# Star Wars DVD



## Dark Psion (Sep 22, 2004)

Got my DVDs today and have just finished watching them back to back.

The visuals, especially on Star Wars, are very good. They really cleaned up that one. But the sound is another issue. It appears that when they remixed it, they subdued the music and raised up the FX. As the X-wings dove down to the Death Star, you could barely hear the trumpet fanfare over the engines.

The new special scenes are OK, but one problem with these scenes is that they make the unspecial scenes really stand out. In the dogfight as they escape the Death Star, the matte lines are very noticable, partially because you don't see them in any of the CGI scenes.

The Greedo shooting first scene is cleaned up a bit, as they fire almost simultaneously. But the lack of a reaction by Han Solo still makes it look bad.

Oh, and remember the Stormtrooper that hits his head? There is a sound effect to go with that now.

The only new scene in Empire that stood out was as Vader returns to his ship at the end, it appeared that they redid the landing bay.

In Jedi, the Rancor scene looks so much better and they added a Naboo scene at the end, but I can't help but notice how "muppety" most of the aliens look in this movie. It's a pity they didn't use CGI to fix them. Well, we can save that for the next extra special, super duper, bonus mega DVD edition.


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## Dark Jezter (Sep 22, 2004)

I've been watching the Star Wars DVDs all evening, and I couldn't be happier with them.  I felt all warm & fuzzy inside when I saw how clear and crisp the video quality is, and the sound quality is great as well.

I'll definately be watching them some more over the rest of the week, although I might take breaks for the season premiere of CSI and the series finale of CSI New York.


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## Truth Seeker (Sep 22, 2004)

Hmmmm...oh well, that is George for ya.

On the soundtrack remix, that was done on purpose, no glitch, caught an article on that somewhere earlier today, the speaker express that it was done to see if people were just watching the film, and not listening to the background sound as well. (I honestly have no IDEA why they did that)

And speaking of soundtracks, they also redid, the entire ablums of the music, so I was told by someone at work, who bought their's at the midnight hour...$$$...ah, again, you have to love George...


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Sep 22, 2004)

Just finishing up RotJ now...ahh, these are wonderful to see again, and they look and sound AMAZINGLY good. Commentaries are nice, too. 

And just remember everyone: The Wookie has no pants.


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## Krieg (Sep 22, 2004)

I'll just sit here and watch my theatrical realease versions on LD thank you very much. *hmph*

*muttering incoherently to self*


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## Pants (Sep 22, 2004)

Dark Psion said:
			
		

> In Jedi, the Rancor scene looks so much better and they added a Naboo scene at the end, but I can't help but notice how "muppety" most of the aliens look in this movie. It's a pity they didn't use CGI to fix them. Well, we can save that for the next extra special, super duper, bonus mega DVD edition.



Am I the only one who prefers the muppets over the CGI?

Anyways, I bought the DVD's today and while I haven't had time to watch ANY of them yet, I will do so tomorrow.  I did watch the entire Hoth battle though and man, I feel like a little kid again. 

It has been so long since I've watched ESB and RotJ, mostly because my VHS copies were missing the first 20 minutes of both movies AND they were in bad condition.

So far... I'm very happy I purchased them.


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## driver8 (Sep 22, 2004)

Pants said:
			
		

> Am I the only one who prefers the muppets over the CGI?
> 
> Anyways, I bought the DVD's today and while I haven't had time to watch ANY of them yet, I will do so tomorrow.  I did watch the entire Hoth battle though and man, I feel like a little kid again.
> 
> ...




Nope I like the muppets too. Even today the work done by Frank Oz and co are still amazing for the depth of potrayal they convey. At least GL seems to respect that.

Im pleased too, I gotta say. Im by no means a Sw fanboy but I havent seen the trilogy for years except for Ep IV on TV. The minor changes are to me well minor, and Im getting off the GL bashing wagon as of now. I even liked the sheepish look Anakin's force ghost gave-Im not a prequel fan, but it seemed to fit completely with the (good) Anakin's character somehow.

(ok slight hijack)To me the prequels are unecessary, and almost since we know how the story will turn out are doomed to disappoint fans. Its almost a no win situation. But for me with this new digital cleaned up version of the Original Trilogy, I forgive. (end hijack)

One question though:  I never saw Jedi SE. Was the end Ewok celebration music changed for it or for ths version? Myself I like it sooo much better.


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## David Howery (Sep 22, 2004)

While we're on the subject... do you guys regard the two prequels as really bad movies?  Or only bad in comparison with the original trilogy? They always struck me as visually stunning movies that suffered from lackluster acting and poor scripting (although the story plots are pretty good).  I certainly agree that they don't stack up to the originals, but I never thought they were godawful "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad.  How do you think they would have fared if Lucas had been given the authority to film the whole thing in chronological order and Episode 1 was the first one released?


