A Few Words About A few words about...™ Star Wars: The Last Jedi -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

I just did Josh, via their website Contact Us form. Luckily I still had my confirmation email so I was able to put in the exact showtime I saw, which is a required field in their form.

 

[Carlo_M]

One more note about this title, and the issue about the low sound level issues that others have reported.

I wonder if there's something wrong with the Atmos/TrueHD 5.1 setting? Because here's something weird. I first watched TLJ in my bedroom setup and it was plenty loud, but I also only have a stereo setup in there, so my Pioneer Elite SC-05 downconverts it to 2.0 stereo. And it played at a good volume at the same settings I watch most movies in.

Today I took it out to my living room HT, which has a full 5.1 TrueHD (no Atmos) setup via my Pioneer Elite SC-79. I found I had to turn it up louder than what I normally listen to other movies at to get similar playback.

I don't have any explanation as to why the same soundtrack, just downconverted to stereo by a receiver, would play at substantially different relative volumes.

For the record, I run both at Pure Direct, so there's no EQ'ing, no room correction, no dynamic range compression.

 

[Carlo_M]

And yet one more note on this title, this time to video brightness, which varies greatly on each of my setups.

Note: for all my equipment I have the latest firmware as of today. I also have premium certified HDMI cables for both.

For whatever reason, when I run it from an Oppo 203 -> Samsung KS8000 TV, I have to turn backlight all the way up to 20 (I usually run it at 10 for all my other 4K UHD HDR discs) and even bump up brightness +5 on the TV to get it to look acceptable. It's very obvious that it's too dim from the get-go, Lucasfilm logo and opening crawl is very dim. In fact, putting in another UHD disc shows it's way too bright and I have to back it down.

When I run it from Sony X800 -> Sony 900E TV, I don't have to adjust a thing when I switch from any other 4K disc to this one.

Yes I have all settings configured to enable HDR both TVs. I have been watching 4K HDR discs on both sets for a while now and enjoying the results without really having to change brightness, backlight or contrast settings at all (once I dialed them in with test patterns). This is the first title I've had to do that, and what's weird is it's only on one set.

When I have time, I'll bring the X800 out to the Samsung TV to see if that resolves it, in which case then I will have localized the problem to the Oppo. If it doesn't, then likely it's the Samsung.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

For whatever reason, when I run it from an Oppo 203 -> Samsung KS8000 TV, I have to turn backlight all the way up to 20 (I usually run it at 10 for all my other 4K UHD HDR discs) and even bump up brightness +5 on the TV to get it to look acceptable. It's very obvious that it's too dim from the get-go, Lucasfilm logo and opening crawl is very dim. In fact, putting in another UHD disc shows it's way too bright and I have to back it down.

My guess is that it's the conversion from Dolby Vision from the Oppo player to HDR10 on the Samsung TV. The Sony X800 isn't Dolby Vision compatible, so it was probably straight HDR10 the whole way through.

 

[Carlo_M]

My guess is that it's the conversion from Dolby Vision from the Oppo player to HDR10 on the Samsung TV. The Sony X800 isn't Dolby Vision compatible, so it was probably straight HDR10 the whole way through.

Thanks for the suggestion. When I get home I’ll check and see if there’s a way I can disable it from doing that since neither Tv supports DV. Unfortunate if that’s the case though because it does a terrible job of conversion.

 

[dpippel]

My guess is that it's the conversion from Dolby Vision from the Oppo player to HDR10 on the Samsung TV. The Sony X800 isn't Dolby Vision compatible, so it was probably straight HDR10 the whole way through.

There's no conversion from Dolby Vision. HDR10 and DV are just different sets of metadata. If your setup can't handle DV it simply uses the HDR10 layer.

 

[Gsal9296]

I want your opinion guys, the grain in Star Wars the last Jedi ruined the picture, what did you think of it? It really bothered me and it was distracting

 

[zoetmb]

Yes, I realize Luke was the reluctant tutor, but he did agree to give her three lessons... hence my "speedy Jedi degree" comment in jest.

Oh, and wookies mustn't age, 'cause Chewbacca appears to be the same as he was in the original trilogy, while Luke and Leia (and Han in the last film) grew old.

And how much training did Luke get in the OT? A bit on the ship with Obi-Wan and two days? with Yoda. Then he returned to get complete his training with Yoda and Yoda told him he was done. As someone else posted, people see what they want to see.

