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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Star Wars Episode I DVD Review 209

Posted by michael 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.
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Star Wars Episode I DVD Review More

Star Wars Episode I DVD Review

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  • Okay, but.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Migelikor1 ( 308578 ) on Thursday September 20, 2001 @07:29AM (#2324489) Homepage
    We still haven't seen the original trilogy that didn't suck on DVD, and there is no plan to release it. I find it somewhat ridickulous.
    • We still haven't seen the original trilogy that didn't suck on DVD


      Yep. I've got the complete set three times on video. The original set, plus the special editions, in both normal and widescreen. Even so, if they were on DVD, I'd buy them tomorrow. I'm sure I can't be alone in that.

    • Also conspicuously missing from DVD releases are two major triologies: Back to the Future, and Indiana Jones. You'd think having both of these out as well as SW on DVD, all in maximum featuritis, would help to improve the acceptance of DVD.
      • Currently, according to the CEA, there are 20,235,574 DVD players in the market (as of 9/18/01 - U.S. only. Divx included. DVD-ROM & PS2 not included).

        DVD is the fastest growing consumer electronic product launch in history. 20 million units in 4.5 years!

        A few SF trilogies not being out aren't having much of an effect on the DVD market.
      • Also conspicuously missing from DVD releases are two major triologies: Back to the Future, and Indiana Jones.

        And this is the kind of bullshit that is pressing people to buy bootleg copies. Do you know how easy it is to get these films on DVD? They were released on laserdisc; you can find nice DVD transfers just about anywhere. I already own Star Wars on VHS and I'll tell you what, if Lucas continues to take his sweet ass time in releasing the DVD, eventually I'm just going to up and order myself some bootlegs. My VHS copies are getting worn out and I want to watch a digital version without buying a used laserdisc player. If I have to buy bootlegs Lucas can bite my ass on a real release, because I won't buy it. Same thing applies to BTTF and Indiana Jones.

        Just release the movies on DVD already. I don't get what this bullshit hold up is. It shouldn't take years to release these films, considering they've already been released on laserdisc.
    • I read somewhere the other day that Lucas has said their won't be any original trilogy DVD's until at least 2005, after Episode 3 is done. And your right, they'll probably be those "improved" versions at that, with even more stuff thrown in if this Ep1 DVD is any indication.

      It's too bad Lucas has apparently decided his original work is crap, and has become obsessed with what his big machines up there on the ranch can do. A boxed set of the original trilogy, in it's original form, would probably be one of the best selling DVD sets of all time.

      Dammit George, I don't care if you originally wanted yet another big-headed alien in the cantina, or you can see the strings on the Tie Fighters in Frame 2045-78. Give me Digitally remastered, Dolby 5.1/DTS Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi, and you'll be the Geek Hero you once were.
      • You know, I have to disagree -- with the exception of Greedo shooting first (a very badly rendered addition to ANH as well as a bad idea) and giving the Sarlaac a proper mouth (also a little pointless, especially as it broke a number of fanfics and even a book or two), the special editions were actually very well done. The Ewok village at the end of Jedi is much improved, Cloud city is a much brighter place, the picture quality is vastly enhanced... on the whole, I have no trouble accepting SW:SE as Lucas' definitive vision of the movies.

        The only objection I have to the Special Edition versions of the movies is that they gave Lucas license to go crazy in TPM; after all, if he could digitally map Jabba into ANH, he could get away with pretty much anything, which he tried to in TPM. And so we got Jar Jar Binks...

        /Brian
    • Lucas has publicly stated that he will release the original trilogy on DVD, but after Episode 3 comes out. He wants to release all 6 films in a special box set. If the review of Episode I is any indication, it should be worth the wait.

      Personally, I hope there is an option to watch the original trilogy before they mucked it up with that "Special Edition" crap....
      • No, what he SHOULD do, is release the original trilogy on DVD soon, one at a time, then a boxed set with maybe a fourth disc of extra crap, then episode 2 on vhs, then on dvd, then epsisode 3 on vhs, then dvd, then a boxed set of all three 'episodes' with an extra feature disc, then all six with a ton of crap. Only then will Lucas have "Used the Force" (of marketing).

        I wish he'd just hurry up and release the original trilogy like everyone else though....

