JadedSkywalker

Yeah the laserdisc did look bad as a bonus disk in 2006 on the DVD, and people were rightly mad. I don’t remember anyone hating the laserdiscs when they were released except for how expensive definitive collection was. Friends of mine, schoolmates all wanted to be able to afford a laserdisc player or the movies. Most of us had to settle for VHS. I didn’t get a player til 2005.

I still to this day wonder why George thinks people will throw rocks at him for the originals.

My favorite part of the article is Lucas passing shot at Disney and how they don’t understand the Force, lol. Same old George.

I’ll just take your word for it since they’ve 404 the article its gone. Lucas said in 2011 it was an oxymoron to release the original.

They were conformed to the 1997 edit they physically took the o-neg apart washed it chemically replaced all the bad cri stock, and also replaced all the old opticals with newly recomposited effects from old film pieces Lucas saved. Even the 2k render of the cgi was printed back to film, this was all hand spliced together by a negative cutter with cement like the old days. In theory using several other sources you could reassemble the original edit. Has the duplicate negative with the misaligned color layer been checked in recent years? They can fix that digitally now but it wasn’t possible in 1997.

I could have sworn i had The Last Crusade in Letterbox Laserdisc from Japan but couldn’t find it so i bought a no frills viewing copy for 6 bucks, its loose from the box set. The cover is damaged. But if the discs play what do i care. I just want to see all 3 films.

So i have Raiders Rental with OBI Letterbox, Temple with no OBI Letterbox, and Box set Last Crusade Letterbox.A weird way to watch them sure. But i paid 24 for Raiders, 13 for Temple and 6 for LC, way less than the 80-100 dollar price the boxed set goes for. It also means i don’t have the making of disc but i have the making of Raiders from the us release, and great movie stunts which the Japanese set doesn’t, yeah its analog no digital, but is digital sound and great adventurers and their quests worth another 50, not for me.

While looking for LC letterbox i tested both the evergreen pan and scan which was nice, and first issue which is rotten.

I also tested 3 Criterion titles so far Akira was very nice, same for CAV DR No, Ghostbusters CAV is rotten its an expensive gatefold this made me furious. Going to have to test all my Criterions there is a good chance most of them will have rot, i hope its just Ghostbusters.

Edit: None of my Criterions have major rot except Ghostbusters.

Just purchased Indiana Jones 4K 4 film collection I already have Dial in 4k. 70 bucks is a bit much for 4 films but with 4k and Atmos it is a substantial upgrade. Deep Discount beat Amazon’s price by a couple of bucks.

Added the rental Laserdisc for Dr. No, no OBI that was 30. And added the 2000 Star Wars trilogy laserdisc set that was 99 bucks also no OBI. Added Project A-ko Perfect disc OBI, gatefold, glue edge damage and laser rot a waste of 40 dollars.

I was referring to the Vistavision process i’m aware Doug’s large format shows have been scanned at much higher resolutions warranted for 65mm neg, i should have been more clear.

For years i advocated they go back and scan the Vistavision in 6k for Star Wars i kept being told the detail wasn’t there. Its a moot point its not getting restored in my lifetime, period. The negative is in a vault somewhere and Disney is perfectly happy with the 4K DI. People don’t even bother petition Disney Lucasfilm, they are either happy with 4K77, 4k80 and 4k83, or Harmy’s projects or just have given up and moved on.

Star Wars 1977 has been suppressed for 40 years its never getting released again, i wish it weren’t so. I wish in May 25th 2027 there would be a perfect print in the cinema for the 50th anniversary, but I’ve been down this road multiple times since 1997, its not happening.

I only know of one movie that went back to the original effects and scanned higher than 4k Star Trek the Motion Picture.

I suppose like there they could scan the Vistavision shots at 6k. It just seems like something Lucasfilm wouldn’t do when most of the special edition is locked to 2k or lower res anyway depending on the shot. In theory they could redo the original cuts in 4k or higher but we are talking about matte printers and optical composited visuals its not my level of expertise, the guys you’d have to ask are John Dykstra or Dennis Muren if it would be possible.

I finally watched Kenobi, despite being very fanfilm like i liked Obi Wan’s relationships with the other characters, especially Leia. I liked him grieving Anakin and realizing Anakin made a choice to be evil, to become Vader. He had to forgive himself. The worst aspect is the inquisitors you could cut them entirely, and just have Vader tracking him with probes or a bounty hunter. Also the lack of Star Warsy music there was none beyond Williams theme for Obi- Wan. The fighting style for the lightsaber duels was wrong and if they wanted it to look OT should have visually followed the style of Rogue One. Design wise it also looked fanfilm from poor choreography, to designs that didn’t look Star Wars. and Obi-Wan not developing a relationship with Luke is a joke. But i do think Ewan and Hayden were good.

Also the shaky cam and lightsabers looked like a fanfilm.

Cinematography and detail were stunning for Blu-Ray.

