I love the irony here.
It’s the first digitally-shot Star Wars anything since RotS and also a prequel to ANH, yet Edwards is shooting it with a camera that’s not only at least 35mm-sized (unlike RotS), but several times bigger.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep it in their back pocket until the Star Wars money-making machine slows down a little after Episode IX. But I’d be equally unsurprised if they put it out next year packaged with the 3D versions, maybe charging a little extra in the process because they know how ravenous we’ll be for it.
Actually, now that I think about it, that might be the most likely scenario of all.
RotJ 3D would’ve been hitting theaters next year anyway if they’d kept to Rick McCallum’s original schedule. I could see them either just puting out the OT in theaters in 3D or (somehow) showing all six. RotS would look amazing in 3D, so I doubt they’d skip the PT.
They could include the unaltered version in multi-disc individual releases for each movie. I’d prefer the '97 version as well, but I’d gladly say “good enough” if the SE is properly revamped. Let’s be honest, I think we’ll all be happy enough if they just get the unaltered trilogy right.
It would make more sense to wait a while before releasing on 4k UHD. The technology ecosystem involved will take some time to fully mature (it’s called rec 2020 for a reason), and Disney will fully control the five non-ANH movies by then. Maybe that’s when they do the “all versions” edition.
The only point of having a 70mm showing would be to have the traditional wider 2.76:1 aspect ratio. If they wanted to do that though, they’d have to work out licensing with Weienstein Company who owns the necessary refurbished Cinerama projectors used for the Hateful 8 roadshow.
Not exactly.
Hateful 8 was both shot on film AND finished photochemically, necessitating the rollout of the cinerama projectors for people to see the movie as Tarantino intended.
Rogue One used the same lenses but was shot on the 65mm-sized model of Alexa, at 6.5k resolution. This would no doubt look impressive in cinerama if they filmed it out at its native resolution, but the DI is only being done at 4k, and either way it’s still a digital movie to begin with.
It’s also worth noting that the Alexa 65’s sensor is slightly bigger and slightly taller shaped than an actual 65mm film frame. The aspect ratio is something like 2.11:1, so with the ultra panavision lenses’ 1.25x squeeze factor you’d get a 2.64:1 AR. They might’ve simply cropped this to 2.40:1 across all exhibition formats, framing everything accordingly.
According to Pablo Hidalgo, cutting on Rogue One isn’t locked yet and the 133 minute runtime is just a placeholder.
That’s what I thought. Any confirmation of the movie’s running time is meaningless when we’re still two months from the release date.
I’m confused. Didn’t they already do a 4K release for the digital releases last year?
Nope, it was still same old same old.
Man, now we’re getting lp reissues of the original score albums?! Can the actual movies be far behind?
I think it’s worth noting that the Close Encounters and Blade Runner ultimate sets were both released on blu-ray fairly soon after that format’s debut. Lucasfilm took its sweet time puting the movies out on dvd, but they were speedier with blu-ray. If you count from the end of the format war with hd-dvd, they only waited a little over three years. If they put I-VI out on 4k UHD next year, they would only be accelerating things by a year or so.
Of course, I’ve long suspected that Disney will want to put out TFA and Rogue One on UHD first, kind of like how LFL released TPM on dvd first. The other parallel is that we’re once again in the middle of another trilogy of new movies being made. I could easily see them waiting until the year before Episode IX’s theatrical release to bow I-VI on the latest format. We could very well end up with a year and a half between new Star Wars movies if IX isn’t hitting until December of 2019. In today’s franchise landscape, that’s a pretty long stretch of time they’ll need to kill.
I feel like we would’ve heard something by now if Disney was prepping in earnest for a restored 40th anniversary OOT release. Mike Verta’s comments on his meeting with them certainly don’t inspire confidence. Maybe next year will be the 3D versions released in theaters and then on 3D blu, if only to get that out of the way.
So far, we’ve gotten a new master every seven years (1997-2004-2011).
It would be more accurate to say we’ve gotten a new version of the SE every seven years, each time also being the movies’ hotly anticipated debut on the latest home video format. The 2011 version simply used the 2004 master and made the additional changes from there.