    • Re:Okay, but.... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Rogerborg ( 306625 )
      • We still haven't seen the original trilogy that didn't suck on DVD, and there is no plan to release it

      ...until after episodes 2 & 3 are out. Wierdly, Amazon has the DVD of Episode 4 listed [amazon.com], complete with ASIN number.

      But sure, let's have it, George. Heck, I'd settle for being able to get pristine VHS tapes of the unbutchered versions.

  • Yes, I may bitch about how much I "hated" Episode I, but I'll be damned if I didn't pre-order the VHS (lost it too, dammit!) now I'll be damned if I don't order the DVD.... Its only money.

    • I got into DVD before the VHS came out and swore never to buy VHS again. I broke down once when I bought the OT on ebay for $10.
    • And that's way Lucas can't be bothered to make Episodes 2 and 3 any good (just like he didn't with Episode 1. You dumb fanboys will be in the queue anyway, buy the tacky merchandise (which is meant for 6 year olds) and he'll laugh all the way home to the ranch- via the bank

  • Why the delay? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Chazmati ( 214538 )
    He probably postponed it so he could include some teasers of Episode 2...
    • Nah, the more cynical among us would say that he delayed it so that everyone would buy 2 copies - the VHS one when it first came out, and the DVD one for the better quality footage and extras.

      2 copies = twice the revenue

    • I think that Lucasfilm wanted to make sure that DVD was going to "take"--that it wouldn't become another laserdisc. Even 1.5 years ago, DVD was pretty new to most people. And since it takes quite a bit of time to put a disc like this together, you have a LONG wait.

      And if there is a teaser of Episode 2, it will be well worth the wait IMHO!
    • >He probably postponed it so he could include
      >some teasers of Episode 2...

      Somehow, I think the drooling fanboys of TFN would have mentioned this.

      -l
  • The transfer of the film has been painstakingly reproduced on the digital format directly from the original film master.

    Didn't Lucas have a digital master of this movie? I know a significant portion of the movie was digital anyway, and I thought he was going to run the rest of the film through digital processing so he could get a digital master.

    • The Digital Bits [thedigitalbits.com] has an interview with the people responsible for mastering the Ep. I DVD (as well as George Lucas), and they stated that the transfer was done from film (and not direct from digital) because they wanted the tonal qualities the film transfer gave them. Apparently Lucas et al. aren't as much behind the all-digital concept as they're saying...
  • Yeah, but its going to be an RCE disc, and it isn't going to work on a region 0 multi-region player..
    • ...and why can't I play them on a multi-region player? If this is true, I'll not buy it. To me it would be defective disc.
      • Region Code Enhanced. It basically tells the player that it is region 0 disk(so the player switches to region 0), then during the menu sequence checks that the player is region 1. The Idea being that only region 1 locked players will be able to play. I have heard that a lot of mods get around this, mine for example wont change to Region 0, so in theory it should work. All of the RCE disks so far have been crap so I havent tested this so far.
    • It depends on the player. There are patched BIOS files for the Apex600A that allow RCE disks to work if the player is in Region 0 mode. Also, it isn't too hard to put mulitple BIOSen in many players and switch between them. RCE is ineffective on players that can actually be switched to a target region. I would assume by now that many players other than the Apex have been hacked to deal with this.
    • Then buy one of the European versions - all RCE disks so far have been R1. If they made R2 RCE discs, half the people in R2 wouldn't be able to watch them...
    • Well, then buy R2/R4 version if your equipment can handle PAL. It's definitely not RCE. You also get better vertical resolution and smoother movement with PAL, and the actual disc features should be exactly the same. There is a review of R2/R4 version of the disc at MichaelDVD [michaeldvd.com.au], and they seem to consider video transfer rather disappointing. And about RCE... My modified Sony chooses region automatically (also works with RCE discs), yet lets to override manually. No protection can fool good hand-selection without breaking compatibility with "legit" players as well.
    • Basically there are TWO places in a DVD player that contain zone information. There's a 8-bit bitmap in the MPEG stream that says which regions it's playable on (enforced by the player), and there's also an region number register in one of the GUI registers of the playback control software which can be read by the DVD's scripting (allowing enforcement by the DVD disc).

      The bitmap can easily be ignored, but it's hard to put six or eight integers simultaneously into a single register without resorting to quantum computing, which is still a few years off. So-called "region zero" players have the bitmap bypassed, but "region switchable" players let the user choose (and maybe automatically try based on the bitmap) which region number will be presented to the DVD's scripting code.

