Star Wars....nothing but Star Wars....

Friday: Ep I. The Phantom Menace
Saturday: Ep II. Attack of the Clones
Sunday: Ep III. Revenge of the Sith

8:00pm et.

program guide says HD.

The commercials show that they are in HD also, cant wait for the movies to show, they show the rest next week. My dvrs going to be busy.

The commercials show that they are in HD also, cant wait for the movies to show, they show the rest next week. My dvrs going to be busy.

The questions are:

Will it just be upscaled?
Will it be OAR?

Ep III is the best non-animated/non blu-ray dvd ive ever seen....interested to see how it looks in HD.

The only place that offers Spike in HD seems to be direct TV.

Would not be surprised if it was 16:9 reformatted.

Don't expect full letterbox on the SD channel :(

yea SPIKE TV HD!!! i keep seeing the ads... maybe this will push more provides to add SPIKE to there lineup.. !!!

When it was on HBO it was fairly decent and, without commercials.

Have they been rewritten, reshot, and redirected?

Nuts.

-- STAR WARS (HD)
"There is much to be learned" this April on Spike TV as the basic cable
channel becomes the exclusive home of the Star Wars movie franchise,
including the Broadcast Premiere of "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the
Sith," and the cable premieres of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom
Menace" and "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones." Also, Spike TV
will televise never-before-seen on basic cable footage provided by
LucasFilms. Premiere schedule is below.

-- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999, PG)
Premieres Friday, April 4 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT; Encores Saturday,
April 5 (5:00 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT) & Sunday, April 20 (8:00 - 11:00 PM,
ET/PT & 11:00 PM - 2:00 AM, ET/PT).

Set thirty years before the original Star Wars film, Episode I
introduces young Anakin Skywalker, a boy with special powers, unaware
that the journey he is beginning will transform him into the evil Darth
Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise old Jedi from the original series, is a
determined young apprentice and Palpatine, well known as the evil
Emperor, is an ambitious Senator in the Galactic Republic. It is a time
when the Jedi Knights are the guardians of peace in a turbulent galaxy
and a young Queen fights to save her people. In the shadows lurks an
evil force waiting for the right moment to strike. Starring Liam
Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman.

-- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, PG)
Premieres Saturday, April 5 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); Encores Sunday,
April 6 (4:30 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT) & Sunday, April 27 (8:00 - 11:00 PM,
ET/PT & 11:00 PM, ET/PT & 11:00 PM - 2:00 AM, ET/PT).

Ten years after the events chronicled in Star Wars: Episode I The
Phantom Menace, the epic Star Wars saga continues in Episode II.

The galaxy is in turmoil. Thousands of solar systems are threatening to
secede from the Galactic Republic under the leadership of a renegade
Jedi named Count Dooku. Without a standing army of the Republic, the
overwhelmed Jedi Knights struggle to maintain order as the very
foundation of peace and democracy is threatened. Starring Hayden
Christensen, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman.

-- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005, PG-V)
Premieres Sunday, April 6 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); Encore Monday,
April 7 (4:30 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT).

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith - In the final installment of
the Star Wars saga, the Clone Wars rage through the galaxy. Asked to
spy for both the Jedi and for traitorous Chancellor Palpatine (Ian
McDiarmid), young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen)
finds himself caught in the middle of the intrigue. Seduced by the dark
side, he pledges himself to the evil Darth Sidious and becomes Darth
Vader. Together, the Sith Lords set in motion a plot of revenge against
the Jedi, even while Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) tries to save
Anakin. The former allies come face-to-face in a climactic lightsaber
battle that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Starring Hayden
Christensen, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman.

-- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977, PG)
Premieres Friday, April 11 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); Encore Saturday,
April 12 (5:00 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT).

Set 30 years after Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: A
New Hope, the fourth episode of the saga, returns to the desert planet
of Tatooine. A young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) begins to discover
his destiny when, searching for a lost droid, he is saved by a reclusive
Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). A civil war rages in the galaxy,
and Rebel forces struggle against the evil Galactic Empire, Luke and
Obi-Wan enlist the aid of hotshot pilot, Han Solo (Harrison Ford).
Joined by the quirky droid duo R2-D2 and C-3PO, the unlikely team sets
out to rescue Rebel leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and make use of
the stolen plans to destroy the Empire's ultimate weapon. Starring Mark
Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

-- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, PG)
Premieres Saturday, April 12 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); Encore Sunday,
April 13 (5:00 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT).

