I just preordered the Star Wars Trilogy from Overstock.com. My understanding is that the audio is excellent 5.1. Is that, in fact true?

Jay

The discs will contain Dolby EX tracks for all three movies. As for the quality of the tracks, ask me again after September 21 and I'll hopefully be able to confirm that. The audio for A New Hope (and perhaps all three) has been re-mixed from the original recordings by Ben Burtt, which certainly bodes well.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

I noticed that Overstock was selling it as FS P&S. Is that for real?
I'm surprised that Lucas would even approve of that. He is a purist about his "Vision" isn't he?
Trace

'Tis for real. George has done some remarkable stuff over the course of his career, but he's also not without his share of irritating quirks. Aside from dragging his feet on Star Wars DVD's to a mind-numbing degree, he has also allowed for pan and scan discs of each DVD release. I believe that Indiana Jones was the same way too.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

JMS:
It’s still April and already thinking about September? It will be one long summer. Actually, I wouldn’t mind having long summers. Here in Chicago, warm days are rather precious and it’s kind of a taboo to mention fall during spring or summer, at least among the people I know...

I’m anxious for trilogy DVDs myself so I understand how you feel. If you want to ease the pain of waiting, here are some thoughts you can immerse yourself in if you live in the US. Memorial Day weekend BBQ & 4 th of July celebration and fireworks.

Yes, and if you live in the Chicago area you can go to Rib Fest in Naperville. By the way, Jazz Fest starts in New Orleans Friday.

.

Barista Man,

Thank you for pointing out the two versions Overstock is selling. I had inadvertently ordered the FS (full screen) version but, since it's a preorder they allowed me to change the order to the WS (wide screen) version. Caveat emptor! ...and thank you again!

Jay

PS Do you work in a Starbucks? My son is a barista at the local charbux.

[This message has been edited by JMS (edited April 22, 2004).]

JMS,
You're welcome. I didn't want to come straight out and ask you about your purchase. That's why I phrased it as a general question.
Nope, not a Starbucker. I run an indepent shop in front of a grocery store about 1/2 a mile away from one. Been doing it for 12 years now. My tips are good enough to keep me in home theater heaven. :-)

JMS:
Here’s another thing to keep your mind busy while waiting for Trilogy DVDs. L.O.T.R. The Return of The King (theatrical version) DVD in May.

Is the Dolby 5.1 EX soundtrack all thats available on the dics? Will that screw up my 1050 again?

There will also be a Dolby 2.0 track, but don't despair just yet. The EX tracks do not all screw up the 1050 -- Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones both have EX tracks that work fine in 5.1 mode on 1050's. It is only a problem when mastered using an optional encoding flag, which forces the 1050 to enable 6.1 decoding.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Why buy this set when you KNOW there will be the "ULTIMATE 6 MOVIE SET" after episode 3 is out!!

Ah, yes, I have no doubt of that. Some time in 2006, maybe. Based on past patterns, though, Lucas could decide to wait for the HD DVD format to be released and widely adopted before he comes up with the first (of what will eventually probably be many) "double-trilogy" set -- in 2007 or 2008. In my case, I think I'll get my $42 worth of entertainment out of this set before that happens.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Cadboy:
What will "ULTIMATE 6 MOVIE SET" have that trilogy set won’t?
If it’s savings of a few $, should one wait for another year?

The "WOW" factor of having THE DEFINITIVE, ALL-TIME BESTEST EVER 18-DISC COLLECTORS TROPHY"!! (Not to mention those unique liner notes!)

Just breathin' on those embers

Ah, that good ol “status quo”.

For some, it’s a non-sense, for others, it’s a “must have”. Diversity at work… Aren’t we glad we are living in the society of freedom?

Personally, I’ll keep my focus on next month’s events.

I just got the e-mail from Amazon. My copy of the Star Wars Trilogy has shipped. Time to stock up for the weekend. Cool!

Just curious, what’s the best price you’ve seen so far and where?

