Knightmessenger

Fang Zei said:

Do you guys think the '97 version should be included in the eventual blu-ray set? It would be nice to have a complete historical record of the theatrical releases of the movies. They'd have to make it at least three discs per film (one for the final version, one for the '97 and one for the unaltered), but since the transfers on each disc wouldn't take up all 50 gigs they could spread alot of extras over the extra space.

Yes, definitely. The '97 versions didn't have the botched colors which make them so much better than the 2004 versions.

Wait, the Phantom Menace needs to be color corrected? I thought the dvd looked great, best quality Star Wars movie on dvd. (I know it's edge enchanced but I've never noticed that on my tv's)The other prequels weren't shot on film so they don't look so great. And the ot, well the 2004 versions are the worst color timing job on a video transfer, the '06 versions have all that smearing.

If Lucas finally caves for real and releases all the versions, then I'll buy the blu-ray.

I think we should start a new petition for the original versions in HD anamorphic widescreen without the color tampering that plagued the 2004 release. I think it should include screenshot examples of the anamorphic difference and botched 2004 colors just so it's crystal clear to ever noob what we want. 

I have plenty of dvd's. And the jump from dvd to blu-ray is not nearly as big as the improvement dvd offered over vhs and laserdisc. I don't care that much about seeing extra features anymore. The next video release of Star Wars has to be something special, it can't just be average. If the new set has deleted scenes but not the originals, I'll just rent them. I already have 2 versions of each movie, I see no reason to upgrade unless it's a spectacular release with everything imaginable included. If it isn't, I'm not buying.

I hope other people realize they don't need to buy the same movie again, people need to vote with their wallets that we want the real deal.

edit: triple post

edit: triple post

ChainsawAsh said:

You might be trumped by arnie.d's new project (Special Collection transferred using an X9 player, which is just a slight step down from the grandaddy of them all, the X0), but there's always room for multiple transfers out there.

I thought he was using the V8, hence the name of the project. Or is there another...

yeah, I just looked at some of the screencaps and they look a lot better than the existing ones here that are sourced from the special collection. Good job.

Gaffer Tape said:

Well, considering the Force, lightsabers, and mind tricks were all explained in the first movie, they really didn't need expositing again.

But according to Lucas, we're supposed to watch the movies in "Saga order." So then why would most stuff be explained only in Star Wars? Could it be that Lucas really made the series to be watched 4-6, 1-3?

That's a big reason why I would recommend a newcoming to see the OT first.

Well, I recently came across this and thought it was an interesting edit. I wonder if Trooperman's is similar because this looks a lot better than I remember the original scene from AotC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKtom9v3kL4

Could somebody explain what was changed (besides the music)?

Wow, I thought the building that got erased was in the center as I only saw it on a pan & scan vhs. Looks like that means the full screen version shows the left side of the frame.

In that comparison, the new shot does look a little too high on contrast and saturation.

I feel the prequels didn't need a lot of radical changes to be a lot better. I recently rewatched Phantom Menace (which I'd always liked since I first saw it in '05) and I still think it's decent. Call me crazy if you want but that's my opinion.

However, I feel the script was merely a very good draft. It needed someone to say "this is pretty good George, but it still needs some tweaking." I think the bad acting was mostly a result of bad writing and ineffective directing. It's almost like the actors weren't allowed to intereact and have any sense of spontaneity.  

I know a lot of people hate the midiclorians but from a pacing standpoint, they were also done poorly. The scene where Qui Gon explains to Anakin about them is a total info dump, the movie stops cold for exposition. Considering that the force, the Jedi abilities or lightsabers and even the Jedi mind trick were never explained in this movie, did we really need to have a wikepedia entry on midiclorians in the middle of the movie?

So to sum up, I think if the movies had been done better, people would have been more forgiving about the plots.

skyjedi2005 said:

To watch the original version it took me years before the advent of ebay to find a vhs copy and its frickin pan and scan.  The laserdisc in the usa is hard to find and considered rare.  And the digital audio issue in japan has burnt in subtitles and from what i have heard the sex scene is either cut or censored.

Not a huge surprise that lowry was involved in the fiasco that are the bond remasters, the star wars trilogy. or the recent star trek blu rays.  Seriously whenever i hear they worked on a film i will consider the reviews before buying the dvd to see if the colors and grain structure were compromised.

 I agree with you about Lowry Digital (or should it really be called Digital Lowering?) removing too much grain. They've "restored" many Disney movies and Pinocchio is another disaster. The color is oversaturated in dark scenes and his feather cap which is red in all the artwork shows up as pink occasionally. Something that should be red turning out pink. Hmm, why does that sound familiar?

I think there need to be campaigns to convince people that grain is good like there were for letterbox over pan & scan.

I have a letterbox dvd made from the THX 1138 laserdisc by the way if you're interested.

The opening shot was changed. The ugly building behind the diner was erased and the sky was changed to be a sunset. I think it's an improvement.

Quick update: the filmmakers of the Zelda movie posted a new video covering their premier. I really hope to get a chance to see it soon. There is a way to vote for them to bring it to your city so if you're interested check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0zfxNAVJnI

http://www.theherooftime.com/

I mentioned this in the "Phantom Menace 10 years later" discussion but it really seems like Hollywood is out of new ideas. Most movies seem to be just "meh" at best. Something needs to come along to get the movie industry going again like what Star Wars did in the 70's. So I'm especially thrilled that an independent group was able to pull something like this off. Just to finish it and make a final edited version is a huge accomplishment.

