Thinking back on it now, would it really have cost all that much money in 2006 (compared to your average dvd of just about any other film) to simply do a new telecine of the same '85 IP elements that were used for the '93 laserdiscs?
I know Lucasfilm’s form response letter said “existing prints are in poor condition,” but come on.
Are you gonna tell me they were in worse shape than whatever film element was used for the examples I listed in my long-ass post like Dune or The Thing or Blade Runner?
George’s whole thing was “don’t spend a single cent of my money remastering it,” but was it really worth the backlash?
I know, I know, “he was surrounded by yes men.” It’s still hard to comprehend.
I think the claim was the prints that had not been restored and re-edited for the special edition were in poor condition and either had faded worse than their 1993 scan or would have required all new color correction and mastering if they didn’t use the existing THX mastered final output.
It’s still lazy. I’m still surprised they never made a film to video transfer of the restored print in 1995 before the alterations were made, as some kind of backup. The oot footage included on the 1997 making of special looks better than the actual gout. (but it’s pan & scan)