Best price I'd seen a couple months ago was Amazon.com, I think - $41.99 plus shipping (or free shipping, if you don't mind the wait). Buy.com was a penny lower than Amazon several months back, but they've gone up a couple dollars. Wal-Mart's $41.88 (plus tax) according to their web site.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Just read a disturbing article about audio issues with the Episode 4 disc. Check out the "My Two Cents" report at this website:

www.thedigitalbits.com

The worst issue they bring up is that the score is reversed in the surround channels. That would mean that whatever instrument you're hearing in the front left channel shows up in the back right channel. Could be very annoying....

Best price? $0. I'm not getting it because Lucas has screwed with it so much. I want the original. Sorry to be a sourpuss here.

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

You are only hurting yourself JT.

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I still have my LD collector's edition, so I can go back anytime I feel the need

The grandkids and I are ready for a SW DVD marathon.

Check out the dvd changes at:

http://freewebhosting.hostdepartment.com/s/starwarstrilogydvd/main.html

Lee44:

It’s up to you but if you want my recommendation, I wouldn’t do it. I tried to do it in the past but I started to get sick of it. You know, same o’l laser blasts, space ships in dogfights, light saver and on and on. The scenes, costumes and actors change but it’s all the same sound.

I think these movies are best experienced one at a time with good day or two rests between. Just my observation.


[This message has been edited by Spiker (edited September 21, 2004).]

.

ironic that hd-dvd is sitting around the bend and yet lots of time was spend on enhancing the video, when having the film in hd quality would blow it away.

this is of course assuming that the original transfer could be put into hd format, which i am not at all certain about...

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This post has been brought to you by curegeorg, thanks for reading.

Well, the digital transfer produced by Lowry Digital for these DVD's is actually an HD transfer, and as such could be dropped directly onto HD DVD or Blu-Ray if Lucas chose to. I have my doubts about his ability to give the nod to such a release without "tweaking" the movies further, but at least the foundation for any such future releases (and revisions) that is sitting in Lucasfilm's vaults is now a nice clean digital HD transfer.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Wayne:

When I said scenes, costumes and actors (I forgot the creatures) change meant from episode to episode which is fun. My recommendation was in regards to a boredom resulting from overdosing of something. Beer is good (for those who drink) but you know what happens when people overdose it. To see five episodes all in a row may be an overdose for most people.

I can see another edition of SW coming out with a label like “enhanced audio” as I am disappointed at the audio quality of opening title in episode 4. It got little better with episode 5 & 6 but I can’t get rid of this bitter taste as my first impression of this DVD version is just about ruined. The video aspect was good though.

How difficult would it be to replace the music portion of movie with more recent (digital) version when producing DVD? soundhoud or anybody? If Mr. Lucas was willing to replace / add digital images to enhance the story, then I would’ve guessed the same with audio. Time will tell if it really is about “film is never finished”.

The score undoubtedly has been re-transferred to digital for the new DVD edition. The current practice in film post production almost mandates this because of the exclusive use of digital audio workstations. That does not however guarantee how the new transfer will sound one way or the other.

On the reissues of "Superman", "Grease", and "The Exorcist" that I remastered the music score for, I went to great lengths to use the best original elements and to clean up the sound so that they would sound as close to current standards as possible. It isn't hard to do.

I recently watched all the Godfathers in one day, and it was pretty cool. Its nice to be able to quickly recall something that is tied into a previous movie...

Granted most series have little to do with the previous one, but still...

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Well, I just finished watching episode 6 (Return of the Jedi) and was somewhat disturbed by what I heard. Towards the end of the movie I expected to hear that familiar music when Ewoks and rebel soldiers celebrate the victory which brings me some fond memories from 1983 when I saw it in the theater. Instead, it’s been replaced by a different music. How could George Lucas do this? I can understand his intent to add digital images to enhance the story but to completely take out something as good as that music is a disservice in my opinion. What should’ve been replaced is the opening title music of episode 4 (A New Hope) with a newer recording since the audio quality was so bad in it compare to all other episodes.

As far as audio goes I would say this trilogy DVD set is a disappointment.

That's what happens when they don't hire me to work on a reissue.

And I have a feeling there's more he did in the other episodes.

Why not do some work on the first two movies? Those could use some big improvment. Why not superimpose the original Anakin over Hayden? Why not concentrate on making Episode 3 good right now? It's due out like next May isn't it? The first two made a lot of money, but they weren't heralded as being that good.

