have you seen the piece at thedigitalbits.com about the poor sound on " a new hope"?. lucasfilm deny it but apparently its so obviously a problem, spotted on the eve of the release and could affect sale i suppos, so they deny it...

I didn't notice anything with the sound in ANH, but it did jump once.

I just noticed that C3PO has a silver lower right leg.. Maybe it was noticable before but it was nice to see something new :)

The colors and details were great but there was a lot of flashing that I hadn't noticed before

if wish they had done more with the new editions. to me it all looks only like a half assed update. i do like the new effects, be i wish they did even more with them. ie. replace all the old FX work in new hope. i was really hoping that there would be more indepth extras with the package too. i haven't listen to all the audio commentaries yet, but the bits i have where not very exciting and lots of no talking :( and why did these have to be released before epIII?

The sound was incredible here. I had no problem with it at all.

Uh, you just now noticed that C3PO had one silver lower leg? Guess your copies are REALLY worn out.

At least now you get to see it all.

Watched Empire. Its like falling in love all over again.

I have been saving the Special Features Disk til last. I am looking forward to the Documentary. It sounds cool.

I don't have an Xbox, so I cant play the demo, but the clips are neat.

I might have to play Knights of the Old Republic soon to get my fix for a decent Star Wars game.

I love the fact that lucas has sharpened the visuals and sound, I can even live with the added scenes and CGI's (Barely). But adding Hayden Christensen in as the essence of Anakin is just going too far. These are not the same films I watched in the theater all those years ago. The are pale imitations. I may rent the films, but I will never own them.

I watched a couple of clips yesterday.

Hayden as the dead Anakin at the end of RotJ and the replacement of the emperor in tESB. In the latter they'd changed the dialouge as well. It just doesn't feel right.

Let's face it LotR is the new best movie trilogy ever.

/al-xx

The refined graphics in the Rancor fight in RotJ blew me away, as I wasn't aware they'd changed it. The dark outline around the monster's body and the jarring sense of unreality whenever Luke came into shot? gone.

Most of the additions were smooth and very hard to recognise. I liked the extra shuttles and ships taking off and landing in the background, and the way the new CGI now doesn't stand out from the background. The additional Special Edition scenes for me aren't nearly as objectionable on that side of things.

The Emperor's speech was fine, in my opinion, but there were a few things I didn't like. Replacing Boba Fett's voice sorta makes sense logically, but the new voice (that of Jango from Ep 1) just doesn't sound as good as the old crisp, cool dispassionate voice. A little niggle is in the Coruscant scene right at the end, where they removed the Emperor's statue being toppled, which was a nice little motif that gave some movement to the victory celebrations. And Hayden Christensen is such a bad actor he belongs nowhere near my beloved trilogy. He can't even stand as a ghost and look believable.

Mostly, though, I was pleasantly surprised by the DVD editions, and am pleased to have them in my collection.

despite everything, when you take a step back and look at it very carefully, whats really happening is that we got hooked on branding.

we are no different from people who get hooked on brands like Prada, Dior, Jimmy Choos. we are hooked on the brand of Lucas. regardless of whatever he produces we think its a work of genius.
this is no different when i fawn over the Yves Saint Laurent's $3000 suit regarless if it looks sucks. why? because yves saint laurent is a genius.

kaching!
we are all cows being led by the nose.

yes including me who owns Jimmy Choos $500 heels (for my gf ehem) and the whole set of the very lovely Lone Wolf and Cub Babycarts series DVDs... ehem :)

I am not a victim of branding. I dont think Lucas is flawless, in fact as a director I see him more as "accomplished" than anything. He is not perfect by a long way.

I dont grade movies on how perfect they are but rather the entertainment quality that they provide. I could go on with the list of things I didnt like about Star Wars, but the good outweighs the bad, and therefore it is a good overall experience for me. The only time sound, graphics, cinematography or acting affects me is if it is terrible. Many argue that the acting wasnt the best in Star Wars, but I dont see anything OVERLY wrong with it that would ruin the movie for me. Its decent, and I have seen ALL the actors involved do better. So its not a big deal.

