Do studios remaster their CGI/special effects for movies before they hit home?

Temtastic Muns · Jun 2, 2019

I'm curious, I hear that new theatrical movies sometimes see their CGI work or special effects touched up before they see their home releases, and I'm wondering if there's any truth to that?

I don't mean director's cuts, or Special/Extended Editions like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings that boast additional effects or new scenes. I'm talking about a film that might have been released just three or four months ago, which then go on to hit Blu-ray/4K/Digital soon after. Same exact movie, but better looking effects. It's to my understanding that Marvel's been known to do this, specifically with Black Panther and Infinity War? (Maybe I don't have a keen enough eye, but I didn't notice any differences when they were released for home.)

I wouldn't think this is a common practice, but do some studios/directors actually go that extra mile and use the additional time between theatrical and home releases in order to make their movie look as good as possible? If true, can anyone cite some examples?

Jawmuncher · Jun 2, 2019

I've heard of Home releases editing out stuff from the theatrical cut (Recently some dog movie did that). But I've personally never seen CG updates as you describe, even in MCU films. If they're there, I'd need an example shot of some sort to see it. I always assumed companies want to make the most amount of money for as little as possible, so updating CG would cut into that.

Cantaim · Jun 2, 2019

Jawmuncher said:
I've heard of Home releases editing out stuff from the theatrical cut (Recently some dog movie did that). But I've personally never seen CG updates as you describe, even in MCU films. If they're there, I'd need an example shot of some sort to see it. I always assumed companies want to make the most amount of money for as little as possible, so updating CG would cut into that.

Think the dog movie was Show Dogs and my god was it one hell of a scene they cut. Heck I still think about it and in a few weeks it'll be a year since I first saw it!

VorpalNonsense · Jun 2, 2019

It's rare because studios usually don't find it worth the investment. Most of the money is made in the theatre, and touching up a scene for the home release typically won't result in significantly more blurays sold. So from their point of view, why spend the money?
But it happens occasionally in rare circumstances. Usually to avoid embarrassment from glaring mistakes, or controversy. That coffee cup is outta here.

However one example that doesn't fit the mold is Shin Godzilla, which was of course a japanese production, not hollywood. For purely artistic reasons, they touched up a couple brief shots for the home release to make them look better.
(Though unfortunately what I think was the worst cg shot of the movie remained unchanged)

And I guess Incredibles 2 was later edited to tone down the strobing effects out of epilepsy concern:

https://youtu.be/VWetc06ReFA

The opening song of the original Aladdin also had some lyrics changed for the home release after some found it offensive to arabs.

Cantaim said:
Think the dog movie was Show Dogs and my god was it one hell of a scene they cut. Heck I still think about it and in a few weeks it'll be a year since I first saw it!

...the hell happened?

Masoyama · Jun 2, 2019

VorpalNonsense said:
...the hell happened?

A dog that is supposed to represent a child gets its genitals fondled and he is taught by the other dogs to just ignore it and go to his happy place to endure the abuse.

Deleted member 1248 · Jun 2, 2019

VFX artists on Infinity War commented that they did make adjustments for the home release, but they wouldn't say where in the film.

Cantaim · Jun 2, 2019

VorpalNonsense said:
It's rare because studios usually don't find it worth the investment. Most of the money is made in the theatre, and touching up a scene for the home release typically won't result in significantly more blurays sold. So from their point of view, why spend the money?
But it happens occasionally in rare circumstances. Usually to avoid embarrassment from glaring mistakes, or controversy. That coffee cup is outta here.

However one example that doesn't fit the mold is Shin Godzilla, which was of course a japanese production, not hollywood. They touched up a couple brief shots for the home release to make them look better.
(Though unfortunately what I think was the worst cg shot of the movie remained unchanged)

...the hell happened?

MMarston · Jun 2, 2019

Masoyama said:
A dog that is supposed to represent a child gets its genitals fondled and he is taught by the other dogs to just ignore it and go to his happy place to endure the abuse.

This post nearly knocked me out, what in the

Cantaim · Jun 2, 2019

Show Dogs was fucking wild man

Temtastic Muns · Jun 2, 2019

Jawmuncher said:
I always assumed companies want to make the most amount of money for as little as possible, so updating CG would cut into that.

VorpalNonsense said:
It's rare because studios usually don't find it worth the investment. Most of the money is made in the theatre, and touching up a scene for the home release typically won't result in significantly more blurays sold. So from their point of view, why spend the money?

