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Star Wars Episode I DVD Review

Posted by michael on from the love-the-smell-of-lightsabers-in-the-morning dept.

dswensen writes: "Theforce.net has an in-depth review of the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode I DVD (due for release October 16th). Looking at all the great features packed into this DVD, I'm glad Lucas decided not to just toss off a cheap version a year ago. Love it or hate it, it looks like they really pulled out all the stops." Plus Ant points out that there is some teaser movie available for Star Wars Galaxies, the upcoming massively multiplayer game.

5 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. Why the delay? by Chazmati · · Score: 2, Interesting

    He probably postponed it so he could include some teasers of Episode 2...

  2. If only he could write... by DudeTheMath · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If only the movie were any good. Lucas should get Kasdan in on this one, too. "Yippee," indeed.

    --
    You save only 59 seconds over 8 miles by going 75 instead of 65. Do you really have to pass that guy? Do the Math!
  3. Not Again by sessamoid · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I guess we're going to go through that whole long, drawn-out discussion of TPM:It Sucked vs. TPM:I Loved It again. The way I see it, TPM was no more hokey or badly acted than ANH. The casting was about the same, maybe better than ANH. The story is still classic space opera.

    I don't bother comparing the SW films to truly great moviemaking much. ANH is obviously a far inferior film when compared to the earlier 2001:A Space Odyssey. What's important about the films is the sea change they brought in the acceptance of SF in mainstream American culture, and the role it played in many of our childhoods.

    Bringing TPM do DVD in such a spectacular way can only be a good thing. If you don't like the movie, you shouldn't even be wasting your time reading this thread.

    --
    "No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
  4. no 4:3 aspect ratio? by pomakis · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I couldn't help but notice that there's no option for a 4:3 aspect ratio in the specs for this DVD (using either pan-and-scan information or a separate side). The ability to encode multiple aspect ratios on a single DVD was one of the things that really excited me about DVD technology when it first came out. It allows a person to evolve his/her home entertainment system from a regular television to a widescreen system without making any sacrifices at any time. Unfortunately, very few DVDs are produced with this in mind. Most are widescreen only. So when I watch a movie on my 4:3 television I have to put up with a smaller letterboxed picture, causing me to almost have to squint at times to see see details in the movie. Sure, when I get a widescreen TV in the future this won't be a problem, but it frustrates me that I have to put up with this problem now, especially since DVD technology has a solution to it.

    Using the zoom feature of a DVD player to zoom in past the letterbox strips is not an option for me. It blindly cuts an equal amount off both the left and right sides, regardless of the scene.

    I'd like to know why very few DVDs include pan-and-scan information to allow proper viewing in a 4:3 aspact ratio. Is it that much more expensive to produce a DVD this way?

  5. Star Wars Galaxies CEO Speaks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    http://lumthemad.net/story.php?story=2314
    2001-09-20 09:27:00

    Kelly Flock, CEO for the company releasing Star Wars Galaxies said, in a magazine quote

    "When asked if he takes into account consumer input Flock is dismissive, relying instead on the expertise of his staff. "No, we never talk to consumers - they just fuck us up. Someone asked for a copy of our market research which made us take the decision to do EverQuest. I said we hadn't done any market research. Had we done, the game would never have been made. We never focus on them. Gamers don't know what they want. We just want to know if they have a valid credit card"

    Would you buy a Star Wars Game from that man ?