Original Star Wars on DVD... Sorta 455
An anonymous reader writes "The Original Star Wars is available on DVD. Sure it's more moola in Lucas's pocketsess (Gollum accent). But he did finally release the original version for a limited time.
But which Original Star Wars, I bet Episode IV is in the opening titles. " Also apparently the original versions are basically non-anamorphic transfers from the laser discs. So basically, they look terrible.
Greedo didn't do it! (Score:5, Funny)
Sorry, I couldn't help myself :-)
darnit (Score:4, Funny)
I have every VHS and DVD version of the movies and can usually point out most of the differences. But, I am getting better.... I no longer live in my parents basement
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You know what else grinds my gears? When I can't find the droids that I am looking for.
Re:darnit (Score:5, Funny)
Re:darnit (Score:5, Funny)
"That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world"
Cheers, Ian
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Will we ever get what we really want? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Will we ever get what we really want? (Score:4, Insightful)
Basically, this is not what people screamed for and whether he "stuck it to us or not" is not debatable.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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Originals probably still exist (Score:5, Informative)
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I have one of these, as a matter of fact, purchased from the BFI's Museum of the Moving Image [bfi.org.uk]. It is not a "master", as it is quite evidently a positive, and it's 70mm wide, and Star Wars IV was shot Panavision and VistaVision, which are 35mm formats. 70mm prints are blow-ups made for special venues, particularly because they had very good sound for the time.
The claim that he destroyed the originals in the process of creating the Special Editions is highly suspect, even if it is him saying it. The moder
Re:Originals probably still exist (Score:4, Funny)
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They surely digitized it all (Score:2)
Re:Will we ever get what we really want? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is freaking ILM we're talking about. If they can't undo the changes they made from the Special Edition 'masters' (whether they're in digital form or actually some type of celluloid, I don't know) then I'll eat my non-SE VHS tapes. These people are masters at digital manipulation and restoration. There is simply no way that they are incapable of recreating the originals using the SE versions as a base + laserdisc (for reference).
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Lucas is, as always, full of shit. He's just a spoiled child, forced to share food with his sister, who spits on it first.
-Eric
Re:Will we ever get what we really want? (Score:4, Insightful)
You're making an assumption about someone else's competence. A dangerous thing to do.
Re:Will we ever get what we really want? (Score:5, Informative)
1) The original negatives are gone, destroyed as part of the process of creating the 1997 special edition versions.
We're inclined to believe this is true. Still, the original negatives are not the only viable elements that can be used to transfer the films for home video release. There are numerous interpositive prints. There are the separation masters. Worst case, there are a number of high quality release prints available. In short, other elements exist that can be used for this purpose.
2) The other existing original elements have deteriorated too badly to be used.
We'll come back to this one in a minute.
3) There are just no quality film elements remaining anywhere that could be used.
See our answer to #1. Even if it's true that Lucas and his staff destroyed all of the original negatives, it's unlikely in the extreme that they also destroyed all of the interpositives, all of the separation masters, and all of the release prints. In fact, we know that they didn't. Where, for example, would the anamorphic footage of the original 1977 opening text crawl from A New Hope - the footage that appeared in the Empire of Dreams DVD documentary - have come from if not from quality surviving film elements? Still, even if Lucas did destroy every single scrap of original film available in the Lucasfilm Archives... we know for a fact that high quality die transfer release prints exist in the hands of a number of archives and private collectors. While not ideal, any of these could be given a high-definition transfer, a bit of digital clean-up and color-timing, and could be presented on DVD in anamorphic widescreen in quality that would be superior to a 1993 non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer.
4) The 1993 laserdisc masters are the best source material that can be found for use on DVD after exhaustive searches of the Lucasfilm Archives.
See our answer to #3. This is flatly absurd. If this were true, Lucasfilm's archivists should be ashamed of themselves. We know of few professionals tasked with the preservation of film materials that would allow such critically important film elements as the original Star Wars films to be lost, to deteriorate or be wholesale destroyed. And again, even if Lucasfilm's vaults were so woefully incomplete, we know for a fact that quality elements exist elsewhere. Given 48 hours notice, we could track them down ourselves. Surely, with its significant resources and influence, Lucasfilm could do the same. If the 1993 laserdisc masters are really the best that Lucasfilm can do, it's disturbing. If not, a statement like "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD..." seems terribly disingenuous - the corporate PR equivalent of "I'm so sorry, but the dog ate my homework."
