Part of that reason is overworked and under-resourced VFX artists being forced to churn out more content than ever before. A big part of the reason is also technical. 35mm film integrates CGI much more seamlessly than digital, where there is no natural grain to hide the seams. It's why Phantom Menace holds up much, much better than AOTC and ROTS. The golden age of CGI was the mid to late 2000s, when VFX studios were not overwhelmed with more projects than they could reasonably manage in absurdly short timeframes. That was also before most films were shot on digital, which is incredibly unforgiving to CGI. We'll never get another Davy Jones, because they way films are shot and VFX artists are treated no longer allows for it.
@@jon4715 It's because Phantom Menace was still shot on 35mm film. Episodes 2 and 3 were shot on early digital cameras. Film grain integrates CGI much more convincingly into live action. Digital is much less forgiving.
@@theoclutterbuck 35mm was far more resolving than the early 2K cameras that were used on Clones. You also need to understand that a ton of practical sets/costumes/effects were used on TPM. And Clones established a whole different workflow that was heavily reliant on completely CG environments.
"the phantom menace relies too much on cgi" and the movie had more practicles effects than the hole trilogy together xD I love it... the podracing scene..... masterclass
Love what you done. Can you send me a link to the entire film? The way you’ve blended 4k99 and the upscaled cgi along with the audio is brilliant. I’m curious, why upscale from 720p instead of 1080p? TPM really has a ‘Star Wars’ feel that the following prequels lack. Your edit takes the beauty of the original film but enhances it for modern viewing.
As much as I love all three, you're absolutely right that Menace feels closer to the Originals. Being shot on film and using less digital lighting touch ups is part of it, but something about the art style just feels closer to the Original Trilogy. I can believe the Phantom Menace is 35 years before A New Hope easier than believing Revenge of the Sith is 20 years before it.
This is not what it looked back in '99. This print's colours are quite washed due to usage and aging, and the amount of grain present is due to the same reasons.
It's such a shame Lucas didn't shoot Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith on 35mm film, and with mixture of CGI and practical effects -- just like he did with The Phantom Menace. The visual quality this _intersection of techniques_ produces is nothing short of _majestic._ Also, shooting all films with the same techniques would result in a far more visually coherent trilogy. The tripod-heavy Phantom Menace shots and formalistic camera movement and cinematography are much more interesting and rich than many of the boring _isometric-camera-from-above_ shots the 2 following movies had... Which are still vastly preferable to Jar Jar Abraham's cheap lens flare, shaky camera, and zoomed camera pans into watery eyes (to show the "humanity" of the characters or something)
You might not like the fact that AotC and RotS were shot digital, fair enough. That being said, it was a huge challenge: those were among the earliest films to be shot on digital with such a budget and production values. The idea itself of experimenting with a back then new technology on a massive scale was nothing short of admirable. On my part, I think that Lucas managed to capture the overall feel of Star Wars, by keeping a very simple filming and editing style which truly conveis the simplicity of an epic tale. So yes, to each their own.
Another aspect of TPM that goes under-appreciated is the sound design. Movies to this day can't achieve such attention to detail and emersion in their sound quality.
I love the look of this. I was wondering, do you ever plan on doing a remaster of the entire movie? I know you’ve put different bits and scenes through topaz and after effects but I would love to see more since most film scans of this movie don’t have this look to them.
I have made a fairly watchable version of the full movie, but it's got pretty major issues. I've put more work into the specific clips I've uploaded to youtube because they are the parts of the movie George changed, so I want people to be able to see the original scenes. The amount of gate weave is insane, with the first frames of each shot being way out of alignment. Some parts of the movie have an insane amount of scratches. The problem is that I am not a professional film restorer and I don't have the skills or time to really do it. The level of work that produced 4k77, 4k80 and 4k83 is needed.
@@Likeonions okay gotcha. Thank you for the response! Well despite the issues you said it has, I would still love to be able to see it and download it. Do you have a place to view it or a download link anywhere? Thanks
From 1999 this CG is incredible, marvel can't pull this off in 2024
*won't
Part of that reason is overworked and under-resourced VFX artists being forced to churn out more content than ever before. A big part of the reason is also technical. 35mm film integrates CGI much more seamlessly than digital, where there is no natural grain to hide the seams. It's why Phantom Menace holds up much, much better than AOTC and ROTS.
The golden age of CGI was the mid to late 2000s, when VFX studios were not overwhelmed with more projects than they could reasonably manage in absurdly short timeframes. That was also before most films were shot on digital, which is incredibly unforgiving to CGI.
We'll never get another Davy Jones, because they way films are shot and VFX artists are treated no longer allows for it.
It actually used more practical effects than the entire OT
that cant be true, not by percentage to the whole movie
Phantom Menace used a ton of models for things like spaceships, locations, and such.
When people bash on this movie, they are missing out on how visually good this movie looks.
standards were just higher then, we didn't expect CGI would sink as low as modern marvel movies
@@doltBmB This CGI is miles better than current movies today.
