Anyone else think Harmy’s DeSpecialized version looks better than this? The silver screen version is still cool to have, but I prefer watching the Despecialized edition.
Ya, I think it depends what “look” you like, whether a modern “off the negative” look or a more traditional theater print look. Some people prefer the modern “1st gen” “lossless” hi-res and high DR look of the blu-ray which Harmy’s is based on, whereas the SSE is far more true to the way the movie actually looked in the theater in 1977 - and some people want and prefer that nostalgic look. 90% of Harmy’s is the blu-ray version which was scanned from original negatives (specialized), not from prints, then digitally cleaned up by Lucasfilm and re-color graded which is pretty much how all modern film-shot movies are now viewed both in theater and at home - so it’s as close to “lossless” and a master print as you can get. In 1977 no one saw the movie in this fashion, they saw the “lossy” 35mm (and a few 70mm) prints - the positive print process while still produces a great viewing product does lose some resolution and DR and adds noise. The SSE is scanned from 35mm LPP prints with some 35mm Eastman stock as well, cleaned up, and color graded. So as SSE is one generation removed from the original negatives, it’s not going to be “as” sharp and perfect and have the same DR as the despecialized Bluray source. So Harmy’s looks subjectively “better than the original theatrical release”, I would say Harmys has a more “modern” and more 2017-like released film-shot movie look and SSE looks basically exactly like the 1977 theatrical release. It will be interesting to see how Harmy’s compares to the 4k77 release when it comes out.