I know this is a small point...but on the last release...the Jedi trailer was messed up sound-wise. Have they corrected it?


It's interesting. We know these are mastered from the laserdiscs...yet none of the releases include the short documentaries on them.

The sound on each trailer is 2.0 dolby digital. It is fine accept that I noticed some compression has been applied so the sound is not as dynamic as it could have been.

Frank S-

How do the new 5 star Collection compare to the SW:SE DVD's?

Which would you recommend as the better set?

Thanks

Are the 5 Star discs latest the version of the trilogy (with Lucas' digital enhancements), or are they "just" the original trilogy?

EDIT: I had parenthesis problems

They're suppose to be the Special Edition versions.

Great, thanks. Are there any extras on the 5*'s?

I am opposed to buying bootlegs, but I think this put a fan of the movies into an interesting dilemma. Should you buy the "original" cut of the movie, knowing that it will likely never see an official DVD release?

-lp

The only extras are the trailers.

Actually...neither version will probably be released ever. George has already stated that he's making the Special Special editions to be released to laserdisc...so we may never even get what we now know as the Special Editions. Only these final editions.

How would you rate the "Five Stars" overall, compared to the "DTS banner" editions (using, say, a 1-10 scale)? For example, you mentioned that the bit rate was definitely higher, but is there a noticeable improvement in image quality? The "DTS banner" editions look pretty good as they are. If the improvement is only marginal, then maybe the new ones aren't worth a re-purchase.

I would rate the DTS banner DVD's as a 6.5 and the 5 Star as a 7.5. The 5 Star does have better audio but the screw up on the ESB and the higher gamma settings keep it from being a 8. I wouldn't call the video a lot better then the DTS ones but it is noticable.

To compare these new 5 stars to the laserdisc's I would say they a quite a bit better video wise! Now remember I am watching on a larger 58" 16x9 HDTV and with these DVD's I don't have to use the TV's zoom (my Panasonic RP91 scales it internally) to get the correct aspect ratio which shows scan lines and less resolution, so you have to judge what equipment you have and how it may differ for you. I will say that if you have the SE Laserdiscs and have a 36" or less regular analog TV you will most likely get no benefit from these DVD's, but if you have a larger HDTV then the DVD's are indeed an improvement. Of course the WOW factor of having the Star Wars DVD's that almost no one has needs to be factored in as well!

Well, this is a bit disappointing. Smearing on 4, lousy sound on 5. Looks like 6 is the only one worth picking up and I am happy with the 6 I already have. Looks like I will be saving some money and passing on the 5 star versions.

Guess I'll have to catch the next iteration - the 10 star mega-ultimate DTS-ES editions .

Now let me check out that Indy thread ...

I wouldn't call it disappointing! I don't know that I would say that Star Wars: ANH has smearing but just a bit of a problem with too much of a gamma setting as do the other two. Even though these 5 Star DVD's have problems of their own I would still say the video is a bit better then the latest DTS version!

As for the sound on ESB (I just finished watching the whole film) yes the DD and DTS are messed up but I will say the DD 2.0/DS audio is one of the best I have heard! It is definately better then the DS on the THX or SE laserdiscs.

Not always true... You should know that there are very nice Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (among other first run films) SVCD's made from dvd screeners out there. And these were out the week that the movie was in the theatre. Put them on a DVD-R and voila, you have yourself a very nice bootleg for sale.

Man just reading all this is making me get excited about mine. I hope I am getting the same ones y'all are talking about here. I can't belive this thread has been around a year and i'm just now actually keeping up with it. As long as the quality is better than VHS, I will be very pleased with them

Get ready to have a mental orgasm because these DVD's (The 5 Star & newest DTS) are light years a head of VHS quality!

Watching the Return of the Jedi Special Edition now.

I'm against bootlegs as well, but the chagned scense in Jabba's palace are so bad, I"m ready to do anything to get the originals on DVD.

OK. Guess I got a bad one. How can you tell the good from the bad prior to purchase?? Seems a risky venture. Anyway, the only reason I bought the bootleg Star Wars was because I don't want to wait 4 years for the set. I don't mind waiting the 6 months for studio releases of current theatrical hits. So good or bad, I'm not interested.

Buying bootlegs is hard to justify morally and I could only barely convince myself in the case of Star Wars and Indy due to studio delays. I won't be buying anything else.

thanks for the reviews, perhaps I missed it, but are these anamorphic?

AWESOME!!!

I can't wait now at all!!! I ordered the original and the special editions. They should get to me in a week (or 40 days). I wish I knew for sure which version of the special editions I was getting, but I'm betting it's the newest DTS, the website I got em from said this....