Under NO circumstances ever would my wife be able to convince me to buy a $500 pair of shoes. But then my wife would rather have 20 pair of shoes that cost $25 each than one pair no matter how nice they are.

I hope someday your nose gets dragged into a little town called Logic. I wish you the best of luck.

Having watched all three films on the UK release, I feel I can comment.

ANH definitely sounds like it's got sound problems. I watched it before reading the `bits article and can't place what's wrong. I own a virtual surround telly, so can't break down what's wrong.

The tinkering of the movies wasn't as offensive as could have been. Greedo still shoots first, though!
I liked the better definition of the landspeeder moments through Mos Eisley and the updated Jabba. The rendering is far superior.
I don't know why ROTJ was edited. When the Ewoks first surround Luke, Han, Chewie and the droids, I'm sure I remember Han pointing his blaster at the teddy bears with Luke telling him that he wouldn't need it.

The updated finale didn't bother me as I would have expected to see Anakin as he looked before he turned.

Mr Neal, Greedo doesnt shoot first. They shoot at the same time. I don't know if the UK version differs in any way, but its VERY clear that they shoot at the same time.

I was hoping to take some screenshots before I posted this, but in ANH there are problems with the Tie fighter backgrounds. Notice when they attack the Death Start that there are dark black space behind the Tie's and when they shoot, it turns brown again.

Fun...!

Actually, Greedo does shoot first.

Call me a geek, but it was one of the first things that I watched with the DVD release, and I had to see it frame-by-frame.

If you do so, you'll see that it's actually clear that Greedo's blast hits the wall behind Han's head (which has been digitally moved to appears as if he's dodging) before Han fires.

I watched ANH over the weekend with my two boys, ages 3 & 5. This was the first time that they had seen ANH and they both loved it. My 5 year old can't wait to watch ESB.

As for me, I thought that the picture and sound were amazing! Sure, I could nitpick a couple of things, but overall, I was pretty impressed. I definately have my issues with Lucas, but my pulse still started to race when I watched the documentary, (with a running time of 5 minutes, I can barely call it that), about Darth Vader and I saw the unfinished scenes of Anakin and Obi-Wan's lightsaber duel.

Marc
www.AlterEgoComics.com

Watching Empire Strikes Back with commentary. My copy briefly repeats an opening visual (and audio) over Lawrence Kasdan's "You guess at everything." Curious if anyone else has found similiar problems.

I noticed the boxes around the Tie-Fighters in ANH, they didn't look black... but more red and green. It was VERY noticable. It looks as though they just editted the Tie-Fighters and not the rest of the shots. I still thought it was completely awesome though. I love some of the changes and hate others. But overall it was a great movie experience. Going to watch ESB and RotJ this week.

Those boxes around the Tie Fighters have always been there, it's not new on the DVD edition. You would have expected them to clear them up on the original Special Edition, but they didn't and they haven't this time.
Anakin at the end - think it sucks. Fett, logical but sucks - he should have had the digi voice in EII. Some bits cool, others like Emperor's statue suck. But I always hated the new music at the end of the Special Edition. The original music was far superior the way the music built up to a crescendo with Ewok voices joined by human voices then brilliantly in to the fanfare - it always sends shivers down my spine but that awful pan-pipes music - urghh!!

The tie-fighter background is very annoying in this dvd version. When they attack the Falcon the green/brown boxes are very prevalent. I have the newer VHS version and while noticable it is not nearly as bad. Maybe in sharpening up the whole movie for dvd the boxes around the tie fighters was sharpened too?

Randy

C'mon everybody. You can nit pick these forever, but the reality is that these are great movies and that the DVD's are largely a big improvement. First of all they sound better, and look MUCH better. In fact, I saw an original clip of ANH recently, and was shocked by just how bad it looked - definately areas of shoddy 70's era special effects and horrible quality. Secondly, the edtions provide a sense of continuity and of course, make for some cool discoveries while watching. Every time I watch the DVD's I find something new - and then compare it to the VHS.
Finally, while paying close attention to details is part of the fun, it can eventually take away from these movies if you insist on breaking them down to five second sequences. In other words, if you think the fact that Greedo shoots first ruins ANH youre missing out on what makes the movie so fun.

