PT The Phantom Menace (PT) 4K Upscaled - A minor revelation

The last time I sat through the six-part Star Wars saga was May of 2015. I took a break, in part, to sorta allow for the recent Disney installments to stand on their own in my mind. Since that time I've upgraded my home entertainment system from a decade-old 36 inch 1080p HDTV/PS4 to a 55 inch Sony Ultra HD, and with a Samsung 4K player. Now I'm back smack-dab in the middle of the saga, today having swung around to the PT with The Phantom Menace. It's the standard Blu-ray, of course, but the upscaled results nonetheless took me by surprise; that, coupled with my return viewing after some time, it's possible I've never enjoyed the movie as much since way back 1999.

The picture settings on my system have been calibrated conservatively within the 'Home Cinema' format to avoid any exaggerated elements incongruent with that which I consider generally acceptable for movies, as opposed to live sports, video games etc. And, naturally, I've wavered the Motionflow option. From the get-go is how much noticeably darker overall the film looks along with a color palette, not muted, but now more neutralized or, eh, naturalized.

In other words, from the realms of Naboo to the homey interiors on Tatooine and the dusky twilight of Coruscant, what seemed before -- what I remember for so long -- as being rather plush is now moodier in shadow-cast, with deeper blacks, healthier contrast and a color tone that is distinctly medieval—never at the expense of the film's most pastel venues like, say, Theed, her Venetian halls and surrounding greenery, but with such environs rendered altogether earthier. The Baroqueness sometimes associated with the film is now far richer and more characteristic than ever before. It all has the feeling of fidelity, like something given back to the movie since its theatrical release. In fact, I would ultimately describe it as having just that: a more textural and photo-granular atmosphere of being projected on a large screen in a darkened cinema.

It looks good, is what I'm sayin'. Damn good.

And more than just re-appreciate, it's from this that I fully reengaged on a gut-cinephile level just how special The Phantom Menace is. Watching it again, a single word kept repeating in the back of my brain, one that I've come to regard as maybe the best-and-final word to define the whole experience. And that word is authentic.

At the risk of drudging up tiresome negativity, The Force Awakens, at least by comparison, feels like it was directed by Pepsi, overwhelmed with all the affectations of a modern blockbuster. It's not a "bad" movie in that respect. It's just, I dunno, Star Wars devoid of dorky-skirting pulp and abstract observationalism; because The Phantom Menace delves into narrative report virtually indifferent to any modish sensibility that reassures audiences with only the most familiar beats of appeal, of being instantly, universally (even, dare I say, superficially) "likable", arguably even oblivious to the very fact that it's a movie first instead of its own merely documented heightened 'B-serial' reality. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, for example ...both such perpetually cool-customers the moment they walk on screen. They're not there to accord us on our terms. They're Jedi Knights on business in a movieverse obliged only to its own unique rules and sophistications. I'm not suggesting that The Phantom Menace is fashioned to alienate audiences, but to abduct them from the usual fare. Its melodrama is native, genuine. Its frames are dioramic, not unlike those of '50s biblical cinema, yet balanced with that Kurosawa boldness for shallow-lens closeups. And the editing is inherent beyond mere technical cuts; it's incremental to any given moment as it unfolds on a step-by-step storytelling level.

To illustrate, Padme on the lam is left powerless as a Queen, a realization that hits ever so coldly at the end of a broken transmission. Once the hologram representative of her dying people fades, she stands there for an instant with no recourse, only to turn and see a little boy, alone and sad. Padme is not just a surrogate for Anakin via the absence of his mother, but he in turn the one immediate thing she can console in the absence of her home-world:

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As with so many other scenes in Lucas' Star Wars, it's simple and elegant. He's good at this stuff.

Tomorrow night I will continue my 4K reunion with Attack of the Clones, to date, still my favorite installment of the franchise.

 

I think I'm more happy that others are recognizing the wondrous changes to the The Phantom Menace in Blu-Rey than Ingram making a post after a millennium(who am I kiddin, both are great events). Ya'know, to be honest I sorta expected to have a slight dissonance with the Blu-rey coloring just based on my assumption(even doubting Lucas for some reason nonetheless. Oh Young Midi...) but I must it is a minor revelation indeed, Ingram.

