Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[aiman04]

HD broadcasts usually streams at much lower bitrate, even in 1080p I don't think the bandwidth is big enough to have bitrate as high as blu-ray, this is why they're usually very soft. And I'm pretty sure that we'll see new CG Yoda, and some visual effects enhancements on the blu-ray.

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I happened to be an in electronics store today while SpikeHD was playing Episode I. I obviously don't know what their source was and I don't know if Spike or whatever cable or satellite company the retailer uses compresses the video, but it looked incredibly bad. Also, they were feeding the signal to about 80 sets, so there was probably some degradation there.

But I was shocked at how bad it looked. In some scenes, it was bad because there was more obvious detail than we saw in theatres, and the details aren't pretty. Puppet Yoda didn't bother me in the theatre, but close up and (presumably) in HD, you can see the rubber. Only the eyes looked good. In a scene with Padme and Palpatine with CGI stuff going on outside the windows, I could swear that each time a ship went by, the edge of the window frame moved a little. And other shots looked bad due to color blurring and other artifacts. I think these look better on an old analog CRT.

This either proves that HD cable can't come close to BD or it's a sign that the BDs are going to be really bad.

Well it's certainly not a sign that the BDs are going to be bad. Film has a much greater resolution than HD. If the issues/anomalies you saw were revealed because of the clarity of HD, then they certainly would've been noticed when we saw it projected in a theater on screens much larger than any of the ones you saw in the store today.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I happened to be an in electronics store today while SpikeHD was playing Episode I. I obviously don't know what their source was and I don't know if Spike or whatever cable or satellite company the retailer uses compresses the video, but it looked incredibly bad. Also, they were feeding the signal to about 80 sets, so there was probably some degradation there.

This either proves that HD cable can't come close to BD or it's a sign that the BDs are going to be really bad.

It's both.

I've been saying this since I originally saw them in HD on TV.

You have two things:

1) Compression issues of digital cable, plus as you said a store streaming to 80 TV's at once. This includes artifacting, noise, etc.

2) The appearance and detail of the image itself (ignoring digital compression issues) with the added clarity of HD.

I have all the Spike TV broadcasts saved bit for bit and watch them regularly. They look pretty darn good for HD broadcasts - obviously there are digital artifacts and other issues due to the bandwidth, but the actual quality of the image is quite detailed.

That said, even in this presentation, it's almost TOO detailed. Many effects in all six films are MUCH more obvious and stand out in HD.

My guess is Lucas has done quite a bit of work on these for Blu. If not, there are going to be some upset fans out there because effects that for some reason didn't seem that way in the theater are much more obvious and stand out. If they stood out in the HD broadcast versions, they will stand out even more on Blu.

[Moviefan2k4]

OK, I know someone has probably mentioned this in almost 700 pages (!) of this thread, but one thing I'd really like to see is an HD version of the "Star Wars: A Musical Journey" DVD, that was included with the "Episode III" sountrack. They used footage from all 6 films in the series, to create awesome "mini-movies" that followed particular storylines in the saga, each one complete with a certain piece of music by John Williams. I didn't really care for the intros by Ian McDiarmid, but the videos themselves in HD would be a great extra to have on this set.

[OG Pooh]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

My guess is Lucas has done quite a bit of work on these for Blu. If not, there are going to be some upset fans out there because effects that for some reason didn't seem that way in the theater are much more obvious and stand out. If they stood out in the HD broadcast versions, they will stand out even more on Blu.

Exactly what I've been afraid of, and saying for a while now. Everybody's been talking up the Star Wars BDs like they're gonna be the end all, be all home video experience. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but too much detail can ruin these films if not handled properly. Going by previous releases, I am not particularly confident in what GL is going to give us.

[-RONIN-]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

My guess is Lucas has done quite a bit of work on these for Blu. If not, there are going to be some upset fans out there because effects that for some reason didn't seem that way in the theater are much more obvious and stand out. If they stood out in the HD broadcast versions, they will stand out even more on Blu.

Originally Posted by OG Pooh

Exactly what I've been afraid of, and saying for a while now. Everybody's been talking up the Star Wars BDs like they're gonna be the end all, be all home video experience. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but too much detail can ruin these films if not handled properly. Going by previous releases, I am not particularly confident in what GL is going to give us.

NO! I refuse to listen to your nonsense. GL is an amazing man and always has our best interests at the center of everything he does. These BD releases WILL be the "be all, end all" of home theater viewing. I even hear he's going to be giving those who can prove they're die hard fans a 75% off voucher, but it's only good for the day one street date.

[OG Pooh]

Originally Posted by -RONIN-

NO! I refuse to listen to your nonsense. GL is an amazing man and always has our best interests at the center of everything he does. These BD releases WILL be the "be all, end all" of home theater viewing. I even hear he's going to be giving those who can prove they're die hard fans a 75% off voucher, but it's only good for the day one street date.

