Original Star wars on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Chris PC]

Opps. My mistake. I was thinking about the SE edition. Now that I recall, I watched my LD's using DPL II movie or Circle Surround and that was great.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

IMHO, regarding the OT and bootlegs, etc. GL is a real {insert expletive}. He could make the whole bootleg market of Star Wars moot by just releasing the frickin' ORIGINAL TRILOGY and THE SE TRILOGY. He'd make a bunch of money and shut down the bootleggers in one fail swoop. I mean, who's gonna buy a bootleg set if the studio mastered anamorphic ones are on sale to the general public. And people could choose which version they wanted to buy, and some would probably buy both. He needs to get over himself and this artistic BS he spouts, about 'his dumb-a$$ vision of Star Wars'. Where was his 'vision' when he originally had Han shoot first. Lately his work and attitude show his weakness or 'his lack of vision'.

Disclaimer: Sorry if anyone thinks I'm too harsh, but this whole fiasco really pisses me off. And I made sure not to outright type any cuss words, (or the George Carlin 7 words you can't say on TV).

 

[Rob Gardiner]

John,

You can refer to George Lucas as "Bantha Poodoo" and I don't think anyone will be offended.

 

[Dave H]

Once again, it's not about money with Lucas. He's worth over 3 billion dollars. Making a couple of hundred million from the OT DVD isn't going to make much of a difference. It's about his artistic view of Star Wars and his control.
If it was all about money, we would have the OT and SE trilogies by now and probably a second version of Phantom Menace.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

It's about his artistic view of Star Wars and his control.

After five years of following this issue, I'm absolutely convinced you're right.

RD

 

[Ricardo C]

and probably a second version of Phantom Menace.

I'm definitely hoping they'll remaster TPM sometime. If ever there was a title needing a better transfer, it's this one.

 

[Brent M]

I echo John Co's sentiments completely. I don't ever want to hear Lucas and his minions complain about bootlegs of the Original Trilogy because he has the power to take care of that problem with one simple act--RELEASE THE DAMN MOVIES ON DVD!!! If he released the original versions of the films, people would buy them. If he released the SE versions, people would buy those too. If he released both versions, a lot of people(including myself) would buy both of them. I don't understand why he has put out 143 different versions of the Original Trilogy on VHS and Laserdisc over the years, but he won't put the films out on DVD right now. You can say whatever you want about his "artistic vision" and all that other B.S., but that still doesn't explain why he hasn't at least put the SE versions on DVD. My understanding is that the vision argument only applies to the original versions which he stated will never be released again. I realize these are his films and he can do whatever he wants with them, but to deprive people of the versions of Star Wars that they grew up with is really a bad choice in my opinion. Rumor now is that he's going to "tinker" with the Original Trilogy even more to tie them in with the prequels before he releases those films on DVD which absolutely frightens me to no end. What is he going to do now to improve his "vision", put Jar Jar in the cantina scene? Will he insert fart noises into The Empire Strikes Back? I don't hate Episode 1 and 2 as much as some people, but they are definitely not the films A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back were(Return of the Jedi was a little weak as far as I'm concerned) and this shows that his creativity level has gone downhill over the years. The bottom line is that I want Star Wars on DVD like most other people, but if George Lucas doesn't make those films available he should not complain about people resorting to other methods(like bootlegs) to get the films on DVD. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Brent, bravo!!!

I was just getting ready to post that, I did not mean for my earlier post to imply that I thought it was just about the money. But rather, as you said, that Lucas and his yes-men have got no grounds to complain about bootlegs when they have the power to shut them right down, but REFUSE to do so. And you're also right, why has he released them countless times in different versions on different formats, but refuses to give the public what they most want, DVD's. He's like a spoiled child. I wish there was someone who had the power to take Star Wars away from him, it's too bad there isn't.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

That's the problem. Lucas can spend millions on stopping boots that just won't stop, or he can just ignore them. Since Ebay is most uncooperative, it's virtually a waste of time

 

[Aaron Cohen]

That's not a problem. The bootleg Star Wars DVD market will be for the most part nearly completely eliminated should the Star Wars trilgoy be officialy released on dvd in anamorphic widescreen with or without extras to boot. Nobody will give a damn about looking for the bootleg when they can just go down to Best Buy and easily buy a superior version! So many people have gone the bootleg route because they are pissed Star Wars is not yet on dvd. Many of these people couldn't care less about the quality just as long as it's in widescreen and looks marginally better than their horrific, craptastic VHS copies.

That being said, all this has intrigued me about purchasing the faces Star Wars laserdisc set and a laserdisc player. However, I recall rumors a year or so back specifically regarding the faces set. I could be wrong but I seem to remember people were sigting this set as one that unfortunately was beginning to go bad in many cases. Is there any truth to this? I haven't heard it mentioned in quite a while and it might have been about one of the other two laserdisc Star Wars releases, but I know it was about one of them.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

All of my Star Wars laserdiscs still work, even the ancient time-compressed pan&scan copy (which I think dates from the early '80s).