Perhaps minor is a tad of an understatement. The beautiful imagery is just so...Clear

It's like cleaning up small tinges of an art piece or giving it some more depths in the painting. The art glamours with eloquent lighting and coloring, but add in some shades and the detail further enhances the art piece.

Great post.

Also, I need to rewatch these movies in higher quality(especially that ROTS).

 

The Phantom Menace is authentic in it is George realizing most of his vision unencumbered by a release date, meddling studio, or budget. I love Episode One precisely because it is the purest form of that SW vision we ever got. After the criticism of the film, it seemed George added more "fans would love to see this" moments and fan service to the other two.

Episode One is pure Lucas.

 

I am more on the inclination that TPM is similar to how ANH feels when it was released. Potently fresh, Engaging, mysterious and adventurous. TPM feels like it was purposefully MADE to be specifically set in stone for the new generation of children in 99, like the children in 77. A lovely attuned "innocence" is what I like to call it, just like ANH. Both movies are the most "Lucasian" of the saga. Although "all of them" are Lucas(1-6) it's just that I find it ironic both TPM and ANH have the purest of forms in cinema...

 

This is exactly why I'm glad you came to TFN in 2012, Ingram -- which, incidentally, I feel, is the same year I made perhaps my very best and most passionate posts to IMDb on the now-vanquished TPM board (primarily while TFN was in transition-shutdown). 2012: Also the year that TPM was released in 3D, of course; and the first year, so to speak, that Star Wars hit the ground running by being fully resplendent in HD after its recent "Complete Saga" Blu-ray release the autumn before. And as if that weren't already enough, 2012 was also the year of the sale and the announcement of the sequel trilogy!!! What a year. Anyway...

I'm also glad -- gratified, even -- that you have fired up TPM on a new "home theater" system and enjoyed it, or groked it, anew. That's what this is all about. Presentational excellence + Time away = Rediscovery. You sound a bit like a man who has just become "Born Again" by Lucas' epic "Passion Play" of the silver screen; colliding with a brand-new midi-chlorian viewer that has finally allowed you to recognize the bold genius and pictorial majesty of this film and gasp in amazement that they are both "off the charts".

I love your breakdown/panegyric of the movie and the movie-in-microcosm via this fleeting, but pivotal, bridging/connective-tissue scene. I get the sneaking suspicion that the above displays some ancestral memory of some of my former posts to the aforementioned IMDb TPM board; and also a post I made celebrating my "favourite" scenes ("favourite" because they're all my favourite) to TFN, on this very forum, for the "Star Wars Prequels Appreciation Week" in 2015; which I'm not at all being snarky about (again, I could only ever be grateful and joyous about such an "x-y" oscillation):

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...preciation-week.50032704/page-4#post-52576255

Here's the relevant portion:

You seem very taken with the visual modesty of the scene; a visual modesty that conceals (or concentrates) a sunbeam beauty and architectural excellence. I think that makes sense; or as much sense as it should. There's something sublime coruscating in this scene (pre-"Coruscant"), isn't there? Something gorgeous, mellifluous, sweet, innocent, gentle, ripe... right. Even in one of its less flashy scenes, TPM, to re-use your coinage, is something like a 3D pop-up book come to life; and the overall glaze of the art direction and ultra-solid cinematography beguile the eye and are tautly brought together with (let me use your coinage again) impactful, incremental editing; which beguiles the mind's eye. Hail the jewel in the lotus! Indeed, this stretch of the film, in my opinion, is absolutely fabulous. I'm always happy to be watching the film at just this point.

Simple and elegant are wonderful watch-words. I love the observational quality of the film throughout. For all the movie's obvious brashness and showmanship, and the furious vigour of the wider set of films it pays didactic homage and belongs most intimately to, a lot of what is great about TPM and Star Wars as a whole, in my opinion, are the small brush-strokes and low-key approach to various plot details and world-canvas miscellany. I think it is hard for people who are un-fans of these movies to grasp this notion. Lucas is capable of forbidding subtlety; even when things are at their most hurtling and Herculean. Sadder, softer scenes, like the one you rounded off with, are likely to be overlooked or dismissed entirely. Yet so much of the storytelling and moody intrigue of Star Wars is in these smaller spaces; hanging in the air like dew mist. The foam that comes off the waterfall is, in many ways, more important, or just as beautiful, as the waterfall itself.

