Disney to announce Original Trilogy Star Wars Blu-ray set at upcoming convention!
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There are rumors going around that Star Wars might actually hit streaming video on April 10th.
FWIW, there is a new 4K remastering of the OT underway, but it's the altered versions (this has caused some confusion and needless optimism because the publically-available images aren't obviously the Special Editions unless you're familiar with very subtle differences). Strangely, it's a scan of the 1997 version of the SE because that's the highest-res source (i.e. film) for such a job. Then it's getting further tweaked from there... which means, yes, inevitably we will have a FOURTH crappy alternate version of these films, rather than the films we're actually interested in.
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Why are they doing a new 4K remaster? The OT got a 4K scan by Lowry for the blu ray set that has been out for a while.
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Maybe they'll take the scan and remaster it not to suck.
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Sorry guys. I was absolutely incorrect. The OT did NOT get a 4K scan for the Blu set, and it's Lucas' fault. According to secrethistoryofstarwars.com, when commenting on Lowry's work for the Blu release:
"Sound and Vision also questioned John Lowry about the unusual low-resolution of the release, a decision made by Lucasfilm and not his company, but he rather dodged the issue by alleging that the opticals were at less than 4K due to generational loss, but surmised that Lucas might re-do the entire process for an HD release. As it turns out, he hasn't, as the film has been shown many times on HD broadcasts using the HD master, although a re-do for Blu-Ray seems possible but unlikely."
Here are some additional comments:
"...the [Episode IV] negative was scanned only in HD resolution of 1080p, in 10-bit RGB. [36] This was a state worse than the primitive 2K scans ILM had done for the SE. By contrast, when Blade Runner was restored and enhanced in 2007, the live-action was scanned at 4K, the normal standard, and the visual effect shots at 8K. Godfather's 2008 restoration was scanned at 4K for the entire film, while Wizard of Oz's 2009 release was done at 8K. Why Lucas chose to source his master from a paltry 1080 HD scan is hard to fathom, especially when 4K was long in place as the standard, with 6K and 8K looming on the horizon as a viable replacement since data storage was becoming cheaper. One reason may be because Lucas was shooting the two prequels--Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith--on the Sony CineAlta, which itself was 1080 (being the first generation of HD feature-film cameras). This is another undoable element of the prequels--filmed on 1080p HD, they have, at the most, less than half the resolution of the 35mm original trilogy, with some arguing that 35mm resolves 5000 lines, meaning they have just under 1/5 the resolution (Phantom Menace was shot in 35mm, but then scanned in 2K--which is still an improvement over the following two films)..."
"[The 2004 DVD version as] released is a sloppy mess, in technical terms; blacks are crushed, colors bleed and pop distractingly, video noise is visible because of the oversaturation, skin tones are inconsistent and often very pink, scenes have weird casts to them (i.e. the Millennium Falcon scenes look very green), everything is much too dull and dim, contrast is not nominal, and many of the lightsaber effects are the wrong color (pink for Vader, green for Luke). The coloring is not even consistent with the prequels in some instances, whereas the originals were--for instance, the original blockade runner scene was meant to be Kubrick-esque bright white, while on the 2004 release it is a dull blue, yet strangely in Revenge of the Sith it is the bright white it is supposed to be. Lowry is often mistakenly pointed at as the culprits of these highly noticeable flaws, but in fact it is Lucas himself..."
"Sound and Vision also questioned John Lowry about the unusual low-resolution of the release, a decision made by Lucasfilm and not his company, but he rather dodged the issue by alleging that the opticals were at less than 4K due to generational loss, but surmised that Lucas might re-do the entire process for an HD release. As it turns out, he hasn't, as the film has been shown many times on HD broadcasts using the HD master, although a re-do for Blu-Ray seems possible but unlikely."
