DVD Review *** Official HTF REVIEW & Discussion Thread: Star Wars Trilogy, pt. 1 (1 Viewer)

[David Galindo]

Seems like a meager question, but I will ask anyways: Does the XBOX demo of Battlefront included on disc 4 an Xbox Live demo, or single player offline only?



Awesome review, thanks!

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Nice Michael! That was way more thorough than I had expected it to be.

I do have a question about the audio though. Quote -

"Note that this is not a problem with the Star Wars DVDs but a hardware issue. This doesn’t happen with DTS-ES discrete (unfortunately not included on these DVDs)"

If all of the 5.1 channels were corrected encoded on the DVD's, how can it be the fault of the hardware (receiver), (assuming it has been calibrated, of course). I am asking because I can't help but wonder if a 2.0 soundtrack would sound better - more level (even if you are missing the 3.1).

Glenn

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

quote:The films are most definitely NOT like the '97 SE's in terms of audio, and there are a LOT of new sound effects. Too many to list.

Tell me about it. I have 4 pages of notes regarding changes to the sound of "The Movie Formerly Known as Star Wars".



Neil

 

[Haden]

You planning to post those notes to this thread Neil?

 

[Brent M]

4 pages? Could you give us the condensed version with just the MAJOR audio changes?

 

[Tim Hess]

Great Review!

I can't wait! I just recently watched the first trilogy in July during a trip to China, these of course, we low quality LD to DVD (I know, I know).



I'm very excited to see what has been adjusted. I really hope they went in and fixed the sabers in the Ben/Vader scene before the DS escape, you know the shots I mean

 

[Gruson]

Well, more bad changes IMO.



Ben's new Krayt Dragon call sounds HORRIBLE.



Comparison:

Krayt Dragon





I also prefer the "original" Vader voice compared to the new one in ANH:



Vader voice comparison

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

In a lot of ways, excited about the release, but oh so disappointed that it will not be the original versions.

Excellent review.

Good to know there will be a stronger level of moderation on this thread. Some of the discussion in the other thread, particularly towards the end, was frankly a little bit ugly.

Favourite is Empire, but I have a soft spot for Jedi. While it is the least of the OT, it is the first real movie memory I have - I saw other films before Jedi, but that is the first film I remember seeing.

 

[Dwayne]

Great review, Michael!



Thanks for all the obvious effort you put in to it.

You rock!

 

[John Alderson]

Thanks for the review, up to HTF standards as usual. With this, I think I may stop checking this thread... all the info is out, and none of my personal questions will be answered until I view it myself. 9 days to go!

 

[Dwayne]

quote:Ben's new Krayt Dragon call sounds HORRIBLE.

I agree.



I am starting to just not care about the changes any more. Overall, I am sure that viewing and listening-to these discs will be an enjoyable experience.

 

[Jeff Job]

Great Review!



A question about the trailers. Is the original ANH pre-release trailer a part of the collection?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

quote:You planning to post those notes to this thread Neil?

Of course. I'll probably do it tomorrow.



In the meantime, if anyone wants to hear the controversial music dropped bit, I made up a small comparison between the original mix and this new mix. I'm not sure how some people can say the music is still there. It eventually comes back in, but a major section is missing, and I've played it on everything from laptop speakers to professional headphones and through a properly calibrated 9.1 home theater driven by a computer calibrated Yamaha RX-V9. The music is not there. If you want to hear the AAC file I made, feel free to PM or e-mail me. It's 1.1 MB's.



Neil

 

[Haden]

Hmm... that new Krayt Dragon sound is stupid.... doesn't fit the look of the creature at all. Sounds like a bird call. But then again, it was never specifically stated in the film that he was immitating the Krayt Dragon, so I guess Lucas' revisionist history could claim Obi-Wan is immitating some other creature now.

However I like the new Vader voice... you can really tell how muffled and distorted the original was in comparison. Any chance of posting more Vader audio comparisons? Like from the Obi/Vader duel, or Vader's dialogue in the Imperial boardroom?

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Since there was the discussion about how large the old discussion thread would get, and that was messed up with the dividing of the thread, I have gone back and made the calculations:

The first thread, which goes from 10 February to 1 August, has 7427 posts (excluding the post closing the tread).

The second thread, going from 1 August to today, September 11, has 2988 posts - also excluding the closure post.

This means that a total of 10,415 posts were posted in total on the two closed thread. At 30 posts per page, we have 317 compete pages and five posts on page 318.

Just thought you might like to know.

 

[Ricardo C]

Not crazy about the new Krayt Dragon call (not sure what the point of such a change is, it's not as though it needs to be retrofitted to another work), but I really like the adjusted Vader voice. I always hated how shrill (if JEJ's voice could ever be so described) he sounded compared to his turns in ESB and ROTJ. A very welcome change indeed

 

[Matt Czyz]

Thanks for the review, Michael. Always appreicated. I just wanted to add that I just listened to the commentary for AoTC last night for the first time, and it seemed that every time Ben Burtt spoke, he was talking about how "this sequence would be better with no music". I got real tired of it, quick. I'm now not all surprised to hear that the music mix has been downplayed in favor of SFX for this set. The mp3s (linked in the now closed earliwer SW discussion thread) comparing the new and old "approach to the death star" musical cues were almost heart-breaking to listen to. Many people have said it already, but Mr. Burtt's ego does need to be checked. That said, I'm still purchasing this set ASAP and I am *really* looking foward to the documentary. It sounds absoutely fantastic.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Getting back to the picture quality of these discs, I was under the impression that the rebel troops at the start of Star Wars always wore black vests with gray shirts. They looked like this. However, there are some shots where the shirts are clearly blue, like this one. Sometimes they just change between cuts like here and here. This didn't happen on previous transfers and it certainly didn't happen theatrically. Can this just be poor color correction?

Neil

 

[Tim Glover]

Great review Michael!

To answer your question: My favorite film of the SW-OT is A New Hope. In fact, it's my favorite film of all time. Empire is a very close second. As others have said Empire is indeed deeper, richer, technically superior, but the experience I had viewing Star Wars hasn't been topped.



There were/are too many "Wow" moments in ANH like Luke's Binary Sunset scene that takes this film off the map.

 

[Matt Thompson]

Hmm... I'd have to go with Empire as my favorite of the trilogy, though A New Hope is fantastic in its own right. The binary sunset gets me everytime. ROTJ, while a good film in its own right, is the weakest of the five films thus far, in my mind.