One of the best things about Lucasian Star Wars is that you're forever seeing everything through a generous letterbox. The framing, composition, lighting, and juxtaposing of the various compositions are all exemplary. Every slice of every movie -- no matter how thinly you slice it -- seems to have such precise patterning and intricate depth. It is easy to become lost in a given moment or snapshot. Everything is like a signpost from or to another world. The baroque beauty of the "original saga" is surely forever.

And what actually centres this vast mythic diorama -- if anything?

Perhaps it is exactly what you see on-screen above:

That this is all, first and foremost, a simple tale about a boy, a girl, and a universe.

 

I agree except with your assertion that George reacted to criticism for AotC and RotS. I don't think he did. That was never part of his MO, fortunately.

 

I'm strongly inclined to agree with you, Alex. That said, TPM is the only prequel we can be relatively certain can't have been influenced by a notable backlash (aside from various discontent thrown at the OT by critics, people who felt that ROTJ was less good than the former films, and rumblings of discontent toward the Special Editions).

To quote myself back from 2006, in an old thread about the whole issue:

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/is-attack-of-the-clones-the-anti-phantom-menace.23212899/

In that regard, logic/history/conjecture is on Shane's side.

Of course, it remains unclear whether Lucas was really affected by criticism that followed in the wake of TPM's release.

If anything, it might well be that he leveraged it to the benefit of AOTC (and ROTS). Not necessarily in terms of "dramatic" delivery, but what plot and design elements he chose to include; how he constructed the action, humour, etc. He might well have chosen to go even more "off the wall" in AOTC, for example, baiting people with the lure of familiarity, only to "abduct" them (thanks to Ingram_I for more useful coinage) into a radically estranged mythical mazeology. We might never know. It could be considered one of the more mysterious aspects of the Star Wars saga as it now exists.


Some bread-crumbs that hint that Lucas might have been sensitive to backlash:

- The official Star Wars website announced the title "Attack Of The Clones" with the following description in August 2001:
"It harkens back to the sense of pure fun, imagination and excitement that characterised the classic movie serials and pulp space fantasy adventures that inspired the Star Wars saga."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1477087.stm

- Lucas made the following remark in the AOTC DVD documentary "From Puppets To Pixels" (9:07):
"The secret is to make him look like a rubber puppet. The problem we got to last time is that when they made the upgrade, it didn't look like the rubber puppet anymore. So then everybody complained that he didn't look real."

- Samuel Jackson, echoing the title announcement, stated the following in the "Star Wars: Episode II: Story Featurette" (1:22):
"This is back to the spirit of adventure, the excitement, the drama--everything is in this script that made people fall in love with the original Star Wars."


So it's not an open-and-shut case. Lucas might have altered AOTC and ROTS in light of the negativity generated by TPM. Then again, he might not have.

Here are a couple of opinions in the thread above for balance:

(Please read my own remarks -- if pursuing the original link -- in the thread with caution. It was eleven years ago!)

 

I can't really see where AOTC is a reaction to anti-TPM backlash. For one thing, half the movie is a dopey, old-fashioned love story with intentionally uncool, flowery, poetic dialogue which Lucas fully suspected a substantial portion of the audience would reject. I think that in itself should put the lie to the assertion.

And sure, there's less Jar Jar, but I think that was an inevitability given the darker, more serious tone the trilogy was always going to take as it unfolded. And remember that Jar Jar is not an action hero or an adventurer; he was caught up in and occupied a central role in the events of the first film by pure happenstance. It would take some feat of writing to contrive a similar role for Jar Jar in AOTC, and I'm not sure Lucas would have ever felt it all that vital to go to such great lengths in this film. And despite Jar Jar taking up less screen time, he nonetheless plays one of the most important roles in the film, and by extension the saga as a whole.

