STAR WARS ON BLU-RAY - FALL 2011 - Page 37

Ahhhhh yes those early days of fandom when we had no idea what the heck an EU was. Back when the only Star Wars fix you could get was reading Marvel's monthly Star Wars comic, "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" or the Brian Daley Han Solo novels. You could always get your daily fix reading the daily newpaper strips by Archie Manning, or listening to your LP of "The Story of Star Wars" again, and agin. Then the internets ruined it all...


Yancy

For quite a while, "The Story of Star Wars" was the only place you could hear C3PO's complete line about the oower terminals of the tractor beam.  All the home video versions I had of the movie, including the "original theatrical edition" on the 2006 DVD, cut off the line so that you only hear the last part of "A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." 

 

One thing I appreciated about the 1997 Special Edition was that they put the full line back in.

 

I believe "The Story of Star Wars" was also the only place for a long time where you could hear an ill-fated stormtrooper yell "Close the Blast Doors!" before he gets shot and another trooper yells "Open the Blast Doors! Open the Blast Doors!"   This too was fixed in the 1997 Special Edition.

You are correct sir! There were also alternate takes of lines. I think The Story of Star Wars came from the Mono mix of the film.

Yancy

C-3PO's full line about the tractor beam was also included in the 1985 home video mix (which was used on all the releases from 1985 through 1992) and then left out again in the 1993 THX laserdiscs (and consequently, the 1995 VHS and 2006 DVD releases).

Good grief; this is ridiculous

Easy come, easy go? Looks like it is up to $88 now.

 

 

Yeah, sorta kicking myself for not snagging it earlier today. Instead I waited to see if Amazon would price match. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I'm curious if some of those alternate lines will be included in the deleted footage section. They should put Han shooting first in with the rest of the deleted scenes.

Hey I only just noticed a new picture of the Saga set on the Australian retailer JB Hifi. Now that packaging looks awesome!!! Better than the US version in my opinion! I hate having to get the discs out from some flimsy thing, and this looks much sturdier (like what Australians got for the Alien Anthology).

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/dvd-genres/sci-fi-fantasy/star-wars-the-complete-saga-blu-ray/632224

You guys know the funniest thing ever about the whole Han shoots first debate ?

The one person in this world who couldn't care less about all this is...Greedo herself.

The character was played by a woman here in Montreal,her name is Maria de Aragon,i met her here a couple
of months ago at a convention.

She's a very nice lady,pretty and well-spoken,but i'm pretty sure she hasn't a care in the world for all this.

And of course,i'm on the Han shoots first side.
Hell,i think Han should've shot the whole place when walking out of the cantina,although on his return at the end
Luke would've probably said " Oh great,here comes the serial killer " which would kind of lessen and tarnish the
impact of the ending a lot.

Youtube Episode 5 Blu footage from germany :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfWRSzw33As&feature=relmfu

Looks good - and the sabers actually (gasp!) look correctly coloured in this footage (compared to the clips from last week - some cock-up when putting them online perhaps as opposed to a badly coloured transfer?). Nice! Let's hope the entire saga looks that good then! (the clips from Hoth via the same German source look much better balanced that the 2004 DVDs too...)

She only played Greedo in the insert shots Lucas did back in the U.S. though. What does Paul Blake, who played Greedo on the set in England think?

This is one of my favorite behind the scenes photos from the movie...

She had that one for signing at the convention ,but i got the shot where she's face to face with Lucas but has removed only her Greedo head.

Thanks for the info about Paul Blake.After 30 years you would think you know pretty much everything about the film that started your life.

The guys over at theforce.net have a list of the deleted scenes:

Trash Talking Droids
The Battle Is Over
Anakin's Return
Battle On The Boarding Ramp
Extended Podrace Wager
Bail Organa of Alderaan

Extended Speeder Chase
The Lost Twenty
Anakin's Nightmares
Anakin and Ruwee
Raid On The Droid Control Ship and Extended Arena Fight

Elevator Antics
Escape The Hangar
Changes To The Constitution
Utapau Chase Animatics
Mustafar Duel Animatics
Mustafar Duel
Lava River Animatics
Kashyyyk Attack and Order 66 Animatic
Anakin kills Shaak Ti
Jedi Imposters at the Temple
Senate Duel Anamatic
Yoda Communes with Qui-Gon

