corellian77

Angel, I don't mean to come down on you for the tone of your comments when it appears English isn't your first language, but I have to say I'm really getting tired of seeing your "contributions" in these threads taking the form of endless nitpicking and criticizing.  It's okay to give critical feedback for the sake of helping improve an edit, but throwing out the odd compliment here and there would be nice too.

It's also a little irksome that you criticize the video editing skills of others when you have demonstrated no such skills yourself.

bkev said:

I can't get invested in a show that long that ultimately doesn't really go anywhere*.

I thought they went lots of places during the show ;)

Seriously, though, I think Star Trek is a terrific character-driven show.  I love TNG for its character arcs, especially with regards to Data and Picard.  I don't particularly care that there's no grand story arc--I'm all about the inner journeys.

...

not to mention that shows that attempt to have a grand, plot-driven story typically fail miserably in my experience.  X Files and Lost are a couple examples that immediately come to mind.

Not to derail the thread any more (sorry Harmy), but I just wanted to chime in and add that DJ's right insofar as these two projects shouldn't really be compared.  Harmy's editions, although presented in near pristine video quality, don't succeed 100% in faithfully recreating the trilogy I grew up with.  In ANH, for example, the colours (e.g., scenes in Luke's garage, the binary sunset) and FX (e.g., the blockade runner's lasers) don't always capture the look of the original film.  My hat's off to Harmy for an amazing job on these films, but even he's admitted they are not perfect reconstructions.

Dark_jedi's editions, on the other hand, although perhaps not as finely-detailed (although I have yet to see the blu's), succeed in capturing the trilogy as it really was (colours, wipes, FX, etc.).  From the few hi-def samples d_j shared, it looks like he's successfully preserved SW as I remember it.

I see the value in both projects, and each has its appeal for me, but it really is comparing apples to oranges.  Ultimately, I see d_j's editions as Star Wars "untouched," and Harmy's as Star Wars "fine-tuned."

Star Wars is definitely my favourite movie.  Although I love many other movies for many other reasons, Star Wars just had such a profound impact on my imagination as a kid... there were really no other movies that compared to it back in the late 70s.  It really made my imagination soar, and is probably largely responsible for my love of science fiction and fantasy today.

Plus, after all these years, it's still a really, really cool movie :)

Cool Harmy.  That article is a very nice overview of the Despecialized editions.  I like that it's informative while still being accessible to non-SW fans.

xhonzi said:

Yoda must be some kind of galactic match maker... 

Actual lol :)  Made me visualize Yoda hosting the Dating Game:

For me, the worst scene in TPM was the first time Jar-Jar opened his mouth and said, "Oyi, mooie-mooie! I luv yous!"  Up to that moment, sitting there in the theatre, I still felt like I was watching a Star Wars movie.  But as soon as he uttered those first words, I knew something was amiss.  Then, as he kept speaking, I came to the slow and horrific realization that, despite all my anticipation, this movie was, in fact, going to suck :(

Marty.McFly said:

Topless Robot.com BluRay review

Thanks for the link to that review... funny and informative stuff.  I especially liked his comments about the packaging art:

It's a terrible painting.  And all the art inside is like that, too. You ever get one of those crazy religious pamphlets with the paintings of Jesus holding hands with a variety of ethnic children, but the text is all about how  you're going to burn in hell for all eternity? It's llike the same guy.

LOL

Mr Ghostface said:

Anyway, back on topic, did anyone else like the blu-rays?

Actually, that would also be off topic.  Perhaps this should be re-posted over here or here.

A New Hope looked like it was made in the '70s again.

It's pretty sad that it takes a blu-ray released in 2011 to just bring the quality of the OT back up to the standards of 34 years ago... doesn't say much about the 2006 GOUT release, does it?

Although, that being said, I'm sure a number of people here would disagree with that comment, and tell you that the films as they were presented in theatres in 1977, 1980, and 1983 are superior to what we're seeing on the blu-rays.

