STAR WARS EPISODE IV - 2020 4K blu-ray Remastered (WIP)

Hello everyone,
I’ve been currently working on a remastered version of the 2019/2020 Blu-ray of episode 4.
Using the Adywan 2018 grade as a reference I’ve gone in and color-corrected the film shot by shot.
I’ve also fixed many of the issues including Detail loss, Static Grain, and displaced power windows.
for the few shots, I wasn’t able to replace, I’ve used the cleaned-up 4K77 Skywalker edition, in some shots that don’t look good on any source, I’ve upscaled / Regraned the 2011 Blu-ray for that one or two shots.
I have Despecialised about three shots in the whole film, including but not limited to The CGI Rocks in front of Artoo, Two shots of the Ronto in mos-eisly, Greedo’s death, and maybe “Dark Vader”.
I’ve made this edit so that future fan edits of episode 4 won’t look like hogwash.
thanks.

Sources:
2011 Blu-ray (Adywan grade).
2020 Blu-ray.
4K77 (skywalker edition).

Software:
Davinci resolve 17 Studio.
Topaz Video Enhance AI.
Neat video version 5.
Dr.Dre’s color matching tool

Hopefully, if this edit goes well I’ll do Episode 5 as well

I’ve added in the “A News Corporation Compamny®” in the opening logo

Comp 1

Raw 2020 BD:

Rem 2020 BD:

Raw 2011 BD:

Adywan 2011 BD:

can you post a screen cap of the raw 2011 blu ray as it was initially released for further comparison ? The reason I ask is that that release had oversaturated colors and I felt the official 2020/ Disney plus release tried to compensate by swinging the pendulum a bit too far in the opposite direction …looks too faded . Of the three pics you posted , Adywans regrade of the 2011 looks perfect to me ,though the Rem 2020 in the middle has a bit more detail and crispness . Just trying to give some constructive feedback . I have not seen the 2011 official blu ray in a long time so would like to see an image of it alongside these to compare the saturation levels , color differences etc . This sounds like a worth while project and thank you for sharing .

Here:

omg I want a copy! Sounds like just the thing I’ve been hoping for.

Hal 9000 said:

omg I want a copy! Sounds like just the thing I’ve been hoping for.

yeah, I was hoping it would come to use for you’re updated ANH edit.

That guy with no name said:

Here:

Thank you , and thank you for adding that shot in with the others . Wow , the 2020 raw BD looks almost monochrome !They put in more detail at the expense of a lifeless image , and I can see how skewed the raw 2011 colors are now ,too magneta and the haze around the planet looks purple . I can better see what you were going for now . Looks great !

screams in the void said:

That guy with no name said:

Here:

Thank you, and thank you for adding that shot in with the others. Wow, the 2020 raw BD looks almost monochrome! They put in more detail at the expense of a lifeless image, and I can see how skewed the raw 2011 colors are now, too magenta and the haze around the planet looks purple. I can better see what you were going for now. Looks great!

You’re welcome.

This is looking sweet! I’m just wondering is this grade going be similar to your Devastator edition?

LardBladder said:

This is looking sweet! I’m just wondering is this grade going be similar to your Devastator edition?

Yeah, its based off that edit’s main source

That guy with no name said:

LardBladder said:

This is looking sweet! I’m just wondering is this grade going be similar to your Devastator edition?

Yeah, its based off that edit’s main source

All right. Thank you for the info!

New comp!

This is an example. of some of the really terrible grading in this release, I had to recreate color that wasn’t even in the frame to begin with!

Raw 4K blu-ray

Rem 4K blu-ray

I’ve forgotten how harsh those magenta tones can be. Geez, with the comparison you have here the official release looks like a faded film print compared to your color correction. Btw, excellent job!

That looks fantastic! 😃

Here is an example of the quality recovery:

RAW

Enhanced

Closeup:

final comp

what do you think?

That’s a big difference in quality! The enhanced version looks great!

Was that detail from 2011 applied to 2019? It’s an incredible difference.

Hal 9000 said:

Was that detail from 2011 applied to 2019? It’s an incredible difference.

Using detail from the 4k77 source aswell as the upscaled 2011 blu-ray.

Here is it used on the 4k77 source:

enhanced

raw

Takes a LONG time to do, but it’s worth it.

JEDIT: forgot to mention this is for the devastator edit.

This is looking really impressive. The combine sources are doing wonders.

Reagan1975Smith said:

Thank you for taking the time and doing the work. It looks fantastic!!! Very exciting

Do you have a target date for the release?

idk like a year. you have to remember this is a shot for shot correction.