A look at the Star Wars Blu-rays

Bill Hunt of Digital Bits got a look at the Star Wars Blu-rays last week, and he’s wrote up an extensive post with all those technical details folks have been wondering about. It includes this interesting bit:

Now, you’ll recall that a little bit ago, I said these should probably be best considered new 2011 versions of these films, and not the 2004 DVD versions. All the fixes and corrections alone justify this in my opinion, but there’s another reason too… and you can probably guess what it is: Once again, George has apparently added a few new “surprises” into these films. I don’t know what they are and didn’t get to see any of them on Friday, but I was assured that there will be “new things to notice” when we watch the films.

Though – again – nothing is confirmed, he goes on to mention the digital Phantom Menace Yoda that’s been knocking around in DVD extras for years.

But overall, his prognosis looks good, particularly for those disappointed by the last few releases.

UPDATE: Another report from Chris Chiarella at Big Picture, Big Sound. Adam Gregorich of Home Theater Forum was there too, and he has pictures of the inside movie page sleeves, which we have yet to see so clearly.

The fandom minute: The Star Wars food truck and how Empire ruined everything

Since it’s a holiday weekend – at least here in the U.S! – and we all have other things going on, here’s a quick sweep through the week’s best fannish links.

Audio details for Star Wars Blu-Rays

One thing missing from last week’s Blu-Ray announcement was the audio details, but the DTS Facebook has confirmed that they will be in DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1. I have no idea what that means (here’s their own explanation) but folks seem pleased.

Meanwhile, there were rumors floating around the other day that the saga box art might be lenticular. Alas, The Forcecast’s Jimmy Mac talked to Lucasfilm, and it’s not true.

Don’t forget to take our latests sidebar poll on the Blu-Ray box art!

9-disc Star Wars Blu-Ray set revealed!

The rush of fans wanting Blu-Ray details initially crashed the May the 4th site. When it finally got up and running, it began revealing images on the number of social media shares… An act which strikes me as rather sleazy.

Thankfully, I was finally able to procure some decent art, and you’ll see it above. I’m not all that impressed with the art of the individual sets, but I was never a fan of that style to begin with. The art for the saga set, on the other hand, is straight-up awful: It looks less like Star Wars and more like Precious Moments: The Movie.

Hopefully some retailer somewhere will be providing a better-looking exclusive.

LFL will be revealing some additional tidbits on their brand-new Facebook.

The special features list audio commentary for each movie, all involving George Lucas and various notables including Rick McCallum, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher and Ben Burtt, as well as archival audio.

Each trilogy has an entire archive disc… And the ninth includes documentaries including 1977’s The Making of Star Wars and three brand new ones: Star Warriors, on the 501st Legion; A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams; And Star Wars Spoofs, containing footage from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and Weird Al.

I’ve cut and paste the complete list under the cut. Please don’t hate me, LFL. Continue reading “9-disc Star Wars Blu-Ray set revealed!”

The fandom minute: Jon Stewart analogizes the president, ‘The Phantom Reviewer’ returns for Sith

Politics corner. The Daily Show went epic last night by comparing the president to Luke Skywalker. I laughed, I laughed, then I cried because I was laughing too much. Jon Stewart, you are such a nerd.

Plinkett returns. ‘The Phantom Reviewer’ concludes his skewering of the prequels with Revenge of the Sith. Per usual, it’s not for everyone and still very much NSFW. But what can I say: I LOL’d.

So you’ve experienced a blizzard… Why not enjoy some impromptu Photoshopping?

Wait, what? Scotland has a Jedi police officer. She “admits to using Jedi mind tricks” but denies using “‘The Force’ to influence what suspects say or do.” Okay then.

The blogside. Cambridge University librarian Andy Priestner is not pleased with the state of the Jedi Order’s library.

Nice trolling. Suvudu has a ‘casting call’ for Luke Skywalker. No, seriously.

The fandom minute: Artoo chic

I have no idea if this is authorized (very probably not) but there’s no denying that the Artoo swimsuit is pretty neat. But since it’s a bit late in the season for swimming, perhaps galaxy leggings are more in order. (Only if you can accept that they are not pants, ladies.)

Women in Star Wars. MagnetGirl hijacks our pal Mandy’s blog to talk about Ahsoka and last week’s episode ‘Assassin.’

Craftacular. The Millennium Falcon apple pie, because edible crafts are the best crafts. And you know what this cries for? A lightsaber pie cutter.

Fanboy corner. Gizmodo’s Joel Johnson says it’s time to let the prequel butthurt die and forgive George Lucas. Yes, boys: You don’t have to love the prequels (Hell, I don’t) but just accept them as they are (until George SEs them) and move on. And on that note, Cracked has five reasons for Hollywood to stop making prequels.

It will not die. The rumor is still getting batted around, so Underwire brings us five reasons Lucas should film a new trilogy.