Listen everyone, I can appreciate your comments but lets all be realistic. These new copies suck. Thomas L. Martin, it isn't that they changed bobba fett's voice, It's that they should have changed episode 1 and 2's actor. Can anyone say sell out? Let's all be politically correct and have a hispanic actor. If bobba had been of spanish descent I wouldnta cared one bit, but he wasn't. Let's change Biff in Back to the future to a Korean actor, or kick out Gene Hackman in superman and add a midget, or digitally enhance Gene Hackman as a munchkin into the Wizard of OZ just to be fair to everyone. I wouldn't take Antonio Banderez out of Desperado just to add a German in his place. Geedo shot first in the new ones but duhhh how did he miss at two feet away. Anyone ever thought about that? How bout that ending in Jedi Huh? with that wimp Haden as the ghost of Anakin. Please, Lucas is riding on his own coat tails. These new films, we have waited for twenty years some of us. Why did Lucas make such a couple of crap movies. We all want to love them so. Everything from Jar Jar to the fake special effecs, to weak story lines and inconsistencies. Episodes 1 and 2 are some of the worst movies I've ever seen. What if every film out there changed their endings for no reason? Just because they could? Would Goose have died? would Ferris have gotten away with it? would Denzel and the Titans gotten along? I'm sure Mr. Lucas thinks he's being cute, but it just isn't right. Please apologize to your fans George these movies are awful at best. Ever noticed how a burlap sack over a coat rack looks more real than any computer effect? Give us the old Star Wars Tri on dvd and you'll regain some trust. Thanks for nothin.

That last poster is another troll in our midst, when will it ever end?

By the way I loved the DVDs, it was surely worth the wait, and I loved the changes too, I dont think it mattered that much as the essence of the story remained. I loved the documentaries as well.

David's right, nitpick all you want you whiners.

Simone, the point is that the movie has changed and for the worst. Saying that the last poster{as brilliant as it was} was nit picking is like saying someone who likes meat and patata's is picky. I just wish they would have put Gene Wilder in Gone With The Wind instead of Clark Gabel. At least the essence of the movie would have been the same.

I agree, Simone. That person wasn't "trolling". He didn't attack anyone, just stated his opinon.

I won't argue with anyone who says these re-releases are greatly improved visually. The films have been cleaned up for better quality in visuals and sound, and it's great to look at. Love it, big fan of it. Lucas wants to improve Cloud City's look? I say great. He wants to improve the TIE fighters and take out those grey boxes around them? Sweet. Add more X-wings to the death star battle? Mazel Tov.

But making Han shoot at the same time/after Greedo, who apparently is now blind? Nonsense. Han shot first, because he was a smuggler and in his world, that was the best play. Greedo was either going to kill him or take him in, and Han had to get out of there so he could take this job from Ben and Luke and get PAID. "I ain't in this for your revolution, Princess. I expect to be well paid." Well, that pretty much sums him up right to the end of New Hope. He's a smuggler, and very much of a mercenary in how he takes care of himself. There's nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.
Should we alter that line? Wouldn't want Han to be too cold-blooded, after all. Maybe he should say "I'm not in this for your revolution, Princess. I'm in it for the less fortunate. And puppies. I want a puppy."

Replacing Fett's voice because he's a clone? What for? The original voice was very cool and icy. It was, I believe, a significant factor in the character's mass appeal.
Seeing the original movies, I never thought I was hearing Fett's "real" voice anymore than I thought I was hearing Darth Vader's. I always thought his voice was being altered by his helmet to sound the way it was. What's the problem?