Bingowings said:

To some people the OUT is yesterday's enterprise but it's nice to be amongst people who want the best of both worlds.

I see what you did there ;)

jackob said:

where can i download this??? whats a myspleen?? can i get an invite??? i'm totally new here. thanks

 Check your PMs.

^ Pardon my ignorance, but are you the Dr. Gonzo, i.e., of the Dr. Gonzo LD preservation?  If so, I just wanted to say thank you--the Dr. G set was the first LD preservation I ever saw and burned to disc.  In fact, my cousins still watch the Dr. G rips as their main OUT set (I haven't gotten around to sharing any of the more recent GOUT-based sets).

I see Jay's plans for world domination via creating mods and placing them in strategic areas is well underway...

Congratulations Silverwook :)

Congrats on the new position Anchorhead.  I think Jay made a great choice.

Anchorhead said:

Even if it's something as simple as keeping an eye on everyone on Detention Block AA-23.

On a side note, I really think we need a thread/forum with this name... perhaps for listing banned members? :P

dark_jedi said:

AH, if you post in the thread that is cool, I totally forgot about all the excitement from the recent Blu-ray Set findings, and I can understand being excited, I have been there myself before, so go ahead and PM, post in thread, it's all good.

I know I said I am going to retire from anything DVD LOL, but I am considering 1 thing, and it really would not be that hard, or take much time, but I may do new encodes for the V3 DVD Set and upload the new video files for those that may want to swap them out, the new encodes will be encoded from the 720p Blu-ray lossless avi file I have, some have shown interest in this so I am thinking about it, plus ANH has a couple of real bad frames fixed, and ESB has a ton of them fixed, so we will see.

Although I myself am eagerly awaiting the Project Blu trilogy, I can think of a number of family and friends without blu-ray playing capabilities who I'd love to be able to pass along a new V3 set to (perhaps we should avoid confusion by labelling it V3.1 or V4?).

DJ, do you anticipate there being a noticeable difference in video quality if you were to re-encode?  If so, what would be different?

shandy706 said:

I canceled my Amazon Pre-order. I'm a bit sad about it, but I guess it's for the best. I haven't watched A SINGLE STAR WARS MOVIE IN OVER A YEAR AND A HALF in anticipation of this. I haven't watched any of the HD TV broadcasts either...not even 30 seconds of one. Could someone please link me to where I need to go to pick up HD "fan edits". Is there a true 1080i/p copy of all the movies?? :(

Welcome aboard.

For a 720p reconstruction of the original trilogy, check out Harmy's "Despecialized" editions over in the preservation section:

ANH: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Harmys-STAR-WARS-Despecialized-Edition-HD-AVCHD-DVD9-and-NTSC-DVD5-AVAILABLE-see-1st-post/topic/12713/

ESB: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Harmys-THE-EMPIRE-STRIKES-BACK-Despecialized-Edition-HD-DVD9-AVCHD-and-SD-NTSC-DVD5-AVAILABLE-NOW-Read-1st-post/topic/12511/

ROTJ: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Harmys-RETURN-OF-THE-JEDI-Despecialized-Edition-HD-AVCHD-DVD9-NTSC-DVD5-available-SEE-FIRST-POST/topic/12905/

Also, for a "true" original trilogy set (sourced from the 2006 bonus discs of the OT), check out dark_jedi's version 3 (V3) set, and keep an eye out for his upcoming 720p versions:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Star-Wars-Original-Trilogy-Theatrical-Editions-Info-ALL-versions-SEE-FIRST-POST-FOR-INFO-AND-AVAILABILITY/topic/10550/

As for fan edits, you really should see Adywan's "Star Wars: Revisited", which is largely regarded as the Star Wars special edition as it was meant to be:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/STAR-WARS-EP-IV-2004-REVISITED-ADYWAN-720p-HD-version-coming-after-ROTJ-R/topic/5942/

Empire Strikes Back: Revisited is also currently in the works:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/STAR-WARS-EP-V-REVISITED-EDITION-ADYWAN-EXTENDED-TRAILER-NOW-AVAILABLE/topic/9060/

Sluggo said:

What happened to the R5 unit and the trombone?  I cried laughing.  Leave it out and I'll just cry.

