Star Wars Trilogy DVD reviews..

[FLYING SE7EN]

HTF has their review up, and it looks great from an A/V standpoint (changes to the films notwithstanding). There is also one at The Digital Bits.

 

From the bits:

Simply put, the Star Wars films have never (and I mean EVER) looked this good before. The films presented on these discs absolutely sparkle, in all their anamorphic widescreen glory. The folks at THX and Lowry Digital worked for months to create new high-definition digital masters of these films, transferred directly from the original negatives. Once the films were transferred, painstaking efforts were made to clean the digital masters of dust, dirt, scratches and excessive grain. To give you an idea of just how much work was involved, more than 100 bits of debris were digitally removed from EACH FRAME - ultimately entailing the removal of over 10 million such blemishes in all over the three films combined. As a result, you will not find a single speck ANYWHERE on any of these films. The snow-white slopes of Hoth and the sand-baked dunes of Tatooine have never looked so pure.

 

Because the transfers were done from the original negatives, you're going to see detail in these films that you've never seen before. You'll notice this right from the opening shot of A New Hope, when the Star Destroyer chases its quarry over the surface of Tatooine. Just look at the subtle swirl of cloud patterns on the planet below - astonishing. Best of all, not a lick of added edge enhancement was required to bring out this detail. What else is good? The color palette here is more lush and accurate than ever before. You're going to be blown away by everything from subtle flesh tones to the vibrant gold plating on C-3PO's chest to the bright orange flightsuits of the Rebel pilots. Contrast is also spectacular, with deep detailed blacks and clear, accurate whites. All three films in this set are just going to absolutely blow you away, and the bigger your screen the better it gets. The Star Wars Trilogy on DVD is the best excuse you're ever going to have to go out and buy yourself a good anamorphic widescreen display. Until true high-definition arrives, it just doesn't get better than this.

 

 

This looks like a nice set, although I think its odd that they showed an edited version of Empire of Dreams on A&E last night. I watched it and enjoyed it, though it did seem to go light on the ESB and ROTJ. I hope there is a lot of good stuff on the hour of footage they didn't show.

 

This has got to be the first time I've seen DVD extras shown on TV before its release (albeit, in a truncated form).

 

Really looking forward to this next week.

 

J.

[Angry the Clown]

The full length documentary is actually disappointing on subsequent viewings. Once you get past the initial fun of seeing a lot of behind the scenes footage you've never seen before, the entire documentary becomes an absolute chore to try and watch again because the footage is actually all it has going for it. It?s worse that many probably watch the edited version televised in the US last night, leaving even less to enjoy on disc 4 of the DVD set.

 

It sort of strengthens my opinion that such ludicrously long documentaries can not be pulled off with much success. In the full length doc, they only focus on the music for less than five minutes for example, which is quite absurd in my opinion, and whilst I very much like the focus on Lucas and his motivation to do Star Wars, that whole opening thirty minutes about him and his dreams is more suited to a documentary in its own right.

 

I was certainly won over the first time I watched the doc a while ago, but I?ve tried watching it twice since then and I just can?t sit through it. It?s deeply flawed once you get past the ?wow, this is longer than one of the movies?? factor. Sure it's long, but the pacing is completely off balance.

 

It sort of breaks down like this:

First 20/30 mins is about 'George the visionary'

next hour is about Star Wars

30mins on Empire

30mins of Jedi

then an Epilogue rounds it off

 

Where the LOTR supplements worked despite being so long, was that they were broken down into specific parts, and that's really what was needed here. Even at 2.5hrs, you just can?t cover three important movies in such a space of time. It's not like I believe this to be a definitive release of the films, but still, in terms of what it provides as a set of DVDs there's nothing that wasn't being done over three years ago.

 

The films do look beautiful though.

 

Daniel

[Guest Bryan]

Who has the best b&m price for the set so far?

[General Zot]

Daniel - I also found your full length commentary disappointing on subsequent viewings.

 

Hehe, j/k :green:

[Htide]

Daniel - I also found your full length commentary disappointing on subsequent viewings.

 

Hehe, j/k :green:

 

 

lol :lmfao:

[Angry the Clown]

I also found your full length commentary disappointing on subsequent viewings.

 

:green:

 

Daniel

[Beer Monkey]

Interesting quotes from HTF regarding the completely new ANH soundtrack:

 

Here is my list of sound changes. This is all in reference to changes made to the original film, except in a few instances I've pointed out differences also from the 1993 re-mix. Some of these new sounds obviously were heard in the 1997 re-mix, some are new to this mix. I've also included a few picture changes, but I feel they have been covered everywhere, while the sound mix has been virtually ignored. I have not noted any changes to specific SE shots (such as the destruction of Alderaan) since these shots are entirely new.

