Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Alfred E. Neumann]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Watched Return of the Jedi last night and MAN these transfers look rough now. Really hoping for new ones before disc media dies, original cuts or not.

Yeah, especially the upscale with jaggies during the Endor scenes. Terrible.

[steel_breeze]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Watched Return of the Jedi last night and MAN these transfers look rough now. Really hoping for new ones before disc media dies, original cuts or not.

The thing that bugs me the most in the ROTJ blu-ray is the wobble every time there's an effects shot. Luckily, you can't see it in most of the battle sequences 'cuz there's so much motion, but when ol' Palpatine is sitting in his throne (with VFX starfield behind him) or when the droids are walking toward a matte painting of Jabba's palace… or any other "static" effects shot… the whole image wobbles. Incredibly distracting, and could've been an easy fix.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by steel_breeze

The thing that bugs me the most in the ROTJ blu-ray is the wobble every time there's an effects shot. Luckily, you can't see it in most of the battle sequences 'cuz there's so much motion, but when ol' Palpatine is sitting in his throne (with VFX starfield behind him) or when the droids are walking toward a matte painting of Jabba's palace… or any other "static" effects shot… the whole image wobbles. Incredibly distracting, and could've been an easy fix.

I don't know if it was you who pointed that out before but it's not just the VFX, the wobble is there throughout the whole film, it seems to 'tug' more at the bottom of the frame than the top and it actually made me feel a tiny bit nauseous when watching it last, I kid ye not! (I get motion sickness very easily, I can't play FPS games with their lateral movement because I feel like puking after just a few minutes.)

[steel_breeze]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I don't know if it was you who pointed that out before but it's not just the VFX, the wobble is there throughout the whole film, it seems to 'tug' more at the bottom of the frame than the top.

I did bring it up earlier… and every instance I can see of the "wobble" is on a VFX shot of some kind: a starfield, a matte painting, a wipe to the next shot, etc. On shots that are straight from the original camera neg with no '83-era optical printing involved, I do not see it.

[Jumpman]

iTunes has updated the digital collection with new/old special features for all six films, including the audio commentaries for each film and the first two teaser trailers for THE FORCE AWAKENS.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by steel_breeze

I did bring it up earlier… and every instance I can see of the "wobble" is on a VFX shot of some kind: a starfield, a matte painting, a wipe to the next shot, etc. On shots that are straight from the original camera neg with no '83-era optical printing involved, I do not see it.

Just flicking through it now (sick bags at the ready!) and you're right. There's a bit of light telecine wobble throughout but that really jarring movement is indeed present on the VFX, opticals etc. A registration problem with the optical printer they used, perhaps?

(Boy, that newly embiggened shot of the door at Jabba's palace really looks terrrrrrrible. **** it, I might sell these now and go back to the DVDs, I've seen/bought them so many times before that I'm happy to wait for something better.)

[stvn1974]

C3P0 at least had the memories of the prequels erased from his mind, poor R2D2 had to live with the horror or remembering them.

[HeavyHitter]

I think I have to place them in the "poor" quality as far as PQ based on 2015 standards. The electronic look, the poor colors, shadows, etc. are just not justifiable. Grant you, there are worst overall discs out there especially from earlier Universal and some ones here and there from other studios. But, as Geoff said these masters were fine for DVD back in 2004. I will not watch them for a long time unless I am very much in the mood to watch Star Wars. Episode II even though it's inherently soft and especially III hold up the best of the box set as far as PQ and are the only really acceptable ones in my book. Episode I has too much DNR supposedly from Lucasfilm trying to match the look of II and III. A real shame as it seemed like a nice transfer otherwise.

[PowellPressburger]

Classic scene from Season 1 of American Dad.

For those of us who recall when the Star Wars Trilogy was released on DVD

American Dad Star Wars Original Trilogy Joke - YouTube

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by mrjeff

It will be quite the reveal when we find out his true name is Karl Ren, Sith Cosplayer.

Paul Blart, San Diego Comic Con Cop.

