AI made these movies sharper – critics say it ruined them

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Visual Changes and Aesthetic Complaints

  • Many say the “AI-enhanced” frames look darker, flatter, greener/bluer, and “clay-like,” with ruined skin tones and plasticky smoothing.
  • Critics argue the remasters often kill film grain, blur or incorrectly sharpen details, and alter depth-of-field and motion blur, changing the feel of scenes.
  • Others note some AI remasters (e.g., Aliens 4K) look impressive and cleaner, though sometimes “too crisp” and de-grained for their taste.

HDR, Screenshots, and Comparison Issues

  • Several point out the article’s comparison images are likely wrong: HDR frames grabbed and shown as SDR produce exactly the dark, green/blue look seen.
  • There’s strong criticism of comparing highly compressed streaming copies to Blu-ray; any disc should look vastly better regardless of AI.
  • HDR itself is called a mess: inconsistent player/TV handling, many sets too dim, and bad tone mapping making content appear “too dark.”

Artistic Intent vs. AI Alteration

  • A major theme: AI remastering adds or “guesses” information that was never captured, making it no longer the original film.
  • People worry about erasing the historical look of film (grain, color, softness, technical limitations) and overriding directors’ choices in lighting, grading, and texture.
  • Others counter that remastering has always been interpretive (color timing, grain reduction, upscaling) and that AI is just another tool, good or bad depending on use.
  • Strong calls that original versions must remain available; examples like original Star Wars show that often they are not, except via piracy.

Use Cases, Limits, and Technology Trajectory

  • Some see value in careful AI usage: repairing damaged negatives, cleaning audio, limited upscaling, or fixing bad early CGI, provided it’s supervised and subtle.
  • Others emphasize that AI “enhancement” is probabilistic: across billions of pixels/frames, visible artifacts and wrong guesses are inevitable if applied bluntly.
  • Several liken the current wave to early CGI, the .com boom, or blockchain: overhyped, often tacky, but likely to mature; future tools may be far better.

Viewer Priorities and Nostalgia

  • Split between viewers who prioritize story and are fine with modernized image quality, and those who value period-accurate texture, grain, and even VHS-era softness.
  • Many note that “sharper” isn’t always better; some games and films look worse when over-cleaned or shown at unintended resolutions.