 

 

The 1954 recording of the Fox logo is still played though it sounds very distorted.

 

The new Lucasfilm logo is shown.

 

The ?Star Wars? title card starts moving much too fast in relation to the original and can be seen ?shifting gears? as it gets smaller and slows down.

 

New explosions can be heard over the opening shot.

 

The foley in this mix is very loud and in your face. Not subtle in anyway. Note Threepios footsteps. They've always been there, just never this loud.

 

The sound of the ship docking has some revised sound.

 

The shirts of the rebel troopers change colors. They were always gray before. In some shots now they are blue.

 

Vaders voice has been re-processed throughout the entire film to get him to match the sequels.

 

When Artoo opens the door to the escape pod, the button he pushes buzzes.

 

The laser blast that convinces Threepio to get in the escape pod was re-done in 1993. It is the same sound effect as a lamp blowing up in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This effect is also heard later in the movie.

 

When Vader is talking to the ?Second Commander? (?Lord Vader, the battle station plans are not aboard this ship!?) the room in the background makes beeping noises. For fun, I?ll point out that this actor has the same voice as General Dodonna at the end of the movie. I suspect that the ?Second Commander? is dubbed.

 

When Artoo is shot by the Jawas and falls over a tremendous bass impact has been mixed in.

 

The restraining bolt being installed makes a different sound.

 

Artoos arrival inside the sand crawler makes a new sound.

 

You now hear the sand crawler start up as it starts to move.

 

Later, you hear the sand crawler come to a stop. Threepio then says, ?We?ve stopped? before telling Artoo to wake up.

 

The sound of Threepio rising from the oil bath has been augmented.

 

The lunch scene with Beru and Owen has some new foley (Beru?s chair makes a sound now). This is a quiet scene and you can literally hear the faders being brought down after every line of dialogue. Dailogue does not sound integrated in this scene.

 

Beru?s pronunciation of ?father? has been re--done......again.

 

Luke?s land speeder can be seen in the long shot from the sand peoples point of view. Previously it was just a white speck moving.

 

The clanking of the sand persons gaffi stick is heard in this mix.

 

The Krayt Dragon sound that Ben uses to scare the sand people has been re-done. It almost sounds like a police siren at first. Definitely sounds artifical as opposed to the older, more organic sound.

 

The light sabers have not been re-processed to match the sound heard in the prequels.

 

In this mix it?s very clear that the bartender has been dubbed. It was not as obvious before.

 

When Luke is thrown into the table, it makes an all new sound effect.

 

When the stormtroopers walk into the bar they can be heard saying, ?Undertand you had some trouble in here?. This is heard under Hans, ?Looks like somebody?s beginning to take an interest in your handiwork.? line.

 

Alien sound effect is missing just before Threepios line, ?I would much rather have gone with Master Luke than stay here with you.?

 

The music edit just after the Jabba scene is pretty bad. The music just starts. Also Bens line ?If the ships as fast as he?s boasting we ought to do well? is different than the original mix. It sounds edited together here.

 

A quick dissolve is missing between the shot of the spy and the interior entrance of Docking Bay 94. It is a hard cut now.

 

The spy makes some more sounds before informing the stormtroopers of where Luke and Ben are.

 

There are new explosion sound effects in the shoot out in Docking Bay 94.

 

?You would prefer another target? A military target?? both sound crystal clear. ?Then name the system!? is clearly from the old mix. Right in the middle of the line there is a quality shift. This happens through out the entire movie, but this may be the most obvious. It almost feels like a game, wondering if the next line is going to be the new clear dialogue or the older sounding dialogue. Obviously, there is a lack of consistency here and it?s jarring throughout the film. This is problably the worst feature of this new mix.

 

When the Falcon arrives at Alderaan there is some very deep bass. However, when the Falcon is captured by the Death Stars tractor beam, deep bass is missing that was heard in the 1993 mix. However there is a lot of sound of the cockpit shaking.

 

Also in the 1993 mix, the sound of the TIE fighter shooting at the Falcon could be heard. That?s not here nor was it in the original mix.

 

The PA systems line, ?Close all outboard shields? sounds different.

 

Just before Han and company come out of the secret compartments, the two inspecting stormtroopers stop at the exit ramp and one of them says, ?There?s no one here.?.