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## Ranger REG (Sep 22, 2004)

Picked it up today ($40 at CompUSA). I just finished watching the documentary DVD. Many of the features are decent including the main documentary (_Empire of Dreams_) but I wish they added more outtakes and blooper clips.

I may have to recheck my connection but for some reasons, the closed caption isn't in-sync with the vocal dialogue. Sometimes my TV's built-in decoder couldn't translate the dialogue (you get those funny characters). Fortunately, the movie DVDs offer English subtitle option.

Let you know the rest.


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## Psychotic Dreamer (Sep 22, 2004)

I watched them through today and am quite happy with them.  I had no problems with the audio or any of the alterations.  I also enjoy the prequels a great deal.  I loved the Empire of Dreams documentary.  When I started watching it I didn't realize it was nearly 2 and a half hours long.  I also enjoyed watching all the trailers and TV spots.  All in all I must say this was a great investment and will be getting a lot of watching.

Back when I used to have a reliable VCR and consider VHS to be the height of video quality I watched all three movies each weekend.  After I switched everything over to DVD I just couldn't deal with watching the VHS's.  It had nothing to do with the quality of the video or anything, but just hated having to fast forward and such.  So for a long time I haven't watched the movies.  It was very nice to get back into watching them.  While I doubt I will return to watching them everyweek, I do know I will watch them more frequently.  Now I just have to wait for Episode III to come out and be on DVD.  Then I can sit down and do a marathon and watch them all.  That'll be nice.


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## Ranger REG (Sep 22, 2004)

I just got to viewing the most controversial, most talked-about scene: The Han-Greedo shootout. Thanks to DVD, I was able to slow down the scene to 1/32 normal speed and found that Greedo actually shot first, and by the time his shot was deflected upward, Han's first shot left the barrel of his pistol. Which is then followed by the fatal second shot.

At normal speed, you wouldn't catch it in your naked eyes, and believed that they both shot at about the same time.

So there you have it. Greedo shot first. I still prefer the Han shot first scene as soon as Greedo entered the cantina and his only line was, "What the...?" That and the deleted Han-Leia rape scene in _Episode V._


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## KenM (Sep 22, 2004)

I picked them up. My one main gripe is THEY LEFT OUT THE SCENE WITH LUKE AND BIGGS ON TATTOINE. DVD is the perfect format to put it in. They could have had it in a deleted scene section. I just want to see the scene. I can't understand why they left it out. 
I can't remember, but did they keep the little dialogue changes that they did for the SE's or did they put the orginal lines back in?


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## Barendd Nobeard (Sep 22, 2004)

David Howery said:
			
		

> but I never thought they were godawful "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad.




Actually, Natalie Portman *is* _godawful "Plan 9 from Outer Space" bad_ in the prequels.  I have no idea why this woman is critically acclaimed as an actress.  She's horrible.  I really want to like her; really, I do.  She seems like a very nice person when I see her in interviews.  But her performances (in both Star Wars films, anyway) are so wooden that any movie she is in now goes onto my "never watch it" list.  Except for Star Wars III, because I am a completist and will see it no matter who's in it.

In fact, she's so bad, she makes Jake Lloyd (or whatever the brat's name was) look competent as an actor.


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## Villano (Sep 22, 2004)

David Howery said:
			
		

> While we're on the subject... do you guys regard the two prequels as really bad movies?  Or only bad in comparison with the original trilogy? They always struck me as visually stunning movies that suffered from lackluster acting and poor scripting (although the story plots are pretty good).  I certainly agree that they don't stack up to the originals, but I never thought they were godawful "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad.




Attack of the Clones is a mediocre film.  It has some good action moments, but half the cast can't rise above the bad writing and direction.  Hayden Christensen is truly awful, but I haven't seen any of his other work to determine if he's just a bad actor or suffered from bad direction.

It's sad to say, but AotC is weakest when dealing with the leads.  

Phantom Menace is not "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad, it's worse.  Ed Wood had only a couple thousand dollars (if that) and a few days to shoot.  Lucas had years to think about and write the script, a cast of great actors (aside from Jake Lloyd, who is the worst child actor I've ever seen), an ungodly amount of money, and a top notch special effects people.   There's no reason it should have been as terrible as it was.




> How do you think they would have fared if Lucas had been given the authority to film the whole thing in chronological order and Episode 1 was the first one released?




