timdiggerm

Okay, so let's be clear on some things:

The scene where Luke's hand is repaired isn't Mark Hamill. It is, however, Luke Skywalker, and it is, despite not being Mark Hamill, part of Star Wars. I mean, obviously.

John Williams wrote music for a scene in which Luke builds his lightsabre. Composers write music for things that have been filmed, not things that haven't been filmed. It's reasonable to believe that such a scene was, at some point filmed. I believe Anthony Daniels even said it was filmed, right?

Thus, even if that's not Mark Hamill, that is the scene, and it's not "fake". The corridor Vader is walking down is seen to be outside the Death Star Hangar in the film "Return of the Ewok", which makes this scene fit incredibly well between Vader's arrival and the Droids going to Jabba's. Even if that's not Mark Hamill and he's lying in that clip, it's still a real Star Wars cut scene.

That being said, people's memories are imperfect. Mark could have filmed the scene and forgotten about it until he saw it again. Things like that can jog your memory, you know.

Yeah, not flat grey. Sorta blue-grey. More grey than anything else, but not plain grey.

Bingowings said:

^Didn't he look more like that in ROTS?

Noooooo

Actually, yeah, after some thought, I realized that I don't know that the collector is British - It's the print that is. So, could be and probably is an American who owns it.

As for where: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=the+senator+theatre&sll=39.290385,-76.612189&sspn=0.273154,0.435333&ie=UTF8&hq=Senator+Theatre&hnear=Senator+Theatre&ll=41.244772,-76.772461&spn=16.968902,27.861328&t=h&z=5&iwloc=A

Baltimore, Maryland, USA, North America, Earth

For the record: I think evidence in the dreaded prequels suggests that just because you see the viewer as a little man doesn't mean that he sees you as a giant. I'm thinking of Obiwan speaking remotely to the Jedi Council, I think.

My friend has got his photos up, now viewable at http://petergaultney.smugmug.com/Movies/historic/Star-Wars-at-The-Senator/13089279_nXePV#948662138_wuqj9

As for costumes - There were several folks with lightsabers, and some of them were dressed as jedi. No troopers though.

As much as those look cool, Angel, they're a long ways from footage, aren't they?

Also, way too colorless.

Oh, okay, didn't realize that line was absent for so many versions.

As for the Binary Sunset comparisons, I wish I could help you, but I don't remember now. A friend of mine took some photos, and while that's yet another layer of processing going on there, I'll let you know when they're available.

Well thanks! Like I said, what I saw didn't perfectly match Ady's work.... but the Star Destroyer was slightly red in what I saw, and that's probably not right either. So, Ady's probably spot on.

I was there.

1. From what I've read, it was actually the 1981 re-release print, as it had "EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE" and "Close the blast doors! Close the blast doors!" was missing.

2. The print is in really, really, really great condition. The Star Destroyer in the opening looked a little pink, which I'm guessing was a tint affecting the whole film, and there was some dirt when Owen was buying the droids (I think...it was on Tatooine, I remember that). But other than that? Amazing. It was beautiful.

3. Seeing Star Wars with an enthusiastic crowd that laughs and cheers and claps throughout is a lot of fun. Also fun is the mixed reactions to Leia kissing Luke on the cheek. "Yeaaaah!" and "....uuuuuh....."

4. The print is owned by a private collector in Britain. The Senator had been run by the same family for 71 years, so they had a lot of connections. Thus, when word got out that they were closing, friends talked to friends talked to friends and got them the print to use.

P.S. The Senator will reopen under new management...soon, hopefully. Gorgeous theatre.

P.P.S Some footage viewable at the end of this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEctWVF4J_w

A few nights ago, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, a historic theatre called The Senator, built in 1939, closed down. It'll be reopened under new management soon, but it's the end of an era. But that's not really what I'm posting about.

To commemorate this, they got ahold of a British IB Technicolor print of A New Hope. They said it was the original, 1977 version, but things like "EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE" and a lack of "Close the blast doors!" tell me it was the 1981 re-release. That being said, it was a high quality (like I said, IB Technicolor, if you know what that means) print, barely faded if at all, only dirt in a few places. It was beautiful.

The first time I ever saw Star Wars was on the THX Remaster VHSs, and then of course the Special Edition in theaters and the 2004 DVDs later. When I first watched Revisited, I was pleased, but not fully convinced about all of the color correction.

After watching the original version on a big screen, I can confirm that Adywan is doing this brilliantly well. Folks can argue about the changes, the newly composited lasers, etc, but the basic premise, that Adywan is color-correcting the films so they look how they looked, how they ought to look is 100% right.

Thanks, Ady.