Star Wars 3 disc set. Or, the biggest waste of money this year... (1 Viewer)

[Elijah Sullivan]

The DVDs are fabulous for what they are... DVDs. No DVD ever looked exactly like a projected film because

it is physically impossible.

Celluloid and arc lamps create an effect that can only be impersonated by pixels and electricity. And something will always, always be lost in the translation. You'll have to live with that fact, I'm afraid, which I why I rush off to the theatre to see these films as many times as possible before they move on to video.

As for the 3-disc release... I never did pick up the 4-disc version, so I think this newer, cheaper version will make a great Christmas gift to my little brother, who doesn't watch the behind-the-scenes stuff much, anyway.

 

[Robert Anthony]

As was brought up when the set first came out--this is a source problem. In order to fix it, you'd have to ADR right now, and Peter Cushing is dead, and Carrie Fisher's voice dropped about 9 octaves in the meantime. You can hear the same problems on the laserdisc. The only possible fix would have been to make ALL the dialog as tinny and muffled as some of the select lines where they couldn't go back to the stems and pull more information out of them.

Plenty of other DVD's are much worse than the Star Wars Original Trilogy. There's no way this is the "worst" especially since quite a few reviewers, including one from this website, actually uses "The Empire Strikes Back" as a reference transfer. Not too many "Worst DVD's Ever" get across the boards awards for restoration and picture quality, even WITH the goofs and the odd color timing choices made at some instances.

 

[David Stone]

Yes, sound advice (no pun intended). If you're on the fence, borrow or rent the the set and judge for yourself.

The wife and I were so disappointed in the Ep.4 disc that we didn't buy the set. We could forgive "the too much blue" and color changing light sabers, but (in our opinion) William's wonderful score suffers greatly, with the audio special effects overpowering the score throughout the DVD's new 5.1 mix.

 

[Mike Graham]

Exactly

 

[Chris PC]

So I see this set at Rogers today. I guess I have not been following the Star Wars threads.

What is the scoop on the 3-disc non-SE version? What is it like? Anybody?

 

[TravisR]

It's the same SE set from last year just in a different box and minus the bonus disc.

 

[CraigF]

IMO, if you don't want the bonus disc, the set is a good deal price-wise. I'd have bought it if I didn't already have the last one. I did notice, just in the short time I was in the DVD box section of WM, that quite a few people picked this up! Those marketers are not as dumb as we sometimes think...there are apparently quite a few people still SW-less...we sometimes forget we're not "typical"...

 

[TravisR]

If you know a little kid (or an adult who doesn't care about special features) that likes Star Wars, this would defintiely make a great gift. However, the documentary on the bonus disc is really top notch so if you're interested in how they made the original trilogy, you want to spend the extra money and get the set with the bonus disc.

 

[Chris PC]

Oh. I thought maybe it was equivalent to either of the THX faces edition or the original version. So the video and audio for the film dvd's is identical to last years SW Special Edition dvd set? I have the widescreen set already, so I guess I'm ok for now.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Are you kidding? If that was the case, it would have caused big masses dancing around and opening champagne! When that day arrives, you wouldn’t have to ask!

 

[Kyle J Richard]

Do the discs come packaged in their own individual cases?

 

[Jon Baker]

Does anyone know what the artwork on the individual keepcases looks like? I never did get to see whether or not they used the original poster art. Anyone have any pics?

 

[Ray H]

My guess is they look identical to the ones in the first set.

 

[GuruAskew]

I haven't seen them myself but I remember the reports when this set first came out. The discs in the newer box set are identical in every way, from the packaging to the disc art to the disc content.

Literally, the only difference is the box and the lack of Disc 4.

 

[TheBat]

I know that hardcore star wars are upset with the changes.. the star wars dvds look very nice.. never looked this good before. I have the VHS none se widescreen set on video.. it looks like a none enhanced dvd on my widescreen tv set.

Jacob