Here are some additional comments:
"...the [Episode IV] negative was scanned only in HD resolution of 1080p, in 10-bit RGB. [36] This was a state worse than the primitive 2K scans ILM had done for the SE. By contrast, when Blade Runner was restored and enhanced in 2007, the live-action was scanned at 4K, the normal standard, and the visual effect shots at 8K. Godfather's 2008 restoration was scanned at 4K for the entire film, while Wizard of Oz's 2009 release was done at 8K. Why Lucas chose to source his master from a paltry 1080 HD scan is hard to fathom, especially when 4K was long in place as the standard, with 6K and 8K looming on the horizon as a viable replacement since data storage was becoming cheaper. One reason may be because Lucas was shooting the two prequels--Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith--on the Sony CineAlta, which itself was 1080 (being the first generation of HD feature-film cameras). This is another undoable element of the prequels--filmed on 1080p HD, they have, at the most, less than half the resolution of the 35mm original trilogy, with some arguing that 35mm resolves 5000 lines, meaning they have just under 1/5 the resolution (Phantom Menace was shot in 35mm, but then scanned in 2K--which is still an improvement over the following two films)..."
"[The 2004 DVD version as] released is a sloppy mess, in technical terms; blacks are crushed, colors bleed and pop distractingly, video noise is visible because of the oversaturation, skin tones are inconsistent and often very pink, scenes have weird casts to them (i.e. the Millennium Falcon scenes look very green), everything is much too dull and dim, contrast is not nominal, and many of the lightsaber effects are the wrong color (pink for Vader, green for Luke). The coloring is not even consistent with the prequels in some instances, whereas the originals were--for instance, the original blockade runner scene was meant to be Kubrick-esque bright white, while on the 2004 release it is a dull blue, yet strangely in Revenge of the Sith it is the bright white it is supposed to be. Lowry is often mistakenly pointed at as the culprits of these highly noticeable flaws, but in fact it is Lucas himself..."
Not sucking is not in the cards, I'm afraid, when it's based off the 1997 version.
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Having seen the announcements over the weekend, am I correct that this is just a "digital" download release of the current Blu-ray "complete saga" version and neither the original and unaltered versions of IV-VI nor a 4k-mastered version of all of them?
If so, how utterly disappointing.
If so, how utterly disappointing.
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The Bluray of the OT is one of the worst transfers, sound and picture wise, of a release that had been so long awaited. The picture is painful to watch at times as stated but the sound was just as bad. The highs were tinny and shrill and the bass was overboosted where the whole soundstage just sounded artificial.
People can cite that you can only do so much with the dated source elements for the sound but when you look at the care and balance that was taken with other older iconic films like Jaws and Bladerunner, then you know they just did a piss poor job in all aspects of the Blurays. The worst part for me was reviewers praising the sound which tricked me into actually buying the OT on release.
People can cite that you can only do so much with the dated source elements for the sound but when you look at the care and balance that was taken with other older iconic films like Jaws and Bladerunner, then you know they just did a piss poor job in all aspects of the Blurays. The worst part for me was reviewers praising the sound which tricked me into actually buying the OT on release.
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Polishing a turd, as they say.
Star Wars releases have become, in a way, review-proof. Since it's now actually expected(!) that each release will significantly change the look and sound of the movies in many ways, there's no longer any reference upon which to base any comparison. For any other movie, a reviewer might show a screenshot of the old color timing compared to the new, listen to the old audio mix and compare it to the new, and describe how something got better or worse. Not for Star Wars--each release is a special snowflake, compared only against itself, so it always reviews well, no matter how crap it is. The best thing about the Blu-rays is that I don't think it's possible for anyone to release a worse version of these films, so there's room for hope.
You guys are great for a laugh, it's like some of you have been living in a cave. It was well documented that the SW BDs were from 2004 SE DVD masters as stated by Lucas himself in the NY Times before they were even released on BD and repeated ad nauseum on this sub-forum and elsewhere.
As for doing a 4k of the SE, I am pretty sure they were locked with a 2K DI back in 2004 and the CG definitely was. And forget about 4Ks of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, they were shot on 1080p locked cameras.
But anyway happy April's Fool.
As for doing a 4k of the SE, I am pretty sure they were locked with a 2K DI back in 2004 and the CG definitely was. And forget about 4Ks of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, they were shot on 1080p locked cameras.
But anyway happy April's Fool.
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Agreed. There are so many movies from that era which were properly remastered that retain a film-like look.
The current versions look so digital and crappy..and the sound is just way off.
It's really ashamed Lucas just didn't care enough about these movies one way or the other.
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Agreed. I watched the Top Gun remaster at the Empire Times Sq in FauxMAX. The image and sound were superb.
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I think it's been well established that his version of caring is just different than ours. He wanted a consistent look for all six films, even if that meant dragging down the quality of the OT.
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