The Digitalbits reviews the Star Wars DVDs

Ron-P

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarstrilogy.html

WOW! Cannot wait until the 21st.

dorokusai

I am excited also

Toxis

It just can't come soon enough...

Strong Bad

This review says it all! Next Tuesday is going to be nuts!!! For all the bad stuff said about George Lucas and him tinkering with the originals, I have to agree with the reviewer and say...GET OVER IT!

Lucas is pretty damn ok in my book. He is giving us what appears to be a knockout of a set of DVDs!

http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews/star_wars_trilogy.shtml


Get those systems warmed up gents!

John

Ron-P

I am almost 100% certain that I'll be showing up at 12:01 am Tuesday morning at BB for this.

shack

John - Thanks for the review link....

I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer on the Lucas/edit stuff. I'm eager to see these DVDs!

polkatese

Thanks for the link, guys!

I was on the fence on this release before, and after reading the review, I am convinced to pre-order one, I supposed more due to the picture quality than the story (watched it so many times in the past 20+ years.

Btw, Amazon has it at $41.99, free shipping, deepdiscountdvd at $41.88 free shipping, and BB at $42.99 (if anyone cares...)

kberg

I might be the ONLY one to say this. I HATE ALL of the Star Wars films - sorry, just could never get into it. There was a certain level of "silliness" I simply could not tolerate. BUT, for those who like 'em, I bet you are in for a real treat on DVD.

Toxis

episodes 4-6 are amazing, period. Episode 1 & 2 are a lil on the flakey side right now but we'll see how they do Episode 3 to tie it all together.

Ron-P

Thanks for that heads up polkatese. I just pre-ordered. I still plan on picking up a copy in-store on street day but this will make a good back-up if anything should go awry or for a good Xmas gift.

Ron-P

I almost agree with ya Toxis. A New Hope and Empire are amazing, Return lost it with the Ewoks.

Hopefully 3 is good, but after seeing 1 and 2 my hopes are not real high.

polkatese

Originally posted by Ron-P
Thanks for that heads up polkatese. I just pre-ordered. I still plan on picking up a copy in-store on street day but this will make a good back-up if anything should go awry or for a good Xmas gift.

you're welcome, Ron! how's Mickey?

Ron-P

Do'in fine, just paid him a visit last weekend. Going to again this weekend.

Billm57

Originally posted by kberg
I might be the ONLY one to say this. I HATE ALL of the Star Wars films - sorry, just could never get into it. There was a certain level of "silliness" I simply could not tolerate. BUT, for those who like 'em, I bet you are in for a real treat on DVD.

you are not alone..i dont care them either but the dvd set does set the bar a notch higher for other releases. I did pickup THX1138 the other day. Another fine remaster job. IMO one of Lucas's best films hands down. More thought provoking which good sci-fi should be if ya ask me

Strong Bad

Read more reviews about the release and a spoiler was made about A New Hope.


Chewy still doesn't get a medal at the ceremony. DAMN! Of all the changes, give Chewy a damn medal for crying out loud!

Ahhhh yes, it's late and I'm tired. Off to bed....


Nite nite

TheReaper

Originally posted by Billm57
I did pickup THX1138 the other day. Another fine remaster job. IMO one of Lucas's best films hands down. More thought provoking which good sci-fi should be if ya ask me

So did I, and I agree.

mantis

ALLDAY........

Ron-P

Can you say "Oops, we **** up"?

From the digital bits:

[Editor's Note: since we initially wrote this review, we've detected a number of audio/mixing errors on the DVD version of A New Hope. They are as follows:

1) The familiar Force theme trumpet fanfare that used to play right after Red Leader says: "This is it!" and just as the X-wings start diving towards the Death Star's surface has been dialed back in volume so that it's almost inaudible - it's almost completely buried in the surround mix.

2) The audio quality varies wildly as Tarkin says the line: "You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system." - almost as if the master sound element was damaged. It's very distracting.

3) Possibly most critically, John Williams' entire score for the film has been flipped in the rear channels, so that what should be the left rear channel is playing from the right rear channel (and vise versa). What this means is that the rear channels don't match the front channels - instruments heard from the front right channel come from the left rear instead of the right rear. Again, this is very distracting once you notice it.

brettw22

SO are they going to release a corrected version? It doesn't make sense that they'd leave it like that.

Strong Bad

BIG f-ing OOPS! Imagine all those people standing in line tonight to get their discs at midnight, only to potentially find out that corrected versions will be released.

So much for THX certification. Someone is headed to the unemployment line for this blunder.


I'm holding off on my purchase till official word comes out.


Good find Ron!


John

Demiurge

Good god....he also did stupid **** like he put Hayden Christionson at the end of "Jedi" as a ghost instead of the old guy (forgot his name). IMO it makes a lot more sense to have the old guy as the ghost...thats how he looked when he died and he became a good guy at the end. I can't believe that Hayden Christiansen is going to sully return of the jedi.. that pisses me off so much!! That 'eff-tard can't act for **** and somehow he's managed to get his face in one of the most adored movies ever created. 'eff him right in the ear.

ezc

Holly **** my Amazon order just delevered! Star Wars Trilogy is here NOW! I figured amazon would have gotten it to me about wed or thursday or at best tuesday! But its here already!!! I know Ill watch one tonight! Living in Hawaii I expect orders to arive late but not this time! Lots of thanks to Amazon & USPS priority!

