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Star Wars Prequels Movies

Lucasfilm Creates A 4K Ultra-HD Restoration of the Original 'Star Wars' (4k.com) 304

Posted by EditorDavid from the new-hope dept.
An anonymous reader quotes 4K.com: When the first ever of the Star Wars films, "A New Hope" turns 40 in 2017, millions of dedicated fans of the immensely popular franchise might get a very unique treat in the form of a limited theater screening in beautifully restored form with theatrical 4K resolution of the first movie released in the series. According to recent comments made by Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, a 4K restoration of Star Wars Episode IV "A New Hope" does indeed exist and now the only real question is whether or not the cleaned up and sharpened version of the movie will be hitting the big screen once again.
White it's release status is unknown, the ultra-high definition footage is said to be spectacular. In the interview, Edwards says "You can't watch it without getting carried away... It just turns you into a child."
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Lucasfilm Creates A 4K Ultra-HD Restoration of the Original 'Star Wars' More

Lucasfilm Creates A 4K Ultra-HD Restoration of the Original 'Star Wars'

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  • Keep it original... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Frosty Piss ( 770223 ) * on Sunday January 01, 2017 @08:34PM (#53590255)

    I hope they don't do something stupid like add additional content like they did with THX1138.

    • Re:Keep it original... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Sunday January 01, 2017 @09:38PM (#53590515)

      of the Original 'Star Wars'

      More Fake News. I don't believe it for a second. Unless Han shoots first and all of the other crap has been put back to where it was when the film was created, then it isn't the Original Star Wars. And even though that whore Lucas no longer has any say in this production, I can't see the new whores allowing us to have a true copy of the Star Warts film masterpiece.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Check out the "Despecialized Editions". They are fan made restorations of the original movies, with all the additions and changes removed. Han shoots first, Jabba is just a guy in the first one, all the stupid CG crap has been done away with.

        The amount of effort that went into the project is amazing. They took footage from multiple sources - the Bluray release, the older DVD "original trilogy", laserdiscs, scanned film prints, even some still photos taken on set and of props. Re-coloured everything to match

      • Unless Han shoots first and all of the other crap has been put back to where it was when the film was created, then it isn't the Original Star Wars.

        And removing "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" from the opening crawl. That didn't appear until the 1981 re-release.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Huh? I didn't THX1138 got added stuff.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Mitreya ( 579078 )

      I hope they don't do something stupid like add additional content like they did with THX1138.

      They will add a dream sequence, making it clear that Luke is actually a replicant.
      (Of course they'll add stuff, otherwise it'd be hard to justify selling yet anoter special edition for $$$).

  • The Cantina (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nickovs ( 115935 ) on Sunday January 01, 2017 @08:41PM (#53590283)

    "... now the only real question is whether or not the cleaned up and sharpened version of the movie will be hitting the big screen once again."

    No! Now the only real question is whether or not they will show that Han shot first!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Rei ( 128717 )

      I agree with Cinema Sins that even worse than making Han shoot first is making Greedo (who let's not forget is a professional bounty hunter) be such a terrible shot that he can shoot at Han (who isn't moving) from less than a meter away and not even be close to hitting him.

    • When people under 35 tell me they have seen the original Star Wars I ask them if they saw it on VHS. If they didn't or if it says A New Hope, then it is not Star Wars, it is the remake A New Hope.
  • if you were a child in 1977.

  • I thought they originals were destroyed... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Sunday January 01, 2017 @08:59PM (#53590363) Homepage

    I thought they claimed the original theatrical release version was destroyed and would never be released in high quality, and that was one of the main reasons people collaborated to produce the Star Wars HD despecialized edition [originaltrilogy.com].

    • The fans are on the very tip of weather vane! (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      "Uncle George never told you what happened to the original theatrical release version"

      "He told me enough. He told me it was destroyed"

      "No. I am the original version."

      "Noooooooooo! that's not true.....that impossible!"

      "Search your archives for you know it is true!"

      Edit: Captcha> Monetary

    • I thought they claimed the original theatrical release version was destroyed

      Did people claim that? I thought it was just that Lucas refused to release a HQ version of the original, because he wanted various "improvements" he had made over the years.

      and would never be released in high quality

      Yeah, I'm going to just say that I seriously doubt -- after all the crap Lucas has taken over the years for his tampering with various releases -- that he's going to actually release the TRUE original version in high quality. TFA makes it clear that nobody really knows what this will be:

      As for the question of which version of the movie will hit the big screen in 4K if the release rumor is true, thatâ(TM)s something that has also stirred up debates among fans of the franchise. ...

