4K restoration on Star Wars — Page 293

theMaestro said:

Though it might be worth comparing the framing of the Reliance demo reel. Because apparently the D+ streams are 2.39:1 vs. the normal 2.35:1 they have been on prior releases. I hope that this is only a quirk of the streaming version.

2.39:1 has been the actual 35mm anamorphic standard since about 1970, but 2.35:1 kept getting used for years even though it was no longer correct. All the OT movies probably should actually be 2.39:1. It’s pretty much an imperceptible difference between the two anyway.

ChainsawAsh said:

theMaestro said:

Though it might be worth comparing the framing of the Reliance demo reel. Because apparently the D+ streams are 2.39:1 vs. the normal 2.35:1 they have been on prior releases. I hope that this is only a quirk of the streaming version.

2.39:1 has been the actual 35mm anamorphic standard since about 1970, but 2.35:1 kept getting used for years even though it was no longer correct. All the OT movies probably should actually be 2.39:1. It’s pretty much an imperceptible difference between the two anyway.

You can really see that switch when comparing the Bond movies of 1965-71 and 1977-2002.

Guys our fanbase has really been put through the ringer when it comes to these Special Edition changes. The new

HAN/GREEDO scene is beyond bizzare. I have no idea why the colors are so muted in the OT. In all honesty there isn’t

gonna be a huge uproar over this anymore because at this point as a community we’ve just been beaten bloody with a stick

so many times. Thank god for Harmy.

Again, not attempting to excuse or justify this hiliariously weird change by Lucas, but to attempt answering your question, I believe this is what he was intending:

Greedo at no point appears to believe Han is a threat, which is why he’s talking so big.
Han is content to let Greedo believe he’s unarmed, which is why he’s surreptitiously getting his gun ready.
Greedo keeps talking bigger and bigger
Han, with his weapon free, goads him to see what he’ll do.
Greedo now says “MacKlunkey!” which is apparently actually “Ma Klounkee” - Huttese for “This is the end of you.” or something like that.
Han shoots first.

So I think the intent (again, not saying he was successful at all) was to make it even clearer that Greedo was out to burn Han, and to have the scene play more like an actual showdown instead of a sneak attack. In this way, Greedo’s boldness and stupidity in needing to get the last word is what gets him shot.

Fourth time’s the charm, I guess? (It isn’t)

DrDre said:

Having just watched the Mandalorean, which was graded by the same colorist as the OT, I can see what they are going for. It’s revisionist, but in a less radical way.The Mandalorean is awesome by the way.

Would you say they are putting everything in line with the grading of Rogue One? Standardising / flattening the colors…

Mocata said:

DrDre said:

Having just watched the Mandalorean, which was graded by the same colorist as the OT, I can see what they are going for. It’s revisionist, but in a less radical way.The Mandalorean is awesome by the way.

Would you say they are putting everything in line with the grading of Rogue One? Standardising / flattening the colors…

Yes, I think so. The Mandalorean in particular has a very barren look to it. I think the Star Wars movie/tv universe will look more gritty from now on.

So I got Disney+ today and I scrolled through the prequels and they don’t look too much different to my eyes at first. TPM would still be the best looking prequel if it wasn’t for the heavy DNR. AOTC still seems to have that DNR like the blu-ray which scrubs detail away too although the colors do look somewhere between the theatrical and blu-ray. ROTS is still really the only one that looks correct to it’s theatrical presentation. Either way all these films need heavy regrading to look as good as the newer ST movies, not to mention image enhancement techniques to resolve issues related to older digital equipment.

I was watching in 1080p on my Macbook Pro. I’ll have to go back later to see what it looks like in 4K HDR to see if the upscales and HDR grading are decent.

Honestly tho in terms of fine detail research, I’ll be waiting for the UHD Blu-rays.

I also scrolled through ANH, and while the grade is much better than the blu-ray, it still doesn’t look right to my eyes. Too dark and dull. The color pallete is mostly pleasing. I still think Adywan’s regrade of the blu-ray for ANH:R HD looks the best, albeit with the noise and banding issues of the old transfer. The new transfer definitely has smoother gradients and less noise, as well as more fine detail. I’m hoping Ady considers using these as the basis for Revisited, as they have the superior color resolution similar to 4K77 but the fine detail of being sourced from the negative. Mike Verta’s work tho is still my favorite when it comes to restoring the original colors, tho I’d rather the film look it’s best than be pure to the theatrical experience. (although ideally we should have both)

I’ll take a look at ESB and ROTJ hopefully tomorrow.

Is my mind playing tricks on me or does the main title sound a little fuller/richer in TFA? Could they have remixed the score?

I’m also noticing a lot more obvious grain than on the blu-ray.

joefavs said:

Is my mind playing tricks on me or does the main title sound a little fuller/richer in TFA? Could they have remixed the score?

I’m also noticing a lot more obvious grain than on the blu-ray.

Honestly that would be awesome. It was a real bummer when I was sitting in the midnight premiere of TFA back in 2015, only to get disappointed by the low opening theme. There was no energy behind the music like there is with the ROTJ opening theme, for example. Same goes with TLJ.

JawsTDS said:

Has anyone been able to compare THE FORCE AWAKENS on D+ to the Blu-ray? I’m curious if the new HDR grade has finally eliminated the oversaturated red channel. The SDR grade looks virtually identical, with Han Solo looking like a lobster throughout most of the film.

It still looked rather greenish/reddish to me.

It seems I may have been a bit too harsh in my assessment of the 4K remasters on Disney+. I was surprised to see some more generally positive reviews which prompted me to give them another look. And viewing them again in 4K on an Apple TV, they still looked pretty bad. But then I decided to try my other streaming devices. Disney+ doesn’t seem to support 4K on the PS4 Pro yet? And my Nvidia Shield TV would only play these in 4K with HDR10, but they actually look better streaming on the Shield TV. The issues I noticed were still there (DNR, edge enhancement, frozen grain in backgrounds), but it was on the whole a more consistent and even satisfying presentation than what I got from my Apple TV. Just goes to remind me why I hate streaming!

I will be shocked if Disney releases very many catalog discs anymore, including Star Wars. I truly hope I’m wrong. But I bet they’re all in on Disney+ and none of those remaining Pixar movies will get discs

Something I noticed while skimming through Return of the Jedi: The shot of the forest after the “He’s ok, he’s my brother” scene and before the funeral pyre scene has been altered too look more sunset-y. I have no clue how to take a screenshot off of Disney Plus, but look at 2:04:47. The sky’s been replaced and the colors shifted to be more orange.

Taking a quick look though, the films look to be in pretty good shape, though, while the colors are inoffensive, the desaturated/washed out look is not one I’m a fan of.

The detail that should be on a 4K restoration is there:

Hooray!

I’ve watched some of AOTC tonight. I don’t know if I can stomach the entire movie in its officially edited form, especially since the Disney+ version doesn’t appear to look much/any different from the Blu-Ray to my eyes.

Wow, Dre’s shot of his TV seems much sharper and more detailed than the screenshots of the same shot posted earlier. Is that a 4K vs 1080p disparity?

I have to say, that after finally watching the new masters on my 4K TV (rather than my smart phone) the new color grading is growing on me. While a touch desaturated and modern, it’s definitely graded in the spirit of the theatrical releases, which after 15 years of the oversaturated mess, that is the bluray, is probably more than we could hope for.

I can’t really complain about the desaturated look, if I want to watch these versions I can just boost the color on my TV settings until it’s to my liking. But, realistically, I probably won’t be watching these versions at all. Hopefully they’ll be a useful source (once on disc) for Harmy and whoever else.