Jabba being introduced in the first one? Nah. They were right to cut it out in the original print because it doesn't flow now. Han killing Greedo after the latter tells him Jabba wants him dead, and then Jabba letting Han go just doesn't fit. Jabba is now a little too understanding and patient.
Not to mention Han stepping on his tail, (in front of his entire crew, no less). Why not just tweak Don Corleone's nipples while you're at it?
This doesn't fit at all with how much Han fears him later in Empire, where he leaves the rebel base to pay Jabba off for fear of being found by his organization.

Lucas has his "vision" thing, well that's great. Trouble is, people have been watching what HE put out in the first place for decades now, so perhaps he should stop whining. He apparently had no trouble taking the money from them when it came out, so he couldn't have objected THAT much to them.

Or, he could simply clean up the original trilogy's effects and sound, and release those as an alternate? Then everyone's happy. Simple, and effective.

"Simone, the point is that the movie has changed and for the worst. Saying that the last poster{as brilliant as it was}"

Oh I didnt expect you to return rich, and for what its worth, I am calm and relaxed whilst replying to this, :-) oh, and nice to meet you, I am Simone by the way, residentr female SW geek of The Movie Blog. Going back to your last comment, "Simone, the point is that the movie has changed and for the worst". How could it have been worse rich, please enlighten me, for some reason, I couldnt follow your analogies. Which parts of it that Lucas changed in the DVDs and the whole story of the movie went away with it?

Hi there Agamemnon :-) Youre right, maybe I am wrong calling rich a troll, I have just been using a lot of it recently, I just couldnt keep up anymore. I apologise. Anyway I already promised myself and to the rest of the SW geekdom that I will not be so obsessive, but isnt this nitpicking just as being obsessive? Wehn will it all end??? LOL

But you know what guys, I have got to give it to you all, this love for what we all think was holy. I didnt really mind the changes Lucas made, but what he could have done to please ALL fans, was maybe release 2 versions of the DVDs, the ones without any enhancements, or changes, and the ones he added so much new stuff of that most of you here seem not to appreciate very much.

Just makes me think somehow, what other movie has generated all this admiration and disappointment at the same time, just Star Wars. Well, I have a strong feeling that the FORCE will be back in Episode III, what ya think boys?

Hi Simone, pleased to meet you as well.

Yes, I think the Force will be back for Episode 3. For all my griping, I'll be seeing it right along with everyone else. :)

OK, Simone reminds me of something. Someone help me clarify whether I'm remembering this correctly or not: Didn't they release New Hope, Empire, and Jedi once before these new special edition ones (with all the new scenes) and stuff came out? I could've sworn that VHS tapes came out where a lot of the effects, like the lightsabers and fighters, were all cleaned up but they did not YET have the new scenes (Mos Eisley, Jabba, etc)?

Anyone remember those? Or did they always have the new scenes and I'm just smoking crack? :) If those others did come out, seems to me that those are the perfect ones to have! The films all cleaned up, but still without the Han/Greedo and Jabba stuff?

I think the movies could have used some visual and audio effects. They have restored older movies and made some vast improvements and it did not take away from the original film, if anything it made it more enjoyable. I would never however change it this drastically. It is ok to change a voice, they do it in a lot of films, and it is ok they changed the emperor to fit the rest of the films (a discrepancy that was probably eating Lucas up) but to change the throne room scene music, and the Ewok music, and put Haydon C. at the end, that goes to far. Another thing, if we are going to have Han shoot in self defense, then why don't we change Lando to be selfless and warn Han before he went to cloud city. And if Jaba knew where Han was and talked to him, why would he hire bounty hunters. I think it is now ruined.

i think that adding haydon cristenson at the end of jedi brought all the episodes all together. ok it might have not been the orginial, but if you look on the box set, it clearly says it isnt the orginal. if people have such a problem with the fact that anakin, in his jedi days is there, and obviously he wasnt in the orginial, should just watch the orginial instead of slagging off what has been a great digitially enhanced movie of our times.
i may only be a 15 year old girl, but hell i love stars wars. i have just finished watching the all of the episodes, and i want more!!! lol.
(sorry for any spelling mistakes!)
xx