Host (and many of you) have the misfortune of not having experienced the reference version of this film; the 70mm prints. I saw this film scores of times in the finer 70mm houses across the country in 1980 in order to study the cinematography in preparation for my career in that field. The 2011 BD grade has tinkering that jacked up the saturation, skin tone hues, and contrast successfully making it a digital product rather than being faithful to the 70mm prints. Fortunately, the new UHD/HDR grade restores those picture quality factors to their original glory. The HDR grade makes no attempt to "look like HDR." Instead, it uses the new technology to faithfully reproduce the latitude of the original film. By the way, even your screen shots don't agree with your description on the color of whites. The new grade is now appropriately neutral. As for sharpness/resolution, the popular trend among directors of photography of that era was to intentionally not deliver super sharp images. ESB was one of the earliest films to shoot with sharp lenses (the C-Series anamorphics, although not razor sharp) mostly without softening camera filters, but use soft lighting extensively. This was a big step back then because the Eastman 5247 stock was rated at 100 ASA tungsten, the C-Series lenses needed about a T4 stop to look sharp enough, and efficient output HMI lighting had not arrived yet. That took a lot of power, lighting hardware, additional time and expense. At the time of release, ESB was relatively bright and sharp by comparison to the standard fare of the time, and that alone made quite a visual impression. I agree that the HDR picture tone is a bit low overall, but that is easily adjusted. Raising that a bit will get rid of your concern over perceived black crush. The image you chose of Vader in the carbon freeze chamber is virtually a silhouette, so no significant detail is intended. One might also prefer one notch up on saturation, but fortunately gone are pinkish skin tones and near clipped highlights. This new version is extremely close to being a clone of the 70mm prints, and that is about as good as we could ever hope for. FYI, the included BD has the same new color grade. Reference viewing via calibrated JVC RS640 projecting onto a 10' wide scope screen. Cheers.
I'd argue that this version is probably even better than the original prints, as they don't get scratches and dings from being whipped through the projector.
@@paulmichaelfreedman8334 Yes, it's easy to overlook that benefit...and let's remember the ticks and pops on vinyl record albums and tape hiss back in the day. Remember those?
I really do think he was off with his assessment of the Hoth scenes, the earlier releases of this film on disc especially blu-ray added a blue hue/tint that was never there before.
Most people don't understand that HDR is there to make the images more accurate and accuracy is not what most people are used to seeing. Most are used to tv's set on torch mode (Vivid or Sports) in their local Best Buy or whatever. The Cinema or Movie settings in tv's are much more color and light accurate. I general the most accurate you can get set it straight out of the box and a lot of times people believe that to be to dark and flat. Which is why they're disappointing when they see images that are more correct.
The moral of the story is that the general public are philistines, but most reviews have panned the 4K transfers of these movies, especially ESB and RoTJ.
It’s hit or miss. The blue color looks better on an ice planet than the neutral (makes it look like a desert) but then yes, it helps with things like the Star destroyers and other areas like on Dagobah
Films At Home I wonder what the original color grading looked like. Honestly I’m waiting for 4K fan restoration of Empire. I’ve already seen their restorations of A New Hope and Return of the Jedi and they’re pretty good. Obviously you don’t get HDR but I’ll take intact film grain and the absence of subpar CG over HDR. I might eventually get them when they’re cheap to compare them to each other.
@@JeffRauseo they're quite affordable project 4K77 & 4K83 the guys are working on 4K80. And the blue colour grade is the messed with Special edition colour grade and the muted "white" is the actual original version.
The new grading is more accurate to the original version. Look at despecialized or the 2006 bonus dvd. Thy both have a much closer to the 4K than the 2011 blu-ray.
Great review, well done. I'm gonna disagree with you about Hoth. Snow looks real with texture not bluish like in the original VHS or Blu-ray. The detail on the Empire's galactic fleet looks amazing. You can appreciate the vessels' blue lights and amber red exhausts. Look closely and you'll appreciate Luke's facial scars on his right cheek and upper lip from the near fatal car accident he had just before the release of A New Hope. Skin complexions look natural and not over saturated like in the Blu-ray. The holograms blush textures looks awesome.
Let me tell you one thing I live in an area that has snow almost year round and the 4K has got it right, blue ray version is way to blue, doesn’t look realistic.
