Star Wars- The Definitive DVD set (1 Viewer)

[Coressel]

oops... I thought the first try didn't take...
[Edited last by Coressel on August 23, 2001 at 06:48 AM]

 

[TheoGB]

I have to say that I didn't really notice a lot of the things mentioned when I saw the SEs.
However, I'd taken a break of a year or so from re-watching the Originals before seeing the SE's.
My main feelings were:
Star Wars: The Han/Jabba scene wasn't as good as it should have been - it felt like they should have spent more time on it all and made the Jabba look more like his model version. (This might have been because I'd seen that sequence so often in its original form too so I knew all about it). That aside, nothing else really pissed me off and it all looked so much better.
Empire: I don't remember a 'girlyman' scream from Luke. Everything about this was an improvement except some slight roughness in the windows they put in the Cloud city when people ran across them and the total alteration of Vader's "Bring me my shuttle" bit - I don't know why James Earl Jones sounded so different and it made the scene jar.
Jedi: Least things were done to this. I really liked the new band stuff in Jabba's palace - made me laugh and it didn't look so ridiculous as before. Also we had a better ending from what I remember as we got rid of the horribly cheesy "celebrate the love" song. Downside: They failed to change the only thing of all three movies I wanted - getting rid of the horribly obvious matt lines around the Rancor. It's still totally obvious that it's a composite by the difference in contrast on its skin to other stuff. This was BAD!
Lucas stated he did this with a limited budget. I'd like to think he feels he could do better and go back and add to them.
I also want the original series again. Maybe Criterion could push for the option to release them???
Theo

 

[Sam Hatch]

Lucas always changes his mind. Back in the day, he swore that Star Wars would never become available on video or cable - since he planned on an infinite amount of Disney-style rereleases. He did do that a few times, but the reality of the blossoming video market changed his mind.
If there's alot of DVD shoppers who won't be picking up his revisions of the original films, it may help to change his mind once again.
Screw 'New Luke' -- I want my 'Luke Classic'! And I don't even want to think about this re-revised 'Diet Cherry Luke' stuff...
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"Negative. I am a meat popsicle."

 

[Mat_R]

I think the director should have full conrol of his or her movie. But wait... George Lucas didn't direct Empire or Jedi... Does Irvin Kershner have any say with what George does to Empire? Is Richard Marquand rolling in his grave to changes (and possible future changes) to Jedi? Out of respect should Jedi have been left alone entirely? Shouldn't George had written EP, I,II, and III to blend in more seamlessly with IV, V and VI? It is easire to change what will be rather than what is and was. Does the New Testament in the Bible have to be modified to fit in better with the Old Testament? Blaspheme? Why were goofs and continuity errors not corrected in the SE's? Will Star Wars ever be re-made 30+ years in the future? Is anything ever perfect?

 

[Coressel]

"Does the New Testament in the Bible have to be modified to fit in better with the Old Testament?"
Yes.
:0

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

As to Marquand and Kirshner, I don't believe that either of them had final cut theatrically, either. On the Star Wars CAV Definitive set (I think this is where I saw it, maybe someone else can confirm or deny), Lucas says that he gave them one cut, as in he let them deliver a version that he didn't interfere with the editing of, and he viewed it and then went to work fine-tuning it. I don't recall him going into any kind of detail about what was or wasn't altered, but I very much got the impression that George was the man in charge and the one ultimately responsible for the final result.
How much of that is actually true, I have no idea.

 

[Mike Mallory]

This is once again a case of slamming something because it's trendy to. A ship blows up at the beginning of the movie killing the pilot and co-pilot. There are several guys who get nailed by the big rolling/transformer droids, there's a pilot whose cockpit blows up, and Liam Neeson's character gets a lightsaber blade through the gut.

That's it? I call that sugar coating. Lucas alluded to a war on a planetary scale but we saw none of it. Mostly droids and playtoys.

 

[Sean Oneil]

As much as these films (Original un-edited trilogy) may "belong" to Lucas, they were not great solely due to his efforts.
For him to go back and re-edit many scenes and re-animate many FX shots, he is stepping on the artistic efforts of some who were originally involved in making these films what they are. He should just let these films be, and explore his creativity using a 'blank canvas' rather than graphitti-ing over a classic work of art.

 

[Richard Kim]

For him to go back and re-edit many scenes and re-animate many FX shots, he is stepping on the artistic efforts of some who were originally involved in making these films what they are. He should just let these films be, and explore hiscreativity using a 'blank canvas' rather than graphitti-ing over a classic work of art.

If Lucas had fixed Obi-Wan's fizzling lightsaber during his duel with Vader, would you still be complaining?

 

[Jose Q]

May be in this revised mega set they'll change the cheesy "Attack of the Clones" title to "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Redux"...
Might be an improvement.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

For him to go back and re-edit many scenes and re-animate many FX shots, he is stepping on the artistic efforts of some who were originally involved in making these films what they are. He should just let these films be, and explore his creativity using a 'blank canvas' rather than graphitti-ing over a classic work of art.