Right, I figured that's always been the rationale. But it's a nice enough thought that they'd bother to put in the extra effort if it were necessary. After all, movies in theaters are fleeting, but home releases are forever; the latter is a final chance for a film to put its best foot forward.

Cantaim · Jun 2, 2019

In all honesty the only examples I can think of are tv anime. Can't think of a single time where Hollywood studios went back to fix a home release.

B33 · Jun 2, 2019

According to director Christopher McQuarrie via Twitter, Mission: Impossible – Fallout had VFX adjusted for the home video release.

Noog · Jun 2, 2019

The two MCU examples I've heard were fixing some of the Hulkbuster stuff in Infinity War and cleaning up that cave fight in Black Panther where it looks like a 2007 PS3 game. Can't confirm these obviously.

Temtastic Muns · Jun 9, 2019

There's a continuity error in Endgame I'm wondering will be acknowledged for the home release. I'm sure this has been well documented already, but:

During the final battle, when Wasp and Ant-Man are trying to hot-wire the van, we then cut back to the battle where Black Panther is running with the Gaunlet, and we see Scott in his Giant-Man form holding off a Leviathan in the background. Think they'll edit him out?

Temtastic Muns · Jul 31, 2019

Temtastic Muns said:
There's a continuity error in Endgame I'm wondering will be acknowledged for the home release. I'm sure this has been well documented already, but:

During the final battle, when Wasp and Ant-Man are trying to hot-wire the van, we then cut back to the battle where Black Panther is running with the Gaunlet, and we see Scott in his Giant-Man form holding off a Leviathan in the background. Think they'll edit him out?

So from the digital home release that's now out, I can confirm that they did not fix this continuity error.

For continuity purposes, yeah it's disappointing, but on the other hand, it is still a cool looking shot.

NekoFever · Jul 31, 2019

The first two Star Wars prequels (maybe III as well, but I can't remember any off the top of my head) had minor differences between the theatrical and home releases. TPM had some effects shots added (e.g. extended pod race grid ceremony), and for AOTC's DVD they added sparks to Jango's jetpack before his death to explain the 'plot hole' of why he doesn't jet out of the way, among some other tweaks.

But generally any tweaks are very minor, as the theatrical release is where the money is made and effects studios have other projects to move on to after a film is finished.

kvetcha · Jul 31, 2019

VorpalNonsense said:
And I guess Incredibles 2 was later edited to tone down the strobing effects out of epilepsy concern:

https://youtu.be/VWetc06ReFA

I 100% understand why they did this, but those scenes look so much better with the full strobing effect intact.

DrEvil · Jul 31, 2019

NekoFever said:
The first two Star Wars prequels (maybe III as well, but I can't remember any off the top of my head) had minor differences between the theatrical and home releases. TPM had some effects shots added (e.g. extended pod race grid ceremony), and for AOTC's DVD they added sparks to Jango's jetpack before his death to explain the 'plot hole' of why he doesn't jet out of the way, among some other tweaks.

But generally any tweaks are very minor, as the theatrical release is where the money is made and effects studios have other projects to move on to after a film is finished.

Didn't they go back and replace puppet yoda in TPM with Digital Yoda in subsequent home media releases, too?

NekoFever · Jul 31, 2019

DrEvil said:
Didn't they go back and replace puppet yoda in TPM with Digital Yoda in subsequent home media releases, too?

Yes, but that was part of a full remaster for the Blu-ray. I was thinking of changes between the theatrical and original home release.

Although, if we're being picky, the TPM DVD wasn't the original home release and came a year after the VHS/LD, so I'm breaking my own rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

logan_cadfgs · Jul 31, 2019

kvetcha said:
I 100% understand why they did this, but those scenes look so much better with the full strobing effect intact.

Yup, a lot of the impact is lost in the home release. That said, when I saw the movie in theaters, seeing those strobing scenes on the huge-ass screen was pretty fuckin rough on me, and stuff usually never bothers me!

S1kkZ · Jul 31, 2019

i would pay for an updated version of black panther. i want to love the movie, but that third chapter cg....yikes.

Deleted member 27246 · Jul 31, 2019

Masoyama said:
A dog that is supposed to represent a child gets its genitals fondled and he is taught by the other dogs to just ignore it and go to his happy place to endure the abuse.

I seriously thought you were talking about this movie and thought "no fucking way that is true!"

Still disturbing af tho.

Oozer · Jul 31, 2019

NekoFever said:
The first two Star Wars prequels (maybe III as well, but I can't remember any off the top of my head) had minor differences between the theatrical and home releases. TPM had some effects shots added (e.g. extended pod race grid ceremony), and for AOTC's DVD they added sparks to Jango's jetpack before his death to explain the 'plot hole' of why he doesn't jet out of the way, among some other tweaks.

