Nothing makes me happier than seeing old movies get the care and attention they need to restore them to their glory and make them accessible to new audiences. I'm pleasantly surprised with restorations and tech lately and found many new titles thanks to their restoration releases.
Resolutions are cool, but now that AI is brought into the mix, some of the older titles are getting little things tweaked that are taking away from the original intent of the story, and, honestly, making things look worse.
Let's go over the negative impact of using AI to upscale older films to 4K resolution.
AI Can Ruin Movies Now, Too—Aliens and True Lies on 4k
This video really opened my eyes when it came to how AI was seriously overstepping when it came to digitally upgrading older movies.
In the clips in this video from Aliens and True Lies, it was really distracting to see the lines on the faces in closeups and the weird veins inserted into some shots.
The AI struggles to accurately reconstruct details, resulting in distorted faces, unnatural hair, and inconsistent focus. These issues are especially noticeable in scenes with fast motion, unusual lighting, or obstructions.
I'm not totally sure how they got past James Cameron and the team working on the restorations, or if he was so taken with the tech that he didn't mind it, but it does seem glaring.
The video argues that these AI-induced artifacts detract from the viewing experience and could negatively influence how we consume and preserve films in the future.
I think if I came to the movies for the first time, I'm not sure I would totally notice, but there is a bit of an uncanny valley effect, where you know things aren't supposed to look that clear or glossy, and that to me is what stuck out the most.
The other damning thing here is that these movies are wonderful, and really could have benefitted fro ma human touch on them, cleaning them up and restoring with manpower that would have respected the craft. It may have been more expensive, but it absolutely would have looked better.
The tech is just not there yet to do this stuff. Maybe it will be in the future, but it's note even remotely ready now.
Let me know what you all think in the comments.
