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First Impressions of the OOT ... — Page 6

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LOL...I love how JediRandy comes here just to read posts and get his panties all in a bunch.

Someday, he'll learn that he isn't going to make a difference here.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Originally posted by: JediRandy
Originally posted by: Mike O
Originally posted by: JediRandy
If you guys honestly think that LFL would take the time to purposely screw up the OOT, just to "stick-it" to the "fans".... it's beyond the time to take a step back from all this and grow-up.

The Luca$ conspiracy theories know no bounds, apparently.


It's not really a theory; it's right there on starwars.com. If you have eyes, you can see it. And no one said LFL did; Lucas did.


Yeah, Lucas sat down at a computer and screwed up the OOT trasfer all by himself. He was wearing a Jar Jar T-shirt and lighting cuban cigars with 100 dollar bills, too.

That's almost as good as Lucas opening the mail at Skywalker ranch.


No, he did not. But he is the reason that it is not properly restored and remastered. He will not allow it for whatever reason. Look, I'm not crazy. I don't necessarily think that this is a conspiracy theory, or anything else. But Lucas is reason that the three most popular and influential films ever made were not released on DVD until this year and when they were, it was in substandard transfers. I'm not suggesting that he is some crazed dictator. But Rovert A. Harris is not a whiny fanboy. He is a well know and well respected film restoration expert who restored Spartucus, Lawrence of Arabia, and Vertigo. He has volunteered his services, adn Lucasfilm recieved millions of letters saying that this was unacceptible. And Lucas won't let people who want to restore the original Star Wars trilogy to do so. I'm not painting Lucas as some evil figure in a Darth Vader costume. But the fact of the matter is, he is the reason why the version of the Star Wars tilogy preferred by millions of people is not geting a decent DVD release yet. As for Lucas opening mail? There is a mailroom at LFL.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
LOL...I love how JediRandy comes here just to read posts and get his panties all in a bunch.

Someday, he'll learn that he isn't going to make a difference here.


Not tryin' to make a difference.... just offering a differing opinion.

And to annoy you, which I obviously am being that you're incapable of ignoring any of my posts.


"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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Originally posted by: JediRandy
Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
LOL...I love how JediRandy comes here just to read posts and get his panties all in a bunch.

Someday, he'll learn that he isn't going to make a difference here.


Not tryin' to make a difference.... just offering a differing opinion.

And to annoy you, which I obviously am being that you're incapable of ignoring any of my posts.


You're entilted to a different opinion. But what are you saying? That the treatment the the OOT is getting is OK?

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: boris
Does it? You know if that cap was off the OUT then you would have had a point. As it is, here is a real cap of that frame from the OUT - captured with VirtualDubMod, unretouched, just resized:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7151/outcapxv3.jpg

Where did the ghosting go? Oh sure, it's still there.. but it's not much any more. Not to mention that it has a little more then just a "slight edge" in detail over the laserdisc, wouldn't you agree?
It's amazing how two people can look at the same frame and have a completely different opinion. Are you telling me you DON'T see the horrendous blurring that has virtually rid that shot of all detail? The only reason you can't see the ghosting trails as well is because your image is darker. If I had the OUT disc myself, I could show you dozens of other shots where the '93 DVNR ruins the film.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

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in that frame the camera is still moving. there's a lot more detail in the next frame - which is what I had up originally before I realized it was the wrong frame.
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!
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Originally posted by: Mike O
Originally posted by: JediRandy
Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
LOL...I love how JediRandy comes here just to read posts and get his panties all in a bunch.

Someday, he'll learn that he isn't going to make a difference here.


Not tryin' to make a difference.... just offering a differing opinion.

And to annoy you, which I obviously am being that you're incapable of ignoring any of my posts.


You're entilted to a different opinion. But what are you saying? That the treatment the the OOT is getting is OK?


Being that I'm one million percent of the opinion that Luca$ can tweak and work on HIS movie as much as he wants, I think the OOT release it acceptable. Complaining about anamorphic transfers and aspect ratios is just Fanboy rhetoric at this point, and honestly, anything GL does with these flicks is going to get shit on.
"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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I don't really notice the ghosting or lack of detail when I watch the O-OT.

I think these are the best the O-OT has looked on home video so far (excluding the special editions of course).

