Wait what happened to the film print of The Phantom Menace?
Nothing happened.
Lovelikewinter simply said it lost its film “touches,” meaning the current hd master is so dnr’d in places that it doesn’t look like film anymore.
I still think it looks better than AotC and RotS simply by virtue of having been shot on 35mm film in true cinemascope, just as the OT was. The DNR only affects certain scenes/shots in the movie. Again, I’m very curious if the dnr traces back to the newly constructed DI or if it was applied specifically for the blu-ray.
IIRC, some reviews and screenshots pointed out how soft and processed the AotC blu-ray looks in certain scenes. Let’s also not forget the teal push they decided to give it for some reason. RotS seems to be the only one to make it through unscathed and looking as it should.
When they inevitably go back to the 2k masters yet again for the UHD release, we’ll know whether the issues with TPM and AotC were specific to their blu-ray transfers or actually baked in at the source.