The official Star Wars The Complete Saga Blu-ray discussion thread

Why won't they just release on Blu-ray (or heck, even anamorphic widescreen DVD!) the original versions of the films--you know, the ones that made all that money, won all those awards, garnered all that critical praise, and with which many of us grew up and came to love?

Were the glitches regarding lightsaber colors, color timing, and sound fixed for this release compared to the previous two releases? If no, why not?

Carl wrote it, not me!!!

I'm going to assume that most replies would probably be repeats of the same general idea, simply because as consumers / fans of "Star Wars" for the most part we don't have a lot of questions about them, just a few simple questions, already noted by Bryan and Carl, that for reasons seemingly beyond all reason / comprehension are always refused a straight-forward answer that isn't an insult to the intelligence of everyone who asks! (Talk about a run-on sentence)

Sure there will be more questions about other content but the questions about the technical presentations have always been few, simple and yet so hard to answer. At least answers beyond the usual nonsense of "Lucas' creative vision" as a blanket statement.

Totally agree. I've seen reports of "40 hours" of extras and such; I don't care about any of them. Blu-rays of the original films as released? THAT I'd care about.

That, of course, is what we won't get.

+1 on the OOT release question. It is the one that made all the money, established the legacy, and was worked on by hundreds of hardworking artists (not just George) whose work deserves to be seen in the highest definition format available.

Another question would be: have you restored Greedo shooting first in Star Wars and "Bring My Shuttle" in Empire? Those are the two biggest and most controversial changes in the Special Editions, the reversal of which would quiet a lot of the furor over the changes.

BTW thanks for sharing this opportunity with us, Adam.

When can we expect to hear about responses to our questions?

Thanks.

Thank you, Adam!

--Will the Yoda puppet in TPM be replaced by digital Yoda?

--As has been mentioned....saber colors in OT fixed? And orignal cut of Han/Greedo shootout?

--Will there be any new CGI work that we'll notice in any of the films?

--Any audio work done to the OT, like dialog enhancements or re-leveling?

I would like to know if these are new 4K scans or are using older 2005 masters.

 

I'd also like to know if the sound mix on The Phantom Menace has been changed, it was excellent and a very aggressive mix on DVD and apparently more so on Laserdisc, i want to know its been retained and they haven't changed it to make it sound less agressive.

 

I'd like to know if the surround channels being reversed error on one of the films has been fixed.

 

Have they fixed the sound mix issue where the glorious score was drowned out with effects sound during the death star attack sequence in the original Star Wars.

 

Have Lucasfilm applied heavy grain reduction to the original trilogy in order to make them look more like the digitally shot prequels, same question goes for The Phantom menace which was shot on 35mm film.

 

Can you ask why they cannot provide the original theatrical sound mix for the original trilogy as well as the super duper re-mixes and can you ask if they have added any new sound effects to each mix.

 

A good question would be regarding 4K scans, just how does that work with Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith since both were shot 2K digital.

 

My gut instinct tells me that Lucasfilm may be trying to make the original trilogy look as grain free as possible and i would personally not like this as i want them looking like films of their time and not shiny and all new.

 

Perhaps ask why Greedo still shoots first as it significantly alters the character arc of Han Solo, i mean if he's good to begin with his redemption and change of heart and his finding of a cause worth dying for at the end of the film is diluted quite a bit.

Thanks, Adam, for letting us know. It is nice that they want to take questions, and I don't want to be impolite, but I agree with the general consensus. My biggest question is why won't Lucasfilm spend a fraction of what these (in the opinion of many, unnecessary) 3D conversions are going to cost on restoring the actual original trilogy for Blu-ray?

Other than that; I guess I just want to know what the source of the picture is (is it actually the 2004 masters?), and what's been done about the audio. Have the flipped surrounds on A New Hope been fixed, and has the balance between sound effects and score on IV-VI been re-adjusted?

Extra features are nice, and I'm sure they spent a lot of time and effort putting them together, but the presentation of the films is really the main thing I care about.

Yeah, the original versions. I'm sure they're tired of hearing about it, but that topic isn't going away in any of our lifetimes.

1) I'd like to know which versions of the original trilogy they honestly like best, and why...

2) With this new Blu-ray set, does Mr Lucas now finally consider the films finished to his satisfaction at last (the Blu-ray set represents the 4th revision of the original films now I believe)? Are you happy with them also?

