Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[j_Diz]

Originally Posted by riverbelow

With regards to the debate over how good or crap the Prequels are, as versus the OT. Certainly redlettermedia made a meal out of the "lucas hate" with this scathing breakdown of how and why the prequels failed to live up to the original movies, for a lot of OLDER fans.

Im sure new fans of star wars that made prequels 1/2/3 bankable were born around 1985-1990. Therefore you can't count them as understanding really why the originals are better. This is why they watched those movies at the theatre over and over. [I]OMG candy my dad told me star wars is great! Now i believe him!! Dad let me see it again

First off, I was born in '86, and by the time TPM released in 1999 I was a huge Star Wars fan. I guess you could say i was a Star Wars apologist or something, refusing to see how crap the prequels were, but Ep.III, which had been hyped up as the "best, darkest, with the most lighstaber fights of any star wars movie ever" blew the lid on that.

I think the people who believe the prequels to be superior never saw the originals beforehand or if they did then they might be crazy. I think being a kid does change your perception of things though, for example, I was indifferent to ewoks, they really didn't bother me at all as a small kid, and Return of the Jedi was probably my favorite Star Wars movie for a while. Of course, this has changed a little, but RotJ is still a fantastic end to this series. In sum, at no point did I or my teenage self consider the prequels to be as good as the originals.

[fgomike]

I know that the Special Editions vs the Originals and the Prequels are a touchy subject. Allow me to throw some gasoline on the fire.

I don't get what the big deal is? There are a couple of changes that I totally disagree with and it is the end of Jedi - Put the damn Ewok song back in!! Also, take Hayden Christinsen out of Jedi.

Do I like Han shooting Greedo first? No, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the film. I guess that is my point on the OT vs SE. I still enjoy the movies even though they are not the same exact movies I remember as a kid.

I think the prequels suffer from too much blue screen. Were the effects good? Hell yes! but it can't be easier to act against something that isn't there, no matter how good you are.

Also, (IMO) I feel that Lucas started the story too early. The whole Anakin is a child of the Force thing just didn't work and (again IMO) worked against what was already established in the OT. But, that's just me. Once the final battle starts in Phantom and through the end of Sith, I'm as happy as a scruffy looking nerf hearder.

Star Wars was a life changing event for me. I am excited for the blus coming out and can't wait to introduce it to my daughter and nephews.

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by Yojimbo68

I'm in for the whole saga. (Just in case you're keeping score!) This is cool news but what I was hoping for was something more along the lines of the recent ALIEN BD's. Here's what I really would love to see in this set:

TPM-Original theatrical cut plus extended cut.
AOTC-Theatrical and IMAX cut. (The Imax cut, IMHO, is a better version of the film)
ROTS-Theatrical and extended cuts

As for the original trilogy, I want what most fans want. The original cuts and the SE cuts. 30 hours of extras is cool but it's just gravy. Give us alternate cuts and make EVERYBODY happy!

Whats with the original cuts fever anyway! I saw them in the theater, on ld,dvd and i was overjoyed when lucas did the fx over for the original versions. He hated the originals effects. You guys can cry all you want,you'll never see them on blu-ray. And if you follow this forum ,you already know George himself stated ''NO ORIGINAL THEATICAL CUTS'' months ago. Its over move on all done. It wouldn't surprise me if in a fit of rage Lucas has the originals destroyed, i hope he does.

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by aiman04

I was born in 1977, I love all six movies. Though I obviously love episodes 4-6 more.

Funny ,my grandson who's 7 loves ep 1,2 and 3 over 4,5 and 6.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by tvine2000

Funny ,my grandson who's 7 loves ep 1,2 and 3 over 4,5 and 6.

My son who is 3 loves Thomas The Tank-Engine more than Casablanca...... but that doesn't make it/them better movies

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

My son who is 3 loves Thomas The Tank-Engine more than Casablanca...... but that doesn't make it/them better movies

I'd take Thomas The Tank-Engine over Cassablanca as well. Not a fan. Thought the Rifftrax makes it watchable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heQe5ggCd6A

[alphadec]

the cover art of the complete saga on bd is this the black, blu & red cover what we will have or will they use something else. ?

[poke smot]

hey i wish we had the theatricals too, but dont think its happenin. a new hope was my first movie in the theater, and it changed my life. ive seen it about 100 times. i remember attending star wars birthday parties in 1980. the film is so ingrained into my memory that im okay with the new versions. i have the original version in my head. im psyched to see all of them on blu. only the han/guido scene bothers me, but i just think of the original when im watching the new one. anyway, complete set 4 me. DTS hd all the way over Dolby truehd (it will be dolby i bet). somethin about the dolby. it sometimes feels restrained or held back. my 6 year old nephew prefers the prequels as well i think, and they are sure to look and sound amazing. i never bought any SW movies on dvd (haven't seen a new hope in over 10 years), so itll be a special day when a new hope is viewed in my living room on bd; but it's ironic that i, like many, wont ever see the greatest movie ever made (unless i want to go on some kind of dvd hunt for an inferior, technically speaking, version) again: theatrical starwars episode IV.