Strong Bad

From Digital Bits...



(LATE UPDATE - 9/20/04 - 10:30 PM PDT)

Well... Lucasfilm has responded to our questions about the audio issue on the DVD of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope with a blanket statement of denial. Here's the exact text:

"We are always impressed with how closely fans listen to the many different sound mixes we have made for the Star Wars movies over the years. It is flattering to know that, indeed, the audience is listening. Consequently, each mix comes out differently and any changes that you hear on the all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX tracks on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set are deliberate creative decisions. We can confirm that there are no technical glitches as reported."

Now here's my response. I don't buy it. The audio quality of that Tarkin line can't be anything other than a technical issue, probably a problem with the original audio element of the dialogue, and Lucasfilm doesn't want to cop to that on the eve of the big release. When you guys hear it tomorrow, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Tarkin's "Then name the system!" line sounds terrible. As far as dialing down the trumpet fanfare during the Death Star attack (in fact, much of Williams' music during the first part of the attack has been reduced in volume in the mix)... I can see that could be a creative decision. It's a decision I absolutely HATE, but okay, maybe that's a creative decision. You guys will have to see what you think when you get the discs.

As far as the reversed music in the surrounds issue - it's going to be very hard for the average listener to detect. We've heard from a number of sources, however, who claim to hear it. In fact, that's how we originally became aware of the problem ourselves. Still, in light of Lucasfilm's denial, we'd like more of you die hard audiophiles to give this disc a listen yourselves and see if you hear it too.

We'll keep looking into this, so stay tuned...

shack

Ya know....I'm as thrilled as anyone to be getting this set on DVD after all of these years and will be picking it up this afternoon......BUT.....some people need to get a life!

IT IS ONLY A MOVIE!!!!!!

You will spend appx. $10 and 2 hours of your time to watch this disc (A New Hope). If you dont like the changes Lucas made...DON'T BUY IT! If you are so anal that a couple of seconds of technical glitches out of two hours of film ruin the experience for you.....DON'T BUY IT!

I for one am going to sit down with a big bowl of popcorn and a couple of cokes and enjoy the movie...changes, glitches and all!

**Disclaimer** This is a general rant and not directed at any forum members.:D

Strong Bad

Originally posted by shack
You will spend appx. $10 and 2 hours of your time to watch this disc (A New Hope). If you dont like the changes Lucas made...DON'T BUY IT! If you are so anal that a couple of seconds of technical glitches out of two hours of film ruin the experience for you.....DON'T BUY IT!

Actually, the big problem apparently is not a few seconds worth of movie, but the entire score for the film itself. Seems the score is flipped around on opposite channels and doesn't sound right. This, I feel, is not one of Lucas' intended changes, but a technical screwup at the sound processing lab.

Being anal about these things and now knowing they are screwed up, I'll be holding off.

Shack, please report back on your thoughts on these issues after viewing. Want to know what you think about them and if they are as bad as we're being led to believe.

John

Ron-P

I'm still picking up my copy today.

ESB appears to be fine so that'll be worth the watch, ANH I will try and see if it's a big deal or not. Remember, DigitalBits did not even catch this at first and raved about the disk. It was brought to their attention via an outside source.

If anything 4 months from now they may offer a swap deal like what was done for the blundered Back to the Future disks.

I am looking very forward to watching these on my 85" screen tonight. I've waited to long for these to pass up on now.

Grimster74

Just returned from picking up my copy, can't wait to sit down and watch it tonight myself.:D

Strong Bad

Originally posted by Ron-P
I'm still picking up my copy today.

ESB appears to be fine so that'll be worth the watch, ANH I will try and see if it's a big deal or not. Remember, DigitalBits did not even catch this at first and raved about the disk. It was brought to their attention via an outside source.

If anything 4 months from now they may offer a swap deal like what was done for the blundered Back to the Future disks.

I am looking very forward to watching these on my 85" screen tonight. I've waited to long for these to pass up on now.

Good point Ron! I thought about Shack's comments a little further too. I may reconsider and pick it up today after all. Worst case scenerio, they'll do a swap out of the first.

Lucasfilm has always been on the ball when it comes to mastering their DVD's, so perhaps the score remix was intended that way. The other so called "Glitches" may not be nearly as bad as they are making them out to be. Again, back to Ron's statement on the initial glowing review by Digitalbits.


John

Ron-P

Here's a quote from one over at the HTF...

Watched ANH last night and only noticed the flipped surround problem during the music playing at the end celebration. It wasn't overly distracting, but I did notice and it was rather odd. As for the Tarkin line, I felt there were other tonal shifts in dialogue throughout the rest of the film that were just as bad if not worse. I can't remember specifics, but I do recall thinking they sounded a bit off. The dialed back music in the Death Star attack was definitely a terrible choice and an example, I believe, of Ben Burtt wanting to punch up the effects so loud that they kill the score. Not a glitch, but a poor choice IMHO.

Strong Bad

Ok, maybe we should take Shack and Ron's position on this and just sit down and enjoy them. Now it sounds like all these sites are over-analyzing the audio mix on disc 1 almost looking for something to complain about. Good lord, the film was done in 1977! WAAA WAAA WAAA...let's bust on George Lucas some more!

Sorry folks for adding to the bitching about the now seemingly trivial problems with disc 1. My bad. Go buy the damn movies and enjoy! I am!!!

John

Ron-P

Go buy the damn movies and enjoy! I am!!!

Ok...