Original Star wars on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Chris Bardon]

How does this sound:

* November 2004 --- "Classic" Star Wars Trilogy w/minimal extras and a preview of Episode III. (This would be a good window, actually, for the Original 1977,1980, and 1983 iterations of the movies, w/digital restoration by LDI.) Lucas could state that this is a release "for the fans".

* November 2005 --- Star Wars:Episode III (Revenge of the Sith?)

* November 2006 --- New, enhanced versions of the '97 SE Star Wars Trilogy with all-new "transitional" scenes, new SFX, and three discs worth of supplements.

* November 2007 --- "The Star Wars Saga 30th Anniversary Release" All six films re-edited into one long movie. Perhaps a 18 disc DVD Box and/or a 3 disc Blu-Ray Box.

Sounds great to me, but you and I both know that it's not happening. My two cents-I think we'll have to wait until George Lucas is dead to get the original versions of these films back. Hopefully the rights pass to someone with a sense of history. You'd think that someone who opposed colorization would have some respect for letting films stand as they were released.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I bought two Pioneer laserdisc players (after figuring out how to deal with the sniping), and they both worked fine.

"Sniping"? Is that an E-bay thing or an LD thing?

 

[Matt Stone]

Sniping...as in Sniper...as in a surgical method of shooting something. In auctioning, it's when someone places a bid at the last possible second to win the item. Say an auction ends in 3 days, and you have the high bid on it. Right when the auction is about to end, and you are excited about winning it...someone comes along and snipes the auction right out from under you.

 

[greg_t]

The 5.1 mixes on the LD aren't as agressive as modern tracks such as Fast and Furious, Gladiator, etc. But you have to remember that the movies are quite a bit older. What they did was add bass to certain scenese in the LFE channel, such as the death star blowing up, etc, added some swooshes that weren't there before, etc. I personally prefer the PCM tracks through Pro-logic 2 from the Faces set. Try it both ways and see which you prefer. The special editions have both uncompressed PCM stereo tracks and DD 5.1. The 5.1 mixes do sound good, but don't expect a Twister, Saving private ryan, etc. type mix.

The 704 is the same player video wise as the Elite 79. The players tend to go like this, from lower to higher quality:

CLD704, Elite 79, Elite 97, Elite 99, LDS9, X9/X0. The 704/Elite 79 use a 3 line digital comb filter. The Elite 97 is a 2D motion adaptive comb filter. The 99 is the same player as the 79 only with a first generation 3D motion adaptive comb filter. The advantage of the S9 and X9 is that they use a high resolution 2nd generation 3D motion adaptive comb filter. They only play LD, no CD play, and the clamp is specific for LD. The X9 also uses a special Red laser.
The 704 is generally the recommneded player for those who have HDTV sets, as they all usually have a 3D motion adaptive comb filter built in. You would just connect the player to the set via a composite cable, and the 704's internal 3 line filter is bypassed and the filter in the Plasma is used. The 704 does have the auto side change feature and has RF output for AC3. All you would need to do is connect the RF out to the RF In on your 49TX.

The Elite 79 is the same as the 704 but has better build quality and the black gloss finish, which would go great with your 49TX. Video wise, they are the same and it also has RF out.

The Elite 97 is older than the 704/79 and has a 2D comb filter. It does not have RF out by default but can be modified to do so. Many people feel the 97 give a great image via composite. I have never seen one so I can't really compare it to the 704/79. Many feel that it is better than the 704/79, especially if you have a set with a 3D comb filter already.

The Elite 99 is the same as the 79 except it has a first generation 3D filter. I wouldn't mess with this one as your filter in your TV is likely better and it's only advantage over the 704/79 is it's filter.

The S9/X9 are the high end Japanese players. They both feature the 2nd generation 3D motion adaptive filter, the one that is still in use today in the Elite RPTV and the Mitsubishi Diamond. They do not play CD's and their clamp is specific for LD. The X9 also uses a special red laser and is the king of the hill. You will pay high prices for less, and unless you are getting hard core into LD, it is hard to justify the cost. But they are the best players pioneer made.

Again, my advice would be that if you are going to get into LD casually, go with a 704/79. If you intend to build a large collection, they maybe look at an S9/X9. I believe there are two X9's on ebay right now.

My suggestion would be again to play a non-anamphoric dvd on your plasma using the sets stretch modes. Turn off your progressive scan and output interlaced from the player which will force the TV to use it's line doubler. And output the video to the TV via composite cable, which will force the TV to use it's comb filter. This will give you a good idea on LD video quality on your set.

 

[Chris PC]

Here's a better idea. Get the script for the first Star Wars movies and a MINI-DV camera and act out the entire saga with your friends. For the space fighting scenes, use authentic Star Wars toys and strings, maybe some home made blue screening? Or just hold the toys in your hands and swoosh them in front of the video camera making space ship noises. Get the Star Wars music on CD and mix it in. If not, just improvise, you've heard the music, just hum the soundtrack. Do the entire three films like this with as much good costumes and set props as possible. Add your own commentary with useless information like how you ate most meals between shooting at either the 7-11 or Dairy Queen. Include deleted scenes like Luke talking to Biggs on tatooine and/or make up deleted scenes like Han Solo and Chewie doing some smuggling. Add behind the scenes footage like you and your friends rehearsing the scenes. Ok, so when you're done all this....Burn DVD's and send then to George, claiming "George, I found some bootleg copies of you Star Wars films that might just ruin any chance of your ever releasing them yourself." and ask for him to respond...