There's so much stuff that he did just because he can and not because he should.

i just watched the trilogy, and i thought it was great. sound was good (a little over bassy at some moments) and the video quality (even on the versions that i ripped) was good as well. actually id have to say the video quality was superb at most instances, even on the discs i ripped.

now, i have never been a diehard star wars fan, so i cant comment on the differences between the original, and frankly i dont care what they are. i thought the three movies were well done, and the only issue i have is that the explosions were sometimes disproportionate. i thought that the death star explosion scenes should be some of the loudest scenes in the movie (besides the planet exploding...), but there were much louder scenes/explosions. i recall one explosion of one of those imperial walking weapons (whatever the name is... :-) ), being much louder than the death star explosions. the 2nd death star explosion was more disappointing.

i guess for true star wars fanatics, the movies delve away from the originals, but lucas wasnt trying to merely remaster the originals, he was trying to improve them. somewhere i read/saw that lucas views movies as an ongoing process, which i kind of like, because why wouldnt you want to improve on something if you could. the original is tried and tested, and im sure there were issues that he had with it, that he messed up the first time around, so now he can change it how he wants it. if you own something its yours to do what you want to it, and i appreciate the better quality video and presumably better audio.

that being said, i still thx is overrated, but at least an attempt at standardization to give a reference point to quality...

i look forward to watching the series again, this time to see how well he can build the story backwards from the originals...

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JT - the bulk of Lucas's time is currently focused on Episode III, which is due out next May - most of the work on these DVD's was done by ILM and Lowry Digital, with Lucas providing direction and reviewing it along the way. As for I and II, both received some minor adjusting when they went to DVD, and will likely see a few more tweaks in a couple years when the full six-movie set Lucas has been intent on is put together. Because these movies are newer and were made with a much wider range of resources, they seem to have started out closer to the vision Lucas had for them, so they will likely receive fewer and less pronounced changes.

My father teaches metals in an art college, and one lesson that he often finds students struggling with is when to set a piece of work down down and call it "finished" - not only can stopping too soon leave rough solder joints, jagged cuts, or unpolished surfaces, but working too long can take a piece to a point where it is over-worked and effectively ruined (too many added details that detract from the desired effect, for example). Part of the problem for students (or any artist) is the fact that they are the only ones who can decide when the point of completion is reached - there's no right or wrong answer. In Lucas's case, he always felt that the movies he released to theaters over 20 years ago fell short of that point, and in the process of gearing up for and producing the prequels he's taken the opportunity to pick up those "unfinished" pieces of work and push them closer to his goal. In some places, I think the movies have benefited from the work, and I have no doubt that many of the changes provide him a greater sense of satisfaction. There are also places where I think his recent work moves into that hazy and dangerous area of doing too much and taking it past the point of completion, although I get the impression from interviews and from some of the creative decisions in the prequels (particularly Episode I) that Lucas feels differently (damnit). From a purely technical standpoint, the DVD set is great, and I've been enjoying it. Artistically, there are places where I find myself scratching my head or shrugging, but I've still been able to sit back and enjoy the movies for the most part. There are things that I really wish had not been tampered with as well as a few special effects sequences that I think are deserving of preservation in some form (even if not in the movie itself) out of respect for the work that went into them, but that is Lucas's prerogative - whatever our opinion might be of his artistic decisions. Alas.

Since none of us can do much about it, though, I guess grumbling about it amongst ourselves is about all we have to fall back on. Grumble...

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

I think any artist can benefit from criticism to some degree. One of the most difficult tasks in creative work such as art, architecture, film, music, literature and …etc, is to be able to criticize one’s own work. I know it from my own practice. Who knows, if enough voices are herd by Mr. Lucas regarding this trilogy DVD, it may sway him one way or the other. But he will never know if no one speaks up.

If anyone finds a link to send opinions to Mr. Lucas, please share it with us.

We can also not buy things we don't really like. I think too many people just buy things to buy something. The industry really looks at what sells and tries to do more of that. They may buy it on a boredom night or whatever, but it adds to the movie's revenue and makes it look better.