Nice review Jeff, Bluray does seem to have issues displaying primary and even secondary colors accurately. I don't understand how a franchise this large gets an average transfer, Overall I'm really disappointed that Disney have taken on the Star Wars franchise, because pretty much all of Disney's transfers on 4K have been poor. Their baby is now streaming, and these transfers just prove that.
Here's an issue that was not brought up: the 4K version of Empire is at times, too crystal clear. For instance the initial battle in the snow on Blu-ray looks very real but on 4K, it looks less real because of the ultra fine detail of the visual special effects. Just my 2 cents. 🤷♂️
On the Bespin duel the color behind Vader was always blue not gray like in 4k release. I watched the movie 400+ times and i remember exactly. Why the hell would they alter the colour? This sucks!
I’ve learned that I’m not getting any more Disney 4K movies. I have all the Marvel movies on 4K and I don’t even bother putting in those discs anymore, I end up swapping it for the blu ray disc. I just don’t get how a film like Batman Returns on 4K can look clear and bright (even in dark scenes I can see everything) but Civil War looks like mud is covering the entire screen. It’s just so dark and blah looking. At least on blu ray it brightens up the picture
Batman Returns was a stunning transfer. It all comes down to time and money. I'd say Sony, WB and Paramount do amazing transfers. Fox did with Alien, Die Hard and Predator - we'll see if they get to do anymore under the Disney umbrella.
Peter Schorn I love Patrick! I’ve only been a sub over there for about six months so I must’ve missed this video. I really wish I had seen it before I started collecting 4K Marvel movies
Just watched this review and i'm starting to question how you've reviewed this new 4K release. Let me add - his isn't an attack. Rather than comparing the extremely poor Blu-Ray, start reviewing older material and research something as controversial as previous Star Wars offerings on Home Video. It's a huge issue which is well documented. The franchise is rather well known for tinted tinkering by Lucas over the years. The backlash of that Blu Ray release was a huge factor of why Lucas sold up (colour tinkering - not just CGI changes). The Hoth scenes in colour levels on the 4K look far better than the 2011 Blu-Ray and far better than the 2004 DVD. The levels are far more correct to original colour grading opposed to the tinted releases I mentioned above. The film hasn't looked great in any way since after the 1997 theatrical release. There is 35mm scan of the 1997 Special Edition release in the wild and that was far better looking than the former home video releases. This 4K release is the closest to that last theatrical release. I found this review rather questionable as a result. As I say - it's not a dig but some more research would be beneficial if you're going to review some movies like the Original Trilogy and the well known issues on Home Video they've suffered for over 20 years.
I get that, but I don’t have access to all those different releases to compare in my own environment. It’s also coming down to personal preference. I feel like the 2011 Blu-ray looked great, but that’s just my opinion. If my opinion differs or I like a different color scheme or color grade that’s just my opinion. I don’t think a review is questionable because of that - it’s simply a review and an opinion, as are all reviews. I don’t consider my word to be gospel, these are just my thoughts.
@@JeffRauseo The 2011 blu-ray is way too blue. I saw Empire in a lot of cinemas between '80-'82, and this 4K release looks exactly like how I remember it back then. We all have our preferences of course.
@@JeffRauseo Jeff, I personally 100000% agreed with your review. I had exactly the same thoughts on this 4k release of ESB as you did, but i'm a bit harsher - I personally feel the shadows are very poorly done and detail is also poor. This is NOT worth an upgrade from the 2011 blu ray imho. At any price.
@@kthx1138 with all due respect, it is highly improbably that your memory of the movie from '82 is accurate. That's 38 years ago. Unless you have a photographic memory that is. And guess what - your eyes will have changed a lot since '82 too, especially if you're over 50 like I am (yes, I saw ESB in the cinemas in '82 as well). My recollection is that this 4k is poor compared to what I *remember* from the cinemas in '82, but I wouldn't trust my memory to be foolproof...
celestialfilms I am amazed that you claim you remember color grading of a movie from 40 years ago. Human memory is notoriously dodgy. I grade photographs and I have an eye for color. However, grading needs a lot of focus, thinking, tinkering and comparison. Remembering a color grade exactly would also need this process to go through. If not on a computer screen, then at least in your mind. I simply don’t believe you did this 40 years ago, unless you were a film student and analyzed the film extensively for class or something like that.