It’s also worth noting we’ve gotten a reissue of the 2011 discs every two years. This would make us due for something next year even if it wasn’t the 40th anniversary.
There’s also the possibility of 3D versions to consider.
The fact that they actually bothered to finish converting the PT makes me think they’ll eventually do the same for the OT, even if it’s not next year.
It’s the “how/when” of their release strategy that’s still anyone’s guess.
At this time (while he’s alive), I don’t think that Disney would want to disrespect George and put out any versions of the movies he doesn’t consider cannon.
They threw out his ideas for Episode 7 and they let his last movie go completely unnoticed, if this isn’t a big “Fuck you, George”, then I don’t know what is. Would releasing the OOT really make things worse between Disney and Lucas after that?
True. Another reason to hope that they will indeed release a proper restoration of these films sooner rather than later. It would honestly feel wrong to me that, on the 40th anniversary of one of the biggest films of all time, they didn’t have something big planned. Maybe reaching a distribution deal w/FOX for ANH requires far more legal calculus than they’re currently willing to fool with - which would be sad.
Fox and Marvel hate each other, so there’s that.
Honestly, I’d take a new transfer of the SE. I wouldn’t be thrilled about it if it wasn’t released alongside the OUT, but I’ll support anything that results in that awful Lowry master being retired.
I’d have to agree. At this time (while he’s alive), I don’t think that Disney would want to disrespect George and put out any versions of the movies he doesn’t consider cannon. Therefore, I would gladly settle for the SE’s in 4K, so long as they’re created actually respecting the original look of the films (i.e. without George) because DEAR GOD those Blu-rays got some funky looking transfers.
I honestly doubt an OOT restoration would bother George at this point.
anyone considered maybe fox is the problem, mind you Im not giving disney and kind of break, i’ve been boycotting them for other reasons for some time now but if alamo roadhouse advertises 97 special edition and then they show 2011 version, could it be that fox pushed their “distribution Rights” I mean unlike alot of disney films, star wars can’t even be screen by non-profits, yes I checked. I may be spit-balling, but I’m just wondering if it’s not just disney? Maybe?
Are you sure?
'97 prints of ANH and RotJ were still being shown at the AFI Silver as of just two years ago.
It would be pointless to put out a new transfer this late in the game unless it’s being released day and date on 4k UHD. Even then, they’d need to throw in the unaltereds for people to actually care.
I’d say the chances are 50/50. I’ll be unsurprised one way or the other.
He just recently shot After Earth for Shyamalan.
If they can bring back Kasdan to pen a Star War or two, they should totally get Peter behind the camera again.
I dunno if it’s just me, but something about the way it’s written made it feel more like some other lower budget 80’s scifi/fantasy films (Krull in particular kept coming to mind… As in I imagine the “look” and production value of this version of ESB to be very similar to what we got with Krull). Like, the sequence where Vader throws a fistful of stars at Luke and they rain down on him in a shower of sparks during the “force vision” part of their duel… I just see that looking SOOOO early-80’s-fantasy-movie. All dreamy and "gauze-over-the-lense"y…
It’s worth noting that Peter Suschitzky was cinematographer on both Krull and ESB.
It’s reaching the point now for HD that we were at a decade ago for SD.
People were converting the laserdiscs to dvd, George released a transfer directly from the digital master tape itself.
Now people are doing the same thing using actual 35mm prints. The answer to this would be a transfer of something higher up the chain like an IP, sep, or the o-neg itself.
I may never see the originals legally again in my lifetime. This is beyond unfair; it’s unthinkable that the REAL versions of the OT have been gone for twenty years.
In this age of 4K & widescreen TVs, laserdisc quality is the best we will ever get for decades to come.
George Lucas knew what he was doing when he sold SW down the river to Disney.
Since I was posting about this very subject in the theatrical vs special edition subforum just yesterday…
We really have no idea.
They could release it next year, or the year after, or five years from now.
It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if Disney simply decides to wait out the expiration of Fox’s rights to the five non-ANH films in order to maximize their profits.
There were only ever two possible outcomes for a sequel trilogy.