But let's get back to #2...
2) The other existing original elements have deteriorated too badly to be used.
It just so happens that one of our regular contributors here at The Bits, the author of our ever illuminating Yellow Layer Failure, Vinegar Syndrome and Miscellaneous Musings column, is something of an expert on the subject of film preservation and restoration. Robert A. Harris, in point of fact, is one of the world's best known motion picture archivists, and has does significant work in this field through his company, Film Preserve. Robert's experiments in color technology and more recent advances in the digital domain have set standards in the industry. His reconstruction and restoration efforts, primarily in the large format field, have brought back to the screen some of the most important films ever produced, including Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, My Fair Lady, Vertigo and Rear Window.
We asked Robert what might be done with the original surviving elements of the Star Wars films in order to rejuvenate them and present them in high quality on DVD
Re:Will we ever get what we really want? (Score:5, Funny)
Jack Bauer could do it in half the time.
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-uso.
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I, being one of the three people on the face of the planet to actually own a LaserDisc player, OWN the THX-Mastered LaserDisc release of the original trilogy. I have watched it many times and am fairly comfortable with its level of clarity and detail -- FOR A LASERDISC.
To see Lucas claim that all of the originals are gone and all of the high-quality rips don't exist is bogus. A quick check on any torrent site or any movie release site shows that there ha
No (Score:2, Funny)
You know, I saw a recent 're-release' of Star Wars' Original Trilogy [lucasarts.com] that was in pretty high quality. But there was something strange about it that didn't feel right. I mean, sure the picture and quality was excellent but there was something different about it that I just couldn't quite put my finger on.
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George Lucas' Fear of Failure (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, an ultimate set? You don't have enough of my money?
Seriously, I wish Lucas would understand that we would rather see completely new material from him than to see him repackage and alter what we have and do love from him. I would rather see him release 9 mediocre or bad movies than to have him edit, 3D-ify and edit again episodes IV, V & VI.
Damnit Lucas, let the studio technicians re-master the movie (they went to school for it, they know what they're doing) and give us more original content! Look at all the famous directors you've studied. Did Akira Kirosawa edit and re-release Shichinin No Samurai or Rashômon over and over and over again? No, he continued to make more movies, some very very good and some mediocre.
Re:George Lucas' Fear of Failure (Score:5, Insightful)
George Lucas had a few good movies in him, but in reality he had one great thing and that was to revolutionize the use of special effects. He is more of a technical specialist rather than a story teller - why else would he continue to re-work the same material over and over again by enhancing the effects?
But to expect any great new material in the form of new stories and plots from him is unrealistic. I think that Star Wars volumes I-III proved that.
Re:George Lucas' Fear of Failure (Score:5, Insightful)
Piles and piles of money?
-Eric
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I find it interesting that Lucas, when he made Star Wars, was fearful of falling into the influence or patterns of the big studios. The success of the movie(s) allowed him to become the very thing he fought against. It is not unlike the story of Anakin/Vader. In the end the character is redeemed when he remembers his roots and sees what his son represents. Lucas does not seem to have the same 'good in him'.
Enough already George. Stop re-editting the damn movies. Stop re
Re:George Lucas' Fear of Failure (Score:5, Funny)
3 down, 6 to go.
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It seems obvious he doesn't have any left. And he had some good writers on the original Star Wars, we see what crud he writes now when given his head and no one is up to tell him how bad it is.
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I wish Lucas would put the camera in a box, and bury the box.
Let someone who knows how to write dialogue and get actors that aren't witches (you know, made out of wood) continue the Universe. Maybe hire those smart folks who wrote and directed Knights of the Old Republic [wikipedia.org]?
