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Info: What do you think of Lowry's work for the DVD release of the Indiana Jones Trilogy?

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Just wondered if anyone had any opinions on the 2003 DVD release of the Indiana Jones trilogy?(Thought about posting this in the “off topic” section, but I think it is more relevant in this section.)

I have the DVD set, not examined it in detail but I certainly had no complaints about the picture quality. And I’ve not seen any bad reviews on the 'net about these DVDs.

Lowry’s clean-up work on this film didn’t stop at removing dirt and scratches from the print, he went on to clean up dodgy special effects shots (e.g. removal of fringes caused by blue-screen photography, removal of the reflections in the safety glass in the Well of Souls).

Quote from The Indy Experience.com

… Lowry’s technicians take great care not to tamper with the content of the original image. “Rather than dealing with art, we tend to deal with science,” he says. “For example, we make very little, if any change to the contrast or color or things of that nature. We are not in the color-correction business, because that is an art. We can improve the overall quality of the picture, but generally speaking, we try to do it from a very scientific perspective. It is extremely important that we do everything we can not to impair what the director or cinematographer was trying to do in the first place.”

So why was the Star Wars DVD such a disaster? Why are some scenes so dark? Why are there so many problems with the colour timing as demonstrated by Mike Verta on his site?

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Originally posted by: Moth3r
Just wondered if anyone had any opinions on the 2003 DVD release of the Indiana Jones trilogy?(Thought about posting this in the "off topic" section, but I think it is more relevant in this section.)

I have the DVD set, not examined it in detail but I certainly had no complaints about the picture quality. And I've not seen any bad reviews on the 'net about these DVDs.

Lowry's clean-up work on this film didn't stop at removing dirt and scratches from the print, he went on to clean up dodgy special effects shots (e.g. removal of fringes caused by blue-screen photography, removal of the reflections in the safety glass in the Well of Souls).

Quote from The Indy Experience.com

... Lowry's technicians take great care not to tamper with the content of the original image. "Rather than dealing with art, we tend to deal with science," he says. "For example, we make very little, if any change to the contrast or color or things of that nature. We are not in the color-correction business, because that is an art. We can improve the overall quality of the picture, but generally speaking, we try to do it from a very scientific perspective. It is extremely important that we do everything we can not to impair what the director or cinematographer was trying to do in the first place."
So why was the Star Wars DVD such a disaster? Why are some scenes so dark? Why are there so many problems with the colour timing as demonstrated by Mike Verta on his site?


That's because mr. Lucas and his team screwed up the colors before sending the movies to Lowry.

B.T.W. I think the Indy trilogy is greatly restored.

A new release of Star Wars is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

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It's also because Spielberg is wise enough to leave classic films alone (or at least offer a choice of versions in the case of ET), and Lowry had a LOT more time to clean up the Indy films, whereas they were only given 30 days for each SW film, I believe. The only explanation I can offer for the awful job done is one of these:
1. Fox views this dvd set as just a temporary holdover until the 2007 release, and so little effort was put into the remastering. Most of the reason the films were put out was because of demand, not because GL wanted them out yet.
2. GL made numerous errors intentionally to build a potboiler of demand for the true versions, and so consumers end up double or triple dipping for the same films-in other words, it's part of a much larger marketing scheme.
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Sadly, I think both are very likely. It seems that, much like Star Wars '77, these DVDs were simply a rough draft. Lucas' penchant for post-production fixes is becoming a bad habit.

I wonder if we'll see the same "creative differences" in the Saga set. Only time will tell.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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I also agree with what Mr. 47 said, but you know what? I'll gladly keep plopping down money for any Star Wars release that I deem worthy, and I deemed the Droids & Ewoks discs that just came out worthy. In addition to the R2-D2: Beneath the Dome DVD a while ago. So I'll buy anything that's officially put out. But you know what makes up for it? The fact that I'll always have at least twice as many bootleg DVDs of alternate versions, original versions, specials, etc as I do of any official discs. And that's just two times the money that Lucas didn't get.

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.

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LOL. BTW, are the ewok DVDs any good?

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
LOL. BTW, are the ewok DVDs any good?


Being a fan of the cheesiness, I enjoy them. The cartoon disc leave a bit in color tone to be desired, but I know this is because of the original source and not some dodgy remastering like the OT set. The movies look a lot better than I expected them to, really. A perfectly presentable presentation for each. An interesting thing to note is the print used of The Ewok Adventure is that it has the "Caravan of Courage" title at the start of the film, which is the only reason I didn't get rid of my old bootleg DVD of it.

The one thing I will complain a bit about, though, is that for some reason, Battle for Endor is on Side A and Ewok Adventure is on Side B. Now, what if there's some kid who has no conception of what's going to happen in these movies? The little girl's entire family gets killed right at the beginning of the second one, while they're all major players throughout the entirety of the first film!

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.

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Originally posted by: Wer-Al_Zwowe
That’s because mr. Lucas and his team screwed up the colors before sending the movies to Lowry.

It appears you are correct, a bloke called Rick Dean who’s a director at THX was responsible for re-timing the colour on ANH (source). But it’s only fair to blame Lowry for faults like the obliteration of the laser bolt glows and the starfield.

 

Mod Edit: a working link to the linked article above can be found here:-

https://web.archive.org/web/20041207162619/http://uemedia.net/CPC/directorsworld/printer_10457.shtml

(‘Restoring the Star Wars Trilogy’ - by Matt Hurwitz. Oct 14, 2004, 00:33)

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Originally posted by: Moth3r
Originally posted by: Wer-Al_Zwowe
That's because mr. Lucas and his team screwed up the colors before sending the movies to Lowry.
It appears you are correct, a bloke called Rick Dean who's a director at THX was responsible for re-timing the colour on ANH (source). But it's only fair to blame Lowry for faults like the obliteration of the laser bolt glows and the starfield.


Not entirely. As already stated, Lowry was not done with the movies before they were taken away.

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Originally posted by: Moth3r
Originally posted by: Wer-Al_Zwowe
That's because mr. Lucas and his team screwed up the colors before sending the movies to Lowry. It appears you are correct, a bloke called Rick Dean who's a director at THX was responsible for re-timing the colour on ANH (source).


From that source:
Dean's corrected versions would be sent back to ILM in Northern California, where Lucas himself would view the footage on a DLP cinema projector, sometimes offering comments for further color adjustments.


Wether that DLP cinema projector is in need of a good color calibration, or Lucas is seriously becoming color blind...

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!