Slashdot Mirror
Original 1977 Star Wars 35mm Print Has Been Restored and Released Online (arstechnica.com)
AmiMoJo writes: A restored HD version of the original Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 35mm print has appeared online. While this isn't the first time that attempts have been made to restore Star Wars to its original theatrical version—that's the one without the much-maligned CGI effects and edits of later 'special' editions—it is the first to have been based entirely on a single 35mm print of the film, rather than cut together from various sources. The group behind the release, dubbed Team Negative 1, is made up of Star Wars fans and enthusiasts who spent thousands of dollars of their own cash to restore the film without the blessing of creator George Lucus, or franchise owner Disney.
Here's hoping they can do this with Empire and Jedi, too.
This wikipedia article delineates what got changed between the 1977 release and all the re-releases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
So they can release it to theaters on May the 4th.
A restored HD version of the original Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Sigh.
If it's the original movie it's not "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope."
Ask any Gen-Xer who saw this movie in the theatres in 1977 (likely multiple times) and they'll tell you the same thing: The movie is called "Star Wars." Nothing more, nothing less.
It would be good to see the others restored such as this. I can understand the need for people to experience the movie as they originally remember it. I am of the view both the original version and the CGI enhanced version could have been made available by the studio so people could watch which one they please. But they seem much to arrogant for that. Its appalling how these companies treat their fans which made them a success.
to fully appreciate the movie the way it was originally appreciated, minds of fans must be restored the state they were when they 1st saw the movie. bodies too, since everything is ultimately dependent on physical and biological state of body. while we are about it, let us restore the whole world and the cultural climate too.
There was no original Star Wars Episode IV in 1977. It was just Star Wars.
I know this place has gone down the drain lately, but "Lucus"? Come on.
Cue legion of lawyers suing them for everything they've got and everything they and their children and their children's children will earn in their entire lifespan, no doubt in a penal colony of some sort.
n/t
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Jeesbus help any man who has both Disney AND Fox coming down on his head.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
I have the 9 disc CAV LD box set. Pretty sure thats the original theatrical releases
Hmm, you may be right so without further ado, here's the hash AA49B74580299AA8F529EDFCE730359F6CE0DEB0
I like the Special Edition better. The Battle of Yavin at the end makes a lot more sense then the sometimes random collection of ships flying presented in the original. I'm not obsessed about whether Han shoots first.
I saw the this movie at a movie theatre! It was also when gas was 57 cents a gallon, leaded or unleaded, and Calif houses were less than 100K. Anyway back on topic a friend told me, "You gotta see this movie, the special effects are as good as 2001." Which back then every other space movie was cheesy looking. I also remembered some local store made a few Star Wars shirts (7 total) and were promptly served papers to either stop and destroy the shirts or pay $7million. And then Battlestar Gallactica TV series featuring that guy from Bonanza and all that space age Tektronix test equipment (you know, those O-scopes where all the controls were easy except finding the power on/off was always a challenge).
I find it amusing we are 16% into the 21st century and a lot of people view SW as "something new" which probably there are people seeing this 1977 re-release, "wow I didn't know SW was that OLD!" For me I saw the two sequels on late night TV, I haven't watched any of the pre-re-seq-whatever versions. And probably have no clue what everyone is arguing about.
mfwright@batnet.com
How is this even possible, legally? If you so much as put a Mickey Mouse wristwatch on upside down Disney comes down on you like a ton of bricks. This group... obtains a 35mm print, restores and releases it? Makes my head spin.
What a ugly typo, slashdot.org editors...
Lone Starr: Who hasn't heard of Episode IV!
Princess Vespa: A New Hope!
Dot Matrix: Star Wars Episode IV!
Barf: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope!
Star Wars: Please, please, don't make a fuss. It's just plain Star Wars.
Too bad you won't be able to find it online because Kanye West is gonna sue TBP to oblivion. Just as soon as he finds an address to serve the summons...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Maybe Star Wars would be a case where it was so popular that so many prints were struck that it was hard to keep track of them and enterprising fans were able to snag prints at the tail end of the extended run.
Then I guess there is (or was?) the old "revival house" that showed older movies, so obviously there was a warehouse someplace filled with 35mm prints and I would imagine these walked off or "got lost in shipping" from time to time.