      That goes on to describe the various possibilitie

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by strredwolf ( 532 )

        Won't matter what Lucas says. Disney owns the Star Wars franchise now. Lucas is 100% removed from it.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by steveha ( 103154 )

      When George Lucas announced the "improved" versions of the classic Star Wars movies, he famously claimed that it would be impossible to recreate the original release versions. He said something like he had accidentally "taped over" the originals (for you younglings, that's a video tape analogy).

      As this article commented bitingly, it would have been embarrassing for Lucas if the original version had outsold the "improved" version on home video release. So it was sure convenient for him that it was totally

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • The title is wrong. 4K != UHD (Score:5, Informative)

    by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Sunday January 01, 2017 @09:02PM (#53590377)

    Theatrical 4K is not the same as Ultra-HD, often marketed as "4K UHD". Seriously, don't muddle these up! The linked article did not, it even had "Theatrical 4K" explicitly, being a link to an explanation of the differences.

    The cinema standard 4K is 4096*2160, not quite 16:9 aspect ratio. However, movies can be of any aspect ratio that would fill either the width or the height. With Star Wars being in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, that becomes 4096*1743. Pixels are square and there is no overscan.

    Ultra-HD, the TV and BluRay standard is 3840*2160 pixels. Some HDTV's do have overscan, not showing the entire picture, by the way.

    Cinema 4K also uses the DCI-P3 colour space and theatrical projectors are capable of the entire range of this colour space.
    Regular Ultra-HD is not that good. Ultra-HD with HDR uses a larger colour space than DCI-P3 but mainstream LCD panels at the moment are not capable of displaying that properly even if they can handle the input signal.

    • What about film grain? I thought there were limitations on resolution based on the original "analog" film because the grain simply doesn't allow you to get more detail... and I thought this was in issue back when we were just talking 1080p, let alone 4k resolutions.

      I can see color space being enhanced, though on a 40 year old film copy, I'd think that something has been lost in time, as well.

    • Cinema 4K also uses the DCI-P3 colour space...

      Oh, come on. DCI-3P wasn't even in the original trilogy. Unless it was one of the droids that never got called out by name...

    • What's your point?

  • The first movie rightfully deserves to be preserved in the Library of Congress. It is part of the American culture, and history. But, having said that, I have a confession to make:

    The movie simply has not aged well. The last time I watched it on DVD, a few years ago, I decided never to watch it again. Now, that I'm much older, the movie looks rather simplistic and rough; and I would rather remember the movie the way I saw it, with much younger eyes and a less crtitical brain. These days, Darth Vader's initi

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JBMcB ( 73720 )

      To state the obvious: the 4K version is nothing more than a pathetic, utterly pathetic money grab. And nothing more. That should be fairly obvious to anyone. I can't think of any possible value that four thousand pixels will bring to that movie. I just have a bad feeling about this...

      No, the previous re-re-re-releases were pathetic money grabs. A proper 4K restoration is what they should have done in the first place.

    • Re:Sorry, no (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Sunday January 01, 2017 @09:33PM (#53590489)

      Luke playing with a starfighter, in one of his first scenes, is cringe-worthy.

      Oh c'mon, you've never done it? FWIW, that wasn't a "starfighter,' that was a scale model of the speeder parked *right behind Luke.* That is his T-16, the one he bullseyes womp rats with. Seriously, you can see the ass end of his real T-16 right behind him.

      One is never too old to play with toys. Never. I have a fair collection of 1:400 diecast aircraft, and when I clean house I *always* "land" the Pan Am 707-321 on its display place.

      The day one becomes "too old" for such frippery, one is ready for the pine box. The kind with rope handles and no wheels.

      • One is never too old to play with toys. [...] The day one becomes "too old" for such frippery, one is ready for the pine box. The kind with rope handles and no wheels.

        How would help? It sounds like the worst toy ever.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Snard ( 61584 )

        One is never too old to play with toys.

        "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

        (Sorry for the paradigm shift, but it seemed appropriate.)

