Info: Theatrical AOTC Discussion Thread — Page 2

John Doom said:

The two reviews complete each other

 Just like Anakin and Padme.

*gag*

nightstalkerpoet said:

Not sure if this would be possible, but any chance a 35 mm print could be scanned at 1080, stabilized to match the blu, and the film grain only lifted frame by frame and applied to the blu? 

Why scan a print at 1080 if one is not going to preserve it?  With the money it costs to purchase and have it scanned it would make little sense to waste it in such a way.

Having two versions ..... one source from film and the other being and adjusted Bluray would make more sense for sure.

:)

Do we know that the digital theatrical version was identical to the film version? I assume centropy's was a recording of the 35mm? It seems unlikely that the film->DVD changes we already know of might have been in the digital release, given that the two audio changes were probably made in response to criticisms of the film. But the speeder and 'hand in marriage' shot were a little more arbitrary and, unlike previous Star Wars releases, II came out on DVD soon after the theatrical release.

Any reason to think there might or might not be variation akin to the 35mm/70mm versions of the original film?

I remember a discussion with the vfx guys posted on the official site around the time of the dvd release in which they claimed to have made several dozen changes.

The only change anyone seems to have noticed is the speeder during the Coruscant chase.

Wasn't there also discussion of the sparks on Jango's jetpack right before he's killed in the arena battle? On the commentary track during that scene, Lucas actually expresses surprise to the vfx guys at how quickly they were able to get the changes done.

Yet the blatant continuity error of Ki-Adi Mundi's lightsaber color changing during the arena battle (as pointed out in the depth commentary) was never fixed. That is unless it was fixed for the blu-ray, which I wouldn't know.

So just to be clear, there were at least four different versions released in 2002 alone:

-The 35mm version, which would've needed to be locked at least two weeks before the movie opened on May 16 in order to allow enough time to make the more than 2,000 prints going to U.S. theaters.

-The digital version, which only a hundred or so theaters were able to show. Rick McCallum had some comment about how they were still shooting only a week or so before release day. What would this have been? The only difference noticed by people who saw both versions was Padme holding Anakin's hand at the end.

-The dvd version, which was essentially the digital version plus an extension of the garage scene with Anakin and Padme. This is in addition to the aforementioned vfx changes.

-The IMAX version, released only days after the dvd (really smart business strategy there, Lucasfilm). This version had several scenes removed to get the running time down to 120 minutes, the maximum amount of film that an IMAX projector's platters could hold at the time. By many accounts, these edits actually improved the film somewhat.

Presumably, there are 35mm scope and 70mm Imax prints in existence somewhere, and we have preservations of 2.35:1 hd broadcasts of the dvd version if I'm not mistaken.

What really fascinates me is the digital version. Presumably the DCP's were sent back to either Fox or Lucasfilm after their theatrical run, just like the celluloid versions. But unlike the celluloid versions, the hard drives would've needed to be fired up occasionally in order to preserve the data. Whether or not Lucasfilm kept a master file of this exact version is anyone's guess.

Fang Zei said:

I remember a discussion with the vfx guys posted on the official site around the time of the dvd release in which they claimed to have made several dozen changes.

The only change anyone seems to have noticed is the speeder during the Coruscant chase.

Wasn't there also discussion of the sparks on Jango's jetpack right before he's killed in the arena battle? On the commentary track during that scene, Lucas actually expresses surprise to the vfx guys at how quickly they were able to get the changes done.

 http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/star-wars-the-changes-part-four.html?post_id=79063&action=report

edit: I see now that you account for some of the other changes and that they might have come about prior to the DVD. It's really interesting that you note the mechanical hand as part of the digital theatrical release. Has this been confirmed anywhere? It makes sense. I had always figured that the reason for not including it in the theatrical release was the fact that it wasn't ready to go yet, given that it was included on the DVD months later.

The speeder scene change is so subtle that there's no way anyone will know on memory alone, but perhaps it was the same on DVD and digital theatrical.

schorman13 said:

From memory, I remember seeing the different mechanical hand shot in the digital release at the time.  I believe this was a known difference.