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By re-releasing what already exists, he keeps the money flowing with minimal effort and we marvel at how much brighter the colors are in a movie we could recite verbatim. No kidding, I was in a screening where the guy behind me spoke the part of Luke, with his buddy doing the part of Han. It wou
The Defense of I, II & III (Score:5, Insightful)
I hated Episode One, I liked Episode Two and I loved Episode Three. Overall, they're a good addition to the Star Wars universe. Episode One was fluff and terrible fluff at that. But it'd be a lie to say I don't own them and I know that these are movies that will survive time and last in my movie collection.
The important thing is that I will show them to my kids, much like the IV, V & VI were shown to me. And hopefully, they'll spur imagination and entertainment for everyone that sees them. That is the point of sci-fi movies, by the way, not to satisfy everyone that views them. I think that any eight to fourteen year old kid would enjoy all the Star Wars movies thoroughly and that makes them good. I, II & III contain excellent social commentary even though some of the acting might be terrible and the plot clunky.
We expected platinum for Lucas and he gave us silver. That's not very fair. Still, I'd rather watch Episode One than 90% of the crap I see hit movie theatres these days.
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:2)
Agreed. It was a good sci-fi movie, but a lousy Star Wars movie.
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:5, Insightful)
The movie had its faults. The little boy was awful, the introduction of midi-chlorians was a mistake, and of course, Jar Jar was a disaster.
But for me, Ep 1 did not have the scope that the others had. It was too localised, and perhaps in that respect it was aptly named.
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:2, Insightful)
Not in a single moment was I involved in what was happening on the screen; at best I was impressed by CGI, at worst I was plain bored.
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:3, Funny)
No, that's good CGI, not sci-fi...
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:3, Insightful)
Still cool, but it kind of pisses me off that he ignores continuity created by 3rd party stuff that he sanctioned and licensed, while stealing ideas from them. Now that loser Darth Maul is forever associated with the aweseom double-bladed saber, while poor Exar Kun--a much, much better character--is practically unknown (out
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:2)
Does it really? Or does that just cheat the 8-14 year old? I'd say you are overstating the marginal improvements II and III had over I; they may have been well conceived as far as the Grand Themes go (which they were, and oddly topical, too), but the execution was just inexcusable. I'm pretty sure that in "goodness per dollar spent" these are some of the worst movies ever made.
For m
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:5, Insightful)
Why else would he have started with Episode IV? Usually, you start at the beginning.
My guess would be that IV is just as boring (over long stretches) for someone who saw them the first time in the "right" order (i.e. new trilogy first, old one last). Because it, again, explains a lot. A lot that you already know when you've seen I-III.
In total, though, EpOne was a huge disappointment in pretty much every aspect. It has long passages of rather boring background info that doesn't really come to fruit in the movies (it does in the books, but the movies left out a sizable portion of this). Generally, it consists in large parts of Anakin being introduced as a very great Jedi-wannabe and the zany antics of JarJar.
What was the REAL disappointment was the rest of the Trilogy. Ep2 had the ability to become a great SciFi movie. Hey, it had the growth of Palpatine, it had the beginning of Anakin's corruption and let's not forget, it had what made every SciFi movie great: Tons and tons of robots. Lucas decided to make a cheesy love story out of it. A love story. Now, name ONE SciFi movie that is named when it comes to numbering the greatest SciFi movies of all times that consists basically of a love story. Yes, of course, Anakins love was one of the key elements to his ultimate corruption to the dark side, but does it have to be stretched to the lengths that the average SW fan falls asleep?
Finally Ep3. I was waiting to be compensated. I was actually expecting, no, demanding that we'll see a movie that rivals the greatness of IV and... hell the whole old trilogy! Hey, we all knew what was supposed to happen. And we all wanted to know one thing: HOW? Just HOW exactly does Anakin become Vader? What do we get? A laser sword fight over a lava pit that doesn't even come close to the emotional struggle displayed in VI between Vader and Luke. Great CGI, no doubt. But where was the emotion?
And in the end, without further ado, we get a Vader presented shouting a simple NOOOOO. What? No gory details? I, at the very least, would have expected some bargaining between Palpatine and Anakin, something like "I save your life and you join me on the dark side", some epic personal struggle for Anakin, at least SOMETHING that gives me a reason to feel for those characters.
