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Andrew-Kenneth

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Join date
31-Jul-2006
Last activity
29-Dec-2008
Posts
12

Post History

Post
#288056
Topic
Info: James Bond - Laserdisc Preservations: 1962-1971
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/288056/action/topic#288056
Time
Originally posted by: FanFiltration
If anyone is asking why I am using the THX Laserdisc for my video transfer and not the new Ultimate Edition DVD...

Take a look here.

Well I'm sorry, but I like the deeper darker tones on the actors skin, and not that new washed out look on the new print.

Where has that Island Tan gone Mr. Bond?


As the dvd-times screencaps show the image in the SE is distorted, making people appear thinner.
(Moonraker SE has the same issue.)
.
Also the image of the SE appears to be be zoomed in - There is image missing on all four sides.
.
I own both dvd's and prefer watching the UE. (I do use my remote to add color to the UE - a lot of color...)
.
I wonder if the laserdisc transfer combines the color scheme of the SE and the unzoomed image and correct undistorted image of the UE...

A laserdisc screenshot would be nice.
Post
#256946
Topic
What versions of the SW saga do you own (OT, PT, preservations, etc)?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/256946/action/topic#256946
Time
O-OT
------
Star Wars ,The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi : 3 pan&scan vhs-tapes taped from dutch television around 1989.

The "Jedi" vhs got mangled by my vcr last saturday (nov. 11th) prompting me to buy the 2006 Limited Edition. ( I had to cut the tape in two to get the video-cassette out of my vcr.)

Star Wars ,The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi : 3 non-anamorphic laserdisc-master sourced dvd's released as bonus discs to the sept. 12 2006 individual release of the OT-trilogy.

SE - OT
---------
1997 widescreen 3-vhs box-set

2004 SE - OT
-----------------
2005 anamorphic widescreen 3-dvd set (the box with the classic Hildebrandt poster art)
I now also keep my GOUT-discs in this set - in paper sleeves - alongside their 2004 counterparts.

I just hate the sleeve art of the 2006 limited edition - very ugly in my opinion. The day after I had bought the limited edition discs I felt bad I had "fallen" for Lucasfilm's marketingploy "forcing" me to buy the 2004 SE's twice. (dirty feeling). This got better as soon as I discovered that a co-worker was willing to buy my new copies of the SE's from me. This co-worker has last seen a Star Wars movie in the eighties. (never seen the SE's.) She will be in for a surprise. (understatement of the month)

PT
---

Ep. I widescreen vhs
Ep. I anamorphic widescreen dvd-set
Ep II anamorphic widescreen dvd-set
Ep. III anamorphic widescreen dvd-set



Post
#245290
Topic
How I learned to stop worrying and love the 2004 dvd's
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/245290/action/topic#245290
Time
Fuser wrote:

"Anyway - I took your advice! I have a 'User' setting on my TV. I turned on the 'warm hue' setting, halved the saturation and mucked about with the contrast and brightness a bit and lo and behold you are right! The corridor in the Tantive IV is white again!!!! Yay! And yes, even the green lightsaber is less offensive now - so thank you. Still doesnt stop Hoth being blue sometimes though - they must have REALLY overdone it on that ."
-------------------------------------
I'm glad I helped you enjoy your 2004 dvd's more. And thank you for the "warm hue"-tip. I've changed the hue setting on my tv-set from "normal" to "warm" and it's a huge improvement watching these dvd's.

Before the settings on my tv were set according to the THX-optimizer found on my Ep I-dvd. All my dvd's (+- 200 titles) played just fine with these settings. (except the 2004 original trilogy dvd's - too dark - way too bright colors, etc...)

The THX-settings on my set (Philips 32" - pixel plus 2) are :
contrast: 44/100
brightness : 44/100
color : 44/100
hue : normal

The settings with which I find the 2004 dvd's to look their best are:
contrast : 59/100
brightness : 46/100
color : 20/100
hue : warm

Now I can truly claim these dvd's have never looked better (So good in fact that if Lucas would re-release the 2004 dvd's with the color-brightness issues solved I would not easily be tempted to pick them up.)

Darth Evil wrote :

"And to the OP, that's cool that you're able to enjoy them and found the right brightness setting, but i'll have to say I just wouldn't want to go through all that hassle to get the DVD's looking right."
------------------------------------------
I agree that the dvd's ought to have looked right straight out of the box. However by twiddling a bit with the settings of my tv I saved myself 50 euro. ( by not getting Lucas sept. 12 release and probably even more come 2007.)

THX wrote :

"Andrew-Kenneth - it's great (for you) that you have found a way to enjoy the '04 discs. As you can see, most people here can't overlook the destructive effect of the SE changes. For me personally, even if they were the OUT, I couldn't overlook the color/contrast issues. It is not simply a case of more blue, more color - the palette has been changed considerably. And no amount of brightness can restore detail lost in shadow areas. However, if you're happy, I'm happy for you. "
-----------------------------------------
Last friday I advised to raise the brightness a tad, and to decrease the color dramatically.

Over the weekend I learned that using the "warm hue" setting (thanks Fuser) also improves the picture as does a considerable increase of contrast. (These two changes are also significant.)
.
I've said earlier that the SW 2004 dvd's now look (almost) exactly LIKE I REMEMBER SW to look in the theatre (color-wise that is.). ( I did not claim this IS SW EXACTLY as it looked in the theater.) But now - at least it looks close enough for me to enjoy the discs without frustration about their color/brightness.
.
I have, like you, also noticed that a lot of SW fans are really opposed to SE-changes. As we have recently learned from the Lucas-website about 100 changes were made in each film. Yet only about six or seven objectionable changes were mentioned in this thread.
.
So we must conclude there are changes people like (or don't even notice), changes people kinda like (or are indifferent about) and changes people really dislike (or even hate).
.
I mentioned a change I didn't like in my original post and if hard pressed I'll admit that in an ideal galaxy Greedo would not have shot at all and the Sarlacc would not have had a beak. (There are some more changes that could be improved upon- better done hologram scene in ESB, etc...) But I don't hate these changes enough to start hating the 2004- versions.
.
Also, don't forget that the original trilogy also had it's share of cringeworthy moments. (Chewbacca's Tarzan yell in Ep. VI for instance...)
.
Right now, because of all the changes, I think there are as many "ideal"-versions as there are fans.
.
In film history - Lucas must be one of the few directors that keep changing their movies.
I know of the SE's of Ridley Scott (Bladerunner), Spielberg (Close encounters, E.T.), Coppola (Apocalyse Now), (amongst others) but the changes they made were never so bitterly opposed as Lucas's.
.
The only other artwork, I know of, that has a "Special Edition-history" comparable to SW is Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser". This opera was premiered in Dresden in 1845. (making it middle-period Wagner). It's a pretty straightforward opera and did relatively well. In 1861 Wagner had the chance to get this opera staged in Paris. In those days all operas performed at the Paris opera had to have a ballet somewhere in the second act. So Wagner was kindly asked to recompose part of his opera - include a ballet etc. Eventually the ballet was added in the first act and some scenes were reworked. Because the new scenes were composed in Wagner's mature style they are musically far more evolved than the surrounding (older) material. Because of this the "Paris-version" of Tannhäuser is the version that is performed and recorded mostly. Only in very recent times the original version is starting to get it's due. Classical audiences are starting to see past the opulent ear-candy of the "Paris-version" and getting interested in the original. (better paced drama - no jarring between middle-period and mature styles.)



Post
#244827
Topic
How I learned to stop worrying and love the 2004 dvd's
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/244827/action/topic#244827
Time
Since I got my copies of the 2004 SW dvd's in jan. 2006, I was at first awed by the very impressive job done but also peeved by some very annoying mistakes.

1) faulty lightsabre colors. (Luke has a green sabre on the Milennium Falcon in SW - ; Vader a pink one in ESB. )
2) picture is too dark (This ruined the trash compactor scene for me - way too dark)
3) colors are way brighter than they ever were. (At first this kinda wowed me - I must admit.)

When the sept. 12 release of the GOUT was announced I was interested because this would mean a chance to experience Star Wars without the above glaring errors. Maybe I would be able to be fully immersed in the films again and really enjoying them.

That said, given a choice between the 2004-SE with perfect colors, brightness and lightsabre colors and the non-anamorphic laserdisc-sourced GOUT, I'd choose the former. Your mileage may vary but the only scene I still don't like in the 2004-SE is the one where Han is chasing stormtroopers in the Death Star and all of a sudden instead of running into a small company of troopers he runs into a full TIE-fighter hangar crawling with stormtroopers. (The first two or three times this scene is funny, then it becomes stale.)

Now on how to love those cursed 2004 dvd's.
1) Raise the brightness a tad. (Make sure the black bars on top and below the image remain black and don't turn grey.)
2) Select the scene with Luke's green sabre. Freeze the frame. Decrease the color on your tv-set till the sabre starts to look white and only sports but the faintest trace of green. (On my Philips-set this meant a decrease in color from 44/100 to 20/100.) Quite a substantial decrease in color - but worth it.
3) Select chapter one and enjoy the show.

