1997 Special Edition Restoration thoughts... — Page 2

I'm not sure how long you would want to hold your breath. The beauty of HD video is that on a television screen the human eye can't distinguish the difference between anything higher res, for the most part. You start approaching the limits of the amount of detail it is possible to resolve on a surface less the 50" wide. 2K is barely an improvement, so a 2k format wouldn't take off, 4k would be successful but seems so over-the-top, and would be so expensive to produce that there would be no point when there is a mass-market 1080 format.

That's why once I go Blu-Ray, I'm never going to buy another video format ever again. I'll never have the need for anything higher resolution in my own home. I don't think studios have quite grasped this yet, luckily, otherwise they would be milking the BR releases like they did with DVD. The whole home video industry is based on getting people to buy something they already have again. I have a suspicion that Blue Ray is going to partly kill the home video market in a few years once catalog titles are out.

Well there's always room for lossless video on the HVD discs. :D

Regardless one would assume that Star Wars, being what it is, is always destined to return to the big screen. And then you want more than 1080p.

Also I don't think 4k will be used for home video for at least another 30 years if at all.

Well actually Phantom was shot on 35mm no? But I'm sure the master is a 1080p digital scan anyway.

BmB said:

Well actually Phantom was shot on 35mm no? But I'm sure the master is a 1080p digital scan anyway.

One scene was shot on digital video as a test but, yeah, 4k can work for Phantom Menace.

It's a shame the two later prequels can get 4k scans, but it shouldn't hold back the other four films, especially the originals, in their original forms (not even a question :)). I mean, a lot of films have 4k scans: Godfather, African Queen, the Godfather trilogy, and Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind before they got 8k scans. The Star Wars trilogy is arguably just as important as those other films, and maybe not even arguably (New Hope is in the freaking Library of Congress with Oz and Wind). I heard Godfather was c*** before it got restored, so it can't be impossible for Star Wars. Nice, 4k restoration of both the 77, 80, 83 versions and 04 versions (the 04s are Lucas' visions after all). Hopefully, it'll be done someday before it's too late.

TPM had all its effects work done at 2k, because 4k didn't exist in 1997, and every shot except one had a digital effect in it--meaning the negative of TPM will always be 2k (if it is from a stored DI in the computer) or less (if it is printed back onto film and then transfered beack to video). Probably all future releases will directly use the 2k DI though.

zombie84 said:

TPM had all its effects work done at 2k, because 4k didn't exist in 1997, and every shot except one had a digital effect in it--meaning the negative of TPM will always be 2k (if it is from a stored DI in the computer) or less (if it is printed back onto film and then transfered beack to video). Probably all future releases will directly use the 2k DI though.

This may sound crazy, but if they still have the film, they could redo the effects at 4k if they want. Heck, if they still have the computer files, they can just rerender and recomposite. I know, it sounds crazy, but it is possible to make a 4k Phantom Menace if they have the film, even more if they have the visual effects files.

The visual effects in TPM are a masterpiece combining great artistry with solid knowledge of physical simulation, rendering, camera and film properties and virtual lighting. I somehow doubt the ILM of today could redo that to any standard.

The more I think about it the more I realize TPM really should have won that oscar. Bullet time is just a gimmick anyway.