Star Wars The Complete Saga (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review - Page 3

Well I wasn't 7 in 77, I was 4. And Episode 4 was my introduction to seeing a movie in a movie theater at age 4. now how about that for your first theater experience?

Got the complete set on Friday and started watching Episode I. It's my least favorite of the 6 but I cant stand it just a little bit more in this format. It looks amazing and based on the review I cannot wait to get to 2 and 3 later this week.

Lucas started THX. However, he did a lot of work with Dolby Labs. As I remember when the later films came out, he was asked if he would ever use DTS in any of the new Starwars movie? He said no.

Much less glowing review than I expected. And I actually appreciate that, as an objective viewpoint is by definition, one that does not get swept up in the excitement of a movie product to the extent that it will color the neutrality of the review.

I also saw this movie on my 13th birthday, a long, long time ago, but since I was out of the country, visiting Central America, and it was not released until January of 1978 there, I had heard all the buzz coming out of the U.S. prior to seeing the movie. Well, this set up some very high expectations for me, and along with the not up to THX standard movie theater I watched it in, resulted in a less than DNA altering experience. I still enjoyed it, but was expecting more action, more WARS, in Star Wars, and felt the movie dragged a bit in the first 1/2. After the Millenium Falcon gets caught in the tractor beam of the Death Star, the action picks up and never lets up, and I was riveted right up until the final shot.

I, too, have dreaded and have publicly protested in various forums and blogs about the new minor changes that Lucas has introduced with this iteration, and have been advocating for a release of the original theatrical releases. However, given how much buzz has been stirring about the PQ and SQ of these particular releases, I am once again very excited to pick up my box set. I will most likely watch the first trilogy with my single digit age kids, but will relish seeing both Episode IV and V, hearing and seeing it with fresh eyes. I am the proud owner of a new Epson 8350 and an 80 inch projection screen, so coupled with my Pioneer True-HD capable receiver, will be blasting myself and immersing myself in the Star Wars universe on a scale I have yet to experience.

And isn't that what the love of cinema is all about? Re discovering and re living moments in our lives in new ways, with new friends and family, seeing both the familiar and the new elements in fresh ways and reminiscing about the great times we shared in the past with these movies.

I still remember as a high school student sneaking into the Audio Visual room (more of a closet, now that I think about it) and watching what must have been at the time a bootleg copy of Star Wars (episode 4) during our lunch hour. It was in 4:3 format, cropped to fit, so black bars on top, on a standard definition TV, not dark tube, CRT with less than ideal lighting conditions, and still we were transported and inspired and blown away, each time Darth Vader entered the frame, or Ben Kenobi used the force, or the Falcon made the jump to light speed. I, for one, will forgive Lucas his sins, and let myself make the jump to light speed, in pursuit of a childhood experience that makes me feel eternally young each time I engage my soul in it.

Do you watch IV-VI then 1-3 or 1-6 in order?

How could it be less since both costs $0?

Also I think Star Wars - A New Hope VI was the 1st (or maybe 2ed) film to use Dolby Surround. So this is one of Lucas' Dolby connections.

I'm (for the first time) watching in chronological order. I even watched The Clones Wars (forgot how awful the CGI (and audio) was) between II and III.

I'm watching them in order for this release.

7 in 77 here. That's about how many times I dragged my mom to it also.

I am watching them with my son in order as well. We have finished watching ep I and II, halfway through ep III. Although I am finding the AQ on ep III to be slightly shrill with less bass then I and II.
Although overall a fantastic set, especially on a 100" screen and lossless 6.1

Hey...a fellow Mo-Town kid . I remember watching on the only theater we had....what was it Briggsmore Theater???

Seemed so magical back then. Going to the movies was an "event". Now kids take it for granted.

Why would it be $0.00?



DéjÃ* vu

Ralph,

Did you experience any of the audio/video issues that have been widely reported?

Thanks for another great review.

Because it IS $0 as long as you don't count engineer time and equipment costs which are part of making a BD and about the same for all codecs. So it does cost the same (relatively speaking) for LPCM, DT or Dolby to put out software. What are you imagining the cost differences could be?

So you're saying it costs nothing... aside from the costs that you have to spend on it?

I'm guessing he used DTS MA either because it WAS cheaper (it's my understanding that companies are more apt to use DTSMA these days because it prevents them from having to put separate lossy and lossless tracks on the disc) or because FOX pushed him into it (they were the first to start pushing DTSMA, weren't they?)

This stuff happens. Afterall, even Jurassic Park was released in Dolby Digital on DVD at one point.

Sorry to ask a question with a question, but, why didnt they use Dolby's codecs? All of the movies were done with Dolby Labs, not one was ever offered in DTS. If there is not a transfer $ issue, why did they use DTS???

As I remember DTS uses a disc player for the Audio and it sync's with the film. DolbyD has tacks on the film for the later SW films and I still think they still do it that way with film. That is why it was easier to update a cinema to DTS. with DolbyD you needed a new projector.

Eh? I'm talking about blu-rays, not anything cinema related.

Thanks Ralph.

Hi. I have an Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver and a Panasonic DMP-BD60 blu-ray player. I noticed during episode IV about half way into the film the audio suddenly shut off. I heard a clicking on the receiver and had to turn it off and on to get the audio back. But then it would happen again 10 minutes later. I did not experience this with episodes III, V, or VI. The audio is bitstreamed from the blu-ray player to the receiver. Anybody have any ideas why this would be? Thanks.