Either Lucasfilm was going to figure out a way to set it within the continuity of the EU (in which case Chewie would be long dead and the ending would neccessarily allow for the Legacy comics to still happen a hundred years later), or they were going to completely start over per George’s wishes.
I never understood why people thought something like a Thrawn Trilogy adaptation was a possibility for the ST. The mere fact that the story would be spoiled already was reason enough for it to stay off the table as an option.
Setting a sequel trilogy within the existing continuity is always what I assumed they’d do. After all, most of the major characters were still alive in the novels with the exception of Chewie.
Most people angry about the EU reboot probably think it was all Disney’s doing when it was entirely up to George. He apparently never considered the books canon to begin with, even though Lucasfilm touted them as “the official continuation of the story” and gladly took people’s money for it.
Like I said in another thread, the delay of Episode VIII from its original date means Lucasfilm won’t have a movie on blu-ray to sell come the Fall, barring a double-dip of Rogue One like they’re doing with TFA.
But, like I also said in another thread, I think they’ll have a harder time trying to justify a double-dip with Rogue One (although they’ve now set a horrible precedent with TFA so who the hell really knows).
So, I think there’s a chance we’ll see something in that seven month span between May and December.
By that same token, the first six films only just started airing on tv again last week. This makes me think it will be at least a couple years before we see them released in new editions.
The other thing to consider is that Disney will finally start supporting the 4k UHD blu-ray format next year. We know there’s already a 4k master of the OT from Reliance MediaWorks, although Mike Verta wasn’t thrilled at how the brief clips in their demo reel looked. This is also likely the SE yet again. It may have already made its way out there in the form of actual DCP’s if Tack’s report from one of the recent roadshow screenings is accurate.
As I’ve said in the past, I truly don’t believe a 4k SE alone will be enough of a selling point. If Lucasfilm wants to see the kind of profit margins they’ve enjoyed with the blu-ray and dvd debuts of these movies (and presumably also with the GOUT to a certain extent), then they’ll have to include a restored OOT at the very least. That holds true whether they wait a year or they wait a decade.
Adywan, could you confirm what the first shot of the Imax sequence is?
I always suspected it was the shot immediately following Rey’s “follow me.”
My opinion for a while now has been that you either watch the prequels first or you don’t watch them at all.
If Lucas had done a better job of justifying the PT’s existence (other than titling the OT “IV, V and VI” far in advance), we wouldn’t even be debating this.
I’ve got ESB on in the background right now because I’m weirdly interested in where they place the commercial breaks. First one is directly before Vader’s introduction, which seems like a strange place to me.
They want it to be all dramatic when they come back from commercial and we’re like “Ooooo it’s the imperial march.”
Looks like Comcast’s people screwed up some labeling. According to the guide, Empire is on three times in a row after the prequels.
I also have comcast. My on screen guide shows that they’re only playing Empire twice, followed by the first Hobbit movie afterwards.
Then, a little after 5am, they’re doing a six-film marathon culminating in their first airing of RotJ tomorrow night.
I didn’t know about this ESB lucasfilm intro… I really missed the Fox fanfare opening TFA but using ESB closing coda is very weird for an opening theme. I hope Williams is going to deliver something to replace the Fox Fanfare for EpVIII and the other episodes (or 12 wagnerian movies without intro ?)… even a carbon copy would do… as rich as Disney is, they could even buy it 😃
The ESB lucasfilm intro was done for the digital versions released in April of 2015. My theory is that they wanted some kind of music to accompany the logo in the other five movies so that the Fox fanfare in ANH wouldn’t be jarring.
Of course, less than a year later we had TFA without any intro music at all. Maybe they just hadn’t arrived at that decision in April and might’ve done things differently had they known?
Watching one of them now. Yup, they either zoomed in the image, or stretched it vertically. I missed the intro tho, it autotuned right after the opening scroll.
It’s zoomed in, just like the vast majority of hdtv broadcasts of movies that are native 2.35:1.
Sometimes you’ll see a letterboxed presentation, like how Spike is showing Dark Knight Rises, but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.
I noticed last night that ANH was letterboxed until the end of the opening shot. I’m guessing this was to preserve the composition as the Star Destroyer flies overhead.