Saga The Official Star Wars Blu-Ray Discussion Thread

So a couple months ago I was watching the documentary The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, which is on the Bullit(steve mcqueen)blu ray, and there are scenes from Attack of the Clones. Anybody know if this is the quality we can expect from the blu ray?

 

I've been a star wars fan since 1990 and I have every single version of both the original trilogy you can think of VHS and DVD. So I am very excited that the Star Wars Flims are being worked on for a Blu-Ray release. I hope that for the original trilogy both the origianl and the special edtion's of Epiosodes 4, 5 and 6 are on blu-ray. Can't wait for all 6 star wars films to come out on blu-ray in the not too distant future.

 

I'm with the people a few pages back who aren't very interested in eighteen quadrillion hours of extras per film. The level of extras that came with the PT discs is fine; just give me beautiful-to-watch and listen to versions of the films.

 

Really, if they just released a non-pink-tinted DVD of TPM with a digital Yoda, I'd be set for life. Hopefully they go as far as coloring the lightsabers in the OT properly.

 

Hopefully they go as far as re-coloring the film from scratch to correct the abortion that was released in 2004, and also re-mixing the 5.1 from scratch as well. You know, a proper release. I guess the problem is that it's George Lucas approved. And if George Lucas approved it, then there is no problem to be corrected, because how he could his approval be wrong? It all seems kind of Stalinist in a way, and that's the same problem Russia ran into which is when decisions get passed on up to one guy who controls everything, even things he isn't really qualified to judge, nothing gets done properly.

Sigh. And I'm not even that big a fan of the SE in the first place. Oh well, when it comes out it might make for a new source for people to color-correct their own versions, people have achieved decent results from the HD broadcasts so far, even if the black levels make a lot of the detail unrecoverable.

 

Nah, I like the SE's, and think the original trilogy has never looked better, despite the DVDs and their shortcomings. I really do hope the Bluray will be the definitive edition of the movies, and I hope Han shoots first and Sebastian Shaw gets inserted back into the final scene though. George Lucas may disappoint us fans, but he placates us too.

 

It's not about the changes, it's the coloring, and not just the fact that it doesn't look like the way the film was originally photographed, I can accept that. It's gotten to the point where I just can't watch the 2004 version anymore because of the coloring, it's just terrrible, it's such a shame that people have been living with this version for so long. I hope it get's fixed on the newer release, but I'm not getting my hopes up. At most they might make the blockade runner white again, because that was really obvious (and it's in ROTS too), but that's just the tip of the iceberg. And then there's the soundtrack issues. At least it sounds okay in stereo though, but the 1993 stereo mix is still better so I'm not sure if that's a plus.

 

The color in the OT set never bothered me as much as the Episode One DVD though. If I wanna watch that movie, it's Black and White time.

 

I've always had a problem with the dvds, like many others. So much so that I have a custom setting on my tv, just for the star wars dvds, that corrects the colors.

So far the absolute best versions of the OT have been the "For the last time" editions. The ones with the faces on the boxes. The laserdiscs for those are decent, but I believe that there was SVHS ones as well--they may have not even been sold to the public.

 

Well, I know I am going to get this no matter of the extra's. I would love to see how clean and crisp the movies will look on Blu ray.

 

At this point I could live with the new-look color, except for the sabers and the bleachy white explosions. It's been so long, I'm basically worn down on that particular issue. (1999 was about when the SW home video situation got generally ridiculous, so 12 years of this. Enough already.)

 

I understand many SW fans are picky as heck. But I also think most of us are reasonable. So long as LFL can put together a quality set that attempts to make as many people happy as possible they'll be fine. I know they are capable, unfortunately I don't know that they are willing or care enough to do so.

Before history repeats itself here are some things they should keep in mind....

Do they really want to put themselves through the same type of harsh backlash yet again? It's one thing if a bluray of some film people don't care about is cranked out. But no matter how LFL tries to spin things, this highly anticipated box set will be a high-profile release. There are still folks out there who are waiting on buying a Ps3 or Blu player simply b/c SW isn't yet available. All eyes will be on LFL so it's in their best interests to actually put out a quality product and NOT hold back.