      Region switchable players also let you take advantage of discs which enable extra features (like subtitles in Asian languages) based on the player's region number.

      Anyhow, I don't expect to be getting this disc because I don't f'ing care about Episode I. I know it's heresy, but I never saw it in the theatres, and aside from Wierd Al Yankovic's summary of the movie, I have only the vaguest idea of what is contained within. I do know that I would hate Jar Jar, though.

      I also doubt I'll be getting the Episode 4-6 DVDs, because they'll likely only be available in the "Ministry of Information approved" edition. I've got the widescreen stereo release and the widescreen THX release on LD, without the "Han Solo didn't really shoot first" crap. I'll live with the disc change to watch the end of the movies on side 3, if that's what it takes to avoid the Politically Correct version.

      • "and there's also an region number register in one of the GUI registers of the playback control software "

        GUI registers? Don't you mean GPRMs? I also believe that you're referring to "the navigator", which is separate from the GUI.
  • This question has been bugging me for a bit,

    as I can think of no real reasonn why the
    first Star Wars episodes arent out on DVD?

    What reason can there be for delaying them?

    I am sure it has something to do with money,

    but just how long does lucas think he will wait?

    Thanks for reading
    • If you read Lucas's quotes on various sources you would know he was looking at not releasing the original trilogy until 2005 with the release of Episode III. The man is busy, for crying out loud. Do you really think he has time to put together great packages for the other three movies when he's working on Episodes II & III? Think about the amount of work it will take to get all the extras digitized and cleaned up. We aren't talking small projects, and Lucas wants to be involved. Be patient.
  • If only the movie were any good. Lucas should get Kasdan in on this one, too. "Yippee," indeed.
  • Couldn't ILM find some way to remove Jar Jar?
  • Is there anything about Star Wars that the TheForce.net doesn't wet their pants over? Granted, the DVD is chock full of stuff, but it could've been encoded as MPEG-1 and they still would have been flipping out about how great it is.
  • This is the most childish and unprofessional review I have ever read. The editorials in the college newspaper I read this morning deserve more respect than this. It reads like a fanboy's wet dream.

    The only criticism with the quality is that it does look perhaps a bit more static and less life-like or organic than film. It's a small price to pay for the clarity we've never been able to appreciate before.

    One of the biggest drawbacks to the cinematography, in my opinion, was that the CGI did not look real enough. And if it didn't look real in the theatre, how much worse will it be on my TV? I remember the original glowing reviews before the film made wide release. And many people ended up complaining about how the film did not live up to hype and expectation. This hyper, Lucas-worshipping review points out the analogy clearly enough for me.
    • I'm not willing to go quite that far, but, well, the movie wasn't particularly great. No matter how well you package it, it still isn't particularly great. In fact it was remarkably mediocre.

      • In fact it was remarkably mediocre.


        In fact, the only way this DVD could not suck is if you got a copy which accidentally had a different movie pressed onto it.


  • Yes, it's great that that Ep. 1 is coming out on DVD, and that the DVD is not one of those throw-in-the-PR-crap-and-some-random-cast-member's -commentary items. However, the tone of voice that the reviewer uses seems to imply that DVD features that have been standard for high-quality DVD's have never appeared until now.


    And while around 90% of the movie remains identical to the theatrical version, it appears that George can't leave the film alone.

    Yes, it's called the director's cut. I'm personally all for them, but they even appeared back in the days of *gasp* VHS. And some people might be a tad bit annoyed that they can't get the version that they saw in theaters on DVD.
    Make a special point to know that the DVD is divided into 50 chapters for those that want to pinpoint the moment they are looking for in a flash. It goes against traditional thinking, but mass chapter listing is quite possibly a new trend for franchise films to start following.

    50 does seem higher than many DVDs, I'll give that. But there is a point that's it's too much--you spend more time flipping through the channel selection (there's no way they show all 50 chapters on one screen) than actually watching the scene you want to see.
    ...instead of having just Dolby 2.0, like the VHS version, DVDs with a moderate home theater will enjoy the vibrancy of Dolby 5.1 Surround EX.

    Yes, I'm fairly sure I've heard of the rare DVD have 5.1 surround sound.

    The fully animated menus are terrific and randomly reflect (or when chosen) the unique planets of the movies.

