A humble review of the AOTC DVD

[Levi Argon]

I am very fortunate to have been able to buy the DVD for Episode II today four days before the official release date here in the UK and five days before the official US release date. As you could imagine I was very excited when a box full of them was delivered this afternoon and I immediatly delved deep into it and retrieved my own. With subtle methods of pursuasion (had store manager at gun-point >D) I was allowed to make the buy early.

At this point I would say I'm about 70% through seeing the features although I didn't thoroughly watch the "From Puppets to Pixels" film-documentary because it was one of the first things I checked out and was too eager to see everything else. That documentary is very interesting however can get rather boring and tedious at times, although it was especially nice to see how much effort had been put into thinking through the character of Yoda and other animated creatures.

Film spots were entertaining and satisfying enough, all the ones we're familiar with from TV. A brief, thirty-second ad for the main characters including the one previewing Yoda in action that was screened at "Celebration 2" I believe was the name of the convention. All teaser trailers and theatric included naturally.

I was, as expected, quite dissatisfied by the deleted scenes featured in the second of the two DVDs but the options available made up for it, especially since you had the option of viewing an intro to the deleted scene explaining why it was innitially made and then why edited out. Nevertheless, one has wonder why the more interesting and no doubt thrilling of the deleted scenes weren't included. There was the raid on the control chip and extended lightsaber duel scenes as opposed to scenes such as "Padmé's House", "Padmé's Bedroom" and the enthralling "Padmé's Shoe Collection". I found the extra scenes with Dooku particularly dull such as the interrogation of Padmé and the trial of Anakin and Padmé. Not only will you wonder "Why were those two scenes even shot?" but more importantly "Why include them in the DVD over the other deleted scenes available?" Why you will ask this is because they are completely irrelevant, even the explanations for them are poor they move the movie nowhere and add nothing of the remotest interest to the story or experience.

Looking back, this review is more negative than it is positive however I have been told it is much easier to see the negative first although I'm usually the type to be swept up in hype and awe I kept my cool and being analytical, thought it would be best to highlight what I disliked about the DVD before I begin raving about how wonderful it is. And it is.

What strikes me first of all and naturally are the animated menu's, much better than any other DVD menu's I have seen before, they really make waiting for something to load up a delight. It's the detailed and thoughtful touches such as this and the care with which the plentiful special features are given that make the AOTC DVD a treasure to own. All the features available on Disc 2 will keep you entertained for hours on end and even after watching the movie over and over and over again, although never become tired of it, you can always come back to these and appreciate the effort put into the composition of the DVD itself, the behind-the-scenes footage revealing the secrets behind AOTC and the care taken to give us, the fans, a thoroughly satisfying Star Wars Experience.

Naturally, the picture quality of the film is spot on (even to the point where you can see one or two problems with the animation - which is a rarity in itself!) and sound flawleess. My only problem with Disc 1 is that the language, subtitle, sound and audio-commentary are awkwardly thrown together and a little less than economical to locate once the film is running.

To finish with, I will say it but it goes without saying really, an absolute must for all Star Wars fans and an essential to all DVD collections for it sets a new standard in DVD quality (At least until the FOTR Extended Edition DVD Boxset comes out. ;)) and would improve the standard of any DVD collection. Whatever your official release date: Go! Buy! And enjoy. :)

[JMK]

Extras are nice and all, but the main focus of any DVD should be the movie itself, and how great it looks and sounds. The extra bells and whistles are nice, but aren't that important IMO.

[Oriadin]

But the extras go a long way into talking people into getting the DVD instead of the Video. Sure, it looks and sounds better but the Videos can be half the price.

[ReaperFett]

Depends IMO. THe commentaries made my FDTD and Army of Darkness DVDs so much better.

[Levi Argon]

Originally posted by JMK
Extras are nice and all, but the main focus of any DVD should be the movie itself, and how great it looks and sounds. The extra bells and whistles are nice, but aren't that important IMO.