RD

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I've seen one set of the SE bootlegs - I think they're sold as 'Five Star' or some such nonsense. In fairness they're not bad. The black level is off but it can be compensated for. It's actually similar to a problem I encountered when converting my own 'faces' discs - where capturing at IRE0 was too dark at 7.5 too light. I altered the level during encoding but on the bootlegs the picture isn't dark enough.

Picture detail is OK but some of the MPEG2 compression could have been better and they wasted space with multiple audio tracks. They're a tad sharper than my own conversions but I think a lot of that is just down to the fact that they've been sourced from the SE LDs which are inherently better looking.

The 5.1 audio tracks are fake - merely the stereo tracks spread to the extra speakers. However the 2.0 ProLogic tracks sound fine. And they've put a DTS version of the same 5.1 track on the discs as well - utterly pointless. You also have to turn the subs off.

The discs are perfectly watchable and will certainly do until Lucas decides to release them properly.

 

[greg_t]

However, I recall rumors a year or so back specifically regarding the faces set. I could be wrong but I seem to remember people were sigting this set as one that unfortunately was beginning to go bad in many cases. Is there any truth to this?

The "Faces" set from 1995 is not prone to laser rot. The Defnitive Collection box set that was released prior to the Faces collection has been known to rot. I have heard nothing of the special edition releases rotting.

 

[Brent M]

While we're on the topic, does anyone know why Lucas allowed the Original Trilogy to be released on Laserdisc, but has refused to release the films on DVD? Originally, I thought it was related to copyright protection or something along those lines, but obviously that's an issue with laserdisc as well since the LDs are the source of all the bootleg DVDs. Also, if he's comfortable releasing the Indiana Jones Trilogy(movies that he produced) and Episodes 1 and 2 on DVD, why can't he greenlight an Original Trilogy release as well? I just can't understand the methods behind this guy's madness. I mean, this is a guy who had the balls to release yet ANOTHER version of the Original Trilogy on VHS back in 2001(knowing for a fact that VHS was a dead format) rather than putting them on DVD! Can you honestly tell me there aren't enough people working at "The Ranch" that he could have pulled a couple of them aside and told them to prep a DVD release? Anyone who has seen the THX Ultimate Demo DVD WOW! sequence knows that these movies are already mastered in anamorphic widescreen with DD 5.1 or DTS sound. So, why is he being such a you-know-what and making us wait another 2 or 3 years?

 

[Carlo_M]

Brent, I believe the Faces LD came out around the same time as the last non-SE'd VHS copies, and both were billed as the "last chance to own the original version of the Star Wars Trilogy." This was shortly before the SEs came out theatrically. I don't think DVD was out then, or if so, only in test markets and its future was very uncertain.

By the time DVD had hit its stride, and Lucas had already released the SE versions theatrically and on VHS/LD, he was not in the business of releasing the unaltered OT. Since the SEs came out, there has been no official non-SE release of the OT on any home video medium.

If you're asking why he's let the SE versions come out on LD/VHS and not on DVD, I think the answer is that he's not done SE'ing the OT and would have the DVD versions be his "final" versions (and thus pissing off fans like me).

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I mean, this is a guy who had the balls to release yet ANOTHER version of the Original Trilogy on VHS back in 2001(knowing for a fact that VHS was a dead format) rather than putting them on DVD!

In actuality, the last release of the SE's to VHS were in November 2000, but your point is still valid. In fact, that November 2000 release went to VHS, VHS Widescreen, "overseas" LD, and "overseas" VCD!!

Now ... If you think that was bad, "Hold on to your Butts!", because I'm telling you people right now that there is going to be some kind of Star Wars release in November 2004. Hopefully, it'll just be a repackaging of Eps I and II to DVD and *not* another release of the OT SE's to VHS!!

 

[Dave F]

It's about his artistic view of Star Wars and his control.

And the irony is that he is writing a trilogy about a man's turn to the dark side in the pursuit of order and control.

-Dave

 

[Brent M]

Joseph,

Sorry, I meant to say 2000 instead of 2001. As for another release of the SE versions of the Original Trilogy on VHS before Episode 3, I'd pretty much bet the farm he won't do that. He may have balls the size of canteloupes, but if he pulled a stunt like that I guarantee an angry torch-wielding mob would storm "The Ranch" and try to take him out. It would be nice if he surprised everyone and released the OT on DVD with a special sneak preview of Ep. 3 or something, but that's about as likely as me walking on the moon........in other words, not very likely.

 

[Dave H]

I'm definitely hoping they'll remaster TPM sometime. If ever there was a title needing a better transfer, it's this one.

I agree. But, I really wonder if they'll bother with it since it's only we videophiles (sp.?) who notice it.

 

[Matt Stone]

We'll definitely get a re-release of TPM with the inevitable ultra-mega-super box set. Hopefully they'll redo the transfer and ditch the EE.

...ooh, that gave me a thought. OT with really bad edge enhancement. Ug, that's not a very nice thought.