Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Thanks Christ Simon, I cant wait to fire this up but I'm working my way though everything from Ep1 onward. Off to watch Attack Of The Clones. Thanks for the review.
 
Than you Simon - you sound like me regarding the first viewings! :)
I so hope (No pun intended) that they finally release these either separately or ar least as a triple, Cannot in any way afford the whole package right now
 
Thanks for the review. Definitely picking this one up when released on its own
 
Will the original 3 films be released separately in the UK?
 
Thanks Simon, no doubt this and ESB are the ones people have been waiting for.
 
9/10 for the film! What an outrage! I demand higher! :D

Its a 10 for me anyway.

Like the little mention of Dirty Movie Simon - one of the Comic Strip's best (but not the best) - top 5 anyway!
 
9/10 for the film! What an outrage! I demand higher! :D

Its a 10 for me anyway.

10? That leaves no wriggle room at all for the vast improvement of The Empire Strikes Back.

It's not even a 9 imo, and I love it to bits.
 
10? That leaves no wriggle room at all for the vast improvement of The Empire Strikes Back.

It's not even a 9 imo, and I love it to bits.
Empire 10??? Huh! Where does that leave Jaws? 😬
 
Still no Dolby Vision as on Disney Plus...Just had my free week on Disney and watched the whole set + Rogue one & Solo all in fantastic 4K UHD Dolby Vision...FREE !!!
 
As great as this 4k release looks, I wish you had subtracted a point or two for the fact that 27 discs is just ridiculous and unnecessary and represents a huge future waste in materials. It is tacking on shiny crap for the sake of tacking on shiny crap.
 
Great review as always. But I have to correct you on a point of order. "Star Wars" opened at the now demolished Leicester Square Theatre and the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road on Dec 27 '77, not the Odeon, Leicester Square which was showing "The Deep." All the subsequent films did open at the Odeon, except for "Return of the Jedi" which followed the Leicester Square Theatre / Dominion release pattern. But Ep IV did show at the Odeon in March '97 when it returned as the Special Edition.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4410.jpeg
    IMG_4410.jpeg
    38.9 KB · Views: 499
I don't remember the first time I saw Star Wars (It will always be Star Wars to me, not A New Hope) as I was only two when it was released but I must have clocked up well over 100 viewings by the age of 10. Even now, I can pretty much recite the entire script from memory. I know that a lot of people lament Star Wars for all the merchandising now associated with it but at the time, it was just rollocking good fun. It fired every kids imagination and introduced us to so many memorable, iconic characters. It's an absolute modern classic and cultural milestone in cinematic history.Even now, whenever I hear the opening bars of the theme tune I get goosebumps.
 
I was 11. It didn't get up to the North East until 1978. The cinema in Durham at the time had one screen and a stalls / balcony layout. We sat front / centre of the balcony but I was too small to see over the ledge, I had to stand and watch it while my Brother sat in my Dad's lap.

Loved it ever since.
 
Thanks Simon. You keep saying there's nothing about Star Wars that hasn't already been said but purple blancmange magnets.
 
10? That leaves no wriggle room at all for the vast improvement of The Empire Strikes Back.

It's not even a 9 imo, and I love it to bits.
I rate them both as a 10.

You don't need wriggle room when you cant think of anything similar that is better. Well I can't anyway!
 
The effect and impact of Star Wars (because that's what it will always be called to me!) transcends the film. So it's really difficult to rate/review as "just a film".

It did so much for the film industry, the effects industry, it changed what studios thought a film had to be, or could be. It inspired a generation of film makers, in front of and behind the camera. It changed the world of merchandise (for better or worse). It really did change everything.

It's difficult to get that across to anyone who wasn't fortunate enough to be around to see it when it first appeared, and to have known the world it came into. Cinema was different after 1977.

George Lucas has so much flack thrown at him for tweaks and changes made to these films over subsequent years by fans, some of whom think they are co-owners of the franchise because they bought a t-shirt. Those arguments are never likely to end, but I will always owe Mr Lucas my gratitude for getting this film made, against all the odds, and changing the world of entertainment forever.

I've just watched Ep7 of The Mandalorian and loved every minute of it. This series only exists because a guy in America back in the mid 70's had an idea about the adventures of Luke Starkiller.

Cheers George!
 
Are you sure they are new transfers? as ever since they appeared on Disney+ I have been reading they were actually done in 2012 in preparation for the cancelled 3D releases.
 
Still no Dolby Vision as on Disney Plus...Just had my free week on Disney and watched the whole set + Rogue one & Solo all in fantastic 4K UHD Dolby Vision...FREE !!!
Assuming you were watching on Disney+ UK and unless Disney have increased the streaming quality since launch, you didn't watch them in 4K UHD. 4K streams are/were limited to 1440p.

As has also been pointed out by a well known professional TV calibrator, the original trilogy on Disney+ is also hugely limited in terms of peak brightness, so doesn't really take advantage of the capabilities of Dolby Vision.

Whether limited peak brightness is still a problem with the HDR10 discs, I'm not sure. Maybe @Simon Crust or somebody else at AVforums could do a comparison sometime...
 
Assuming you were watching on Disney+ UK and unless Disney have increased the streaming quality since launch, you didn't watch them in 4K UHD. 4K streams are/were limited to 1440p.

As has also been pointed out by a well known professional TV calibrator, the original trilogy on Disney+ is also hugely limited in terms of peak brightness, so doesn't really take advantage of the capabilities of Dolby Vision.

Whether limited peak brightness is still a problem with the HDR10 discs, I'm not sure. Maybe @Simon Crust or somebody else at AVforums could do a comparison sometime...
via the apple 4k streamer getting full dolby vision performance and picture much superior to a 4k HDR episode VII disc I did own...but not part of new set.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom