Dan (UK)

In the past, there have been posts bashing the marketing ploys with which ancillary work on Star Wars occurs- especially with regard to the score releases of Episode I.
I don't mind it- but it is predictable somewhat. Rumors abounded where the DVD releases are concerned- but I think I know where this is going- and I'm sure you guys have already figures this out:

Lucas approves a DVD on Episode I for release on October 16th roughly 1-4 months before a teaser for II is released- the intention being to keep Star Wars interest up- which is almost unnecessary since there are people who live, breathe, and eat Star Wars and have done so since May 1977.

I don't care.

With titles like Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and ST:TMP coming out, who wants a bad movie on DVD? Certainly not me.

If I were to receive it as a gift, I would keep it. But I'm not paying for it. It's not even on my "must have" list of DVD's.

Lucasfilm can keep it. Besides, he'll overprice the thing.

Oh I think enough people care to make this thing sell like crazy, but god yes, That Godfather set is simply gorgeous. With that and a 2 disc snow white out on Oct 9th, then TPM the following Tuesday, for most, October will be expensive.

Try not to turn this into a TPM bashing thread though.

I look forward to your replies, but just for point of information, this person's predominant argument is that Episode I "was no Empire Strikes Back". Here's my problem- As much as I appreciate what Empire did for the series from a story point of view, I can't separate it. I look at Star Wars as a whole. As such, I don't think it started badly. I am hoping Episode II will clear things up. I also think this person I know is sorely disappointed because for fiteen years, Star Wars was peripherally everything to him. When you do that, it does ruin your attraction to anything new within that framework- that's happened to me with Batman and with Star Trek.

So your response (and please don't feel it is demanded or that it wont be met with an open mind, I'm just interested in another opinion), while it may not convince me Episode I was a bad movie, will hopefully help fill in the gaps in something I guess I don't yet understand from a different perspective.

I think Lucas is the master at making money... Like The Beatles with the "#1s" and "Yellow Submarine" and the soon to be released "Hard Days Night" he is giving us a taste... one movie at a time.

I believe the commentary IS interview style and not live as most are, however in this situation I feel it's a good thing. A live audio commentary usualy takes double the time to record then the final edit we end up hearing. With a number of people contributing to this track, it is likely they were all recorded seperately with their comments edited together, this would allow for greater depth of discussion and not take up much of their time while doing Ep2 stuff.

I think "Phantom" was a good film. I gave it ***1/2 out of *****. I liked a lot of the characters, I really never cared too much for Jar Jar. I thought Binks was a bit too silly and would've prefered him to be "serious/a little clumsy" rather than just "goofy/clumsy" and sometimes serious but oh well. The score by Williams I gave *****, it's a fine score in my opinion. I'm quite excited for the DVD release and all of the extras.
Dylan

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Besides, he'll overprice the thing.

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They updated with prices. It's $29.98...

I for one can't wait. I'm looking forward to seeing the deleted footage. Especially the pod race footage, becuase it's a great sequence. Great effects and sound. And hopefully Episode IV won't be too far behind.

--Bri

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Originally posted by Crono/Kyp:
I like my VHS

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If you're wondering what the 7 deleted scenes are, over at DVD in Detail the other week when we posted up a report on the DVD specs from an Italian website (which today in comparison to the official announcement turned out to be completely correct) it stated the scenes are as follows:

1) Complete podrace starting grid sequence
2) Complete podrace 2nd lap sequence
3) waterfall sequence
4) aereotaxi sequence (Coruscant)
5) sunrise before the podrace
6) Anakin and Greedo
7) Farewell to Jira

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
Finally! Iso score and DTS tracks would have been nice, but if the other films get DVD releases similar to this one (whenever that will be), I think I'll be satisfied.

[b]NP: Spaceballs (John Morris)[/B]

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DTS is an awesome format for surround. It emphisizes bass while creating a real effect for the movie. However, a DTS isolated score would be bad. DTS and Dolby Digital are 2 way different formats, with Dolby, you can down mix and take a 5.1 or 6.1 format and edit it down to 2.0. That way you wont lose a single instrument. However, the disadvantage to DTS is, it cannot be down mixed. If you try removing all other speakers except the front ones, you would lose all instruments that were in the rear and center channels. There's my 2 cents. Kinda odd coming from a 15 year old, but ya... I am into this stuff.

I'm not the big fan of DTS in the home I once was. After upgrading the home theater to high end seperates it became relatively clear that when you have components that do Dolby Digital well, the differences (when comparing DD and DTS sourced from the same 6 track master) are minimal.

I still like DTS theatrical for offfering a better source for audio off of the CDs that is not prone to damage as Dolby Digital is being encoded into a film's 35mm print. That said, back to home DTS, I look forward to experimenting with the 96khz/24bit coding on DVD movie releases later in the year.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest TPM has no DTS track, Lucasfilm's ties with Dolby in the creation of THX EX are far to strong to have ever seen that happen.

As an owner of the Phantom Menace laserdisc import from Japan, I can tell you it is the finest audio presentation the home you will ever hear...perhaps until Episode II anyway.

Dan (again)

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Originally posted by Dan Brecher:
As an owner of the Phantom Menace laserdisc import from Japan, I can tell you it is the finest audio presentation the home you will ever hear...

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I'd better start of a way to get rid of my neighbours, then.

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Originally posted by jonathan_little:
My laptop has a DVD-ROM, but watching movies on it is far from engaging.

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Originally posted by JJH:
for my money and my experience, the most disappointing films for me have been [b]The Thin Red Line, and Pearl Harbor.

NP -- Frequency, Michael Kamen; straight off the DVD iso. [/B]

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Crank it up LOUD. Some people are going to be truly shocked upon running it in 5,1 in their home for the first time.

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
Doesn't it have a TV-Out connector? I'm under the impression that most laptops with DVD-ROM drives do, so you could plug it to your TV and enjoy DVDs.

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Fortunately, I still have my Sony LD player and the Star Wars Special Edition laserdisc box. The films looks flawless and with the exception of having to flip 'em (my player is pre-flip unfortunately!), they will definitely hold me over until the DVDs finally come out.

But hey, something is almost always better than nothing so I'm still pleased that the releases are moving forward (I too am more anxious for the Godfather titles anyway).

Fall 2002 -- Episode IV A New Hope
Fall 2003 -- Episode II
Fall 2004 -- Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
Fall 2005 -- Episode VI Return of the Jedi
Fall 2006 -- Episode III

Bear in mind sales of Phantom this October will dictate the fate of the others, but the above release schedule is apparently not unlikely given the time they put into doing Episode 1 on DVD.

On a different note, head on over to DVD in Detail. We have a little article on the release linking to a number of interviews at other sites with Lucasfilm's VP of Marketing Jim Ward. We have that along with additional supplement listings not mentioned in the press release and we have a pic of the back of the box. Read it all here

Dan (UK)