And while some would characterize the introduction of Jango Fett as fanservice pandering to fans of Boba Fett from the OT, I would point out what Lucas actually ended up doing with the character: removing the helmet and revealing him to be not only a badass mercenary, but also a loving father. At the same time, he made the choice to reveal that Boba Fett himself started out as a small, cherubic, scared, impressionable youngster much like any other--just as he did with Darth Vader in the previous movie! This is not a man who is cravenly altering his vision in response to backlash. This is a man doubling down on those parts of his vision which inspired the backlash in the first place, because those things are fundamental to the kind of story he wants to tell.

 

I'd say that what might have affected Lucas in regards to AotC and RotS was, more than anything else, the need to tie things up. He never did anything that he didn't want just because of negative criticism, even from those working for him.

But like I said, I do agree that TPM is Lucas the most uncompromising vision of Star Wars in terms of world-building and establishing the universe. But I'd say RotS is his magnum opus where he fully takes advantage of the medium.

Okay, I think we all can agree that's just PR talk. TPM is no less any of that than the remaining five movies.

It's not even that. The story simply didn't call for him and yet Lucas managed to give him a minor role. So if there was a reaction on Lucas' part, it was to keep Jar Jar.

 

Indeed. It's for just that sort of reason, though I didn't explicate myself before, that I started my last post by saying that I am strongly inclined to agree with Alex. The weight of filmic evidence leans away from the idea, in my opinion, that Lucas fashioned AOTC in such a way as to placate people who grumbled about TPM and began a campaign of negativity. I don't think winning people around was really on Lucas' mind very much; not least when TPM made a billion dollars (or just under) and garnered reasonably strong approval in Gallup polling that same summer. There was surely enough spice in the remaining prequel installments to entice people anyway. On the other hand, Lucas could have taken the opportunity to at least make it seem like the film offered a more classical "Star Wars" experience after some complained about TPM being dull, out of sorts, and lacking a certain magic; even if AOTC simultaneously does and does not provide that classical experience. Alex, I think, alluded to that just now with his reference to "PR talk".

"Caught up" is a good term when I think of Jar Jar first attaching himself to Qui-Gon like a wet leaf or getting his hand caught in Anakin's podracer engine. I share your view. Jar Jar's role was rather obviously going to diminish across the trilogy; much as Qui-Gon disappears after TPM (and Jar Jar pledged a life debt specifically to him) and other TPM-centric characters, like Watto and Shmi, rapidly recede in a close parallel to Jar Jar. The only real branch people have to cling to, in my opinion, is that Jar Jar clearly takes up a bigger portion of TPM than Watto and Shmi; and Lucas was obviously quite eager to include Jar Jar and have him work on a technical level. So it can be contended that Jar Jar is shunted out of the way after TPM more than Lucas might have intended; but I have my doubts in that regard. What's more fascinating is that Jar Jar is like this strange note or gossamer entity that the prequels are rather provocatively defined by on more of a metatextual level. The working title of AOTC was even "Jar Jar's Great Adventure". People don't seem willing to concede that Jar Jar's diminution makes a set of powerful points in itself.

You may have seen a former post of mine I made recently to the "Jar Jar Binks Appreciation Thread". I did some very quick maths to ascertain and demonstrate the very dramatic decline of Naboo's presence in the prequels -- and if Jar Jar is "local" to Naboo (to echo Qui-Gon's wording), it further makes sense that Jar Jar himself would virtually disappear along with his idyllic home.

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...ciation-thread.50025348/page-14#post-54303513

The full post is significantly longer and goes into some issues Alex lightly touches on. However, if you want to read it in full, please use the link. I looked at it and decided it's a bit too long to include in this response.

Excellent reading. It's like Lucas said to the fanbase: "You want Boba Fett? Fine, but it's going to be my way." Earlier notes and comments make clear he always saw Boba Fett linked to the stormtroopers and/or the Clone Wars in some basic way. So he was really just concretizing what he personally, in a very real sense, wanted to see. I think a lot of the backlash and post-hoc theorizing about these films, or Lucas' choices, is rooted in a proprietary attitude; all fans, in their own way, want to take possession of these films and see "outside" of what Lucas was doing (or what they think Lucas was doing). Note that: All fans. I know I'm not necessarily any better. But that attitude can lead to very narrow views of the saga/the PT, in my opinion, when certain assumptions are made about Lucas being weak-minded, bending to fan complaint (a kind of tautological narcissism), and his allegedly prioritizing commercial concerns ahead of artistic aims.