 

[Robert Dunnill]

A good comparison is to play a non-anamaphoric dvd on your set. LD quality will be right around there or perhaps even a little lower,

I've found that unlike DVD, LD quality is iffy, with some titles being quite good (More American Graffiti) and others atrocious (Candyman II). The Star Wars OT was in the middle.

If the line doubler in the display is low-quality, a home theater PC and the dScaler deinterlacing software will make a big improvement to LD quality.

RD

 

[Brent M]

Robert,

Which version of the OT on laserdisc are you referring to--the SE version or the Definitive/THX versions? I've read and been told that the picture quality on the SE version is one of the best looking titles on laserdisc. Can you comment? I just want to make sure I don't go to all this trouble to buy the player and get the OT only to be disappointed by the picture and sound quality. I know I've probably gotten spoiled watching good anamorphic transfers on DVD and listening to great DD/DTS tracks, but I would still like to find out a little more before I take the plunge. Thanks.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

Brent:

By OT I mean the THX versions, which at the time I bought my players could be had for $32.50 delivered (the whole set).

I have never seen the SEs; my whole point here was to get the Original Trilogy while it was still available (and very inexpensive). The sticker on the shrinkwrap said it all ( Something to the effect of this being the last time the originals will be offered to the public).

I believe that with proper video processing via a home theater PC, the THX versions are quite watchable. Also, as has been pointed out here in the past, it is possible to transfer the contents to DVD-R, freeing one from the strictures of the cumbersome LD format.

RD

 

[Rob Gardiner]

I agree, the whole point of this exercise would be to get the original original trilogy. The SE versions will probably show up on DVD in one form or another.

 

[Chris PC]

Thats true. If you convert your Star Wars LD's to DVD's and just retain your LD's you're not violating any copyright laws.

 

[Eric Emma]

I heard something from this guy in a book store that they were going do further "enhancements" to Star Wars the orignal trilogy... like so it looks as good as the prequal trilogy... like fixing up the darth vader and obi wan fight and stuff.. I dunno if that a good thing or bad thing:frowning:

 

[RobertR]

they have PCM AC3 DD

That phrase has redundancy and is something of an oxymoron. AC3 is just another name for DD, and if it's DD, it's not PCM. So you can't have "PCM DD", but an LD can have PCM AND DD tracks.

 

[soop.spoon]

www.originaltrilogy.com

 

[Nathan*W]

The benefit of the THX faces Star Wars LD's is that they have PCM AC3 DD

To correct some misinformation, no legitimate release of the unaltered trilogy has ever been released in DD. That includes:

The Definitive Edition and

the THX "Faces". The only set released in 5.1 was the

SE box set.

All these images courtesy of www.davisdvd.com which hosts the excellent Star Wars Video Timeline which lists all versions of the trilogy ever released.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Should be noted that these commentaries are nothing more than a few short audio snippets placed here and there, I don't have the set anymore but I would doubt that each film's commentary tracks even add up to 20 minutes.

True. I was trying not to ramble, so I removed my words saying as much and replaced it with "some commentary", as opposed to "running commentary" or just "commentary". But the liner notes indicate which chapters have commentary, a brief description of the topic (for example, "Why R2 looks black instead of blue"), and by whom.

By the way, the Faces set is not the only THX release of the original original trilogy. The Definitive Collection is also THX.

It is true that the only release with Dolby Digital is the SE set. I think Lucasfilm should have gone the extra mile and transferred the 70mm tracks to Dolby Digital for the Faces set, as something that had never before been released it would have sold more copies, including to some LD collectors who paid up to $240 for the Definitive Collection just a few years earlier.

I agree that the quality of the Dolby Digital on the SE is about what you expect from films of that age. Very good, but not as aggressive as a modern soundtrack. The PCM Dolby Prologic track on the SE is as good as Dolby Prologic gets. I'll bet DPLII decoding would sound even better.

 

[greg_t]

I'll bet DPLII decoding would sound even better

Actually, the best I have heard them sound is using the PCM track from the Faces set throught Pro-logic II and DTS Neo 6. I don't have a problem with the sound being encoded in AC3, but what I don't like is all the added sound effects, like sirens going off that were not there before, or changing lines of dialog. The actual 5.1 is pretty good, it's just the mix I have a problem with.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I now have my LD to DVD conversions of the 'faces' SW discs completed and I'm very happy with how they've come out. They basically look and sound the same as the LDs except for a slight loss in overall video sharpness.

I've also done a conversion of Pink Floyd's 'Pulse'. See the thread in the Computer area.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Sniping...as in Sniper...as in a surgical method of...

Thanks. I've heard people complain about this, but never heard it called "sniping" before.

 

[Joe6pack99]

I had the 704 with both the faces and the Se's and compared them to the Bootlegs out there. The bootlegs are very washed out in comparison and may be ok on a small tv like a 25inch or so but on a larger screen no way.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

I've heard people complain about this, but never heard it called "sniping" before.

When I bought my LD players, there were always snipers in the last 60 seconds of auctions. However, with the decline in demand (and prices) for LD players today, that might not be a problem anymore. It definitely still is for many other items (a couple of days ago someone sniped me out of a Photoshop upgrade, in the last *five* seconds of the auction).

RD