Are these comparisons still being posted somewhere? I’ve heard Doubleofive migrated to Threads but I’m not on that app nor am interested in joining. Twitter/X was much more easily accessible for everyone to view the content.
It would be cool to see some ESB 70MM comparisons posted now that more information regarding the differences (and more footage) has come to light.
I have a whole website! StarWarsVisComp.com
Star Wars Revisited Wordpress
Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress
Can you clear something up for me did they remove all the garbage mattes in the 2020 UHD or not, and the matte lines. Because Lucas claimed in the 1997 restoration they did.
Can you clear something up for me did they remove all the garbage mattes in the 2020 UHD or not, and the matte lines. Because Lucas claimed in the 1997 restoration they did.
They recomposited a handful of shots for 97SE, another handful for 04SE, but mostly the garbage mattes were visible due to early home video being too bright. So mostly they’re just not visible because we’re finally being presented the movies at the right brightness.
Star Wars Revisited Wordpress
Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress
Actually, having recently seen a 35mm screening of the 97SE, I can confirm the matte boxes were totally still there and very visible in the theater.
Actually, having recently seen a 35mm screening of the 97SE, I can confirm the matte boxes were totally still there and very visible in the theater.
Oh wow. That’s extraordinary!
Star Wars Revisited Wordpress
Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress
That’s cool to hear! About the screening, not the matte boxes showing.
I did notice that the 4K80 Fuji source had more visible matte boxes than the prints for the other two films. Perhaps it’s an issue fully baked into ESB’s original form?
They could never hide them completely; they just did their best to ensure that they are not super intrusive. Having also seen a very nice looking '97 ESB print, the matte artifacts can definitely be quite noticeable, but like everything else, it’s a balancing act to keep the film on the whole looking polished and the FX shots go by quick.
The common complaint among FX folks that matte artifacts were more visible on home media transfers remains true on the whole: think of the bright, milky black levels of the first Star Wars VHSs, for example. However, I think that sentiment got overstated on these boards some years back and treated as gospel.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture DE - The Anti-DNR Fanedit
Duel (1971) - The Hybrid Cut
The Phantom of the Opera - 1925 Version Reconstruction - Rare Scores Collection - Roy Budd Score
Even so, I feel that “getting rid of the garbage mattes” in the most recent releases is “brightness balancing properly”, not “recompositing the original elements”. Is that accurate, Harmy?
Star Wars Revisited Wordpress
Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress
Yeah, more than likely.
Even the whole transparency fix in the snow battle isn’t “fixed” it’s just reduced enough that the transparency is far less detectable. It’s still there though.
Thanks for the comparison shots! Ultimately, in my opinion, the original is MUCH better - the changes made by George Lucas was EXTRA.
Even the whole transparency fix in the snow battle isn’t “fixed” it’s just reduced enough that the transparency is far less detectable. It’s still there though.
That reinforces my theory that the 1997 recomposition was optical and not digital, since if that had been digital then they could have fixed those transparency issues, At least it’s not noticeable anymore
Hey, just a small observation I hadn’t seen mentioned yet — in the first Tatooine scene, there’s a noticeable difference between versions.
The sky in Despecialized v2.7 (same as in all releases up to 2019) looks pretty natural, but in the UHD Blu-ray, it seems either brightened or replaced. There’s also a soft edge between the sand and sky that looks a bit off. Seems like this change was introduced in the UHD version.
Despecialized v2.7
UHD Blu-ray