That's something that shackled him -- I agree. But not necessarily in a bad or overtly limiting way. I think he rather thrived on it as an intellectual challenge. It also accords with one of the things he said he was trying to do with every SW movie: make it busier and more ellipitical or impressionistic than the last.

I think they're all his magnum opus in a raw artistic sense. TPM, however, feels the most polished and complete, to me; while AOTC might just be the most layered of his films and ROTS the most gravitic and operatic. ROTS gains a lot of strength by being less encumbered by exposition than its forebears. It delivers the "meat and potatoes" of Anakin's fall. In that regard, it pays off the elaborate set-up of Episodes I and II with stunning alacrity, and also stands as proof that Lucas could deliver a hard-hitting Star Wars movie with his digital watercolours. He hadn't gone soft; he was just working up to a big conclusion. It is a great finale.

Well, I do think TPM actually is more remote and lapidary; more of a grounded storybook. AOTC, in my opinion, is deliberately more lurid and excessive in some ways. Of the two, I'd say it has a more swashbuckling, mad-cap feel than TPM; especially in its final reel. It's like AOTC sees what TPM does and multiplies it by some factor. I think it is the most adventuresome of the prequels. Of course, they're all fantastical, escapist fare, but some have more of a crazy-quilt quality and bubblegum fizz than others. Each obeys its own plot logic and engages with the earlier source material of the series -- with its own cinematic heritage, if you will -- in its own way.


Sorry for the long tangent, Ingram_I!!!

 

That was very much my take, yes. It's not that the film's visuals have been entirely repurposed through the HD and Ultra HD viewing, only that the worlds on display feel more 'a long time ago' space-historical. There are still some DNR smearing hiccups inherent to the Blu-ray transfer (which for me really only amount to a handful of shots) yet I also noticed how much better the 18-yearold CG animation effects look. By this, I don't mean that Jar Jar, for example, is necessarily closer in software to live-action character animation of today's films, but that, as an effects work, he's more constitutional in-camera the same way stop-motion effects by now feel so ingrained to the storied worlds of Harryhausen fantasies, almost as if it shouldn't naturally look any other way.

Well, if nothing else, it certainly delivered the most uncompromising backstory contrast to the OT imaginable without breaking the overall stylistic integrity of being a "Star Wars movie". The Phantom Menace indeed commits to the totality of Star Wars as an idea where the earlier films could only proceed from any one or two singular-yet-bold strains.

Cryogenic - Maybe not "Born Again" as much as seeing it with refreshed eyes. And, yeah, it's a fine scene between Padme and little Ani en route. Episode I is arguably Padme's movie, and this is a very brass tacks moment for her as a character. It exemplifies Lucas' eye for quieted and unencumbered frame space along with his sense of structure/timing when affixing two separate character story lines in a very intimate manner. Such is a connection that is echoed rather curiously later on when Padme, Kabuki'd as Queen Amidala, expresses from her then hidden self in a distinctly formal address: "We are sure her heart goes with you."

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It makes for a neat bit of complexity to Lucas' structuring in how it subverts the aforementioned intimacy while allowing the audience to project onto the Queen's detached countenance the very feelings of warmth we know she has towards Ani. This is Lucas' storytelling through precision place cards—rehearsed, direct, economic, yet accented with just the right touch of inner feelings.​

 

Yet Lucas was fully aware that Anakin as a 9 year old was going to be problematic for some. It was for him in casting and on a story level. As pointed out he was also fully aware of how things he was doing in AOTC could also not go down well from the romance to Young Boba to bringing Jar Jar back etc etc.

TPM is the movie that Lucas could have the most outright fun on since as he said it's a "half-hour movie" and the rest is jazz riffing. Basically Anakin goes into the Jedi Order and Palpatine becomes Chancellor. Obviously there is way more to it than that but the further the story goes the more you have to do what the story needs as opposed to starting more things.