[TheWildWhelk]

The team at ILM re-rendered the CG in selected A New Hope sequences (along with the superior Jabba model), i certainly hope that they re-render certain sequences from Attack of The Clones, as compared to the CG work (mostly Coruscant night time sequences in E2) Revenge was a generation ahead!

As for The Phantom Menace, it's not too late to edit out as much Jar Jar as possible! Okay, so it's never going to happen, but was the fart joke and Jar jar being dragged all over the battlefield really entirely required?

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

That contention comes from the mixers at Skywalker Sound, where they said (as of 1995) the highest dynamic range in any film they had worked on was Last Crusade, and that the range had to be tempered for the LD PCM tracks to avoid clipping.

Myself I dispute that The Hunt for Red October and Beauty and the Beast had 5.1 mixes. Alien3 was indeed 70MM Dolby SR, as was True Lies (not listed). I saw both in the premiere houses in Westwood Los Angeles. THFRO had SR prints and a 70MM mix, but was 4.2 70MM from all the documentation I can find.

More trivia: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was the first SR 70MM release (called "Dolby Spectral Sound" at the time). It was 4.2 and VERY dynamic. Saw it at the FOX Westwood. Unforgettable.

I also thought the confguration where the surrounds were filtered was used only on the first couple films (Superman, Apocalypse Now), and from there the rest used the baby booms as the split surrounds and the former mono-surround channel for LFE.

Skywalker engineers: did they make that statement to you or was it in an article in JAES, SMPTE journal, Mix, DB, Recording Engineer/Producer or somewhere like that? I'd love to see documentation on that.

Split-surround: The split-surround format for 70mm did not change. In the Dolby CP200, the premiere processor used at the time, the split surround format was represented by format #43. (6-track discrete non-Dolby was #40, 6-track discrete Dolby was #41, 6-track Dolby baby boom w/ mono surround was #42.) The only variation is whether or not the theater added EQ and Dolby Noise reduction cards for channels 2 and 4 and EQ for channel 6.

But I was wrong about the crossover. There was a low-pass filter for the low frequencies set to pass below 250Hz, not 200Hz. The high-frequencies sent to the stereo surrounds went through a 500 Hz high pass filter. So essentially, the surrounds didn't get anything between 250 and 500Hz. In addition, the subwoofer channel also had a low-pass filter set to 250Hz, but it also had an anti-resonance tuning circuit where 100Hz could be adjusted.

I do have a question mark in my database as to whether THFRO and Alien3 were split-surround or not. It didn't appear on the Dolby list as SS, but Michael Coate claimed they were (and he's very anal about this stuff) at least in terms of how it was presented in NYC. I do have True Lies listed in my database as 70mm, but not SS. Coate has it as a spherical super 35mm blow-up to 70mm SR (at least in terms of how it was presented in NYC.) If I listed Beauty and the Beast, that was in error: I have it as 70mm, but not SS.

70mm SR: Star Trek VI (released 12/6/91) may not have been the first 70mm SR film. There are a number of other contenders, although info isn't solid for most of them:
Gremlins 2 (6/15/90) (maybe)
Air America (8/10/90)
Godfather III (12/25/90) (maybe)
The Doors (3/1/91) (maybe)
Spartacus (4/26/91 re-release) (maybe)

Since you seem to know a lot about this stuff and saw a lot of premieres in Westwood (I've only been to those theaters a few times - the last time I was there, they were playing garbage and I didn't go in), let me ask you this: do you have any proof that Woodstock played in 70mm 6-track discrete? This is how I remember it playing at the Trans-Lux West in NYC, but I've checked all the newspaper listings and there's no reference to it playing in 70mm. Coate and others think I'm nuts. My recollection is that it played in NYC at the Trans-Lux West in 70mm 6-track and at the Trans-Lux East in 35mm 4-track. I remember seeing big Altecs right in the aisles for the surrounds (they must have bribed the fire marshals.)

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by SonOfTorah

The team at ILM re-rendered the CG in selected A New Hope sequences (along with the superior Jabba model), i certainly hope that they re-render certain sequences from Attack of The Clones, as compared to the CG work (mostly Coruscant night time sequences in E2) Revenge was a generation ahead!

