STAR WARS HD?

[korelius]

Anybody have any insights if and when Star Wars movies will be released in HD and through which format? HD DVD or Blueray? Thanks! :emperor :chew

 

[darthviper107]

It will be a while I would say, I think it would be HD-DVD. It's really kind of annoying how the formats are, I hope they come out with a dual-format drive that can read both formats although I doubt that. And it doesn't make it any easier that the players are so expensive, or that Microsoft is disabling the ability to play HD discs (HD-DVD and Blu-ray) in Windows Vista 32-bit. It's so stupid, most of the problems is because the movie companies don't want their stuff stolen, which is a fruitless cause because if they release it in any format it can still be ripped. Blame the movie studios.

Anyways, I hope that they would release a HD version of the full boxset once that comes out next year or the year after, that would be convenient, and probably expensive too.

 

[Darth Loki]

Yeah, blame the movie studios for A$$holes stealing their property.


It took a long time for the OT to be released on DVD so I'd expect the same for the HD format. And then expect 4 different versions so George can milk you for all your worth because we all know he needs the money.

 

[user 1190]

I will be Blu-Ray when it comes out. 20th Century Fox is using Blu-Ray and well as of right now Blu-Ray has the larger capacity.

 

[Gruson]

Correct,

Fox is in bed with Sony so it will be BD, assuming it ever happens. It will only be HD DVD if that format wins the war....years no matter what.

For those who cannot wait, Cinemax HD will be airing all SIX Star Wars movies in HD this November.

Tivo them or get your HTPCs ready!

 

[Andy Bergholtz]

Your best bet is to catch the HD broadcasts on Cinemax HD (or was it Showtime?). They've been playing Episode III a lot, which looks gorgeous.

Cinemax will also be the first station to air all six Star Wars films in HD this fall, which should be super cool. Check it out----


https://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=237



edit: Oops! Gruson beat me to it.

 

[Darth Loki]

Correct,

Fox is in bed with Sony so it will be BD, assuming it ever happens. It will only be HD DVD if that format wins the war....years no matter what.

For those who cannot wait, Cinemax HD will be airing all SIX Star Wars movies in HD this November.

Tivo them or get your HTPCs ready!

That's almost worth getting Skinamax for a month. Do you have any idea which version they will be?

 

[Darth Waller]

That's almost worth getting Skinamax for a month. Do you have any idea which version they will be?

Last I heard, the 1997 SEs.

 

[user 1190]

Damm now I need DirecTV to get Cinemax HD

 

[darthviper107]

Yeah, blame the movie studios for A$$holes stealing their property.

It's not that, it's that the companies are so paranoid about it that they go crazy trying to stop it when it really can't be stopped and regular people lose because of it.



But yeah, anyways I'd really like some HD versions, I knew there was some site showing how companies would probably go, I couldn't remember what Fox did, so if it's Blu-Ray then I guess that might be a good reason to get a PS3. Although what's annoying is that many good titles are going to be released just on Blu-ray or HD-DVD so it's going to be hard to get the movies you want in HD. Good references though from HD, since the regular DVD image size is 720x480, 1920x1088 will be really nice.

 

[korelius]

Did I misunderstand you...Microsoft will scrap the hardware to play HD DVD for the 360 afterall?

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'm not looking forward the this shakedown. I wish one format was decided. This could take years to sort out, like Beta vs VHS, and waste a lot of money. I'm assuming, with Microsoft behind it, HD will win. Plus, no regular person out there knows what the heck Blu-Ray is -- but HD is self-explanatory.

 

[user 1190]

Blu-Ray will end up winning out. If you look more Studios, Manufactures, have agreed to work with Blu-Ray. Lastly Blu-Ray has a higher capacity and faster bit rate all which are better for Movies.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Blu-Ray will end up winning out. If you look more Studios, Manufactures, have agreed to work with Blu-Ray. Lastly Blu-Ray has a higher capacity and faster bit rate all which are better for Movies.

