Star Wars Episodes I & II Extended Edition (v2.0) Teaser Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGFLVHhxsOYUsing newly upscaled deleted scenes for the PT (with help from forum user bryantmh), I have revised my existing 4K HDR (and 1080p) Extended Episode I and II edits to newer versions with several small tweaks and refinements.
The scene order of the cuts is identical to their previous releases, and the run time is very close (1 frame shorter in Episode I, 18 frames shorter in Episode II), but several quality of life improvements were made.
New color timing in Episode I that handles the overly bright official HDR transfer and tweaks it to be more in line with what’s seen in the Episode III Supercut. All levels have been tweaked, but Tatooine has the most changes, being revised on a shot by shot basis for the best balance overall. Highlights will still pop and be vibrant, but overly bright desert scenes are much better balanced now. Episode I receives a much more subtle treatment, with most of the changes being in deleted scene lighting levels.
Most of the DVD deleted scenes were replaced with the upgraded AI Upscales. The cropping is slightly different from these and I still have minor niggling issues with the artificial detail that’s produced in some shots, but I can’t deny the clear benefits in all of the Episode II scenes and some of the Episode I scenes. (I don’t think they are actually necessary in the Episode III edit, for example). AI upscales were already used in my previous v1.0 cuts (for all but the Waterfall Scene and some shots of the second Podrace Lap where only an inferior source was available for use), but I think most people will find the new ones to be a nice improvement.
Like the v2.0 and 3.0 revisions for the Episodes III and IV cuts, each transition and audio bridge was manually reviewed and tweaked by a few frames where necessary. The changes will be subtle and unnoticeable to some, but they are there, and they make the final product feel just a tad more authentic.
The google drive releases for Eps I and II are already out now, and the torrents/other releases will show up in later days. Please replace and use the new versions wherever possible, as there is virtually no reason to keep the old ones over these.
I’ll be uploading new video versions of all the deleted scenes in both films over the weekend, replacing the older videos I had up so people can see the new updates for themselves.
Thank you for doing these updates. The new color corrections on Episode 1 are so good, the previous version was too bright for my liking. You really hit the right balance.
I have one comment about your Episode III cut, i agree the deleted scenes are fine currently but i would summit one exception if you ever do a update one day. The extended Palpatine/Anakin conversation about anakin becoming his representative is very grainy/blocky. I wonder if another source (the upscale source maybe) could help.
There is far less that can be done with this scene, as the original resolution of the source is already Full HD, but the effects themselves are vastly incomplete, and the type of DNR that could be used to reduce the grain is more likely to damage the detail in the image. Color correction also can’t do much since the original film negatives were never fully processed. This is also the same reason the Bail Antilles shots from Ep I will never look quite as good as the rest.
For now, this is pretty much the best we can get. If/when better video sources become available, that’s when I’ll finally do the next major revision for that cut, but as of now I’m still happy with it as it is. I have the files saved in the timeline until further notice just in case, though.