[starwarsagent]

You guys are bias...you guys are collectors of Bluray covers and it shows. You get the movie for the package and the art. I don't really care about the artwork as i'm a star wars fan and I care about the content and not how my Set "Looks nice on my shelves". It's not an art piece that you are going to put on a pedestal or is it? the packaging is important, but what did you want another poster on the cover? that's not even original.





I want to know why Harrison Ford & Mark Hammil didn't record a new commentary...And what the deleted scenes will be put back in. I'm hoping its the Toshe station scene.

[Shallow_]

The fact that they are converting them all to 3D is reason enough to expect new masters /me thinks.

And I have no doubt these will be the new absolute reference in audio and video on Bluray (or any format actually)

Lucas has always put quality first (before nostalgia ), and there is no reason to think he's going to stop now.

[nametag]

Originally Posted by starwarsagent

You guys are bias...you guys are collectors of Bluray covers and it shows. You get the movie for the package and the art. I don't really care about the artwork as i'm a star wars fan and I care about the content and not how my Set "Looks nice on my shelves". It's not an art piece that you are going to put on a pedestal or is it? the packaging is important, but what did you want another poster on the cover? that's not even original.

I would say that most people don't care about the artwork at the expense of the movies, which is obviously the most important thing, but I don't know why someone who doesn't care about the artwork at all feels threatened enough to complain about those who do. I'm interested in movie/poster art, photography and graphic design AS WELL as movies so yes, I'm going to have an opinion on the cover, what's wrong with that? That doesn't mean I care about covers to the extent of or at the expense of the film. Moreover, people haven't watched the actual BDs yet - the cover is one of the few things about the release we know about, so of course it's going to be discussed! You should stop judging people against your idea on what a 'real fan' is like, not everyone's going to have the same priorities as you.

As for the quality of the transfers... I am reasonably confident that they will be good and think that is more likely. But it does seem there is quite a bit more room for error with these films compared to many others so I understand why people might be slightly worried. It's not like the DVDs were all reference-quality DVDs, so there is precedent for them not to be the be all and end all home video experience of the times.

[Jumpman]

Well, '04 box set was a rushed set. While they did put the product out there, it wasn't exactly the best set of circumstances.

Episodes II and III's DVD were reference, so there is SOME precedent.

If rumors are to be believed, Lucas has been working on this box set a long while.

Speaking of which, check out what Jake Lloyd said on his facebook:

Not too bad... I think everyone should get a pretty good kick out of it. I'll miss the puppet of Yoda though... For the same reasons I liked moon's special effects...

[-RONIN-]

Originally Posted by Shallow_

The fact that they are converting them all to 3D is reason enough to expect new masters /me thinks.

In all seriousness I have this line of thought as well. It just doesn't make sense to not do it now when they'll just have to for the 3D.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Shallow_

The fact that they are converting them all to 3D is reason enough to expect new masters /me thinks.

And I have no doubt these will be the new absolute reference in audio and video on Bluray (or any format actually)

Lucas has always put quality first (before nostalgia ), and there is no reason to think he's going to stop now.

Cause nothing says 'quality' like flopped surround tracks, blue fuzz video noise over the Death Star explosion, drowned out music cues, coreless light sabres, and a restoration team given only 28 days to work on all three films...sorry, but the last DVD release should have been recalled. Disney replaces discs for accidents far more minor than what we received from Lucasfilm last time out. No, Lucas *doesn't* always put 'quality first'. If he did, his people would never have floated the stink bomb that the flopped surround tracks on the original Star Wars were 'intentional'. Give me a break.

When the films came to DVD, I thought there was absolutely zero chance that Lucasfilm and Fox would drop the ball - the films were too high-profile, the media scrutiny too pronounced. Boy, was I wrong.

I'm guardedly optimistic about the Blu-Ray set, but I'm also wary.

We'll see.

[-RONIN-]

Originally Posted by nametag

I would say that most people don't care about the artwork at the expense of the movies, which is obviously the most important thing, but I don't know why someone who doesn't care about the artwork at all feels threatened enough to complain about those who do. I'm interested in movie/poster art, photography and graphic design AS WELL as movies so yes, I'm going to have an opinion on the cover, what's wrong with that? That doesn't mean I care about covers to the extent of or at the expense of the film. Moreover, people haven't watched the actual BDs yet - the cover is one of the few things about the release we know about, so of course it's going to be discussed! You should stop judging people against your idea on what a 'real fan' is like, not everyone's going to have the same priorities as you.

