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Well I have just finished watching Starwars ROTS on dvd. I wont bother going into the story as I'm sure most of you know whats its about. After being floored by the quality of Batman Begins on dvd, I had very high hopes that this dvd would better it but alas it doesn't in one department...SQ *Gasp :E . I will start with the positives and that is the PQ which is just amazing in every way possible with this format. Everything looks beautiful and clear with no artifacts or grain that I could see, mind you I'm not running a projector just a 57" Rear projection so I can only imagine what it would look like on a DLP or CRT high end projector. You wont be disappointed.
Now onto the SQ which was a mixed bag with this dvd IMO. This time the music has definalty taken the centre stage over the sound effects and bass has been tamed...yes tamed compared to the last 2 movies in the prequel trilogy. After the bass fest that was Batman Begins I thought ROTS had more than enough scenes where our subwoofers would be brought to there knees. Dont get me wrong there are some impressive bass moments but they are few and far between and where it is missing should have been there from what I remember from seeing it at the theatre. In particular the lightsabers have almost zero LFE in them now even when they connect theres no bass
and the sound level has been toned down as the music overrides the effect. That was the biggest disappointment for me as I believe the lighsabers are characters in themselves and lets face it they are extremely cool to watch and hear. I just wish Lucas would keep everything the same and not change important things like that especially when the previous 2 movies had incrediable lightsaber sounds. Now onto General Grevious transportation (the vechicle he rides when fighting Obi-Won) which in the theatre was one of the most bass extensive scenes in the movie. Not so on the dvd the bass is simply not there even when it passes right on the screen theres no bass at all? Weird. The only time bass was used effectively was the start and at the end of the movie. As for the surround and overall soundstage well that cannot be faultered at all great stuff.
Here is an short post from Home Threatre forum explaining the reason for the differences with the lightsaber sounds b/w AOTC and ROTS:
"Don't know about the rest of you but I am deeply sadden that the EpIII 5.1 EX mix does not have deep bass for the lightsaber battles. I kind of remember in theater it sounded like they did but maybe because I was expecting it. I think that deep bass really drives the lightsaber battles as aggressive sound protraying that this is a dangerous,powerful weapon. I did some research and I discovered why this has happened. Tom Myers did the sound mix for EpIII as opposed to Gary Rydstrom who did them for Eps I & II. Gary's sound is more aggressive and powerful. Tom Myers also did the sound mix for the 2004 OT DVDs which is why the lightsabers sounds were not updated or as powerful. I personally think this kinda takes away from the movie's effect a bit. The soundtrack is probably fabulous but without much bass material which is a real shame for demo material".
Overall ROTS on dvd is a good watch from the outstanding PQ through to the big soundstage but one simply cannot ignore a wasted opportunity to really amaze us with deep punchy bass in key moments that was very much lacking IMO. I'm really looking forward to others opinions on this as I'm reviewing the Region 4 not Region 1 or 2 and I hope there aren't any differences. Enjoy
Now onto the SQ which was a mixed bag with this dvd IMO. This time the music has definalty taken the centre stage over the sound effects and bass has been tamed...yes tamed compared to the last 2 movies in the prequel trilogy. After the bass fest that was Batman Begins I thought ROTS had more than enough scenes where our subwoofers would be brought to there knees. Dont get me wrong there are some impressive bass moments but they are few and far between and where it is missing should have been there from what I remember from seeing it at the theatre. In particular the lightsabers have almost zero LFE in them now even when they connect theres no bass
and the sound level has been toned down as the music overrides the effect. That was the biggest disappointment for me as I believe the lighsabers are characters in themselves and lets face it they are extremely cool to watch and hear. I just wish Lucas would keep everything the same and not change important things like that especially when the previous 2 movies had incrediable lightsaber sounds. Now onto General Grevious transportation (the vechicle he rides when fighting Obi-Won) which in the theatre was one of the most bass extensive scenes in the movie. Not so on the dvd the bass is simply not there even when it passes right on the screen theres no bass at all? Weird. The only time bass was used effectively was the start and at the end of the movie. As for the surround and overall soundstage well that cannot be faultered at all great stuff. Here is an short post from Home Threatre forum explaining the reason for the differences with the lightsaber sounds b/w AOTC and ROTS:
"Don't know about the rest of you but I am deeply sadden that the EpIII 5.1 EX mix does not have deep bass for the lightsaber battles. I kind of remember in theater it sounded like they did but maybe because I was expecting it. I think that deep bass really drives the lightsaber battles as aggressive sound protraying that this is a dangerous,powerful weapon. I did some research and I discovered why this has happened. Tom Myers did the sound mix for EpIII as opposed to Gary Rydstrom who did them for Eps I & II. Gary's sound is more aggressive and powerful. Tom Myers also did the sound mix for the 2004 OT DVDs which is why the lightsabers sounds were not updated or as powerful. I personally think this kinda takes away from the movie's effect a bit. The soundtrack is probably fabulous but without much bass material which is a real shame for demo material".
Overall ROTS on dvd is a good watch from the outstanding PQ through to the big soundstage but one simply cannot ignore a wasted opportunity to really amaze us with deep punchy bass in key moments that was very much lacking IMO. I'm really looking forward to others opinions on this as I'm reviewing the Region 4 not Region 1 or 2 and I hope there aren't any differences. Enjoy
I was quite looking forward to seeing what the "Big Mouse" could do with the story.... 
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