Considering that TPM is the worst film of the lot, I doubt there would have been sequels, especially when you consider the only good thing about it were the special effects (which would not have been as good if it had been made in the '70s).


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## Tom Cashel (Sep 22, 2004)

I've only watched ANH so far...

I also noticed the matte lines on the TIE fighters during the escape from the Death Star. Why wouldn't they clean that up?? Darn it.

Another change no one has mentioned: what's with that spooooky sound Obi-Wan makes to scare off the Tusken raiders? It's completely different from what it used to be...probably to differentiate it from the Tusken raider/bantha grunts. No problem with it, just noting.

I also enjoyed watching the film with prequel Anakin in mind. I've heard it griped that Anakin is way too much of a whiny biatch to become Darth Vader. Not so! Vader's ranting and yelling in ANH is pretty biatchy. "Tarkin's holding me back! He doesn't want me to reach my potential!" would not be out of place. Nice job, GL!


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## Sakzilla (Sep 22, 2004)

The pictures and sounds are awesome.  I too noticed the change in Obi's Krayt Dragon yell - it's just different.  The speeder looks really good (the fuzz and shim is gone) and the panoramics of Mos Eisley are great.

The really fantastic part of the DVDs?  Switch the audio to French and skip to ANH track 5 - Leia's confrontation on the Tantive IV with Vader.         OMG - It starts "Darkkktk Vader" and rolls on til we get to _his_ voice.  Buwahahahahahaha...The Empire is so not scary in French!


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## Ranger REG (Sep 22, 2004)

Too bad they don't have Japanese language option. I can just imagine watching _Star Wars_ as a chanbara (samurai) genre movie. I know the movie is inspired by Akira Kurosawa's _Hidden Fortress_ but I can't help but wonder what it would be if they have added more Japanese motif.


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## Chorn (Sep 23, 2004)

Truth Seeker said:
			
		

> On the soundtrack remix, that was done on purpose, no glitch, caught an article on that somewhere earlier today,




You're probably thinking of the postings up at The Digital Bits.

The first one wherein the problems are discovered
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa94.html#ep4audio

Lucasfilm's denial of any problems
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa94.html#audup


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## Remathilis (Sep 23, 2004)

I love them, new scenes and all.

But I don't like the fact Luke's Saber is "white" on the Falcon in A New Hope. It actually turns green for a little while.  

Otherwise, near perfect.


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## Dark Psion (Sep 23, 2004)

Pants said:
			
		

> Am I the only one who prefers the muppets over the CGI?
> 
> Anyways, I bought the DVD's today and while I haven't had time to watch ANY of them yet, I will do so tomorrow.  I did watch the entire Hoth battle though and man, I feel like a little kid again.
> 
> ...




No, I am glad they didn't mess witht the TaunTauns, Yoda or the Rancor (other than cleaning up tthe Matte lines). It's the design of far too many of the aliens in Jedi, you can see that they are made of "Muppet Foam-Rubber" (Patent Pending), especially in the hands.

As to Episodes 1 & 2, my bigest complaint is that they are almost the same movies as 4 & 5. Tatooine, a kid named Skywalker fires the killing shot, bounty hunters & asteroids.

Most fans will tell you that Empire is the best of all the movies, but this is because it is such a great sequel to Star Wars. The characters, the story and the universe evolves and grows into a greater story. And the ending with the Empire "wining" makes you really want to see the next movie.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Sep 23, 2004)

ESB is definitely my favorite of the five movies thus far.  The Battle for Hoth, asteroid field, Yoda training, the desperate feeling that the good guys might lose, the feeling of relief at the end, the anxious waiting for three years to find out if (1) Han Solo would survive, and (2) if Vader really was Luke's father.

I've heard that for the DVD they changed the Emperor's lines in ESB so that you learn that Vader really is Luke's father well before the confrontation in Cloud City.  True/not true?

If true, I might skip the DVDs and just get my theatrical release VHS converted to DVD.  Changing the Greedo/Han scene was a sin; I'd rather Lucas not mess with other dramatic scenes.


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## Tarrasque Wrangler (Sep 23, 2004)

Olgar Shiverstone said:
			
		

> I've heard that for the DVD they changed the Emperor's lines in ESB so that you learn that Vader really is Luke's father well before the confrontation in Cloud City. True/not true?



 I haven't gotten around to watching the movies yet, but this can't possibly be true, can it?  I mean, that's one of the greatest reveals in movie history!  I'll forgive Lucas a lot, but if he changed something like that then I might have to make a little trip out to Marin County with some orderlies...