For a not necessary character Reva holds her own, her wanting revenge on Vader is a believable motivation, despite her evil acts in trying to harm or kill children. They make more sense than Anakin learn the dark side to save Padme, and then him crushing her neck with the dark side because of his posessiveness. Then Padme dying of a broken heart.

I’m watching Andor next.

crissrudd4554 said:

And technically Spielberg is STILL revising his films on home video. Maybe not to full on Lucas level but the idea that the versions of his movies available right now are fully true to the theatrical versions is false. There’s been recompositing, minor digital tweaks to correct matting and other things, changes in color timing, changes to audio. So if anything he’s not really proving himself to be any better than his buddy George when it comes to preserving his work as is. Yes the changes might be minor in comparison but they’re still changes.

Also the ET Special Edition is only available on DVD i saw that in cinema on 35mm it should be available in HD whether one likes the changes or not.

Speaking of Lucas did he always see Star Wars as a silent movie or was that just another way to defend the dialog in the prequel trilogy?

I want complete scores of what is actually heard in the films, as well as all that was written composed and recorded. Disney hasn’t done that.

King Kong 1933 if Warner Archive ever gets into 4K. Same for Errol Flynn Adventures of Robin Hood.

Also wouldn’t mind if Shout/Gkids did all the other Studio Ghibli in 4k now that Boy and the Heron is getting a release.

Channel72 said:

When TFA came out in 2015, Daisy Ridley’s performance - and her chemistry with Finn - was actually one of the major aspects I liked about the movie. It was such a breath of fresh air to see actual acting and chemistry after 3 Prequel movies of non-stop wooden acting and lifeless characters.

But that turned out to be just a small silver-lining after the Sequel Trilogy devolved into a catastrophic incoherent mess. As for the upcoming movie, Daisy Ridley is a good actress, but it’s hard to be too excited about this new movie. I mean, even Adam Driver’s amazing performance couldn’t save the Sequels. It’s really all about the writing - and so far Disney has been sorely lacking in that department.

I liked the aspect of her being a scavenger but like Finn being a runaway Stormtrooper they did nothing with it. So disappointing, they were so desperate to hew to the OT they did nothing new. Rey being a nobody i really liked. Really what i hate more than anything is Rebels vs Empire again, and Jedi VS Sith. I’m not saying i wanted a midichlorian macrobiotic world but some difference would have been nice.

I give ILM credit for the effects and production design was top rate, and cinematography were great. Good looking movies, decent acting, good music, the screen stories are lacking.

American Graffiti Signature collection LD US mail crushed in the bottom 2 corners of the jacket but the discs are fine.

Also just bought Raiders of the Lost Ark LD Japanese Rental Disc from 1994, Letterboxed sealed. Was a steal for 24 dollars.

I only watched like 5 minutes of Star Wars i thought it looked rather good in HDR mode, but yes i can see the frozen grain and lack of sharpness. On disc not plus i don’t do streaming i believe in owning my media.

So yes that means i have the Disney trilogy Rogue One and Solo, and the prequel trilogy all in 4K. I just don’t have the Disney plus shows in 4K and i honestly have no intention of rebuying them in 4K.

I have watched the blu-ray discs. Once just like the 2011 set.

Channel72 said:

fmalover said:

In that scenario I fear Lucasfilm would have turned into Filoni’s fanfiction playground. I’m glad we aren’t living in that world.

Wait what? I am actually living in that world. Can you help me build a transdimensional portal so I can come to your timeline, where Lucasfilm isn’t just Dave Filoni’s fan-fiction playground?

i’m actually laughing out loud because yes since Clone Wars we have been living in Dave’s world with Star Wars.

I don’t think George had an intention of making sequels reading the artbooks it was Kathy Kennedy who decided on a sequel trilogy when she was VP. And by all accounts the original characters were going to be cameos at best, and not even characters at worst. Since Disney wanted their own stamp on Star Wars. George showing Rick Carter and the art department his treatment is very bizarre since he had sold the company.

Never mind move along.

American Graffiti THX laserdisc from 1996. Really crummy transfer with good audio. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just ported over a VHS because its so soft and blurry its junk.

The bootleg 35mm telecine of the 1973 version blows this official release away. Though the original DVD looks the best of all the releases, even with DNR. The worst is either Laserdisc that isn’t the Signature Collection or the 4K.

litemakr said:
There are several different mixes for Raiders:

1981 Early/Alternate mix (see below for details)*
1981 Theatrical Dolby Stereo 4 track mix on 35mm prints (also used for monophonic showings)
1981 Theatrical Dolby 6 track mix (used on 70mm film prints)
1983 Stereo mix (used for VHS, Beta, laserdisc and TV releases). Created specifically for the video release and does not have the encoded Dolby surround or center tracks from the theatrical mix.
1992 Laserdisc mix - new stereo mix with encoded Dolby surround and center channels.
2003 DVD 5.1 mix - derived from the 1981 6 track mix.
2012 Blu-ray mix - new mix with a loud LFE channel, different dialogue/effects/music balance and some sound effects pushed into the LFE channel.
2021 UHD mix - derived from the blu-ray mix with added Dolby Atmos effects and reduced LFE channel level.