Is there still a link to this?  I don't recall the scene in question.

Glad to hear you've decided against the jump Ady.  Well-executed and a neat idea, but the original end of the scene before cutting back to Dagobah works better IMO... it leaves the viewer with the feeling of a hunter stalking its prey.  Besides, I think it would realistically take Fett a while before discovering the Falcon's destination.

Bingowings said:

It would make one hell of a menu section jump.

Yes, yes... to Bingowings you listen :)

The recent clips are great.  Laughed out loud at a few.

I was just wondering - would it be possible to somehow extend the shot of everyone looking at the camera after Padme drops the baby bomb on the Viceroy?  I think a slightly longer pause before cutting to Maul and Obi-Wan would increase the funnyosity by at least a factor of 10.

dark_jedi said:

So by you not accepting them is doing what exactly?

If enough people vote with their wallets and don't buy a product, this tells the manufacturer of said product that consumers aren't pleased with what's been offered to them.  That being said, I anticipate these blu-rays will sell very well.  So, will Lucasfilm be sent a message because a handful of purists don't buy these discs?  No.

is this going to make the powers that be change things?

Again, if these discs sold poorly, then, yes, the powers that be would realize something was lacking in their product and could very likely decide to alter what they had produced in order to improve sales.  But, again, since these BDs will likely sell very well, the answer to your question is "no", nothing will be changed.

Ultimately, I won't be buying these blu-rays for the simple reason that I rarely watch the PT and I'd only be getting the 2004 SEs of the OT all over again.  I look at my Star Wars DVDs sitting on my shelf every day and I ask myself why I bothered buying something that I don't even like.

Personally, I'm much more excited about seeing your Project Blu preservations once they're available than about seeing the SEs in 1080p.

TV's Frink said:

Not sure if this was worth the effort, but at any rate...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiyS9QXUboQ

Very funny :)

TV's Frink said:

Based on an idea by emphatic...

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

First ringtone was kinda funny, but I found it just become too much audio-wise.  My 2 cents would be to just stick to the original communicator sound effect.

Angel said:

I hope this can be useful for any editor in the future

http://vimeo.com/23436085

Cool info Angel.  I could see this application being useful in colour correcting a series of shots in Star Wars fan edits and preservations (i.e., the Tantive IV hallway in ANH, which seems to change hue from one shot to the next).  I was particularly interested in the de-blurring application -- I wonder if the GOUT could be matched up with the blu-rays to produce a sharpened GOUT image using this method.

Bobocop said:

I have only one nitpick so far. Anakin's eyebrows look kinda blurry compared to the rest of his face. Of course I realise this is due to the quality of footage available, and not your skills as an editor. It looks as good as it possibly can, and the integration of the footage was done flawlessly. It just looks a tad bit off for an HD face to have low-res eyebrows.

I noticed the same thing while skimming through the film looking at the various "despecialized" moments.  I thought at first it was partially a tracking issue, but looking at it again it would seem that you're right, and that the discrepancy is simply a result of the available source material that Harmy had at his disposal.

Similarly, Anakin's force ghost seemed to me to be slightly blurrier than Yoda and Obi-Wan, but again, given what Harmy had to work with, I doubt anything else could have been done, with the possible exception of solely using GOUT footage during these shots.  While this might make everything within a single shot look more consistent, I'm sure it would introduce new problems by not blending in well with any preceding/following 720p shots.

It'd be nice if the upcoming blu-rays contained these deleted shots in hi-def so that Harmy and others could use them, but I'm not  holding my breath.