STAR WARS DVDs: Changes Confirmed!

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by ACK!, May 5, 2004.

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  1. Ryan

    Ryan That would be telling

    Location:
    New England
    Very nice, though bare-bones..taken from 1993 Definitive Edition Laserdisc, just a straight rip of the films....the review I linked to seems to whet my appetite though, in terms of sound and picture quality....
     
  2. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    :confused:

    Sounds like a very good review to me. Picture and audio quality (the most important things) are reportedly superb.
     
  3. fyrfytrhoges

    fyrfytrhoges New Member

    Location:
    wisconsin
    still hate the rewriting of history so to speak but since these were really the first films that i grew up on i'll shell out the dough.....
     
  4. Pug

    Pug The Prodigal Snob Returns!

    Location:
    Near Music Direct
    Greedo shoots first! :realmad:

    Still! :realmad: :realmad:

    Even after all of the negative feedback he got from the SE in 1997 he kept that in the new films! :realmad: :realmad: :realmad:

    Way to ruin Han Solo's character, George! :realmad: :realmad: :realmad: :realmad:

    :realmad: :realmad: :realmad: :realmad: :realmad:


    Sean
     
  5. GabeG

    GabeG New Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I got mine today and have to say just get them!! Yes some of the changes are weird, but some are pretty cool. I'm (now a semi) purist, but they look and sound fantastic. If you're a fan, just get them. They're that good. If you are a true purist, keep your boot dvd/ or laserdiscs of the originals, but you'll be missing out on great picture/sound quality. Not perfect, but as good as you'll get for now. I still have my original lasersdiscs and the picture pales by comparision. Sound is closer (especially via dolby pro logic II), but the discrete mixes are suberb.

    For the record, by no means is my system state of the art, but my progressive capable set was ISF calibrated and I calibrated the sound settings by the book (with my radio shack spl meter).
     
  6. Michael St. Clair

    Michael St. Clair Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funkytown
    Some notes (from an HTF member) on the new, in-your-face soundtrack:

     
  7. GregY

    GregY New Member

    Location:
    .
    Such pointless and silly changes...

    I'm kinda surprised so many members are still going to purchase these.

    Oh well, to each his own...

    Yeah, but the quality is from a different set of movies. To me, it's like saying "they rereleased film x in pan and scan format and the video and audio quality are superb."
     
  8. Michael St. Clair

    Michael St. Clair Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funkytown
    Sound mixing issue, from various reviews:

    IGN DVD:

    Swedish R2 review:

    R4 Review:

    I have the laserdiscs, but they are fuzzy and noisy on my 53" display. I want "some kind of" Star Wars that I can watch in high resolution, even if these really aren't the same movies as the ones I liked in my teens (I consider these to be new films).
     
  9. GregY

    GregY New Member

    Location:
    .
    Understood. I certainly don't begrudge anyone the chance to own these versions. I'm just surprised there isn't more of an uproar here or at places like the HTF. There's even a "Best price?" thread for the trilogy here so there's obviously a lot of interest.

    If there were SACD/DVD-A releases of Sgt. Pepper but Paul went in and "touched up" the vocals or pumped up the bass or whatever, wouldn't people scream "Boycott!"?

    Anyway....what do I know? I'm still bitter about the SE DVD of The Terminator and the lousy "new" soundtrack... :)
     
  10. Michael St. Clair

    Michael St. Clair Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funkytown
    I'm still angry...but everything I want to say about Lucas' revisionism...I already have...since 1997. I'm done talking about it.
     
  11. dcooper

    dcooper New Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Sadly, I think most of us would complain loudly and bitterly about it...after we had bought the discs.

    I disagree that these are "new movies." I think there are definitely some annoying changes made, but the only change that really makes me angry is the Greedo shooting first bit. Otherwise, the changes are cosmetic, and though I would prefer to have the original editions on DVD, I'll gladly "settle" for Lucas' current vision of the movies.
     
  12. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    I think I'm going to go the alternative route to seek out the originals. I can't put my money towards this revised garbage.
     
  13. GabeG

    GabeG New Member

    Location:
    NYC

    I agree. Athough I don't mine the Greedo change so much as the change at the end of Empire. While the Greedo thing is stupid, the end of Empire (when you see darth go to his ship) utterly ruins what was once a beatifully paced segment of the film.

    However, some of the new changes I think are improvements - I like Darth's voice in a New Hope better since it's closer to the second two films. I've noticed some of the changes listed above, but to be honest there have been so many changes over the years to the soundtrack of this film it goes with the territory. Even in its original release there were differences. Like Beatles albums there were different mixes (with different effects) for the mono and dolby versions (and 70mm) of the films.

    Similarly, when I saw Empire for the third time at the Murray Hill in NYC in 80 it had extra shots of the rebel fleet at the end of the film that weren't in the film I saw the first two times at the Loews Astor Plaza.

    Also when I went to the press screening of clones, there were different shots (and a slightly different different edit) of the film I saw two weeks later at the same theater (this time digitally projected).

    Anyway, I'm just glad to have these and in many ways despite the changes, I feel like I'm finally seeing Star Wars again the way I remember.


    Edit: The sound mix is better than the 97 se. For example in both the theatrical and the laserdisc version of Empire, the music throughout the asteroid sequence was much too low compared to the sound effects. Happily on the dvd, things are better balanced.
     
  14. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I'm looking forward to watching these again. I can't wait to see Empire, one of my all time faves.
     
  15. greg_t

    greg_t Senior Member

    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    I suggest getting the best Laserdisc player you can afford. I had a Pioneer Elite CLD79 and replaced it with a HLD-X9 and the difference in quality was night and day.
     
  16. Ryan

    Ryan That would be telling

    Location:
    New England
    I think I'll wait and ask for these as an Xmas gift...already invested my $ in the 1993 versions.

    "The Krayt Dragon sound that Ben uses to scare the sand people has been re-done. It almost sounds like a police siren at first. Definitely sounds artifical as opposed to the older, more organic sound."

    This is one my my favorite sounds in the ENTIRE trilogy! Of course they had to change it...
     
  17. Michael St. Clair

    Michael St. Clair Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funkytown
    Ryan,

    Compare the dragon call (and Darth Vader voice) changes here.
     
  18. Ryan

    Ryan That would be telling

    Location:
    New England
    I did....the original howl is better...like some kind of woolly mammoth or wildebeast come to eat your intestines....the new one sounds like a police car colliding with a deranged owl!

    The Vader voice thing is ok, i guess...still like the original...seems to have more bite!
     
  19. Michael St. Clair

    Michael St. Clair Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funkytown
    Gamestop has this for $30 if you trade in 3 DVDs from major studios (Fox, Warner, Paramount, MGM, Sony/Columbia, Pioneer, Image). I've got some DVDs that are near worthless because they have been replaced by upgraded editions.
     
  20. GregY

    GregY New Member

    Location:
    .
    Based on the new audio changes, I'm wondering if we'll see something like this:
     
  21. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Lucas & Richard Carpenter...separated at birth?:rolleyes:
     
  22. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    If I want the "original" movies on VHS, what versions are the ones to get?
     
  23. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    They are known as the "faces" versions: have a giant close up of Darth Vader, Yoda, etc, as the cover for each movie.
     
  24. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    ...and make sure you get the widescreen versions instead of the cropped pan & scan (sometimes misleadingly called 'standard') versions. The movies were all shot at a 2.35:1 ratio so you lose nearly half the visuals on the pan & scan (tv is 1.33:1).
     
  25. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    so are the "faces" versions computer enhanced at all, or are they they the first ones to come out and not "improved" at all???
     
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