A Few Words About A few words about...™ Star Wars: A New Hope -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

@Tino,

To be honest, if I didn't already have to hear it from the family, some friends, et al about all the discs I already buy (and have trouble storing in desirable fashion), maybe I wouldn't mind the splurge on this as much, LOL.

It's actually crazy I apparently have waaay more copies of Stargate on disc than the Star Wars OT -- too many to give away, especially the first letterboxed DVD release that I got for free (multiple times) during the promos of early DVD days. Granted, Stargate is just one movie, not 3, haha... but that's the recurring family ribbing I get whenever I do any movie media upgrades or the subject just comes up about my collection.

Good thing the WAF is strong(?) enough w/ this one over here... and I'll (hopefully) be able to kick the kids out of the house before too long, haha...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I will say these discs are WAY better than the 2011 BDs. There is no comparison at all. I think it's a shame if anyone sticks with those over these discs.

I highly doubt we will ever see these revisited again on disc. Why? Well, physical media especially after this virus situation is going to probably become an even smaller niche. In addition, Disney's incentive to release on physical media has drastically faded outside of MCU and Pixar. There is really no reason for them to re-release anything here outside of a steelbook or new slipcover.

You're really gonna make this tough for me, huh?

_Man_

 

[ghostwind]

I just recently finished watching the 4K discs - 1-6. While some fare better than others, it's clear as day (no pun intended) that there was heavy DNR applied. Having said that, these are the best these films have looked on physical media, as I had the original DVDs, Blu-rays, etc. And of course better than Disney+ streaming, but TBH, not by a whole lot. Disney+ is pretty good, at least to my house. But yeah, if you are a fan, get these discs and accept them as they are. I very much doubt we will ever see another physical release, or even another digital release. Enjoy life!

 

[lark144]

Have you actually viewed the Star Wars UHD?

No. I was just interpreting Mr. Harris' statement. I thought that was clear. This is not my opinion, as I haven't seen the disc.

 

[Robert Harris]

Man, I got to pull out my 2009 Snow White Blu-ray as I don't remember it looking that terrible. My last viewing was on a Panny plasma so I need to watch it again on one of my LG OLED displays.

Robert,

Here's what I would suggest.

Pop in Snow White, and go to the 6 1/2 or 7 minute mark, and just watch a few minutes from there - up to the point where the huntsman goes after Snow in the forest.

What you should be looking for is the fact that where normally there would be a light sheen of moving grain over the entire image, that creates a cohesive overlay, once removed we're left with frozen backgrounds, or middle grounds - remember this is multi-plane - in which the moving parts of the image stand apart.

There's a shot of the huntsman standing background right, with Snow at the left. Without moving grain, even though he's a character who is not for the moment in motion, he appears to be paper cutout stuck over the image.

This won't bother kids, and it may not offend many adult viewers, but for me, it destroys the artistry of the film.

Which was dependent upon moving grain.

 

[MatthewA]

Robert,

Here's what I would suggest.

Pop in Snow White, and go to the 6 1/2 or 7 minute mark, and just watch a few minutes from there - up to the point where the huntsman goes after Snow in the forest.

What you should be looking for is the fact that where normally there would be a light sheen of moving grain over the entire image, that creates a cohesive overlay, once removed we're left with frozen backgrounds, or middle grounds - remember this is multi-plane - in which the moving parts of the image stand apart.

There's a shot of the huntsman standing background right, with Snow at the left. Without moving grain, even though he's a character who is not for the moment in motion, he appears to be paper cutout stuck over the image.

This won't bother kids, and it may not offend many adult viewers, but for me, it destroys the artistry of the film.

Which was dependent upon moving grain.

This explains succinctly one of the things Disney does that bothers me the most. Somebody at some level got overzealous with grain removal, and in doing so took something that showed Walt Disney's brilliance as a filmmaker and his animators' and technicians' ability to make the technical imperfections of the medium work for them, for lack of a better way of putting it, and undermined it with the underlying assumption that if a little bit of it is good, then a lot is even better in the same proportions. It doesn't work that way. There is such a thing as making it look too clean and shiny. However, for these kids who supposedly don't mind, this new-and-improved edition is their first and only experience with it. If they love it that way, they'd still love a version that more closely reflected the source material.

For Star Wars, I didn't expect these discs to reflect any effort to change their ways. Boy, am I glad I bought that big CAV laserdisc box set 25 years ago. Even for a non-original original trilogy, one would think they would try to make them look more film-like if they want to win over anyone who would notice.

 

[titch]

They seemed to have fiddled around with the grading, if screen caps can be believed. I haven't got the blu-ray to compare myself.

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=569&y=143&d1=13932&d2=13929&s1=141348&s2=141281&l=0&i=1&go=1

 

[Tino]

if screen caps can be believed.

Imo they usually can’t.

 

[Worth]

They seemed to have fiddled around with the grading, if screen caps can be believed. I haven't got the blu-ray to compare myself.

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=569&y=143&d1=13932&d2=13929&s1=141348&s2=141281&l=0&i=1&go=1

The original blu-ray was heavily over saturated. Even in that screen cap, it's noticeable in the blue on R2-D2.

