Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by phansson

Speaking of subtitles, are they in the picture or in the black bars?

In picture, white text no background or bars.

[phansson]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

In picture, white text no background or bars.

Thanks, that is good news for us 2.35 viewers.....

[Merlinpants]

LOL, the pod startup by Anakin made my windows rattle. Time to turn the volume down I think!

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

I am clearly not getting away from this. One more hour of questions, I am happy to disc swap if needs be to get the answer. FIRE AWAY!!!!!

So how would you basically number grade each film on blu-ray?

Ep. 1
Video: 4.5
Audio: 5

Ep. 2
Video: 4.5
Audio: 5

Ep. 3
Video: 5
Audio: 5

Ep. 4
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5

Ep. 5
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5

Ep. 6
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5

Is this accurate? If not, how would you grade them?

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by phansson

Thanks, that is good news for us 2.35 viewers.....

Even better, they are positioned according to the character speaking. You will see what I mean when you see it. Never seen that before.

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

So how would you basically number grade each film on blu-ray?

Is this accurate? If not, how would you grade them?

Again, it wouldn't be fair to do this as I haven't seen them all. But at the present moment, I would give TPM a 4.5. It has soft moments (usually when in the blazing tatooine sun) but outstanding detail and as before, no really visible DNR.

Audio 6 out of 5 The opie fart has never sounded so good LOL.

[LimeiBook86]

My question: What trailers are available for the films? I know the 2004 DVD set had a handful, but there are quite a few extra ones I have on the LaserDisc set that I've never seen anywhere else (even if they look like they are "bootlegs of bootlegs"). If any trailers are there, how's the quality? There should at least be original trailers and S.E. trailers on the disc(s). Can you estimate how many per film? A rough estimate is more than fine.

I'm disappointed to hear that the deleted scenes released on the DVDs didn't seem to make the cut on the Blu-Rays. But I'll keep my DVDs, I wasn't planning on tossing them anyway. And of course I'll keep my LaserDisc Definitive Collection set, which has over 1 hour and 45 minutes of bonus features & extras I have never seen on any other set or disc. Including a great tour of the Lucasfilm archive & tons of artwork & still images!

Thankfully I've digitized these on my Mac and have them available in handy video files. If you care to take a gander at them feel free to send me a private message.

Ack, I can't wait until next Friday, it can't come soon enough!

[Breather]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

Yup, miles better. It plays in a window so has borders around the whole image, but the quality is great. Luke Skywalker animated is hilariously bad as is Han LOL.

Since that cartoon segment is not an easter egg like many of us thought it would be, I wonder what the easter eggs will be? I figured this cartoon or the entire H.S, the unreleased "Return of the Ewok" short from '83 and a repeat of all the blooper reels. It would be nice if they stuck on a certain missing documentary as an easter egg...

[kurtlingle]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

First impression - stunning.

My sub woofer is shaking the very foundations of the house lol.

Keep it coming.... what movie did you watch (which one are your referring to)?

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

Again, it wouldn't be fair to do this as I haven't seen them all. But at the present moment, I would give TPM a 4.5. It has soft moments (usually when in the blazing tatooine sun) but outstanding detail and as before, no really visible DNR.

Audio 6 out of 5 The opie fart has never sounded so good LOL.

Thanks...and since blu-ray makes everything all crisp and clear, what do you think about CGI characters/backgrounds blending with real characters? Do they seem more disconnected, more connected, or basically the same as represented on the DVD? (I guess you will be mainly talking about TPM.)

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by LimeiBook86

My question: What trailers are available for the films? I know the 2004 DVD set had a handful, but there are quite a few extra ones I have on the LaserDisc set that I've never seen anywhere else. If they are there, how's the quality? There should at least be original trailers and S.E. trailers on the disc(s).

I'm disappointed to hear that the deleted scenes released on the DVDs didn't seem to make the cut on the Blu-Rays. But I'll keep my DVDs, i wasn't planning on tossing them anyway. And of course I'll keep my LaserDisc Definitive Collection set, which has over 1 hour and 45 minutes of bonus features & extras I have never seen on any other set or disc. Including a great tour of the Lucasfilm archive & tons of artwork & still images!

Thankfully I've digitized these on my Mac and have them available in handy video files. If you care to take a gander at them feel free to send me a private message.

Ack, I can't wait until next Friday, it can't come soon enough!

I haven't seen a single trailer on any disc. That isn't to say they aren't there as there is literally tonnes of stuff on the bouns discs, but chances are the expectation is the same as the deleted scenes, this set is not repeating the extras from the DVD's.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Breather

They definitely can't claim the rushed excuse on this set. It's been seven years since the DVD release and six years since the last Star Wars film.

