Colorized re-releases?
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Colorized re-releases?
With AI and deep learning assisted image colorization becoming much more feasible in recent years, it's likely to be easier to colorize older movies than it was when color re-releases were first in vogue in the late 70s (most notably Turner). This could make older films more accessible to younger viewers who otherwise wouldn't give them a chance. However, I can see this could be even more controversial than it was 40 years ago as even fewer people involved in the making of earlier films are still living. Ultimately, more of their original vision would be lost to time.
If color re-releases were announced for older Toho films, which would you want to see first (if any)? Which ones absolutely shouldn't be touched?
If color re-releases were announced for older Toho films, which would you want to see first (if any)? Which ones absolutely shouldn't be touched?
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
Let's face it, we will probably NEVER be able to see a convincing colorization of any black and white film. At least not in our life time with current technology.
Last edited by LegendZilla on Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
I have absolutely no interest in watching most colorized films (outside of documentaries). While the concept of bringing color to pieces that didn't originally have it, or removing color from later works to make it "noir" is interesting on paper, I've come to find it more often then not shallow. Films are shot with the understanding of their media and its limitations, and while I'm far from a cinematography expert, I'm sure there are quite different choices made to accentuate features of either b&w or colored films, to establish mood, picture quality, or any other visual aesthetics of the film. Taking a b&w film and colorizing in my mind isn't making the film as if it was in color, but aping into something it wasn't really intended to be. As far as opening up toho films to be more accessible, all but two G-films are in color, and anyone choosing to avoid b&w films due to bias probably has no interest in watching the rest of the Toho's b&w catalogue regardless (I presume we are talking about their sci-fi features).
Last edited by Jetty_Jags on Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:57 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
Yup, you're spot-on here. Lighting, production design/art direction, wardrobe and make-up all take color or black and white photography into account. Even if you can accurately determine what color things were on a black and white shoot (a dubious proposal at best), those colors were selected based on the intent to shoot in black and white, and were typically never intended to be seen in color.Jetty_Jags wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:43 am Films are shot with the understanding of their media and its limitations, and while I'm far from a cinematography expert, I'm sure there are quite different choices made to accentuate features of either b&w or colored films, to establish mood, picture quality, or any other visual aesthetics of the film. Taking a b&w film and colorizing in my mind isn't making the film as if it was in color, but aping into something it wasn't really intended to be.
And taking a color film and converting it to black and white either results in a lot of ugly grays, or requires a ton of contrast adjustment which has nothing to do with the original intent of the filmmakers.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
The original Godzilla in color would be a travesty. Who would actually want that?
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
Prolly the original creators who would have no doubt used color film for the movie if it was available.Legion1979 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:18 pm The original Godzilla in color would be a travesty. Who would actually want that?
I'm all for it if done decently like the colorizations of some of Harryhausen films.
Last edited by Mac Daddy MM on Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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plasmabeam wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:03 am Hear me out on this. What if Godzilla is actually Suko’s father? In GvK when Godzilla defeated Kong and they were roaring at each other, what if Godzilla inseminated Kong at that moment and that’s why they were screaming?
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
We already got one colorization of Godzilla already, "Cozzilla", and 45 years of colorization technology advances since then can't improve on it!
Last edited by Great Hierophant on Mon Apr 11, 2022 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
Yeah, and look what happened when they colorized King Kong (1933) back in the day.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
While I’m sure they would’ve used color film had they been given the choice, the fact is they knew they were shooting on B&W stock and would’ve planned accordingly. Wanting to shoot in color and actually shooting in color are two different things.Mac Daddy MM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:38 pmProlly the original creators who would have no doubt used color film for the movie if it was available.Legion1979 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:18 pm The original Godzilla in color would be a travesty. Who would actually want that?
I'm all for it if done decently like the colorizations of some of Harryhausen films.
Personally I wouldn’t take offense to a new colorized version, so long as it was handled in a similar fashion to those Harryhausen films you mention. I.E. “here’s a colorized version we worked really hard on to make it the best we were possibly capable of, but on this same disc is the option to watch the original black and white version in equally excellent quality.”
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
They could have done better 40 years ago. Cozilla doesn't count, as the techniques, or lack thereof, aren't the same. Fairly convincing jobs have been done by hand, although this is a matter of taste. Inaccurate skin tones are one such complaint about early colorizations. Nowadays, there are short documentaries colorized entirely with deep learning models. The color choices made by AI are poor in my opinion and humans are still needed for interpolation (to avoid flashing colors), but they do a fairly good job at segmenting different objects, which has typically been a more labor intensive part of the colorization process.Great Hierophant wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 2:38 pm We already got one colorization of Godzilla already, "Cozzilla", and 45 years of colorization technology advances since then can't improve on it!
The technology has certainly improved, and would require less human input than it did before. It's more a question of whether people would want it, given the unavoidable compromises in aesthetic value.