As for the quality of the transfers... I am reasonably confident that they will be good and think that is more likely. But it does seem there is quite a bit more room for error with these films compared to many others so I understand why people might be slightly worried. It's not like the DVDs were all reference-quality DVDs, so there is precedent for them not to be the be all and end all home video experience of the times.

Great post, nametag.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by 42041

Keep in mind that Phantom Menace, like Fellowship of the Ring, represents a very early evolution of digital post-production. Most of the movie was shot on film, scanned into digital (presumably 2k resolution?), then recorded back to film, and the film IP is probably what you're seeing on existing video masters... which means a lot of quality loss.

Like the upcoming extended version of Fellowship, they'd likely need to go back to the original digital files to make it look nice.

Yup. LFL loved to spin a load of crap about how the Phantom Menace DVD didn't have any EE applied etc, but even the telecine itself is wobbling all over the place.

It wasn't particularly well handled IMO, and as you say they need to forget about going to the negative, IP or whatever and go straight to the digital files.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yup. LFL loved to spin a load of crap about how the Phantom Menace DVD didn't have any EE applied etc, but even the telecine itself is wobbling all over the place.

It wasn't particularly well handled IMO, and as you say they need to forget about going to the negative, IP or whatever and go straight to the digital files.

I popped in the pod race last night, and the video quality was alarming - halos, banding, etc. I remember when I first saw the disc, I thought it was the same exact transfer created for the VHS and Laserdisc releases. I remember Lucas flying all the DVD critics to Marin County and treating them to a junket o' fun at Skywalker. They raved about the release, but it took only a few days after the general public received the discs for the backtracking and backpedalling to begin.

[starwarsagent]

Originally Posted by nametag

I would say that most people don't care about the artwork at the expense of the movies, which is obviously the most important thing, but I don't know why someone who doesn't care about the artwork at all feels threatened enough to complain about those who do. I'm interested in movie/poster art, photography and graphic design AS WELL as movies so yes, I'm going to have an opinion on the cover, what's wrong with that? That doesn't mean I care about covers to the extent of or at the expense of the film. Moreover, people haven't watched the actual BDs yet - the cover is one of the few things about the release we know about, so of course it's going to be discussed! You should stop judging people against your idea on what a 'real fan' is like, not everyone's going to have the same priorities as you.

As for the quality of the transfers... I am reasonably confident that they will be good and think that is more likely. But it does seem there is quite a bit more room for error with these films compared to many others so I understand why people might be slightly worried. It's not like the DVDs were all reference-quality DVDs, so there is precedent for them not to be the be all and end all home video experience of the times.

What other BluRay discs do you have that the cover is so important to you?

They are simply plastic cases with paper in them. nothing more. People make too much out of it. Now if you are into artwork...you should go here and buy a star wars poster and frame it. I have tons of star wars posters that I love.

http://www.allposters.com/-st/Star-W...ters_c538_.htm

lots to choose from.

[srinivas1015]

Originally Posted by starwarsagent

What other BluRay discs do you have that the cover is so important to you?

They are simply plastic cases with paper in them. nothing more. People make too much out of it. Now if you are into artwork...you should go here and buy a star wars poster and frame it. I have tons of star wars posters that I love.

http://www.allposters.com/-st/Star-W...ters_c538_.htm

lots to choose from.

Going by that logic, star wars on blu are nothing to get hyped about as they are simply audio and video on a disc and one could say they are the same movies.
The point is that people here don't just buy bds just for the covers but they are still part of the experience. Ripping off the plastic wrapper, removing the case from the slipcover, then admiring the artwork and then inserting the disc in the drive for an enjoyable audio and video experience is what everyone wants.
And yes I agree that the covers suck. It's not that everyone wants them to be artistic masterpieces but the have to be at least acceptable. The trilogy covers look like they were done by a kid with the maturity of Anakin in AOTC. the complete saga's idea was great but the execution is sloppy(I find it kinda creepy with luke's dad being a small kid), but it would be awesome if it is lenticular.

So, no they are not just pieces of paper in plastic cases.

[ryoohki]

Personally i don't care about the artwork, if i would i would own the LaserDisc of many movies. Blu-ray is a Video/Audio medium first, than it's the box. I personnally look about 1 sec at an artwork...

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Well, '04 box set was a rushed set. While they did put the product out there, it wasn't exactly the best set of circumstances.

Episodes II and III's DVD were reference, so there is SOME precedent.

If rumors are to be believed, Lucas has been working on this box set a long while.

Speaking of which, check out what Jake Lloyd said on his facebook:

Not too bad... I think everyone should get a pretty good kick out of it. I'll miss the puppet of Yoda though... For the same reasons I liked moon's special effects...

Exactly. I'm not worried, I'm sure they've spent a lot of time to prepare for this release. The DVD's were rushed, of course Lucas main goal is to make things right this time.

Was Jake referring to this BD release?