Generally, great CGI, great effects, great eye candy, shallow story. If I wanted that, I could as well play a game.
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:3, Informative)
May I recommend LEGO Star Wars [legostarwa...eogame.com]?
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:5, Insightful)
First, he didn't start with Episode IV. He started with a movie called "Star Wars". Empire was the first movie to carry an episode number, and the original Star Wars did not get its "Episode IV" subtitle until its re-release. Second, it should be very clear to anyone who watched the series evolve in real-time that George Lucas was making up as he went. He may have had the very vague concept of something larger in his head but I refuse to believe that he:
Re:The Defense of I, II & III (Score:3, Informative)
Horrible Transfer (Score:3, Insightful)
Is Lucas trying to make a point?
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Reminds me of.. (Score:5, Funny)
"Yea I saw Phantom Menance and Attack of the Shit. It was like your uncle sticking his weiner in your mouth. Not like when you were a kid but grown up. You don't expect it either, your uncle's your favorite person, got you high, bought you your first beer, hate your mom hate your dad but your uncle is cool.
You're at your parents for christmas, everyone's in bed, you're watching Letterman and you look over and see your uncle trying to put his weiner in your mouth. That's what Phantom Menace was like.
I'm not even gonna see the third one (ROTS). It'll just be me walking into an empty theater and there will be Lucas ready to rape me some more. And I'll just do it to get it over with.
Then he'll put on a Greedo mask and call it the Special Edition."
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Re: Reminds me of.. (Score:2)
So now it's "* me twice, shame on you; * me three times, shame on me"?
Slashdot just can't be pleased (Score:2, Insightful)
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Ummm, in the original, Han shot first [wikipedia.org]. In the 2004 version Greedo shoots at Han and misses, without explanation, from point blank range, and then Han shoots him. More politically correct for a good-guy to shoot in self defense.
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1) The imfamous gun scene... who shot first?
2) Han steps on Jabba's tail - rather respectless for a man in Han's posit
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Don't worry about the bad quality (Score:3, Funny)
And again a year after that.
And again a year after that.
Bugger. (Score:5, Funny)
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quality (Score:4, Interesting)
When I came home from work, I noticed that the new version was very dark. I turned-up the brightness for the kids. I wish I knew why that was.
How is the quality of the bootleg DVD rips of the original trilogy from LD? How does it compare to these? Wouldn't it be a shame if the bootlegs looked better. Anyway for me quality better than my old VHS versions will be acceptable, but why could it not have been at least an anamorphic rip of the original trilogy on these new discs?
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Because that would have taken a bit of effort, some time, and some money. Three things that apparently Lucas feels he's in very short supply of...
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There was a bootleg set from this one guy (he went by the handle "TR47") that were absolutely superb. They looked much better than my LD set (looks like he used a top-of-the-line player, some video processing, and good encoding). He even offered bonus material never released on any of the half-ass Lucas editions. You can bet his versions are much better than anything Lucas is ever going to release.
Lucas is like a spoiled child.
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Animorphic would be nice too. I was all set to buy them (yet again) till I saw that. I want to re-create the original theater experience, not the original rental experience.
I'll Bite (Score:4, Insightful)
I've got a bad feeling about this... (Score:2, Insightful)
So... (Score:5, Funny)
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Who's scruffy-lookin'?
I like the new DVDs (Score:5, Insightful)
Poster didn't check out the article properly :-) (Score:2)
No, it's not.
There's a picture comparison of the two editions which can easily be found from the article that's been linked to. The third picture clearly shows that "Episode IV" isn't in the "original".
You know you'll buy it. (Score:3, Funny)
A friend of mine that's a rabid Star Wars fan was grousing about this yesterday, even as he talked about when he'd pick them up.
I told him the SW fans' motto should be "I may have to buy it, but I don't have to like it."Not THAT bad (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not THAT bad (Score:4, Informative)
-Eric
Re:Not THAT bad (Score:4, Informative)
LaserDisc video is analog. (Sound is either analog or digital).
