Star Wars (1977) original Blu ray. Crappier than ever.

The point is that it would be revisionist. There's been enough of that with Star Wars over the last two decades imo. I for one am very happy, that we finally have a presentation, that looks like films of that era should look.

 

Reminds me of the loudness wars. Brighter(louder) but not really HDR( dynamically compromised).

Having said that its most likely not really HDR, is it an improvement for what it is? Or is it fooling people just like the loudness wars did?

 

It is real HDR according to the colorist, but just applied conservatively.

 

Film has a much higher dynamic range than video. I don't see how it would be revisionsit to take a little more advantage of the possibilities of HDR. To show where I'm coming from I hate most Special Editions changes and couldn't bear the Blu-Ray color grading.
I wanted the best 4k master for Star Wars but to the limited experience I had, it seemed to me a bit dull, duller in comparison to most other UHD transfers of films from the era that I have seen on Blu-Ray. I'm not talking going overboard, I would have liked just a little more pep, that's all. Maybe the streaming compression is partly to blame.
My post was also to warn others not to expect things like the Superman or Alien 4K's for instance. But I'm cautiously waiting for the physical discs.

 

My point was that what I sampled seemed like standard dynamic range to my eyes. Color and resolution on the other hand were improved, and it's great to finally have a new transfer!
Although the CGI additions really stick out even more, the added shots look softer and fuzzy in comparison with the rest.

 

BTW, note this screen grab from the new Rise of Skywalker. Just sayin'.



If it were me, I would made the white lights pure white (and Rey's costume more white), but I'm sure that creative decisions were made.

 

I recently downloaded 4k77 and man it is a game changer. I am totally satisfied with that to the point of not feeling the need to seek out any other versions of A New Hope. Once ESB comes out, the entire theatrical version of the OT in great quality will be out and that is good enough for me

 

They sound great too, and have more than one soundmix to chose from.

A true labor of love from everyone involved!

 

Well the peak brightness seen for the films is about 400 nits, compared to a max 100 nits for SDR, so it definitely has a higher dynamic range than SDR.

 

But Vidiot, how can you say it's not meant to be off-white? You don't know where that screengrab is from or what equipment was used to get it or

 

This is from Disney's PR department. One assumes the PR photos are correct and are exported frames from the final color sessions (which is pretty typical).

Note the overall contrast of the cockpit. Just sayin'.

 

The value of white seems to be one of the bigger problems with colorization. They never seem to get teeth correct, often looking like the original gray color from the black & white. Regarding IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and the various SCROOGE movies that were colorized, look at the snowy scenes and tell me they look realistic. They don't, largely because they make the snow TOO white. That's OK for a brightly lit daytime scene, but these often appear at night. Snow, lit by street-lamps, neon signs, etc. would take on the color of those light sources, and often they don't.

And in that screenshot above, if the scene is in a flourescent-lit environment, then yes, things should look a bit greenish, the way they do in real life under those lights.

 

In 2019, you're surprised a movie used a teal push?

 

I'm going to jump in this thread with limited knowledge and experience in the field but..

I watched some parts of the 2160p HDR Disney + version of Empire Strikes Back last night. I watched a quite bit of the Hoth battle scenes and a little of the Bespin scenes, especially the Vader dinner scene and some of the lightsaber battle.

I don't have a fantastic TV. I've got a basic 2160p Samsung 55 inch model MU6290. I know its nowhere near as good as some of the fancy equipment many of you have. I haven't even done any major calibration set-ups to it. So.. my opinion can be taken at face value.

But.. my impression is the movie looks too clean. I don't know exactly how to describe that. My wife said the same thing. Its too crystal clear and too clean. It almost looks like a brand new movie, not something you would expect from 1980. There is virtually no film grain. I just didn't look like a movie to me. And.. this is notwithstanding the fact that it is the Special Edition, rather than the original 1980 version. I'm not talking about new special effects and added stuff like in the Bespin scenes. The general look of the film is just too crystal clear.

I really took notice of this during the Hoth Rebel base scenes, especially when the base is in shambles and Han is in the control room trying to get Leia out. It just had a look to it that didn't set right with me. It looked like all of the other brand new movies I've seen in 4K and HDR.


Whatever all of my ramblings mean..... I really want to just tag in to the thread so I can follow it. I'm going to try to watch parts of A New Hope and Jedi soon and see if I feel the same way.

 

Yes there seems to be some de-graining going on. But I didn't notice any obvious adverse effects.

