When George Lucas’s Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was released in IMAX 70mm in the fall of 2002, audiences were treated to a different version of the film than they had ever seen before—or would ever see again. Due to format limitations at the time—70mm IMAX films only held two hours of celluloid—the film was cut by approximately 20 minutes and the entire film was changed from the original release’s 2.40:1 aspect ratio to the Lucas-approved 1.81:1 ratio, designed to take maximum advantage of the IMAX screen.
Footage from the 1.81:1 aspect ratio version of Clones has not been shown since the 2002 IMAX release. When director W. Trent received the film’s 70mm IMAX trailer, he knew he had something special. “Presumably due to strict restrictions from Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2002, full-length IMAX prints of Episode II no longer exist,” Trent told IndieWire. “To have a visual archive in an IMAX 1.81:1 aspect ratio is incredible.”
Trent was even more surprised to realize that the imprint he received was a non-projected theatrical security imprint. “Because this reel was an uncut and unprojected spare part, it fully withstood the wear, tear and hard work of commercial theater projectors,” Trent said. “The silver halide emulsion is in completely pristine, factory-fresh condition, meaning that the digital data and color rendition captured in these frames are an exact, mathematically perfect match to the master. Because Lucasfilm strictly required the complete destruction of these exhibition reels, this pristine lab copy is an incredibly rare surviving archival copy that should virtually not exist today.”
Trent realized what had happened to him when he started playing the tape and going through the leader and came across the checklist instructions. “The control sheet (or LAD/CineCheck strip) is a pre-exposed strip of film containing accurate gray scales and color spots,” Trent said. “Lab technicians paste these charts into the front of a run of film to calibrate lab printing presses and chemical baths. Since my leader tape is completely uncut, it proves that technicians never had to cut this reel apart to insert a test strip. It was printed, hand-checked against the reference source, signed and stored.”
Given that the executive confirmed Trent’s suspicions that it was a non-projectable security fingerprint, he realized that sending it through the industry standard scanning system for digitization would be risky. “This method of preservation risked my print being scratched, losing quality due to the light used to capture the frames, and weakening the sprocket holes,” Trent said. When he abandoned this method, Trent came to the conclusion that if he wanted to create a new 4K master, he would have to go through the painstaking process of manually capturing each frame using photography.
“I used a completely darkened room with a single bright light behind the print and a camera in front,” Trent said. “I spent about three days going through frame by frame and shooting individual frames on my magnificent IMAX reel. Even to the naked eye, the resolution of the IMAX DMR printed image was simply breathtaking. Every grain of sand, lightsaber glow and detail of Yoda’s skin was flawless.”
“Star wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones” V. Trent/Lucasfilm Ltd.
The footage and its main sequence resulted in 983 individual frames. “At times I had to move the print and the camera to get the best image centered and in the frame,” Trent said. “After capturing every single frame, I loaded the high-resolution 4K HDR images into my editing computer and went through an even longer period of going through all 984 shots and cropping each individual frame, one by one, to make sure it was as perfect as possible. This was the most painful but rewarding part of the process. Once all the frames were cropped to the best of my ability, I imported them into my editing suite and reconfigured them to run at 24 frames per frame. second.” creating a magical illusion of movement and bringing this lost piece of cinematic art back to life.”
Attack of the Clones movie poster in IMAX format Lucasfilm Ltd.
Trent now hopes that his scan can serve as a visual reference for fans, and that he can loan his 70mm IMAX print to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for display. “My first movie experience was in an IMAX 70mm theater,” Trent said. “I’m very inspired by the format itself and by directors like Christopher Nolan, who pioneered the true IMAX 70mm film format. So to be able to independently contribute to the development of this format in any form has been a great privilege and honor for me.”