This is fantastic news!
I noticed that Electronic Labyrinth, Lucas' student short that became THX 1138, was also inducted this (last) year.
Here's the thing:
For next year's blu-ray, since the format is 1080p Lucas doesn't really have much of a reason to pay for a re-do of the '04 masters at a higher res. Those masters are already 1080. Episodes II and III have been ready to go since the day they came out.
Now, keep this in mind:
Episode I is hitting 3D in theaters in 2012 and ILM is already at work on the conversion process, so they probably did a new DI (or, as we've been debating, went back to the files if they're still there) in order to yield 1) a new transfer for next year's blu-ray (which the film actually needed, unlike the other five) and 2) a new, higher res master from which they could start the 3D conversion process. II and III are already completely digital. When/if they get around to IV in 2015, doing a new DI probably won't seem like a such a horrible financial burden for Lucas /sarcasm.
They really are gonna need to do a fresh scan for the 3D version of the OT. In the case of movies like II and III and Avatar, the cameras for the live-action photography were only 1080p, yes, but they went through 2k DI's as far as I know, effectively scaling the live action footage slightly. Avatar was projected at 1920 by 1080 for its 16:9 digital 3D version, but there was also a scope (2.35:1) digital 3D version made for the auditoriums set up for scope. This scope version probably had a horizontal resolution of 2048 (2K). The OT movies are, obviously, scope-only. Maybe Lucas thinks 1920 by 817 will still be considered good enough for a 3D projection in 2015, but he won't be getting around to OT until then, so who knows.
I heard this morning and somehow didn't remember to head over here until just now.
Damn, did this news hit me hard.
I've also got somewhat of a "just yesterday" story. Last night I got in a traffic jam driving up I-95, turned on the radio to find out what was up and heard Leslie Nielsen had died. I had listened to the first several minutes of the slashfilmcast episode where massawyrm from aintitcool mentions recently seeing an original 1980 print of Empire. I had nothing but time to kill, so I decided to listen to the rest. Later on in the episode they bring up the news of the 3D conversions and Massawyrm said how the original version of Empire, with all of its mistakes, was still so awesome to watch.
Maybe I've become out of touch, but I'm honestly surprised if Lucas expects the initial blu-ray set to sell like gangbusters the way the '04 dvd set did.
The "Empire of Dreams" documentary from the '04 dvd claims Spielberg was Lucas' first choice to direct Jedi.
I found something interesting in a post over at the avsforum. This person's dad apparently sat next to John Lowry on a plane flight. Here's the relevant text:
"He also mentioned that they're working with the Star Wars movies again, and have gone back to the originals for the groundwork. This is probably for the 3d versions (I would assume the masters for use with the Blu-Ray set are finished already). He implied that this restoration means they will have restored versions of the theatrical Star Wars movies, but that they have had no indication from Lucas that the movies are in the pipeline for release in their theatrical versions."
Here's the direct link to the post:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=19486382&postcount=71
Now someone just needs to dig up an '83 print of Jedi....
Yeah, I don't think 3D will completely take over. Color didn't stop filmmakers from shooting in black and white. Super 35 didn't stop them from shooting in cinemascope. Digital didn't stop them from shooting on film.
You beat me to it, None! I just saw Nikki Finke's tweet about it and raced over here.
I noticed recently that the (reportedly terrible) 3D conversion of the new Clash of the Titans is hitting Blu-ray 3D soon. So I guess hollywood doesn't intend to just sit on the converted movies after they've left 3D theaters. The amount of money from double-dips is just too hard to resist, regardless of the product's actual quality.
ETA several things:
I can see it now.... 2017 rolls around and the converted Star Wars saga is finally complete. Then, a few years later, BAM, Episode VII in native 3D. Just like Lucas "converted" the OT to make them look like modern movies with cgi and digital sound (the SE) and then a few years later, BAM, Episode I with those very same dewbacks and rontos.
