Some speculation on what ANH may look like from Jeremy Conrad:
"Unaltered OT: It’ll likely be the 1981 ANH scroll without the title (the 81 and 77 scrolls are formatted differently) w/ recent audio fixes. it’ll look like what people remember, but won’t be the exact ’77 version. That one would be too different both in audio and other ways."
Why do I have the feeling people still won't be happy with this and it's just a fools errand?
Yes I'd be happy with the pre-SE,....but as far as the '77 version.....there were differences in versions even back then,....so I agree with Bryan, I think no matter what there will still be unhappy folks.....
...also, if this is the Reliance Media clean-up,....we have seen samples of how it doesn't compare well to Mike Verta's colours.......but I will rest & be proud of whichever unaltered version they hopefully release
J
A privately made edition may be better (albeit more expensive), but I think at this point I'm going less for perfection, and more for "good enough." Color timing doesn't have to be perfect. And I suspect a lot of that depends heavily on ow much people tweak their own sets anyway.
Audio mixes, of course, will vary. Remember, the "Close the blast doors!" line is something that appeared in (I think) the mono edit, but not in the stereo edit. Other stuff like that pops up here and there.
I can't speak for anyone else, but here's my take: I want, basically, a modernized, high-res version of the VHS experience I had when I was 5. I don't mean that it has to be perfectly faithful to the abstract memory that I have, but it needs to bear a serious degree of similarity. I've seen Harmy's 1.0 version and I like it quite a bit (although the sound doesn't seem to be surround for whatever reason). If I can get something that good or better, I'll be happy. I'm less concerned with "Star Wars" vs. "Episode IV: A New Hope." I'm less concerned with whether this or that line from the mono or stereo mix is in. I'm more concerned with technical fixes like getting rid of garbage mattes, but not going overboard, like creating "glowbats" instead of the look of the sabres in the copy I saw. I don't care quite as much about seeing the wooden dowel in that one shot with Obi-Wan, but if they fix it, fine. Just keep stuff like that to a minimum and focus more on cleaning up rather than "enhancing."
I trust Reliance to do this, because they did an AMAZING job with the Bond set a few years back. North by Northwest is pretty sweet as well. They do good work, as long as LFL doesn't cock it up like they did with the '04 releases (and then especially try to act like "It's not a bug, it's a feature!").
Also:
"Oh and before anyone starts bogus 4K rumors:
ANH, ESB, ROTJ, and TPM can be done in 4K.
AOTC and ROTS can not."
You know, I'd forgotten that TPM was shot on film! Mostly because I try to forget about TPM altogether.