Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by PixarPerfect

why does star warriors only play on the upper left corner of the screen?

This appears to be a player issue. A few over in the UK thread have poted about this over the last week.

It does it on the Technika BRS110 as I and another UK member both have that player. Not sure what the other players were.

But I do know that it plays fine on my PS3.

[Mavrick]

I'm shocked no one has complined about Vaders helmet being completely symmetrical in ROTS. When in the OT it was completely asymmetrical.

[sevb36]

Originally Posted by fgomike

The only direction Lucas gives according to Harrison Ford is "Faster" and "More Intense"!

That's the thing that boggles my mind. People say the prequel acting was bad because of Lucas's direction, but according to every interview on the topics, Ford, Fisher and Hamill say he was the same way with them, yet few have problems with their acting.

[gallandro]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

I'm shocked no one has complined about Vaders helmet being completely symmetrical in ROTS. When in the OT it was completely asymmetrical.

Give it time...

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by gallandro

Give it time...

Haha

[CodyCourtBlack2]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

This appears to be a player issue. A few over in the UK thread have poted about this over the last week.

It does it on the Technika BRS110 as I and another UK member both have that player. Not sure what the other players were.

But I do know that it plays fine on my PS3.

i have a sylvania. don't know the model. it's weird because some of the other extras play fine. as long as the movies work i'll be fine though.

[sevb36]

I shouldn't really be complaining but Wal-Mart hyped this as being a midnight release party on signs at the front of their store for weeks and yet employees seemed clueless. They had nothing prepared for it. It really was nothing. The old guy who rung mine up had to fumble around boxes to find the full set, poor chap in front of me paid about 96 (including tax) for his, I brought in the Target ad in, which I didn't think I'd have to use, because I figured Walmart would already have it at 79.99. They did at their website, but not at my local store. Good thing I brought in the Target ad. I should have let the guy in front of me use my ad. He paid 10 bucks more.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by PixarPerfect

i have a sylvania. don't know the model. it's weird because some of the other extras play fine. as long as the movies work i'll be fine though.

Same here. I can't remember the titles of the features of the top of my head, but It was the one for Empire and 2 others, the rest play fine.

I don't know if it's because the player has some issue displaying the 480p picture full screen or what Just odd that it's only on a couple and not all of them.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

I remember an interview with Natalie Portman back sometime when one of the prequels was shooting or was in theaters, she was asked about Lucas' directing style. She indicated he took 6 takes of every scene and picked which he thought was the best of each, and he didn't really instruct the actors beyond that. Yes, Portman has talent, but if you don't have a feel for what a director wants, that would make it difficult for the actors to collectively capture the mood in the same scene. Sure, the writing/script might explain what the scene requires (mood, feeling, behavior, etc.), but not everyone interprets what is written in the same exact way - web forums ALONE are an example of that . If this directing style really is true, that to me pretty much explains the wooden acting in the prequels.

For the actors, it's even worse because in addition to little or no direction from Lucas, for the prequels, they were acting on mostly virtual sets. Acting has got to be hard when there's nothing but green screen all around you.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

For the actors, it's even worse because in addition to little or no direction from Lucas, for the prequels, they were acting on mostly virtual sets. Acting has got to be hard when there's nothing but green screen all around you.

Portman actually said she enjoyed not having anything to really react to on the greenscreen sets, said it was the "purest" form of acting. So did Sam Jackson. But Hayden didn't like it too much at all, said it was too distracting having to deliver lines as well as imagine whats going on and react to things that arent there.

It's actually on the PT special features disc if you want to check it out, I think it was on the Episode two chapter can't recal the planet.

[gallandro]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

For the actors, it's even worse because in addition to little or no direction from Lucas, for the prequels, they were acting on mostly virtual sets. Acting has got to be hard when there's nothing but green screen all around you.

No offense, but having been an actor myself and worked behind the camera and stage with actors I have no clue how this is an issue. Acting is all about pretending. Pretending to have emotions for someone (who at times you can't stand), pretending to fight, pretending to cry, pretending that the world (whether on camera or stage) is real. It's a skill some have innately, and for others it requires training.

I think a lot of the problems with the acting in the Prequels falls squarely on the shoulders of Portman and Christensen. Heck there were dozens of other actors who turned in fine performances under the same conditions.

I think the reality is they didn't "get" the material until Episode III. All Natalie needed to do was look at the work her fellow Star Wars alum, Kiera Knightly was doing in the Pirates films (often acting against greenscreen herself). You need to read the lines like you believe every word coming out of your mouth. It's cheeseball B-movie material, but you need to read it with conviction.