3) Who shot first? (sorry couldn't resist!)

Thanks

- John

For Mr Muren: I read in 'ILM: Into The Digital Realm' that some of the changes to the Death Star assault in Star Wars came from yourself and not Mr Lucas. Did you feel as cut up as Mr Lucas did regarding the way those original shots turned out? Or was that sequence something he was actually happy with and it was more at your instigation that stuff was changed?

For Mr Wood: why remix Star Wars yet again (which we heard about from you on a podcast some time ago)? The 2004 DVD mix certainly had some glaring technical issues, but surely they simply needed correcting rather than doing another new mix?

For Ms Walters: Re: the original trilogy, are the Blu-rays derived from new transfers or the 2004 masters? And where are the existing special features from the DVDs, including the excellent documentaries 'The Beginning' (Episode I) and 'Empire Of Dreams' (OT)?

Cheers Adam.

- If new, pristine masters were created for the blu-ray's, or if they just used the existing masters from the dvd's. Color timing issues been resolved?

- Have ALLof the lightsaber issues in the OT been corrected, or just in a select few shots?

- If all of the audio issues in the OT have been fixed, and if new mixes have been created, to what extent and who was involved? Rydstrom (side project away from Pixar)? Randy Thom? Were they done to be as dynamic and balanced as Rydstrom's work on TPM and AOTC? Episodes 3-6 just aren't anywhere near the quality of TPM and AOTC, imho. Hopefully they didn't mess with Rydstrom's mixes and brought down Episodes 1 and 2 to the level, quality-wise, as 3-6.

- Has the choppy editing/cues to the music in AOTC been addressed?

- Have any changes to the OT, from 1997 -2004, been undone and restored back to the original versions?

- If the extended scenes to the PT and additions/changes to the OT, from 1997-2004, still exist, has the sfx shots been cleaned up/redone, so they the quality of the rest of the films? The Yazzum, Sarlaac pit and extended Pod Race sequence in particular. Has any other shots from the OT had comp work/ been re-composited, ala the Rancor scene in Jedi? Will the cgi Yoda replacement on TPM be on the blu-ray?

- Reason why none of the extras from the DVD's, other than the commentaries, weren't carried over to the blu's. Why not at least include the documentaries from Episodes 1-4, and "Empire of Dreams"?

-If there are additional changes to the films, have they been made and will they be present on the blu-ray release, or will they be tackled when each film goes through the 3-D conversion?
Edited by Joe_G - 8/15/11 at 6:12pm

Question for Mr. Wood: How good are the sound mixes for the original trilogy and the prequels for the blu-ray relase? Did Episode 4 A New Hope get a new sound mix or is it from 2004?

I too would like to know if the originals are getting new 4K scans compared to the ones used in 2004 for the DVD and broadcasts.

-Why are extras (such as Empire Of Dreams) from the previous DVD sets not being carried over to the Blu-Ray set?

-Why are prominent SW-related documentaries (From Empire To Jedi, The Legacy Revealed, etc.) not being included on the Blu-Ray set?

What efforts will be made in terms of archiving all 6 films for future generations (storage and preservation of original film elements [where applicable]. conversion and storage of digital files, audio stems, etc.)? These films are part of our cultural heritage, and it would be a shame if they were lost to the ravages of time because extant elements were stored in antiquated formats.

How come some documentaries on the star wars books , comics , novels , toy's etc are not on the blu-rays? Did it have to do with space limitations?

Online discussion of this upcoming blu-ray set often focuses on 'fixing' issues people feel passionate about. How does a project like this get tackled, how do you identify items which need 'something'. And how much of the reality of the blu-ray format affects how these movies are presented? How much in concert are these blu-rays and the 3D teams working?

Is Lucasfilm aware of the 'Humdinger Glitch'? It's a digital error artifact first seen in the 2004 DVD version of SW and subsequent HD broadcasts.
http://fd.noneinc.com/Glitch/A_NEW_HOPE-2004DVD-Humdinger.jpg

Mr. Muren : Having worked on both the physical and digital effects side of these films, how do you react when articles or tv programs talk about one side but use the images/video of the other effects method? (for example: how programs mention the academy awards SW won but then show SE clips. Or the Making of ESB book with SE photos.)

Are there any changes that George attempted to make and then abandoned when it comes to updating the movies?

Has George completed his vision of the movies or can we expect things to continue to be added or changed in the future?