that's not the point. It 's a poor effort from Disney, especially for the price point that they are charging for these 4k releases. BTW, the Aussie versions do not have any stacking, they have a flip panel...like the US version should...
mrtheoden I agree it’s a dumb design. I was just saying how I’d get around the risk of scratching the main disc, by isolating it from another disc. Good to know the Aussie version’s not stacked. 👍🏼
After your review of Star Wars A New Hope on 4K. I went to Target and bought New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi on 4k for the buy two get one free. I am so happy I did. A New Hope looked amazing, and so did The Empire Strikes Back. Everything was clear and detailed with no noise. The HDR highlighting all of the lights on the spaceships and the Death Star. The fight scene between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker was a little dark, but only where it really needed to be. And I think it added to it by having small parts of the scene darker with HDR highlights. So glad I saw your review. I was going to wait until they came down in price, I'm happy I didn't wait. They're so good, I'm tempted to go by 1, 2 and 3. Thanks again for all your reviews.
Ya know... I probably wouldn't mind paying for yet another copy of the Star Wars movies if Disney had more respect for them. I just can't justify it anymore. I saw all these movies at the theater in the 70's & 80's. I bought them on VHS, I saw them at the theater again for the special editions, then bought them again on VHS. Then I bought them on DVD. Then I bought them again on DVD because they came with the original versions. Finally, I bought them on Blu Ray in 2011. I think I'm done. I gave George Lucas more than I should have for these films. I refuse to pay Disney for any re-releases. If Disney wants anything from my wallet, they should release The Simpsons on Blu Ray.
Great review buddy! Was very tempted to double dip (think we’ve all dipped many times now, with Star Wars over the years) and pick up the 4K, but I think I’ll hang onto my Blu Ray set. Sending big hugs from Ireland! ☘️ The channel is fantastic!!
I a little bit disagree ; the movie looks like it was printed without HDR. The STAR WARS TRILOGY is a festival of great colors and for my favourite SW Episode, everything looks yellowish and blue color is missing, especially on Dagobah ! But it s my opinion. By the way great Job Jeff.
The point of what I’m saying is simply: if the content is good, you’ll forget what size/resolution/hoopty-doop-tion/ and all the rest within 2-3 minutes. I hate Special Edition Jedi for turning Jabba’s Palace into #FraggleRock. Not the coloring, the freaking Fraggles. The darkest, grittiest, moodiest scene was turned into a laughable Vegas show. Me and pals all skipped school to watch these. We all walked out of Studio 28, GR, thinking “what? Let’s get some cigars and go to OCB! (Old Country Buffet).
5:40 They actually scanned the 4K BluRay from the original film in this release unlike the 2011 BluRay release. You're comparing it to the worst version ever made (The 2011 BluRay release)? It sounds like you're used to the 2011 BluRay release even though that was the mkst edited version. The colors on Hoth looked different because they were closer to the original as opposed to the too blue look of the 2011 release.
Contrary to labelling, Disney's 4k edition of Empire does not preserve the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio of the movie. The picture frame only measures to be in the aforementioned format, but is in fact cropped about 4% on all sides (yes even top and bottom). Just make a comparison with older laserdisc editions or the Blu-ray's to detect this substantial problem, wich to date has largely been overseen by reviewers.
My only problem with the Star Wars Trilogy is they don't give you an option. To view it in. It's form that it was prior to 1997. All of That added in hokey pokey. That Spielberg had another car payment to make adding all that c*** in. Detracts from the original film. I am glad that I still have my original DVD's. That do not include all that stuff. In addition to having them on blue ray with all of the added in material. I still lean on the classics the way they were first and foremost
On the Atmos track for ESB, does anybody have issues with the hyperdrive failure sound effects during the escape scene as the falcon heads into the asteroid field? (37:00) I do not know if it is just my system or the atmos track that masks it
I know these videos are two to three years old, great shout out for Vincent Teoh of HDTV test, I didn't know he did a video relating to the DV of streaming, I'll look that up.
