Apparently Reliance Media Works was hired to restore the Trilogy in 4K.

Could this possibly replace the previous Lowry restorations from 10 years ago? And are these the unaltered versions?

Clips from their restoration can be seen in their Demo Reel. (Not sure how to embed a Vimeo video)


All very exciting!

That's really awesome. They had to have gone back to some original film elements since everything from Special Editions and up was digitized at 2K.

I recommend anyone pick up the Baraka Blu-Ray. The 8K master is incredible. The sharpness is noticeable even at the lower presentation resolution.

The SW related clips in their demo look they're from the OOT to me. The shot of the Obi-Wan/Vader duel appear to have the original rotoscoped sabers but with crisp-vibrant color. The color grading also looks more like the natural colors of the movies devoid of the terrible blue color casts of the Lowry editions.

George has gone on record before that one reason he didn't restore the OOT (aside from his wanting the SE's to be the only versions) was the cost. Now that Disney owns LFL, I'm sure they can more than afford the bill for a proper OOT restoration, the question is will George allow it?

Disney knows they'll sell buckets of them. "Now, like the first time you experienced it... as you've never seen it before."

It begs the question as to what becomes of the Lucas versions. They've done SO many tweaks since 1997. Little things normal people don't notice like starfield replacements, matte adjustments, even the rebel fleet in Jedi was re-comped slightly. Did they take really good notes? Will it all be recreated from a new master?

Notice in that trailer how the blacks still have some level dimension. Lowry crushed that shit. (Arguably it was an acceptable restoration 10 years ago.)

I'd love to have amazing versions of the movies I watched as a kid, but you speak of VFX fixes that legitimately made for a better viewing experience. I don't think we'll ever get a version that mixes the best of both worlds and then some (i.e. fixing Luke's MF training scene from ANH once and for all).

Someone whipped up some screen comparisons here and here. There are six comparisons in all.

Even with these Vimeo screen caps, the difference is striking. I personally prefer the grittier, warmer look of the "new" scan. I guess it's possible Lucas made these 4K scans for the Blu-rays and completely ruined them later. But the difference between the Reliance reel and the official Blu-rays is sharp enough to suggest these could be for an unaltered release.

...Right? Right?? All hope is not lost, right??

This is awesome news! Honestly I don't care if it's the unaltered OT or yet another Extra-Special Special Edition, it's way past time for these movies to be transferred and restored properly.

I'd be lying if I said I could clearly recall what Star Wars looked like in the cinema prior to 1997 (I just remember it being fantastic in general)... my mental comparisons are all based on my taped-from-TV version that I watched to death and any official VHS versions I owned before the Special Editions.
One thing that always struck me as looking "wrong" was how vivid and pink looking the whole frame seems to be in recent versions of ANH whenever there is laser fire, particularly during the gunfight on the Tantive.
Just to put that into context, Luke lightsaber on the Falcon has never really "bothered" me in any version I have ever seen, but that over-saturated colour in the opening battle I find really distracting.
(Disclaimer: Maybe it actually looked like that in the cinema in 1977, I can't say, but it still looks wrong to me)

Looking at those comparisons above, it seems to me that magenta hue has been rolled right back in that "new scan", which can only be a good thing as far as I am concerned...

I have to confess...I'm the one who posted that link that T'bone shared on Facebook in various Star Wars groups and from there it spread like wildfire from there.

if this will be ready by or before episode 7 then this must have been one of the first projects Disney launched. I feel like Disney may be in touch with the die hard fans than I ever expected. Is this really something the casual fan cares about? If it were a matter of just pressing the BD's then no biggie, but with the damaged masters this must be a terribly expensive process. I am truly impressed that Disney would invest so much when a BD of the OT exists. I think this is a great sign that they have a vision for the franchise that caters to the die hards as well as the casual fans. I really didn't expect this so soon, let's hope this report is accurate

This bounces around every few months. It's an article from August of this year and it's been debated ever since. These are still just rumors.