Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by thegoat

There's room for improvement on the picture (mostly with the colors, as you mentioned, and some lightsaber shots), but they look great for the most part and certainly better than the DVDs which always looked too dark. Detail is excellent. If you have any type of sound system, they're worth picking up for the audio alone. The new mix on ANH is outstanding. Reference quality sound, IMO.

My sound system sucks unfortunately.

But you're saying the PQ quality is significantly better than the dvds?

Maybe that's a given on 99% of all blu rays, but even on this forum there seems to be a lot of debate about the quality of the transfer.

...appreciate everyone's thoughts.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by rickah88

What if 10 people say: yes, all with good reasons...and 10 people say: no, all with good reasons?

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

They look way better than ever before. Only some garbage mattes are still visible, and some of the lightsabers haven't been fixed, but that's what they always looked like.
I think they are fantastic in both sound and picture quality.

Go for it.

Much to think of you have given me.

[Bruce Campbell]

The remaining garbage lines and original lightsaber problems couldn't be fixed because that time and money was needed to make magical rocks and the Ewok blink. They did fix the lightsaber cross in front of the Emperor in Jedi that looked atrocious on the DVD.

[Gold Ranger]

They don't look any better, they look the same, because they used the DVD/LaserDisk Masters.
They were touched up slightly, but that is it.
For LucasFilms Crown Jewels, they really treat these movies like sh*t!

Also, the Audio was neutered!

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

My sound system sucks unfortunately.

But you're saying the PQ quality is significantly better than the dvds?

Maybe that's a given on 99% of all blu rays, but even on this forum there seems to be a lot of debate about the quality of the transfer.

...appreciate everyone's thoughts.

it's not that they aren't a big upgrade over the DVD, but I think the naysayers wanted this to absolutely REFERENCE quality and since it isn't it's getting trashed.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by Bruce Campbell

The remaining garbage lines and original lightsaber problems couldn't be fixed because that time and money was needed to make magical rocks and the Ewok blink. They did fix the lightsaber cross in front of the Emperor in Jedi that looked atrocious on the DVD.

They made Luke's saber blue for ONE shot, the rest is Green or White in the same scene!
The Windows in the Bespin corridor vanish.
Vader's 'Saber is still Pink in all movies!
They fixed the one shot of the 'Sabers crossed in front of Palpy in Jedi, but the rest still looks terrible.

Garbage mattes are even more noticable and I saw them clearly on VHS!

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by wormraper

it's not that they aren't a big upgrade over the DVD, but I think the naysayers wanted this to absolutely REFERENCE quality and since it isn't it's getting trashed.

Is there a reason for it to NOT be Reference?

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Is it worth $40 for the dvd upgrade or should I just wait for a better transfer to come along somewhere down the road?

Some are speculating something (maybe even the originals) will be released next year prior to the new movie. I would hold off unless you really want to see them. Yes, they are somewhat better than the DVDs but that is not saying a lot either.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Garbage mattes are even more noticable and I saw them clearly on VHS!

Not really. Not at all.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Is there a reason for it to NOT be Reference?

This is really the crux of the debate imo.

They spent about a gagillion dollars making the movies.

George Lucas has been on the cutting edge of visual technology for almost 40 years...he created ILM for god's sake.

So how on earth can the crown jewel of his career be anything less than reference quality?

...it's simply mystifying.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Is there a reason for it to NOT be Reference?

just because something isn't reference doesn't mean it isn't a a decent looking blu-ray that doesn't trounce the DVD quite easily

[octagon]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Is there a reason for it to NOT be Reference?

Absolutely not. And there's no reason Lincoln couldn't have stayed home with a good book instead of going to the theater.

But he didn't and we need to make our peace with that.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by octagon

Absolutely not. And there's no reason Lincoln couldn't have stayed home with a good book instead of going to the theater.

But he didn't and we need to make our peace with that.

uhm....

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by wormraper

just because something isn't reference doesn't mean it isn't a a decent looking blu-ray that doesn't trounce the DVD quite easily

How does it trounce the DVD when it is the SAME Master as the DVD?

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

This is really the crux of the debate imo.

They spent about a gagillion dollars making the movies.

George Lucas has been on the cutting edge of visual technology for almost 40 years...he created ILM for god's sake.

So how on earth can the crown jewel of his career be anything less than reference quality?

...it's simply mystifying.

No, it's not mystifying. It's a matter of economics. He doesn't want to pay for a restoration of films he feels are inferior.

As for only going 2K with the restoration...that has everything to do with the resolution of the Prequels when the footage was captured.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

uhm....

The discs are out. They are what they are and there's no changing them now.

Whether there was a good reason for recycling existing masters is irrelevant now.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by kainekinetic

how does it trounce the dvd when it is the same master as the dvd?

480 /= 1080

plenty of blu-rays use the same master as the older dvds... and plenty look much better than the DVD...

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

How does it trounce the DVD when it is the SAME Master as the DVD?

There are different masters. The overall transfer master, and downconverted DVD masters and BD masters which have 2 different color gamuts (NTSC and REC 709).

Color corrections, picture processing, etc can all be different. For one thing there are further changes and tweaks between the DVD and the BD (R2's rocks, the Wampa arm correction, etc). It is not the same.

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

How does it trounce the DVD when it is the SAME Master as the DVD?

Blu-ray has higher resolution than dvd so it will look better. The Star Trek ones were done the same way and there is a huge difference between quality. Not saying it is perfect but it does look better.

If you have the money, go for it. If you keep waiting because there is a new movie coming out and hopefully a better set, you will be waiting a long time as there are going to be tons of new movies coming out.