The battle for the galaxy intensifies in this thrilling fifth episode of
the unfolding saga. As Imperial Forces launch an all-out attack on the
Rebel Alliance, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie
Fisher) flee to Cloud City where they are captured by Darth Vader. Luke
Skywalker (Mark Hamill) journeys to the mysterious, marshy planet of
Dagobah, where the wise Jedi Master Yoda teaches the young hero the ways
of the Force.

Little does Luke know that all his Jedi training will be called upon so
soon. A stunning revelation -- and a seeming life-or-death duel with
Darth Vader -- await. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie
Fisher.

-- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983, PG)
Premieres Sunday, April 13 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); Encore Monday,
April 14 (5:00 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT).

In the spectacular climactic sixth episode of the Star Wars saga, Darth
Vader readies the second Death Star to unleash the final blow to the
Rebel Alliance. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) joins his droid allies R2
D2 and C-3PO, along with Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), to free his
comrade Han Solo (Harrison Ford), imprisoned by the vile crime lord,
Jabba the Hutt. Reunited, the Rebels race to the moon of the planet
Endor where they launch a desperate attack upon the entire Imperial
Fleet.

But the ultimate battle is between father and son, as Luke faces Darth
Vader one last time, for the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance.
Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4776478&EDATE=

I don;t think george would let his films be reformatted to the fit the screen in HD.. most likey it will have black bars on top and bottom.

I have them taped from HBO, when they aired all 6 together. they looked very nice.

Jacob

Actually, when LFL issued all 6 SW films to Cinemax/HBO last year, they were OAR. Prior to that, Ep II ran on HBO cropped to 1.78:1. I believe that the deal w/ HBO/Cinemax for all 6 films stipulated that the HD versions were OAR/5.1 (read this @ theforce.net, if I recall).

Yes, all 6 look very nice in HD. Ep I looks "the worst" as they are still using the old DVD master, which isn't quite as clean as the all-digital II/III or the remastered Special Edtion trilogy (IV.V,VI).

There is a cleaner & slightly tweaked HD master of MENACE that we likely won't see until Lucas issues it on BD (and enevitable DVD re-re-re dip) or download. Biggest change to Ep I is the removal of "muppet" Yoda & insertion of the II/III CG version.

A snippet of this can be seen on the Ep III DVD bonus material. The mini-doc about Vader on Disc 2. There is a moment where Hayden C is talking about his character & repeats Yoda's "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to...." bit. The image fades to that particular scene in EpI. Sure enough, the "younger" (or actually, crappy or stoned looking, depending on who you ask) 1999 muppet is gone & the CG version is in it's place.

For me, it's a case of "revisionist" Lucas filmmaking that I totally appreciate. The MENACE Yoda did look bad. The old V/VI Muppet was so much more "real" & the II/III CG version, to me at least, is much more true to the look of the character we all first met in EMPIRE all those years ago.

I would venture to say that the existing DVD versions of II-VI (esp II/III), on a good upconverter, look as close to "real" hi-def as any SD DVD can. The HBO broadcasts really only seem to add a hair more detail.

Of course, one will have to deal w/ commercials on Spike. I wonder what the "never seen on cable TV" scenes are?

maybe they "branched in" the deleted scenes.

not OAR

Not only not OAR, it's not HD, and not DD5.1.

Not only not OAR, it's not HD, and not DD5.1.

how can u tell if its hd or not ?

honestly, I'm surprised it isn't 4:3

not nearly as crisp as it was on HBO.

not nearly as crisp as it was on HBO.

thats how u can tell its not in hd ?

You mean you can't tell if something is in HD? It's like night and day.

Are you saying that fuzzy video and stereo sound aren't the ultimate way to present this masterpiece? :D

You mean you can't tell if something is in HD? It's like night and day.

ive seen tv shows that say they are hd (new adv. of old cristine) that say they are hd but look terrible....so no i cant tell.....i thought u had a technical answer like the proton megahurtz are only boradcasting at 500 when hd is 600.

Are you saying that fuzzy video and stereo sound aren't the ultimate way to present this masterpiece? :D
Bingo!

I just turned on Spike. Looks like crap. Don't heavily promote something and it look like garbage.

I just turned on Spike. Looks like crap. Don't heavily promote something and it look like garbage.


I agree...it is baffling to me. Why would a network do that? Could someone please enlighten me why networks continue to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to HD? Is it simply because their regular viewers just can't tell the difference?

Yeah, I have to agree, it doesn't appear to be an HD transfer at all.

The overall picture is soft. Doesn't even look as good as upscaled DVD. Hair, clothing, etc., doesn't look sharp at all.