Naturally, but I have already seen the movie and have gave my views of it in the past and it goes without saying thus that the movie is great. I made a breif comment on the sound and picture quality, they were perfect and what else needs to be said really?

Like Oriadin said all the special features, animated menus and whatnot are important because it shows that the medium has been used to it's full potential and thus makes it an ever more worthwhile purchase.

[JMK]

No no, I understood what point you were trying to make, I just hope that extras (regardless of how good/bad they are) don't become the deciding factor when buying these things, especially if you're already a DVD buyer.

[Levi Argon]

Ah right, well I only buy films on DVD that I consider bewilderingly good. Although I boutght "The Fast and the Furious" on DVD, that is an exception. :)

So I agree with you entirely. If Directors started putting aside important aspects of film quality for the sake of extras in a DVD that would be an awful shame.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Well, lets think - what's the attracti9on of DVD's?

Quality of picture? Ease of use? Both are true. But for me the best DVD's are the ones that expand on the viewing experience. Now, TPM's DVD does this. A few other DVD's in my collection do this admirably. Some have features every bit as entertaining as the movie itself, those DVD's rule. It make s it well thought out.

Now, lets use a LOTR example - the first two disc version was okay. Of course the moive is excellent but the features are a bit... generic. Now you have the 4 disc coming out nad you see the real advantages of a DVD - alt tracks, commentaries, extras by the bus load, seen the reviews? Damn near a wet dream. THAT's what a DVD can be. Cant wait to see it for myself. All these features missing from the original discs.

Now, I have no doubt quality wise AOTC will be excellent. But man, WTF is Lucas thinking if one of the deleted scences included is PADME'S FREKING SHOES?!?!? Who the hell cares??? Come on, you cant just throw stuff into a DVD and expect it to be Special Features. That's what New Line did witht he first release of FTOR and you know, it shows. It's standard boring fare.

I dont like standard boring stuff. I want more with my features, cause DVD's arent real cheap - $40 isnt a small amount. and $150 for a LOTR boxed set, hell, it BETTER be the best damn thing ever. (remembering 1 AUD = 50 US cents). Hey, I'll pay if the features are excellent. Otherwise, rental.

[Sanis Prent]

WTF is Lucas thinking if one of the deleted scences included is PADME'S FREKING SHOES?!?!?

Could be wrong, but I believe that was an exaggeration

[JMK]

I think it is an exaggeration...

[BUFFJEDI]

well, maybe Lucas has a foot fetish.:D

[Loki Ahmrah]

:lol

Sorry for the misunderstanding. But there is no "Padmé's Shoe Collection" deleted scene. Looking back, I realise I hadn't made that clear but then again, considering the deleted scenes included it wouldn't have suprised me to see such a pointless deleted scene.

[BUFFJEDI]

well that sucks, I really wanted to see her shoe's:mad
I really LIKE shoe's.Really. I have about 40 pairs in my closet.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Womens or mens?

[BUFFJEDI]

:lol :lol

Both!!! oh, did I say that out loud;) J/K

I love looking at shoes of all kind men/womans(but no fetish) and the way they are made an the designs.really love looking at shoe's from other country. But anyway that's another thread......

oh BTW: just men's.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Just checking. Had this peculiar image of Buff in stilettos. :lol

Shoes are cool, I'm into fashion myself to an extent. Not to the extent of having forty pairs though! :eek

Speaking of which, I need a new pair of trainers or as American's may call them (for clarification) sneakers.

[BUFFJEDI]

Originally posted by Loki Ahmrah
Just checking. Had this peculiar image of Buff in stilettos. :lol

:lol :lol

Oh I have worn them before,BUT only as a joke and they were to dang small:( It's hard to find them in 13's(LONG STORY) They actually accented my calves and,........ well I'm shuting up now:x

[BUFFJEDI]

I don't know if you get them or not over there BUT** Head ***really does make a good sneaker. they are very mid priced and fine fine wearing shoe. the soles are the longest lasting I have found BUT if you ever get them wet they will stink. I realize all shoes will but these REALLY do.They are not great for LONG running BUT great for like basketball,tennis things like that.