But generally any tweaks are very minor, as the theatrical release is where the money is made and effects studios have other projects to move on to after a film is finished.

A wipe near the end of Revenge of the Sith was removed for a straight cut in the original home release, but was restored for the Blu-ray.

NekoFever said:
Yes, but that was part of a full remaster for the Blu-ray. I was thinking of changes between the theatrical and original home release.

Although, if we're being picky, the TPM DVD wasn't the original home release and came a year after the VHS/LD, so I'm breaking my own rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Japanese Laserdisc release is, if I remember correctly, the only official release of the exact theatrical version of The Phantom Menace. Every other version has changes. The US VHS release had a handful of tweaked digital matte paintings (this may not have happened until the DVD, I'm not sure), the DVD release included more bits in the podrace and arrival at Coruscant, and the Blu-ray had digital Yoda.

DrEvil · Jul 31, 2019

Oozer said:
A wipe near the end of Revenge of the Sith was removed for a straight cut in the original home release, but was restored for the Blu-ray.

The Japanese Laserdisc release is, if I remember correctly, the only official release of the exact theatrical version of The Phantom Menace. Every other version has changes. The US VHS release had a handful of tweaked digital matte paintings (this may not have happened until the DVD, I'm not sure), the DVD release included more bits in the podrace and arrival at Coruscant, and the Blu-ray had digital Yoda.

Oh, George.

Kernel · Jul 31, 2019

There was a car in the background in Fellowship of the Ring that was edited out for the home release.

Waggles · Jul 31, 2019

I remember a handful of action scenes in Captain America looking worse in theater than in its first physical release

Deleted member 4034 · Jul 31, 2019

IanGrag said:
The two MCU examples I've heard were fixing some of the Hulkbuster stuff in Infinity War and cleaning up that cave fight in Black Panther where it looks like a 2007 PS3 game. Can't confirm these obviously.

Nah, that final shot of Banner with the group realizing their defeat in Infinity War is still terrible.

DevilMayGuy · Jul 31, 2019

I doubt it happens often, as most of the money has already been made by that point. Not a lot of potential returns for such changes.

davepoobond · Jul 31, 2019

Usually I consider it as "part of the original preservation of the film"

They remastered the ship from Star Trek Original series. Looks better obviously and really about as even as it could be without taking anything away, but it is still something made 50 years later and not as it was seen before.

Star Wars special editions anybody?

It really just depends on what you're trying to get out of what you're watching. Some people don't care. Some people do. I care but not enough to inconvenience myself.

Mona · Jul 31, 2019

Cantaim said:

NekoFever · Jul 31, 2019

Kernel said:
There was a car in the background in Fellowship of the Ring that was edited out for the home release.

Why didn't they just drive the car to Mordor?

(It being removed explains why I could never spot this again after seeing it in blooper videos everywhere back in 2001.)

Oozer said:
The Japanese Laserdisc release is, if I remember correctly, the only official release of the exact theatrical version of The Phantom Menace. Every other version has changes. The US VHS release had a handful of tweaked digital matte paintings (this may not have happened until the DVD, I'm not sure), the DVD release included more bits in the podrace and arrival at Coruscant, and the Blu-ray had digital Yoda.

The DVD also lost some of the picture around the edges of the frame as a side effect of the digital mastering process used (almost 10% of the frame). That was restored in the Blu-ray.

Loxley · Jul 31, 2019

Smaug's design in the first Hobbit film was changed from the theatrical release to the home video release, because his actual look hadn't yet been finalized. Granted you only see brief glimpses of him first film, but there's a shot in the beginning where he enters Erebor and you see his front legs. In the theatrical version his wings were not attached to his front legs since his design at that point was more like a prototypical dragon (four legs + wings), but they eventually settled on a design that was more like a wyvern, where he has two back legs and his wings acted as his front legs. So for the DVD/blu-ray release, they updated that shot using the finalized design.

ultracal31 · Jul 31, 2019

Temtastic Muns said:
I hear that new theatrical movies sometimes see their CGI work or special effects touched up before they see their home releases, and I'm wondering if there's any truth to that?

Yea

This tends to happen during post production where the theatrical version of a shot is "final" for reasons where as the next version up of the same shot is for the home video release

Cantaim · Jul 31, 2019

Mona said:

Honestly yea

davepoobond · Jul 31, 2019

Cantaim said:

What the fuck is this movie. Lol

Do studios remaster their CGI/special effects for movies before they hit home?

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