Star Wars DVD

[Ranger REG]

I just got to viewing the most controversial, most talked-about scene: The Han-Greedo shootout. Thanks to DVD, I was able to slow down the scene to 1/32 normal speed and found that Greedo actually shot first, and by the time his shot was deflected upward, Han's first shot left the barrel of his pistol. Which is then followed by the fatal second shot.

At normal speed, you wouldn't catch it in your naked eyes, and believed that they both shot at about the same time.

So there you have it. Greedo shot first. I still prefer the Han shot first scene as soon as Greedo entered the cantina and his only line was, "What the...?" That and the deleted Han-Leia rape scene in Episode V.

 

[KenM]

I picked them up. My one main gripe is THEY LEFT OUT THE SCENE WITH LUKE AND BIGGS ON TATTOINE. DVD is the perfect format to put it in. They could have had it in a deleted scene section. I just want to see the scene. I can't understand why they left it out.
I can't remember, but did they keep the little dialogue changes that they did for the SE's or did they put the orginal lines back in?

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

but I never thought they were godawful "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad.

Actually, Natalie Portman *is* godawful "Plan 9 from Outer Space" bad in the prequels. I have no idea why this woman is critically acclaimed as an actress. She's horrible. I really want to like her; really, I do. She seems like a very nice person when I see her in interviews. But her performances (in both Star Wars films, anyway) are so wooden that any movie she is in now goes onto my "never watch it" list. Except for Star Wars III, because I am a completist and will see it no matter who's in it.

In fact, she's so bad, she makes Jake Lloyd (or whatever the brat's name was) look competent as an actor.

 

[Villano]

While we're on the subject... do you guys regard the two prequels as really bad movies? Or only bad in comparison with the original trilogy? They always struck me as visually stunning movies that suffered from lackluster acting and poor scripting (although the story plots are pretty good). I certainly agree that they don't stack up to the originals, but I never thought they were godawful "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad.

Attack of the Clones is a mediocre film. It has some good action moments, but half the cast can't rise above the bad writing and direction. Hayden Christensen is truly awful, but I haven't seen any of his other work to determine if he's just a bad actor or suffered from bad direction.

It's sad to say, but AotC is weakest when dealing with the leads.

Phantom Menace is not "Plan Nine from Outer Space" bad, it's worse. Ed Wood had only a couple thousand dollars (if that) and a few days to shoot. Lucas had years to think about and write the script, a cast of great actors (aside from Jake Lloyd, who is the worst child actor I've ever seen), an ungodly amount of money, and a top notch special effects people. There's no reason it should have been as terrible as it was.

How do you think they would have fared if Lucas had been given the authority to film the whole thing in chronological order and Episode 1 was the first one released?

Considering that TPM is the worst film of the lot, I doubt there would have been sequels, especially when you consider the only good thing about it were the special effects (which would not have been as good if it had been made in the '70s).

 

[Tom Cashel]

I've only watched ANH so far...

I also noticed the matte lines on the TIE fighters during the escape from the Death Star. Why wouldn't they clean that up?? Darn it.

Another change no one has mentioned: what's with that spooooky sound Obi-Wan makes to scare off the Tusken raiders? It's completely different from what it used to be...probably to differentiate it from the Tusken raider/bantha grunts. No problem with it, just noting.

I also enjoyed watching the film with prequel Anakin in mind. I've heard it griped that Anakin is way too much of a whiny biatch to become Darth Vader. Not so! Vader's ranting and yelling in ANH is pretty biatchy. "Tarkin's holding me back! He doesn't want me to reach my potential!" would not be out of place. Nice job, GL!

 

[Sakzilla]

The pictures and sounds are awesome. I too noticed the change in Obi's Krayt Dragon yell - it's just different. The speeder looks really good (the fuzz and shim is gone) and the panoramics of Mos Eisley are great.

The really fantastic part of the DVDs? Switch the audio to French and skip to ANH track 5 - Leia's confrontation on the Tantive IV with Vader. OMG - It starts "Darkkktk Vader" and rolls on til we get to his voice. Buwahahahahahaha...The Empire is so not scary in French!

 

[Ranger REG]

Too bad they don't have Japanese language option. I can just imagine watching Star Wars as a chanbara (samurai) genre movie. I know the movie is inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress but I can't help but wonder what it would be if they have added more Japanese motif.

 

[Chorn]

On the soundtrack remix, that was done on purpose, no glitch, caught an article on that somewhere earlier today,

You're probably thinking of the postings up at The Digital Bits.

The first one wherein the problems are discovered
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa94.html#ep4audio

Lucasfilm's denial of any problems
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa94.html#audup

 

[Remathilis]

I love them, new scenes and all.

But I don't like the fact Luke's Saber is "white" on the Falcon in A New Hope. It actually turns green for a little while.

Otherwise, near perfect.

 

[Dark Psion]

Am I the only one who prefers the muppets over the CGI?

Anyways, I bought the DVD's today and while I haven't had time to watch ANY of them yet, I will do so tomorrow. I did watch the entire Hoth battle though and man, I feel like a little kid again.

It has been so long since I've watched ESB and RotJ, mostly because my VHS copies were missing the first 20 minutes of both movies AND they were in bad condition.

So far... I'm very happy I purchased them.

No, I am glad they didn't mess witht the TaunTauns, Yoda or the Rancor (other than cleaning up tthe Matte lines). It's the design of far too many of the aliens in Jedi, you can see that they are made of "Muppet Foam-Rubber" (Patent Pending), especially in the hands.

As to Episodes 1 & 2, my bigest complaint is that they are almost the same movies as 4 & 5. Tatooine, a kid named Skywalker fires the killing shot, bounty hunters & asteroids.

Most fans will tell you that Empire is the best of all the movies, but this is because it is such a great sequel to Star Wars. The characters, the story and the universe evolves and grows into a greater story. And the ending with the Empire "wining" makes you really want to see the next movie.