    I can't make a judgement here, since the reviewer doesn't mention the only aspect I truly care about with menus: do I have to spend 8 hours watching flashy menu transitions just to watch the movie? On the other hand, if the DVD bucks this trend, it's approximately the only DVD in existence that does, and I salute the makers.


    As for the huge wait, I would like to point out that this DVD seems ~about the same level in terms of effort as the Gladiator DVD, which was a 2-disc set released simultaneously with the VHS version. If Lucas was _so_ intent on spending hours upon hours to make this DVD, I don't quite understand why they didn't release a standard DVD (with the usual "extra" of 5.1 surround sound and widescreen) at the same time as the VHS, and then market this as the Director's Cut/Collector's Edition, which it obviously is.


    ~=Keelor

      • since the reviewer doesn't mention the only aspect I truly care about with menus: do I have to spend 8 hours watching flashy menu transitions just to watch the movie

      Or in the case of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, see a spoiler of the end of the movie!. Yes, this irritates the hell out of me as well. I wonder why they think it's necessary.

    • Obviously not, since he is a Star Wars fan-boy, and this is the first Star Wars DVD. It's a whole new world to him.
    • I'm wondering how long it took this reviewer to pull his/her lips off of the proverbial ass of LucasFilm...
    • Doesn't Dolby 5.1 Surround EX involve an extra speaker. If so, shouldn't it be called Dolby Digital 6.1? I don't think that Dolby Digity EX is quite as common on discs as Dolby Digital... but for most us, we won't be able to tell the difference as we only have 5.1 speakers.
      • In a DTS 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, there are 6 independent sountracks-- one for each speaker. The .1 bit refers to the fact that the Low Frequency Effects channel contains about one tenth as much information as a front or surround channel.

        In the old Dolby Surround system, the surround and center channels were extracted from the left and right stereo channels...

        For example, if the left and right channels contained the same audio at a particular time, the audio would be directed to the center channel. Don't ask me how the surround channel was extracted.

        Unfortunately, such a system is essentially unable to play sound from two speakers at once. Dolby Digital 5.1 improved on this system by seperating the surround channel into a left and right surround, and futher, by eliminating the extraction step-- six tracks are recorded instead of just the right and left. This allows the sountrack to use all of the speakers simultaneously.

        With Dolby 5.1 Surround EX, we're back to matrix surround. If the right and left surround channels contain the same audio, that bit is directed to the rear surround. 5.1 EX is 6 channels mixed so that a seventh can be extracted.

        6.1 would imply that the rear surround channel is recorded seperately. I believe that DTS has a discrete 6.1 mode.

  • Good things about episode 1 (Score:3, Insightful)

    by 0-9a-zA-Y_.+!*'(),-$ ( 453203 ) on Thursday September 20, 2001 @07:57AM (#2324585)
    Actually, there were quite a few things I liked about Episode I.
    First of all, he established the groundwork for what are sure to be two very dark and combat-filled movies.
    Also, the lightsaber fight at the end was the best filmed so far.
    Even during a second viewing, I was still laughing every time I saw the "thin client" attack droids in action. IMHO, anybody who doesn't think an entire army of Crow T. Robots getting their asses kicked by lizzard men is funny needs to lighten up a little. That battle alone was worth my seven bucks.
    On the downside, turning The Force into super-intelligent germs was a huge mistake. In two brief scenes, he ruined the whole series by turning a beautifully impossible fantasy into a very implausable sci-fi load of crap.
    This was even less forgivable than the cartoony Jar Jar, the Bat-Grapling-Guns that Amidala's royal guard used, or the fact that Brian Blessed (voice of the Gungan King) put in the corniest performance of his carreer since his hammy appearance in Flash Gordon.
    • I don't know; calling the attack droids "thin clients" is probably funnier than anything in the movie...

      /Brian
    • On the downside, turning The Force into super-intelligent germs was a huge mistake.

      Yeah, that midi-chlorox stuff was crap.
      I think Lucas could have handled the detection better with something like a PKE meter, leaving the Force as pure mysticism, rather than trying to explain it pseudo-scientifically.

      I could care less about the E1 DVD, I want the original trilogy on DVD.

      C-X C-S
    • First of all, he established the groundwork for what are sure to be two very dark and combat-filled movies.