Now the 2004 dvd looks (almost) exactly like I remember SW to look in the theatre (color-wise that is.). (A color palette that's also very reminiscent of that of the 2006-GOUT and other laserdics-transfers.)

I've also looked at ESB using the same settings. (Vader's sabre looks normal again (white core - red sides - NOT PINK !!!!!!!!!!!)

After discovering the 2004 dvd's aren't all that bad I decided not to get the 2006-GOUT-edition since my primary motivation for wanting it were the above mentioned color & brightness issues. (If I want to watch the unaltered trilogy I can still watch my 4:3 pan&scan vhs copies I taped from television in 1989.)

Andrew.





Post
#242332
Topic
2006 OT DVD: Are my eyes deceiving me?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/242332/action/topic#242332
Time
I posted this earlier on this thread after examining my 2004 dvd:

Actually, R2 changes colors in this scene.

R2 is blue when shown though the rear window of the cockpit of Luke's X-wing.
(for instance after Luke hears Ben's voice telling him to trust his feelings.)
When shown sideways he is black.
(After Luke says: "Red five standing by", or later when R2 is repairing the x-wing.)
.
--------------------------------------
Now I've taken a quick look on my old pan & scan 4:3 O-OT copy of Star Wars (taped from television a long time ago) and all I can say is R2 used to change color in this scene all along. No changes were made to his color for the 2004 dvd-edition.
Post
#242312
Topic
2006 OT DVD: Are my eyes deceiving me?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/242312/action/topic#242312
Time
Sruffy wrote :

Alright ... so the shuttle, orbiting a measly 17,500 miles above the daylit surface of the Earth gets enough light to render the color blue. What about an X-wing passing under a red gas giant, or dogfighting over a gray metal sphere? I think we've usually seen starships within the well-lit band where habitable planets lie, but I do wonder to what extent nearby celestial objects would influence their coloring.
(Special Edition answer: It makes them blue!)

---------------


Outer space scenes in Star Wars were filmed in the studio using blue-screen at (an über-measly) 0 miles above the surface of the earth (NASA 1 - Lucas 0) (insert smiley)
.
The use of blue screen explains R2's blue to black color change. (Note that markings in other colors are not affected by the use of blue screen.) For instance the red markings on the X-wings or the yellow markings on the Y-wings don't fade to reddish brown, black or grey.
.
Theoretically speaking, if red screen would have been used instead of blue screen back in 1977, R2 would never have changed color but the markings on the X-wings would have.

In the special editions the "shortcomings" of an old technology are corrected (*), although not in a consistent way as ep. 4 shows us.
(* I'm not implying this was nessesarily a good thing to do , just stating a fact.)
.
Now the Death Star battle in Star Wars takes place next to a big red planet (Yavin). Both this planet and the Death Star itself are well-lit so there is no reason to assume that small X or Y-wing fighters would not receive an equal amount of light.

Also when light conditions are low , all colors across the spectrum will start to fade, not just one. (There will only be marginal differences between colors - mostly red will fade first - yellow last.)

In other words if a low-light space ambience was desired all colors and brightness (Yavin, Death Star, X-wing, Y-wing, etc...) would have been toned down considerably, not just poor R2's blue dome.


Post
#242234
Topic
2006 OT DVD: Are my eyes deceiving me?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/242234/action/topic#242234
Time
Actually, R2 changes colors in this scene.

After examining the ep 5 shot by shot changes on Star Wars.com I had expected to see a blue R2 in Star Wars too. (but he's only sometimes blue.)

R2 is blue when shown though the rear window of the cockpit of Luke's X-wing.
(for instance after Luke hears Ben's voice telling him to trust his feelings.)

When shown sideways he is black.
(After Luke says: "Red five standing by", or later when R2 is repairing the x-wing.)
Post
#240977
Topic
Episode V: What Has Changed?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/240977/action/topic#240977
Time
About shot 113 of the series:

It's a shot of Bespin where the wall has been opened up to show a view outside and even a moving elevator.

(When you look at it on the 2004 dvd; you go : "Wow, nice job".)

Our heroes then proceed to a door where Lando reveals Vader to them, who disarms Solo. Then Boba Fett shows up.
The shot ends with stormtroopers showing up behind Solo, Leia, et al.

Behind the stormtroopers you can see the previously opened-up wall to have reversed to it's previous O-OT status.

(Then you go : "WTF, what were they thinking - that we got five second memories or what...")