Could the original, unaltered STAR WARS be on its way to Blu-ray? (1 Viewer)

[FoxyMulder]

Even with the way that Disney looks to be trying to whore Star Wars into another Marvel, the merchandising is probably still going to be worth more than the movies.

Yeah i agree with you, merchandising and movies, they will both help sell one another.

I think of far greater value is the ability to have complete control of the property to use in their theme parks. The movies are just advertising for the parks and merchandise. If they make money, even better.

True.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I have not previously bought the films on home video and would certainly buy the theatrical versions (a little tidying up would be acceptable to me) on blu-ray. I am fairly confident they will be released during my lifetime for the simple reason that, like so many other classic films (Wizard of OZ etc), the studio wouldn't be able to resist making another huge pot of money out of them.

 

[Carlo_M]

I have a feeling they only spent billions for the right to make new movies and they don't care that much about the old ones.

Yes because Disney never re-releases their old movies...wait...what?

I bet they do something really mean like "Disney Vault" the original Star Wars films. Buy the original films again for the first time in their original incarnation. Get them now before they go back into the vault!

I never got the argument that "toys/merch will be worth more" or "new movies will be their focus". I mean it's not a mutually exclusive thing, and all three ventures will make money! Why would a company say all three make money so let's do the one or two most money-making things and ignore the third. A corporation's only duty is to generate revenue/profit. If all three will do it, then you better believe they'll do all three.

 

[TravisR]

I never got the argument that "toys/merch will be worth more" or "new movies will be their focus". I mean it's not a mutually exclusive thing, and all three ventures will make money! Why would a company say all three make money so let's do the one or two most money-making things and ignore the third. A corporation's only duty is to generate revenue/profit. If all three will do it, then you better believe they'll do all three.

My point is that the merchandise is the biggest revenue generator. Of course, they need a movie or TV show to drive those sales but the merchandise earns more than the movies themselves.

 

[FoxyMulder]

My point is that the merchandise is the biggest revenue generator. Of course, they need a movie or TV show to drive those sales but the merchandise earns more than the movies themselves.

Exactly and it's the reason George Lucas dumbed down Return Of The Jedi, to sell toys, at the same time we will of course get the originals and prequels re-sold to us, probably 3D editions too, i hope they don't get the "animated classics" treatment and i am not talking vault here.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Actually, there is a slightly left-of-center version that I think many people want -- that is, the original films as we remember them, with no added scenes, changed dialogue, or goddamn dancers in Jabba's Palace, but with things like matte lines and magic marker effects corrected. That would make a lot of old-timers happy, and it would ensure the longevity of the original versions, as kids (today and tomorrow) wouldn't look at them and balk "Yeah, but all those matte lines and boxes are distracting!"

As a parent with a 16-year-old who actually sat and watched the original trilogy with me several times over the years starting back when he was 10, he never once made a comment about "matte lines and boxes" which were visible on the laserdiscs I played first and the DVD of the original versions I later played.I think we assume too much as to what kids notice and don't notice on these things that we've scrutinized ourselves for so long. My son tells me all the time about things that he just doesn't really care about that I'm always bringing up. Especially when it comes to the technical aspects of how a movie is made.Basically, with kids, whether they know it or not, if the story engages them, they will forgive just as much as we did when we first experienced the story. It's not like I never noticed the technical glitches in the theater back in the day after seeing Star Wars a total of 11 times in its original run.I think that's what it comes down to.

 

[Jari K]

As a parent with a 16-year-old who actually sat and watched the original trilogy with me several times over the years starting back when he was 10, he never once made a comment about "matte lines and boxes" which were visible on the laserdiscs I played first and the DVD of the original versions I later played.

Very good (and important) point. I'm sure there are kids and young people that just can't watch films or tv series that look "old", doesn't have fancy CGI etc, but many are like Joel's son: They just enjoy good story telling, interesting characters and rich fantasy/sci-fi/etc world.

Too bad that Lucas never got that point.

 

[Bryan^H]

I think George has always been on the cutting edge of film advances, so when CGI happened he embraced it. In order for his Star Wars creation to stay relevant as long as possible into the future. However, if there is ever a point in filmmaking where CGI becomes old, or boring, and films are once again made almost entirely physical then his prequels and additions to the OT will seem "dated".

 

[TravisR]

I think George has always been on the cutting edge of film advances, so when CGI happened he embraced it. In order for his Star Wars creation to stay relevant as long as possible into the future.

Plus, he had been saying that the original movie didn't live up to his expectations all the way back to 1977 so when he had a chance to 'fix' what had been eating at him for almost 20 years, he took it.

 

[smithbrad]

Basically, with kids, whether they know it or not, if the story engages them, they will forgive just as much as we did when we first experienced the story. It's not like I never noticed the technical glitches in the theater back in the day after seeing Star Wars a total of 11 times in its original run.I think that's what it comes down to.

I was 15 at the time when I saw the first movie and I definitely remember the matte lines. Now it didn't stop my enjoyment since the effects were so revolutionary for the time. However, I would find it difficult to understand going back to the original without at least cleaning up some of the technical issues that had nothing to do with the story. If they released with the anomalies intact, I would just wait for the next cut because you know there would be an outcry and a new release to fix them as well.

