noses up, but **** 'em: if it's the original cut of Star Wars looking as good as it can possibly look then thank you sir may I have another?

Keep in mind that in a lot of cases they had to degrade the image to make it look real (the shots came out too sharp from the optical printer), though.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

So do you think this is likely the unaltered version they will release?

I hope they do packaging similar to the 3D TFA release. Same style, same style font (Star Wars: A New Hope, etc) with two versions of the film (original and SE).

And by "original" I mean the 1981 re-release of SW with "Episode IV: A New Hope" in the crawl. I guess they could have the two versions of the crawl on the original version select-able via seamless branching, but 95% of OOT purists grew up with the home video releases having this alteration and so it's not really that much of a sticking point, IMO.