Did that save Beta? It was superior to VHS and look what happened. Beta also had more support from the industry in the beginning. Believe me, a better format means nothing over saturation -- Beta, Apple... Everyone will quickly move away from Blu-Ray if it starts to sink; there's no loyalty in business. It just means we may be buying our HD collections over again as they swap formats...another move the business loves; buy SW in Blu-Ray, then buy it two years later in HD again.

I'm not rooting for one or the other. I just would like to know which format I should begin my collection with.

 

[user 1190]

Your right about Beta and Apple, they both made on majot flaw and that try to horde the technology. Sony learned its lesson with Beta. There are only 2 Major studios sho have not signed to work with Blu-Ray. Second Blu-Ray has 9 Major companies devloping the hardware, where HD DVD has 2.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Your right about Beta and Apple, they both made on majot flaw and that try to horde the technology. Sony learned its lesson with Beta. There are only 2 Major studios sho have not signed to work with Blu-Ray. Second Blu-Ray has 9 Major companies devloping the hardware, where HD DVD has 2.

I hope you're right, but I don't trust studios. I can see them pushing Blu-Ray for a few years and then quickly run to HD so they can re-sell their movies yet again to the collectors.

Anyway, time will tell. But history does repeat itself.

 

[darthviper107]

I just think the two formats are too expensive right now. An HD-DVD player costs around $500 right now, and a Blu-ray player costs aroun $900, I bet a lot of people will be buying PS3's for the blu-ray player.

 

[Seaward]

I think Sony is continually trying to lock up proprietary technology which would force people to adopt their devices to play their medium, and it has been their approach for a long time. Look at their history with Betamax(the better format), MD(which I guess were big in Japan), and UMD. They don't want people to play games on PS3, they just want people to get a Blu-Ray played, because they own the patents on the tech, and want to get money from the software sales. smart business, but with a format war, we the consumer get stuck holding the bag. I am going to wait until the dust clears before buying anything again, and I will probably only get select titles in HD. I mean, how much better looking is Anchorman going to be?

 

[Wor-Gar]

As I said, history is doomed to repeat itself.

I think Sony is continually trying to lock up proprietary technology which would force people to adopt their devices to play their medium, and it has been their approach for a long time. I am going to wait until the dust clears before buying anything again, and I will probably only get select titles in HD. I mean, how much better looking is Anchorman going to be?

Agreed

We're still a ways off from the HD "revolution".

 

[tomandshell]

Fox has been aligned with Sony in the big battle, but before now they hadn't officially announced any titles. Well, not any more:

20th Century Fox has finally, officially unveiled their first batch of Blu-ray Disc titles, timed to coincide roughly with the November release of Sony's BD-equipped PlayStation 3 game system (which, believe it or not, sources are telling us may be the best and most fully-tested and functional BD player on the market initially). Fox has also unveiled it's first Blu-ray titles distributed for MGM. The Fox titles include Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut (with audio commentary and other select features TBA), Behind Enemy Lines (with audio commentaries and trailers), Fantastic Four (with audio commentaries and trailers), Kiss of the Dragon (with audio commentaries and trailers), The Omen (2006 - with audio commentary, featurettes, extended scenes and BD-Java features including a pop-up trivia track), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (with audio commentaries and trailers, as well as BD-Java features including special search options, an animated pop-up trivia track and a first-person shooter game), Speed (with audio commentary, trailers and BD-Java features including a pop-up trivia track, an interactive game and special scene selection options) and The Transporter (with audio commentary and trailers) all on 11/14. Kingdom of Heaven will be released on the dual-layered 50 GB BD-ROM discs (and may be the first such title, depending on Sony's TBA release plans). Ice Age: The Meltdown follows on 11/21, day-and-date with standard DVD (extras will include commentaries, featurettes, animated shorts and the No Time for Nuts shot in high-def). All of Fox's titles will sell for SRP $39.98. All will include DTS HD Lossless Master audio, and some (Behind Enemy Lines, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Speed) will be presented using the AVC (MPEG-4) video codec. The MGM titles that Fox has revealed include The Usual Suspects and Windtalkers on 11/28 and Rocky and Bulletproof Monk on 12/5.

So with Fox now in the high definition DVD game, it's only a matter of time before we see Star Wars on Blu-Ray.