[imported_Firebird1]

*Falls into BuffJedi's shoe collection VIA the Link-o-Rama from the Portal.*

Ouch, size 9 pumps! :o

Anywho I've got three obsverations...

1) How do women wear high heels?

2) Did Levi really buy it early?

3) When did we get a Link-o-Rama and Isn't Rama a trademark?

[Oriadin]

I cant belive it. My girlfriend works in a shop. On Friday she actually handled the Star Wars DVD and didnt buy it! WTF!!??

She said she wasnt allowed to, oh, but the manager got to :(
In answer to your questions...

1) I have no idea
2) I belive he did.
3) eh?

[Loki Ahmrah]

Originally posted by BUFFJEDI
They actually accented my calves and,........ well I'm shuting up now:x

:lol!!

We do have Head however it's presence in the market isn't as predominant as it used to be. I'll check some out. Thanks for the advice. :)

As for the questions:

1. Because they're evil.
2. Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have made this thread.
3. Ditto to Oriadin's response.

[Oriadin]

ACTION: Joins the list of DVD owners in the UK.

I thank you

[Loki Ahmrah]

Well done squire. :)

[Oriadin]

Taps fingers on desk at work.

Must be home time now!
Nope :(

[Levi Argon]

Oh well. As Obi-Wan would say:

"You taken a step into a larger world."

[ReaperFett]

When'd you get yours Ori? :)

[ReaperFett]

My quick overview so far.

MENU SCREENS: Look good, like the TPM ones

DELETED SCENES:

Padmé adresses senate- Shows her stance on the Republic Army, would have been good in the film. ANd check out that tongue! :)

Jedi Temple Analysis- A good scene, and intros into Dex a lot better

Jedi Landing platform- Shows Obis concerns about ANakin, and a regret. After they cut all the Starfighters from the end battle, I suppose it was able to be could, sadly. Explains the Hyperspace rings better too.

Extended landing on Naboo- Gives nothing of intrest or use. A wise cut.

Padmés parents house- Awwwww, R2 playing :) . Added a great deal to Padmé, IMO.

Padmé's bedroom. Not as good as it sounds ;) . Seriously, the wall decorations are brilliantly done, and very EUish :)

Dooku interrogates Padmé- Shows a good deal from the POVs of Dooku and Padmé

Anakin/Padmé on trial- Not really a trial, as I think was intended. Not needed for a film though.

[ReaperFett]

And special note to the Easter Eggs Blooper Reel, especially McCallum :)

[BUFFJEDI]

Where the HE11 is my DVD's??????Oh the mail did not run today :(

[JMK]

Nothing was open today. I need a new bank card or I won't be getting squat tomorrow, and then you see some carnage....

[Loki Ahmrah]

The Blooper Reel was brilliant. :D

[BUFFJEDI]

Originally posted by JMK
Nothing was open today. I need a new bank card or I won't be getting squat tomorrow, and then you see some carnage.... :lol :lol Get em big guy:crack

[Oriadin]

Originally posted by ReaperFett
When'd you get yours Ori? :)

I got mine in my lunch break yesterday. I watched about three and a half hours of features then the film.

How do you get to the bloopers reel?

[ReaperFett]

Go to the MOVIE disc

Go to the LANGUAGE menu

This part depends on your DVD player. You must enter on your control 11. That might be 10+ and then one, one then one, or whatever.

After the pause, enter 3 (Might be 03)

After the pause, enter 8 (Might be 08)

[JMK]

My oh my what a DVD! Looks great, but sounds better IMO!

I had to turn down my sub TWICE because the bass effects were so prominent that it knocked my SW Pepsi cans from my window sill, topple figures from the shelf and knocked baseball plaques off walls. I think watching it from home was probably the second or third best experience of watching aside from the first time (obviously) and *maybe* the Imax viewing.

[Pilot Akito]

I like this DVD.... I think they did a really good job on it... Right down to the THX optmizer that helped me realize that I needed to turn down my brightness level...