Is this still valid if those same artists had to deliver him a compromise, rather than his original vision, due to the limitations they were presented with?
I'm speaking specifically of the dogfight at the end of Star Wars here.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

quote: i am not a fan of the first star trek film, is there a lot of demand for the original of that as well?
just curious.
i wonder if trek fans are up in arms about the new release? (and i'm not too interested in the threads on it..)
[/quote]
Actually, this is an interesting question since there isn't much uproar over ST:TMP-TDE in any of the theads here or over at some of the Trek forums.
I think the difference is the love or indifference to the respective movies.
Everyone loved Star Wars right out the gate, and have ever since up to the release of the SE’s
Most people were disappointed in Star Trek – The Motion Picture from the beginning. However TMP has picked up more fans as time when on.
TMP had a troubled production from the beginning, including whether or not they would do a TV show or motion picture, arguments between Roddenberry and Harold Livingston (screenwriter), arguments between Roddenberry and Robert Wise, the fact that Michael Eisner was in charge of Paramount, Jeffery Katzenberg firing the original SFX crew Robert Abel and Associates after seeing little progress (the effects were a huge undertaking for anyone), Doug Trumbull coming in having to re-work effects already started and produce another 2 years worth of effects within about half a year – some of which was never completed the first time out, Wise having to rush a final edit for the December 6th ’79 premier carrying the film cans with him on the plane to the theater.
No matter what others say about it, I liked it at the age of 14 when I first saw it that December, and I have grown to love it more ever since. It has that true epic feel that none of the other movie have. The rest just feel like big TV movies which isn’t surprising considering that all the others were written, produced and directed by mostly TV people (Harve Bennett, Nick Meyer…). Others complain about the acting, and how “that’s not the Kirk, Spock and McCoy we knew”. Of course it wasn’t, everyone went there separate ways and were in a different mindset – but that slowly changed as the movie goes on – ‘til we get to the end and that’s when our beloved trio have returned as we knew them. The movie was meant to bring back the disparate personalities so that, hopefully, we could now have more adventures. Shatner thought that movie was the end after seeing the premier. They tried and failed. He found out later how wrong he was.
Not meaning to hijack the thread, but this does show how the re-working of TMP compares to the re-working of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Star Trek Fans as a whole wanted to like TMP, but felt betrayed. They knew what could have been. Now we will get the chance to see what could have been. Only some of the new effects are actually new stuff – mostly things that were never finished the first time out. All the rest are just re-composites of existing footage to remove matte fizz and such. Most of Wise’s re-editing involves the proper placement of some of the extended character driven footage that the ABC hacks just hap-hazardly threw in for their 1980 broadcast. Some of the long drawn out V’ger flythrough sequences will still be long, but better edited overall – probably with fewer blank stares at the screen. Sound effects that were recorded for the movie in ’79 but never mixed in because of time will be finally put in its place. I believe this to be the reason for the silence and almost giddiness surrounding the DVD release of TMP.
Star Wars on the other hand was loved the way it was. Lucas had no such constraints on his production of any of the Star Wars films during their time. Technical limitations were simply that - it wasn't that there was so little time to do anything. Lucas’ messing around changes a lot of the flow of things, and usually for the worse – like the Greedo shots first scene in ANH, or the changing of Vader’s “Bring my shuttle” scene in TESB (which I completely hated the first time I saw it in the theater). And, I’m sorry, but the new blast rings adds nothing to the planet and death star explosions.
In both cases, we’ve been told the originals will no longer be available (Wise wants Paramount to no longer produce either the widescreen theatrical cut or the pan-and-scan “special longer version” of TMP on VHS).
I will keep my WS LD of TMP which is the theatrical cut. I will also keep my Star Wars: Definitive Edition LD boxed set.
I look forward to seeing the Directors Edition of TMP on DVD, but I’m disappointed by the lack of availability of the original version
I do not look forward to the Special Edition of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD because of the lack of availability of the original version – unless Lucas changes his mind.
Joel
[Edited last by Joel Fontenot on August 28, 2001 at 12:42 PM]

 

[Nelson Au]

Joel-
Nice write up Star Trek-The Motion Picture. I saw it at 19 and I still like it more and more as it definitely has the epic and sweeping feel of a major motion picture. I think you got all the facts right.
Regarding the Star Wars DVD. I saw a funny little write up on it in an mailer brochure from my local Home Theater store, LaserLand Home Theater in San Jose Cal. They list up ccoming titles and the release dates for us to pre-order. For the Phantom Menace, it says this(as best memory serves):
"A guy named George made this little movie, then would not release it on DVD. Then lots of poeple got mad and now he's releasing it. "
Nelson

 

[Dave H]

For those of you who don't think there's anything wrong with adding CGI effects to Star Wars, would your thoughts change about doing it with 2001: A Space Odyssey? Why not go back and change the effects with 2001? We can use CGI to change the spaceship scenes and do wonders with entering the monolith at the end. I bet nearly everyone would be against this - even if the director has the right to do so. (Just because one has the right to do something doesn't mean he should do it.) Why is it any different with Star Wars?

 

[Dwayne]

I mean come on, Greedo misses Han at point-blank...

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-Dwayne
"And vidi films I would."

 

[Coressel]

Why not go back and change the effects with 2001?
Because Kubrick is dead.

 

[Dwayne]

Since the changes have already been made, I wonder if they can CGI a diaper on Luke when he jumps down the shaft in Empire.
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-Dwayne
"And vidi films I would."
[Edited last by Dwayne on August 28, 2001 at 07:26 PM]
[Edited last by Dwayne on August 28, 2001 at 07:29 PM]

 

[Dave H]

Even if Kubric were alive, would you think 2001 changed with added effects would be a good idea? I know I don't.
Or, how about changing the Gone With The Wind and other classics? Come on!

 

[Sean Oneil]

Why not go back and change the effects with 2001?
Because Kubric had more sense than that.
If Lucas wants to re-make Star Wars, then he should RE-MAKE Star Wars completely. People get so pissed about colorization of old films, or the altering of an original film in any way, so why is this different? Because Lucas says it is OK? So his name is at the bottom of the list next to 'Director' ...big deal. The guy must be a serious egomaniac to think that he can make one of the most widely accepted as an all time classic films better! As if he alone made it great to begin with.

Come On! is right.

 

[Lane F.]

Sean,
Not only that, but George Lucas only directed Star Wars: A New Hope. Empire and Jedi were directed by two other people...
[Edited last by Lane F. on August 29, 2001 at 02:44 AM]