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## driver8 (Sep 23, 2004)

Not sure I watched it yesterday, 



Spoiler



and he refers to Luke as Anakin Skywalkers son- says he can not eb allowed to become a Jedi, and then Vader puts for th the plan to turn him


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## billd91 (Sep 23, 2004)

I picked up the DVDs today (hey, I've got 2 kids and my old tapes are starting to show their wear). I watched Star Wars and, having just watched the old classic version a little while ago, I think there might be some noticeable pacing differences during the attack on the Death Star that do not favor the updated version. I'll have to try playing them in parallel with a second television to be sure.
And Greedo's shot in the canteena? Lame. Totally lame. I liked it much better when you weren't sure what was going on. I had always just assumed that Han shot Greedo under the table to prevent Greedo from getting a shot off and that maybe, _maybe_ Greedo's blaster happened to discharge as well. Greedo actually hitting the wall with his blaster shot was really cheesy.
I'll have to watch the rest of it over the next couple of days. I'll be happy to have DVDs when my youngest goes through his phase of having to watch things over and over again (Yay for no rewinding!), but I can't help but feel disappointed in the declining quality of the movies in almost everything except special effects since their original releases. I'm not very satisfied with the sound mix, the additional clutter on the streets of Mos Eisley disrupting the central focus of the action, the changes in pacing of some stretches of the movies, the peripheral stuff around the story that helps to fill-out a movie-watching experience.


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## Tarrasque Wrangler (Sep 23, 2004)

driver8 said:
			
		

> Not sure I watched it yesterday,
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 Oh, that was always in there (I think).


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## KenM (Sep 23, 2004)

I have not watched the ESB DVD yet. But I know there was a line with Vader and Emperor in the older versons:
  Emperor:  The son of Skywalker must not survive.
     Vader:   If he could be turned, he could be a powerful ally.


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## Sakzilla (Sep 23, 2004)

The Emporer has a totally different look (like Palpatine) and the dialogue goes on a lot longer.  They talk about the new disterbance in the Force as being the son of Anakin Skywalker.  They never say it is Darth Vader's kid.  But theoretically, you will have seen Ep III before Ep V once it is all done, and unless we really get cheated on the whole Brat-to-DV conversion, we'll already know this.

I don't know how else they could have done this.  I did notice Vader's shoulders slump a bit, thinking "Another paternity suit?  Man I gotta get out of some of this child support!"


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## Arnwyn (Sep 23, 2004)

The DVDs are pretty decent, with some problems that others mentioned.

But, no DTS-ES sound...    (DD 5.1 EX is good, but it's no DTS-ES.)


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## Keeper of Secrets (Sep 23, 2004)

So do you think that other than the old tapes we may still hang on to the only future evidence of Han shooting first will be lost?


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## ToddSchumacher (Sep 24, 2004)

I agree with this.


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## mojo1701 (Sep 24, 2004)

ToddSchumacher said:
			
		

> I agree with this.




Oh, absolutely right!


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## Dark Jezter (Sep 24, 2004)

ToddSchumacher said:
			
		

> I agree with this.



 It's funny because it's true.


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## Guilt Puppy (Sep 24, 2004)

Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> Actually, Natalie Portman *is* _godawful "Plan 9 from Outer Space" bad_ in the prequels.  I have no idea why this woman is critically acclaimed as an actress.  She's horrible.




It's because back when she did _The Professional_, she really impressed everyone in that "wow, most kids can't act nearly so well." But then she grew up, and while she still acts well for a twelve-year-old, she's not twelve any more, and it stinks. It's just people remember when she impressed them so much the first time around, so they stay with that first impression... Same reason Haley Joel Osmont (or however you spell it) is still around.

Anyway, the thing that pisses me off about the special edition isn't just that it's "ruining my childhood memories" -- although it does come back to that -- it's that they're unwatchable, and a cheap marketing ploy. You _know_ that in 2-6 years he's going to release an unedited version. The logic is this:

- The people who don't care will buy the first version that comes out, and then go on not caring.
- The people who want the unedited will still probably buy the first one that comes out, regardless, and _then_ the unedited one if they release that.
- The people who want the Special Edition would do the same if he released them in that order, but those people are actually a lot fewer than the purists, so it makes more sense to release them in this particular order.

The wait between releases? Just a way of creating an artificial sense of scarcity to increase demand... It's crap, cheap corporatism, and kills any last thread of artistic legitimacy Lucas and his films has.

At this point, I have as much affection for Star Wars as I do for WalMart or Starbuck's. It's just a big, dumb machine that wants to get my or anyone's money.