When changes are made, is George specific about what it is he wants or does he allow you to add your own input?

I want the original trilogy and the 97 Special Edition Versions as well. And I know they won't want to talk about that topic and the whole discussion that the films just could never really be released in their original form in HD is well... I call b.s. (Lucas would never not take care of his films - would he?) 

 

So I guess a valid technical sound question would be ... will John Williams score be drowned out again during the battle sequences much like the previous DVD releases? 

Just to clarify, it was just the music in the surround channels on "Star Wars" (now called "Episode IV - A New Hope") that were flipped.  Instruments that were supposed to be on the left were coming from the right and vice versa.  At the time Lucasfilm made a blanket statement that said everything we heard in the new sound mixes were "deliberate creative decisions". If indeed this is a new mix, was the point made to re-evaluate previous decisions that were approved in 2004?

 

Visually, many people complained about matte boxes (most likely a result of misadjusted monitors) in the earlier films.  Have these shots been re-composited digitally?

Edited by Neil S. Bulk - 8/16/11 at 8:11pm

How did you find the condition of the elements used for the deleted scenes in the original trilogy?

For the deleted scenes, are you presenting raw footage or have the elements been grated and cleaned for the blu-ray?

My questions relate to the special features.

1.) There were four behind-the-scenes documentaries made for the original trilogy back during its original run. Three of the four are being included on disc 9 of this set. The fourth, "From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga", which was certainly not a rehash of the other three, has been left off of this set. This documentary contained exclusive interviews with George Lucas and some great information on the making of 'Return of the Jedi', such as the speeder bike chase with Dennis Muren. These features appear nowhere else. This documentary, quite popular in the past, and produced "in-house" by Lucasfilm, has never had a release beyond VHS/Laserdisc. Can you tell us why this 65-minute documentary was left off the new set, considering the nearly three hours dedicated to other topics like the 501st and spoofs of the Star Wars films?

2.) Also, will we ever see a modern release of the special features from the laserdisc sets? For example, the "Definitive Collection", which had over 2.5 hours of exclusive special features, the 30-minute "Making of the Special Edition" feature from the 1997 SE laserdisc set, and the 20-minute George Lucas/Leonard Maltin interview from the 1995 "Faces" laserdisc set. Unlike the four bonus DVD's from the original trilogy and prequels, the laserdisc bonus features and "From Star Wars to Jedi" are not viewable on a modern format and it would be great if Lucasfilm could rectify this for fans of the films.

3.) Considering Blu-ray's capacity for standard definition and the fact that most, if not all, the past special features from the VHS/Laserdisc/DVD sets were filmed in standard definition, was any thought originally given to making this a 10 disc or larger set, which would have allowed virtually all past special features to be included, similar to what some other movie franchises have done?

Thank you.

1. Lightsabers

Will the lightsaber of OT Darth Vader be pink/magenta color because almost every released screenshot/video footage for the upcoming blu-rays indicate this? Is there an explanation for this color change? [It used to be red if you ask the fans of the original unaltered trilogy, furthermore red used to be the sith-lightsaber color.]

2. Video Master

If Lucasfilm only re-uses the 1080p OT masters, that were made for the 2004 dvd release and hd-broadcasts, what difference in resolution/detail/sharpness shall we expect from watching the hd-broadcast and watching these blu-rays?
[Screenshot comparisons from hd-broadcasts and official released 1080p blu-ray footage http://starwars.com/movies/saga indicate absolutely no gain in resolution/detail/sharpness, only some gamma shift.]

Why should we pay that much money, if so little effort was made? 4K-Scans are standard nowadays if it comes to blu-ray releases.

3. Audio Mix

@MW: Why was the saga mixed in 6.1 Surround only instead of 7.1? As the german audio will be 5.1 only, was the german audio even remixed?

@MW: As Fox Germany always claims that Skywalker Sound is mixing the german audio track: Are you aware of the OT lisp issues on the german audio track? It was introduced by mistake, when the remixing for the Special Edition in 1997 was done? Some sort of noise filter or DeEsser was double used by accident. Has this been fixed for the blu-rays? This not only ennoys german fans but regulary watchers as well.

4. Timeline

How much time did it take to produce the blu-ray set?

I would also like the original untouched trilogy also and would like to make sure that no DNR or EE has been used and these films look as they should.

 

Later everyone