Star Wars The Complete Saga MEMBER REVIEW Thread (1 Viewer)

[Brendon]

For those of you who have the Saga or OT Blu-Ray sets, are the blacks still crushed as per the 2004 SE DVDs?

 

[Mike Wadkins]

For those of you who have the Saga or OT Blu-Ray sets, are the blacks still crushed as per the 2004 SE DVDs?

In places, the effect is lessened mostly in ESB but that and the contrast issues are still there

 

[johnSM]

In places, the effect is lessened mostly in ESB but that and the contrast issues are still there

Would it be your opinion from seeing the set, that Lucasfilm weren't entirely truthful/candid about all the things that were supposedly fixed for this latest edition?

 

[Mike Wadkins]

Would it be your opinion from seeing the set, that Lucasfilm weren't entirely truthful/candid about all the things that were supposedly fixed for this latest edition?

They fixed a lot of issues, but left others I would say it was a time thing. The Saber on the Falcon is fixed in a few shot but still green in others, I think ILM need to go back through and start fresh with the SE files and rebuild using the Technicolor prints as a base, but this will cost a fortune unless Pepsi want to pay for it again.

 

[TravisR]

[quote name=Paul_Warren]5: Lukes Lightsabre on the Falcon when Ben is training him to use the force blindfolded. 100% not fixed it has a horrible white glow...[/quote]

The Saber on the Falcon is fixed in a few shot but still green in others...

Is it green or is it white? There's two people saying two different things. For what it's worth, it was white (or at least not as blue as it is in Empire) in the original version.

 

[Mike Wadkins]

It changes from shot to shot, and it was blue/white originally.

 

[TravisR]

...and it was blue/white originally.

I suppose a very, very lightly tinted blue can be considered blue/white but I've always thought of it as white.

 

[Mike Wadkins]

I suppose a very, very lightly tinted blue can be considered blue/white but I've always thought of it as white.

Like all Sabers it changed depending on the background it was being comped against.

It was never really blue, but it was never ever green. Most Saber fixes are in Jedi during the final battle.

 

[johnSM]

They fixed a lot of issues, but left others I would say it was a time thing. The Saber on the Falcon is fixed in a few shot but still green in others, I think ILM need to go back through and start fresh with the SE files and rebuild using the Technicolor prints as a base, but this will cost a fortune unless Pepsi want to pay for it again.

Thanks for your honest views Mike. It does seem like it's a bit of a mixed bag overall, to say the least.

 

[johnSM]

Like all Sabers it changed depending on the background it was being comped against.

It was never really blue, but it was never ever green. Most Saber fixes are in Jedi during the final battle.

I think the top one was a photochemical process, whereas the bottom one was digitally re-comped. The top process worked in its favour to an extent because it blows it out a little. The bottom variant shows how bad this particular effect really was. This badly needed to be fixed. It's a mystery to me why some shots like that remain unfixed, after 14 years...

 

[Bryan^H]

RETURN OF THE JEDI Well, I watched Return of The Jedi on Blu-Ray last night. A friend of mine works at Blockbuster, and they got the Blu discs in he rented them(I guess its common practice that employees get to rent films before street date, as long as they are returned by the street date). We got a pizza and decided to watch ROTJ considering this is the film with the most changes. I had a copy of the 2004 dvd's to compare it with whenever we were in question about what is 'new'. I will say this right now, It looks simply amazing. On my 40" Sony Bravia I caught myself smiling a lot just at how perfect it is. Film grain is indeed present throughout, and it does look very film like. The worries about waxy, excessive DNR can vanish. The sound is beyond reference material. I have a low end 5.1 speaker package, but I was still blown away. At some point in the speeder bike scene on Endor, I paused it looked at my friend and just said "wow", he replied by saying "I know". I can just imagine someone with a mid to high end speaker package watching it in 6.1, that would be something. The changes....ummm, I hate to say it but they are not that bad. Yes, I was one of the biggest nay sayers(and still believe it is wrong to change a work of art) but as others have mentioned in the grand scheme of how great a film it is they matter very little. The biggest being Darth Vader's "Nooo". That change didn't take me out of the pivotal moment in the film like I thought it would. Also was it mentioned in the list of changes that when Artoo gets blasted at the Endor base HE has a lot more thingies(tentacle like probes toward the top of his dome) pop out than the previous 2004 edition? My friend brought it to my attention so we checked, and sure enough its new. If so then just disregard that. My only real complaint is that the disc art, and title menu screen are both very bland. They could have been spruced up a bit. My pre-order has been reinstated. Not only because it is amazing quality Blu-Ray, but because I am dying to see the bonus features(have been since I heard about them). I honsetly feel that the next SW release on Blu-Ray will include the unaltered original trilogy, and I will buy that as well. All in all, my friend and I had a great viewing experience and were well pleased with the product. We both felt like we were 10 years old again watching ROTJ( we are both 37). The magic is still there my friends.