Tosche Station
Old Woman on Tatooine
Aunt Beru's Blue Milk
The Search for R2-D2
Cantina Rough Cut
Stormtrooper Search
Darth Vader Widens the Search
Alternate Biggs and Luke Reunion

Han and Leia: Extended Echo Base Argument
Luke's Recovery
Luke and Leia: Medical Center
Deleted Wampa Scenes
The Fate of General Veers
Yoda's Test
Hiding in the Asteroid
Alternate Han and Leia Kiss
Lobot's Capture
Leia Tends to Luke

Vader's Arrival and Reaching Out to Luke
Tatooine Sandstorm
Rebel Raid on the Bunker
Jerjerrod's Conflict
Battle of Endor: The Lost Rebels

That list seems almost too good to be true. It includes some cut scenes that we didn't even think were filmed and were supposedly cut during pre-production/storyboard phases, such as Veers' death in ESB. Wow... I really hope that list isn't a hoax, because it's a Star Wars cut scenes fanatic's dream come true! T'Bone is going to flip!

Interesting that it may include the alternate Bail Organa from TPM. Very curious to finally see Adrian Dunbar's portrayal.

What's even more interesting is the Luke/Leia medical center scene in ESB since it contained a much more passionate kiss between the two (briefly glimpsed in one of the ESB theatrical trailers). I'm surprised Lucas would let that one get included on the set, given the awkward incestuous implications.

Wow... there's so many scenes here I never thought i'd get to see, like the extended Dagobah training, the Wampa raw footage, Anakin killing Shaak Ti in the Jedi Temple, etc.

It looks like that list adds up to 46 total scenes, which is pretty close to the 45 Digital Bits reported a few weeks ago. However, does this mean we won't get the 21 deleted scenes from the prequel DVDs ported over to this set to go with all these new ones? Or do we have to keep the old DVDs just for those scenes? I'm already resigned to keeping the OT DVD set for the Empire of Dreams doc, so I guess we'll be stuck with the prequel DVDs too for everything else that isn't getting ported over.
Edited by Haden - 8/18/11 at 8:51pm

Haden,

This was posted on blu-ray.com in the Star Wars thread and was confirmed to be from spec sheet, listing all the special features. That deleted scenes list from theforce.net is the same as this:

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC View Post
SPECIAL FEATURES DISCS - BREAKDOWN!

Episode I
• Archive Fly-Through
• Naboo
•Interviews
Naboo Overview / Liam Neeson Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes
Trash-Talking Droids / The Battle Is Over / Anakin’s Return
•The Collection
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery
• Tatooine
•Interview
Tatooine Overview / Rick McCallum Interview(Podracers) / Rick McCallum Interview(Filming in Tunisia)
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Battle on the Boarding Ramp / Extended Podrace Wager
•The Collection
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Coruscant:
•Interviews:
Coruscant Overview / George Lucas on Preparing to Write Episode I – 1994
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Bail Organa of Alderaan
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:

Episode II
• Coruscant:
•Interviews:
Coruscant Overview / Ewan McGregor Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Extended Speeder Chase / The Lost Twenty
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Naboo:
•Naboo Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Anakin’s Nightmares / Anakin and Ruwee
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Tatooine
•Tatooine Overview:
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Geonosis:
•Interviews:
Geonosis Overview / Hayden Christensen Interview / Blue Screen Acting
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Raid on the Droid Control Ship and Extended Arena Fight
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:

Episode 3
• Coruscant:
•Interviews:
Coruscant Overview / Samuel L. Jackson Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes
Elevator Antics / Escape Through the Hangar / Changes to the Constitution
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Utapau:
•Utapau Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Utapau Chase Animatics
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Mustafar:
•Interviews:
Mustafar Overview / Natalie Portman Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Mustafar Duel Animatics / Mustafar Duel/Lava River Animatics
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Kashyyyk and Order 66:
•Kashyyyk and Order 66 Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Kashyyyk Attack and Order 66 Animatic / Anakin Kills Shaak Ti / Jedi Imposters
at the Temple / Senate Duel Animatic / Yoda Communes with Qui-Gon
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:


SPECIAL FEATURES

Episode 4
• Archive Fly-Through:
• Tatooine:
•Interviews:
Tatooine Overview / Mark Hamil Interview / Anthony Daniels Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes: »
Tosche Station / Old Woman on Tatooine / Aunt Beru’s Blue Milk /
The Search for R2-D2 / Cantina Rough Cut / Stormtrooper Search
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Aboard the Death Star:
•Interviews:
Aboard the Death Star Overview / Carrie Fisher Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Darth Vader Widens the Search
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• The Battle of Yavin:
•The Battle of Yavin Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Alternate Biggs and Luke Reunion
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:

Episode 5´
• Hoth:
•Interviews:
Hoth Overview / George Lucas on Editing The Empire Strikes Back – 1979 /
Irvin Kershner Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Han and Leia: Extended Echo Base Argument / Luke’s Recovery / Luke and Leia:
Medical Center / Deleted Wampa Scenes / The Fate of General Veers
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Dagobah:
•Interviews:
Dagobah Overview / George Lucas on the Force - 2010
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Yoda’s Test
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Pursued by the Imperial Fleet:
•Pursued by the Imperial Fleet Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Hiding in the Asteroid / Alternate Han and Leia Kiss
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Cloud City:
•Cloud City Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Lobot’s Capture / Leia Tends to Luke
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:

Episode 6
• Tatooine:
•Tatooine Overview:
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Vader’s Arrival and Reaching Out to Luke / Tatooine Sandstorm
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Endor:
•Interviews:
Endor Overview / Harrison Ford Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Rebel Raid on the Bunker
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Death Star Space Battle:
•Death Star Space Battle Overview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes
Jerjerrod’s Conflict / Battle of Endor: The Lost Rebels
•The Collection
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery

• Documentaries:
•The Making of Star Wars: (SD 49 minutes)
•The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX: (SD 48 minutes)
•Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi: (SD 48 minutes)
•Anatomy of a Dewback: (SD 26 minutes)
•Star Warriors: ( SD 84 minutes)
•Star Wars Tech: (HD, 46 minutes)
•A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (HD, 25 minutes)
• Star Wars SpoofsHD, 91 minutes)

What's become more apparent now is that this box set seems to be a companion piece to the existing DVDs, hence exclusion of the previous special features. We're not meant to get rid of the the DVDs if you want the total package of supplement material for the Star Wars Saga. And honestly, I think it's fine. I'm glad we're getting all new stuff (for some people).

Also, here's the breakdown, in terms of minutes, of the special features discs:

Star Wars BD: D7 - The Collection (Episode 1) - [35:30]
Star Wars BD: D7 - The Collection (Episode 2) - [35:15]
Star Wars BD: D7 - The Collection (Episode 3) - [32:20]
Star Wars BD: D7 - Interviews - [69:14]
Star Wars BD: D7 - Boba Fett: First Look - [08:39]
Star Wars BD: D7 - Extended Scenes Ep 1-3 - [46:10]

227:08 [3 hours, 47 min.]

Star Wars BD: D8 - Extended Scenes Ep 4-6 (Part 1) - [27:48]
Star Wars BD: D8 - Extended Scenes Ep 4-6 (Part 2) - [19:33]
Star Wars BD: D8 - Interviews - [63:27]
Star Wars BD: D8 - The Collection (Episode IV) - [21:58]
Star Wars BD: D8 - The Collection (Episode V) - [21:54]
Star Wars BD: D8 - The Collection (Episode VI) - [16:55]

171:35 [2 hours, 52 min.]

Star Wars BD: D9 - The Making Of Star Wars... As Told By C-3PO and R2-D2 - [48:59]
Star Wars BD: D9 - SPFX: The Making Of The Empire Strikes Back - [48:10]
Star Wars BD: D9 - TESB: A Conversation With The Masters Documentary - [25:04]
Star Wars BD: D9 - Classic Creatures - [48:05]
Star Wars BD: D9 - Star Wars Tech - [43:42]
Star Wars BD: D9 - Anatomy Of A Dewback - [26:13]
Star Wars BD: D9 - Star Warriors - [83:59]
Star Wars BD: D9 - Star Wars Spoofs - [96:55]

421:07 [7 hours, 1 min.]