But what kind of equipment would you need to actually work with and digitize something like this? I'm imagining a rube goldberg contraption that hacks a 35mm slide scanner to some kind of feed and takeup system along with a lot of work to turn 35mm scans into a video.
From the fine article, there were multiple prints used. A spanish language LPP version was the basis for most of the work but several other Kodak Eastman prints were used, especially for effect heavy scenes.
Thanks. The size is 24.68 GB, claimed to be 1080p. Expect a long download time.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
If it doesn't have Teddy bears it ain't Star Wars!
I like that they did this and applaud the risk they're taking in releasing it online (as a bittorrent, I'd imagine), but ironically I'm not even sure if I really care. Since Revenge of the Jedi I've more or less had the entire Star Wars thing ruined for me. I haven't seen the new film, probably never will, either, because it stinks of just 'piling on' for more profit. It has nothing to do with 'bringing Star Wars to a new generation' or anything even as high-minded as that, it's just monetizing the living hell out of it, beating the proverbial dead horse, and mainly because there aren't any new ideas to speak of to capitalize on anymore, so they just have to keep remaking everything else ad infinitum. Bored now, going off to read a book or something, until someone comes up with something actually original.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
I've downloaded it. It's pretty good. Pretty grainy compared to what we're all used to these days, especially in dark scenes. Grain and subjective quality varies a fair bit from scene-to-scene and sometimes shot-to-shot, but is probably fairly representative of how it would have looked in cinemas in 1977.
VLC reports the framerate as 23.809523.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
It's amazing how when Lucas was given enough money to have free reign, he was the inverse of the Midas touch. If it was already gold, he made it bronze (the CGI skipped silver). if it was new it was tin or worse. So who was it that kept him from messing up the original trilogy in the first place. "That doesn't really work does it...have you tried.." Tom Hulce(Mozart) - Amadeus.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
PG movies were basically considered 'safe' by just about everyone, which is why people were so outraged when Gremlins and Temple of Doom showed levels of violence that traumatized kids, leading directly to the creation of the PG-13 rating.
Source: Was born in 1964 and not once did I ever hear ANY adult saying to a child: "No you can't see that movie, it's PG, not G." You are totally off the mark about the attitudes prevalent in 1977.
Will ne happy. Whoever he is!
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Unfortunately, the image quality is so shitty that the high resolution and low compression are completely wasted. It could easily been converted to a 2GB version without visible loss in quality.
Back in my day, we didn't call it "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope", we just called it "Star Wars", and we were happy with the name, doggone it!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
70MM 6 tack sound? 35mm Dolby Stereo? 35mm mono?
http://episodenothing.blogspot...
It is from 2 prints:
1) spanish lpp print (6 reels)
2) english print (5 reels) + 1 partial reel
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
Cease and desist in 3... 2...
...I guarantee you that Disney is working on a real restoration of Eps 4-6...somewhere...probably in a non-descript building near the Burbank Airport...
While we wait, here is a good explanation some of the difficulties the restorers face. I've also heard that the separation masters are, unfortunately, in pretty lousy condition.
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
The currently best reproduction of the original Star Wars trilogy is a fan edit compiled by Harmy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://originaltrilogy.com/top...
https://docs.google.com/docume...
This is a reconstruction of the 1977 theatrical version of STAR WARS. The original shots were painstakingly restored using various sources (listed below) and the film received an extensive shot by shot colour correction based on a fade free 1977 I.B. Technicolor Print.
This fan edit is compiled from many sources, including an earlier scan by Team Negative1, the group this article is also about.
VIDEO SOURCES:
STAR WARS Episode IV A New Hope Official Blu-Ray 2011 (Preliminary colour correction by You_Too)
STAR WARS 2006 Bonus DVD (sourced from the 1993 Definitive Edition Laser Disc Master - upscales by Dark Jedi, You_Too and Harmy)
Star.Wars.Episode.IV.A.New.Hope.1977.720p.HDTV.x264-DON (2004 DVD Version)
STAR WARS 1997 Special Edition (Reivax DTV capture)
Custom mattes, 35mm and 70mm film cell scans etc.