 

[Mike Wadkins]

DNR was used but a layer of fake grain was added

 

[Paul_Warren]

Is it green or is it white? There's two people saying two different things. For what it's worth, it was white (or at least not as blue as it is in Empire) in the original version.

Travis I would stake my life on its not fixed in the scene I talked about on the Falcon where Kenobi tells Luke to wear the helmet & use the force to hit the training droid. Its a bright white & you can clearly see what appear to be the pencil marks from the hand drawn animation cells!! Then later on Vader vs Kenobi on the Death Star it looks like the prequel sabre FX!! Someone @ Lucasfilm either missed this or there has been a miscommunication because on Tatooine when Luke first fires the sabre up after Kenobi has just given him it the glow is a distinct blue. Also, THX seal is worthless here no-one obviously went through the movies frame by frame to check for picture errors like the corner dirt marks I talked about.......

 

[TravisR]

Travis I would stake my life on its not fixed in the scene I talked about on the Falcon where Kenobi tells Luke to wear the helmet & use the force to hit the training droid. Its a bright white & you can clearly see what appear to be the pencil marks from the hand drawn animation cells!! Then later on Vader vs Kenobi on the Death Star it looks like the prequel sabre FX!! Someone @ Lucasfilm either missed this or there has been a miscommunication because on Tatooine when Luke first fires the sabre up after Kenobi has just given him it the glow is a distinct blue.

Luke's lightsaber changes color (due to error) in the original version of the movie. Like you said, in Obi-Wan's hut, it's blue but on the Millennium Falcon, it's nearly white. I guess it's a matter of preference but I'd rather see it back to the original (albeit incorrect) white than making it more blue to match with the rest of the movie.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Also, THX seal is worthless here no-one obviously went through the movies frame by frame to check for picture errors like the corner dirt marks I talked about.......

I thought the THX seal simply means that the disc was authored/ mastered using THX-certified equipment.

 

What if David Lynch had directed Star Wars? Well, find out by watching the black & white rough cut of the cantina scene. It's like Han Solo meets The Elephant Man.

 

[Worth]

I thought the THX seal simply means that the disc was authored/ mastered using THX-certified equipment.

It's more like a seal of approval that all the steps from mastering to replication were done to a high standard. But it doesn't guarantee that the transfer or master are any good to begin with.

 

[Mike Wadkins]

The "Lost Cut" should be an extra

 

[Paul_Warren]

Just saw Return Of The Jedi: Oh dear this is not a good transfer at all!!!! it has more details than ROTJ ever had before at home obviously but.......... in no particular order I found the following issues: 1: Waxy faces 2: Over saturated colour 3: Excessive DNR 4: Frozen grain 5: Yet more Overscan issues in particular the scene where Luke is standing over vader's funeral pire as the camera pans up you can see a large area on the bottom lefthandside where the film is perhaps 1cm short of the frame (on a 40" HDTV) & clearly see the round edge of where I presume the film frame ends!!! There are many other sloppy overscan related issues like this on the far left & far righthandside of the movie. Its like they never actually QAed the overscan boundary or expect everyone to be using a THX calibrated display (unlikely expectation IMO). 6: Many shots of ships in space have the travelling matte boxes clearly visible which is very obvious in a lot of scenes. Its as though the colour balance/timing is off or expects you to be using a very low contrast display. I own approx 200 Bluray/HDDVD & not one of them exhibits this same issue............. The picture has more detail than ever but the overall transfer is very poor & looks the worse of all 3 original movies. Lightsabres all look very good. Jabbas palace CGI door looks flawless. Ewoks eyes you hardly notice they are only very brief shots if they were not there you would not notice either!!! Vaders No dialog its hardly noticeable its over in 2 secs or so. The big issues on this transfer are unfixable without remastering its a shockingly poor looking transfer overall some of the detail is hidden behind the obvious excessive DNR & perhaps fake grain applied..............in a few places on Endor I could clearly see the DNR pixel pattern in the shadows!!!!!

 

[Mike Wadkins]

Jabba's door is an issue for me as the reverse shot now no longer matches. I am also glad to find someone of similar thinking to mine. Lowry screwed the pooch on this, they should have given it to Laserpacific