 

[Dave H]

You cannot judge the UHD color based on the screen-caps given SDR conversion used. On a properly calibrated and well toned mapped display, I think most will like the color. But yes, the old BD looks way over-saturated and contrast bloated.

 

[Robert Harris]

Performed an interesting exercise. Comparison of New Hope UHD disc, which is NOT encoded for Dolby Vision, vs Disney + streaming - very high bit rate - with DV.

On a SONY OLED panel.

Resolution was reasonably comparable, with possibly a slight + for disc.

Color and densities, a slight + toward DV vs standard HDR. A bit more detail in some colors, and differentiation in blacks.

Pity the disc is not encoded for Dolby Vision.

For what I’m seeing, if I had kids at home, I’d probably forego the discs, and stream, presuming high bit rate is attainable.

Have yet to compare via projection.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Performed an interesting exercise. Comparison of New Hope UHD disc, which is NOT encoded for Dolby Vision, vs Disney + streaming - very high nitrate - with DV.

On a SONY OLED panel.

Resolution was reasonably comparable, with possibly a slight + for disc.

Color and densities, a slight + toward DV vs standard HDR. A bit more detail in some colors, and differentiation in blacks.

Pity the disc is not encoded for Dolby Vision.

For what I’m seeing, if I had kids at home, I’d probably forego the discs, and stream, presuming high bit rate is attainable.

Have yet to compare via projection.

I bit the bullet and ordered last night, but this makes me think I should just cancel before they ship...

Still kinda torn... and the reportedly worse quality of the ESB and RotJ discs don't help at all...

Maybe Disney would actually prefer we all just stream (at least catalog titles anyway) from their service going forward... and this release of the SW flicks may be indicative of that...

Anyway, thanks (again) for your efforts, RAH...

_Man_

 

[Osato]

Performed an interesting exercise. Comparison of New Hope UHD disc, which is NOT encoded for Dolby Vision, vs Disney + streaming - very high bit rate - with DV.

On a SONY OLED panel.

Resolution was reasonably comparable, with possibly a slight + for disc.

Color and densities, a slight + toward DV vs standard HDR. A bit more detail in some colors, and differentiation in blacks.

Pity the disc is not encoded for Dolby Vision.

For what I’m seeing, if I had kids at home, I’d probably forego the discs, and stream, presuming high bit rate is attainable.

Have yet to compare via projection.

thanks Robert! I had heard similar comments comparing the two as well.

I ordered the discs and should have them this week. Can’t wait!

 

[Dave Moritz]

I agree there are scenes that look very good and scenes that have there issues but over all acceptable not taking into account of the heavy DNR used which I am not crazy about. I would have preferred little to no DNR used in any of the titles as I would rather have a more faithful reproduction of what was shown in theaters. For now what is available on 4K blu-ray will be my reference set and this is the last time I will be buying any of the currently available 4K titles. The only exceptions will be new movie releases moving forward and the unlikely original trilogy theatricals which for me is the only way my collection is ever truly complete! Out of every title in the saga A New Hope will be the least viewed disc out of the set even though I love that movie the most and will give preference to the original 77 theatrical digital file on my pc. I am ok with Lucas doing the SE's but not at the expense of denying fans of the original theatricals. To bad Lucas did not learn from Spielberg and come back and offer both editions like Spielberg did with ET.

 

[Richard Stammer]

Went off the Lucas reservation a long time ago. My collection looks like the one above. I have my Harmy and Silver Screen versions of the OT to keep me happy. Even 4K of the Special Editions is not enough to get me back in.

 

[MTrotter]

All I have of episodes 4-6 are my original LaserDiscs(but no LD player) and the 2004 DVD trilogy box set. I guess these 4k versions would be an upgrade!

I do have Blu-rays of episodes 1-3, Rogue One, and The Force Awakens. The only UHD I have is Last Jedi.

 

[Worth]

Went off the Lucas reservation a long time ago. My collection looks like the one above. I have my Harmy and Silver Screen versions of the OT to keep me happy. Even 4K of the Special Editions is not enough to get me back in.

Likewise. I have the blu-ray set and have never actually sat down to watch them. And in the unlikely case that I do want to watch these, I can sign up to Disney+ for $8.

 

[cb1]

The original blu-ray was heavily over saturated. Even in that screen cap, it's noticeable in the blue on R2-D2.

This is what I wanted to know... ugh... as much as I hate buying these things again. …. LOL

 

[RJ992]

Personally, while I found the image quality disappointing in places, I could live with most of those issues if the movie I watched was actually STAR WARS. The far bigger issue for me is that I simply do not want to buy or own another copy of this bastardized "Special Edition" desecration of the movie. I already subscribe to Disney+ for other content, so I resigned myself to streaming it from there to watch with my kids, but there's just no way I'm going to pay money to purchase a permanent physical copy of it until the original movie is properly restored. Which, unfortunately, will probably not happen in my lifetime.

I have the original SW on THX laserdisc. Except I no longer have an LD player!

 

[Worth]

I have the original SW on THX laserdisc. Except I no longer have an LD player!

Aside from the fan "restorations" floating around on the internet, you can still find the legitimate DVD releases of the first three movies that feature the unaltered versions as extras. They're taken from the same masters as the laserdiscs, but look a bit better (and sound a bit worse).

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Ep...2650304011&rnid=2650303011&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1