For those who’re a movie lover, one of many nice issues about previous classics is that you could all the time discover one thing to understand while you revisit them. For those who’re a studio govt, one of many nice issues about previous classics is that you simply personal them and might milk them for each penny their value. On the Shanghai Worldwide Movie Competition, a number of Chinese language film studios introduced on Thursday that they’d be taking their archive of martial arts classics and AI-ifying them. The federal government-backed “Kung Fu Film Heritage Challenge 100 Classics AI Revitalization Challenge” will take all-time nice kung fu flicks starring the likes of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li and provides them new (however virtually actually not higher) life with the assistance of AI. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Movie Basis, described the undertaking as an try to present movies a glance that “conforms to modern movie viewing.” It’d be one factor if this have been merely a restoration undertaking or a method to upscale the decision to one thing that feels extra fashionable, however in line with the Hollywood Reporter, it appears like at the least a few of the effort will go into absolutely remaking the movies with AI filters atop them. For example, a trailer for the brand new AI-ed tackle John Woo’s 1986 movie A Higher Tomorrow was proven off on the competition and reportedly turns its lead Chow Yun-fat right into a cyberpunk-looking character. The brand new take, titled A Higher Tomorrow: Cyber Frontier, is being marketed as “the world’s first full-process, AI-produced animated characteristic movie.” Yuck.
The studios invited AI animation corporations to become involved within the “revitalization” effort, which is able to apparently search to “reshape the visible aesthetics” of movies whereas attempting to “pay tribute to the unique work,” by placing up a fund of 100 million yuan (about $14 million) to assist get the ball rolling. Different movies that shall be concerned within the undertaking embody Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury (1972), Jackie Chan’s Drunken Grasp (1978) and Jet Li’s As soon as Upon a Time in China (1991)—all movies that you could watch proper now and can discover to be each bit as magical and fascinating as they have been the day they first hit theaters. The stunt work nonetheless stands up, and the digital camera work nonetheless slaps. Yow will discover all three of those, and loads of different martial arts classics, on streaming. For those who’re a stickler for picture high quality, movies like Fist of Fury have 4K re-releases out there on Blu-ray. Simply watch these motion pictures. They don’t want AI sloppification to be related.