      Excellent point. Most people tried to evaluate Ep. 1 in isolation, forgetting the overall story arc. The Phantom Menace had to start out "up" (which apparently means childish to Lucas). Otherwise, there would be no reference point for the downward spiral to come. I'd be willing to bet that Ep. 3 will be darker than Empire Strikes Back, and a marathon viewing of all six episodes will make Jar-Jar a little easier to tolerate, as he can then be seen in the context of the greater story.

      ...Brian Blessed (voice of the Gungan King) put in the corniest performance of his carreer since his hammy appearance in Flash Gordon.


      Have we forgotten his scenery-chewing cameo in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves? :-)

  • Bonus feature (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Anyone else think that as a bonus feature they should have included the video for Weird Al's "The Saga Begins"?
  • Don't you guys think that it's a little strange to see a Star Wars site reviewing a Star Wars movie and giving it a 96/100 rating? I mean, what we have here is a group of fanboys (for lack of a better term) who are just fawning over things that 95% of people really don't care that much about.

    When I decide whether a DVD is right for me, I look at the technical details; I'm looking for sound quality, picture quality, framerates, ease of navigation, and other technical aspects. Yes, the movie is important, but not nearly as important as quality; that's what DVDs are all about! It's great that they included new scenes, but who cares about it if the picture is shoddy and the sound poor?

    I mean, it would be like CmdrTaco reviewing the latest Linux release... oh, wait a minute...

  • Another Review (Score:2, Informative)

    by krugdm ( 322700 )
    If you're looking for another review that doesn't involve Force.net drool, here's one from The Digital Bits [thedigitalbits.com] which has a lot of the same information, but some different criticisms.
    • Something I found even more amusing than the drooling over standard DVD features was the author's opinion on the documentary:

      "... It is surprisingly honest and candid, with far more revealing moments than I ever anticipated. [...] My greatest disappointment was Rick McCallum continually using curse words in the feature - directly contrary to the fanfare of TPM being a kid's movie and the like. Fortunately Lucasfilm did have the foresight to bleep most of the offending words, but it still detracted very much from an almost perfect documentary."

      Surprised when your featurette turned out to be more of a documentary ?
      • If you're looking for another review that doesn't involve Force.net drool

      Well, to be fair, there's no point in giving anything like a critical review of the movie itself. You've either seen it before, or you're not going to see it, love it, hate it, or are bored hearing about it. But, that said, it really is appalingly sycophantic.

      • But don't worry, the podrace has never looked better. [...] Podracers roar like never before and you will appreciate the nuance of sound design. Laser blasts and the roar of the crowd fill the rear channels and the subwoofer roars appropriately. [...] including a major sequence around the podrace a second time with Anakin losing control of his pod and Sebulba getting his flamethrower out and trashing other contestants in the Boonta Eve race. You'll be greeted by several new racers, new pods and plenty more action in the Deleted Scenes section

      Sounds like someone's got a real Pod Racer hangup (George or Joshua, the reviewer, or both). It's just one scene, dudes. In fact, it's (to my eyes) a shoddy, dull and overlong scene, cynically designed to look a lot like the game it was intended to sell. Hey ho.

      • In this copy the documentation was not included but will probably lean more towards functionality and less on innovation

      Does it scare anyone else that there's any question that a DVD needs "functional documentation"? ;)

  • "The Episode I DVD is even worth your investment in a DVD player if you have continued to delay the purchase."

    Well, I decided to go all the way to setup a full-size, no expenses spared, home theater nearly two years ago, just to be able to see 'The Fifth Element' again.

    Since my family and I have been watching hundreds of rented movies on DVD, and we all agree that the investment has been utterly worthwhile.

    Why invest $10000 in a home theater when you can go and see a movie on a much bigger screen with a family of four for $25 ?

    Well, there are a couple of reasons:

    • At $22 saved on every movie, I'll recoup my investment in 5 years.
    • I can see movies again in their former glory, which is not possible with a VHS tape and a television screen.
    • DVD extra features sometimes provide valuable insight in the movie-making process, and make you appreciate the typically enourmous efforts required.
    • Carefully chosen and positioned speakers provide an audio treat you won't find in a theater filled with a popcorn-popping and coughing audience.
    • I prefer the comfort and security of my home. Best of all, I can sip a cocktail while watching.

    All said, even if this movie isn't going to make anyone go out and buy a DVD player, I'm glad it's finally there.