Right now on Best Buy they're all $23 I'm wondering if they're even worth that much I was really hoping to have these movies in 4K it's one of my favorite movies
If they’re changing the Snow ❄️ from white on Blu-ray to grey then this new edition should be avoided no matter what this kid says. I mean how stupid are Disney to make a mess of this
I just bought the Star Wars 4k box set that is available from Best Buy. I never owned any of the Star Wars movies on dvd or Blu-Ray until now. The set is awesome!
I see no point in buying the OT on 4K until they do the original theatrical cuts since in recent years I have been watching the original version DVDs as opposed to the BD ones. Cool review.
It does because Fox was the distributor of the film. Unlike A New Hope of which Fox had both ownership and distribution rights, the others, Lucasfilm owned the films, Fox only had distribution.
@@SB0780 I believe when Disney had first put the Original Trilogy on streaming, that Empire and Jedi did NOT have the Fox Fanfare. But A New Hope did have the Fox fanfare. Though I've not checked it out in a while to see if that changed. Though I guess with Disney buying Fox, that they now included the Fox Fanfare back in on the Blu-Ray's.
I just got The Rise of Skywalker on 4k. They also stacked the special features Blu-ray with the 4k disc. So annoying. BTW, if you haven't got ROS yet, there's a 2hr documentary on the Disney trilogy and the original trilogy. Pretty good. Rian Johnson was not so surprisingly missing and anything to do with The Last Jedi. Shame, I actually liked it. At least Rian tried to rock the boat a little. 🤷♂️
Yup its BS the stacked disc first thing I do when I buy the star wars films at a reasonable price is put all the special features discs in there own case and print some custom cover art for the bonuses. Also I noticed there doesn't even appear to be a spine holder so you can't even use/supply your own disc trays. One thing for sure I'll be getting these during a buy get 1 get 1 free I aint paying full price due to the greedy, stingy half assed things Disney do.
At 7:00 (ish), to me, the BlueRay coloring on the AT-AT walkers combined with the mountains and sky have a gorgeous contrast, while the 4k looks like someone took a gray paint-roller over everything. I thank you for being open to your viewer’s opinions! Some youtube reviewers don’t like any opinion but their own!
Are the lightsaber colours consistent throughout now? I noticed that in the BD and earlier versions they were all over the shop, and at times Vader's lightsaber was pink, which really isn't all that great.
I think the white change here is an improvement. The original blu-ray seems to have "retail display mode syndrome" where the blue levels are way too high for color accuracy. Harmy's tweaks for the unofficial "despecialized" version also reduces the blue level to positive effect and many people have been wanting an official release to have this sort of color correction for years. I agree about the black levels though and also think there is a bit of detail lost in that instance.
I have the original trilogy on Blu Ray from 2013 with no desire or interest in replacing them for these Disney "4ks." Fox's mastering with THX certs is beautiful with the 4k upscale.👍
Typical Disney always skimmping on what could make the movies better. Now,I'm not sure if I should even bother getting the 4k version of the original trilogy
Thanks for the review with screenshots! At 5:28 why did they change the original blue to the split pea soup hue? That's definitely a new change. The remastered remastered remastered remastered edition?
Always a good review man. I guess it's a person's preference because I like that the blue color shift is gone and hoth looks very Natural along with the rest of the pallet. Thanks for the review. Keep them coming
From that quick picture you show on the imperial walkers on hoth, I would respectfully disagree. It is much better. It is closer to the original. Accurate is not always same as what people like. I completelly agree with Joe Bagadoughnuts, lower. And yes to me it's worth the upgrade.
Not only closer to the original (according to you, as I am too young I have no point of reference, only ever seen the special edition) but it is also more life like. When he showed the comparison of the star destroyers the bluray looks much to blue while the 4k HDR has a solidly contrastful light-grey/dark-grey look. The same goes for hoth. Though the snow might look way more intense with the blue tinge of the Bluray, the 4K UHD again looks much more lifelike. I must agree however when he sais the movie looks a bit dark (from the Screenshots). The scene he shows on hoth, though way more natural looking is very dark. And I think that's why he thinks it looks worse. The blue just made the snow pop a bit more.
I haven't watched it. I suspect it's prolly the same as the 2011 blu ray though...I couldn't see Disney spending money on a regraded blu ray lol...minimum money spent on saga, for maximum $$$$ to keep the shareholders happy, screw the fans...
