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Info Wanted: the 2 Ewok Theatrical Movies - any HD Upscales?

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Hey everyone,

Is there any fanmade HD Upscales for the Ewok Movies (mostly because a friend and I are gonna be burning the Despecialized Movies, Holiday Special on Blu Ray and I thought it would be cool to have a whole OG Trilogy set going on) or is the DVD rips the only versions out there (cause if anything I’ll put it on DVD only.

Thanks!

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To the best of my knowledge, the only official digital release is the double-sided DVD.

You asked about a fan-made upscale, though… I haven’t encountered one.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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They were released in cinemas in the UK, so theoretically film prints exist for a proper 4k version.

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And right you are. I’d completely forgotten that they were presented in better than television quality elsewhere in the world.

Thank you,

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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On a german board was once a 720p in a very good quality with 3 audio tracks (2 x german and 1 x original english). I have to check if I still have them on HDD.

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BandobrasTuk said:

On a german board was once a 720p in a very good quality with 3 audio tracks (2 x german and 1 x original english). I have to check if I still have them on HDD.

Amazing! Let me know!

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I did a quick Google search (ewok adventure 720p) and found a page that offered a 720p version. Or claimed to.

Dimensions turned out to be 540x960.

Quality seems good but not the resolution we’re seeking.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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Is it correct to assume, that these were filmed in 4:3 in 35mm and then cropped in 1.85:1 to make the 35mm prints? If that is the case, what did they use for the DVDs, did they scan the negative or used some TV master tape?

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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MattMahdi said:

I did a quick Google search (ewok adventure 720p) and found a page that offered a 720p version. Or claimed to.

Dimensions turned out to be 540x960.

Quality seems good but not the resolution we’re seeking.

No that’s not the source I’m talking about.
My source was 720x280, look at this specs:

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 36mn
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Original display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Writing library : x264 core 130 r2273 b3065e6

There is also a german dubbed source in 1080p 16:9 but I never had it.

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AFAIK, Caravan of Courage was released on Blu-Ray.

JEDIT: it seems that it is a bootleg.

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ZigZig said:

AFAIK, Caravan of Courage was released on Blu-Ray.

JEDIT: it seems that it is a bootleg.

Yes there are also some bootlegs in HD buzz around.

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ZigZig said:

It seems that they are available on yggtorrent.

Didn’t get it downloaded but I found another 720p in Portuguese.
To me it seems just to be a (although good) upscale of the DVD-Master.

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Has Lucasfilm relegated these to the shame pile (in the closet with the Holiday Special)?

I’m wondering what the odds are we’ll ever see an official BD release…

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Doctorossi said:

Has Lucasfilm relegated these to the shame pile (in the closet with the Holiday Special)?

I’m wondering what the odds are we’ll ever see an official BD release…

I think the odds are approximately 3720 to 1.

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I can’t imagine why they would. Lucas never expressed any disenchantment with them AFAIK. And unlike the HS, they were his babies all the way, so to speak. Disney is just bad at back catalog stuff.
The Ewok Adventure turns 35 this year, so maybe something will happen? Maybe they can round up Warwick Davis and Eric Walker for a commentary track.

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Where were you in '77?

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Actually, the Ewok films were the first spin-off movies. Can’t imagine why Lucasfilm hasn’t rereleased them under “A Star Wars Story” label. Would be cheaper than to produce another boxoffice bomb à la Solo.

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At this point, I think the best we’re likely to get is for these to end up being included in the Disney+ streaming service. Disney desperately wants out of the physical media game, and I just can’t see them doing a physical release for something with such niche appeal.

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I’m curious if there’re data for Disney wanting desperately to be out of the physical media game.

I’m looking forward to the 4K release of The Little Mermaid next month. And although they aren’t heralding the disc’s release, its 4K status could mean they’re in it for a little bit longer.

That said, I hate the extra extras on the digital releases. There’s no reason the deleted scene for The Force Awakens or the isolated score shouldn’t have been on the discs. I can see that as an attempt to lure me away from physical media, and I thank YouTube for the dispersal of the scene from TFA.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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I don’t have anything in the way of hard data, just a somewhat informed guess based on observation and some of the rumblings I’ve heard. It’s been years since Disney has released any catalog titles on Blu-ray that aren’t just re-releases of films that have already been released on the platform, and they’ve been a slow adopter of 4K to say the least. I think they’re biding their time to see how Disney+ performs, and if it’s a hit, I think they’ll massively scale back the number physical releases.