 

When Luke exits out of the Falcon and taps his stormtrooper helmet, static can be heard.

 

The dialogue keeps changing during the command office scene, between the clear dialogue and the older sounding dialogue.

 

The computer in the detention block scene makes new noises.

 

When Han, Luke and Chewie are shooting the cameras in the cell block area, the explosions are all re-done. There is also some new blaster fire added. When Han shoots the console, his blaster is much louder now then it was before.

 

The explosion as the stormtroopers blast into the cell block is much louder and has more bass.

 

When Leia shoots the hatch to get into the garbage chute, the explosion is different.

 

Chewie pounding on the door of the trash compactor makes new sounds.

 

The famous blooper of the stormtrooper walking into the door has now been punctuated with a loud ?clunk? sound effect. What was once a tough to see mistake is now pointed ot for everyone to see.

 

When Ben is turning off the tractor beam (I guess this is what he?s doing since the display is no longer in English) some sound effects that were heard at Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back and in ALIEN are mixed in here.

 

The creature sound effects after they get out of the trash compactor are different.

 

When Leia fires her blaster during the chasm crossfire, it no longer sounds like Dirty Harry?s .44 magnum. This chasm also has the ALIEN/Bespin sound effect.

 

When Luke throws the grappling hook, it makes a ?whizzing through the air? sound effect.

 

When they are shouting for Luke to come on board the Falcon (after Ben?s death) Leia now says, ?Luke, come on!?. Previously, it was just ?Come on!?.

 

Music reverb heard during the fight with the TIE Fighters is gone.

 

During the TIE Fighter fight, there is a long shot of the Falcon and you can see red blaster fire coming from it. There is now sound there to match.

 

During the first dive towards the attack on the Death Star, key music has been dialled out for a few moments.

 

?He?s on your tail? line from the SE mix is not heard here.

 

New sounds can be heard in Red Leaders cockpit as his ship is failing.

 

When Red Leaders engine is hit by blaster fire, it now makes the same sound as a lamp blowing up in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

As Han, Luke, and Leia walk off after the battle, new crowd cheering effects can be heard.

 

Neil

[Rob B]

8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy 8 more days oh boy oh boy

[FLYING SE7EN]

?You would prefer another target? A military target?? both sound crystal clear. ?Then name the system!? is clearly from the old mix. Right in the middle of the line there is a quality shift. This happens through out the entire movie, but this may be the most obvious. It almost feels like a game, wondering if the next line is going to be the new clear dialogue or the older sounding dialogue. Obviously, there is a lack of consistency here and it?s jarring throughout the film. This is problably the worst feature of this new mix.

 

Further down in that thread, someone noted that the differences are due to switching from production dialog to ADR and back again, and that they have always been there, just that they are more noticeable on the new mix.

 

J.

[Beer Monkey]

Sound mixing issue, from various reviews:

 

IGN DVD:

 

"A New Hope has the most problems, and not where you think. The glaring example is when Grand Moff Tarkin grills Princess Leia for the location of the rebel base or he would toast Alderan. This is simply a conversation between the two, but as the scene cuts from one shot to another, the audio quality rises and drops notably. One angle sounds soft and muffled, while another angle is clear and sharp."

 

Swedish R2 review:

 

"The sound is very good. But not everywhere. Because now is the time to tell you the sad part. When listening to the sound of Star Wars: A New Hope, I unfortunately found a number of tonal differences. On a number of occasions the sound of the dialogue varies between rather muffled one second and much brighter and clearer the next. This is especially noticeable in scene 26, when Tarkin and Vader interrogate Leia about the planet of the rebel base, right before the destruction of Alderaan (about 55 minutes into the movie). Peter Cushing (Tarkin) as well as Carrie Fisher (Leia) speak with both muffled and clear voices throughout the scene."

 

R4 Review:

 

"The dialogue is clear and comprehensible, except in a couple of places. The most obvious is the distortion in Luke's voice at 83:57, but there's some slight distortion in Leia's voice at 55:30. The only lapses in audio sync are quite minor, around 82:43, where it may well be slightly sloppy ADR ? during the commentary we hear that there a lot of ADR, because the droid costumes made a lot of noise."

 

(I'm just passing this info along for those who are interested, not to nitpick or be negative...even though I'd prefer the original versions, I'm picking these up and suspect I will mostly enjoy them)

[merlot]

It boggles my mind as to how Lucas would be happy with tonal shifts in the dialog. For as long as we waited for this you think they'd get everything right. :?

