Holy $#!+: they fixed the saber clash (ROTJ Blu-Ray)

[Kurgan]

Now I'm not really too excited about the upcoming blu-ray releases of the two trilogies (and the "saga" box set) next month, figure I'll just watch the deleted
scenes on youtube (no theatrical versions included and most of the extras are previously released material, plus you don't have to be Yoda to foresee a double-dip), but one encouraging little tidbit was recently uncovered.

While previous trailers showed the same telltale blue-tinted nonesense from the 2004 editions, this clip
demonstrates the saber clash in ROTJ is "fixed!"

Does this mean they did a better "restoration" of the special editions this time? Or does it just mean somebody adjusted the brightness/contrast controls for Episode VI?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLhGocXP-Is

(Goes to official Starwars youtube channel, BD ad)

In any case, I'm sure most people will buy this without doing any research first, and complain later.

[Batman]

I don't know about most people, but I'm buying another iteration of the OT when they stop making DVD players/BlueRay players no longer play DVDs. Ignoring the money I paid to see them in theatre, I shelled out for the OT twice (yeah, I go back to the days of VHS).

[Stark]

People always complain; the BD version of Aliens fixed the horrible colour blooming when flamers were fired (and when the robot cuts the door in the intro) and people complained that it RUINED THE COLOUR TIMING OMG.

[Batman]

What in Valen's name is colour timing?

[Stark]

To be totally frank, I don't even know. All I know is that colours don't take over the whole frame anymore (for isntance, as they cut into Ripley's escape ship the shot isn't washed out by the light intensity from the torch) but this apparently 'ruins' it??

[Aniron]

What in Valen's name is colour timing?

Digital grading. You go through frame by frame manipulating the color. Look here for an example. It started around the time O brother Where Art Thou was released, if I recall. The French movie Amelie is an outstanding example of what digital grading can do for a movie. It looks stunning.

As Stark mentioned, people complained about the Alien set, especially Alien. The Fellowship of the Ring Blu-ray caused and still causes massive hysteria by those who will never be satisfied.

Edit: Also look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_intermediate

Blu-rays forums are already lighting up with outrage over the Complete Saga, complaining about the color change of the light sabers too. People have opened photo editors to say IT'S PINK NOT RED!

[Aniron]

Regarding color complaints, which would you prefer in these comparisons?

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/58250
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/58228

REVISIONISM!

Expect the same thing to happen when screenshots of the Complete Saga are released, except comparing DVD coloring to Blu-ray coloring.

[Eframepilot]

Eh. I think I'll wait for the next format to come out.

[Havok]

Man, I love Star Wars trailers! They give me goosebumps and make me all misty.

As I haven't bought the sextuplets since they originally hit on DVD, this looks great to me. I think it's time for a BR player.

[HMS Sophia]

Man, I love Star Wars trailers! They give me goosebumps and make me all misty.

As I haven't bought the sextuplets since they originally hit on DVD, this looks great to me. I think it's time for a BR player.

^This
That trailer is... very awesome.

But Sabre clash? I don't get it. I haven't seen the original films in years. Can someone explain.

[Vympel]

But Sabre clash? I don't get it. I haven't seen the original films in years. Can someone explain.

The 2004 DVDs were a bit of a bodgy rush job as far as colour was concerned, resulting in various anomalies that were especially noticeable in terms of the colour of lightsabres. Infamously, it made Luke's lightsabre green for a few seconds whilst he was practicing on the Falcon in ANH, but worse, eliminated the white core of Vader's sabre in various scenes of TESB and RotJ, turning it into an ugly pink all the way through. This had the effect of thoroughly ruining the shot of the sabres clashing in front of the Emperor's face in RotJ, with the sabre's colours actually sort of bleeding through each other:-



And that's the result.

If they don't fix this in the Blu-Ray, people would be justified in crying bloody murder. This is a big release, people expect quality.

Same with Obi-Wan's fucked up stick sabre in the ANH duel with Vader. It's been broken since 1977, and fans have fixed it easily.

[HMS Sophia]

Oh fair enough. I never saw those versions, and I haven't watched it in a while so that made no sense.

Stick sabre?