All I have to say is that I'm filing this converted saga news under Do Not Want. I don't care how good a job they do, it's still just a 2D movie converted to 3D after the fact. One native eye-view will never look as good as two.
What does everything think this bodes for the OOT? By 2013 we could have an updated Making of Jedi and the first two prequels in 3D and still no OOT blu-ray.
Honestly, the only surefire way to get me excited about a Star Wars movie would be Episode VII, which I could totally see them doing in another eleven years anyway.
hairy_hen raises an interesting question:
What exactly was the source for the '77 crawl in the GOUT?
Zombie, I'm not sure if it's been brought up here at the boards yet, but there's an interview up at thedigitalbits with the answer to your question about the Apocalypse Now BD.
http://thedigitalbits.com/articles/apocalypse/interview01.html
Basically they scanned the 2001 IP (The Redux IP), restored and color-corrected it and, for the '79 version, simply conformed it to that edit. Since it's a relatively simple difference in edits, both versions are seamlessly branched onto a single disc. I expect that BD-50 to be packed to the brim!
If AMC's projectors will all be 4K then we'll have no problem. No new movie is mastered at a higher resolution than 4K unless it's for something like IMAX.
AMC switching completely over to digital projection by 2012 is good news to me and I'll tell you why. Like ChainsawAsh said, every new movie these days goes through a DI anyway, so you're not really gaining anything by seeing it on film.
Secondly, let me give you a couple stories:
I saw Star Trek on opening day and then went back to see it again less than two weeks later. There was a line running down the right side of the print during the last act. Yeah, it's really thin and easy enough to ignore if the scene is relatively dark, but when Spock was flying his ship above the BIG BRIGHT EARTH through the BIG BRIGHT ATMOSPHERE, the line was really noticeable and just made me think "wow, that wouldn't be there if I was seeing this in digital projection."
Then there's my Inception story, oh boy ....
Didn't see it until the Monday after it opened. For starters, there was a thread/fiber/hair/whatever stuck in the gate, so on the lower center of the screen there was this shape sticking out and moving every 24th of a second, really distracting especially during those bright white snow scenes towards the end. It was there from when the trailers started and never went away throughout the entire movie (as a side note, I've learned that if you ever notice something weird about the projection during the trailers then you'd better say something because that's how it's gonna be during the movie). Also, about 30 minutes into the movie the projector turned off and then started up again a few seconds later.
Funny thing is, there was also a screw-up with the one movie I saw projected digitally this summer. Splice was shot in Super 35 but framed at 1.85:1. In other words, it was shot Godfather III style. Whoever was in charge must've thought it was framed at 2.35:1, forgotten to open up the screen, who knows. Subtitles got cut off, tops of heads were getting cut off to an unusual extent (even for Super 35) and - even though I hadn't seen the movie before - it was pretty clear that there was picture information we weren't seeing. For instance, in an establishing shot where we're supposed to see a car driving across the horizon .... we only hear it. I also noticed the odd framing during, ahem, that scene (you know the one I'm talking about if you've seen the movie).
avoidz said:
Fang Zei said:
Ha! I got a Yoda birthday card too! With me it was kinda fitting though, since me, my sister and our cousins had been constantly quoting the Plinkett AOTC review earlier that week. My sister actually wrote "Number One: Everything" in it.Was it the interactive one with the light-up green saber on the front and the music playing?
Nowhere near as elaborate.
avoidz said:
Akwat Kbrana said:
I think another reason many are less than enthusiastic about this release is that we've been double-dipped by LFL in the past. ("That's like putting your whole mouth right in the dip. From now on, when you take a chip, just take one dip and end it.")
When I say I absolutely will not buy any Star Wars set that doesn't include the OUT, it's not just vitriol; I'm really genuinely not interested in the least to see George's "improved" versions, regardless of resolution, audio compression, or format. Even if the color timing was corrected and the audio mix was, as kenkraly2007 is fond of prognosticating, "fixed," I still couldn't care less. These aren't the movies I'm looking for.
