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Star Wars Blu Ray Impressions — Page 3

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I didn't buy the blu ray set but the bonus disks are now out there (thank you internets)

The behind the scenes segments are nice but they are all centered on the design aspects of the film including the effects.  Is funny when they talk about the old models and cut to special edition footage where its all been removed.  The interviews with the effects artists are amazing and fun to watch.

I wish there were proper documentaries for each film, talking about what it was like to film in England, interviews with Lucas on the experience etc.  The only cast interviews are just one 3 minute segment each.  Its as if the they are saying the actors weren't a big part in making the films what they were.  Carrie Fisher's interview consisted of a minute of her saying how she was cast and then saying how "everyone deserves their own theme music" Really weak.

There are nice stills of many of the props and creatures which is very nice.  I really think they did try to make these extras discs worthy for the fans and I almost felt sorry for those who put them together because they're stuck on a set with the altered films.

The deleted scenes are great.  Now that they are on youtube you can all enjoy them but if they weren't (and internet leaks didn't exist) I think they would have been worth the cost of the set.

Those are just my OT bonus disk impressions, haven't watched the prequels yet.  As for the films themselves I'm sticking to the OUT.

 

 

 

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Well the entire Biggs scene at the rebel base is intact, including the "I knew your father" line. So I doubt they've retroactively gone after any conflicting moments in the extras.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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ratpack1961 said:

I wish there were proper documentaries for each film, talking about what it was like to film in England, interviews with Lucas on the experience etc.  The only cast interviews are just one 3 minute segment each.  Its as if the they are saying the actors weren't a big part in making the films what they were.

You should see the featurette on the Mad Max DVD, going on about Gibson as if he were no longer with us or something.

Sad stuff.

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Asaki said:

ratpack1961 said:

I wish there were proper documentaries for each film, talking about what it was like to film in England, interviews with Lucas on the experience etc.  The only cast interviews are just one 3 minute segment each.  Its as if the they are saying the actors weren't a big part in making the films what they were.

You should see the featurette on the Mad Max DVD, going on about Gibson as if he were no longer with us or something.

Sad stuff.

I would say that mentally, he is no longer with us. =P

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

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There's a piece on the prequel extras disc about bluescreen, which honestly looks like a defense against the criticism of its use.

Kitbashed
Essays, videos and thoughts on the inspiration behind Star Wars.

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Heilemann said:

There's a piece on the prequel extras disc about bluescreen, which honestly looks like a defense against the criticism of its use.

Pftttt. Figures.

“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord

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There's also a funny segment from the OT extras where Lucas is talking about the force, briefing what looks like a group of very bored Clone Wars series directors or some such. He talks about how the dark side is about wanting power, and how power is about possession, and how possession leads to fear and so on.

Which is funny, because Lucas is so possessive of his film, to the chagrin of his very own fans... And given that there's an entire documentary about the real-world stormtroopers... 

Well... I'm just saying...

Kitbashed
Essays, videos and thoughts on the inspiration behind Star Wars.

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Got my bonus discs in the mail today. Only had time to skim over the documentaries so far.

All the vintage docs are from really old video masters and it shows. (MPEG2 and 192kps Dolby track.) SPFX is still cut.

Much to my surprise, Classic Creatures has different credits from it's previous video releases and looks like it was finished up on film after all. (And sports the old 20th Century Fox tv logo.) Where on the old release some of Jabba's subtitles were replaced with video captions on a black bar, this version blows up the frame to omit them entirely. Not sure if this is a recent change or not.

Putting Robot Chicken into the spoofs seems redundant, as they have been released before. The chapter stops should have been put at the beginning of each individual bit.

EDIT:Watched the whole spoofs thing. Way too many RC sketches. (We can get those on DVD and Blu, thanks Lucasfilm!) Nice to have the Super Bowl ad with "mini Vader" though.

Lots of Saturday Night Live, but nothing of Carrie Fisher's hosting. One MTV movie awards spoof of ROTS, but no Chewie finally getting his medal from Carrie in the 90's, nor that band that performed in SW costumes several years back. An all too fleeting glimpse of the Donny and Marie SW musical, that could have been included in it's entirety, but that would have meant less Robot Chicken!

A couple weird things I never saw before, (British tv?) and at least one clip in really bad Youtube quality. There's also a Candid Camera bit from 1977 with a seven year old that will make even a bitter old fanboy smile.

I can think of several things they forgot. The Cantina skit Richard Pryor did on his short lived 70's series, with the actual costumes from the movie. The Bob Hope special Mark Hamill guested on where Bob appears in Vader garb. And a skit from the short lived 80's SNL competitor "Fridays" in which the Emperor is revealed to be Ronald Reagan.

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Alright... I've watched through the first half hour of A New Hope (1-4)

TPM: Quality is all over the place. Some scenes look amazing, some look like upconverted dvds. Color was more accurate for the most part, but I literally had to thoroughly calibrate my tv when watching this, just to make sure it wasn't my TV making the quality change. The warm setting pushes Tatooine a little too warm for my liking. Nice to see CGI Yoda.

AotC: Quality is definitely better than TPM, but still varies from scene to scene. Really enjoyed the addition of Shmi's voice in Anakin's nightmare.