The original 1981 Dolby Stereo mix has never been released on any home video format.

*To add complexity, an early mix with different dubbed voices, sound effects and music editing was used on some 8mm and 16mm prints and at least one HDTV showing. This mix was also used in 1981 as the basis for almost all international dubs. A new final mix was done very close to release but only used on English language releases because there wasn’t time to redo the foreign language mixes.

Strange that the 1989 evergreen Japanese Laserdisc claims to be Surround right on the Jacket then if as you say no home release of theatrical. Its also digital LPCM. Per my ears and i’m no expert it sounds derived from an analog optical mix its not as clean as the Letterbox from the 1990s.

Mocata said:
I feel like ROTJ and the Last Crusade have a similar special effects problem where they had to create a lot more sequences but without more time to perfect them, so there are bad blue screens, matte paintings etc.

Well ILM was very busy in 1989 so busy they couldn’t do Star Trek V even though they wanted to. Busy with Indiana Jones 3, Ghostbusters 2, The Abyss, Back to the Future II.

The only problem i see on JEDI is Howard Kazanjian wanting to remain on budget per George Lucas and a time crunch. And them wanting to strike sets because they didn’t have enough space to build them all and keep them all up. There is also a more documentary approach to it, not trying multiple takes to get a shot perfect, a quick and dirty if you will mentality. I believe Marquand even said Empire was too sexy and stately and Shakepearean. And he was more in line with how George made Star Wars the original, get a shot down move on, fix it in post/editing or reshoots.

I think even the camera they bought and cinematography is second rate to the first two which were shot on Panavision. They had to rent them George wanted to buy a camera to keep costs down, they bought an Arriflex.

Some fans think the Had Addadon scenes and the Wookiee planet staying in would save it, and I too used to like that idea but Return of the Jedi’s problems are all in the screenplay story Lucas wrote, and all the ways he wanted to quickly tie everything up and close the book on Star Wars. Because he really had no intention at the time to make anymore Star Wars films, his marriage had broken up, he quit directing. He really consigned himself to being chairman of the board of Lucasfilm, sort of like Walt Disney corporate type rather than an artist.

I don’t generally agree with Larry Kasdan or Gary Kurtz on killing Han, or even on the idea of Gary’s about Leia becoming Queen of her people. Or his dislike for Raiders of the Lost Ark. But some of what he said had merit why revisit another Death Star, but i do agree on principle that ROTJ has no stakes and is listless. I feel like what was set up in Empire Vader tempting Luke to join him to overthrow the Emperor was a plot line poorly used in JEDI, or was it dropped completely? Honestly that and Leia being the sister, the love triangle being dropped kind of piss me off.

Willow THX Laserdisc taking a shot on this one it may arrive broken in the mail or unplayable due to laser rot. the common price on this now of 25 dollars is also too high but i paid it anyway.

I’m also trying to get American Graffiti THX laserdisc but only if the seller comes down on the price, 30 is too much. Its a very common title, i’d pay that for the signature collection but this isn’t that one with the cgi sunset its the 78 theatrical.

Edit: i just said the hell with it and i was determined to watch the movie so i paid 30 dollars for American Graffiti, very high even for a sealed copy.

So other than the signature collection, the Japanese THX releases of Graffiti, i have every Lucasfilm THX title. Except for the THX Wow disc.

Got release day delivery on OBI-WAN on Blu-Ray. Andor was out of stock so i got it from Deep Discount. Waiting on that. I already have Mando season 1 and 2 and haven’t even watched more than the first episode off the Blu-Ray or second episode? Once i have a 4k tv set and player in a week or two i don’t know if its worth rebuying these. I have select things in 4K i bought at a discount with combo packs. Disney are cheapskates for their not being a 4K/BLU combo. And the overall price for the number of episodes is crazy. Cost me like 111 bucks just for Andor and OBI-WAN, take off the tax and shipping and its close to 90 its absurd. And Mando cost me about the same so 200 bucks for 4 shows/seasons.

Dune 2, amazing cinematography. And i’m one of those guys who hates digital.

I was reading the Star Wars liner notes on the LP from Charley Lippincott and it brought up how pissed i am at him being written out of Star Wars and the Lucas histories and how important he was to the early years of Star Wars.

The problem i have with Oz though is that Dorothy was bonked on the head and it was a dream, without Oz being a real place, a secondary universe the myth is shattered. Film is almost perfect for me but for the ending.

In Baum just like Middle Earth it exists as a real world, or like Wonderland does in the Alice books.

Does Coppola even still have the U-Matic workprint. I know it hasn’t been offered as a bonus video in SD resolution.

I was watching the featurette at the beginning of the Phantom Menace Letterbox VHS and i literally laughed out loud when Rick McCallum said its so dense.

Don’t get me wrong i’ve mostly been enjoying my tapes of the prequels warts and all but damn the people interviewed in this tape at ILM are laying it on thick.