That’s unfortunate to hear. I just picked up the trilogy but haven’t had time to watch them. But at least I bought durning the buy 2 get 1 free Target sale.
From what I understand and have read'ed over the years The 2004 DVDs / 2011 Blu-Ray Discs / 2015 Blu-Ray Discs of The Original Trilogy had rushed color grading on those releases and on these newer 4K UHD Blu-Ray Disc releases the color grading is closer to what the films originally looked in 77 , 80 and 83 and what they looked liked back when the Special Editions came out in 1997.
can you do Die Hard? I got it & unfortunately didn’t notice much difference. Also i just watched the amazon prime 4K versions of some of the James Bond films and wasn’t impressed. I compared to Prime’s other version & felt that the 4K version looked unnatural. Connery looked glossy & shiny
I don't have physical copies of any Star Wars films and was originally saving up for the Skywalker box set. After seeing mixed/poor reviews for it, I'm leaning towards buying the new individual 4k releases. Do you think that's the better approach, especially for someone who wants all the bonus features possible??
At the 1:43 mark, I opted out immediately. I keep hoping they release the original theatrical versions - without any of the needless 1997-tinkering - but it seems Disney is purposely reluctant to ever put those out there. Good thing I still have an old original VHS trilogy collection from the late '80s that I found at a thrift store one time.
All three of the original trilogy have never looked better. Jedi is the smallest improvement but still good and a New Hope and Empire are leaps and bounds the best they've ever been. The definition and visible detail has never been close to what these discs provide. Nostalgia hats need to be removed because watching side by side is like chalk and cheese. The colour and contrast is also improved, not to mention the audio.
I came here to see what you would say about the atmos track. IDK, Disney plus 4k/atmos didn't look or sound too bad at all. The asteroid scene really shined with atmos!
Jeff- great review and thanks for saying wait until ESB is $10-15 to buy. I apologize if you’ve already answered but how do you get this BTGO special via Target. I’m having a hard time locating.
Return of the Jedi was 3D looking in 4k. The first time this movie looked right. Grain be "gone". Which plagued every bluray version. Revenge of the Sith was tour de' force. They would of even been better in dolby vision.
Thanks for the heads up, looking forward to ROTJ on 4k then. How does the other 2 prequels compare to ROTS in your opinion? I'm guessing they're soft and full or badly done DNR?
@@davepastern The only Star wars movies I've really liked, historically were Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Sith, Force Awakens, Last Jedi, Rise of Skywalker. All look fantastic in 4K. Lot of Star wars nerds, hate the Daisy Ridley movies. I really like them. Who ever mastered Return of the Jedi in 4k, really knew what they were doing. My only criticism, no Dolby Vision. It would of even, been better. Disney is so cheap to pay the license fee.
@@stephensdygert7600 well I disagree, the Disney stuff is crappy. TFA wasn't too bad, but the next 2 are just plain terrible. I say this as a fan for of the franchise for 43 years. For me, ANH and ESB, especially the latter, shit on anything else, including ROTJ, which was always the weakest of the OT. The prequels just had terrible dialogue and poor acting (other than Ewan who always delivered a great performance imho), and a terrible story arc. Certainly not how I'd have done the prequels. The sequels are just...money grabbing garbage (other than TFW which I admit is half decent, not great, but half decent). I like Daisy, the problems with the sequels aren't her fault, so I'm not hating on her. ROTS was probably my fave of the prequels, but wasn't nowhere near dark enough. IMHO, ROTS should have been episode 2, and episode 3 a younger Darth Vader hunting down the jedi...episode 2 should have seen the love interest between Anakin and Padme grow, and at the end, Anakin turn to the dark side and the death of Padme. A nice twist would have been Anakin thinking Obi wan and Padme were having an affair, fueled by the emperor, and succumbing to jealousy, with the duel between the 2 jedi happening at the end of episode 2. Episode 3 should have also shown obi wan setting up on Tattoine, and Yoda on Dagobah and Qui gon training Yoda and Obi Wan in the force even more, making them both more powerful for the long run and original trilogy.
From the screenshots, it looks like they did a universal colour-correction, rather than a scene-by-scene colour-correction. I am guessing this was to save time.