    • Don't forget the money saved from not paying theter prices on foods in the popcorn, sugar, fat, butter and soft drink food groups. But since you won't be buying 3 liter cokes at $6 each with free refills you may not be getting the best value.
    • "I prefer the comfort and security of my home. Best of all, I can sip a cocktail while watching."

      You certainly can't play "The Force" game in the cinema. Yes, that's right: get all the Star Wars discs (ok, tapes for now) and watch them one after the other. Everytime you hear the words "The Force", down a drink. See if you can remember the Ewoks the next day? Fortunately, I can't ;)
    • Well, this DVD is why I bought a DVD player a few weeks ago.
    • I've got some better points for why I enjoy my home theater [ryanwright.com] much more than a "real" theater:

      I can sit back, put my legs up on the coffee table and relax without being bitched at.

      I can pause the movie if I have to take a leak.

      If some asshole leaves his cellphone on, I can kick his inconsiderate ass out of my house.

      The popcorn costs ten cents a bag and tastes better, too.

      Pizza & beer. Need I say more?

      No chance of some morons bringing their screaming 2 year old in to watch Sleepy Hollow.

      No chance of being hit with popcorn thrown by a group of obnoxious teenagers.

      I can watch almost any movie I want, any time I want, as many times as I want.

      I don't rent, however. I buy. The point of an HT isn't to save money, anyway. If I wanted to save money I never would have gotten into this hobby...

  • I'v seen a few comments (mostly here) that this is the film to gleam off of one of thoes evil file sharing networks. I wonder how many people will do this and if the networks can keep up with the demand? Could this grind the net down to a crawl like all thoes viruses like Nimda [symantec.com]*? I doubt it, mostly because I don't know all that much about the way packets are shuttled around the globe.

    I guess my question is how many people will try to download it as soon as someone rips it, or will we all be law-abiding and get it from a store? Also, do you think this will slow down internet access allover the world and cause routers to spontaneously combust? Oh wait, I forgot that no one here would ever illegally download copyrighted material. ;)

    *Off topic, but when you herd of the Nimda, did anyone else immediately remember The Secret of Nimh [thornvalley.net]? I love that movie!

  • That's the most biased review I've ever read. I don't think Lucas took that much time to
    1. Re-master the sound
    2. Make flashy menus
    3. Make a director's cut
    Digital techniques are supposed to reduce production time, not lengthen them.

    It's such a marketing decision. Classic supply and demand. Most starwars fans will have probably bought the DVD and the VHS by the 16th! What's that, $40-50 per fan for the same work?

    *cha-ching*

  • A much simpler review (Score:4, Informative)

    by Junks Jerzey ( 54586 ) on Thursday September 20, 2001 @08:37AM (#2324696)
    I mean this in all honesty:

    1. Phantom Menace was a poor to mediocre movie no matter what your point of view, unless you saw it when you were 7 without seeing the original movies. It does not deserve to be talked about any more that Waterworld does.

    2. DVD extras cannot change #1.
    • Lucas's big mistake with TPM was creating a more sophisticated plot than the original trilogy. A plot that apparently went completely over the heads of all the Lucas bashers out there.

      Hands up out there who realized that the good guys didn't win at the end of TPM.
      • Lucas's big mistake with TPM was creating a more sophisticated plot than the original trilogy. A plot that apparently went completely over the heads of all the Lucas bashers out there.

        No, Lucas's big mistake with TPM was that he created a trite, predictable movie, which assumed that the viewer had the intelligence of a third grader.
        • No, Lucas's big mistake with TPM was that he created a trite, predictable movie, which assumed that the viewer had the intelligence of a third grader.

          Thank you for proving my point. Know-nothing blow-hards don't get it. btw, can you tell me the real reason why the Trade Federation invaded Naboo? Show me you have the intelligence greater than a third grader...
          • Thank you for proving my point. Know-nothing blow-hards don't get it. btw, can you tell me the real reason why the Trade Federation invaded Naboo? Show me you have the intelligence greater than a third grader...

            In other words: "I am one of the elite few who understand the true genius inherent in the movie, and the rest of you who actually thought movies are to be enjoyed instead of analyzed are just morons. Nany nany boo boo!"

            Get real. TPM was trite and occasionally offensive. Most of the acting sucked (little Anniken in particular). A lot of effort was spent and the result should have been mind blowing on its face instead of requiring deep analysis and "understanding" to "get it".