[Oriadin]

I've looked up a few websites about the bloopers too and I still cant get the bloody thing to come up!

Ive tried entering

"1138"
"11" "38"
"1" "1" "3" "8"
"1" "1" "38"
"11" "3" "8"

And any other combination I could think of but nothing!! Grrrrr. Bloody anoying!

[ReaperFett]

have you been waiting for the pauses to end? Tried 11-03-08?

[JMK]

It worked the first time for me. It was pretty funny, especially Jango falling off the platform by accident and anytime Anakin trips & does a face plant!

[Oriadin]

When I enter in a number a little grey box appears, I then wait for that box to disapear before entering in the next number. I asume thats what you mean by the pause. If I enter in "03" for example, only a three appears so I assume you dont need to press the 0. This is bloody anpying :(

[ReaperFett]

The entire screen should pause, as if chapter skipping. Thats because it tries to.

[Oriadin]

After a period of time, without doing anything, the music stops and its as if the menu has to restart itself. Is this what you meant by the pausing?

[ReaperFett]

yes. Basically, it needs to attempt to go for chapters 11, 3 and 8

[Oriadin]

Ok, I'll give it another go tonight. Thanks.

[ReaperFett]

np :)

[Oriadin]

I finally managed to see it! It was alright, but not worth the effort it took me to watch it! Hayden is always falling over! :lol

[Darth Viscera]

I'm just watching this DVD fully now, as I had enough of AOTC when I watched it in the theaters 15 months ago, and I must say that I am slightly dissappointed with the quality.

The CGI scenes are flawless, of course, like during the Kamino scene or a window showing the skylanes of Coruscant, but the live shots, the ones where the backgrounds are sets, are very dusty. The digital cameras used in the making of this film certainly aren't perfect yet, because they can't capture walls correctly. You'll see that there's a lot of pixie dust floating around on the walls, as if it's alive and has a case of randomly mutating acne. Walls and dark backgrounds. You get this same effect in cheap webcams. The CGI backdrop quality is perfect. Colors are perfect, and very rich.

Some of the DVD is very blocky. I was astounded to see that Padme's back was composed of highly visible macroblocks and pixelation; I've never seen that in a commercially mastered DVD before, analog or digital.

But this digital camera that George uses, it shoots live shots in a very dusty, very analog way. It's because of that blasted dust that I can't abide webcams. Come on George, spend some money and get a proper digital camera.

Poor George, though. Those shots can never really be fixed without a lot of reshooting, and this will likely provide the impetus for him to do AOTC:SE. He's going to be kicking himself for the next 15 years, though.

[JMK]

I'm surprised to hear you say that. The AotC DVD is widely considered to be of the best quality produced to date...

[Jedi Master Carr]

You must have a bad copy I don't see any of the stuff you are seeing.

[Darth Viscera]

Watch it on a computer monitor or HDTV then, and pay attention to the live shots. They're very visible. Try the scene with the younglings, when the shot is on Yoda alone.

I've doubled checked it, using Chapter 29. I went through that chapter on a video editor, and the faces of Padme and Anakin have the same distortion that I noticed while playing the DVD. It's not that I have a bad DVD. Every single AOTC DVD produced in North America has an identical bit layout, and DVD's aren't like VHS tapes where the picture starts to deteriorate, you either get perfect playback or you get no playback. So unfortunately, this same distortion is on everyone else's DVDs too.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I have a bigscreen TV and it looks perfect to me. you sure you didn't get a defictive copy? I say that because even though some people damn the movie everybody says only great things about the digital quality. Plus I have seen the movie 10 times on DVD so I know the quality is good.

[Darth Viscera]

You won't see the same level of detail on a big screen TV as you would on a PC monitor or an HDTV, so it makes sense that you wouldn't see the distortion.

Again, defective DVDs do not produce distortion in the picture. The video from a DVD either plays 100% perfectly or it doesn't play at all. There is no deterioration over time like with a VHS tape because there is no film to deteriorate.