"Star Wars Trilogy 3CD (DVD 9) Special Edition NTSC Format. Anomorphic Widescreen. Sound: English Dolby 5.1 Surround/ DTS 5.1 Digital Surround/English Dolby 2.9 Surround. Digitally Remastered"

....so hopefully these are the ones. They also had another version of the special editions too, and I ordered them too. What can I say, I'm a Star Wars freak too. Thanks for the info!!!!

Man I'm with you too, but for what it's worth, I will be buying the official releases when they come out too. Since it seems that I will have to wait until 2006, these are just "tide me overs"

Plus these things are cheap as heck too, being only 29.99 for the whole trilogy. Which is about I guess it would cost me to buy one new DVD in the stores (which I never do anymore thanks to DVDTALK.COM) :-)

Frank,

I do notice an ever so slight amount of smearing to the lumanance part of the picture for all 3 movies. It looks to me like noise reduction was turned "on" the laser disc player when the transfers were being done. I do agree with the 2.0 sound on "Empire". It is fantastic and much better than the other dvd releases available. --Edward.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Frank S
[B]I also just received my 5 Star DVD's today and can confirm the gamma is a bit high on all three DVD's but can be adjusted with your TV's black level.

Frank,

You are correct about the gamma being cranked up a notch or two. I had originally thought it was the brightness that was off. You mention that you can adjust your tv's black level to fix this. I put in "empire" last night and tried to adjust the picture on my Toshiba and could never get the image to look right. Could you explain in detail what you adjusted to correct the gamma push?

If I buy a bootleg copy of a movie, I don't see this as "cheating the production company" as I will buy the official release when it comes out on DVD. If anyone may be getting cheated, it would be the movie theatres who really don't profit from movie ticket sales anyway. As most people know, movie theatres make 80-90% of their profit from the concession stand (another reason to watch movies at home). When Star Wars Episode 2 comes out in the theatre, I will be there on opening day. I will probably see it at least one more time in the theatre at some point. When a good bootleg comes out on DVD, I will definitely buy it and when the movie comes out officially on DVD, I will buy that, too. So who loses here? Maybe my opinion is not entirely objective, but I really don't see the "evil" in buying bootlegs for the most part. As far as the Five Star set, it is AWESOME! I highly recommend purchasing this set to anyone who is a real die hard fan. I think a lot of people in this forum are getting really picky about the quality of these movies. No, they are not perfect, but it is a lot better than VHS and much better than the VCD set. For $35, it is the bargain of the century. I will be buying these for gifts, also. Hopefully, the official Episode 2 DVD will be out for Christmas.

Captid4,

Not to start another running debate but I think the moral issue is not so much taking money from the studios but rather giving money to people who are illegally profiting from other people's work (IOW, financially supporting thieves/criminals). That is my main problem with it. You're right, most people here will buy the official release when (if?) it comes out (I definitely will) so I don't think the studios lose on the Star Wars, Indy sets, etc.

However, if buying the bootleg keeps you from going to see the movie in the theater then that does affect the studios - not just the theaters as you state (revenue sharing). But I think the market for these bootlegs is so small that it is really not a big issue like it is with computer software.

No further comment from me on this as I don't want to disturb the delecate mental balance that allowed me to justify purchasing these bootlegs .

Now back to the issue at hand. I do have several questions about the 5 stars as I am somewhat confused and some of the issues with these disks may affect me since my display is very large (109"-112" for 2.35:1).

1. The smearing issue. Is this what is referred to in video reviews as color "blooming" or "bleeding"? If so, is it constant and/or distracting? Frank S, were you able to get rid of it completely through adjustments.

2. You also say that black level is off. Is this the same issue as the smearing or another separate problem? Am I going to have to adjust my picture every time I watch these disks? This is a big issue for those of us with calibrated HTPC setups.

3. dlbsyst says "cannot get the image to look right". I don't understand why you guys say the video is better than the DTS banner disks which do not have these issues.

The sound issue at least seems somewhat clear but could you elaborate on why the 2.0 track on ESB is better than the 5.1 DD on the DTS banner disk(particularly Frank S who claimed the banner 5.1 track is discrete).

Thanks for the great info on this set guys!!

1. I myself do not call it smearing as much as simply to high a gamma setting. I just adjusted the black level down a few notches and it was fine (although still slightly notiable in the very bright scenes).

2. I didn't say the black level was off but that I adjusted the black level to compensate for the high gamma.

3. Even with the gamma problem the picture (to me anyways) looks better then the latest DTS as it has much less artifacting which tends to drive me nuts.

To me the DD 5.1 on the SE Laserdiscs never really had real dynamic surrounds so I prefer the great DD 2.0/DS audio on EBS to the DD 5.1 even on the SE laserdiscs. I like my Sci0Fi films to have lots of good clear bass and the EBS 5 Star DVD has more then any other Star Wars version on LD or anything else to date! Even with the good heavy bass the mid and upper audio is very clear and undistorted.