I think it's lame that we even have to argue or hope for a company as successful as LFL to just put out something that's good. One thing is for certain...which ever way this plays out will be very interesting.

 

I think it's totally reasonable to be picky in this regard. The DVD sets of Brazil, Alien, Blade Runner, etc, have multiple versions, accurate colors and sound, etc... SW is not only a treasured film (series) experienced by many fans over a long time but also a piece of history. Allowing said fans to view it as they first knew it, and/or preserving the evolution of the films (whichever justification you prefer), seems worthwhile.

And an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Why keep releasing half-assed versions of things when you could spend a little more ONE time and really knock the quality level out of the park?

 

The fact that they were able to issue this press release about a VHS TAPE in 2000 with a straight face means nothing will surprise me.

http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/release/video/news20000105.html

 

^^ I totally agree. This next release should be excellent. We need something to wash the bad taste out of our mouths from previous releases.


LoL @ the press release.

 

I don't have a Blue-Ray player, but when Lucasfilm does an official announcement about the SW Blue-Ray release, I'm savin' up for a Blu-Ray player, baby!

 

I asked Harry over at AICN about the upcoming blu's and why it's been sorta quiet lately and here's what he had to say...

Star Wars Blu Rays

"The reason we haven't heard more is that the news that was reported was news without an announced date. Instead it was someone asking Sansweet what we could expect from a Blu Ray release - and he did talk about how they're looking at doing all sorts of stuff, getting things ain't nobody done ever heard of - all with a very happy salesman pitch... but no date. Till there is a date, there is no reality to STAR WARS Blu Rays... which will probably be timed for 6 months prior to a STAR WARS 3D Theatrical set of rereleases. Much like those THX VHS about 6 months prior to the SPECIAL EDITIONS being announced as being released in theaters. Enough to raise the brand back into the minds, but then after we all have it, there's a new carrot to follow into the theaters, back onto home video, which leads to new carrot, into the theater, back onto Home Video... It is a neverending cycle... I hope."

 

Yes you do! And one of them is mine.

 

What I am more interested in knowing is why in the world is Attack of the Clones being shown in a documentary about editing? Unless it was used as an example of how NOT to cut a movie. "This is what happens when you give the keys to the editing room to your sound designer instead of a real professional..."

 

sound point (excuse the pun)

i really think all prequel films would have been vastly improved with a real a-list editor on board. the acting and the direction are mostly all above par for me. but the editing is often a real let-down. compare the editing in the trench run of ANH with any similar sequence in the PT (save for maybe the finale of the pod race). the difference is startling.

 

I always thought Roger Bartons editing on ROTS was pretty good. He's not done a lot of movies since ROTS, so maybe, just maybe, Lucas has had him holed up at The Ranch trying to rework the editing on TPM and particularly AOTC?

 

The editing in AOTC does suffer a bit, but it is fine in TPM and ROTS. Real editors were used for those movies. You also have to keep in mind that with ANH you are shooting for a very high standard. Those guys won the academy award for that movie and for good reason. The trench run sequence for me is what makes ANH better than a mediocre SW movie like ROTJ. And that's ALL because of the editing.

And I think Duel of the Fates is edited very well. Is it as good as the trench run in ANH? Ofcourse not. But considering that they were juggling 4 sequences happening all together at once, I thought they did very well.

 

By the way, with all these big boys attending Celebration 5, do you guys think there is a big announcement coming up?

 

My understanding is that Barton only edited the Mustafar sequence on ROTS, no? The other work he did was to essentially rough cut and digitise the footage while the crew were in Sydney. But the only editing work of his actually seen on screen is Mustafar. And even that I can't say I'n hugely overwhelmed by. As far as I know, Burtt still did the rest. And Burtt is (at the end of the day) a sound guy by trade... not a specialised editor. the reason he was "given the keys to the edit suite" were so he could better cut the film to the sounds he was generating. seems a daft reason to me but thats the story i've read.

 

My understanding was that Roger Barton did pretty much everything except the opening space battle and the Utupua action sequence, both of which they let Burtt do? Maybe Zombie knows?