Do I ever feel old!! I was 22 when I saw Star Wars the first time in the theater in '77! Loved every minute of it!

My Star Wars Story:

A year or so after the release of The Empire Strikes Back, me and a friend started to make our own SW spoof short [after seeing another spoof called Hardware Wars], I don't exactly know why my friend had contacted Lucas, but he sent a letter in return, and was "kindly" told to cease and desist with further production. Well, Nowadays, there are plenty of spoofs, so go figure! It had a tentative title of Star Worse, and a tag line of "Lucas may have done it better, But we've done it worse!".

The spoof never got finished. However, we had even guessed a few events that would eventually have happened in Return of the Jedi before it was even released!

My friend still has the cease and desist letter in his possession!

None the less, it was fun doing it at the time.

As for the Complete Star Wars BD set, I was quite impressed with it so far.

However, I did experience a momentary audio and video glitch on playing the first disc during the initial text roll up on Episode 1 , but on a 2nd viewing it didn't happen. Also noticed a minor issue with menu switching from one to another in the bonus discs feature sections. It was perfectly fine on my Sony S470, but showed a minor stutter/skip playing on my Samsung D5500! This was evident only with visuals between menus!!

sorry

Please note my user name - check my user name to factor in a bit of perspective.

I'll chime in with my 2 cents on the subject of these discs. I was 5 in '77 and have seen the saga in theaters many, many, many times. The local cinema was only a few blocks away from my house and I would go see the films a few times a week during the release of Empire and Jedi and the various re-releases of A New Hope. Sometimes, I'd even stay for back-to-back showings.

Star Wars is something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It has changed as much as I have over the years.

I intentionally haven't watched any of the films during the last two years as I wanted to guage my love by coming into the Blu-ray release with a clear mind.

Last Friday night, I sat down with my new discs and watched as my HD350 lit up my SilverStar screen and was transported back into a very happy place from my childhood. I watched TPM & AotC on Friday night, Sith and ANH on Saturday, Empire on Sunday, and Jedi on Monday night. What I realized is as much as I've changed and as much as Star Wars has changed over the years, the things that attracted me as a five year old were still there. The adventure and excitement. The things that I began to appericate as I grew older with Star Wars are also still there. Luke and Anakin's stories are the same, just taken under different life cirumstances. The choices they make are different because of this. When I watched the movies, I didn't see my favorite scenes strung together to comprise a film. I saw the films as a whole and those films go together to tell a story.

I think the main problem with Star Wars is that so many of us have compartmentalized this films into "moments" and when one of those moments is changed, we have trouble letting go of it and seeing the forrest for the trees.

Like many of you, I saw the change at the end of Jedi weeks before the discs arrived. I hated it. It made me angry. Thoughts of cancelling my order and not watching the movies danced in my head. Ultimately, my wife calmed me down and told me to just watch the films.

Guess what? I still hate the change in that "moment"; but, it doesn't ruin the build up to it or what happens immediately afterwards. The father ultimately learns from his son that he has had the power to save his loved ones from death all along. The quest for power was irrelevant. The Force is the macguffin as the true power in the saga comes from the heart. The seeds sown hours before in the saga in prequels blossom. Did Vader need to shout out No! to get the point across - of course not. Does it ruin the story - of course not as well. Does it alter your memory of what was a perfect cinematic moment - probably. Does it ruin that moment - probably not.

Does Han and Greedo shooting at the exact same moment ruin the saga - of course not. Does it tarnish your memory - probably. Does it ruin irrevocably Han Solo - probably not.

The real irony of all of this post-modern Star Wars hate is that it stems I believe from something that films attempt to teach the viewer. You must let go. Don't become so possesed over something you can't control.

The core of what you loved about Star Wars is still there. I would challenge anyone who is afraid or angry about the Blu-ray sets to pick up these discs and start up the movie and put the remote control away. The Star Wars you first saw in the theater didn't have a fast forward or chapter skip option. Let the films unfold and enjoy the story.

Great review Ralph, thanks! I only bought the original 3 movies. That's where my interest is. Thought all 3 were beautiful pic wise and excellent sound wise.

Jeff

No you didn't say "Hardware Wars"! Woooowwwwww!

Hey Ralph,

Just curious when you watched these movies (1-6 + features/behind the scenes, docs, etc...) how long did it take you? The extra stuff is like 9hrs plus all 6 movies i'm guessing 2 days?? Again just curious.

Cheers

Ok, so I've viewed the OT finishing with Return of the Jedi last night. Generally speaking I think I'd agree with Ralph's review with the points that I would disagree with coming down to more of a personal preference or interpretation of material. The one issue I have, assuming it's actually an issue to begin with, is I felt Return of the Jedi's video quality to be the worst of the three by a pretty good margin. Sure there were some "relatively pristine" shots during the last half hour or so but I just really felt like things weren't very sharp and detailed or even clear in many cases. This was pretty much from the beginning of the film. Is it just me?

I was just going to say the same thing about the video quality in ROTJ. It was very soft compared to A New Hope and Empire, both of which looked borderline amazing IMO. Some shots were soft; others extremely shard and detailed... but soft for the most part.