            Actually though, this should have hardly been a surprise to anyone who went to see the re-issues of the original trilogy; it has not aged well, and the first movie which knocked everyone's socks off at the time in particularv is not much better than TPM except in the effects for the time department. Of course today those effects look dated too....

            If you want to live in your nostalgia land where Star Wars was the best thing your 11 year old eyes ever saw, feel free, but forgive the rest of us if we've grown up and placed higher expectations on our movies (even action movies need to surprise us).

            • Actually though, this should have hardly been a surprise to anyone who went to see the re-issues of the original trilogy; it has not aged well, and the first movie which knocked everyone's socks off at the time in particularv is not much better than TPM except in the effects for the time department. Of course today those effects look dated too....

              Bravo! I agree completely! I'm not defending TPM as being great. I just don't think it sucks.

              Whatever...

            • > A lot of effort was spent and the result should have been mind blowing on its face instead of requiring deep analysis and "understanding" to "get it".

              This seems to be a standard claim from people who for some reason need to defend lame-o movies. "It was too deep for you lot to understand." I heard the same thing about the überpathetic Starship Troopers.

              Yeah, deep.

      • Lucas's big mistake with TPM was creating a more sophisticated plot than the original trilogy. A plot that apparently went completely over the heads of all the Lucas bashers out there.

        But then he squandered about 3 hours of the movie on that interminable race, and all the pretty eye-candy under the ocean, and the third version of "Blowing Up the Big Spaceship with a Lucky Shot"(TM) while glossing over much of the really interesting political stuff. The Jedi Council meeting should have been shown in more detail. They decide not to train Anakin, which is illogical, and no justification is given for this bizarre decision.

        Granted, Lucas doesn't want to bore the kiddies, but let's face, if you are going to introduce political intrigue into your story, you shouldn't gloss over it so well. You can always cut back periodically to Jar-Jar getting his tongue scissored off or pod racers exploding or Darth Maul flossing his horns or something to keep the Ritalin set in their seats.

        In summary, if you are going to make a movie with a two-hour plot, don't waste two-thirds of the movie showing stuff that does little or nothing to advance that plot. One or the other has to go.

    • Phantom Menace was a poor to mediocre movie no matter what your point of view, unless you saw it when you were 7 without seeing the original movies. It does not deserve to be talked about any more that Waterworld does.

      You, my friend, have far too weighty an opinion of Hollywood. The Phantom Menace was as good as most of the movies that have ever come out of hollywood. It might not be a timeless work of art--but that applies to the whole darn thing.

      TPM was Star Wars--the Star Wars of ewoks, time measured in parsecs, and hokey new age religion masquarading as fantasy blended with sci-fi. It's a fun space fantasy. If you go in waiting for anything but "fun star wars", you'll be disappointed.

      And I *liked* waterworld, god damn it!
  • Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is all well and good. But when is the DVD of the Star Wars Christmas Special coming out?

    http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2000/12/05/s ta r_wars_tv/index.html

  • Not Again (Score:2, Interesting)

    by sessamoid ( 165542 )
    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.
    • 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.

      I couldn't have said it better myself.

  • Much better review at DVDFILE.com (Score:4, Informative)

    by Malc ( 1751 ) on Thursday September 20, 2001 @09:29AM (#2324907)
    This review is dreadful. Are the reviewers suffering from tunnel vision? Did they have their Lucas goggles on? Were they paid by Lucas? It's a bit of a brown-noser and the tone suggests to me that even if the quality of DVD had been really crap, they would still have written good things about it.

    I prefer the review at dvdfile.com. When they discuss the transfer to DVD, you can't but help feel that they know what they're talking about. Perhaps I also share the same opinion as the reviewer: this wasn't a great great film, but we all liked the *idea* of a Star Wars film. The review is here: http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video_4 /starwars_episode_i.html [dvdfile.com].
  • He should have tossed in Marlon Wayans jar jar impersonation from the deleted scenes Requium for A Dream [requiemforadream.com] dvd. Twas better than all of episode 1. The sight is completely wacked in any event.

  • It doesn't matter if you put it in a beautiful carved sandalwood box, wrap it with expensive paper, tie it with fancy bows, and scent it with expensive perfume...


    ... a turd is still a turd.