As for the original Godzilla, I don't think it would work. And certainly not with random WWII scenes. I am open to the idea more generally.
note: I may have misread your comment and apologies if you're a serious Cozilla fan
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
I don't think they really "do" the bad, 1980s/1990s colorizations (like the aforementioned Kong '33) anymore. Even the colorized sets of Giant Gila Monster and Killer Shrews I have (that also has the B&W in great shape) look damn good all things considered.canofhumdingers wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:39 pm
Personally I wouldn’t take offense to a new colorized version, so long as it was handled in a similar fashion to those Harryhausen films you mention. I.E. “here’s a colorized version we worked really hard on to make it the best we were possibly capable of, but on this same disc is the option to watch the original black and white version in equally excellent quality.”
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plasmabeam wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:03 am Hear me out on this. What if Godzilla is actually Suko’s father? In GvK when Godzilla defeated Kong and they were roaring at each other, what if Godzilla inseminated Kong at that moment and that’s why they were screaming?
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
If I remember correctly Ray Harryausen helped with the colonization due to the fact that he originally wanted to make the three b/w films in color back in the day, but the money just wasn't there.Mac Daddy MM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:38 pmProlly the original creators who would have no doubt used color film for the movie if it was available.Legion1979 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:18 pm The original Godzilla in color would be a travesty. Who would actually want that?
I'm all for it if done decently like the colorizations of some of Harryhausen films.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
^Fun fact : The creative team on G54 opted to film the movie in color, but chose against it not because they lacked the funds, but rather it hid the technological imperfections better.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
IE: Why did we decide to make our monster star shit brown in color? Though, this is something I never heard of before.LegendZilla wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 8:35 pm ^Fun fact : The creative team on G54 opted to film the movie in color, but chose against it not because they lacked the funds, but rather it hid the technological imperfections better.
Last edited by Mac Daddy MM on Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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plasmabeam wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:03 am Hear me out on this. What if Godzilla is actually Suko’s father? In GvK when Godzilla defeated Kong and they were roaring at each other, what if Godzilla inseminated Kong at that moment and that’s why they were screaming?
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
....where did you hear that?LegendZilla wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 8:35 pm ^Fun fact : The creative team on G54 opted to film the movie in color, but chose against it not because they lacked the funds, but rather it hid the technological imperfections better.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
I'd like to know that, too.Legion1979 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:23 am....where did you hear that?LegendZilla wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 8:35 pm ^Fun fact : The creative team on G54 opted to film the movie in color, but chose against it not because they lacked the funds, but rather it hid the technological imperfections better.
On a similar note, Video Movie Guide 1986 by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter (the first of many editions of this book before it finally ended (I don't remember when it ended, just that it did)) said this about Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (the U.S. version being the only one available on home video (i.e., VHS) at that time):
They also had this to say about this version:Originally released in 1954 and in color, scenes of Raymond Burr looking up, reacting, etc. were added for American release two years later but were accidentally shot in black and white. So the entire U.S. version had to be released this way, although actually it does add to the atmosphere and serves to make the film that much more nightmarish.
First, and by far the best, film featuring the 400-foot tall monstrosity that was later reduced to a superhero. Here, he's all death and destruction, thanks to some expert photographic effects and weird music. Ignore all subsequent efforts, this is the real Godzilla.
Last edited by mikelcho on Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:08 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
Me? Admittedly, there is a chance it wouldn't be any good, but I'd be willing to give it a chance. I think the destruction scenes in particular could look pretty good.Mac Daddy MM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:38 pmProlly the original creators who would have no doubt used color film for the movie if it was available.Legion1979 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:18 pm The original Godzilla in color would be a travesty. Who would actually want that?
I'm all for it if done decently like the colorizations of some of Harryhausen films.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
https://youtu.be/5hfYJsQAhl0Originally released in 1954 and in color, scenes of Raymond Burr looking up, reacting, etc. were added for American release two years later but were accidentally shot in black and white. So the entire U.S. version had to be released this way, though actually it does add to the atmosphere and serves to make the film that much more nightmarish.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
I don't know what that was all about, I don't want to know what that was all about; I'm only telling you guys and gals what was in the book when I read it. Don't blame me, blame the two authors who wrote it in the first place, and if you don't believe me, go out and find a copy of the exact same edition of the book and see for yourselves. It's all right there in black and white. And believe me when I say I have no idea where they got that information from at all. In short, please don't kill the messenger this time.goji1986 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:54 pmhttps://youtu.be/5hfYJsQAhl0Originally released in 1954 and in color, scenes of Raymond Burr looking up, reacting, etc. were added for American release two years later but were accidentally shot in black and white. So the entire U.S. version had to be released this way, although actually it does add to the atmosphere and serves to make the film that much more nightmarish.
Last edited by mikelcho on Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:15 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Colorized re-releases?
Wait. I may have just smoked up, but I swear I just read that your source is saying G'54 was released in color in Japan, but made B&W in America? Or the Japanese one was made black and white because the American scenes were accidently filmed in B&W?
Quote of the Year:
plasmabeam wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:03 am Hear me out on this. What if Godzilla is actually Suko’s father? In GvK when Godzilla defeated Kong and they were roaring at each other, what if Godzilla inseminated Kong at that moment and that’s why they were screaming?