[Lord Insanity]

Well if the BR trailer in the OP is accurate, they fixed the ROTJ saber clash. However it looks like they didn't fix Vader's "mood" saber in ESB. ESB was even worse than ROTJ with Vader's saber color going from light purple, to pink, to magenta, and occasionally red like its supposed to be. I mean really how the hell did that get past quality control.

The stick saber is a scene from ANH when Vader and Obi-wan were fighting. At one point the special effect of the saber is virtually non existent for a few seconds, showing just the stick prop. That has been that way since the original movie and has never been fixed, I think intentionally. There was a cut scene in the game Jedi Knight were a similar angle view of a light saber resulted in the same "error" as a tribute.

[Aniron]

Eh. I think I'll wait for the next format to come out.

Why?

If they don't fix this in the Blu-Ray, people would be justified in crying bloody murder. This is a big release, people expect quality.

People are already crying bloody murder because the original unaltered versions of the OT aren't included.

[Vympel]

Oh fair enough. I never saw those versions, and I haven't watched it in a while so that made no sense.

Stick sabre?

There's a bit in the duel in ANH when Obi-Wan's lightsabre is clearly the big thin lame stick with a light on the end that the lightsabres actually were in the first movie (the effects they used for them in the first film were overthought, cumbersome, and impractical compared to those used for all the subsequent movies). Its never been properly fixed, even though they've had multiple bites at the apple - first in 1997 then in 2004. It just looks rubbish:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhVylp9b1r0#t=1m27s

I should say, they did a half-assed job of fixing it in 2004 (hence the video above), but it didn't work very well.

[HMS Sophia]

Oh, when it looks like a glowing stick? I never noticed...
I guess this says something about how closely I watch these films

[Darth Tedious]

People are already crying bloody murder because the original unaltered versions of the OT aren't included.

It would seem to be somewhat pointless anyway. The SE box set included the laserdisc rips of the theatrical versions, which were fairly bad quality. I was under the impression that this was done because the original archives had deteriorated so badly they were unusable (with many of the SE special effects being added to cover damaged parts of the film).

[Aniron]

People are already crying bloody murder because the original unaltered versions of the OT aren't included.

It would seem to be somewhat pointless anyway. The SE box set included the laserdisc rips of the theatrical versions, which were fairly bad quality. I was under the impression that this was done because the original archives had deteriorated so badly they were unusable (with many of the SE special effects being added to cover damaged parts of the film).

I was under the same impression, but after what was done to restore The Godfather, I'm sure it would be possible to release them as well.

[StarSword]

That kind of restoration has actually already been done once with the OT, in the '90s VHS special edition.

[Aniron]

It would seem to be somewhat pointless anyway. The SE box set included the laserdisc rips of the theatrical versions, which were fairly bad quality. I was under the impression that this was done because the original archives had deteriorated so badly they were unusable (with many of the SE special effects being added to cover damaged parts of the film).

I was under the same impression, but after what was done to restore The Godfather, I'm sure it would be possible to release them as well.

Here is what was done with The Godfather: Part 1 and Part 2. It is a must watch, really. I see no reason why this couldn't be done for the original OT.

[Azron_Stoma]

I remember that problem with Obi-Wan's saber. Because Obi-Wan and the fight was slowing down, when I was young I always thought it had something to do with the saber deteriorating due to old age. Or that the blade was somehow tied to the user's health/force and his age/fatigue was affecting it.

[Skgoa]

I thought it was simply how lightsabers looked from that angle due to the way they work.

[Havok]

The only thing that ever really bugged me was that you could see the wire that powered the original hilt that made the actual blade rotate. I don't know if they ever got rid of that.

I never even noticed a tenth of the crap you obsessive nerds point out on a continual basis and I have watched all the original trilogy movies, LITERALLY, (I did the maths) over 1000 times each.

[Batman]

I officially have no sense of humour so I have to ask to be sure. You consider others to be obsessive nerds but ...claim to have seen the OT more than a thousand times over.

[Panzersharkcat]

I wonder if they ever removed the bullet casings that flew out of the props and fixed the weird color Luke's lightsaber had when training on the Millennium Falcon.