 

Oh well, I'm still looking forward to this; it's long overdue.

[kelley]

Originally posted by merlot@Sep 13 2004, 12:12 PM

It boggles my mind as to how Lucas would be happy with tonal shifts in the dialog. For as long as we waited for this you think they'd get everything right. :?

 

Oh well, I'm still looking forward to this; it's long overdue.

he's gotta have something to make you buy it again next year, duh! :green:

[merlot]

Originally posted by gigapower+Sep 13 2004, 01:37 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (gigapower @ Sep 13 2004, 01:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-merlot@Sep 13 2004, 12:12 PM

It boggles my mind as to how Lucas would be happy with tonal shifts in the dialog. For as long as we waited for this you think they'd get everything right. :?

 

Oh well, I'm still looking forward to this; it's long overdue.

he's gotta have something to make you buy it again next year, duh! :green: [/b]

Ahh true, how else would he be able to release Star Wars Trilogy: A New Tone?

[Failsafe]

Don't think that they didn't do a lot of work to get it to that point. There's only so much that can be done with old, damaged dialogue (see Alien 3 from the Quad set for examples). Since the dialogue cannot be re-recorded, it's my bet that they did all they could.

 

Anxiously awaiting this set on 9/21!

[Angry the Clown]

Further down in that thread, someone noted that the differences are due to switching from production dialog to ADR and back again, and that they have always been there, just that they are more noticeable on the new mix.

 

That's very much my opinion of the audio 'changes'... There are some new sounds (like that sound Obi Wan summons to scare the sandpeople for instance), but back in 1977 the film had three mixes (often were the same scenes sounded completely different from film to film); Ben Burtt explains all this in the commentary. The DVD mixes are essentially pulled from the best bits of all previous mixes, with some new refinements on top. They sound a damn sight better than the atrocity that was the 97 mixes and they're decent 5.1 mixes that remain rather true to the originals (they reminded me of the Indiana Jones mixes in that respect). The sound and picture are the best things about the set.

 

I?m not sure that the HTF guys have anything to experience on the 21st. They?ve already watched the changed scenes bootlegged as AVIs and listened to the sonic changes as MP3s and seen jpeg upon jpeg. Criterion?s Cassavettes set is out on the 21st, but they don't have a nice big bloated thread about that sadly.

 

Daniel

[MrJames]

Originally posted by Bryan@Sep 13 2004, 08:33 AM

Who has the best b&m price for the set so far?

I saw Best Buy has their pre-order set at $44.99.

[Rob B]

Originally posted by merlot@Sep 13 2004, 01:43 PM

Star Wars Trilogy: A New Tone?

:bang: :tu:

[JFo]

Originally posted by Daniel Brecher@Sep 13 2004, 01:58 PM

I?m not sure that the HTF guys have anything to experience on the 21st. They?ve already watched the changed scenes bootlegged as AVIs and listened to the sonic changes as MP3s and seen jpeg upon jpeg. Criterion?s Cassavettes set is out on the 21st, but they don't have a nice big bloated thread about that sadly.

But, Dan, we all know that what they've seen so far is nothing more than the work-in-progress DVDs and not the real thing.

[LimeyYankee]

Wal*Mart.com has it for $41.99, so I bet the stores will be pretty close to that too.

 

Walmart.com

 

After getting my first DVD player in 1998, and looking everywhere for the DVD's (did not know what I know now, of course), add me to the list of can't freakin wait for 9/21 to arrive :tu: :green:

 

Matt

[Romier S]

Man only a few more days and I'll own Star Wars on DVD. I wasn't terribly excited about the announcement of the DVD's (which was odd) but I'll full admit to feeling all giddy and fanboyish about finally being to watch these films for the first time on DVD. Thank god I have next Tuesday and Wednesday off! :tu:

[MrJames]

Yes, I'm looking forward to finally owning legit versions of these movies.

[Failsafe]

What he said.

[Romier S]

Yes, I'm looking forward to finally owning legit versions of these movies.

 

I know exactly what you mean.

[Jordan_E]

I hope the neighbors will understand, but I am going to have these movies CRANKED next week! My wife told me last night: I just don't "get" Star Wars and I said: it makes no difference, because I do! :tu:

[Beer Monkey]

Gamestop has this for $30 if you trade in 3 DVDs from major studios (Fox, Warner, Paramount, MGM, Sony/Columbia, Pioneer, Image). I've got some DVDs that are near worthless because they have been replaced by upgraded editions.