Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released) — Page 570

Just watched Despecialized for the first time (2.5), gotta say thanks! Loved it, a joy to see the movie in HD clarity. Which other than seeing the 97 version in theaters, I’ve only even seen on VHS or laserdisc version.

For some critique, I feel some shots the color isn’t quite 100% spot on. It looks like yellow is a bit overpowering in a lot of the movie, with stuff like Han Solo’s shirt popping, or skin leaning more yellow when it should lean more on the red side I think.

Here’s a comparison of Luke in Despecialized and an old laserdisc rip: http://imgur.com/a/tZV7t

Sometimes skin and hair etc to me looks a bit like a colorized movie in this version, if that makes sense. Maybe at times oversaturated, and maybe not quite the right hue. Also maybe more blue should be in the mix at times. That said, definitely better than the color choices of the official blu-ray, and this wasn’t in every shot or anything, just at times.

That’s my only constructive criticism though, really really impressive stuff. I didn’t notice any quality drops, all the effects shots looked great, terrific stuff all around, thanks again. And great sound too, I went with the 85 track. Much thanks!

Hi all,
Even though this is my first post here I have been following your work for some time now. I wanted to thank Harmy and all others involved in the Despecialized editions for their hard work and dedication! These versions are really amazing, it was an incredible experience to see how Star Wars really was. Like most of you I was too young when the movies come out, and I always thought Lucas’ Special Editions were the best versions – now I know I wrong I was.
Back in October 2014 I wrote an article about Harmy’s Despecialized edition for an online film magazine. It’s from Portugal so it’s written in Portuguese but if you guys want you can take a look here:
http://metropolis.galodosovosdouro.pt/books/Metropolis_n23/#p=160

I have a question about the Despecialized editions: do they have any THX certified audio track? (I’m a sucker for THX sound and its deep bass!)

(sorry, double post!)

I thought your colours were really good looking, at least it “feels” like I’m watching a 70’s movie. Good to know that an owner of a Tech print confirms they’re pretty accurate.

Harmy said:

From facebook:

“Star Wars DE v2.5” is gorgeous, IMHO. I don’t know what “issues” need fixing. I have projected an original 35mm technicolor print of “Star Wars” (one of five prints in existence) and I can assure all of you - and I tell everyone this - “Star Wars DE v2.5” looks 99% identical to that technicolor print.

But still, the colors are part of what I want to fix in v3.0, but like I said, more the technical side of the color correction, than the actual color choices.

That’s good to hear. Yes, even when the choices are good ones, sometimes it’s perhaps just due to the limitations of the blu-ray.

It would still be nice if you had access to stills from a second print. Or if Mike could provide you with low-res stills from his corrected version.

Harmy said:

Also, I came up with a plan for the future of Despecialized should they release the originals officially - I would probably take down all the links to Despecialized I put up myself and then I would do any corrections to the new release that would be necessary in DaVinci Resolve, which is now free for non-commercial use, and I would just release the clips that would need other sources to be fixed and a Resolve project file, so everyone can take their BDs and render the fixed versions themselves.

Given Disney’s track-record, I’m pretty sure there would be things that would need fixing to make it a true purist theatrical version but most people wouldn’t care, so this would be the solution for us purists to get the version we want without resorting to piracy.

What do you guys think?

That’s a great idea.

Isn’t resolve generally used for color correction? Wasn’t aware that it had other good editing functions. But I like the idea. Similar to people releasing translation patches and such instead of the copyrighted files.

How well it works will depend on what (if anything) Disney does. Folks will need high quality or lossless Fox logos, probably. It’s possible that people here will want original compositing rotoscoped in. And that would require people having identical sources, or maybe even having it rendered for them. Not really an issue for me, as I don’t mind that stuff. And I’ll even admit the treasonous fact that I’d secretly prefer the recomped battle of Hoth. 😉 I wouldn’t nitpick anything like that in an official release, assuming they gave it a best effort. The color and sound may be botched, though. So I expect that I might want those things fixed.

In any event, it sends the right message to visitors here. And hopefully we wouldn’t get too much begging for rendered files here, if the masses are content with whatever Disney may come up with.

Hi,

why are the special editions being de-specialised rather than using the original theatrical versions and re-mastering the film for better quality?

