Star Wars Episode II DVD... (1 Viewer)

[Christopher a]

"No, they're transferring from film to keep a consistant look across the 6 movies. Believe me, you don't want a direct digital transfer on a live-action film, it'd bring out the CG cheese big time"

Jeff, please direct me to the exact quote from someone reputable at Lucasfilm who has stated this. I do realize this was done for Episode I, but do you have actual proof that the a direct to digital transfer will not be done for Episode II?

Chris

 

[Ron-P]

what is the release date for the dvd? i cant wait.

Around Thanksgiving according to the digital bits. Could be the 19th or the 26th.
Peace Out~

 

[Dave H]

Jeff, please direct me to the exact quote from someone reputable at Lucasfilm who has stated this. I do realize this was done for Episode I, but do you have actual proof that the a direct to digital transfer will not be done for Episode II?

Check Digital Bits or DVD File's interview at the Lucas Ranch just before they released Phantom Menace on DVD. I believe it was McCallum or Ling who stated this. If you do a search, you should find it. The Force-net or Star Wars.com may have the interview, as well.

 

[Dan Brecher]

"There was a very conscious decision to go from the print rather than from the digital files. And I think part of that is that this is a film, and we wanted to maintain the spirit. This is part of the style of colors and look that we wanted to maintain with the picture. And we didn't want it to feel like perhaps A Bug's Life. Or something where it has that kind of digital edge to it, which works great for those movies. But we wanted to really say this is a film."
-- Van Ling (Skywalker Ranch Q&A)
"In fact in terms of DVD it's what Van Ling was saying, one of the reasons why we didn't go straight from the digital master is that you know there have been three previous films, and they were films, and there's a look. And as he also mentioned in terms of relationship to Bug's Life and some of the other Pixar films is there are two different aesthetics.
Personally, for me, and this is going way off the question, the digital release of the film that we had in four theatres came closest to the film that we actually made because it was the only time that we could be in a theatre and actually see the film and hear it that closely resembled what it was that we had made."
-- Rick McCallum (Skywalker Ranch Q&A)
Dan

 

[Scott_MacD]

Dave:

From the BBFC site.

When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 142m 6s.

The running time of this film was calculated from the measured length of 12787+12 ( feet + frames ).

They might have our films hacked up, but that's a good enough guide for me.

142m = 2 hours 22 minutes.

Dan, that interview doesn't mention Episode 2 wrt DVD. It was said in the spirit of Episode 1. Personally, I'd greatly prefer Episode 2 to be a direct digital transfer, but the resolution of DVD is low enough to have several generation losses of picture quality, given a decent telecine.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Just for the record, here is an excerpt from what Ebert had to say after viewing AOTC in a digital theater:

After seeing the new ''Star Wars'' movie projected on film, I wrote that the images had "a certain fuzziness, an indistinctness that seemed to undermine their potential power." But I knew the film had been shot on digital video, and that George Lucas believed that it should preferably be seen, not on film, but projected digitally. Sunday I was able to see the digital version, and Lucas is right: "Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones" is sharper, crisper, brighter and punchier on digital than on film.

Here's the link to the entire article:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/eb-fe...r-ebert14.html
After reading this I'm really hoping for a digital transfer for the DVD, since there is no digital theater within a 10 hour drive from my home.

 

[Sean Moon]

The CG wouldnt pop out from a direct digital transfer this time as the original live action elements are digital now too, as it was shot on digital video(a very new version). Hopefully it will be direct digital.

 

[Matt Stone]

On a different note.
This DVD release is prompting a home theater upgrade. I can't afford it now...but by year's end I'm getting a bigger TV. My little 27" Wega just won't do it justice.
Edit: BTW...Nice sig, Sean. gotta love Sealab. "...but the secret ingredient is love...dammit!"

 

[Sean Oneil]

This is one amazing looking movie, and I suspect that it will indeed be a direct digital transfer.

I would love it if FOX put a DTS track on this DVD as well. I just watched "From Hell" last night and was reminded of just how good those DTS tracks can be.

I am sure it will sound great on DVD no matter which audio format(s) are used, it will just be nice if FOX offer DD and DTS tracks so people will have a choice.

 

[Dan Brecher]

I would love it if FOX put a DTS track on this DVD as well.

The disc has practicaly nothing to do with Fox. The Star Wars discs (and Indy discs whenever the hell they come) are all in house jobs from Lucasfilm.

Dan

 

[MikeM]

When I saw AOTC, I stayed through the end credits and noticed that it released in both DD-EX and DTS-ES. I've seen it so far in two different theaters and both times it seems like the sound was Really low. The second theater was better in terms of surround levels and bass, but the front soundstage (dialoge, music) was LOW. Did anyone else notice this?

