Harmy’s primary source is the Blu-rays, so the grain is already massively changed from the start–see below, where you can see evidence that the Blu-ray was scrubbed clean of grain, processed, and then slathered in fake grain:
http://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/901920
As far as I know the only thing he’s doing grain-wise is grain matching, so that footage from an upscaled Laserdisc master blends better with Blu-ray footage (i.e. judicious application of fake grain). The only bits with real grain in them would be the 35mm footage (projection prints, not IP’s or negatives). It’s not Lawrence of Arabia, but the damage wasn’t done by Harmy.
I blame Lowry for the 2004 transfers since they love DVNR and EE just about everything they received. It’s why I mentioned the more current transfers for those films I listed. Of course film remastering and restoring is a constantly advancing field.
Well, here’s the deal - I do degrain the 35mm shots quite a bit and then add new fake grain to them that matches that of the Blu-Ray to make them match better. There is actually usually some slight detail loss, but it is a necessary evil, because it’s important to make the sources match a well as possible.
Of course from multiple sources. Just wish I had a company which had an 8K film scanner and also the print which is in the National Registry or whichever. Would do proper scans and proper 1977 style film-grain retention for that particular print of the film. Both 70mm and 35mm audio tracks.
The 70mm was a blow up for the “Roadshow” style releases, correct? Well, whichever avenue had or has the projector capable to screen it.I was able to find the 720p 3GB torrent for this, along with STAR WARS and The Empire Strikes Back, but don’t know which version number it is. […]
Which version you have is shown after the end credits. After the last of the end credits scroll by, the screen fades to black and the music ends, wait about 5 seconds and the version information will appear.
[…] EDIT: For the Despecialized, STAR WARS is v2.5, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi is MMXI. I’ll look for newer versions of the latter two.
MMXI is 2011 in roman numerals. That indicates it is v1.0
I don’t think ROTJ has an official version beyond 1.0 (yet. 2.0WP is not technically an official release.) But ESB 2.0 is out. You should get that while waiting for Harmy to finish up ESB v2.5.
I know my roman numerals and obviously it’s a version from 2011. 😉
This forum really needs a multi-quote function.
All-in-all, I just want to have the best possible presentation, as mentioned A LOT, of STAR WARS, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi the day of release from their respective years. Of course I first watched them on VHS, CED, and LD back in the early 1980’s.
Of course I wouldn’t mind if Harmy, maybe he already has?, of the 1981 re-release with the EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE added to the crawl. Also need to check if someone has a very high resolution, 720p or 1080p with all grain retained etc., for the 1997 Special Editions.
Am very glad I found a fan who has the v2.5 of STAR WARS as a custom BD25 on The Spleen. Found mkv’s for TESB and ROTJ there too which would properly fit on a BD25 as a custom Blu, sans menus.
Keep up the great work, Harmy! (One nitpick, I’d love to have a ton of subtitles for the OGOT.)