Team Negative1 35mm LPP print scan of the Mos Eisley sequence
Puggo Grande (1977 16mm print transfer)
Harmy has since released restored edits of Episode V and VI as 720p MKV.
The MKVs also include many subtitles and alternative audio tracks.
It is currently the definite edition of the original trilogy.
Does this mean there is finally a print of Star Wars that can be submitted to the National Film Registry, only 27 years after a copy was requested on its induction?
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
This is great news for preserving an important part of cinematic history that its creator wants to bury.
If you're like me and prefer to watch the Special Editions, consider Adywan's ANH:Revisited, a fan edit that is truly what the special editions should have been. He's been working on ESB for the past 7 years, mostly due to a meticulous attention to detail but plans to Revisit ROTJ as well. He's presently re-shooting the Han in Carbonate model to fix a costume continuity error.
The list of changes to ANH is shamelessly pasted below:
1 - Star Wars Logo: originally it receded way too quickly so this has been slowed down to match the speed in the rest of the saga.
2 - The crawl appears slightly earlier now, as it did pre ANH, so it appears at the correct music cue that Williamsâ(TM) intended, and how I remember it.
3 - As the camera pans down to Tatooine you now see the 3 moons instead of just 2
4 - Tatooine now rotates slightly as the ships fly overhead
5 - Re-coloured all lasers
6 - Removed the horrible blue hazing as the stardestroyers engine come into view
7 - Changed the explosion as the Tantive IV is hit to remove a lot of the smoke.
8 - Added a jerk to the motion of the Tantive IV as it is hit
9 - Speeded up the star field in that shot so the Tantive IV seems to be moving as fast as it did in previous shots.
10 - Colour correction of the whole film to remove the blue tint. The Tantive IVâ(TM)s walls are now white.
11 - Re-coloured R2â(TM)s dome lights throughout the movie so they match closer to the rest of the saga. The front light now blinks from red to blue.
12 - Re-edited the Tantive IV corridor battle to fix continuity issues where troopers die more than once.
13- Added blaster flashes to all blasters that have them missing as they fire.
14 - Added blast flashes to the troopers where they are hit
15 - Corrected issues where the blasters flash as if they were fired on set but no laser bolts were present. Added the lasers to fix this throughout.
16 - Fixed the jump cut where 3PO & R2 cross the corridor on the Tantive IV & the doorway explodes.
17 - When Vader enters the Tantive IV a Stormtrooper lets go of the head of a dead trooper but that you can see that the actor slowly lowers his head. This has been fixed and the troopers head now drops at speed more like a dead body.
18 - Added blinking lights to Vaderâ(TM)s chest plate
19 - Vaderâ(TM)s eyes re-coloured to remove the red tint.
20 - When 3PO is looking for R2 a trooper falls to the floor behind him as if he has been shot but there is no laser fire. Added some lasers & a flash as the trooper is hit.
21 - Smoothed / fixed the jump cut as R2 extends his third leg and heads for 3PO & the one where he leaves 3PO
22 - Fixed the error in the scene where Vader is strangling Antilles the trooper in the background changes position in one shot. Originally his legs are closed and his blaster is in a totally different position.
23 - Fixed an FX issue when Leia is hit by the stun blaster the glow effect is missing on part of her dress.
24 - In the scene where R2 presses the button to open the pod door you now see his arm retract
25 - Re-coloured the interior of the escape pod to blue due to continuity issues in this scene.
26 - As the escape pod blasts off it now begins to rotate as it does in the rest of the shots
27 - When the imperial commander says âoehold your fireâ the trajectory of the escape pod has been changed so it is heading downwards and away from the ship instead or just heading straight which caused a continuity error in the next shot as we see the underbelly of the stardestroyer , which means it was heading downwards.
28 - Changed the stars & stardestroyer view from inside the pod so the ship & stars now recede at different rates
29 - You now see the escape pod enter the atmosphere of Tatooine.
30 - Every FX shot has been either touched up or redone in some form or another, but too many t
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
I saw the premier too. Crappy small theaters. No surround sound. 57 cent gas is equivalent to $2.13 today. And cars averaged 11-14 miles per gallon.