TCFHE Press Release: Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Blu-ray) - Page 11

Maul lost because he was stupid. He watched Obi-Wan's lightsaber fall into darkness so when Obi jumped out he was asking himself what this idiot thought he was going to do when, SLICE, there go his legs.

'Twas merely a flesh wound!

The Maul thing probably would have been better if Obi-Wan's move would have been shown quicker or we'd seen something to indicate that Maul was starting his killing blow for Obi-Wan.

I pretty much chalk up all of my problems with the prequels to bad execution.  I think the overall stories are just as strong as the original trilogy.  My biggest disappointment with the prequels is how pretty much 100% of the depth is in the sub-text (it's much more on-the-surface in the original trilogy).  I'd agree with what someone else said that they're not bad movies, but not always good Star Wars movies.  I'd rather watch a bad Star Wars movie 5 times before watching a lot of other movies once.

I've read in the last few days that Maul was supposed to return in Sith as a biocybernetic enemy as a way to foreshadow Darth Vader and to give him a rematch with Obi-Wan.  He was replaced with Grievous.  I don't know if that's true, as I'd never heard anything like that before, but it probably would have been better.  Grievous was pretty terrible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robbbb1138 

The Maul thing probably would have been better if Obi-Wan's move would have been shown quicker or we'd seen something to indicate that Maul was starting his killing blow for Obi-Wan.

Darth Maul shot first?  Don't give George any ideas!

In ROTS Obi Won and Vader were discussing the idea of Ani jumping, so there was no element of surprise in the move.  And Anakin was standing, not hanging on with his hands. 

IN TPM Maul was busy taunting Obi Won causing sparks with his sabre.  The pullup/jump was a surprise, as was the force grab of the sabre.  This move was beyond what Maul (who was likely in his first life or deat fight with a worthy opponent) expected.  In ROTS both opponents were very experienced and knew each others capapbilities.

Peter

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5821

wow 9 million is certainly impressive

"The versions that are being released are closest to George Lucas' vision.  Other than that, no comment."

Well, fair enough, George.  That's your prerogative.  It'll also be the prerogative of an awful lot of fans to say "other than that, no sale."

I've preordered the set because I'm looking forward to seeing the movies in top quality and with tons of extras, and although I'd really like to see the OOT fully restored and included to show how much "improved" George's vision is, the lack of the movies won't be a dealbreaker.

However

I think the franchise is sailing awfully close to the edge.  This BD set will be the third or fourth outing on digital media for the movies, and they've been out on videotape before that.  I wonder if there isn't a danger of overkill, like the Bond franchise.  The remaining Bonds were pulled from the schedule primarily because sales haven't been as high as MGM hoped - and that was down to holding out on the BDs while reissuing the movies on DVD in their "ultimate" form.  I know people will pooh-pooh the idea, but maybe there are only so many trips to the well for the Star Wars franchise, and when eventually an ultimate ultimate ultimate set - with the movies in 3D, with seamless branching of all the versions including the OOT - is released, nobody will buy it.

Like I said on the "Why Blu-ray?" thread - we fans pay for your "vision", so treat us with a little respect.

The BDs will be the third "digital outing" for the original Star Wars movies in terms of content (and only the second for the prequels). That's what always tickles me about recent complaints of overkill, because these movies were done to death in the analogue era (I count 14 personal purchases across VHS and LD ) and Lucas was smart enough not to go overboard with them on DVD. Yes, there have been lots of repackaged DVD versions since, but name me one big franchise that hasn't been repurposed in such a way?

As for Bond franchise fatigue on BD, you've got 20 movies to deal with, not 3 (or 6, depending on your point of view) as with Star Wars. People bought all the Bonds on DVD, then the Ultimate DVDs were touted as the BEST THING EVER, and then, uh, the EVEN-BETTERER Blu-rays came along at a premium price. Not a dissimilar pattern to Star Wars, natch, but with so many movies I'm not surprised that people had had enough. And that fatigue is still there IMO, so MGM should do the smart thing and release the remaining Bonds on BDs at a sensible price.