RotS: This was friggin stellar, in every aspect. Everything has been blended much better without softening the picture. I used to hate the R2/Buzz droid scene because it looked so out of place. It now looks great. I'm not sure if this was altered slightly, but either way, definitely a step in the right direction. Picture is pristine, Avatar Quality. I will admit... this makes all of Palpatine's weird faces stand out even more during lightsaber battles.

Prequel Trilogy Audio is near orgasmic to my ears. Everything has been mixed in so much better, and sounds amazing on a 6.1/7.1 setup (I've got an older DTS ES receiver, and it still wowed and amazed every second of the film. Lightsaber battles especially)

ANH: So far, this does look pretty amazing considering. You can easily see which scenes were remastered for the different special editions, as quality seems to migrate between three major pieces. Some Tatooine scenes with the droid have odd color, but I think that is simply because other parts of the film have been cleaned up with colors fixed so much that it throws it in contrast. I hate R2's new rocks, mainly because they are only visible from shots in front of him... shots behind him looking out don't appear to include the rocks... 

I personally, while not fond of either, prefer this Krayt Dragon Call. It still sounds horrid, but it actually sounds like a sound a human could make...

Other than that, the audio still sounds great, though dated. Everything here is mixed well too... I enjoy the louder surround channels and clear dialogue.

The prequel deleted scenes are very disappointing, often with questionable quality and quirks... The lost Twently is particularly odd... it made me wonder if it is a precaution against fanedits.

I'll post what I think of the rest as soon as I get a chance to watch.

Preferred Saga:
1/2: Hal9000
3: L8wrtr
4/5: Adywan
6-9: Hal9000

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nightstalkerpoet said:

 I used to still hate the R2/Buzz droid scene because it  looked so out of place is really stupid and juvenile.

Fixed.

“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord

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Quote (Wikipedia): "In the scene on Dagobah where Luke is doing a handstand, Yoda (who has his back to the camera) has been replaced with a digital model."

Can anyone who has the blu-ray set confirm that? (I hope not).

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adywan said:
 It's not true. It's still the puppet

*sighs in relief* Thanks for debunking that one.

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I'm still wondering about Obi-Wan mentioning midichlorians on Dagobah in ROTJ (I believe)?

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

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Tyrphanax said:

I'm still wondering about Obi-Wan mentioning midichlorians on Dagobah in ROTJ (I believe)?

I'm sure it was a joke. :)

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It was, no worries :)

Preferred Saga:
1/2: Hal9000
3: L8wrtr
4/5: Adywan
6-9: Hal9000

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Oh, good.

One can never be too careful anymore...

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

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I know... That's why it was so incredibly believable, especially with talks a while ago about Lucas getting rights to Alec Guiness' likeness. :P

Preferred Saga:
1/2: Hal9000
3: L8wrtr
4/5: Adywan
6-9: Hal9000

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I've been borrowing it a random disc at a time from a coworker. The deleted scenes were great to see. Today I got Attack of the Clones. (yay?) For my own taste it's an extremely fugly movie, but I noticed some of the stuff in the flying car chase looked better. This is the ideal format for the movie, some of the little details come across better. That slight re-editing at the end duel is odd, does anyone know what the purpose of that was supposed to be?

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Things i've noticed in the Blu Ray:

TPM: Lights added on back of sith probes, CGI yoda included this time. I couple more added Podrace scenes to the already added scenes.

AOTC: Just a couple expansions on scenes to show more of the envirnment.

ROTS: Nothing noticeable

ANH: When on the cliff looing out to Mos Eisly, a couple more ships are seen taking off. Added one shot with lasers coming from the Falcon in the death star escape scene. Obi-Wan's Krayt Dragon call was a mix of both the Original, SE, and some added effects.

ESB: Tuan Tuans blink a couple times. The line, "You could use a good kiss" is gone. Possibly another Tie fighter/Bomber or SD added in the Empire Reveal scene.

ROTJ: Sebulba like character enters the main room in Jabba's palace while LUke is confronting Oliff. Added a scene where the Falcon flys past the bridge of the SD after the Tie Fighter crashes into it. When the SSD crashes into the Death Star, you can see the Star Destroyer fleet above. Darth Vader does the "No" line twice. Once very suttle, the other one the same as ROTS only shortened.

Above all, not a lot different from the DVD's. The picture and sound was a lot better. Still, i'm dissapointed they didn't try harder to connect the OT with the PT.

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A few shots have been re-arranged. (when the pillar is falling on Anakin and Obi and Yoda stops it, as Dooku escapes) I gave the disc back so I don't have it right now to check, but I think you can even hear the cut in the music. (I'll look around for a better description)

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WhatsMyName said:

The line, "You could use a good kiss" is gone.


Wait, really? That's an odd change. Guess he's not a fan of humor. Goes along with taking out "you're lucky you don't taste very good," doesn't it?

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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WhatsMyName said:

"You could use a good kiss" is gone.

Whaaaat.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

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Was that another improvisation? Would explain why it's gone, that's for sure. I'd bet if he had the time and method he'd switch "I know" to "I love you, too."

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em