Knightmessenger said:
msycamore said:
Baronlando said:
The '97 certainly started out as an honest restoration, which the movie needed, even the original plan of a few shots wouldn't have been unreasonable, but then turned into a perfect storm of drunken digital crayon mayhem and classic movies being used as R&D. The lameness of the blu-rays is probably just basic cheapness.
True, it may have started out as an honest attempt at restoration but it was pretty clear from the beginning that Lucas was also going to revise the film. They started storyboarding changes to ANH in 1993, added Jabba in 1994 for example.
What I don't understand is why the heck did FOX pay for all this restoration and not release a home video release of that effort or even produced new prints before the drunken digital crayon mayhem began? Instead they went with George's wishes and re-released the '93 telecine as a "Last time available" video in '95, simultaneously with this "restoration" being worked on. But I guess they were Lucas' lapdog at that point with the forthcoming prequels on the horizon. I don't think a restored original release on the shelves would have diminished the income for their Special Edition theatrical release either.
Fox is basically as much guilty as Lucas in this travesty.
Did either of you watch "Anatomy of a Dewback" on the third blu ray bonus disc? It's surprisingly low quality for something you think would have been ported over from a studio videotape master. However there are a lot of interesting parts.
Lucas says he saved everything from the films 1) in case he ever wanted to reedit them and 2) he is like a packrat that doesn't throw anything out.
No, I wouldn't touch that ridiculous BD set with a ten foot pole. But if it is indeed the same featurette that can also be seen on the official site, I've at least seen it in the past. I recall it was just a fluffy Special Edition PR piece with a bunch of ass kissers and nerds who finally got the chance to play around in the SW-sandbox.
Knightmessenger said:
They do show a video of the Look Sir Droids scene, as to how they add to it in 97. But it does include a clip of the original unaltered scene, that appears to be sourced from the YCM restored print. That means the stormtrooper doesn't have 4 eyes. And before that scene, the sandcrawler goes off in with clouds visible in the sky because it was day for night. Well, in the clip they showed, it was much more apparent that it was a daytime sky than the GOUT. (which is tinted darker to hide it somewhat)
So whatever they used had to be like the most original highest generation print of the restored film without any changes.
What the hell did they do with that tape? We're told they spliced in the new footage into the film print but still wouldn't they have made some kind of a video master from that? If nothing else to use as a reference?
But wouldn't that tape have been preferable to use in 1995 for the faces set? Or the 2006 dvd? And if you're going to make an archival tape, why not stretch it anamorphically because surely, LFL knew that would retain more detail and might be useful if widescreen televisions ever became popular.
Don't know what tape you mean but yes, it's basically what I was saying. That's why the "restoration" done in the 90's wasn't exactly honest even in its origin. You simply don't release "A Last Time Available" video release simultaneously with an ongoing restoration. It was meant as a replacement from the very moment the restoration began and Fox allowed it and payed for the whole thing. Sad but true.
If for some miracle the big "George champion of film preservation Lucas" suddenly made a complete 180 and wanted his earlier works of cinema available in modern video standards, Disney, Lucasfilm, Warner or Universal wouldn't exactly oppose his desire. George doesn't want them released, that's why we haven't seen them released on modern formats. It's not an issue of nonexistent or deteriorated film elements. The roadblock has always been Lucas, period.
Fang Zei said:
Cameron didn't quite do the same thing as Lucas with his newer transfers of Aliens and Titanic, no, but then again I think Cameron puts more emphasis on the original version's edit being what makes it the "original version" than any digital revisions that may be found within otherwise identical edits, and he "fixed" a whole bunch of things in Titanic for its most recent release. Funny enough, the theatrical cut of Aliens on the blu-ray can't technically be called that from an editing standpoint either: Cameron corrected the order of four shots where Ripley picks up a flamethrower, puts down a machine gun, picks up a machine gun, puts down a flamethrower.
Wasn't sure if Cameron's latest SE tweaks were applied to both cuts, thanks for confirming. That's sad but with that new color timing I wouldn't have upgraded anyway.
That pulse rifle / flamethrower edit mixup on the dropship, had apparently been corrected already for the '89 TV-broadcast version where most of the footage in the Special Edition first appeared. I don't recall if that continuity error was present in the Special Edition when it was first released back in 1992 and the DVD's brought back the continuity error or not.
The Special Edition of Aliens isn't exactly a Director's Cut in the truest sense either, new visual effects had to be created back in the '90's for example. It's just unfortunate that the 1986 theatrical cut also gets affected just because the director cannot stop dickin around with his Special Edition.
Fang Zei said:
Although I guess I should simply be thankful that the only thing he erased in Aliens (AFAIK) is Lance Henricksen's torso sticking out of the ground in a shot during the final action scene. It's almost like the snake pit reflection to Aliens' RotLA.
There was a few other minor tweaks done on Aliens, see here: http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=294598
If I recall correctly, the hangar matte painting was also tweaked. Besides the alterations in the Well of Souls, Raiders of the Lost Ark also have the pole guiding the boulder erased. But the other tweaks done in 2003 didn't make the jump.