ok , I am a little confused here …we are talking about the 1977 film and the 78 storybook with what says "full color photographs " on the cover . It is the comparison of those two things which is the subject of this topic .speaking to the special edition vhs cover you posted and the youtube screengrab …you are right , there was too much pink in the 97 and 2004 special editions which was fixed on the 2011 bluray , and George may have meant for Mos Eisley to look like a cgi crapfest ,but I prefer the original film . That , however is a different topic .
I wish somone would get a Lut for that Cover on the VHS and apply that to say 1997 Version.
The Blu-ray is still bad in my opinion.
My Theory is before the CGI was added to the film and it was Raw like on the Back of the VHS Straight out the PC it was matched to how a Master Print Looked which ILM would have had access to. Taking the difference there on the Special Edition shot RAW and applying it to the Film Footage I think will yield interesting results.
What ever they were creating the new shots to go with looked different to what any print in circulation looks like and Many Shots in 1997 Star Wars at the Battle of Yavin look more like the GOUT than the 2004 version or any subsequent iteration.
ILM Created the shots to Match something and then they were altered quite a bit from their Raw State. Why would you bother specifically creating new shots at the pinnacle of the Special Effects in the world only for it not to blend and translate without any further interference? Why make them look worse? Why Make them Pink and overtly red? These CGI shots are not compromised by Bluescreen or optical printing.
There is one still of this Master in the Back of the Making of Star Wars Revised Special Edition (Titan) to show before and After Comparison of R2 & 3P0 looking at the informant from the Cantina talking to Storm Trooper. Looks pretty Good to my eyes also.
This is the Master. Does any other Version have that Scratch?
I would say the Story Book Does Have similarities with this Image but it is Overtly more Red.
For Comparison the Blu Ray