I noticed this exact same thing. During the opening sequence people were yelling "Turn it up!" even. No joke.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I saw it in a DTS theater THX-approved, and there was absolutely no surround activity whatsoever. Loads of bass, though. I look forward to the disc to see how it's supposed to sound.

 

[StephenC]

Mark,
Where did you see the film at?On Sunday,I saw it at the Waukesha Ultra-Screen:THX,DTS,and the surrounds were active!The first time I saw AOTC(In a different theater),the sound was quite low.It's funny how I'm judging a theater now by how they present AOTC.I have one more area movie house to judge

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The CG wouldnt pop out from a direct digital transfer this time as the original live action elements are digital now too, as it was shot on digital video(a very new version). Hopefully it will be direct digital.

I'm guessing from where you live, that you MIGHT have movie experience. Short answer- A digital transfer WILL make the CG pop out over the live action elements. It has nothing to do with the fact that it was shot digitally

 

[Craig W]

Jeff,

I have to disagree with you.

DVD resolution is low enough and technically the whole movie is CG since it was shot digitally. It has everything to do with it. Just because someone at Lucasfilm said that it would make the CG pop out doesn't make it so.

If anything they are going to give us transfers from the film element now and then try to sell it again down the road with an all new direct digital transfer (ie.Super SE set come 2006).

I was a little upset we didn't get a direct digital transfer with TPM. I don't buy that they were trying to maintain a look. It was the first Star Wars DVD released, if anything it should have been trendsetting for the series on DVD. Now it is nothing more than a slightly better than Laserdisc transfer. If this movie is stored in a computer give me an offshot of that instead of moving it to a completely non-digital medium to get it to another digital media. HOGWASH to Lucasfilm that they are trying to maintain a look!!!!

We better get a direct digital transfer of AotC or I may consider forgoing purchasing this title for awhile when released. October, November, and December are already pretty full of must have titles like LOTR:EC, ET, BatB, and BttF.

If they go the digital to film and telecine a master for DVD, I believe it is because they don't want the home user to have high quality although low resolution copy of the film.

Again nothing personal Jeff. I just don't believe what Lucasfilm says sometimes.

Craig

 

[Sean Moon]

I saw it in two different theaters this past weekend. The first time in a THX approved theater with DTS. The other was in a Dolby EX theater. Both times the sound was incredible, especially with flybys on the ships. Smooth panning between the channels and deep rich bass both times.

As for the direct digital transfer. It depends on how well the compositing work was on the CG work that would determine if the CGI sticks out on a direct digital transfer. Does the CG stand out more on the DLP version than the film version? The DLP version could be seen as a direct digital transfer. That could answer the question. Really it all comes down to how well it is composited. I went to school for computer animation and compositing quality along with lighting makes all the difference.

 

[Tom J. Davis]

I've seen it five times now and three of those times the sound was fantastic and extremely loud. The other two times the sound was noticiably softer. I've seen it at the same theater four times and am learning which screen I want to see it on for the best presentation.

 

[BenjaminG]

I went to the first midnight session in Tasmania, Australia, and the fans were all yelling : "Turn it up!" - mmyself included.

I think that it wasn't just so much quite; just VERY dynamic soundtrack.

 

[Jeff Pounds]

I've seen it so far in two different theaters and both times it seems like the sound was Really low. The second theater was better in terms of surround levels and bass, but the front sound stage (dialog, music) was LOW. Did anyone else notice this?

I'm sure this has to do with the specific theater.
I've seen AOTC twice in the same theater, but two different auditoriums. The theater is the AMC 20 here in Tulsa. It is not a THX theater, and I think the sound is Dolby Digital.
The first time I saw it, the sound mix absolutely blew me away... very active surrounds, thundering bass, excellent front sound stage.
However, the second time I saw it, it seemed like it was turned down about 10 decibels. The surrounds were active and the front sound stage was decent, but there was no punch in the bass.
The scene I specifically remember was the sonic charge/asteroid scene. The first time I saw it, the charges felt like they were smacking you in the chest. The second time, it was underwhelming.
This is just two different screens in the same theater.
Also, this is not a THX-certified theater... I though it was odd that this AMC would get AOTC, because there is a THX-certified Hollywood Theater multiplex right across the street.
Oh well...I guess that's one of the reasons why we all got into home theater!

 

[Robert Ma]

The theater I saw it in also was too low. I heard some decent surround but the front was too low. So low that I was worried people oculdn't hear over my popcorn chomping.

I can't wait to see it again in another theater. If I could only get a baby sitter.