Original/Unaltered "Star Wars" Trilogy on Blu-Ray in 2017

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Bowie Fett, Feb 23, 2017.

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  1. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    It's not impossible. I used to be fully immersed in the Harmy editions at home, they're not more than 720p.
     
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  2. hanshotfirst1138

    hanshotfirst1138 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    I was heartbroken too. I really thought getting the theatrical cut might be that easy. Foolish me. I hit up Warner Archive on Twitter about it, and they basically said they don’t have any plans for the original cut. At least regarding Star Wars, we have he hope of Disney doing it. With THX 1138, it doesn’t sound like there’s even enough interest in the theatrical cut to justify any of it, and even if there was, I’d bet Lucas won’t want it released anyway, and I’m sure that in this case, he has the last word.
     
  3. Rhett

    Rhett Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cool City
    I prefer Adywan's Star Wars restores. Excellent stuff.
     
  4. JAuz

    JAuz Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    They (Lucasfilm/Fox and soon Disney) can, but they should be starting from the original camera negatives (OCN). A print is a few generations away from the OCN so doesn't have the same quality.

    Why haven't they done it? They simply don't want to at this point in time.
     
  5. daca

    daca Currently on Double Secret Probation

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    You may want to update the thread title to 2018, or maybe 21st Century, to be safe.

    [​IMG]
     
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  6. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    And there's a lingering question as to the existence of a complete OCN for Star Wars. Certainly the sections used in the special editions have beeen scanned and restored but we don't know the condition of the shots that were replaced.
     
  7. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Yes.
     
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  8. Encuentro

    Encuentro Forum Resident

    What is meant by “crushed?” I’m familiar with the term “crushed blacks.” Is that what you’re referring to?
     
  9. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Yes, crushed blacks: no detail, kind of muddy. A lot of theatrical prints have this same problem. Low-contrast prints are better, but nothing has the detail of the original camera negative.

    Clipped whites are the brightness version of the same problem, where the white detail has kind of been sheared off and blown out due to overexposure.
     
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  10. greg_t

    greg_t Senior Member

    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    The word has always been that the original negative is basically gone, conformed to the special edition. would it still be useful in as bad of shape as it was in back in the 90’s?
     
  11. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    He's adding things that weren't there originally, like George Lucas but without the license. A fun fan project just because, but not the kind of thing I'm interested in. If you're going to go to all that trouble, I say just make your own movie (and maybe he will -- wouldn't that be a great way to get into filmmaking).
     
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  12. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    I don't like to watch movies on my computer unless it's the only available option. I used to use USB flash drives connected to my Oppo blu-ray player but I've since switched to a spare 2TB portable hard drive I had that pretty much stays plugged into the player all the time unless I'm transferring files to it from my computer.

    I also have an external USB blu-ray burner but I don't often burn discs with it unless I'm dealing with an ISO disc image.
     
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  13. Jerry Horne

    Jerry Horne WYWH (1975-2025)

    Location:
    NW
    I put them into iTunes and watch them on my TV through Apple TV.
     
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  14. budwhite

    budwhite Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

    Location:
    Götaland, Sverige
    MKV file>NAS>Oppo BD>Projector>114" scope screen
     
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  15. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    If I'm understanding your question correctly, the answer is no, it - the camera negative for the 1977 film - was not in any usable state prior to the 1990's restoration... it was badly faded, scratched up, torn, and basically on the point of disintegration; it took a reported $10m and two years of work to restore it back to health. The negative as it exists today - conformed to the Special Edition version, ditto the two sequels - is well preserved and likely still in pristine condition... all three films' camera negatives were re-scanned for the 2004 remastered DVD release, but they managed to screw that up, although theoretically they could be scanned again at any time; in fact, the recent and much-discussed 4K transfers of the OT were almost certainly taken from the altered negatives.

    If the newly-restored negatives had been scanned prior to being altered back in the mid-1990's, it would have made things a lot less complicated, alas...
     
  16. bferr1

    bferr1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    How do you do that? I have a hard drive with some movies on it that I watch through my Oppo, but I'd love to see how they'd look through the AppleTV.
     
  17. enro99

    enro99 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Turn on home sharing on iTunes, then go to “Computer” on Apple TV and you’ll see your iTunes media mirrored there.


     
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  18. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I watch mine by running a hard drive through my Oppo. Indeed, I have transferred many of my physical discs to the 4TB portable hard drive that I run through my Oppo. Works like a charm.
     
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  19. questrider

    questrider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle, Nowhere
    MKV > USB (the trilogy just fits on a 64 GB drive) > Roku 3 > Roku Media Player > 50" plasma TV

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    Original as far as Editing/CGI altered, or with Original effects that have visual issues also?
     
  21. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Well that's the argument. Some say they should be presented absolutely original, FX errors and all, otherwise you embark on a slippery slope that leads to the special editions anyway.

    More sensible people say that the films should be presented as absolutely best as possible while still adhering to the original 1977-1983 vision of the films. That means fix errors, really clean it up, recomp effects (if possible) that looked particularly rough back in the day, and provide a clean, shiny (but not processed to death) new vision of the original trilogy. But with pros like Vidiot suggesting that all you'd need to get rid of some of the most egregious issues like garbage mattes is decent film grading (I think!), I happen to think the films could be restored extraordinarily well.

    Whether that'll happen or not is anybody's guess.
     
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  22. hurple

    hurple Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clinton, IL, USA
    Plex
     
  23. Lownote30

    Lownote30 Bass Clef Addict

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    There are a few weird edits in the original film that Lucas DIDN'T fix. Think of Luke turning off his light saber when they were on the Millenium Falcon while training blindfolded. There's a really odd edit when he turns it off that's still in the newest altered blu-ray versions. There were other things, too, and I would rather have the whole films as they were because Lucas didn't even bother to fix some of the worst edits in the films. He went overboard with CGI instead.
     
    enro99 likes this.
  24. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Fix the technical errors. Garbage matte's, wampa stick, etc. That is all it needs.
     
  25. enro99

    enro99 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Don’t fix anything.

    If you want the originals, take them as they were released. That’s the whole point.

    As Vidiot said, a restrained, proper color correction is all you need.

     
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