RU.08

From the previews I saw on YT (and I love all those negative SE comments I'm seeing there, LOL!) it looks like this is just the 2004 DVD transfers again, and that the 4k scans haven't been touched. Is this right or am I missing something? They certainly aren't advertising it as a new transfer which suggests that the 4k versions will be released later in the year or sometime next year...

Interesting, I didn't know that. But whatever they used it would only have been one film source per reel (whether a negative or a print) per release, right?

I think it was the 1997 version. Before that my understanding is they just scanned the o-negs in Telecines to produce the SD outputs for TV/Laserdisc/VHS. The negatives were cleaned for the 1993 transfers, I don't know if that qualifies them as "restorations" though.

In any case, new theatrical prints were struck for the 1997 SE.

They'd have to use a print to show them the structure if there's no negative (i.e. the o-neg is configured to the 1997 SE).

Also, there are other LD caps available on the spleen, including the "dr gonzo" version which I upped a few months ago. It was done around the same time as this one from the 93 LDs.

The strangest thing about that  is that the OP's not even a new member.

SVHS said:

I'll echo the sentiment that if the theatrical editions appear on HD and 4K blu-ray and are of a noticeably inferior or revised quality to the Legacy edition or Harmy's, I say we get vocal about it and assure people that this is yet another ruined chance to obtain what the audiences saw thirty years ago and in turn, a piece of cinema history.

I should clarify what I meant. Regardless of whether they release just the SE, they don't want it to look worse than what is being shown by Mike. Mike isn't showing the full resolution, but he's showing the shots looking amazing - clean, graded, and free from DVNR or sharpening. SE or OOT they should want the quality to at least match what we're seeing from Mike.

It's interesting to hear you say that. We'll have to wait and see what Disney does. I think they should start restoring their catalogue correctly, they've already damaged their brand immeasurably since the late 90's by releasing crap after crap, and then when it came to DVD and Bluray their animated films (and I was able to see some of them on 35mm, recently) look absolutely horrible in comparison to the 35mm version.

So what I want to see is Disney restoring all of their films properly and releasing them in their original unaltered theatrical formats. That would be good business sense as much as anything else. The next time I see Alice in Wonderland, for instance, I don't want to see something that looks like it was animated on a computer instead of done physically. I'd rather watch the VHS than watch the Bluray.

If they want to do that they will, if they don't want to they won't. I guess we just have to wait and see.

I hope the clips you're releasing will encourage them to set the bar higher. They don't want to have a release come out look worse than what was achieved with your 4k theatrical print scan. If they do that it will be published to a much wider audience than just the members of this forum... and negative publicity is the last thing that Disney needs.

And to think, they could have auctioned off the props for charity!

Or for Lucas's wallet. Now I think about it, I'm surprised he didn't think to do that!

Well in a way it's good that technology has advanced as older films have degraded further and further.

-edit- nevermind

If only Vimeo was 4k...

Well I still say the perspective is all wrong:

The steps on the right are much smaller than those on the left, but they should be an equal size since they represent the same distance (in fact since they're direct on they're a bit closer) to the ones on the left. You can see the entrance has 4 steps below it on the left, but only 3 on the right. The whole perspective of this shot has never looked right to me.

ray_afraid said:

RU.08 said:

The thing I don't like about this painting, isn't the rock, it's the left wall that is recessed behind the vertical "door" that just looks so fake because there's no depth to it (it doesn't look like the wall is going back behind the door). And also for consistency the right-hand wall should be coming further forward. I guess this is the problem when a painting is done "in-place" and there's no time to go back and do another one to fix those things...

 Why does the wall on the left need to match the wall on the right? There's no need for symmetry there. Also, who said that was a door? I've always thought it was just a wall with a garage like door retracted underneath.
I don't see much problem with that part of the composite myself.