  • unique (Score:2, Redundant)

    by chameleon3 ( 801105 )

    a very unique treat

    "unique" is a binary term. Something is either unique or not unique. There are no "degrees" of uniqueness.

  • Can it be an all versions blu-ray? (Score:3)

    by BlueCoder ( 223005 ) on Sunday January 01, 2017 @09:33PM (#53590491)

    Not sure if it's possible with blu-ray. I would like to see an all versions disc where one only has to select options in an options menu for what they want to see. Han shot first should be default but we can keep around the revisionist history for laughs.

    Better yet... come up with yet another proprietary DRM format and release it on an 128gb sd card or compact flash. Honestly it should be as lossless as possible and DRM free.. you know how much any ISP is going to complain to any customer that tries to download that? Do the equivalent of a DOS attack by providing too much data. Collectors are going to want origional media. It's not like people haven't seen Star Wars.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      uncompressed 4K is 18gb/s so a 100gb multi layer bluray can hold a little over 7 seconds of it.

      People buying 4K blurays are buying heavily compressed movies that are barely better than the 1080p version.

      • 4096 * 2160 pixels * 30 bit color depth * 24 frames per second = 760 megabytes per second. Even if we're talking 32 bit color depth and 48 fps 3d, that only gives us 3.2 gigabytes per second.

        Pretty sure that "18gbps" number isn't right or you're mixing units. You do know that a gigabyte and a gigabit aren't the same thing, right?

    • Not sure if it's possible with blu-ray. I would like to see an all versions disc where one only has to select options in an options menu for what they want to see. Han shot first should be default but we can keep around the revisionist history for laughs.

      I'll watch the Sentinel class shuttle seen, dewbacks not close up, Mos Eisley is busier, but no giant CGI ass walking across the screen blocking everything, Han shoots and Greedo doesn't he just dies, Falcon lifts off from docking bay, stormtrooper head clunk, Imps getting shot not censored, improved lightsaber effects, no matte boxes visible around ships, R2-D2 in color, no stupid ring explosion Death Star destruction, real people in ceremony not cardboard ones, and how about Chewie gets a medal version pl

  • ... is how much are they going to milk it for?

    (As much as they can is the correct answer.)

  • No. The only real question isn't if it'll be shown in theatres.

    The only real question is: does Han fucking shoot first?

  • because in the first non-blurred print, the models looked too fake. So slight blurring restored the sense of reality.

    • They still do it in Rogue One (and pretty much every action movie). All the battles and shoot-outs are filmed handy-cam style with maybe 1 or 2 second shots, because if you keep that fixed it will probably look a bit corny with stormtroopers and other characters in heavy costumes logging about.
      Loved the movie, btw!

  • But but but.... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 )

    All the luddites CLAIM that 35mm film is a WHOLE LOT BETTER than digital... why did they have to clean it up and do digital restoration?

    It's because in reality, SW EP4 film is lower resolution than real 4K is so they are getting rid of film grain and using their high end software that will make it less obvious how low of resolution the 35mm film really was.

    Hell you could see the lack of sharpness and film grain on the 1080p release.

    • All the luddites CLAIM that 35mm film is a WHOLE LOT BETTER than digital...

      They do? I mean sure you might be able to find a few somewhere, but this is not a common viewpoint.

      It was at the beginning, but in fairness:

      1. digital sensors had poor resolution and otherwise kind of sucked
      2. Nobody wanted to sit at a clunky old desktop and look at photos, home printers sucked (and were expensive) and shop printers negated much of the advantage of a digital chain (see also 1).
      3. The software either sucked massively

  • Both the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back were officially added to the National Film Registry when it was created in the late 1980s. However, Lucasfilm never delivered an original, unmodified copy of either movie. George Lucas tried to give the NFR a copy of the "improved" edition, but they refused it; their mandate is to preserve original versions of historic movies.

    http://www.popoptiq.com/a-new-new-hope-film-preservation-and-the-problem-with-star-wars/ [popoptiq.com]

    The article notes that ironically enough,

  • I saw the original first run, and was disappointed with some of the later "improvements".
    For example, when they changed the combination from 1-2-3-4.

    That's kind of change only an idiot would make....

  • I see what they did there.

  • Or will that get disneyfied out?

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