Any word on the Christmas Special? (Score:2)
Why does George Lucas discriminate against certain holidays?
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there are numerous copies available on ebay however.
I rented it from a local rental store a couple christmases ago and it was just as horrible as i remembered. The Boba Fett cartoon is the only reason to watch it. -- well that and seeing grandpa moan and grown while watching some scantilly-dressed disco singer.
Terrible? (Score:5, Informative)
Enough already (Score:3, Insightful)
I applaud Lucas in his devotion to his creation that millions love. It's an icon of our time.
If you don't like the movies or the editing that has been done to them, that's fine. Don't buy them. It's that simple.
"They look terrible"? (Score:2)
Transferring VHS to DVD? (Score:2)
So I have the THX widescreen release of the original trilogy without the new scenes. What's the best way to transfer these to DVD?
I liked them (Score:2)
Definitive Version? (Score:2)
Mine would simply be the original* cinema version with cleaned up picture and sound. Lucas should have stuck that on the two disk set along with the special re-re-release.
Anyone else?
*Personally though I do like the Death Star explosions in the Special Edition, they look more impressive.
Woah, hold on there buddy! (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, I'm no expert but wasn't that the whole point with releasing the originals on DVD?
*ducks and waits for a +flamebait to hit him*
Lucas and Microsoft (Score:4, Funny)
Originals destroyed? I don't think so.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Wouldn't the first step in making the "special editions" be to digitize and clean up the original film? And who in their right mind would destroy that data? It can't take up too many drives.
So to me it means one of two things:
1. In his hatred of his original work, Lucas ordered the data deleted, which is pretty stupid (since keeping it around would be cheap).
2. He *has* a very nice cleaned up original version sitting on the Lucas SAN somewhere but refused to allow that to be released.
Either way it blows....
mine came with comics! (Score:2)
DAMN YOU GEORGE LUCAS!
WHY MUST I KEEP BUYING YOUR CRAP? oh well now that i have the originals i think im done, no more star wars dvds for me!
Watching Episode IV right now (Score:4, Informative)
Overall, I would NOT say that it looks terrible, though if you want to find things to complain about you can. A couple scenes look somewhat muddy. Some scenes have some dust specks here and there, a few scenes have quite a bit of dust, others have none. But all in all the contrast, brightness and color are pretty good. If you sit up close you can see a fair amount of film grain, but sitting 10 feet back you cannot. What does seem to be missing is what I'll call the "ghost boxes" around the ships in the space scenes.
It does appear to be the original version. The title screen only says, "Star Wars", no "Episode IV: A New Hope" Han shoots first. There are no really bad CG characters added. The Death Star explosion is not enhanced. I'm not enough of a Star Wars nerd to know what else to look for.
I suppose it depends on what you are looking for. If you want to be a video geek and complain how its not that great, you can do that. If you want to have fun and remember how you felt as a 12 year old boy in 1977 seeing something that was completely unlike anything you had ever seen before, this is the way to do it. It still brought a tear to my eye when Han zooms in at the last minute and saves Luke.
Do I think Lucas is a prick for not at least cleaning up the dust specks and giving us the option of 5.1 sound? Yes, yes I do.
So there you are Slashdoters. I hope you are all happy that I ruined my first screening of Star Wars in 10 years looking for things not to like and jumping around looking for "enhancements".
I Have A Point To Make About Episode III (Score:4, Funny)
Before the days of the iconic trash can and/or recycle bin, we lived in fear of accidentally deleting an important file. But now, first you are asked, "Are you sure you would like to delete this file?" And if you lose your brain momentarily and say "yes" when you should have said "no", you can pull it right back out of the trash.
Basic user interface design.
Now lets pretend we're designing the control centre for an industrial facility that has to sit in the middle of a lava flow for some reason.
Where exactly would you put the "destroy this facility" button? I mean, if you had the audacity to create one in the first place. Most people would avoid designing a control so sensitive as to turn "stable" into "complete structural failure".
If you're Lucas, apparently you put it right smack in the middle of the console, so that when two people are fighting, they can bump into it and send the structure to a fiery death.