As for The Phantom Menace, it's not too late to edit out as much Jar Jar as possible! Okay, so it's never going to happen, but was the fart joke and Jar jar being dragged all over the battlefield really entirely required?

its scenes like this and jarjar in general that make phantom loved by a very young audience. 5 year olds watch this movie. brilliant to hook them so young. i cant stand jarjar but i can still watch and enjoy the movie. the pod race will be so cranked in my house

[beanham22]

Originally Posted by SonOfTorah

The team at ILM re-rendered the CG in selected A New Hope sequences (along with the superior Jabba model), i certainly hope that they re-render certain sequences from Attack of The Clones, as compared to the CG work (mostly Coruscant night time sequences in E2) Revenge was a generation ahead!

As for The Phantom Menace, it's not too late to edit out as much Jar Jar as possible! Okay, so it's never going to happen, but was the fart joke and Jar jar being dragged all over the battlefield really entirely required?

As much as I hate Jar Jar, I actually laugh at those parts

I hope they touch up the CGI as well, on all six movies.

[kenkraly2004]

I am in agreement with everyone here that the original cuts of the ot need to be preserve on the blu-ray for historical perspective's. I will buy the box set no matter which cuts are on the blu-rays I like both versions of the ot.

[doctorD]

the entire set for me! September can't get here soon enough!

[beanham22]

Originally Posted by fgomike

I know that the Special Editions vs the Originals and the Prequels are a touchy subject. Allow me to throw some gasoline on the fire.

I don't get what the big deal is? There are a couple of changes that I totally disagree with and it is the end of Jedi - Put the damn Ewok song back in!! Also, take Hayden Christinsen out of Jedi.

Do I like Han shooting Greedo first? No, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the film. I guess that is my point on the OT vs SE. I still enjoy the movies even though they are not the same exact movies I remember as a kid.

I think the prequels suffer from too much blue screen. Were the effects good? Hell yes! but it can't be easier to act against something that isn't there, no matter how good you are.

Also, (IMO) I feel that Lucas started the story too early. The whole Anakin is a child of the Force thing just didn't work and (again IMO) worked against what was already established in the OT. But, that's just me. Once the final battle starts in Phantom and through the end of Sith, I'm as happy as a scruffy looking nerf hearder.

Star Wars was a life changing event for me. I am excited for the blus coming out and can't wait to introduce it to my daughter and nephews.

Thank you for writing this, I wrote something like this but a lot longer and I accidentally refreshed it (on my PS3 w/out keyboard) and it was gone.

Anyways, to people bashing the SE and PT, a new experience can never compare with a childhood experience. I was 6 (born in 1991) when I saw the SE and 8 when I saw TPM, that was magical to me. For me and others this was the same magic as when you older folks were kids in'77. AotC is meh and RotS is just a pretty good movie, probably because I was older.

Having said that only a fool would deny that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back are the most well made films in the saga.

[nathan_393]

Originally Posted by beanham22

Thank you for writing this, I wrote something like this but a lot longer and I accidentally refreshed it (on my PS3 w/out keyboard) and it was gone.

Anyways, to people bashing the SE and PT, a new experience can never compare with a childhood experience. I was 6 (born in 1991) when I saw the SE and 8 when I saw TPM, that was magical to me. For me and others this was the same magic as when you older folks were kids in'77. AotC is meh and RotS is just a pretty good movie, probably because I was older.

Having said that only a fool would deny that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back are the most well made films in the saga.

Nice perspective on that one, especially saying that the earlier films were magical for the generation at the time. SW films were usually aimed for younger people first before adults, so that makes sense.

[NYorker]

Originally Posted by SellmeyourDVD

I think that Episodes I-III were aimed at a younger audience, but if you pretend Jar Jar Binks isn't there the movies become MUCH better.

Hmmm....I wonder if that's what GL told the other actors in the movies...?

Moving on...I remember the first SW film I saw was ESB. I must have been about 10 years old at the time and I didn't understand much of what was going on (duh...).

[gregmasciola]

Originally Posted by alphadec

the cover art of the complete saga on bd is this the black, blu & red cover what we will have or will they use something else. ?

No way of knowing that yet. I'm guessing that that's just the picture of the whole box and inside there will either be:

1. 3 cases; 1 For the original trilogy, 1 for the prequel trilogy and 1 for the bonus discs.
or
2. Individual cases for each movie.

I wish I knew. I'm tempted to make myself some custom covers.

[Yojimbo68]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Why not watch them at a friend's place, or rent them somewhere.
Cant' be that hard to find.



Humble requests indeed.

LOL! I feel like Luke Skywalker...looking at those two setting suns...

[greg_achen]

The biggest change I hope they make, but will probably never happen, is re-scoring parts of Attack of the Clones. Many of the musical cues are lifted straight from The Phantom Menace and edited into the movie horribly. This only contributes to Attack of the Clones "fan-film" quality.