 

The Digital Bits with a summary of the 4K Blu-ray. But first, a breakdown of all the information collected about the creation and fate of the original version (emphasis mine):

Re: the video and audio on the Blu:

Extras:

Star Wars: A New Hope (4K UHD Review)

Similar reviews for Empire and Jedi.

Extras on Empire:

A couple excerpts from the ROTJ review:

Great comprehensive reviews!

It would be lovely to get Empire of Dreams and the other three missing documentaries on a separate The Making Of Star Wars set, but that seems to be a pipe dream.

Still not worth it if you have to have the GOUT (as originaltrilogy forum members call it; George's Original Unaltered Trilogy), but apparently a step up in bitrate from the Disney+ versions:

for those who care about such things.

ALSO. From Bill's Twitter:

 

Not according to Rick McCallum, who stated at the time that scanning an entire film's camera negative in the mid-1990's was prohibitively expensive and only the optical composite footage were scanned in 2K. The Special Editions were sourced from IP's and photo-chemically timed.

Maybe I'm wrong, but perhaps @Vidiot can clarify things... I was under the impression the O-Negs weren't given a comprehensive 2K scan at 1080p resolution until work on the DVD releases began in 2003... and they even managed to botch that, for heaven's sake!!!

 

Without reading the 58 Pages. I'm happy that i bought DVD's with the untouched cinema versions on it, back in the days.

 

I think they were just conservative with the use of HDR. Why do everybody expect HDR 10/Dolby Vision movies to look like a X'mas Tree?

 

Is there a consensus on whether the DNR or noDNR is better?

Just going by screenshots, the DNR version seemed better so I started with that. But in motion, it looks really dark, especially the trash compactor scene.

Then I tried the noDNR version. This is the one for me! This is the Star Wars I remember. I wonder if most people agree, or at least the ones who saw it as kids.

 

I've had the UK 9 film 4K UHD box set on order since January, but I'm starting to reconsider. With the films themselves, the Disney+ 4K Dolby Vision/Atmos versions are more than good enough on my system. I'm sure I could make out an improvement with the lossless Atmos soundtracks on the disc vs the DD+ Atmos version on streaming if I were to A/B them. Likewise with the 4K HDR visuals (via a Sony 55" LCD here). I'm just not sure I'd be getting £200 of improvement.

The extras on the new set are the disappointment. If ever a Star Wars set warranted the 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach to extras, as per the 2007 5 disc Blade Runner set, this would be it.

Still in my collection and missing (off of the top of my head):

• 1995 VHS ISD Executor tin box: From Star Wars to Jedi, The Making of a Saga; vintage Lucas interviews.
• 1997 SE Laserdisc box: vintage Rick McCallum doc on the SE changes.
• 2001-2005 2DVD prequel sets: FX complete deleted scenes & others.
• 2004 4DVD box set: Empire Of Dreams doc.
• 2006 2DVD sets: 1977-1983 films (not that the old laserdisc masters were any good but they 'cover' my Harmy Despecialized files.)
• 2011 BluRay box: Vintage Making Of Star Wars & SPFX Empire Strikes Back docs, Boba Fett animated section from the Holiday Special.
• 2015 iTunes OT & PT purchases: Everything present as far as I can tell.
• 2016-2020 ST purchases: Everything present as far as I can tell.

Plenty missing from the new set and nothing new, Rise/Skywalker excepted as the film isn't even released digitally here in UK. I'd still have to keep all my old sets and discs about for the missing extras and the new box doesn't seem to bring anything new to the party extra wise.

Will see if the consensus from US reviewers has the 4K discs as a warranted upgrade to the Disney+ films. Otherwise I'll stick with Disney+ for the films and my older physical/digital sets for the extras. I'm already planning to subscribe to Disney+ longterm for the MCU & classic Disney content, and I'll take the risk of the unlikely removal of the Star Wars films.

Happy to be corrected on the above if anyone knows better

 

Me too, along with the original VHS copies. I've given up on ever getting a cleaned up release of the original cuts.

 

Dear Disney, release the original cuts and I'll push some money your way. Until then, no way.

 

Would love a clean up of this, but I don't think we'll ever see it again. It's too revealing and against the mythology that Lucas/Lucasfilm has created for the Star Wars saga since...

 

Yeah...it's funny how back in the day George was open to admitting, "yeah I kinda was making it all up as I went"

Now it's the false narrative that George had every nuance of the first six episodes planned out all the way back in the mid 70s and it's only the current movies that had "no plan". The original trilogy wasn't really even a trilogy. It was a stand alone followed by a duology that itself was was improvised.