It could be better, but it's still pretty darned good.
Your focus determines your reality.
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Well, despite my assertions I would not buy this, I broke down this morning and picked up Star Wars (IV) at Wal-mart. I brought it home to compare to “Dr. Gonzo’s” anamorphic laserdisc transfers, and here are some observations:

I viewed this on my 65” Mitsubishi HDTV, and did comparisons using both my Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player and my Malata DVP-520 DVD Player (via component video connections in each case.)

The picture quality is definitely an improvement over the laserdisc transfers. The picture has more clarity, and the colors are a tad more vivid. Still, this transfer has its problems, largely because it is non-anamorphic. “Stair-stepping” is visible on many images, and is easily apparent in several scenes on my 65” screen.

Also as previously reported, the subtitles (when Greedo speaks) are cut off at the bottom on a widescreen TV when one zooms the picture to frame it correctly.

I made a discovery that I have not yet seen on any of the internet forums that I frequent. The disc is not correctly “tagged” as a widescreen film.

I own a Malata DVD player that will automatically frame non-anamorphic DVDs on my 16:9 TV if the disc is tagged properly. Even though a disc may be 4:3 non–anamorphic, most letterboxed DVDs are still tagged as containing a widescreen film (The Abyss DVD is a good example). When this is the case, my Malata automatically zooms and frames the picture accordingly for 16:9 TVs, without me having to manually zoom the picture.

This DVD is NOT tagged correctly, and as such, I had to scale the picture manually.
“I don't think I'm alone in the world in imagining this flick may be the worst idea since Greedo shooting first.” - Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back .
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Originally posted by: ronlaw
The 2006 DVDs are NOT encoded from a higher resolution source than a laserdisc.


Are you saying that a laserdisc is of equal resolution to a D1 master tape?
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Well, I watched ROTJ last night, and here's what I thought:

Jedi probably has the best picture of all three of the films. Very little film grain, and wonderful detail and sharpness. The colors are much better than the laserdisc (vibrant, without looking 'smeary'), the skin tones especially look fantastic- much more natural and much less 'ruddy' than the laserdisc version. The sound was also excellent, like the laserdisc. At times, I forgot I was watching the '83 version and was so happy when the 'lapti nek' scene came on, and the original ending.

Overall, I am very happy with these new DVDs. Of course, I would prefer an anamorphic release in the future, which I will gladly buy if it ever comes out, but until that day (if it ever comes), these are the definitive releases of the OOT, and I'm thrilled to pieces to have them.

For those of you who haven't decided whether or not to buy- I think you should seriously consider buying them before they go out of print.

Originally posted by: Commander-Dan
Also as previously reported, the subtitles (when Greedo speaks) are cut off at the bottom on a widescreen TV when one zooms the picture to frame it correctly.


There are some DVD players that exist (Panasonic makes one) that have an 'aspect ratio' control, that allows you to zoom in on the picture, and also allow the subtitles to be seen on the screen, without being cut off.

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Originally posted by: Mielr

There are some DVD players that exist (Panasonic makes one) that have an 'aspect ratio' control, that allows you to zoom in on the picture, and also allow the subtitles to be seen on the screen, without being cut off.


Right. I can do this manually on my Malata by panning the picture.

“I don't think I'm alone in the world in imagining this flick may be the worst idea since Greedo shooting first.” - Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back .
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Originally posted by: Commander-Dan
Originally posted by: Mielr

There are some DVD players that exist (Panasonic makes one) that have an 'aspect ratio' control, that allows you to zoom in on the picture, and also allow the subtitles to be seen on the screen, without being cut off.


Right. I can do this manually on my Malata by panning the picture.

So, you can move the image up on the screen? That's a handy feature.

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Originally posted by: Mielr
Originally posted by: Commander-Dan
Originally posted by: Mielr

There are some DVD players that exist (Panasonic makes one) that have an 'aspect ratio' control, that allows you to zoom in on the picture, and also allow the subtitles to be seen on the screen, without being cut off.


Right. I can do this manually on my Malata by panning the picture.

So, you can move the image up on the screen? That's a handy feature.

I'm not sure if this is the same exact thing, but my TV actually lets me move the pic up and down when I Zoom. So if the subtitles are in the lower black part and cut off, I still may be able to position the picture so I can still see them.

