SW Episode II in full digital glory... worth it?

Now, being a huge SW fan, I decided to see if the fuss that George made about the digital cinema thing was all worth it.

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For those not following the news, SW:E2 is the first film filmed fully with high definition digital camera\'s (by Sony), and it\'s meant to be played with the Texas Instruments digital video theatre system.
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There are 52 such screens in the US (not one per state), and 4 in Canada (luckily 3 in my province, one in BC), and a scattering of them internationally, mostly in the UK and Japan.
To see the whole list of these theatres, click here.

Anyways, I drove down to Waterloo, having seen the movie the first time Thursday at 12:01 AM, and saw it today on the digital screen.  Let me tell you, if you live within 500 miles of one of these theatres, watch the movie first in a normal theatre, and then make the drive.  The pros:

• The colors were vibrant, much better than normal.
• The resolution was not only equal to, but better than normal.
• The screen completely free of distortion, hairs, holes, etc.
• No "film change" dots are ever seen in the upper right.
• There was extra footage, that isn\'t included with the film release version.

So, lets see.  The colors.  Wow, let me tell you, I never realized how much transfering the film around would affect the colors.  They have to make 1 master, transfer that to \'b\' masters, and then make copies of that for theatres.  Just how much we lose by those three copies (and the daily playing of them, of course) is something I had to see to believe.

The resolution... They claimed that unlike film, which you can blow up to 15%-17%, before distortion starts, digital HD film was 100%-300% before distortion occured.  They were right to do so.  Every line is clean and sharp, perfect resolution even in the distance.  Great for those of us lucky enough to have perfect or better vision (with contacts for me).

Of course, it was a beautifle white screen, I took a close look, and it looked like about an IMAX quality of thick white screen.  It had no imperfections or thin spots that I could see.  No dust and hairs in the movie either.

Those film dots in the upper right have irritated me ever since Fight Club pointed them out to me.  Now, even though I\'m not thinking about them, I notice them when they come on screen at a normal cinema, and it pulls me out of the experience.  Not with digital.

The extra footage.... Well, it was a pleasant surprise.  I hadn\'t heard about it before I went, so it was just a cool bonus for me.  As incentive to get people to go and support these cinemas... I\'m not going to tell you what it was.  Go see it like it was meant to be seen, and when you go to your local cinema after, tell them you saw it digitally, and you would like them to consider upgrading to a dual system (for now, at least, digital and film are going to have to co-exist) - the manager at my \'colliseum\' was very receptive to my input.

Oh yeah, as for the movie ;) - It\'s really, really good.  It\'s not the best of the 5 so far, but certainly a close #2 (tied, I think).  It doesn\'t have the same grabbing plot surprises that the first series did, but I think it\'s growing to some surprises in the third one.  Without a spoiler, I can say, that though I read all the books and info...  During the movie, you become unsure who\'s good and bad anymore, or if someone is playing both sides of the board....  It comes together in the end though.

Great to hear Fatal thanks for the report.  As theaters gradually converge to digital we\'ll probably miss the ol film dots and other deformities that made us realize we were in the theater, but oh well.

If this is even comparable to a 15/70 IMAX showing I\'ll be plesaantly surprised.  That was the clearest most vibrant picture I have ever seen, & on a HUGE screen to boot.  (this was in the National Museum of Natural History in DC).

The screen itself wasn\'t IMAX size, of course, but in terms of the vibrancy, color, and quality of the screen material, it lives up to an IMAX standard for sure.  No dust and junk either, which can happen once in a while with IMAX/OMNIMAX.

[videoholic]

I rank this star wars thread as the best out of all of the others.  

I really wish I could see it digitally.  I very rarely go to the theaters since I have a great setup at home, but to watch this movie digitally projected would get me to definitely go.  I\'d have to leave Logan in the car though if I couldn\'t find a baby sitter.

I don\'t know when I will get a chance to see the movie, but I am bummed that it will be in a regular ole theater.

I think there is one in Lake Buena Vista, but nothing near Tampa.

I\'m going to make an effort to see a digital exhibition of this film FIRST.  It should be easier for me since I think there are 3 or 4 theaters here in LA that are on the list.