This movie looks miles better than Ep 2 & 3, imo.
@@jon4715 It's because Phantom Menace was still shot on 35mm film. Episodes 2 and 3 were shot on early digital cameras. Film grain integrates CGI much more convincingly into live action. Digital is much less forgiving.
@@theoclutterbuck 35mm was far more resolving than the early 2K cameras that were used on Clones. You also need to understand that a ton of practical sets/costumes/effects were used on TPM. And Clones established a whole different workflow that was heavily reliant on completely CG environments.
"the phantom menace relies too much on cgi" and the movie had more practicles effects than the hole trilogy together xD I love it... the podracing scene..... masterclass
Totally agree
This looks absolutely fantastic
This is the magnum opus of George Lucas unleashed - I absolutely love it!
ok first off , i had no idea this film WASN'T shot digitally.
Love what you done. Can you send me a link to the entire film?
The way you’ve blended 4k99 and the upscaled cgi along with the audio is brilliant. I’m curious, why upscale from 720p instead of 1080p?
TPM really has a ‘Star Wars’ feel that the following prequels lack. Your edit takes the beauty of the original film but enhances it for modern viewing.
Well put.
As much as I love all three, you're absolutely right that Menace feels closer to the Originals.
Being shot on film and using less digital lighting touch ups is part of it, but something about the art style just feels closer to the Original Trilogy. I can believe the Phantom Menace is 35 years before A New Hope easier than believing Revenge of the Sith is 20 years before it.
Aside from the gungans the cgi holds up astonishingly well
A bit true.. but no Jar Jar no Thanos... like we have it.
THIS IS INCREDIBLE, it looks like when I saw it in the cinema in 1999, the CGI looks much better.
This is not what it looked back in '99. This print's colours are quite washed due to usage and aging, and the amount of grain present is due to the same reasons.
The quality on this video is amazing for me!
It's such a shame Lucas didn't shoot Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith on 35mm film, and with mixture of CGI and practical effects -- just like he did with The Phantom Menace. The visual quality this _intersection of techniques_ produces is nothing short of _majestic._
Also, shooting all films with the same techniques would result in a far more visually coherent trilogy. The tripod-heavy Phantom Menace shots and formalistic camera movement and cinematography are much more interesting and rich than many of the boring _isometric-camera-from-above_ shots the 2 following movies had... Which are still vastly preferable to Jar Jar Abraham's cheap lens flare, shaky camera, and zoomed camera pans into watery eyes (to show the "humanity" of the characters or something)
You might not like the fact that AotC and RotS were shot digital, fair enough. That being said, it was a huge challenge: those were among the earliest films to be shot on digital with such a budget and production values. The idea itself of experimenting with a back then new technology on a massive scale was nothing short of admirable.
On my part, I think that Lucas managed to capture the overall feel of Star Wars, by keeping a very simple filming and editing style which truly conveis the simplicity of an epic tale.
So yes, to each their own.
Each individual prequel movie has more practical effects than the entire OT combined.
Honestly, I forgot that there were space battles in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Another aspect of TPM that goes under-appreciated is the sound design. Movies to this day can't achieve such attention to detail and emersion in their sound quality.
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the only Star Wars movie that was released in the 1990s.
Phantom Menace walked so The Lord of the Rings could run…
I love the look of this. I was wondering, do you ever plan on doing a remaster of the entire movie? I know you’ve put different bits and scenes through topaz and after effects but I would love to see more since most film scans of this movie don’t have this look to them.
I have made a fairly watchable version of the full movie, but it's got pretty major issues. I've put more work into the specific clips I've uploaded to youtube because they are the parts of the movie George changed, so I want people to be able to see the original scenes. The amount of gate weave is insane, with the first frames of each shot being way out of alignment. Some parts of the movie have an insane amount of scratches. The problem is that I am not a professional film restorer and I don't have the skills or time to really do it. The level of work that produced 4k77, 4k80 and 4k83 is needed.
@@Likeonions okay gotcha. Thank you for the response! Well despite the issues you said it has, I would still love to be able to see it and download it. Do you have a place to view it or a download link anywhere? Thanks
Do you own a physical copy of the movie?
@@Likeonions Yes I do 👍
Looks Great! What program did you use to downsample the footage? Also, what AI upscaling software did you use to upscale the footage?
after effects and topaz video enhance
yeah this one was the best looking movie. bad movie still I think but visually it's really nice
"This is visually (and audibly) my favorite Star Wars movie."
So this is your favorite star wars movie, in general, then?
Revenge of the Sith
This relies too much on CGI? Have you not seen Revenge of the Sith?
No, I've never seen that movie in my life
did you have to pay to get 4k99
why would think that I would have to
Where can I get my hands on 4K99? Lololol
TheStarWarsTrilogy forums
@@Likeonions Thanks. Just got my hands on the files :)
@@scifiismyjam4387 so how do I get to the files, because honestly, I found myself lost in the TheStarWarsTrilogy forums =(
would you help me out?