4K restoration on Star Wars — Page 35

Aside from things like cleaning up matte lines, the ONLY SE change I could ever stand was opening up Cloud City in Empire.  I always thought the hallways, rooms etc. looked a bit claustrophobic for a city the clouds, where spectacular views would be a must, and I loved seeing out those windows as everyone was running around, it really opened it up. It's the only thing I miss when watching the OUT.

That said, I agree with those who say the most likely scenario is they're planning on a straight up restoration of the OUT, which is what we all want. My biggest concern is that they won't do all the painstaking colour correction that Harmy did in trying to match the original theatrical releases. I just don't think that's going to be their priority...but hopefully I'm wrong about that. A lot of those choices are largely artistic, and their frame of reference might not be trying to match how the films originally looked.

Anything but the films as they were originally released is unacceptable. 

moviefreakedmind said:

So all of the tapes and LD's were unacceptable too?

They were acceptable for what they were marketed as, but going back to them would be GOUT all over again. Why use something created in 1993 when you can use something created in 1977/1980/1983?

moviefreakedmind said:

I know, but in Empire for example I believe there were a couple of shots of the rebel fleet added in later prints that were also on the tapes. Is it unacceptable if those are included too?

If thoss shots were in some theatrical prints, their inclusion wouldn't be an issue, but if they were only in home video releases, their inclusion would be unacceptable.

moviefreakedmind said:

I'd be surprised if they take out the New Hope crawl, if they do then it'll make the saga less cohesive

The idea of a cohesive saga has always come off to me as Lucas ocd. When ESB came out, nobody besides Lucas complained about ESB having an episode number and subtitle while Star Wars (1977 film) didn't. When AOTC came about, nobody besides Lucas complained about Morrison not sounding like Wingreen.

moviefreakedmind said:

Again, my thinking is that, if they do this, they'll make the blu rays EXACTLY like all the video tapes of the movies, which I'm pretty sure never changed, and most (or all?) of the minor changes before 97 were done before the tapes, or just between the prints in cinemas. That would be the smartest decision, so that way if there's complaining they can just say, "these are the movies that you saw on tape up until '97" and honestly, that's what I want them to do. For example, I've heard that originally Empire didn't have as many shots of rebel ships at the end, but we're ALL used to seeing it the way it was on the tapes, and I honestly wouldn't be heart-broken even if they didn't branch something like that (which they could if they wanted to), same with the title crawl. I'm guessing that if we get a blu ray of the OUT, it'll be the exact same (content-wise) as our old tapes and LD's

1. There were three pre-97 VHS versions. One was released in 1982, another was released in 1985, and the last was released in 1995. They might have used different IPs.

2. We don't know what resolutions the VHS versions exist in or the condition of the IPs.

moviefreakedmind said:

I know, but in Empire for example I believe there were a couple of shots of the rebel fleet added in later prints that were also on the tapes. Is it unacceptable if those are included too, even though they've been around forever without any complaint? Also, I'd be surprised if they take out the New Hope crawl, if they do then it'll make the saga less cohesive, not that the "Saga" is coherent at this point anyway, but Disney won't want to do that. I'm just saying, if we get 2k transfers of the IP's, should we really be outraged? If they sell it with Han still shooting second or it's non-anamorphic, then absolutely we should be outraged, but if we get a restoration of the films in 4K, but in the form we saw on all of our tapes and LD's then I don't think any anger is warranted.

Yes we should absolutely be outraged. If someone takes a shit on my desk, I don't care how big it is. 3 inches, 12 inches, doesn't matter, either way it's unacceptable. 

We should not settle for anything less than the films as they were originally released.

All things being equal I'd prefer the original crawl, but I'm not expecting it and it's certainly not something I'm going to lose any sleep over if it's the ANH crawl.  If everything is 1977 except that, I think people screaming about having the original crawl will look a little cranky. Let's put it this way...if the 77 film in its original form were restored and put out in HD years ago like any other classic film, but with the ANH crawl, I doubt there would be world wide movement to get it put back in there. Sure film purists would want the original crawl, but IMO it's only a big issue when combined with everything else that's been done.  That said, I guess the best thing with the crawl would be seamless branching.

Cleaned up matte lines is something I'm agnostic about, I'd be fine either way on that as well. I think they will probably clean them up, and if the film is otherwise untouched (i.e. no 1997+ changes), the vast majority of fans, including those angry about this issue, will be satisfied.

The sound mixes and colour correction is another matter, and who knows which way they'd go with that.

.... Except I highly doubt an official OOT restoration would omit the original crawl. If anything, the '77 crawl would get priority. They can (and should) include the option of watching the movie with the '81 crawl via alternate blu-ray/dvd video angles. The region 1 prequel dvd's did exactly this to show the crawl in French and Spanish.

The same goes for matte lines, which they would not be cleaning up if we're talking a strict restoration here. That was a technological limitation of the time. It's not about making "the vast majority of fans" happy, it's about preserving the films as they were originally presented. 

One thing I do demand is that one of the 1977 sound mixes is included. 

Fang Zei said:

The same goes for matte lines, which they would not be cleaning up if we're talking a strict restoration here. That was a technological limitation of the time. It's not about making "the vast majority of fans" happy, it's about preserving the films as they were originally presented. 

 I hear you about the matte lines, but assuming they do a complete restoration, the original film will be "preserved" no matter what.  The issue here is making the original versions of the films suitable for home video release. I do think there has to be a balance between what the die hard fans want (and for the record, I'm fine with the matte lines) and what people who just want to watch the film in HD in its original version at home...but with premium home video presentation.  Like with the crawl, I think if we'd just had an HD of the OUT all along but with the matte lines removed, 99% of us would be OK with that.

Again, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anyone who wants them to just leave well enough alone, but I also understand that Disney might have other considerations when putting this out on home video, and it is a bit of a balancing act.

Double post.

Harmy, yeah, I may be mixing up matte lines with matte "boxes"...and it's the boxes I'm referring to that I don't mind seeing "fixed" (though I wouldn't get worked up over the lines being fixed either for that matter).

I do agree it's a slippery slope.

Are people really gonna care, though? Yeah, they'll probably notice the matte lines, but they'll also notice a lot of other stuff that was changed.