3 Responses to “Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I – III) [Blu-ray]”

1. Will Mindspin says:

   January 28, 2012 at 10:38 am

   25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

   
   May the BLU-RAYs be with you, October 6, 2011

   By 

   Will Mindspin (I commute between Central Ohio and the Center of the Universe) –

   This review is from: Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I – III) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

   Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray]

   I’m a first-generation Star Wars fan since 1977, having seen the original versions of the original three films in the theater one time each as a child, then falling in love with them all over again on VHS in 1987. And I’ve been a huge fan ever since. The Star Wars Saga is the ultimate epic space opera and film series.

   This isn’t actually a review of the movies most of you reading this will have seen one or more versions of dozens of times, although this review will discuss some of the changes made to the films.

   I actually own the six-film Star Wars Saga blu-ray set linked above, and I reviewed that. The movie discs in this product are 3 of the same discs from the larger Saga set, so I thought I would edit that review down to only discuss the prequel trilogy discs themselves and post it here. This is meant to be an overview with personal observations and select commentary thrown in.

   DISC PHYSICAL QUALITIES

   The discs themselves are heavy-duty, yet smooth and well-coated with scratch resistance – the best available in retail products I’ve seen. The discs themselves do not have any images – they are light grey with blue trimmings. The discs have the previously used logos of STAR WARS with the episode subtitle underneath, both on top of the episode number in the form of a large Roman numeral.

   THE FILM DISCS

   This is as good a place as any to mention that there are two audio commentary tracks for each of the films of blu-ray. There are the same ones from the previous DVD versions of these films, and then new commentaries compiled from “archival interviews with cast and crew”. I don’t enjoy listening to commentaries while watching adventure films, but I will force myself to listen to the new tracks once (as I did for the original DVD commentaries).

   As I have only had one frame of reference for viewing the blu-ray films, I thought I should first specify what that is, in case my experiences are in any way relative to my equipment and viewing conditions. This may mean more to you than it does to me. My blu-ray player is a Sony BDP-S350. My HD TV is a Sony Bravia KDL-40V4100, a flat-screen LCD with a diagonal of a little over a meter. My blu-ray player and TV are both almost 3 years old. My line of vision is exactly 90° to the plane of the TV screen, and my eyes and ears are at a height equal to about 1/3 up from the bottom edge of the screen. I’m sitting such that the distance of my head to the TV screen is a little more than the width of the Death Star’s thermal exhaust port.

   The Films on Blu-ray

   All three films sound and look awesome in HD! Even Revenge of the Sith, which had the least room for improvement, is substantially better. All three films sound and look awesome in HD! I fully appreciate all the effort that had to go into improving the resolution of over 6 hours of high-quality sci-fi entertainment, frame-by-frame. Coruscant from space is breathtakingly gorgeous!

   There is one significant exception in the HD upgrade. A very logical and fitting artistic choice was made in the rendering of the holograms of characters. Throughout the all six movies, it looks like the holograms were not upgraded to HD, now looking somewhat pixilated compared to the surrounding “reality” they are projected into. This of course is easily explained in-universe as they are just not high-resolution transmissions, and I feel this actually works to improve the illusion of the entire scene seeming real. The holograms are now an intentional vestige of the analogue age, left behind to honor the origin and evolution of the Star Wars films themselves which began as motion picture projections but have now become the ultra-realistic-looking digital media. A very nice touch. And the hologram effects also seems more unified between the two trilogies now.)

   A significant improvement that the HD upgrade also provides is a solution to a common criticism I have ran into since 1999. Over the years I have heard many Star Wars fans express that the addition of GC characters and objects into the films seems unrealistic, in not only the updated versions of the classic trilogy but even the prequels. Ironically, these fans seem to have no trouble accepting the un-reality of rubber muppet characters, but CG is somehow unacceptable in their vision of the Star Wars universe. Well, now muppets, rubber masks, human actors and CG characters can all exist in visual harmony together, thanks to the wonders of HD. The increase in resolution seems to have unified the apparent realities of them all. Now the real-world elements of the scenes have been “raised” to the same level of visual reality of the CG elements,…

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2. J.P.E.W. says:

   January 28, 2012 at 10:53 am

   148 of 192 people found the following review helpful:

   
   It’s about THE PRODUCT!! (duh), January 1, 2009

   By 

   J.P.E.W. (Ohio) –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-help/amazon-verified-purchase/192-6284920-0612752', ‘AmazonHelp’, ‘width=400,height=500,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,toolbar=0,status=1′);return false; “>What’s this?)

   This review is from: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (DVD)

   I am baffled by some of these reviewers who are climbing a soapbox about the industry and Lucas. For those of us who are patient, a box set with cost saving and a SPECIAL BONUS!! Slim cases so shelf space is minimized!
   EXCELLENT!!

   About a rush to market, snatching up media related to STAR WARS as soon as it hits the shelf. If you don’t like the movies themselves or the packaging or the recording quality that is one thing. Whining about your own gullibility is quite another. Let me clue you in. If Lucas makes or includes special features, enhancements and the like … he will not fail to promote that. Investigate the product before you buy. And to those of you who didn’t even buy any products but are just looking for places to gripe, this is not the appropriate place.

   This is the excellent product that I anticipated to the point of not buying any of the movies when they first released to video. It is as much as it promises to be. (I expect the same to be true of the other volume containing ep. 4-6.) If you like space saving box set bundles without a lot of extra bells and whistles, this is for you.

   These sci-fi movie fantasy adventures, though a bit juvenile in their scripts and exhibitions, have become family classic adventure movies that inspire the imagination and adequately entertain a growing audience. A series of perennial favorites well on there way to becoming “timeless” classics.

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3. John Brumit "Starfig" says:

   January 28, 2012 at 11:43 am

   53 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Great set, if you don’t own them already, August 25, 2008

   By 

   John Brumit “Starfig” (Edmond, OK) –
   
     

   This review is from: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (DVD)

   For all the flaws that the Prequels may have, they’re still highly enjoyable films, with just as many memorable scenes and quotes as the Original Trilogy. I think it’s great that they’re keeping the movies out there for any new generation to purchase (not that DVDs are that hard to come by of course), and really it’s nice to have a convenient box set. So it’s a good deal, if, you don’t have the movies already. Otherwise, it’s just another stepping stone in the journey towards the much wanted “Ultimate” box set with all six films. We can only hope!

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