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Post #1315568

Author
Vladimon
Parent topic
Info Wanted: Which version of the Original Trilogy preservations to watch?
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1315568/action/topic#1315568
Date created
29-Dec-2019, 7:33 PM

I have been checking out some of the opinions and technical information posted here across multiple threads and it seems to me that there is really no good way of judging what theatrically accurate actually is/was. The viewing experience was not uniform across cinemas even back then and with the various degeneration factors affecting the projects now, the color inaccuracies of basically all the older home releases as well as their lack of detail due to low resolution, it becomes a bit of a never-ending quest to get the best and most accurate versions of these films. Is it even possible now without a time machine?

As for 4K83, I personally like the flawed v1.0 better than the supposedly superior v1.3. I have checked it out and the pepper-red Han Solo’s face in “Free from Carbonite” scene left me going back to v1.0. Have not seen v1.2 or any others yet. With 4K projects what I have seen so far is that while the many updated versions fix a lot of issues with the image that is available to us now, they mess up on many other scenes/shots at the same time. I do not doubt the guys who do these color corrections have some /a lot of/ experience, fan determination, or are actual professionals in video color grading, editing, etc. But even if the last applies, it seems to me that it comes down to their personal preferences rather than theatrical accuracy when making final decisions on their color corrections.

Then there are a number of problems that can objectively be considered flaws in any video source. Those are also present and apparent in all the current versions.

So, I would say, when choosing the most accurate version from what is out there right now, there is actually still no clear winner. Best to download as many versions as you can and see which one you like best.