[cheecheung]

Are the blurays taken from the 4K masters? Correct me if I am wrong but I read somewhere that the DVDs are from the 4K masters.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

I think I have to place them in the "poor" quality as far as PQ based on 2015 standards. The electronic look, the poor colors, shadows, etc. are just not justifiable. Grant you, there are worst overall discs out there especially from earlier Universal and some ones here and there from other studios. But, as Geoff said these masters were fine for DVD back in 2004. I will not watch them for a long time unless I am very much in the mood to watch Star Wars. Episode II even though it's inherently soft and especially III hold up the best of the box set as far as PQ and are the only really acceptable ones in my book. Episode I has too much DNR supposedly from Lucasfilm trying to match the look of II and III. A real shame as it seemed like a nice transfer otherwise.

Yep, I even had the 'OT still isn't as bad as a typical Universal or Paramount catalogue joint' qualification in mind when writing my posts above, but it's ****ing Star Wars man, not some cheapy horror flick with a mediocre transfer/encode that's usually defended along the lines of "be grateful we got it at all!".

These movies deserve more than that, and Lucasfilm have half-assed the home video versions for DECADES already. Granted, they've been taken over by the one company which seems to care even less about preserving the original look of their films (all dat DNR on their animated classics) so I'm not expecting perfection when the remasters are eventually released but they really could (and do) look so much better with a new transfer.

In the meantime I'll look to sell my Complete Saga set (I got the UK one with the film cell, it's a piece of mass produced crap but it is 'Limited Edition' in name) and will make do with the DVDs, the Despecialized versions and so on.

[GC Riot]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

In the meantime I'll look to sell my Complete Saga set (I got the UK one with the film cell, it's a piece of mass produced crap but it is 'Limited Edition' in name) and will make do with the DVDs, the Despecialized versions and so on.

I never bought them at all, still waiting for a remaster worthy of the brand, and seeing all the wonderful 4K-transfers of old catalogue titles popping up nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if we do see a remastered set sooner rather than later, original trilogy or not. I get that you can't really do too much with the inherent softness of Episode 2 and its primitive digital photography, but there's no excuse for the film-based transfers to look as shoddy as they do.

[Scarface32]

[Lyle_JP]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

[Show spoiler]

Not surprising. Vinyl is considered a premium product now.

This isn't all that different from the Beatles mono and stereo sets. The mono costs way more, yet includes fewer albums. The reason is that the mono set is far less popular, so the cost of creating the set has to be spread across much fewer copies.

[BillieCassin]

Vinyl is highly expensive to produce these days by many factors over a CD, and is a collectible product category of it's own, the packaging will be massive, etc.

Think of it like buying soda (pop, depending on where you are) - a 20oz single-serve bottle held in a cooler costs the same (or in some cases, even more) than the 2-liter version sitting elsewhere in the same store.

It's no mystery why the vinyl is so much more expensive. It's quite common - go look at recent album and see the price differences. Vinyl is typically twice as much as the CD version these days, to begin with - and in this case, you are talking about a massive box set to boot.

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Are you somehow under the impression that the cost for pressing LPs is in any way comparable to replicating CDs or DVDs? Or that the retail price for a release on vinyl is in any way comparable to the price of the same album on CD?

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

The reason is that the mono set is far less popular, so the cost of creating the set has to be spread across much fewer copies.

Wasn't the only reason the mono set was released, is because people hated the stereo set?

By the way, I remember walking into a PathMark in the 1980s and picking up a vinyl album for $4.50

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Wasn't the only reason the mono set was released, is because people hated the stereo set?

By the way, I remember walking into a PathMark in the 1980s and picking up a vinyl album for $4.50

Economies of scale. There were a hell of a lot more LPs being produced in the 80s than there are now. Not to mention the fact that there were a lot more companies capable of pressing LPs back then.


Plus there's the "collector's item" factor to consider with this release. This is clearly meant to be a premium product.

[Blu-21]

The Phantom Meance and Attack of the Clones are the worst of the lot IMO due to DNR/softness. Not saying the OT looks great, but they don't look horrible either. Of course Revenge of the Sith is the stand out by galaxies when it comes to presentation..