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Raiders of the Lost Ark Alterations?

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I was wondering if about all the alterations made to the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark throughout the years... I know of a few.

Ones That I Know

  1. For the DVD some goofs and special effects were cleaned up. The rigging was removed, matte lines were digitally erased, and the reflection when Indiana Jones is looking at the cobra is removed. They were just little clean-ups in general.
  2. When broadcast on TV, they've added CGI when the Jeep falls off of the cliff. You can see the comparison here. Honestly, I don't know why on earth this was necessary. If anything, the CGI looks worse.

 

However, the other day, I was looking at my 1999 VHS copy of Raiders. On the back it states "The trendsetting movie that put adventure on the map now comes your way in a new, remastered version that enhances the final scenes with dazzling state-of-the-art special effects." When I saw "enhances," I became afraid that they added CGI and carried it on to the DVD release. Did this happen?

In any case, you can also feel free to tell your thoughts about the changes. In all honesty, I wish they didn't do any in the first place but it's not a dealbreaker for me.

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I'm totally okay with any changes done to Raiders on the '03 release, because only two or three things were changed and there is only one that I notice. (snake reflection removal)

The jeep on the other hand I do not like. It's so obvious!

I have a feeling that's what were are going to see on the blu-ray. :-(

That statement on the back is saying that the awesome picture quality of VHS makes the ending look better than ever!

Soooo...no.

BTW, what else was "fixed" for the DVD release?

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In the start sequence I saw Satipo’s face digitally wobble around for a split second so that’s a thing

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Eh said:

In the start sequence I saw Satipo’s face digitally wobble around for a split second so that’s a thing

No you didn’t. What you saw was a registration error that’s been there from the beginning. It’s on the negative. It occurs as they’re entering the Chachapoyan temple.

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Is there any comprehensive documentation of every specific shot that has been changed?

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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ThrowMeTheWhip said:

Eh said:

In the start sequence I saw Satipo’s face digitally wobble around for a split second so that’s a thing

No you didn’t. What you saw was a registration error that’s been there from the beginning. It’s on the negative. It occurs as they’re entering the Chachapoyan temple.

Are you sure it was on the original negative? I doubt that. Especially because of the clearly tampered-with torch in the very next shot! (on the Blu-ray only)

https://youtu.be/TELq6StGK7Y

Granted, I suppose they could have “corrected” that in the 2003 DVD, and then reverted back for the Blu-ray, but I find that unlikely. Especially since it hasn’t been documented anywhere to my knowledge.