 

[Jason_V]

And how much training did Luke get in the OT? A bit on the ship with Obi-Wan and two days? with Yoda. Then he returned to get complete his training with Yoda and Yoda told him he was done. As someone else posted, people see what they want to see.

I'm not the expert, but I seem to remember some logic which said he was on Degobah for a month or so. I could be wrong about that.

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah time is a slippery concept in Star Wars movies (did I even see a sunrise/sunset in ESB?) but I had never though Luke was in Dagobah for only 2 days (or 48 hours since a day on a strange planet could be a year on ours). I never had any concrete number in mind but my guess would have been closer to Jason's suggestion of a month rather than 2 days.

 

[TravisR]

The amount of time that passes in The Empire Strikes Back is a frequent topic of debate among Star Wars fans. Taking what's onscreen, it seems like it's a pretty short amount of time (a couple of days). However since the Millennium Falcon had to travel to Cloud City without using lightspeed, it's fair to assume it is a longer amount of time. It hasn't been established in canon but I think of the amount of time as being a few weeks or a month but that's just me.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Agreed that the time that passed in ESB is a bit iffy. But I didn't see it as more than maybe 3 days at the most between the time the gang splits off in different directions, and back together when Leia, Chewie and Lando rescues Luke off the antenna on Bespin.

Han says that Bespin is in the system they were currently in when the Imperial Fleet sped off. They didn't have far to go. Remember that even interplanetary flight in Star Wars is pretty quick without light speed.

Someone mentioned grain. I didn't notice enough to be distracting on the Blu-ray.

 

[dpippel]

Agreed that the time that passed in ESB is a bit iffy. But I didn't see it as more than maybe 3 days at the most between the time the gang splits off in different directions, and back together when Leia, Chewie and Lando rescues Luke off the antenna on Bespin.

The only problem with that "3 days at the most" is the amount of perceived time Luke spent training with Yoda. Like you said, it's a bit iffy.

 

[Carlo_M]

Agreed that the time that passed in ESB is a bit iffy. But I didn't see it as more than maybe 3 days at the most between the time the gang splits off in different directions, and back together when Leia, Chewie and Lando rescues Luke off the antenna on Bespin.

Han says that Bespin is in the system they were currently in when the Imperial Fleet sped off. They didn't have far to go. Remember that even interplanetary flight in Star Wars is pretty quick without light speed.

Someone mentioned grain. I didn't notice enough to be distracting on the Blu-ray.

The Resistance ships didn’t seem to be going all that fast in Episode 8 when they didn’t have enough fuel to go to light speed.

 

[TravisR]

Agreed that the time that passed in ESB is a bit iffy. But I didn't see it as more than maybe 3 days at the most between the time the gang splits off in different directions, and back together when Leia, Chewie and Lando rescues Luke off the antenna on Bespin.

Han says that Bespin is in the system they were currently in when the Imperial Fleet sped off. They didn't have far to go. Remember that even interplanetary flight in Star Wars is pretty quick without light speed.

They're in the Anoat system at that point ("Where are we?" "The Anoat system." "The Anoat system? There's not much there.") so they've still got to travel to the Bespin system. However, Bespin must be right next to Anoat since they'd need to be looking for a nearby port. That's why I think the movie doesn't take place over a handful of days (like the movie makes it look) or many months (like some fans will say due to the length of time to travel from Anoat to Bespin) but more like a few weeks. I said it was a debated topic among fans.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Even though I have the 4K release, my setup isn't 4K compatible. But I spent the day with the Blu-Ray version and the bonus features disc and was really blown away.

It's a really beautiful looking film from start to finish. But my main takeaway was appreciating far better how this one plays into the larger whole. When I saw the movie in theaters, I thought a lot of the unexpected decisions Rian Johnson made with this movie were subversive f-yous that blew up the three act structure. But watching it again on disc, I was struck by just how seriously he took his role of crafting the middle third of a trilogy. Once I was able to let go of my preconception that Snoke was the Big Bad, it all clicked into place. Kylo Ren and Rey are avatars for the dark and light sides of the Force. As the dark side grew in strength and influence with the rise of the First Order, Rey's emergence in TFA was the Force trying to reestablish homeostasis. They're the two poles on which this trilogy rests, and Johnson's job was to clear away the clutter so that that opposition could take center stage in Episode IX.