The deathblow came when I tried watching the first movie (I did _not_ buy this release, I should mention), thinking that it would still appeal to some sort of sentimentality. But whenever I came close to that (it's not that easy to begin with, considering that the movies, especially the first one -- the only one Lucas directed -- are actually pretty bad, through adult eyes), there would be some scene that popped at as new, "digitally enhanced," and glaringly out-of-place.

My objection isn't that he's "messing with my memories" -- if the changes were subtle, I wouldn't care... In fact, I'm sure there were some I didn't notice. But these CG sequences (which are so shoddy by CG standards that they look worse than most of the original effects), with all these weird sweeping camera movements which don't occur anywhere else... It's not that they disagree with my memory, it's that they're just _*downright bad filmmaking.*_ No one with any cinematic sense would produce a film from scratch which was so aesthetically inconsistent... If they redid every effect with shoddy CG, and gave every shot this wild, drunken movement, it might still be watchable -- but hopping back and forth between muppets and rigid, flat scenes and this other, New Lucas style... They destroy my ability to suspend disbelief, which makes all the other flaws (horrible dialog, poorly-directed acting, et cetera) stand out all the worse.

As an example, the whole "who shot first" thing with Greedo? As a relative non-fan, I'd never been aware of the debate; watching the new release, though, that shot seemed really really unnatural. It just didn't look right, and broke my suspension of disbelief, yadda yadda, so later I go consult the internet (which, I was correct in assuming, is teeming with talk of the changes, although I still can't find a real compilation of everything that was altered), and first learn about the whole debate. 

Ugh.

When the Special Edition first hit theatres, it was interesting, if only as a novelty -- now, that novelty has long worn off, and what remains is a mangled chunk of something that _cannot_ be enjoyed as a movie. I have no interest in owning this set of DVDs, and won't buy the unedited version when it comes out -- partly because I disagree with the whole marketing strategy, on principle, but mainly because I just no longer have any interest in the series, (save for venting my frustration at its loss  ). With all the crap about six more or no, three more now, and Natalie Portman, and kiddie appeal and merrrrhcand-ising! and midichlorians and Greedo-shoots-first and ugly CG and sweeeeeping camera shots and....... If I have any sentimental affection for the series left, it's buried far too deep under all of that to be worth digging up.

Congratulations, George Lucas. Like the Lakota who found use for every part of the buffalo, have managed to be completely wasteless in dismantling your greatest cultural contribution for profit.

When I think about it, there's something sort of admirable about that, in an Andy Warhol sort of sense.


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## driver8 (Sep 24, 2004)

Ok my Star Wars comic offering. Not as funny PvP's but humorous.

http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/


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## driver8 (Sep 24, 2004)

Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> Actually, Natalie Portman *is* _godawful "Plan 9 from Outer Space" bad_ in the prequels.  I have no idea why this woman is critically acclaimed as an actress.  She's horrible.  I really want to like her; really, I do.  She seems like a very nice person when I see her in interviews.  But her performances (in both Star Wars films, anyway) are so wooden that any movie she is in now goes onto my "never watch it" list.  Except for Star Wars III, because I am a completist and will see it no matter who's in it.
> 
> In fact, she's so bad, she makes Jake Lloyd (or whatever the brat's name was) look competent as an actor.




Myself Id have to disagree. Ms Portman seems a reasonably skilled actress. She has been in a Woody Allen film (Everybody Says I Love you), Cold Mountain, and most recently Garden State.  My opinion, but I wouldnt fault her.

The Star Wars films have had so many great actors in them - and few really outshine the pretty stilted dialouge that GL put forth. Heck even Alec Guiness seems to struggle to put some life into his rather small part (rather succesfully) and poor Liam Neeson comes across as slightly comatose since he has to be reserved in control and speak those terrible words.


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## beeber (Sep 24, 2004)

i agree with guilt puppy.  

off to originaltrilogy.com for me.


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## Kai Lord (Sep 24, 2004)

I think the new DVD's are great, the only alteration I didn't really care for was the extra footage in the Mos Eisley cantina:

http://www.livemike.com/demos/Jedi_Cantina_Dance.mov


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## Tom Cashel (Sep 24, 2004)

Guilt Puppy said:
			
		

> Anyway, the thing that pisses me off about the special edition isn't just that it's "ruining my childhood memories"...it's that they're unwatchable[.]




(I imagine this is going to be tough to understand, but...)

"I couldn't stand to watch it" and plain old "unwatchable" are completely different things.

See, you have to open the DVD player first, and then insert the disc. Only then are they watchable.