And actually, when I Zoom in, I move the picture up a little usually anyway b/c it is more comfortable to view it this way for me.

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Originally posted by: Mielr
The colors [of the 2006 OUT] are much better than the laserdisc (vibrant, without looking 'smeary'), the skin tones especially look fantastic- much more natural and much less 'ruddy' than the laserdisc version.


I think you have to be a bit careful here: I think the best you can say is that the the 2006 OUT is "much better" than the laserdisc transfers you have seen. Because LD is analog, there can be quite a big difference between what's on the disc and what the player shows you. I would expect, for example, that you would be much less impressed with the OUT DVD when comparing it to the LD footage as displayed by a Pioneer HLD-X0 than you would be comparing it to captures made by some of the lesser players used for preservations around here.

Of course, not being (very) player dependent is one of the distinct advantages of DVD...

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Originally posted by: Darth Mallwalker
Originally posted by: Tiptup
I don't attack people, but I will attack opinions if I believe they are wrong.

[...]

That administrator sounds like a childish dipstick. But, I must inform you that there is something very wrong with releasing the films in a non-anamorphic format.
If I didn't know better, I might think you just attacked a person whose opinion you agree with.


Heh, well, not technically. In that second instance I was attacking someone's actions through colorful namecalling, which I will also sometimes do. I also said that this unknown person "sounds" like a dipstick and that is not exactly the same as actually saying he or she is a dipstick.

More seriously though, when I said I don't attack people, I meant that in the context of arguing ideas. A person could have horrible characteristics, but that has no bearing on whether a given argument from that person is strong or weak. Therefore I try to never "attack" a person in terms of destroying their ability to be who they want to be. That does not mean I cannot or won't express accurate assessments of a given person's qualities from time to time. If a person behaves in a way I disagree with, I will then criticize that specific behavior. But, I guess I shouldn't have resorted to the unfounded namecalling, so you're right there.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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Originally posted by: Mielr
Well, I watched ROTJ last night, and here's what I thought:

Jedi probably has the best picture of all three of the films. Very little film grain, and wonderful detail and sharpness. The colors are much better than the laserdisc (vibrant, without looking 'smeary'), the skin tones especially look fantastic- much more natural and much less 'ruddy' than the laserdisc version. The sound was also excellent, like the laserdisc. At times, I forgot I was watching the '83 version and was so happy when the 'lapti nek' scene came on, and the original ending.

Overall, I am very happy with these new DVDs. Of course, I would prefer an anamorphic release in the future, which I will gladly buy if it ever comes out, but until that day (if it ever comes), these are the definitive releases of the OOT, and I'm thrilled to pieces to have them.

For those of you who haven't decided whether or not to buy- I think you should seriously consider buying them before they go out of print.

Originally posted by: Commander-Dan
Also as previously reported, the subtitles (when Greedo speaks) are cut off at the bottom on a widescreen TV when one zooms the picture to frame it correctly.


There are some DVD players that exist (Panasonic makes one) that have an 'aspect ratio' control, that allows you to zoom in on the picture, and also allow the subtitles to be seen on the screen, without being cut off.


Mielr, I have to say thanks for you little reviews. They're short and sweet, containing everything I want to know. You've really helped in my decision to get these. I'm an extremely careful buyer, and I read lots of reviews before jumping in to buy anything, and yours are very helpful, in just saying what the picture and sound is like. I really don't like it when people go into the specifics of pixel size, tiny sound problems and other technical junk that most people can't understand.


BTW, I notice lots of Matte lines on my Return of the Jedi laserdisc bootleg. Is this still present? It was during the final battle against the death star with Lando in the falcon.
And what's the disc art like for disc two? Does it say bonus material or just "original theatrical version."

Watch DarthEvil's Who Framed Darth Vader? video on YouTube!

You can also access the entire Horriffic Violence Theater Series from my Channel Page.
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It says "bonus disc" on the disc - see here.
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Thanks. I think its hilarious how it still says Episode 4 on the disc art for disc 2 when the movie titled "Episode 4: A New Hope" is not present on the disc. It's fine for the other two, thier official titles would be episode 5 or six, but not on Star Wars.
Watch DarthEvil's Who Framed Darth Vader? video on YouTube!