No, "Are you sure you would like to destroy this facility?" At the very least if they really wanted to complete the destruction they should have had to empty their trash icon.
I can accept a lot of things, but seriously... for a guy who embraces technology at the expense of storytelling and style, Lucas makes some surprisingly poor choices for script devices.
Re:I Have A Point To Make About Episode III (Score:4, Funny)
Lucas cannot win. I have Karma to burn. (Score:5, Insightful)
Demand for the release of the original, unaltered trilogy on DVD has come up in the form of a great and plaintive whine in every single Star Wars-related story on Slashdot since probably around 1999. Now, here they are, and what are the "fans" doing? Complaining.
Sure, Lucas could have remastered the OT's picture and sound, made it anamorphic, and left out all the Special Edition changes. But then you would just have fanboys complaining that that constitutes an alteration. I know, you think that sounds outlandish, but I guarantee you it's not. Star Wars has become less about enjoying the films than complaining about the films, at least around here.
I think the only way the whiny fans will ever be pleased is when the technology finally emerges to Choose Your Own Star Wars Edition, where you pick from a digital menu which alterations you want. "OK, I want the non-Special Edition, with remastered picture and sound, Han shoots first, lightsabers are colored, old sandcrawler but new dewbacks, I want the new space battles... hmm, the Death Star explosion: ring or no ring?"
I'm kidding, of course. That won't actually solve anything, the whiners will just complain that they're once again being "forced" to buy another edition. George Lucas wants me to pay for entertainment. I have no free will and have to pay for every edition whether I like it or not. Boo hoo.
The unaltered OT is out on DVD. You got your wish. Now, for Christ's sake, quit your bitching. Instead of continuing to moan about what you didn't get, count your lucky stars that we live in an economy that can support your having so many choices in your entertainment. And recognize that it is a choice. You great big giant babies.
Ahh, okay, I feel better. Have a great day.
The Sad Truth (Score:3, Funny)
Penny Arcade tells it like it is. [penny-arcade.com].
Darn film looks like it was made in the 70s! (Score:4, Funny)
I wish... (Score:3, Insightful)
1) They fixed the plethora of problems introduced by doing a rushed DVD transfer by Lowry Digital. Examples that stand out include forgetting to take lightsabre colours into account when colour-correcting scenes and flipping music channels. From what I gather Lowry had 30 days per movie.
2) They included the classic trilogy, obtained from film material from the 1997 film restoration of the OT for the DVD transfer. It seems they underwent a major film restoration process to get the best possible source material for the Special Edition. Surely they preserved that before Lucas started scribbling on it with new effects.
So as it stands I won't be buying these. They've done nothing to fix the Special Edition, and the Classic Edition looks no better than on Laserdisc.
Side-by-side comparison, and anamorphic vs. non-an (Score:5, Informative)
First: Here's a shot-by-shot comparison of the newly released footage to recent home releases. [starwars.com]
Next, here's a simple explanation of what "anamorphic" is all about. It originally comes from the cinema. An anamorphic lens stretches or shrinks the image along one axis. In the movies, they use it to shrink the image horizontally when they film it, and stretch it back when they project it. This is what allows theaters to fit a widescreen image on square cells on the film. Anamorphic DVDs work similarly.
See, the aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) of the Star Wars theatrical release is somewhat larger than TV's traditional aspect ratio of 4:3. Annoyingly, the video format that DVDs use is hard-coded to a range of fixed resolutions, all of which have 4 times as many pixels across as they have vertically. (Ok, I'm oversimplifying slightly, but not critically.) To fit content wider than 4:3 onto a 4:3 format, you have 3 choices:
To display an anamorphic DVD on a regular-screen TV, the DVD player will still need to shrink the image top-to-bottom, otherwise everything will look tall and thin. On such a TV, an anamorphic DVD will not look much different than a letterboxed DVD. On a wide-screen TV, though, the DVD player can stretch the image side-to-side to fill the entire width of the display. This provides a direct benefit over simply enlarging a letterboxed DVD image: You gain vertical resolution.
--JoeRe:Side-by-side comparison, and anamorphic vs. non (Score:2, Informative)
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