 

[dpippel]

I think George has always been on the cutting edge of film advances, so when CGI happened he embraced it. In order for his Star Wars creation to stay relevant as long as possible into the future. However, if there is ever a point in filmmaking where CGI becomes old, or boring, and films are once again made almost entirely physical then his prequels and additions to the OT will seem "dated".

His additions to the OT already look very dated IMO.

 

[TravisR]

His additions to the OT already look very dated IMO.

You think the space battle scenes look dated? I'll give you that the CG creatures look dated but I think the new X-Wing, TIE Fighter and Millennium Falcon shots still look pretty darn cool even after 16 years.

 

[SilverWook]

By themselves, sure, but intercut with the original physical models they kind of stick out.

 

[SilverWook]

Plus, he had been saying that the original movie didn't live up to his expectations all the way back to 1977 so when he had a chance to 'fix' what had been eating at him for almost 20 years, he took it.

The production of the infamous Holiday special in 1978 seems like it would have been a perfect opportunity for George to fix that pesky Greedo scene that had been bugging him. Borrow Harrison and Greedo, and go shoot in the corner of the cantina set.

I'm sure there are certified documents and written statements proving George wasn't within 100 miles of that production at any time though.

 

[Stephen Brooks]

The biggest problem I'd say that Star Wars has right now is layering. 1997 they did a mostly photochemical restoration with some new footage and digital effects. In 2004 they transferred the Special Edition preservation negatives to 1080p HD, layered some additional CG changes, and did the super rushed Lowry restoration. In 2011 they do ANOTHER layer of changes and fixes over those same masters. What they need to do is just junk everything and go back to original camera negatives (or first-gen dupes where necessary), restore the original cuts, and then make "ultimate special editions" that don't contain any 1997 or 2004 CGI. And they need to do it soon, while George Lucas is still able to be involved.

 

[TravisR]

By themselves, sure, but intercut with the original physical models they kind of stick out.

A number of the space battle shots that were replaced were of just one slow moving physical model against black and in my opinion, those shots stick out as much or more than the CG stuff does. And leaving out CG done 20 years after the fact, I think it's fair to say that some of those space battle shots stick out even when you look at what they did in the other two movies.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of burying the original version. I'm just saying that I think some of the new shots do work better than the original ones.

 

[dpippel]

By themselves, sure, but intercut with the original physical models they kind of stick out.

This. The CGI ships are very apparent to me, although a lot of them do work. The shot of the X Wing squadron flying out from Yavin to attack the Death Star in Star Wars however is particularly noticeable, especially with it's little CGI R2. It's the Tatooine stuff that's really wretched though.

 

[Dave H]

Agreed on the CGI looking poor in general. As far as ships, I never thought the CGI Millenium Falcon looked great. It always looked too thin to me even back in 1997.

 

[TravisR]

I've always thought that the Falcon looked fatter in the first movie than in the others. I think they made a new model of it for The Empire Strikes Back (used again for Return Of The Jedi) so I wonder if the CG Falcon used the 'thinner' second one as its model.

 

[Kevin EK]

I don't believe there would be any issue with Disney issuing the original theatrical cuts of the trilogy in the future - unless there are any complications with Fox.

Eight years after Stanley Kubrick passed away, his later movies were released on home video in their theatrical aspect ratios - something that Kubrick would not permit during his lifetime. But with the passing of time, with the larger presence of widescreen televisions and with a clear public interest in seeing the movies in those ratios, Jan Harlan and the family consented to the releases.

There are certainly interpositives and masters that exist for the Star Wars trilogy that have been carefully preserved by Lucasfilm, so the inclusion of the original cuts would be something that Disney could do inexpensively as a bonus in their marketing of future Blu-ray releases. As I said before, I wouldn't expect Disney to spend millions of dollars on such a project. If anything gets an 8K mastering in the future, that will be the last version of the trilogy that Lucas approved in 2011. I also can't picture Disney funding a project wherein they take the original cuts and spend millions on VFX cleanup, when they already have the 2011 version with those effects already cleaned up.

It's interesting to speculate what Disney might or might not do here, but expecting them to spend more than a minimal amount is simply not realistic. I wasn't trying to be pessimistic in pointing out that a good 2K scan of the original cuts will reveal issues with the VFX. Just realistic. The final shot of Raiders of the Lost Ark on the Blu-ray is a great example - the matte painting of the warehouse in the final shot is obvious on the Blu-ray where it was not nearly as noticeable on the previous DVD release or the theatrical release. Similar shots in Star Wars and company will have the same issues. Lucas has noted that he cut nearly all of the VFX sequences in Star Wars to be very short shots so that the flaws would not be as noticeable. (There are exceptions - like the flyover at the very beginning, but that was for a good reason) I don't have a problem seeing a version of the movie where the mattes are visible, but I would want viewers to keep the issue in mind so they don't get a bad surprise if Disney ever does issue the original trilogy in this manner.