    I'd rather have had a decent film, than an overbloated DVD.

  • It's too bad I'm not six anymore or I might have really enjoyed Star Wars Episode I. There's no way in hell I'm going to pay money to see the next Star Wars unless reviews say that it's not a film for young children like the last one. I'm not holding my breath in anticipation of Lucas' next effort. They say you can't go back home and this was most certainly the case with Star Wars. I had great hopes as the series moved on but this was one of the biggest letdowns of my my life. Sorry George, you may have done some great things in the past but don't you have enough money? How much more do you need you greedy bastard? Clearly EP I was made as a cash cow instead of with the intention of making a great film.

  • dvd? passe. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Thursday September 20, 2001 @09:38AM (#2324954) Homepage
    I had it on Laserdisc for almost a year now.
    No region encoding, No content controls.
    Same resolution you have on your DVD and in Dolby 5.1
    • Nice idea, but doesn't work for me as I can't pick-up rentals of LD's on the way home from work.
    • Errr... Laserdiscs have never supported as high-resolution images as DVD, especially when you take into account anamorphic enhancement.
      • The resolution of LaserDiscs is inferior not only when you consider the anamorphic enhancement, but also when you consider that the frames are interlaced.

        However, LaserDiscs can in some ways look much better than DVDs because the video is not compressed. No MPEG artifacts, etc. It's pretty much a "pick-your-poison" thing. Visually, I would say that a well-mastered DVD is superior to a well-mastered LaserDisc, but an average DVD is inferior to an average LaserDisc.

        BTW - I use both formats; I own about 4 times as many DVDs as I do LaserDiscs (~200 vs ~50), mainly because they are cheaper and easier to obtain. But when I do go back and watch my older LaserDiscs, the lack of compression artifacts is very apparent.
  • Check out IGN.com for a seriously in-depth review [ign.com]. (It's 8 pages long.) I'm not sure about the movie, but it sounds like the extras are great. I guess the DVD is actually a director's cut sort of thing, with footage that was cut from the theatrical release reinserted for the DVD release. Who knows? Maybe in 10 years Lucas will give us a cut worth watching. We can hope, anyway.
  • Let's see, New Order's new one comes out on the 16th and the Phantom Menace comes out the same day.

    New Order fan since 1982. Never disappointed (even by Republic).

    Star Wars fan since 1977. Disappointed numerous times except by TESB.


    The Winners are the Boys (and Girl) from Manchester


    Waaahay!

  • Phantom Menace was a poor to mediocre movie no matter what your point of view...

    So no matter what I actually thought of it, it was a poor movie? And here I thought movies were subjective! Good thing your comment was moderated as +1 Insightful, or I might never have learned this valuable information.

    P.S. I thought it sucked ass, too.

  • no 4:3 aspect ratio? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by pomakis ( 323200 )
    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?

  • ...that somewhere in the huge amount of extras there might be the real version of the movie, the one that didn't suck.

    Oh well.


  • Well, having established that the Phantom Menace was a shitty movie targeted at easily-marketable 7-year-olds, I'd like to bring your attention to a release much worthier of your attention [onecenter.com]. The Phantom Edit, as it is called, is an underground 'remix' of this movie, a remix that attempts to bring a small level of respectability, plausibility, and intelligence to this poor film.



    No-one knows quite where to find a copy (seeing as it is a massive copyright violation), but I'm sure that Direct Connect [neo-modus.com], Morpheus [cnet.com], and WinMX [winmx.com] users will be able to dig up a copy, somewhere.

  • I want a copy of The Phantom Edit. Heck, I just want to see The Phantom Edit. Any hints?
  • I personally don't think it would have been possible for Jesus to give a better review of God.

    Reread the sentence, consider the originating website of the article (theforce.net) and you'll see what I mean exactly.

    I read about five paragraphs of it, and very nearly puked. I viewed source, expecting to see a suspected <drool> review </drool> tag set in there somewhere. No luck.

    This isn't a review- it's Lucasfilm Masturbigratification.
  • I like how they, for no apparent reason, tied the SWG teaser into a download from doubleclick.net. Will I be expected to sign up for the game through doubleclick also? As far as I'm concerned, this is a criminal organization that bribes and lobbies it's way out of legal trouble. Why not just have the mafia handle the subscriptions? Does anyone have a mirror for the movie?

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