I think Lucas spent 6 1/2 of those 7 years counting the money that he made off of the DVD release, and then rushed getting the Blu-Ray ready for the market.

I'm conflicted. Part of me almost wants to skip this release, figuring that there might be a better one down the road. I'm hoping that he plans to fix these other issues for the 3D releases, and then we will eventually get some kind of Blu-Ray 3D release (hopefully with the option to watch them in 2D) after that. But that's still quite a ways off if he is only releasing the 3D movies theatrically 1 per year starting next year. That means that ROTJ won't hit theaters until 2017, so that would be a long time to wait for a better release.

Though my biggest concern is the extras included in the Saga set. I could probably "get by" watching the existing DVDs of the movie, as painful as they are at times (especially with the most horrendous of lightsaber effect issues, at least some of which have been fixed for the BD). But since the extras often don't seem to carry over from one release to another, I wouldn't want to miss out on a lot of the awesome stuff included in this.

But I also don't feel that Lucas has "earned" my money this time around (nor did he last time, really). Despite my frustration with some changes like Vader's "Noooooo" and Hayden in ROTJ, I can deal with those things and deal with the fact that we aren't getting the UOT, but I can't ignore the lazy effort in correct what were obvious ERRORS and not deliberate "artistic decisions" in the masters that were done for the DVD release that apparently have been carried over to this release. Lucas needs to stop being so lazy and cheap about this.

I can understand not wanting to spend the money (assuming that it truly is expensive) to restore the UOT when he no longer considers that to be his "vision", but why wouldn't he want an absolute top-quality presentation for his current, updated versions? The guy is insanely rich beyond belief. Even if he were to have to "splurge" a bit more than what he would prefer to get these issues corrected, it's not like the guy is going to suddenly go broke afterwards because of it. Considering that his overall body of work in the film industry outside of Star Wars is fairly minimal, and that he is most well known for Star Wars, you would think that he would want to do everything that he can to finally, ultimately get the best looking masters made possible, and correct any past problems that have existed. Why he is being so half-assed about this is beyond me. And while I don't mind many of the new changes, themselves (i.e. the new eye on Wicket), it just seems like that's money that could have been spent correcting the more glarring errors.

I think Lucas owes his fans a better product than this.

[bboisvert]

Originally Posted by BladeRunner2007

I found 1 change in ROTS so far (might be the only one, though).



The Blu-ray has the wipe restored.

Not that it matters one way or the other but... how very strange.

It's like, Lucas, make up your mind, dude.

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Thanks...and since blu-ray makes everything all crisp and clear, what do you think about CGI characters/backgrounds blending with real characters? Do they seem more disconnected, connected, or the same as on the DVD? (I guess you will be mainly talking about TPM.)

Answered that earlier, but the rips were no indication of the blu ray. They blend perfectly, only in close up can you tell they are odd because of the skin texture.

[Merlinpants]

The pod race is an absolute audio wonder, get ready to duck, they cross all around the surround stage. Amazing.

[BladeRunner2007]

Originally Posted by bboisvert

Not that it matters one way or the other but... how very strange.

It's like, Lucas, make up your mind, dude.

I know, but at the same it makes ROTS the only SW movie to be released on Blu-ray in its original theatrical version!

[LimeiBook86]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

I haven't seen a single trailer on any disc. That isn't to say they aren't there as there is literally tonnes of stuff on the bouns discs, but chances are the expectation is the same as the deleted scenes, this set is not repeating the extras from the DVD's.

Damn! Oh well, maybe they're on there somewhere (I hope...). I love trailers and I hate when they feel that it's not needed to include a fun little 2-3 minute trailer of the film...

I thank you very much for looking though, thank you!

[bboisvert]

Originally Posted by BladeRunner2007

I know, but at the same it makes ROTS the only SW movie to be released on Blu-ray in it's original theatrical version!

Ha - good point!

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by kurtlingle

Keep it coming.... what movie did you watch (which one are your referring to)?

They all have the same outstanding sound, but at the moment TPM is on. Not my favourite, but wanted to see digital yoda in action and put the sub woofer through its paces properly. The pod race is giving it one hell of a workout, both my cats have legged it! LOL

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

Answered that earlier, but the rips were no indication of the blu ray. They blend perfectly, only in close up can you tell they are odd because of the skin texture.

Thanks again,

And does the Darth Vader "no" scene at the end of ROTJ on a home theater seem not as bad as it does on youtube?