Did Spike ever actually claim it was going to be in HD? Or did people just assume? I saw a lot of commercials for it on
Spike, and they never explicitly said it was in HD.

Did Spike ever actually claim it was going to be in HD? Or did people just assume? I saw a lot of commercials for it on
Spike, and they never explicitly said it was in HD.


http://www.hd-report.com/2008/03/18/star-wars-in-hd-to-debut-on-spike-tv/

Very disappointing. I was curious how it'd look but my upscaled DVDs look much sharper and they don't have SPIKE HD in the corner of the screen.

http://www.hd-report.com/2008/03/18/star-wars-in-hd-to-debut-on-spike-tv/

That's hd-report.com saying it will be in HD. Did Spike themselves ever say it?

The show was tagged with "HD" in the DirecTV guide, but that could just refer to it being presented in 1920x1080i 16:9. I'm sure it did look a lot better than the version shown on the non-HD version of Spike.

To me it didn't even look as good as I'd expect the DVD source upscaled beyond its normal resolution so it could be presented in 16:9 "full screen" to look.

I'm not trying to let Spike off the hook, because this was very disappointing, but I watched their ads pretty closely and not once did they say the movie was going to be presented in high def. The closest they came was showing the Spike HD logo at the end. As I said, they did get some advantage to showing it on the HD channel, since it was at least the anamorphic and not the letterboxed version, so that did allow for a little extra resolution.

Look at the official Spike TV site:

http://www.spike.com/starwars/

As I said, no mention of it being in high def, aside from possibly being implied by the Spike HD logo at the very end of the ad.

Oh well.

I can't see this since I have Comcast, but you would think this is the biggest thing Spike HD has ever aired and it sounds like they screwed it up. Note the HD transfer for Menace is softer than the others, but no OAR is ridiculous.

gosh it looked like crap

I agree...it is baffling to me. Why would a network do that? Could someone please enlighten me why networks continue to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to HD? Is it simply because their regular viewers just can't tell the difference?

because john q public/j6p/the masses just dont give a f**k:eek: about hd/oar/pq/sq.:(
as long as they keep paying their cable/satellite bills and dont bitch too much, neither do the broadcasters.
and even if they do bitch too much, the providers still dont care.

the only way to make them care is for the consumer to discontinue services and reduce their revenue flow.

the peeps just wanna watch the effin' movie.

:p

I'm watching Ep 1 and with 45 minutes left in the movie (I just tuned in) they have a huge "TV PG" logo in the upper left that has been on the last 5 minutes. Does Spike always do this?

Ep II looks much better

Ep II looks much better

Still dolby 2.0 though

ep III tonite should look the best.

No OAR Who cares?

IMHO it should have gone to Sci-Fi where it WAS shown in OAR on the SD channel as it should be.

I don't mean to dissagree with you guys,but I have been watching the SW fest today since EPII and it looks great in HD!
I have Directv and both movies look amazing and they are coming in as true HD,albeit reformatted in 1:78.Sound is only 2.0 but not too overly compressed.
I have seen both of these movies waaaaaay to many times and this is the best I have seen them look since I saw them in DLP at the theater.
BTY,it must be HD sunday,cause there is a bunch of movies in HD on at the same time.Ocean's 12 on USA,Dodgeball on FOX,LOTHR's ROTK on TNT and Legally Blonde 2 on TBS(in true HD!!!).

Did Episode I look better than the ridiculously edge-enhanced DVD? That thing looks beyond awful upscaled, though it does have a pretty good soundtrack.

Episode 3 looked the better but still not as good as HBO version....

BTW.. USA showed Oceans 12 and it looked great.... happy to know USAHD doesnt beat around the bush with the movies they show in HD

How in the world could they promote the hell out of this showing on Spike, and then feed us this garbage?!? Not even in surround sound? WTF!?

I spent my time watching LotR in HD and 5.1, much better than this crap.

I wonder if Mr. Lucas might have something to say about this travesty? He can make it up to us by releasing the saga on blu-ray....doubtful! :)

Do the Episodes I, II, and III still look as bad as they are reported in this thread, or have they upgraded them? Interested in catching them this weekend. Enjoyed the original trilogy, never watched these 3.

Do the Episodes I, II, and III still look as bad as they are reported in this thread, or have they upgraded them? Interested in catching them this weekend. Enjoyed the original trilogy, never watched these 3.

if you want to see them with the best pq available, just buy the blu rays. you can buy all 6 of just each of the trilogies.