The "film change dots" are known as cigarette burns in the biz.  It\'s not really the dots themselves that annoy me, but the tearing/scratching that\'s always present around that point in the film.  I\'m not sure whether the deterioriation is caused when the negative was assembled, or when each print was assembled.  I assume it\'s the latter, and that\'s all the more frustrating.  Most modern multiplexes use projectors that pull the film off a huge platter, so there\'s no need to change projectors between reels like there used to be.  Therefore, the whole purpose of the cigarette burns is now largely gone, except for those rare theaters that use old projecting equipment.  The rest of us suffer for backward compatibility.

I\'m looking forward to seeing the additional scenes, and the improved resolution.  I hope this means that if and when the film is ever broadcast in High Definition, we\'ll see a 100% digital transfer, instead of an emulsion --> digital transfer like most high def movies now on HBO HD.  Ah well, HBO HD sucks for other reasons, but I won\'t go into it now.

OH YEAH.... I can\'t believe you went to Waterloo to see this.  I have friends in Waterloo, and I\'ve been there many times.  It seems like a quaint sleepy university town to me (compared to LA).  A weird place for a digital theater.

Video they just installed 2 digital screens in the parkside mall 2 weeks ago for this film.Just get on the Gandy bridge and go in a straight line,it turns into Gandy Blvd. then into Park Blvd.The mall will be on your left as you cross an overpass.You can\'t miss it.

[videoholic]

Originally posted by ben_high
Video they just installed 2 digital screens in the parkside mall 2 weeks ago for this film.Just get on the Gandy bridge and go in a strait line,it turns into Gandy Blvd. then into Park Blvd.The mall will be on your left as you cross an overpass.You can\'t miss it.

Holy Shizit.  Are you screwing with me?  How long are they going to have the setup?  I don\'t know when I am going to have a chance to go for the next week or so.

Hey, thanks for the link FatalXception. I may have a chance to head on down to SouthField for some training on some new updates for the software we use at work. That may be the best time to have the wife meet me at the hotel and then head on down to the theater. Cool news friend.

Vid those screens aren\'t going anywhere.I\'m sure they are going to somehow use them for normal movies on the same format although they wont be high def. unless they are filmed with H.D. cameras.

Ya, like I said.  For now, they\'ll co-exist with analog film.  Those theatre\'s have made the investment to buy the digital projectors, but the theatre is still going to be able to show regular shows too.  Seriously, though... go see it.  

this lucas is actually doing good he got most of the theaters to install THX or whatever that sound system was for episode one and now he is trying to make theaters get this digital stuff

heh me be screwed

aint nothing for hundreds of miles around me

and damn where are those cities in texas i havent even heard of those

and the movie looked great on the regualr screen cant imagine what digital would be like

It\'s worth the drive.  Waterloo was a good 5 hour (543 k, part of it through Toronto) drive, one way for me... and I wasn\'t taking my sweet time about it either .

Take my advice, go see it now.  Sure, your local cinema will eventually get digital, but by then SW:E2 won\'t be playing.... wanna wait 25 years to see it on the big screen again?

I\'ve seen the movie twice now; first a standard emulsion print at an AMC theater in Seattle, and on Saturday I saw a Digital exhibition at the new Pacific\'s Grove theater in Los Angeles.  The Digital version was a disappointment to me and here\'s why:

• I sat in my normal spot in the theater, about the 4th or 5th row from the front, just beyond the point where you can take in the entire screen without turning your head.  I saw JAGGIES and ANTIALIASING effects which gave the picture a very synthetic quality.  The jaggies were most evident in the places you would expect; area of sharp contrast between light and dark, and around objects with verticle edges just a little off axis.  Certainly traditional emulsion prints have their own artifacts, but we\'re more used to seeing grain effects and I think they\'re less unsettling than these jaggies were.  I preferred the traditional version for this reason.
• The digital exhibition lacked the film tears, scratches, and reel change indicators that you see in emulsion.  This was nice, but it didn\'t make up for the jaggies.
• The color brightness and intensity of the digital exhibition was good, but I can\'t say whether it\'s superior to traditional technology without an A / B test.  I suspect it\'s as good or better.
• The audio frequency response and dynamics were much better in the digital exhibition.  Digital has the advantage in this area.
• I didn\'t notice any additional scenes or "extra footage" in the digital version.  What are you talking about, FatalXception?  Please clarify.
  

Seen the movie 2 times digital. It realy is great And worth the extra cash u pay to see it... thats my opinion