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## billd91 (Sep 24, 2004)

driver8 said:
			
		

> Myself Id have to disagree. Ms Portman seems a reasonably skilled actress. She has been in a Woody Allen film (Everybody Says I Love you), Cold Mountain, and most recently Garden State.  My opinion, but I wouldnt fault her.
> 
> The Star Wars films have had so many great actors in them - and few really outshine the pretty stilted dialouge that GL put forth. Heck even Alec Guiness seems to struggle to put some life into his rather small part (rather succesfully) and poor Liam Neeson comes across as slightly comatose since he has to be reserved in control and speak those terrible words.




I have to agree. If Lucas can so badly mishandle good actors like Ewan MacGregor, Liam Neeson, and Samuel L. Jackson, what chance do fairly decent actors like Natalie Portman and new actors like Jake Lloyd have?


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## KenM (Sep 25, 2004)

Some good Dork Towers this week about the new DVDs. 

http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/


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## Gnarlo (Sep 25, 2004)

Picked up the disks today, and am about half way through ANH right now.

Couple of nits:

Does it seem to anyone that the movie is darker than it should be? I got out my old VHS tapes and they are much brighter than the DVD is. I had to turn up the brightness on my TV some to keep details from turning to black in some scenes, and even turned up it still doesn't get as distinct as the old tapes. Aging in the master copies, perhaps?

I agree with a couple of complaints I've read, Mos Eisley is unnecessarily busy at times, it's distracting. A perfect example is when the troops walk up the the land speeder in the "aren't the droids you're looking for scene". While they are first stopping it and starting to speak, stuff KEEPS WALKING BETWEEN THEM AND THE CAMERA, including one of those big fat giraffe thingies, obscuring the entire focus of the scene. I have to wonder what the hell the rationale was for that.

And the Cantina controversy.  No, not _that_ one  , my own personal one: when the little bat headed alien is getting his drink at the bar, turns his head, and you can see in the eye on the left side of his head and out the eye hole on the other side of his head. It's one of those things that stick in my head, I saw it on screen back in 77 and everytime I see the Cantina scene, my mind is going "ok, wait for it, here comes the hollow headed bat monster.... NOW.... ok, back to enjoying the movie"     I would have thought that with all the other changes they made in the movie, someone would surely picked up on and fixed that one; I mean they removed Wolfie for gods' sake.

That's it so far, other than those couple of things, I'm having a great time. Intermission over, back to the film.


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## Guilt Puppy (Sep 25, 2004)

Tom Cashel said:
			
		

> (I imagine this is going to be tough to understand, but...)
> 
> "I couldn't stand to watch it" and plain old "unwatchable" are completely different things.
> 
> See, you have to open the DVD player first, and then insert the disc. Only then are they watchable.




You're right! Your intentional refusal to read the obviously intended context of my _freaking Star Wars rant_ (which is to say, opinion) really does make me an idiot! You sure are superior to me.

If you wanted to make me feel stupid, you should have just pointed out the fact that I'd posted a _freaking Star Wars rant._ Intentionally failing to understand a literary device so basic it barely deserves to be called a literary device... That's just begging me to give you a hard time, and I'm too unemployed and angry not to play along.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Sep 25, 2004)

Interesting thoughts on Ms. Portman's acting ability (from both sides of the debate).

In her defense, I have only seen her in the Star Wars prequels.*  And, yes, the dialogue isn't the best and the director's handling of the actors makes wet cardboard out of most performers in the prequels.  Oh, I just check the IMDB.  I also saw "Mars Attacks!" in which she wasn't the worst performer (which isn't saying much--that movie is horrible).

Against that, however, is that she is just so horribly bad in SW I & II that I'd rather spend my $4 rental on something that interests me, rather than an attempt to appreciate an actress whose performances so far made me cringe.

So, for Natalie Portman, her only chance at redemption (for me) is SW III.  I ain't holdin' my breath, but since I'm not a famous film critic, I won't hurt her career by disparaging her lack of talent.  On an rpg-message board.

Well, maybe I'll just rent '"The Professional" and revel in her professional beginning (and peak?) as an actress.





*I can't watch Woody Allen films since he started sleeping with his "step-daughter" (who now his wife).  And I couldn't bring myself to see "Cold Mountain" even though I usually like all three actors who were the leads--it just looked like a boring pile of crap to me (and I didn't want to waste 2 hours watching Rene Zelwegger play the bastard love child of Popeye and Granny Clampett).  And I wanted to see "Garden State"--but my movie viewing time is limited and the only current pictures I'll get to the theater to see are probably "Shaun of the Dead" and the Universal horror classics playing at my neighborhood theater for the first two weeks of October.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Sep 25, 2004)

A quick question on RotJ.