Because it isn't low enough, it looks like it's floating in the air. If it was a physical building the characters should be standing almost at the foot of the right-hand stepped wall, not so far in front of it. Look at that line on the concrete - it's straight the whole way and shows a straight shadow underneath it, that's straight with the door. On the left that line is under the door and behind the stepped wall, but on the right it's in front of the stepped door. It looks a bit like this:

By the way I've always wondered why that hanger door was so low, now I know.

doubleofive said:

Really can see the empty hanger they filmed it in front of now:

http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/Star-Wars-Harrison-Ford-Carrie-Fisher-Luke-Hamill-space-38-years-filming-Cardington-Sheds/story-21725256-detail/story.html

Looks like the rock is there to cover the VW Bus!

LOL!

Before:

After:

I agree 100% - it's amazing the process works at all, it really is an art form. The thing I don't like about this painting, isn't the rock, it's the left wall that is recessed behind the vertical "door" that just looks so fake because there's no depth to it (it doesn't look like the wall is going back behind the door). And also for consistency the right-hand wall should be coming further forward. I guess this is the problem when a painting is done "in-place" and there's no time to go back and do another one to fix those things...

I think the safest assumption is that the mattes were visible in some cinemas but not in others. They also had 3 different soundtracks too, so not everyone in '77 got the same experience!

TheBoost said:

Could the lights just be off?

Actually now that I think about it, perhaps that angle doesn't show the blue-screen.

Handman that photo looks great!

@boredom3031 - all I said was that the image is in my opinion the "strongest indication yet" that we are getting the OOT officially on bluray. I may have been mistaken about thinking the shot was from the films (although notice Handman's photo shows the bluescreen and that the photo I posted should show the bluescreen if it's a raw BTS photo), but I still think it's an indication of what's coming. After all it looks so distinctly different to how the DVD version (also released on BD) looks. Of course there's no confirmation yet, notice that we know that they have done a new 4k restoration but we don't know any release details - I think that itself is a good sign. It means they're doing the restoration and then worrying about release, instead of announcing it first and then making the restoration fit to the release deadline.

Mike, team -1 have mentioned several times that the scan is 2k and only the newer prints and areas that needed re-scanning were scanned at 4k, the project is at 2k. Poita's scans, I believe, are all 4k (for the SW trilogy).

@lucasdroid - Mike's scans are for his personal usage and for use with Legacy, not for use by others in their film-based projects.

canofhumdingers said:

Pretty sure that's a behind-the-scenes image and not a still from the film. You can see the stump where the wing ends prematurely and some of the set through the window...

Yeah OK I think you're right, but it's a blue-screen shot and the background is black, so it's not a raw behind-the-scenes shot. Disney has regardless chosen a photo they know will invoke (as it did for me) images of the OOT in the minds of the visitors to starwars.com, to me that's still a pretty strong indication that an official OOT is indeed happening.

Hey guys, check out the image on the homepage of starwars.com right now (this is the story associated with it). It has the black-panel R2 from what I assume is their new 4k restoration. This is the strongest indication yet that the OOT is officially on its way to BD!

(click for full size).

mverta said:

I couldn't release it if I wanted to, having been warned explicitly by the powers-that-be.  Nonetheless, I am and will continue do everything I possibly can to get that to happen, but until that's the case, the work still needs to be done - time is the enemy.  And I will continue to try and help other projects however I can. Believe me, this completely and totally and utterly and entirely bums the shit out of me, too.   But you know what? Life is crazy.  Let's just keep the faith and be patient, stay positive, let the Force do what it's gonna do.  Plenty of miles to go yet.

So Mike, would your contacts be aware of any plans to release a newly restored version officially, if such a project was under way at Disney?

Yes I understand what you're saying, and if I'm correct once you've split the film into your "elements" you would group them into the stacks of similar ones and then designate the work for each group to different restorers in the production line, and then put everything back together once they've all been restored. At least I'm assuming that's how it works, or should work, in an ideal environment.

lucasdroid said:

I hope we can all get a drink one day.

Yeah at MikeV's place where we can watch Legacy while we do that. ;)

@Mike - do you think it would have been significantly more difficult to restore that shot in 2k not 4k in 2002 at the time of the DVD restoration?