Chic, IL Will you buy the New Star Wars DVDs?

Just like a car wreck where you know you should not look...but do...

This is a question that I probably should not ask...but will anyway......

and....one thing I noticed is that none of the large stores (K-Mart, Target, or Wal-Mart) were advertising a price....
just...
"low price"....

 

I'm really on the fence. With the rumor of the ULTIMATE edition, this really feels like going back to the well rather than "giving the fans what they want". On the other hand can I trust Lucas not to screw with the ULITMATE edition?

 

I would really love to buy this...I want to see the movie how I remembered it growing up. But at the same time...the Ultimate DVD will have the prequels...I really don't need to see extra footage of those. So, do I spend $60 (guessing) on the movies I want or about $150 (again guessing) on a package that might not include the OT but some extra footage and more interviews I'll never watch...

 

I placed my order for them yesterday at Overstock.com against my better judgement. Regardless of the quality of the transfer I just really wanted to have the original cuts on something other than VHS and I don't have a laserdisc player. I have a really bad feeling that I'll be shelling out more money next year as for the Ultimate edition they'll give us just enough such as the deleted scenes that we can somewhat justify buying these movies again...and again...and again...

 

this is a tough one.

i noticed that in the sales pages here too, phyllis...the closest thing to a price I saw was $19.99 at Toys R Us, and I am NOT paying $20 for them. for sure.

i think my instinct is that I might wait this one out. maybe push for them for xmas this year. if they end up being superbly cheap at this point, I'd like to try and get the original Star Wars, since that's the movie they changed the most...although Jedi is pretty badly changed...and Empire has that idiotic removal of "Bring my shuttle."

anyway. eh. it'll honestly be hard for me to resist cause REM has a new best-of out tomorrow with a bonus disc of rarities, so I'd been thinking about hitting Best Buy on lunch and picking that up. while I'm there, can I combat the siren song of Lucasfilm???

(a better question: who's getting lego star wars II? i want to check out the reviews of the DS version before I buy, but the GBA original was pretty fun.)

 

at $20.00 each...I don't know if I will buy them either....I would have gone for $15.00....
as most of you know....it isn't that important to me to have the original theatrical releases....I don't mind the Special Editions...

Since I am not a gamer...I won't be buying the Lego thing...

I am curious about this "Ultimate Edition"...I have not been following that...

 

I read reviews of the PC/Cube version. It sounds like they have retained the fun factor of the original. However tomorrow sees the release of MegaMan ZX on the DS. No I'm not buying both. I am trying to buy one game at a time and beat it before I buy another. I'm leaning towards MM: ZX though.

Then NEXT week is finally BSG 2.5 which I will absolutely be buying regardless of its price. That show is too good to NOT support.

 

QFT

 

I think for some releases, there's an amount that stores are not allowed to advertise below. From a thread I found from phephron at DVDTalk.com:

Circuit City is the winner at $14.99.
Best Buy is $16.99
Target is $17.87
WalMart is $19.96

However, a previous post by sracer stated Wal-Mart would have it for $13.87. The Best Buy tin is $59.99 through the 16th. It's still unclear if it contains the 2-disc packaging within or not. The nice part is that it does feature original Star Wars poster art (with Yoda and Wicket added) as opposed to the Photoshopped artwork on the 2-disc cases.

Phil

 

Thanks for the heads up on the prices Phil...
at under $15.00 each...I will probably buy them...

 

I would Like to get these but with textbooks and school fees im undecided, though I most likely will. Will these only be sold for a limited time or will stay in production for a while?

 

I am undecided


I think I will wait for the flawless reviews by my fellow CF-ers,

as there will probly be a definitive list of what was restored
and what was not and what will probly never be fixed.

Ed

 

Cool. Thanks for the information on the prices around the stores. I've been going back and forth on where I'm going to buy them. Yes...I will be adding yet ANOTHER series of the movies to my collection.

 

I haven't decided yet. I'd like to have them, just to have them, but at the moment I can't afford them, even at 15 bucks each. That's not the only reason: I have the THX remastered versions copied from laserdisc onto DVD. I would much rather have those cleaned up versions than the old theatrical releases.

I just checked, I'm not sure if I have the THX remastered versions. My copies are called the Definitive collection. Anyone know when those were released?

 

Reposting this for King Johnny.

I still don't own Revenge of the Sith. I'm sure I'll just queue these in Netflix and let my DVD-R/W do the rest.

Bosh

................................[image=http://usera.imagecave.com/boshtalk/Starwars/lastchance.jpg]

OK, I got most of this info from a site I posted here a few months ago (I've since lost the link, if anyone remembers let me know what it is) but I'd C&P'd all the fun stuff from it. From my count, if you wanted every single home version of the OT (including different box styles, freaky formats like Betamax, VHD & RCA-CED etc) you would have to buy over 30 versions. Below I list the more common VHS & Laserdisc versions. I'm guessing they picked the 92' Laserdisc releases over 93's "The Definitive Collection" because of complaints about the Audio Remix (not to mention I think 93' is when they put Luke's bitch scream when he lets go at the end of ESB). But the bad audio from TDC was apparently cleaned up for the THX release...so why not them instead? It's good that most critics think the 92 Laserdisc Letterbox is the best format you can currently own...but it's still a cheap screw-job. Lucas and crew aren't really giving us much more than what Chinese DVD pirates have been selling on eBay for the past 5 years. Ok, so we aren't going to see "A New Hope" in the Ep4 crawl...but it's sure as hell in every transfer made in the 80's & 90's...though we do see it it in widescreen anamorphic DVD in "Empire of Dreams". Screw LFL in their lying asses.

