# Anyone other than me seeing Attack of the Clones digitally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2002, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161 "2002-05-09T20:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/1 "2002-05-09T20:51:30Z")
Yes, that was asked in a way to make you jealous! I have a very good theater near me that has both THX sound and a digital projecter. They have announced that they will be showing Attack of the Clones digitally four times a day as long as they have the movie. The opening day digital projections are sold out, but I’m going as soon as I can. I’ve heard incredible things about the quality of the image and the sharpness of the sound. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/2 "2002-05-09T20:56:25Z")
Mr. Pol & I will be in las Vegas on Thursday the 16th - but have a flight to catch at 6:10… there’s 2 (count 'em… two!) digital projection theatres in town – donno if any tix are available or not. Indiana on the other hand – not a DP system in the state… ☹ I did get to see about an 8-minute digital clip at the Star Wars Celebration last weekend… it looked spectacular! ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/3 "2002-05-09T20:58:10Z")
It’s a seven hour drive for me to see it. I’m man enough to say that I’m sort of maybe slightly okay not really but wouldn’t it be cool to roadtrip to Illinois to see it? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/4 "2002-05-09T21:12:53Z")
How on earth can I find the nearest digital theater? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/5 "2002-05-09T21:45:13Z")
Not a chance. Everything I’ve heard about digital projection says that it’s vastly inferior to regular projectors. [Roger Ebert](http://www.suntimes.com/index/ebert.html) frothes regularly about it in his Movie Answer Man column. Sorry, **Mahaloth** , but I am precisely the opposite of jealous of you. ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/6 "2002-05-09T21:53:38Z")
[Digital Theater Listing](http://starwars.com/episode-ii/digitalproj_list.html) ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/7 "2002-05-09T22:11:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Not a chance. Everything I’ve heard about digital projection says that it’s vastly inferior to regular projectors. [Roger Ebert](http://www.suntimes.com/index/ebert.html) frothes regularly about it in his Movie Answer Man column. Sorry, **Mahaloth** , but I am precisely the opposite of jealous of you. \*\* Film, in ideal circumstances, still beats digital. That is to say, if you’re looking at one of the handful of premier quality prints that are made (most theaters get a lesser quality print), and see it on one of the first few runs, in a theatre with a properly adjusted and focused projector, then you’ll get better resolution and finer color than digital will give. By the time you’re seeing a film based movie in Albequrque, NM, on its 400th showing, in the mega plex, you’d be better off watching it on video – scratches, jumps, dust, badly adjusted projector. Also, even in the best situation, you’re looking at a 4th or 5th generation product: the actual negative (1), the positive used for editing (2), the “master” (3), the premier prints (4), the normal prints (5). 4 or 5 (or more) degredations of the image by the time it hits the screen. Unless you’re in Los Angeles or New York, and get to watch the premier quality print in the first week, digital is better (IMHO). No scratches, ever. Extremely stable image. No reel breaks. Always watching a first or second generation image. The new projectors are getting into the billions in terms of separate colors. With a movie like Star Wars, that was shot digitally, the film version will have been made from the final digital version. So it’s automatically a generation behind what you can see in a digital theare. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/8 "2002-05-09T22:44:41Z")
**shelbo** : I hadn’t considered the degradation angle, which changes things, but it still sounds like you’re passing up the chance of seeing a good print for the certainty of seeing a mediocre one. Plus, considering how few theaters nation-wide are showing the movie digitially (a whopping eleven), if you live near a city big enough to have a digital projection theater, the cities probably big enough that at least some of the theaters are getting a decent print. And, speaking personally, I _know_ I’m going to see a good print: I live half an hour away from Skywalker Ranch and directly across the street from Century Cinema, of which Lucas is part owner. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/9 "2002-05-10T20:55:38Z")
For the Episode I video release Lucasfilm offered the [“gold plated”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305750750/qid=1021063668/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-8585966-5951209) option where you could get a few frames of actual film shown in a theater. Lucasfilm is _very_ [committed to digital](http://starwars.com/episode-ii/feature/20020306/index.html). For the Episode II gold plated video release will they include a bit of digital video tape? ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/10 "2002-05-10T22:03:40Z")
[Ebert is undecided in this particular case.](http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/cst-ftr-ebert10.html) Actually, he still states his preference for film, but suggests that screen size may also play a part. > [@](#): > > "How it looks in digital projection I cannot say, although I hope to get a chance to see it that way. I know Lucas believes it looks better than film, but then he has cast his lot with digital. " ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/11 "2002-05-10T22:11:28Z")
Here is the truth as I have heard it(and I will update this thread after actually seeing the digital projection). 1. The quality of the image is lowered when you see a film print from a digital recording. Consequently, AOTC does not look as clean as Phantom Menace when AOTC is not projected digitaly. 2. The quality of the image is equal or better when it is actually projected using a digital projecter. Even Ebert said that he will probably be more amazed when he sees the DVD of this film. Again, I will update after I see it digitaly. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/12 "2002-05-10T23:09:54Z")
Many thanks **Threadkiller**. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/13 "2002-05-11T11:04:16Z")
**McClurg Court** theater in Chicago will be digital by the time the film opens. They’re supposed to install the system on Monday, I believe. Vickie (who has tickets for the midnight, 9:30am and 3:30pm Thursday shows at McClurg…whee!) ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@Jet\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Black)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-other-than-me-seeing-attack-of-the-clones-digitally/108161/14 "2002-05-11T21:43:33Z")
I just saw it today (Saturday) and it was on film. Several guards were present to protect the film, and make sure nobody got their grubby paws on it. Thus, this was a quality print, not many, if only one, generation. If you asked me, it looked great! However, It would be nice to finally see the elimination of the “lab splice” and the film “markers” (the small ovals in the top right hand corner of the film). I swear they make me sick! I hope the new world allows room from both digital and classic film. “classic film”…did I just say that? Man,I’m getting old.