Rewatching the Phantom Menace, something occurred to me about Jar Jar: Why the hell does he go with Qui Gon and Padme to search for the space parts on Tatooine? He has no purpose whatsoever in that part of the film. The scorching heat is even bad for his skin so it seems like a bad idea. But I'm sure most fan edit ideas come up with a reason for this.

And when Padme and Anakin first meet in Watto's shop, Jar Jar is just knocking stuff over. Seems like a missed opportunity for Anakin to ask Padme "who is this guy?" (He has no reason to know who this creature is.)  And then Padme could have replied "I don't know, the Jedi brought him along." Maybe they could have had a more spontaneous and lively dialog. And having Jar Jar knock over stuff should concern Anakin. It might be his responsability to clean it up.

I don't know how that could be done. It's just been on my mind as something that would have made a lot more sense for the characters to say.

Has anyone else heard that there is now a Zelda movie? Although completely unofficial and fan made, it's a serious film that recently had the premier in Atlanta and the filmmakers are hoping to bring it to other cities.

here's the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPTpjK88apc

personally, this is probably one of the few movies I want to see this year. (I did like Gran Torino a lot)

I just remembered another one: Serenity is another sci fi movie that came out in 2005. And Joss Whedon even had the main character shoot someone who was unarmed partly in response to the Greedo scene. I'm a huge fan of Buffy but I thought that movie was only ok.

Would the prequels have done well if they weren't Star Wars? Well, they didn't have a substantial drop off (week by week in ticket sales) so word of mouth must not have been too bad. I hate that I'm sounding like Rick McCallum (he did say something to that effect) but I honestly believe that if Matrix and Pirates could get sequels, non star wars Phantom Menace would have done well on its own. It would have been unique enough that plenty of people would have come even if out of curiosity.

I can record to my dvr but the only way to record off that I know of is on vhs. I saw Bender's Game on tv but don't remember a "Previously On." Plus the credits aired during the next intro. But good luck.

I have a question. The dvd's are widescreen while the tv airings were full frame. Do you know which showed more picture?

skyjedi2005 said:

We know how the Phantom Menace performs when set against the standards of the oot, but how does it stand up against other films that came out in 1999?

I would ask the same for 2002 attack of the clones

and 2005 revenge of the sith.

What sci fi blockbusters have come out since 1999 that have done it better?

I could extend this all the way back to 1983 when the saga officially ended with the release of Return of the Jedi and was a closed subject.

But i'm more interested in sci fi/fantasy films of the nineties and 2000's that did a better job with their effects and story.  List some wontcha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_in_film

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_in_film

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_in_film

Good point. I think the prequels do okay when looked at from that perspective. I think though the biggest problem is the fact they carry the label of "Star Wars." An above average trilogy is greatly hurt by high standard of its predescessors. Same thing with Indy 4. I honestly thought it was one of the better movies of 2008. Did I think it was as good as the other three. Not close.

In other words, movies these days overall kind of suck. Does anyone else think Hollywood needs something like the next Star Wars to get it going again?

Better sci-fi/fantasy films in the same year.

2002: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

2005:  The Chronicles of Narnia

2007: Stardust (I know a prequel didn't come out that year but I had to mention it because it's freakin amazing)

Matrix was too confusing for me and I hated the desaturated color timing for Lord of the Rings.

Actually, I just rewatched the official bonus disc. The scene does appear for a second in theone of the trailers but it's faded to blue that it's hard to recognize.

And the clip of some creature wrapping its arm around 3P0. That wasn't in the final cut either, right?

Why have I not seen the trailer that had the second of sandstorm footage in the first place? Was it not on any dvd or laserdisc?

same thing with this trailer. The quality looks pretty good but I don't recall seeing this on any fan preservation dvd either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgOCm5iOYWA

I think the original crawl came about because it was sitting around after being partially used for Empire of Dreams. They may not have had a new print of the rest of the movie readily available. Of course that doesn't mean they can't do a new print, just that they were too lazy to spend any time or money digging up the rest of the stuff. 

Thanks a lot for those caps. Well, the color does indeed look a little less screwed up on the Mtv caps but that could just be the source being compressed.

captainsolo said:

It's true. These modern transfers suck all of the life out of film elements all in order to give maximum definition. Its really sickening in some ways, like remastering soundtracks with entirely different and new sound effects.

 You're telling me. I just watched the end of RotJ 2004 version and the sound effects are TERRIBLE! The final attack on the Death Star is filled with overly punched up sounds. It sounds like some kid was just fooling around on Adobe sound forge. Boom! Kabaam! And there's the terrible color timing. For me, there really is no contest with the version to watch. 

adywan said:

I can't see him spending any more cash than necessary on the OT for a HD release. they're already available in 1080p HD and to fix the problems he would have to rescan the negative, do the restoration work and colour correction all over again.

I've read that even though a lot of transfers for dvd have been done in high definition, they've had to redo them for the blu-ray releases because HD scan from 2004 is good enough for tv but not home video.

Of course that doesn't mean Lucas will have the films rescanned, it would just mean he would be extremely lazy to do so (which he already is). But he'll probably change even more which hopefully won't sell well and make even more people demand the originals.