Of course, technology is a beautiful thing; it has far-reaching applications in pretty much every field, though one area where it is arguably almost as destructive as it is constructive is the world of cinema. Though the digital revolution was inevitable, so caught up in the whirlwind are filmmakers and movie studios that they haven't taken time to sit back and see what's happening to classic movies around us. Not to sound like an old Luddite, but technological "advancement" should not be blindly embraced; we need to consider how this can be detrimental when placed in the wrong hands. We all remember the first time we saw a truly great movie, and while technological leaps allow us to view these films in the highest quality and at the greatest convenience, it also has kick-started a few troubling trends that the studios have mostly done little to combat. Here are 10 ways technology is ruining awesome movies...
10. Digital Image "Cleaning"
The digital revolution has seen studios opt for a computerised image cleaning process for home video transfers, which takes the native print of a film and then removes any offending scratches or pixels, generating an image that in theory should be more pleasing to the eye. However, in the mad rush to release pristine Blu-ray transfers of classic movies, movie studios have left the creative choices in the hands of an automated machine, and the results are none too pretty. Just look at the above comparison of the 2010 Predator Blu-ray (on the left) and the original Blu-ray; the new transfer looks artificially shiny, and Arnie resembles a wax figure. It's jarringly unnatural, and having sat through the entire film, I can assure you that it proves a constant distraction. Studios need to accept that we don't care about film grain; if the original print has grain, then let there be grain!