VHS RELEASES
82 1.33:1 pan and scan, analog sound [retailed for $120]
83 1.33:1 pan and scan, Stereo
84 1.33:1 pan and scan, HiFi Stereo
85 1.33:1 pan and scan, "Digitally Mastered" HiFi Stereo, [Completely new sound mix by Ben Burt including a newly added C3P0 line- "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave"]
92 2.35:1 letterboxed, HiFi Stereo Surround sound [This is a transfer is from the Japanese Laserdiscs with the screwey aspect ratio fixed]
95 2.35:1 letterboxed or 1.33:1 pan and scan, THX HiFi Stereo Surround Sound [there was also a boxed "Executor" set in the UK using(PAL)]
[SPECIAL EDITIONS]
97 2.35:1 letterboxed or 1.33:1 pan and scan, THX Digitally Mastered HiFi Stereo Surround sound


LASERDISC RELEASES
82 Laserdisc 1.33:1 pan and scan, CX Encoded analog sound (time compressed)
83 Laserdisc 1.33:1 pan and scan, Stereo CX Encoded Stereo Surround Sound (time compressed)
85 Laserdisc 1.33:1 pan and scan, CX-encoded Stereo Surround Sound
87 Laserdisc 2.35:1 letterboxed, CX-encoded Digital Stereo Surround Sound (Japan)
89 Laserdisc 2.35:1 letterboxed, CX-encoded Digital Stereo Surround Sound (Domestic) [Screwed up aspect ratios, meaning the black bars would change size during the movie]
92 Laserdisc 2.35:1 letterboxed CX-encoded Digital Stereo Surround Sound [corrected the screwy aspect ratio problem][This is considered by many to be the best version of all home releases.]
92 Laserdisc 1.33:1 pan and scan, CX-encoded Digital Stereo Surround Sound
93 Laserdisc 2.35:1 letterboxed THX CX-encoded Digital Stereo Surround Sound [Called "The Definitive Collection" Another total audio remixing by Ben Burt, for some reason he removes the C3P0 line again. Many complaints for too much noise reduction. This is usually the DVD bootleg rip we see on eBay.]
95 Laserdisc 2.35:1 letter

 

In light of this SPRINGER READ THIS!

http://www.nintendo.com/bestbuyds/

I'm skipping the DVDs.

 

buy one, get one free, I could swing--would give me an excuse to buy Mario Kart. but two is too rich for my blood.

all my extra geek income is tied up in comics right now. sorry.

 

It doesn't cover pre-orders either

MK is a lot of fun. I'm gonna take this to the VG thread.

 

I ended up getting them at Circuit City for $14.99 each. I took a look at the tin at Best Buy, but it didn't seem worth an extra $15.02 to me. Plus, they've added Yoda, Wicket and snowspeeders to original Star Wars poster art to make it more representative of the entire trilogy, but not Lando. That's just not right. I did get an Empire Strikes Back lithograph at Circuit City which I didn't know about, so that was cool.

Phil

 

I still haven't bought mine. I'll keep everyone updated.

Bosh
"This breaking news just in. Generalísimo Francisco Franco is still dead!"

 

I broke down and bought them at Walmart for 14.88 each. I also picked up the multi-figure packs.

Thanks for the VHS, LD and DVD info, Bosh.

You're right, the Definitive Collection does remove the 3P0 line. I've always hated that line. It's so obvious it was recorded separately.

It's a good thing I don't know what all that audio stuff means. It's just Star Wars to me. Anamorphic, 5.1, 2.1, whatever. Just my opinion, but I think it's best to be ignorant of such nuances. Knowing what it all means makes you picky. What sounds like garbage to you sounds perfectly fine to the rest of us. Kinda like mp3s. Audiophiles LOATHE mp3s. Except for noticeable muffled sounds from cymbals, mp3s sound fine to me.

 

Like a jack*ss....I bought all three at Circuit City....and got all three lithographs....
which are cool...
but I wasn't really that interested in them.

From Circuit City I went to Wal-Mart to pick up the figure sets....and found all three of them. I am really not collecting the 3 3/4 figures since the Revenge of the Sith line completed...but am still trying to pick up the "exclusives" if I can. If the Wal-Mart didn't have all three I wasn't going to bother with them...
those commemorative DVD figure packs for the original release of the OT on Trilogy were really tough to come by....
but there seemed like plenty of this group of Commemorative figure packs.

 

True but as geeks, picky and over analytical is where we live.

 

I honestly don't see a point in buying them. I bought the set in 04 and I am completely happy with it. I don't need to have the originals the special editions work the same for me and they feel and look alot better. The only boxset that I will be buying is when george decides to release his trilogy...AGAIN... on a HD format dvd player. Whether that would be HD DVD or Blu-ray.

 

G4TV had a small segment on the DVDs this past week:

http://www.g4tv.com/pile_player.aspx?video_key=12997

Lore "Booke of Ratings", "Brunching Shuttlecocks" Sjoberg has some nice comments, as does another guy I didn't recognize. The brain-dead co-owner of something called "theforce.net" played the part of blatant LFL lapdog, even saying at one point that since fans of the OT reject the updated f/x of the Special Editions, by extension we should be welcoming and rejoicing the crappy LD transfer due to its overall crappiness.

Excuse me while I vomit pure hate.

-Le Penguin
"It smells like a baby's diaper... filled with Indian food!"