Macs Do Star Wars Dirty Work

bfl writes "The BBC is running a story about Lowry Digital Images and how they used 600 dual G5s and 400 TB of storage space to clean the dirt off of the old Star Wars reels, and upgrade the resolution to get them ready for their DVD release."

Comments

Re:Thats like, how many dvds now ?

[GerbilSocks]

There's only a finite number of old films. Of those old films, most are either shoddy or have been long forgotten. Only a very small number of movies are beloved enough that studios are willing to cost out the restoration work.

Most films shot now are digitized, or shot digitally in the first place.

Not just the graphics explaining the gap!

[Fantastic Lad]

This may be why Star Wars was so popular when if first came out, but when little kids and others watched it many years later in re-release or on video they were somewhat less impressed by the lesser quality film they were watching.

Or... "Gee it was more fun the first time when I was 10!" Well, that's because it actually was a better-looking film.

The original versions of the films also didn't have the new editing, new scenes, new shots, all of which greatly diminished the pacing and believability of the film.

There's a reason they give Oscars out for editing. --It really doesn't take much to ruin an otherwise good work. A single nail standing up on a water slide can make the whole ride a lot less enjoyable. And the re-release versions of Star Wars had a whole hardware store's worth of junk added!

Every three minutes while watching that thing, I felt, at best that I was having to deliberately overlook stupidity, (like those new digital droids floating around Mos Eisley which it was clear from the actors' body language, were not really there and thus created a discordant effect), to my feeling like I was being stabbed when Luke Screamed while falling down the throat of Cloud City.

So yeah, if I was a kid today watching those lousy re-release versions of Star Wars, I'd also think my elders were doddery and out-dated for raving about them; that they needed a patronizing pat on the head and a, "There, there, old timer; I'm sure they seemed like nice films in your day."

The wide-screen, color and sound restored, but otherwise un-adultered LD copies from the mid nineties are the best versions available of the original trilogy. --There are yet to be any pirate copies of those ripped to DVD floating around, but there damned-well ought to be!

Some of you out there have the capability to create these. DO IT. Star Wars is a vital part of our culture, and what Lucas is doing to erase it is as insidious as any 'terrorism'. --If Phantom Menace hadn't sucked, there is a good chance we could have avoided being in Iraq today.

-FL