You can also access the entire Horriffic Violence Theater Series from my Channel Page.
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Well, I've watched the so-called OUT from the new DVD on my reasonable DLP projection setup. The bottom line was that I had fun watching it, but there's one thing that bothered me.

If you're going to call it 'Original', doesn't it need to have those blue matte boxes around the ships, and all the other artifacts that I remember so well from seeing in the theatre when I was a kid? Hell, it was those blue boxes that first got me interested in how movie special effects are made. It was charming in the way that seeing the monster's zipper in an old horror film is charming.

So my question is...what is the best option available (in bootlegs or wherever) if I want to see that again?

Is this a divergent opinion of what constitutes 'original'?

umdesch4
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Originally posted by: Darth_Evil
Thanks. I think its hilarious how it still says Episode 4 on the disc art for disc 2 when the movie titled "Episode 4: A New Hope" is not present on the disc. It's fine for the other two, thier official titles would be episode 5 or six, but not on Star Wars.

Yeah I laugh at that too LOL

Mielr, I second Darth_Evil's comments! As you probably know from my many posts, I keep going back and forth with this release. But thanks to your reviews, I am seriously considering getting them now...

...and then never making another SW purchase again.
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Bottom line is they are the best home video version of the OUT available. They are not perfect, but they are the best way to enjoy SW at home (unless you own a print and projector).
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Originally posted by: Darth_Evil
Mielr, I have to say thanks for you little reviews. They're short and sweet, containing everything I want to know. You've really helped in my decision to get these. I'm an extremely careful buyer, and I read lots of reviews before jumping in to buy anything, and yours are very helpful, in just saying what the picture and sound is like. I really don't like it when people go into the specifics of pixel size, tiny sound problems and other technical junk that most people can't understand.


BTW, I notice lots of Matte lines on my Return of the Jedi laserdisc bootleg. Is this still present? It was during the final battle against the death star with Lando in the falcon.
And what's the disc art like for disc two? Does it say bonus material or just "original theatrical version."

You're very welcome! I've seen a lot of the screencaps- and they don't represent what the DVDs really look like. It's easy to over-analyze screencaps and pick out every flaw, but 99% of that stuff won't be noticeable while the film is actually moving.

The matte lines for Jedi don't seem to be quite as noticeable on the DVD (compared to the laserdisc) for some reason (talking about the Rancor scene, specifically).

Also, I didn't notice garbage mattes on ANY of the 3 films. That may have a lot to do with how the picture/brightness settings are on my TV.

Originally posted by: umdesch4


If you're going to call it 'Original', doesn't it need to have those blue matte boxes around the ships, and all the other artifacts that I remember so well from seeing in the theatre when I was a kid? Hell, it was those blue boxes that first got me interested in how movie special effects are made. It was charming in the way that seeing the monster's zipper in an old horror film is charming.

So my question is...what is the best option available (in bootlegs or wherever) if I want to see that again?

LOL! Yeah, I didn't see garbage mattes either. Try the VHS editions.....

Originally posted by: THX
Bottom line is they are the best home video version of the OUT available. They are not perfect, but they are the best way to enjoy SW at home (unless you own a print and projector).
Well said (and prints break and wear out much more easily).

Originally posted by: ESHBG
Mielr, I second Darth_Evil's comments! As you probably know from my many posts, I keep going back and forth with this release. But thanks to your reviews, I am seriously considering getting them now...

...and then never making another SW purchase again.


Thanks! I won't be buying the anniversary set either.

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umdesch4, if you're serious about wanting to see matte boxes, try to get a tape that was recorded from an early TV broadcast.
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Originally posted by: umdesch4
Well, I've watched the so-called OUT from the new DVD on my reasonable DLP projection setup. The bottom line was that I had fun watching it, but there's one thing that bothered me.

If you're going to call it 'Original', doesn't it need to have those blue matte boxes around the ships, and all the other artifacts that I remember so well from seeing in the theatre when I was a kid? Hell, it was those blue boxes that first got me interested in how movie special effects are made. It was charming in the way that seeing the monster's zipper in an old horror film is charming.

So my question is...what is the best option available (in bootlegs or wherever) if I want to see that again?

Is this a divergent opinion of what constitutes 'original'?

umdesch4
WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!!

They're still there, but not as obvious as they may have been on some cinema screens in '77.
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!