Got to say, even to someone who will be avoiding this release until it's available second-hand on Ebay, those deleted scenes look very enticing indeed - a dream come true! Full marks to Lucasfilm there. Such a pity one has to also pay for Episodes I-III to get them, and there's no way in hell I'm going to put any money into Lucasfilm's bloated account on account of those CGI cartoons no matter how much I want those deleted scenes.

It's also a pity that in the deleted scenes section they didnt have the good will to include the scenes which were excised/changed once the Special Edition process began in 1997 (notice I say began because we have no way of knowing if it's finished yet... and I doubt the tinkering will be until the 3D versions are out there at least). Surely that would have been a nice 'meet the fans halfway' sort of thing to do so at least we got the original trilogy in some form.....

The Force on Bluray - "Own EVERY Moment" - Hmmmm........! Personally I'd class that as false advertising.

Still will look forward to seeing those cut scenes on youtube in the months to come
Edited by johnSM - 8/19/11 at 3:38am

I just about fell off my chair with that exhaustive list of extras.

A pretty nice list of docs in HD too.

You can never give me enough behind the scenes footage from the original trilogy.

I'm looking forward to this one also.

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (HD, 25 minutes)

Yeah and this afternoon I saw in my Local HMV shop in Glasgow the blu ray cases for the various incarnations.

Looking good

Having just watched some of them at Lucasfilm there are some fantastic deleted scenes and they have done a lot of work on the A/V:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/313950/chance-to-talk-to-lucasfilm-about-the-new-star-wars-blu-rays-what-do-you-want-to-know/60  see post 80 if you have been in the thread before.

Thanks for keeping us updated

Mmmmm so yes the picture has been tweaked - great! - but the foundation of these Bluray discs is still a 7/8 year old digital transfer - not so great! Why didn't they do a fresh transfer of the OT from scratch for such an important release?

From the Q&A in the other thread, it sounds like Lucas is still adamant these are the only versions which he'll allow released in high quality. He could have appeased some of the original-era fans by including the unchanged shots from the original trilogy in the deleted scenes sections... but noooo. I was wavering, back/forth on this release for the past few months, but this is a no-buy for me I'm afraid. I'd only watch the deleted scenes then the rest of the set would be gathering dust.

The situation is crazy, as we'll be able to see the original documentaries on this set, for versions of the films which he won't allow released on Bluray!!!

???!?!?!?

Until Lucas see's the value of film preservation (his own!) and actually LISTENS to his audience & releases the original versions (along with the various SEs) with NEW 4K transfers my wallet remains closed. No, he doesn't owe anybody anything, but there is something called 'good will' & understanding. The original audiences fell in love with THOSE versions of the films. Whether he likes it or not Star Wars (circa 1977, NOT 1997) enabled him to build his Empire. Those were the versions we saw & loved for 20 years - I hate the way he now refers to those versions as 'workprints'. He certainly didn't mind the money pouring in from them at the time did he, or the VHS/Laserdisc releases which netted him even more revenue...

Thank God at least Spielberg understands now and will not be tarting up any of his films in the future, and who understands that films are a product of their age, and should be seen as such.

I'm sure these sets will sell extremely well however, and I hope people enjoy 'em.

Exits stage left...

Tweaked picture doesn't necessarily mean better picture and from what I've seen so far, I'm not convinced it will be. And the crushed blacks and clipped whites will be there no matter what they do with it, because they're inherent to the 04 transfer.

And apparently they're adding new sounds into the soundmix again. Why can't they just leave that alone? A 6.1 mix that would have all the same sounds and dialogue as the monomix would be really cool but no, they have to add new background dialogue or whatever and boast about it as if it was something great :-(

And we still don't know if the deleted scenes will be presented in HD (restoration aside - I'm actually glad they're not restored, because the would probably get special editioned along the way).

I'm probably going to wait until the prices drop and then reluctantly buy the set (maybe second hand so that I don't give any more of my money to Lucas for this travesty of a release) just so I can use it for my preservations of the OOT.

Something I've been wondering for a while, and I'm sure others have, too: Why was there a need for such a drastic audio remix for the '04 DVDs in the first place? Was there anything particularly wrong with '97 remixes? They would have had to adjust the timing in a few places to accommodate the new changes, of course, and then adjust things like Boba Fett's new voice, but the bulk of the trilogy already had a perfectly good 5.1 (or possibly 6.1) backing that shouldn't have required too much tweaking to prepare for DVD.