I know there is burnout for me. I happily bought the set when it was released on DVD. Later I went ahead and grabbed the release with the OOT on them but only because I got them very cheap. $7 each if I remember right. My enthusiasm level has dropped significantly. I am looking forward to the BD mainly for OT deleted scenes and it will take the OOT to get me to ever buy again. Or so I think...

I believe the there were no more Blu-ray Bonds or any Bonds for that matter, because of MGM's financial condition and the Eon did not want to commit anything Bond, new film or Blu-rays until the mess was sorted out. If MGM went belly up they did not want any money due them tied up. I know that some people say that Eon has no control over the Home Video release, but they are still partners with MGM (UA) on the franchise and they do have a lot of say on what happens to the films. 

To keep this the thread topic.  I will get all six of the Star Wars films in Blu-ray.  I would rather have both version for nostalgia's sake, but I can make do with the standard DVD of those versions and I still have the first three on Laser. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Oates 

 The remaining Bonds were pulled from the schedule primarily because sales haven't been as high as MGM hoped - and that was down to holding out on the BDs while reissuing the movies on DVD in their "ultimate" form.   

I am excited that these films are coming to high definition bluray at the end of this year, I was beging to think we wouldn't see these titles till 2015!  I exspect the newer trilogy to look really good and hd like and for the video to almost leap off the screen.  How ever I am keeping my fingers crossed that the transfers are done correctly for the original trilogy.  I also would have liked to see the original untouched versions on HD bluray, even if you end up seeing flaws in the special effects.  But assuming the transfers are all top notch and even with the set missing the original untouched trilogy, I will still own this bluray set in December.  I own the originals on the THX Laser Discs in Dolby Digital and on DVD as well and will definantly upgrade them to HD!

Now a number of you here know I am a huge supporter of DTS and have been for years!  In the days when it was only DVD, I would make it a point of replacing DVD's with Dolby Digital tracks with ones with DTS on them.  And even after Dolby Digital + came out for HD-DVD I was not 100% sold on that format even though it was a good improvement over DD.  But with Bluray discs offering lossless audio ether in DTS-HD Master Audio and Dobly True HD or PCM audio it doesn't really matter anymore.  Granted that if there was two versions of the same film with the same video quaility and one offered DTS MA and the other offered Dolby HD, I would go with DTS MA just because I want to support DTS.  But if the title only comes out in Dolby True HD I no longer look at it and say that I am not interested.  I pick up the bluray and say wow Dolby True HD and think SOLD!!!  Now if it has the old Dolby Digital on bluray I will most likely pass on the release, but I seriously do not see these releases using the old Dolby Digital! 

Now I find this interesting and it doesn't factor into getting these films on bluray as long as the titles offer lossless audio which I am sure they will.  But since 20th Century Fox offers all or just about all there bluray titles in DTS-HD Master Audio.  And since George Lucas and Ray Dolby are such good friends and Lucas is such a hard core Dolby supporter.  Will Fox make Star Wars the first Fox title using Dolby True HD?  Now I am sure that the audio with Dolby True HD on the newer trilogy will be really really good and the deep base should give our subs a really good workout.  But it still would be kinda cool to see Star Wars offered with DTS-HD MA!  But like I said both lossless formats are really good and I will get Star Wars in ether format, just give us lossless audio. 

Also I thought I heard something about Dolby having to try and win back some studios because it took longer to author audio in Dolby True HD vs DTS-HD MA, is this true?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Moritz 

 

Also I thought I heard something about Dolby having to try and win back some studios because it took longer to author audio in Dolby True HD vs DTS-HD MA, is this true?

I read that sometime back also, and I find it rather hard to believe. Considering that encoding the audio track to either Dolby or DTS takes a fraction of the time that it takes to encode the picture, I really don't see what the issue would be if it took slightly longer.

Doug