logo Sign In

Idea: My weird idea for a hybrid OT project

Author
Date
Author
Time
 (Edited)
Post link

I want to throw this idea out here despite the fact that I don’t have any of the equipment necessary to do it. Hopefully it will spark some response and/or interest.

I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all grown up with or absorbed the OT on home video in its various forms. The 2004 transfers of the films are “prequalized” right down to the very look of their color and lack of grain. It’s safe to say that the films never looked the way they do there, not even in the theater, and I don’t even consider a single frame of these new ultra-digitized transfers to be the OT anymore. Ignoring for now all the ludicrous changes made in the 1997, the traditional restoration work done on the trilogy negative- namely the optical recomposites and (some) matte removal- made for what is arguably the best and most definitive look of the original trilogy.

A DVD fan transfer of the OT could be made using both the Special Edition laserdiscs and the Definitive Collection/Faces laserdiscs. The latter would fill in the gaps where special edition effects and scene changes rear their ugly heads, lightsaber luminance blows out, and where frames are missing at side breaks. One of the most distracting aspects of the ‘Definitive Collection’ and I assume the ‘faces’ laserdiscs as well are their copious amounts of aliasing artifacts on any kind of diagonal or horizontal lines and edges. The Special Edition home video transfer doesn’t exhibit these kinds of artifacts at all if I take my VHS copies to be representative of the laserdiscs.

Obviously the DC/faces material would have to be carefully color corrected and carefully anti-aliased in spots to match the SE, but I believe that both would be similar enough to blend together well. And in the end we’d have a very solid transfer of the OT that does not exhibit distracting aliasing or smearing, showcases the restored 1997 print with compositing and matte errors reduced, exhibits better color, uses an uncompressed soundtrack, and ultimately causes us to suspend our disbelief the same way we did for years in the past. It would present the apex of the “home video” look of the films we all know very well and would probably have distinct advantages over the September release, considering the new DVDs are a straight transfer of the flawed 1993 remastering.

I realize that it would be a considerable undertaking to sync everything up with sound and match frames perfectly around the changes, but it is still something do-able, and it would represent the best the true OT has to offer us on home video. Am I onto something, or have I been reading these forums way too much?

Author
Time
Post link
That's a great idea- one that I'd like to tackle myself - if I had the right equipment for it, that is. If I were going to do it, I'd leave the Luke/Biggs scene in SW, but other than that, I'd leave out all the SE changes except for the shots that they "cleaned up", but didn't "alter".

But no, I don't think you've been hanging out on these forums too much.

Author
Time
Post link
That sounds like a great idea!

I certainly hope I can see this dream realized... and in my DVD player someday.

I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently.

Author
Time
Post link
Great! If someone were to tackle this project, they might consider requesting the use of Dr. M's PAL->NTSC footage, for the simple fact that it probably doesn't alias at all when compared to the DC. That would make for a slightly easier blend of the footage, theoretically. It would be very neat to see the Biggs scene added because it is an entirely original element that adds more emotional impact to the Death Star battle. However, it might cause inconsistencies with audio.

While it is very disappointing that Lucasfilm will not issue an anamorphic Star Wars OOT in the foreseeable future, an edit like this would go as far as possible to eliminate technical distractions using the best original home video elements available.

I don't think I've heard the Special Edition laserdiscs discussed at all in these forums. Can anybody vouch for their superiority over DC/faces? Or does someone know if my idea is mostly moot because 'faces' doesn't alias like the DC?

Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: Realityghost
It would be very neat to see the Biggs scene added because it is an entirely original element that adds more emotional impact to the Death Star battle.

This project is definitely a good idea and I'd love to see it executed, but I don't think keeping this scene in is a very good idea. I'm sure the way that the film was shot had some kind of reaction from Luke during the battle, seeing as how his only real friend in the universe was just blown up, but anything hinting at that emotional depth wasn't put back in with that scene. The hangar scene with Biggs is dependant on mostly that non-existant shot, but also on the scenes cut from earlier in the flick, which are also better out of the film. Just my two cents.

I used to be very active on this forum. I’m not really anymore. Sometimes, people still want to get in touch with me about something, and that is great! If that describes you, please email me at [my username]ATgmailDOTcom.

Hi everybody. You’re all awesome. Keep up the good work.

Author
Time
Post link
Rather than using the SE laserdiscs, why not use the German digital broadcast of the SE trilogy? It had exceptional quality and the colors (of the unaltered sections) were perfect and true to the original.

I don't know why someone hasn't done a "reinventing wheel" NTSC version of the digital '97 SE. That could be so, so valuable...
Author
Time
Post link
I have a copy of said digital broadcast, in case anyone is interested.

EDIT: Although, like all other versions of the '97 SE, some of ANH has a pink tint to it.

I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently.

Author
Time
Post link
This is the kind of project that ocpmovie excels at, and actually did on his Classic Editions (which did very much the same kind of thing, only using the 2004 SEs as source instead of the 1997 ones). Unfortunately, he's suffering severe Star Wars burnout right now, and I don't think we'll be seeing any new Star Wars projects from him for a long time.

I like the idea here, though. If anyone does attempt this, don't forget to throw back in the missing frames of the laser burn shots on the Death Star that were "censored" on the 1997 SE versions. Apparently Lucas decided it was too graphic to show obviously human characters with flaming holes in their chest when being shot.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
Post link
Perhaps a hybrid of the described 1997 digital broadcast and the September DVDs would yield a final product superior to any one Lucasfilm release of the OT thus far. I just worry about variations in the sources that might be noticeable... The replacements and filling-ins should be done "on the cut" and never in the middle of a shot, maybe not even in the middle of a scene. That's why I thought two laserdisc releases would go together best because of their similar signal/noise ratios. (Maybe call it the "Suspension of Disbelief Edition." Eh? Eh?)

Isn't it fun to think about hypotheticals? Maybe this transfer theory (or variations of it) will gain steam if we find the September DVDs leave much to be desired.