From what I understand, the guys at Lucasfilm were going from the 2K masters done of the original trilogy, but have done a lot with them over the time they've been at this.

I strongly doubt that the masters had crushed blacks and clipped whites.  I think it likelier that the downconversion to 480p for DVD release in 2004 would be the culprit than a problem with the scan.

 

It sounds like they put a lot of time into correcting the color and fixing the glitches they and the fans have been aware of since the 2004 release. 

 

As for the sound mix, there have been multiple mixes done since the original movie's release in 1977.   From Adam's report, it's clear that Matthew Wood spent a lot of time, particularly on the original movie, trying to make the best possible home theater mix.  Both Lucas and Ben Burtt were deeply involved in this process, and from all accounts of this, you won't be hearing crossed channels or any other problems like that. 

 

We'll have to wait and see what the reviews say at release date, but it certainly does not sound like they just took the 2004 files and threw an HD version onto disc for the new release.  From all accounts, a lot of work went into the new Blu-ray release.

 

I think someone said in the Q&A thread that this release could better be thought of as an HD companion release to the 2004 editions.  You keep the DVD editions for the documentaries and extra materials, and you will now have HD picture and sound along with further documentaries and extra materials.

 

It's clear that there will be some people that will not purchase the new set due to the fact that Lucas will not release the original theatrical versions.  For those people, I would suggest renting the additional discs if they should become available, so you can see the deleted scenes, etc.  I have a feeling you may not be able to catch a lot of these scenes on YouTube, since Fox and Lucasfilm will not take kindly to people doing that.  And you should know that if you buy the discs even second hand, you'll still be indirectly contributing to the Lucas coffers.   If you don't want to support the new releases, the only real way to do that is not to buy them at any time.   And you never know - in another 30 years, it's possible that someone could take an opportunity to restore the original cut of Star Wars, in the same way that Walter Murch did the recut of Touch of Evil long after the fact. 

Here’s my thoughts....

 

I am not particularly worried about the original source of masters

used for the Blu-ray transfers IF those who have seen the Blu-ray

say that transfer looks tremendous.

 

Listen, don't get me wrong, I agree it's very sloppy of Lucasfilm

not to render a brand-new HD transfer for films of this magnitude.

My only thoughts are that they felt that it wasn't needed, and perhaps

with good reason. 

 

Adam Gregorich was just out at a Lucasfilm event on Friday and

will be posting his thoughts on the transfer this weekend.  If he feels

the films look stunning on Blu-ray, that is enough for me to make a 

purchase.

 

As far as Lucas not releasing the original theatrical films....

 

My gut feeling is that he will at some point.  I don't feel this is the

last iteration of the Star Wars Trilogy we will see released to the 

home market.  As long as Lucas is withholding material, he will

always have reason to release something better than before.

 

We have all learned this about Lucas:  In the end it's all about

how much money he can make by recirculating his Star Wars

franchise to the home market as many times as he can.  

 

I look forward to hearing from Adam Gregorich and what he

thought of the transfer he watched on Friday.  Look for his 

thoughts to be posted on this forum shortly.

The downconversion was definitely not the culprit of the crushed blacks, as the 1080p broadcasts looked exactly the same in that aspect and so do all the new clips from the Blu-Rays.

And I believe that people who have seen the Blu-Rays and say that they look "tremendous" may be the same people who said exactly the same thing about the 04 DVDs :-(

I'll have to wait and see.

You know he couldn't do that. That would be tantamount to saying, "Here are all the tools for you to assemble your own bootleg editions of the OOT!" I hate that we can't have pristine, new transfers of the OOT, but I guess I've surrendered. I just can't stay worked up about it. I'm just hoping that the "taste good" line is back on the new set (might have been back in '04--I can't remember).

I know everyone says this but it's not really true. In the 14 years of DVD, the original movies had two releases and the prequels had one. Considering how popular Star Wars is and how DVD is the most popular format in history, they've haven't exploited home video at all.

But that's still a financial decision, when to release it and when to hold it back, like with Disney.