Star Wars DVD audio issues

[kexodusc]

Actually Wooch, the visuals seemed fine on mine, with the exception of a greenish lightsaber in the scene with Luke, Obiwan and the remote thingy in the Falcon.
Vaders saber looked eerily red whenever I saw it. The desert scenes are especially good now.
Could be variances in TV's, equipment etc, causing this?

I'm still very, very happy with the job overall. Just the darn Mickey Mouse audio track on Star Wars, which I didn't notice got crappy until they reached the Death Star.
I'll reserve my final judgement until I see how Lucas deals with this.
And ultimately, it's probably not fair to blame Lucas...I'm sure he had very little to do with this.
Take solace in the fact that Lucas probably has made it so the goof that's responsible never works in Holywood again.

Or continue blaming THX (which is kind of fun).

[Woochifer]

Actually Wooch, the visuals seemed fine on mine, with the exception of a greenish lightsaber in the scene with Luke, Obiwan and the remote thingy in the Falcon.
Vaders saber looked eerily red whenever I saw it. The desert scenes are especially good now.
Could be variances in TV's, equipment etc, causing this?

I dunno, it just seems that in the effort to get the lightsabers to look more consistent, they wound up getting some of the scenes looking bizarre instead. This is a nitpick, but then again somebody at Lucasfilm saw fit to redo those scenes. Vader's lightsabre at times looks a lot less red than I remember.

My TV is calibrated, and Star Wars still looked dark to me. They really saturated the colors, so it does look more vivid, but a lot of scenes just didn't seem bright enough to me. I did not notice this with either Empire or Jedi.

I'm still very, very happy with the job overall. Just the darn Mickey Mouse audio track on Star Wars, which I didn't notice got crappy until they reached the Death Star.
I'll reserve my final judgement until I see how Lucas deals with this.
And ultimately, it's probably not fair to blame Lucas...I'm sure he had very little to do with this.
Take solace in the fact that Lucas probably has made it so the goof that's responsible never works in Holywood again.

Or continue blaming THX (which is kind of fun).

I think everybody who thinks more QC should have gone into the Star Wars DVD should simply go to THX's DVD quality feedback page. Obviously they feel that THX certified stands for something, so we should let them know that despite Star Wars meeting THEIR quality standards, it does not meet OUR standards.

http://www.thx.com/mod/products/dvdProbs.html

Oh, and for a laugh, take a look at THX's press release detailing out the "advanced QC processes" and "new standard for presentation excellence" with the Star Wars DVDs. If this is their definition of advanced QC, give me the low tech quality control approach please!

http://www.thx.com/news/20040923A.html

[kexodusc]

OMG...This is what happens when you hire external marketing agents to write your press releases for you.
Maybe I have to listen to the damn thing using the THX DSP mode on my receiver for it to sound right?
Too bad, the Yammie's Sci-Fi mode kicks THX's a$$ anyday.

[eqm]

My TV is calibrated, and Star Wars still looked dark to me. They really saturated the colors, so it does look more vivid, but a lot of scenes just didn't seem bright enough to me. I did not notice this with either Empire or Jedi.

Saw the exact same thing...my mits diamond is calibrated as well so i know it's not the "red push" b/c i don't see it on other dvds.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I began watching the series last night beginning with Star Wars. Overall I was VERY impressed with this DVD. Visually there was nothing to complain about whatsoever. Contrast is excellent, as is color rendition and purity. Shadow detail was excellent, and colors that appeared washed out, or indistinct on my widescreen VHS copy of this movie shown through vibrantly. Picture quality get a A+ from me.

The sound was a mixed bag for me. It is very clear to me some sound effects where added to the mix. The problem was it was at times easy to tell. The clear well focused new effects occasionally sounded out of place next to the blunted, unfocused old effects. Some effect were taken out, or lowered in volume. I was glad for the extra punch the LFE gives the mix, but occasionally it blew the rest of the mix away by sheer volume. I would have wished for more balance as it keeps the mix more cohesive.

What blew me away about this mix was the smaller things I noticed. Like the use of the scenes room acoustics in conjuction with the dialog. As the actors face the camera for close ups, their voices are dry and close. But as they turn away, more of the rooms acoustics come into play which gives outstanding soundfield perspective. Imaging was also superb, with great use of the soundfield to punctuate sound effects. Phantom imaging was all over the place including half left, and half right of center front, side walls, and center rear. Ocassionally the music seemed to sound congested when playing FFF during climaxes. I would give this soundtrack a A-/B+

Overall I really enjoyed seeing this version of Star Wars. If this was what GL wanted to create in the first place, then thumbs up to him.