The movie is more relaxed much like ANH but unlike TFA which has to hurry Rey's story along so she can have a Lightsaber duel.

 

The DNR smearing took me out of the film a little bit in 2012. I went on at some length about it at the time:

My TPM 3D review as reposted to TFN in 2016

I agree that Jar Jar naturally inhabits the movie quite well. And he looked even better (as Lucas said) in 3D. Especially in those early scenes on Naboo. Given the film's storybook feel, Jar Jar's digital salamander act integrates with the movie as well as you could hope for. The film generally strikes the right blend of realism and gauche fantasy stylings, in my opinion. If nothing else, Jar Jar is like the incarnate spirit between the podracer engines of the world; Jar Jar gets his tongue caught in the beam because he *is* the beam! You are continually watching something with a teasing sense of the extraordinary about it.

It's just so visionary and opulent. As the farthest movie back in mythical "screen time", it also makes sense, in my opinion, that it would be the most lofty and ritualized of the series (which I certainly think it is). It has a beautifully big, open, ancient feel. The starchy compositions and character interchanges make it seem like a very expansive and endlessly dreamy meditation on the original trilogy. It's almost like Star Wars fell into a Japanese time-well and Lucas fished it back out and this was the result.

On the "en route" scene once more:

Yes. It's quite interesting that that scene, short as it is, actually features no less than five characters. Two just happen to be in "sleep" mode and one is a hologram recording. And Padme herself is essentially two characters, or two performances, in one. Only Anakin is sort of "himself"; though even he is depicted with an ominous "mini-Vader" shadow behind where he's huddling. There's always so much to notice and admire about these films -- and to think about.

On the "saying goodbye" scene:

The use of soft shadows and highlights is extraordinary; they really give this scene an incredible mood. And to think: Lucas added the scene late after Spielberg asked about Padme and Lucas realized he had forgotten about her in the formal labyrinth of Coruscant. What I also love about this little scene, after watching it umpteen times, is a curious subtext: While invited inside, Anakin half-stumbles upon and nearly unmasks the whole charade. Look at the storage containers half-broken open. It gives the feel that Anakin nearly discovers what Amidala is "up" to; who she really is. The entire interplay of the cosmos, the chilly dance around a cracked kettle, is almost uncovered. Anakin as the accidental saboteur; the destroyer and unmasker. Anakin himself later tries hiding in a container in the hangar; opting for the N-1 starfighter after a hail of laser fire compels him to seek cover elsewhere; and from which he will do so much damage to the TF control ship and, by extension, the whole galaxy. That's another thing about Star Wars, of course, and of this movie in particular: very evocative links and contrasts and strange repeat elements and haunting poetic meanings.

Anyway, yup -- it's a nice exchange. Great thoughts on Lucas' precision storytelling; his storytelling optics are the absolute best. The scene also contains an odd spiritual ache. Why can't we just be ourselves, eh? Why the masking, the fronting, the coded transmissions, the misdirection? Instead, we are brought together but held apart with odd rituals, customs, oblique mannerisms and practices that are imperfectly understood. Imagine a "laser gate" between the characters, especially in scenes like the above, and a deeper meaning can be glimpsed in the duel and then retroactively applied to the whole movie. It's a little like in "THX-1138". The strange habits that people become locked into; and the unlikeliness of escaping the circle. Jar Jar is the key to all this...

It becomes a bit like a Bonsai tree or a child that grows; a structure forms and that structure needs to be respected and tended a certain way. It's a little easier when there are more directions to explore. Lucas has formerly spoken, indeed, of "jazz riffs" and "hamburger helper" being a big part of Episodes I and II. In ROTS, he had to get serious; but there was much more latitude to play with in the "build-up" installments. Jar Jar again becomes a measure of the open-hearted, child-like potential and unbounded creation space of I and II; Episode I in particular. He is brought somewhat under Qui-Gon's control, or at least his disciplinarian whims, in TPM; while he gets completely sucked into the Emperor's machinations in AOTC. By ROTS, he's a mere vestigial limb. Is it better to work under constraints or dynamically create without them? Jar Jar as a measuring stick or tuning fork says it can be both; but would we never really know of Jar Jar's Jar Jar-ness without the playful crown he wears in TPM. This is the fundamental brilliance of Star Wars, Jar Jar, and TPM, in my opinion.

