Star Wars Eps I-VI Blu-Ray Release - Review Thread

[Cmndr J Crichton]

Trekker, if you actually WATCH A New Hope on Blu Ray, The Saber color issue has been fixed. Lukes Saber is no longer green blue then white, it's always blue now. The audio quality is also consistent with the rest of the saga. At times in the original version, you can just tell it's from the 70s. Now, it's less jarring going from Sith to Hope.

That whole Red Letter Media review of the release is a joke. Star Wars belongs to the fans? What The Sh*t? Now they're kicking Lucas while he's supposedly down, suggesting that he had nothing to do with Hope's success. Do they not watch the BTS footage? Lucas was there from concept, to release every day practically begging studios to give him the funding for the film.

About who owns the rights to Empire and Jedi, Lucas does. Again, in the BTS footage Lucas is there guiding the actors, telling the directors what angles to shoot which scenes. Kirshner Directed Empire. He also Directed Robocop II, Never Say Never Again, and the Seaquest DSV pilot :P Kirshner and Lucas was a collaberative effort every step of the way. As was Marquand and Lucas. Lucas had more influence in Jedi, though. All Kirshner and Marquand did was point and shoot the camera. Lucas provided the inspiration, and advice. (How's that for a controversy!)

 

[Eddie Roth]

Well, Crichton, let's not defame the hired directors just because they were hired. No doubt Lucas had a LOT of influence on the making of ESB and ROTJ, even on set, but directing (under any sort of contract) is hardly just "pointing the camera and shooting". In my perception, you could always tell, especially in Empire, that Kershner had a better sensibility for working with actors than Lucas did. You see it in the performances. That, even more so than setting up shots, is what directing is all about.

 

[Mach5]

Allow me to simplify.

CGI Yoda replacement in TPM - great idea (that puppet sucked)

Han Shooting first - inexcusable
Han steping on Jabba's tail - ridiculous (only an idiot would do such a thing to a notorious crime lord)
Vader's NOOOO in ROTJ ruins one of the most powerful moments in the entire trilogy
Hayden Christensen in ROTJ - stupid and unfair to the original actor

The other changes I have no problem with, but these four are more than enough reason for me to never buy those discs.

 

[Trekker4747]

Jedi Rocks?

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Jedi Rocks?

That one didn't bother me as much as turning the Sarlaac into a giant venus fly trap.

 

[Trekker4747]

I dunno, better than a giant sand sphincter.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Why did they dub the Cockney into American English? I liked the barkeep's 'they're not welcome 'ere' in heavy Cockney.

AFAIK, Lucas' intent was to have all the bad guys (i.e. the Empire officers) speak with British accents.

This is probably why there was a lot of dubbing going on, since the films were mostly shot in England and so most of the extras were from there. Thus since the good guys were intended to speak with American accents, overdubbing here we come.

 

[Mach5]

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=7399

Not only are the discs selling like mad, but The Complete Saga is actually outselling The Original Trilogy.

George Lucas: 1
The Internet: 0

 

[Keith1701]

To separate from the 'changes' thread, lets have a different one for the reviews. Post your comments, both positive and negative, grade the set, extras etc.

I agree with the previous post!

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Not only are the discs selling like mad, but The Complete Saga is actually outselling The Original Trilogy.

Eh. At least you don't see the standalone prequel box set on there.

I believe the complete saga has more extra features. That might be incentive. Maybe some areas, like my local Walmart, only carry the complete set. I haven't seen the other sets there.

Bluray disks aren't selling as well as DVD's yet, are they? I'd imagine the other films, for example, Thor, are having more sales from regular dvd's than BR.

 

[SeerSGB]

Overall: Unimpressed with them. The changes feel like changes for the sake of changes most of the time. Watching on a hi-def tv: meh. TMP looks the worse of the 6, and the big moment of Vader's redemption in RotJ is ruined by the "nooo". Do I regret buying them? No. Are they worth the hype? IMO, no.

 

[Mach5]

Eh. At least you don't see the standalone prequel box set on there.

It's at #15. People ARE buying them.

I believe the complete saga has more extra features. That might be incentive.

Yeah, but it also costs twice as much. Paying double (an extra $40) just for some additional features? I guess there are SOME people who'd do that, but the majority?

 

[Candlelight]

Not only are the discs selling like mad, but The Complete Saga is actually outselling The Original Trilogy.

As has been said, we live in a DVD age where extras are almost as important as the main feature. Considering the Original Trilogy release only has a handful of commentaries, the Complete Saga has THREE BONUS DISCS.

I know which one I'd buy.

(Plus the prequel trilogy are amazing from a technical stand point. You could just watch it with the sound off )

 

[Mach5]

(Plus the prequel trilogy are amazing from a technical stand point. You could just watch it with the sound off )

What, and miss out on John Williams' awesomeness, and Ben Burt's sound orgies?

 

[doubleohfive]

(Plus the prequel trilogy are amazing from a technical stand point. You could just watch it with the sound off )

Often, that's the only way to get through them.

 

[Uxi]

Bluray disks aren't selling as well as DVD's yet, are they? I'd imagine the other films, for example, Thor, are having more sales from regular dvd's than BR.

Better, apparently:

"Thor was mighty for Blu-ray as it finished its first week in stores by slamming 61% of its total package media sales for the HD format."

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=7399

 

[David cgc]

(Plus the prequel trilogy are amazing from a technical stand point. You could just watch it with the sound off )

What, and miss out on John Williams' awesomeness, and Ben Burt's sound orgies?

Exactly. You have to watch them with the alternate language track. Whatever you don't speak should work.

 

[Dream]

Star Wars: The Complete Saga On Blu-Ray Breaks Worldwide Sales Records

Looks like that boycott called by hardcore fans didn’t amount to much. Nor were buyers perturbed by some very controversial changes in the 9-disc Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga with 40 hours of extras. Instead, the Complete Saga on Blu-ray release broke global sales records with 1 million units sold and $84 million filling cash registers. It quickly becomes the #1 pre-order and #1 catalog title since the launch of the high-definition format. Needless to say, Lucasfilm Ltd and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment are high-fiving today’s announcement that Star Wars is the bestselling catalog Blu-ray Disc of all time, including 515,000 units sold in North America in its first week alone. This worldwide consumer spend included $38 million in North America – unprecedented for a 9-disc Blu-ray collection at a premium price

http://www.deadline.com/2011/09/star-wars-complete-saga-on-blu-ray-breaks-global-sales-records/

Great news. Now Lucas needs to release the unaltered original trilogy on Blu-Ray in a year or two!

 

[General_Phoenix]

Re: Star Wars: The Complete Saga On Blu-Ray Breaks Worldwide Sales Rec

Yeah, I waited to pick up my copy at night after work on release day, they only had one or two left of The Complete Saga, I was slightly surprised considering I didn't think many would care about it. The bonus features are worth it though really, plus all the films, can't really go wrong.

 

[Eddie Roth]

Re: Star Wars: The Complete Saga On Blu-Ray Breaks Worldwide Sales Rec

That's good. And may I say well-deserved. Let people bitch and whine all they want about the (actually rather inconsequential) changes - these are great films, it's a ton of fun watching them again in this amazing quality and the extras are exquisite. To see some of the deleted scenes that I've heard about since my childhood is a treat, as are the interviews and design featurettes. I haven't even gotten into the documentary bonus disc, but already this set has provided me with many hours of entertainment. Well worth the price, well worth the wait.