richard09
Posts : 4227 Join date : 2013-01-16
| Subject: The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See Thu Aug 28, 2014 7:08 am | |
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NoCoPilot
Posts : 20166 Join date : 2013-01-16 Age : 69 Location : Seattle
| Subject: Re: The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:31 am | |
| First reaction: wow, what a lot of work!
Second reaction: wow, what a waste of time!
Third reaction: Where can I buy one? |
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NoCoPilot
Posts : 20166 Join date : 2013-01-16 Age : 69 Location : Seattle
| Subject: Re: The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See Sat Apr 29, 2017 6:20 am | |
| Star Wars, the original trilogy (IV, V, & VI), has a troubled release history. After the original theatrical releases in 1977, 1980 & 1983, fans eagerly waited home video releases. They were first released in 1982, 1984 & 1986 on VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc.They were released again in a Laserdisc boxed set in 1993.In March 1997 the DVD format appeared, and quickly obsoleted the clunky Laserdisc format and the low-fidelity tape formats. But the first Star Wars movies to be released on DVD were Episodes I, II, and III in 2001, 2002 & 2005.Also in 1997, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of IV, the films were re-released in theaters, but with "digital enhancements" by George Lucas. He not only cleaned up the audio & video, he changed many scenes ("Greedo shot first!") When the original trilogy finally made it to DVD in 2004, it was the 1997 altered versions -- with yet MORE digital alterations added. After the uproar from outraged fans, Lucasfilm authorized, in 2006, two-disc editions of the trilogy with the 2004 versions on the first disc (forcing fans to buy them again), and unaltered but letterboxed and uncleaned up versions of the trilogy (taken from the 1993 Laserdiscs) on the second disc. These were Limited Editions and quickly withdrawn from the market. Prices online have reflected this, going for up to $80 for a movie. But they are THE ONLY DVD releases of the unaltered trilogy. Over the past few months, I have run across copies of the 2006 LE for "cheap" ($20 ea for two of them and $8 for the third). Even with the grainy video and noisy soundtrack, I much prefer the unaltered versions. Call it nostalgia, call it originalism, call it resistance to altering history, but the original trilogy still evokes awe and wonder that the modified versions do not. I feel privileged to have them, as if it strikes a blow against the Evil Empire. |
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_Howard Admin
Posts : 8734 Join date : 2013-01-16 Age : 79 Location : California
| Subject: Re: The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See Sat Apr 29, 2017 4:17 pm | |
| I have the original VHS releases, a gift from my late brother-in-law. I have the original trilogy on laser disc, as well as the letterboxed version, which came with a laser disc player I bought my daughter. The DVDs I have are the first release of the four-disc box set. The CGI additions are not really irritating and I have no problem with them. Of course, they add nothing to the flicks either.
The wide screen version was a farce. I set a small television next to the large one (32" - Wow!) and played the wide screen version on the large screen and synced the full screen version on the small tv. They were almost exactly the same height. I watched the first movie from beginning to end and at no time was there anything of value in the additional width provided by the wide screen version. All of the action took place in the center of the screen and was visible on the full-screen version. Just sayin'.
NoCo may dismiss the laser disc as clunky, but I would take it in a heartbeat over BluRay. Fucking BluRay takes forever to load, and then you have to go through all kinds of bullshit before the movie starts. I really don't care about the fancy-ass menus. With the laser disc player, you just put in the disc and the damned movie starts playing. There is that few-second interruption in the middle when the laser disc player changes sides, but that's far less irritating than the damned DVD menus and FBI warnings. If laser discs were still available, I would probably buy my most-watched flicks in that format. Besides, my laser disc player cost $1,400 ($2,300 in today's dollars). Hate to see it just sit there gathering dust. Besides, the jog/shuttle remote control is cool.
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NoCoPilot
Posts : 20166 Join date : 2013-01-16 Age : 69 Location : Seattle
| Subject: Re: The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See Fri May 12, 2017 5:09 am | |
| VHS has a video resolution of 333x480 pixels. S-VHS had an improved horizontal luminance (TVL) of 400 lines (versus 230 for standard). Both VHS and Beta were tape-based systems of course, with all the disadvantages that included. LaserDiscs had 425 lines of horizontal luminance, and were "random access" i.e. any part of the disc could be accessed without rewinding. - Quote :
- The "480" in 480i and 480p refers to visible scan lines. It's the same number for all NTSC sources. DVD is 480. Laserdisc is 480. Even VHS is 480. When you're trying to compare quality of image, you're talking about "lines of horizontal resolution" (a/k/a TVL). DVD has app. 500; LD has about 425; broadcast has about 330; VHS has about 230. But ALL of these sources display 480 scan lines.
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