That feeling is just intensified when I remember paying full price for the trilogy on DVD in 2004 only to shell out again two years later when the GOUT was released. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I'll gladly wait until until a decent transfer of the OUT is completed before buying another Star Wars product. If that time never comes...oh well, it's not like I'm interested in any of the other cheaply-made, soulless, mass-produced Star Wars garbage coming out these days.
Great post.
I feel betrayed every time I see another Star Wars product these days. Even a Yoda-adorned birthday card I received recently made me resentful of LFL.
Ha! I got a Yoda birthday card too! With me it was kinda fitting though, since me, my sister and our cousins had been constantly quoting the Plinkett AOTC review earlier that week. My sister actually wrote "Number One: Everything" in it.
Speaking of Empire and Jedi, there's something I've been wondering. Were the original six-track versions 5.1, or were they 4.2 like Star Wars? There's a featurette on the Apocalypse Now complete dossier about how it was the first movie to be mixed/played in 5.1 when it opened in '79. Did every other six-track release from then on do the same thing?
Here's something I'll grant Lucas:
LFL doesn't exactly have as many films in its library as any of the major Hollywood studios. In fact, it really only has a handful of titles people would regard as classic. Take away all the royalties LFL receives from all those hundreds of other companies and you're left with only a handful of products they can make a direct profit off of.
Had Star Wars remained the property of 20th Century Fox, right now we'd likely be reading a press release for a Blade Runner treatment and not the PT+SE box set. From a totally realistic, business-minded perspective, I can't really say I blame Lucas for milking the OT the way he has. It would be nice if he'd stop lying about it, "ohhh, they don't exist anymore .... well, I'll put them out, but won't spend a dime remastering them .... it would be way too expensive to remaster the OOT for blu-ray," but I get it, 3 of the few dozen films he owns the rights to just happen to be the most popular movies ever made and he's gotta keep milking them because not only does he know he can, he kinda needs to.
It's a cruel irony, but it's the truth.
Anyone got confirmation of what exactly was projected at the State Theater yesterday?
The reason LFL is waiting another year is simple: a lot more people will have blu-ray players than this year.
Here are all the times the movies got purchased because of me:
-got the '95 full screen vhs of ANH for Christmas that year
-got the '97 widescreen trilogy for Christmas that year
-got the TPM full screen vhs for Easter, 2000
-got the TPM dvd at Sam Goody not long after it came out in October, 2001
-got the AOTC widescreen dvd at Circuit City (they were price-matching a killer price-undercut from Toys R' Us) not long after it came out in November, 2002
-My mom picked up the '04 widescreen set at costco when I was back from school several weeks after it came out.
-Not long before ROTS hit theaters, I found an '86 (original) full screen vhs of Jedi. Shortly thereafter I completed the '95 collection with used copies of Empire and Jedi, but Empire had static every several seconds. A couple years later, I would find a '95 boxset and throw out my earlier '95 individuals. I'd still kinda like to get original vhs copies of ANH and Empire, just so Jedi isn't all by itself. :)
-got the ROTS widescreen dvd the day before it streeted (Halloween, I still remember)
There's a theory that Greedo shooting first was done because Lucas didn't want the ANH SE to get a pg-13.
It's probably the '97. The running time is the only thing throwing that in doubt, but they could've very easily listed the wrong one.
Wow, God I hope it's the original version. Not that I'll be able to see this, but still, perfect follow-up to the Baltimore screening of ANH and it would be awesome to see screen photos.
If this was a true 1980 original, would the print still be in watchable condition after 30 years? Were the post-80 re-releases fresh new prints or were they reused?
For what it's worth, the running time listed is the original....
Normally I would say "It's still the Special Edition, so who cares?" but for the sake of people who will be handing over their money for this LFL will hopefully correct all those problems.