Is this the *third* version of the musical number in Jabba's place?

My favorite is the original.  The extended version video had (I thought) a very slow, soul-ful number, which I hated.

The DVD number seems faster and more up-tempo than I remember from my old SE video.

Am I senile?  Or did Lucas change the number again?  No biggie; he still doesn't know what he's doing and I miss "Lapti Nek" (or whatever the original song was).


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## Krieg (Sep 25, 2004)

Guilt Puppy said:
			
		

> You're right! Your intentional refusal to read the obviously intended context of my _freaking Star Wars rant_ (which is to say, opinion) really does make me an idiot! You sure are superior to me.



Having a bad day GP?


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## Guilt Puppy (Sep 25, 2004)

Bad month. I was a much better human being before I quit smoking and left CA.

Hopefully, if I'm snippy, it at least comes across as well-intentioned on some level... Parading my misdirected frustration about for the amusement of others, as it were. In the best of all possible worlds


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## Ranger REG (Sep 25, 2004)

Gnarlo said:
			
		

> Does it seem to anyone that the movie is darker than it should be?



Not to me. Despite my old TV not being hi-def, I made adjustment to the video using the THX video test included with the DVD.


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## Tom Cashel (Sep 25, 2004)

Guilt Puppy said:
			
		

> You're right! Your intentional refusal to read the obviously intended context of my _freaking Star Wars rant_ (which is to say, opinion) really does make me an idiot! You sure are superior to me.
> 
> If you wanted to make me feel stupid, you should have just pointed out the fact that I'd posted a _freaking Star Wars rant._ Intentionally failing to understand a literary device so basic it barely deserves to be called a literary device... That's just begging me to give you a hard time, and I'm too unemployed and angry not to play along.




I'll guess hyperbole.

But I'm giggling too much to even bother to figure out what you're on about.

"Literary devices" in a Star Wars rant...and is it any mystery to you why you're angry and unemployed?


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## Guilt Puppy (Sep 25, 2004)

Thanks for repeating me, Tom. You sure nailed me.


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## Hypersmurf (Sep 26, 2004)

And that's about enough of that.

Let's cut the sniping, guys.

-Hyp.
(Moderator)


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## Trainz (Sep 26, 2004)

Man...

 Me, my wife, and two of my friends just watched the whole thing today.

 After RotJ, we looked at each other, and said "that's IT ?".

 The only thing I really liked is in ESB, the new emperor in the holo with DV. That was very cool. And luke not screaming when falling in ESB. That's a good fix (it was like that originally *anyways*...).

 I have about 10 to 20 or so nitpicks (some of which have been mentioned), so the list is too long to type here.

 Some stuff that was awful they left in, some stuff that was good they changed. It's actually worse than the previous re-release.

 Very disapointed.

 If you make a sales pitch saying the movie will be much better, at least deliver. Since TPM I gave up on GL, and with each new thing he does/touches/massacres he loses more and more respect from me. 

 Still, I have hopes that Ep. 3 will be the best (as in less worse) of the prequels.


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## Truth Seeker (Sep 26, 2004)

Hmmmm...between the pos and the negs view.

Me buying it with Man on Fire, Passion of Christ...just for $80.00 total...I guess it was a good deal.


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## Gizzard (Sep 27, 2004)

I wasn't planning on picking up this boxed set; the funny thing was that I automatically assumed that if Lucas had re-editted the films yet again he had probably done something new and horrible while he was at it.  But when the biggest things people were complaining about where Anakin's ghost Photoshopped into the final sequence and another re-tinker with the already bastardized Greedo v. Han sequence; well I decided to give it a spin.  It helped that Best Buy had it for less than $45 and they gave you soda, popcorn and doritos when you bought it.  ;-)  So, a few thoughts on Episode IV.02 : 

1) The new digital Mos Eisely didn't bother me when I saw it in the theater, but it sure gets old quick on DVD.  There's always some gargantuan beast grunting or howling in the background or doing something distracting.  Probably a good object lesson for Filmmaking 101 classes about focus on the story at hand.

2) The Greedo v. Han thing sucks less than the first re-release, but the effect still looks terrible.  I can live with the simultaneous shooting, but is it worth putting in a bad effect to tinker with this scene?  I was hoping this would be less bad, but it is not.

3) Commentary tracks I: Lucas, Carrie Fischer and the effects & sound guys.  Hmmm.  Lucas has to fill the whole commentary by himself pretty much, I think the sound guy has the second most to say.  One more cool participant would have made a world of difference.  Maybe I am spoiled by "Fight Club" and "LotR" which have exceptional commentary tracks.  

