Can the color experts in the community advise whether KK650’s 2.5 is the best existing regraded release of the ANH bluray (ahead of the release of Neverar’s and 4K77)? There was also a release by Newguy a while ago that was quite good too.
It would be pretty hard to give an objective answer like that. Especially since his grading is one based on his own preference rather than a specific reference. There are a lot of shots that I like better in my own grading, but there are certainly a lot I like better in his. The Death Star is probably a bit bluer than ideal in mine, and I think his probably still could use slightly warmer skin tones, but I like it a lot better than his last release.
I’ve seen a ton of Neverar’s, and I do indeed probably prefer his grading over everything else. But even that is going to be based on a technicolor sort of feel, but very subjective as far as what all the final decisions are. I do think both his and KK’s are looking very consistent within their own respective releases.
What we’ve seen of 4k77 looks brilliant, but it’s only the first few shots of the film. Too much difficult material lies ahead to give any sort of answer.