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

So... yay?

 

If one reads carefully Rogue One is also set for release on UHD BD but unclear if it will be included on the box set or sold separately.

 

I am so interested in this...only if...

 

Original/Unaltered "Star Wars" Trilogy on Blu-Ray in 2017
is this possible? any idea if we'll get it in 2019?? I've read the above, but maybe you can add light to it?

 

I understand the original versions on the Blue Ray sets are made from the 440i masters used to make the Laser disks. They are not 1080p.

I understand the original negatives are in real bad shape and they cannot print any more films from them. Or am I wrong here?

Idea. Back in the 1970's and early 1980's one could buy movies on 8 / 16 and 35 mm film. Hundreds of 35mm prints of Episode 4, 5 and 6 were issued to movie houses. And hundreds of movie buffs purchased these movie on 16 mm and and 35 mm film. From my research these prints are 700 - 800 lines of resolution. Forget Hammy.
Why didn't Disney make a call out to anyone that still had a working 35 mm print of Episode 4, 5 and 6. And then they can do a Wet Gate 2k scan on the best film print they receive. Or they can scan them all into the computer, pick the best versions and edit that together and give us at least a nice 720 HD version of each film. Oh am I dreaming? Any thoughts on this?


Isn't there at least two fans that have a working 35 mm print of Episode 4?

 

Project 4K77 | The Star Wars Trilogy

Been going on for years. The results are amazing. Disney has more time and resources (than fans with an old print), if the ever wanna do it right.

 

Replace Blu-Ray with DVD and you are right. These were made from the non-anamorphic interlaced 4/3 Standard Def Laserdisc masters.

No the original negatives are mostly fine for their age.

 

Amen. It's the best we can get, and they're great enough where I don't care if there's an official release or not of the OT. Here's to hoping they do 10-bit HDR versions.

 

Well that is good news. Than they should be able to scan them in at 2k or whatever and give us some real HD original Star Wars. Why is Disney sticking us with these Laserdisk masters?

 

Thanks, but now I am confused. If they can give us real HD or even 4k original Star Wars than why are we stuck with those Laser disk master things?

 

There's a rumor that Disney made a promise to Lucas to NOT release the original unaltered trilogy while he is alive.

 

Never wished anyone dead before! Too harsh?

 

Nobody makes traditional lab prints any more (at least not in the grand scheme of things). They take the original negative, check all the splices and sprocket holes, fix any damage, and then gently scan them on a $500,000 pin-registered scanner (at fairly slow speed) to high-res uncompressed digital files. The scanner looks like this:



The usual format they use is 4K 16-bit DPX files, which actually represent more detail and more color depth than native 35mm negative has, particularly prior to the 1990s. They "conform" these files on a computer, basically an editing system, so that it forms each reel of the movie in order. Complex digital fixes are made for damaged frames, removing dirt, jitter, rips, tears, flicker, flash-frames, excessive grain, and other flaws. Once the film is conformed, it's handed off to a digital colorist who laboriously color-corrects each shot and each scene so that the movie works as a continuous experience. Great care is taken to make sure the negative image matches the best surviving print, or -- in lieu of that -- the filmmakers' creative intent. (This scanner is capable of 6K if you really want to go that high, but I'm not convinced that much resolution existed in 35mm because of the limitations of lenses and emulsions. 65mm can definitely hit 6K with the right lenses.) Prints are actually among the worst source materials you can use for a digital master, because they lack the detail and contrast needed for scanning. They can work for traditional projection, but not so much for the digital realm.

A different scanner was used for the 2004 Blu-ray release of Star Wars and Jedi, and I wasn't happy about it but that work was already done and there wasn't enough schedule or budget to redo it. Original camera negative (OCN) scanned on a machine like this is going to look many, many times better than a print. The reason why is that almost all surviving prints went down about 4 analog generations -- OCN -> IP (interpositive) -> IN (internegative) -> theatrical print. Eliminating those other generations removes a massive amount of crud and ugliness and gets back to the image that was actually in front of the camera.

Unless and until Disney wants to spend the money to restore these films correctly, we don't got that yet. Especially with a well-intentioned fan efforts from people who don't know what they're doing. This would be a hard, hard, hard project under the best of circumstances: even the sessions we did back in 2004 took 6 weeks per film, and that was 7 days a week, often 10-12 hours a day. I'm guessing each movie took over 1000 hours just of color work alone. And there were crews of 10-15 technicians in the background tirelessly removing all the dirt, scratches, and other film flaws that had been embedded in the negative for 40+ years.

The original negative is still barely usable for a scan -- I held some of it in my hands at ILM -- and there are enough scraps that they could put together the original version if they wanted to. All it takes is a lot of time, money, and effort. Taste and experience also helps (a lot). But first... they have t

 

That’s it. Freeze the thread. Thank you Vidiot.

 

I think I will have to live with the original vhs black box.

 

@Vidiot Did your post get cut off, or was that intentional?

 

I just re-read it and it looks fine to me. What, you want the entire Arrilaser brochure? This is just the photo of the machine, and I figured people might like to know what the technology looks like. I gave a short explanation of the process and how a film like Star Wars is actually restored.

My point is that the O-neg to Star Wars is bad enough that I wouldn't want to use it to make a print again, and it'd kind of be pointless because it wouldn't look good. But you could scan it digitally and use it for a new restored version, after many months of work to fix it.

 

Just talking about the last sentence, "But first...they have t"

 

From this link...

2011 Blu-ray:


4k77:

 

I don't care what Videot says I think the work that was done on the 4K-- releases is incredible, especially when you consider the sources that they had available to them to work with. I'm sure they could be done even better given more manpower and resources but I don't really watch the official releases anymore with the exception of Empire.

 

If the bottom one is the amazing one then it's proof that there's no accounting for taste. The Star Wars movie I saw at the theater at first release was far more neutral in tone, not dingy yellowish orange. It's neutral tone was very much like Stanley Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey".

I saw the trailer for Star Wars A New Hope on the Johnny Carson Show back when it was released and I immediately noticed this unique color palette. I also liked the way all the sets, weapons, exterior shots of fighter ships and hover craft were worn and used, not brand spanking new looking. Skin tones did not have a jaundice look to them. They looked normal and this was off a projected print.

Now I have the 2011 Blu Ray and it does exhibit more of an optical brightening neutral slightly on the cool side but it's not that objectionable. But it does look like it was shot within the last ten years. IOW it looks like modern color.

 

This is how the 2011 BD looks on my eyeball calibrated 32in Samsung HDtv...

 

So basically still ...nothing..notta..zip...

I dont think these will ever be done correct by the ones who could.

 

@Vidiot Do you know what the new 4K Blu-ray’s were mastered off? Despite the DNR I think it looks noticeably cleaner and more defined than the 2011.

 

Is the Original Camera Negative of Star Wars in worse condition than The Godfather? If they are roughly in the same state of condition than they could certainly do an admirable job of restoring the film (taking many hours of labour and $$$ of course).