 

I also like the contrast there between those two images. Anakin stands outside while Amidala is framed by two handmaidens in a crowded shot. Nice little bit there unintentional or not showing her predicament and duty versus his lack of obligations,responsibilities. His life right now is freer and uncluttered.

 

on a technical point -

AOTC was shot in 1080p video wasn't it ? so upscaling to 4K won't do much will it ?

 

I've come to the conclusion that the DNR applied was very subtle. People mix the movie's inherent softness with DNR.

I love the restoration they did to the movie though. No more generational artifacts and other picture defects, a new color grading, it never looked as good. Specially compared to the DVD master which was taken from the interpositive:

It will. Picture quality is not just about resolution. There are other factors that can improve in a future 4K release like compression, dynamic range, etc...

 

Yep.

TPM has a lot more visual punch now; and returning to the digital negative meant, in addition to ridding the film of various transfer flaws, there is also less cropping of the image.

However...

I have to admit that those earlier flaws/defects kind of gave the film a bit more vintage charm. Like an old artefact recovered from the remnants of an ancient society.

But who would want to go without seeing TPM in all its storybook, full-colour glory, at least once in their lives? There is also a newer DVD release based on the same Blu-ray transfer that I have. Sometimes, TPM actually looks a little too good, shaming other, more grainy films (including "The Force Awakens") by comparison. In its best shots, it looks absolutely pristine; like a 70 mm production. Lucas and Tattersall did a brilliant job composing and lighting it.

 

The Phantom Menace looks more beautiful than any other Star Wars film.

 

Depends what you mean by upscaling.

There is the upscaling the OP is doing from a dual-layer HD disc. The source is still HD to start. The movie was compressed down to fit onto the disc which has 50GB of space total.

Let's be very general and say a DCP (digital cinema package) that is projected in theaters is approx 200GB for a 2 hr movie. The BD discs are less than 50GB.

4K discs come in dual layer 66GB and 3 layer 100GB. So depending how they would do it there would be that much less compression used to get that much closer to a theatrical presentation.

Of course at home you don't have the 50' and 80' screens that theaters do never mind IMAX.

That's the other thing. Some people like to go on about resolution but that is just one factor. Once you are at HD it's HD. You can project that onto a screen an size like IMAX and it's going to be fine in resolution.

Like John Knoll said there are all kinds of talk of lines of resolution you can get into but what matters is real world performance.

 

Confession: Until I discovered the internet I thought that AOTC was the reason that people loved Boba Fett. Although I always though that kid Boba seemed somewhat more psychotic that TPM Anakin. Intentionally so.

 

I agree. For a long time TPM was my favorite prequel film visually. Now it is in my top three for best looking(I go back and forth between this,SW, and TESB).

 

I don't think he seems psychotic. He laughs at Obi-Wan's plight during the asteroid chase scene, but that's only because that's how he's been raised. He's just having a fun time out with his dad.

It's so heartbreaking to see his reaction to what ultimately happens.

 

All I know is that, even with a standard Blu-ray disc (and digitally shot movie), the image motion on a 4K screen via 4K player is noticeably more theatrical-like. That alone makes a big difference for me. In any event, I'll be sitting down with Episode II later this evening and see for myself. I'm not expecting miracles, but there hasn't been a single movie I've revisited on the system in question that hasn't looked any better when compared to that of my previous setup. In short, there's no real downside here.

 

Agreed. Best of the prequels, IMO.

 

I guess it's a bit like having a nice hi-fi -- something mediocre is lifted to something good, something good is lifted to something outstanding.

Moreover, Star Wars is really meant to be seen on a large, high-quality screen (with a good sound system to boot).

I have noticed what you mean, however, about larger displays seeming to have better, more theatrical motion. Some is probably down to image processing, while some might be due to the size of the screen itself, making one more aware of film cadence. I suspect, in addition, new displays have less lag than older ones, and can handle transitions at various pixel intensities better; so the image appears more solid and there is little ghosting or smearing or distortion of any kind.