Yancy

[georgec]

I always felt that it seemed Portman, Jackson, and most other actors weren't really interested or invested in their performances, maybe due to lack of direction. That's one of the problems with being on a bluescreen set - you miss out on all the interactions and awareness of your surroundings.

McGregor probably gives the best, most consistent performances, and despite the awful dialogue in AOTC Christensen was also trying his best. But man, I don't think De Niro himself could deliver lines like the one about sand being rough.

[rgray_69]

Originally Posted by dasWolf

Just finished watching ep. II, there was a video anomaly at about 2:00:05 with Yoda coming down the transport ramp and then transitioning back to the attack scene. The picture pixilated big time to a jumble but did not appear to skip. Only lasted a second or so. Didn't see any surface defects on the disk and the problem happened at the same scene every time I re-played. I've watched I, IV, V without any video or audio issues.

Anyone else have this issue on their AOTC disk?

i have a Panasonic DMP-BD50 blu-ray player it happened at that spot and also at 1:19:28. I went to the store and tried the disc in another player and it didn't mess up. I tried a different copy in my blu-ray player and it messed up in those 2 spots.

[nmycon]

Originally Posted by dxology

Yes, yesterday after receiving my set and noticing the problem, I contacted Amazon. They overnighted me a new set and gave me a rma slip and UPS shipping label to print off for sending the other set back. Very easy process.

Good to hear

Has anyone had any luck returning in-store because of the paint chips?

I will probably still try FS on Monday, I now know that it shouldn't affect playback, but there's no denying the fact that these $90 (after tax) box sets should not have the paint flaking off the discs... what happens if it flakes off while the disc is in the player?

Plus my digibook had all kinds of scratches and marks on the front and back cover. Didn't appear to be dropped, but slid across a dirty table perhaps.

[Jumpman]

Well, Portman has been pretty upfront about her performance in Episode I in multiple interviews, basically stating that she had never worked the long hours before until that film and the just the size of the crew and whatnot and she basically got lost. In fact, in the EW preview magazine issue for Episode II, she basically apologized for her performance in that film...although, I do think some of her performance is completely intentional, especially when she's the Queen.

If you notice, in Episode II, she's more lively in that film a lot of that had to do with her experiences with Episode I, going to college, growing up, and taking her profession more seriously in that film. Even in the interviews for Episode II, she's more into it than she was in Episode I.

[4K display]

I have only watched ANH and some of the bonus discs, but I'm lovin everything about this set so far.
I was caught off guard twice catching Vaders eyes through the mask, did not bother me in the slightest though...

[gallandro]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Well, Portman has been pretty upfront about her performance in Episode I in multiple interviews, basically stating that she had never worked the long hours before until that film and the just the size of the crew and whatnot and she basically got lost. In fact, in the EW preview magazine issue for Episode II, she basically apologized for her performance in that film...although, I do think some of her performance is completely intentional, especially when she's the Queen.

If you notice, in Episode II, she's more lively in that film a lot of that had to do with her experiences with Episode I, going to college, growing up, and taking her profession more seriously in that film. Even in the interviews for Episode II, she's more into it than she was in Episode I.

Actually I was probably a little too harsh with Portman in Episode II, she's actually pretty good in some scenes, it's just Christensen that really lacks in that film. Unfortunately most of her scenes are against him, so she doesn't look too good herself.

Both are very good in Episode III though.

[madlost1]

Has anyone else had any problems with occasional audio dropouts on AOTC.

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by gallandro

Actually I was probably a little too harsh with Portman in Episode II, she's actually pretty good in some scenes, it's just Christensen that really lacks in that film. Unfortunately most of her scenes are against him, so she doesn't look too good herself.

Both are very good in Episode III though.

Both probably matured and became better actors as they became older and more experienced.

Rich

[nmycon]

Originally Posted by 4K display

I have only watched ANH and some of the bonus discs, but I'm lovin everything about this set so far.
I was caught off guard twice catching Vaders eyes through the mask, did not bother me in the slightest though...

That's what I love about blu-ray, it makes it easier to notice all kinds of things like this

- powder/dust when Ben & Vader clash lightsabers
- you can often see the scout trooper's eyes
- it becomes apparent when different film stock is used (especially in ROTJ)
- can make out the edges of the matte paintings more easily
- easy to tell the difference between the 1997, 2004 and 2011 CGI

I don't views these as flaws... just part of the films