Pheidias78 said:

Hi,

why are the special editions being de-specialised rather than using the original theatrical versions and re-mastering the film for better quality?

The answer will depend on what version you’re suggesting to use.

Surely you’re aware that they’re not officially available in anything resembling ‘quality’.

So the official options are laserdisc and the 2006 bonus DVD. If you look around here, you’ll see attempts to make those things look as good as possible. But there are severe limitations.

The other option is 35mm. There are projects here for that as well. But it’s an enormous amount of work, and the picture quality will still be less than the blu-ray SE. So these projects complement each other rather than replacing.

towne32 said:

Pheidias78 said:

Hi,

why are the special editions being de-specialised rather than using the original theatrical versions and re-mastering the film for better quality?

The answer will depend on what version you’re suggesting to use.

Surely you’re aware that they’re not officially available in anything resembling ‘quality’.

So the official options are laserdisc and the 2006 bonus DVD. If you look around here, you’ll see attempts to make those things look as good as possible. But there are severe limitations.

The other option is 35mm. There are projects here for that as well. But it’s an enormous amount of work, and the picture quality will still be less than the blu-ray SE. So these projects complement each other rather than replacing.

Thanks

hey guys i just want to say great job, in special to Harmy, a quick question where can i download the last version of the project?, thanks for the help and the great job

Harmy said:

Well, Resolve is now a full-on non-linear editor with great color correction features. And like I said, if any shots needed a different source (like re-comped effects) I would just provide those clips as separate files, which would already be added to the project. In terms of audio, if the Disney release didn’t have the original mixes, I would make sure to conform it to GOUT sync, so everyone can mux in the audio preservations, which already exist.

I’m a little confused here. Are you suggesting that if Disney were to release their own version of the OUT that you would simply provide the various clips and have us put it together on our own?

Wazzles said:

Harmy said:

Well, Resolve is now a full-on non-linear editor with great color correction features. And like I said, if any shots needed a different source (like re-comped effects) I would just provide those clips as separate files, which would already be added to the project. In terms of audio, if the Disney release didn’t have the original mixes, I would make sure to conform it to GOUT sync, so everyone can mux in the audio preservations, which already exist.

I’m a little confused here. Are you suggesting that if Disney were to release their own version of the OUT that you would simply provide the various clips and have us put it together on our own?

He means that if they mess it up, he would supply the ‘tools’ needed for us to fix it rather than risk distributing rendered versions of the new release, which would be risky business.

chyron8472 said:

Harmy, I just saw your FB post about ESB and ROTJ 2.0 already being better than SW 2.5, which still had issues.

What issues does SW 2.5 still have that warrants a 3.0?

The color could use improvements. For example you might notice sometimes from shot to shot Han Solo’s shirt varies a lot in how yellow it is etc.

Also, just curious what people’s thoughts on the laserdisc color is? I always assumed it was spot-on, though maybe a little less contrast and brightness than some like in HD stuff. For me at least, the color has never looked better than in the laserdisc version, contrast etc aside. It just looks the most natural.

This version is the best HD version by far though, and looks really good no doubt.

I’m not sure which versions I’ve been watching over the years, usually it’s just labeled as laserdisc edition. I posted a couple screen shot comparisons around here for example. I like the color of those because they look like your usual 70s/80s film would look. Where as some of the Despecialized version to me almost looks like Wizard of Oz or a colorized movie, very over-the-top saturation and whatnot that to me makes people look more like paintings at times.

But if that’s what it looked like in theaters, that’s what you’re going for. I would’ve guessed it looked more like Dawn of the Dead or something in theaters, or like your usual 70s film (not counting the green people 😄), as far as skin tone etc goes. But I know you’re going by film actual captures to compare.

I know these days they often mess with movies giving them a strong blue tint (or magenta), but I hadn’t heard that the old home video releases of Star Wars were considered to have color that was so off. I guess that’s just the look I prefer or am used to.

But personal taste on saturation/color aside, I’m not complaining or anything, Despecialized looks great, and it’s fun to see the movie in such high detail and clarity.

Hi.
I’m a Mac user, and I’ve had a lot of trouble burning the AVCHD version of the movie. I’ve used Wine and ImgBurn, Mac DVD rip, Burn, and SimplyBurns and none of them work, instead saying it’s a “Data DVD”. Any other suggestions for ways to burn it to a DVD+R DL?

double post