4) Commentary tracks II: It's funny listening to Lucas talk about the film; he spends a lot of his time talking about the overarching the themes of the movie rather than what's on the screen at the moment.  There's only so much material to mine there, so he tends to ramble and repeat himself a bit.  He does give a mysterious, implausible and unnecessary explanation of why Han says "parsecs" though.  It reminded me of a friend who never wants to admit he is wrong, so he spins a complex scenario instead of just saying "I didn't know what a parsec was, but it sounded cool, so that's what I wrote.  Live with it, it's just a movie."  

5) Overall I enjoyed the DVD, I'd really rather have the originals, but when it comes right down to it these things are 97% faithful which is good enough.


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## Gez (Sep 27, 2004)

Heh. I've VHS tapes of the original release (I was well inspired to buy them way back then when it was advertised with "For the last time in their original version"). Except for changing the ESB emperor with one that looks like the Emperor, none of the changes done were needed.

I never saw the special edition, and I'll only see this new special special edition if one of my friends buy the DVDs and lend them to me.


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## Tom Cashel (Sep 27, 2004)

Dept. of Useless and Puzzling Changes:

When the swamp creature spits out R2-D2 in ESB, Luke runs over and now says in a dubbed-sounding voice, "You were lucky to get out of there," instead of the original "You're lucky you don't taste very good," which at least had a little zing to it. Ho hum.


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## Kai Lord (Sep 27, 2004)

Hey Tom,

1997 called, it wants its dead horse back.


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## John Crichton (Sep 27, 2004)

Heh.  I love "X called" jokes.

Anywho - I'll comment after I watch the durned things.  Not enough time these days...


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## Tom Cashel (Sep 27, 2004)

Kai Lord said:
			
		

> Hey Tom,
> 
> 1997 called, it wants its dead horse back.




Oh, did they make that change in '97? I only saw that version once, in the theater, blitzed to the gills on Colorado flower.

I'm only postin' 'em as I notice 'em.

...And I am no longer taking calls from the last millenium; please make a note of it.


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## Kai Lord (Sep 28, 2004)

Tom Cashel said:
			
		

> Oh, did they make that change in '97?



Yeah, the "lucky you got outta there" line was the original scripted take, and the "don't taste very good" line was an on-set ad lib by Mark Hamill that they originally used instead.

When Ben Burtt went back to the original sound recordings for the 1997 restoration, he chose the former because the audio quality held up better than the other line.  In fact, I read that he was surprised that the line was actually different.

It ended up happening a couple other times in the trilogy as well (Han's "its all right, trust me" changed to "its all right I can see a lot better", etc.)


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## KnowTheToe (Sep 29, 2004)

I have only watched ANH, but I am very happy with it.  After all it is stil the same movie I grew up on, all of the small things we nitpick really don't impact the film.  The large groups of new youg fans prove that every time they chime in and call us old folks Mr. cabapple about complaining on how things "used to be".  


Anyway, I wish only Han shot, but in the long run it makes absoluely no difference.  He has enough lines about being in it for the money that we still see his character grow.


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## Kai Lord (Sep 29, 2004)

KnowTheToe said:
			
		

> Anyway, I wish only Han shot, but in the long run it makes absoluely no difference.  He has enough lines about being in it for the money that we still see his character grow.



Exactly.

"But they're gonna kill her!"

"Better her than me."

And characters missed randomly easy shots in the original Star Wars all the time.  Ever notice that when the Stormtroopers show up at the Mos Eisley docking bay one of Han's first blaster shots hits the CEILING above their heads?  Nice shot there, spaz.

And then there's the Death Star detention area.  When the Stormtroopers blast that narrow opening in the door Han and Chewie should have been able to tag about half a dozen of them the way they all lined up and carefully stepped through the opening.  They hit ONE.

Luke and Han also manage to miss some pretty easy shots when the Stormtroopers are chasing them through the Death Star hallways.

But that's just part of the charm of Star Wars.  The _biggest_ problem I had with the Han/Greedo change was when they muted Han saying "Yeah" right before "I'll bet you have" because it so horribly broke up the flow of his sentence and you could still see him mouthing the word.

The choppy blaster fire was a close second.

But they streamlined the blaster fire, put the "Yeah" back in, and now its okay.  Not as good as it used to be, but at least it doesn't call attention to itself anymore.

If you were watching it for the first time you'd just think Greedo had a "Pulp Fiction" moment where the guy burst out of the closet and missed John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson at point blank range before being wasted.

Its not a big deal.  At all.

The absolutely _jaw droppingly_ beautiful restoration of the picture quality is _much_ more noteworthy.  Amazing.


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