The journey of basically every character in this film is to be confronted with their greatest weakness, suffer for it, and come out the other side with greater knowledge and resolve -- quintessential middle chapter stuff.

Rey's journey is to make peace with her past. At the start of the film, she is desperate for someone to reveal her place in the universe. By the end of the film, she is no longer reliant on outside validation. She has figured out her own place.

Luke Skywalker's journey is to make peace with the legend of Luke Skywalker. At the start of the film, he has fled as far as possibly could from it. By the end of the film, he's fully embraced it and in so doing has achieved what he specifically stated in the beginning was impossible.

Finn's journey is to find his cause. In The Force Awakens, he deserts the First Order. At the start of this film, he is preparing to desert the Resistance. By the end of the film, he's found his place within the Resistance and is loyal not just to Rey as his friend but the Resistance as a rallying cry. His journey with Rose is a massive tactical failure, but takes him into the larger world and exposes him to why the Resistance is worth fighting for.

Poe Dameron's journey is to learn leadership. He's an exceptional warrior on the battlefield, but he's not a good tactician at all. He makes one bad decision after another, so fixated on the immediate problem at hand that he doesn't perceive the larger picture. By the end of the film, he's internalized the hard lessons that Leia and Holdo have been trying to teach him.

Rose's journey is to step out of her sister's shadow. At the start of the film, she's working in a support capacity and lives in awe of her sister. By the end of the film, her sister is dead and she has stepped up to fill her shoes.

Even though the First Order achieves nearly complete tactical victory in this picture, Kylo Ren is the one main character who doesn't achieve apotheosis. He spends the entire film talking about the importance of wiping the slate clean, but he couldn't kill his mother and his obsession with his uncle allowed the remaining members of the Resistance to get away. So he goes into the concluding chapter of this trilogy at a distinct disadvantage, despite his overwhelming tactical advantages.

There's no conversion from Dolby Vision. HDR10 and DV are just different sets of metadata. If your setup can't handle DV it simply uses the HDR10 layer.

Thank you for clarifying. Shows how little I know about HDR!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Adam, I think you hit all of the important points and did so beautifully.

I'm waiting on the 3D disc from the UK, so I don't have the movie to rewatch yet. However, I did purchase a code for the digital version (the UK release doesn't come with one) so I could watch the "score-only" version. I watched the first hour of that and I was really struck by the beauty of the music with the images - I would gladly purchase an edition of the entire Star Wars saga that was presented this way. (Or even a music and effects version if that would be easier for the powers that be to assemble.)

The movie does remind me a lot of The Empire Strikes Back, but not in a bad way. I think The Force Awakens leaned a little too heavily on the structure of the original film, but The Last Jedi keeps the broad strokes without following as obviously in its predecessor's footsteps. Maybe because of that, the movie didn't strike me as subversive, and I was genuinely surprised that so many people had issues with it. I didn't understand how people could say that this wasn't anything like a Star Wars movie, when it did so many of the same things that Empire did. I appreciate that since the days of George Lucas, these movies have been made to have that symmetry, as if they're rhyming with each other, and for me, The Last Jedi fit perfectly within that.

I think this film also did a great job of really passing the baton more fully from the older cast to the new cast. Before The Last Jedi came out, I had thought that Episode IX was going to have to serve not only as the conclusion to the new trilogy, but as the finale for the entire nine movie saga. But the handoff is so complete in Last Jedi that whatever Episode IX is, I don't think it needs to be a conclusion to all three trilogies; it just needs to function as the conclusion to this new trilogy.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

However, I did purchase a code for the digital version (the UK release doesn't come with one) so I could watch the "score-only" version. I watched the first hour of that and I was really struck by the beauty of the music with the images - I would gladly purchase an edition of the entire Star Wars saga that was presented this way. (Or even a music and effects version if that would be easier for the powers that be to assemble.)

My next viewing will be with Johnson's audio commentary, but I definitely look forward to doing the same in probably a few weeks. George Lucas always designed the first six movies to work as silent movies, so I'd love isolated score tracks for all of them.

 

[TJPC]

I got a text today that said my 3D copy was “dispatched” and presently in Wales.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I got a text today that said my 3D copy was “dispatched” and presently in Wales.

Terry, mine is on the way as well.

Trouble is, I don't think I want to watch the film for the third time. So, this will probably stay in shrink-wrap.