 You guys are right: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/attack-of-the-clones-frequently-asked-questions.7163543/

There was a thread called "*Official* Differences between the Digital and Film Prints)" from around the same time, but sadly it seems to have been removed by moderators since at least 2005.

There is another thread, though: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/more-differences-between-the-film-digital-versions-of-aotc.7489352/#post-7489352

Q.I am not certain if this was intentional, but I noticed in the digital version Anakin's metal hand reaches and holds Padmé's hand. In the 35mm version, Anakin's metal hand is just shown hanging at his side which then cuts to them kissing. If this was an error, I would just like to know. I feel like I'm the only one around here who caught the difference. 

A.Yes, you've noticed a difference between the film print version of Episode II and the version that is being shown digitally. (We call it D-cinema.) 

Naturally, the process of making the thousands of physical film prints of the movie takes time, so we had to lock down that version in April. However, we had some extra time for the D-cinema distribution, so George [Lucas] had a few more days to make some final tweaks to the finished product. 


At the last minute, George felt the wedding scene needed the affection of Padmé taking Anakin's mechanical hand, so just a few days before Celebration II in Indianapolis we shot it and inserted it in time for the D-cinema version. 
That addition is by far the most noticeable change, but we actually made over 70 enhancements for D-cinema. Most involved sharpening, tweaking wipes and color adjustments. However, there are a handful that are definite visual effects changes. I'd be curious to hear if any fans have found any of the other changes. 

Some, like this guy on movie-censorship, say the DVD was produced from the digital theatrical master. I'd really like to find more information written *before* the DVD was released, though, to be certain. Padme's awful "Yes" line had to have been a later fix, after reviewers mocked it, right? If nothing else, there would have been people arguing and defending the film as they did not witness it with "yes".

schorman13 said:

Don't forget that the Tattooine garage scene had some added shots.  The shots before and after were trimmed as well, so they would need to be replaced as well.

Those two shots are available on the second disc of the DVD release (I don't remember exactly which video), but they were cropped to 16:9.  Those are the only shots that should affect the run time of the theatrical version.

btw, I would love to work on this if Team Negative1 has a scan lying around :)

 On my way home today I stopped by a thrift store and happened to see this DVD for $2 (I own the blu-ray, but did not have the DVD or its special features). Noticed on my way out that it was the fullscreen version. Doh. But actually, it turns out that they stuck the same widescreen disc 2 in with all versions. Any idea if the clip is in a documentary or actual deleted scene?

[Team Negative does not, I asked. They hope to do it some day but it's at the very bottom of the list]

Never thought that the DVD version could be distinct from the one playing in digital cinemas. It's ridiculous that every Star Wars movie has a variety of versions! 

Not to derail but, it'd be quite interesting to see a recreation of the Attack of the Clones: IMAX cut. The multiple lists of differences out there are reasonably detailed (far more so than for the mythical 70mm cut of ESB) and probably could be used as a guide to assemble a fairly accurate recreation. 

I quite like like the sensibilities of the people who edited the cut. Any edit that axes the meadow scene in its entirety has my interest. 

I’ve seen a few pop-ups of 35mm AOTC here and there, usually for around that price.
I wouldn’t be much help actually preserving it as that’s not exactly in my skillset, but I too would be more than willing to donate towards buying a print if someone were willing to work on it.
How the film was released almost 15 years ago and the only theatrical version we have is a rubbish camrip is beyond me.

Ryan-SWI said:

I’ve seen a few pop-ups of 35mm AOTC here and there, usually for around that price.
I wouldn’t be much help actually preserving it as that’s not exactly in my skillset, but I too would be more than willing to donate towards buying a print if someone were willing to work on it.
How the film was released almost 15 years ago and the only theatrical version we have is a rubbish camrip is beyond me.

I second this. If i can get those two shots and the DTS tracks, I’ll edit this myself!

Has anyone compared the Theatrical DTS to the DVD or blu-ray version?

I would also be willing to donate towards getting this.

A 35mm project for this has finally started now.