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

[Bryan Tuck]

Considering how much of a perfectionist George was in wanting to get the Star Wars films the way he originally envisioned them, you know by adding all the CGI to try and get them to where he felt they needed to be, well all things considered i am really surprised how cheap he went on those blu ray releases, not fixing all the problems, not upgrading the film scans etc etc, for a blu ray release that made over $100m dollars in it's first week alone and yet he went so cheap on the release, it's shocking.

Especially since the Blu-ray of Willow looks so stunning.

 

[Carabimero]

Yeah I can't believe there are still egregious matte lines around the TIE fighters in the battle to escape the DEATHSTAR. Nuts.

 

[Dave MJ]

Let me ask you a couple of things:

1) Have you actually watched the Blu-ray?
2) Have you watched the Blu-ray on a professionally calibrated display with less than 3 delta error?

No, Dave, I have never actually watched the blu-ray. You got me.

 

[andySu]

From the article about the Atlanta screening: "Disney officials confirmed that the digital print being provided the Plaza will be based on the Special Edition version which got a wide release in 1997."

Based on? I wonder if that means they scanned the negative of the '97 version, and then inserted upscaled versions of the '04 & '11 changes.

However, I guess it might be the actual '97 version; last year, the '97 version of Jedi was screened in LA.

Screened for $75.00 that is shockingly high! Nope don't care for the '97, I hardly play the THX LD '97 these days. Its Originals only. Ticket cost should be $4.50 for an old film. Even cinemas are getting greed now, $75.00 really.

 

[andySu]

It's an HD master of the Lowry Digital restoration done for the 2003 DVD. It's the same color timing as the DVD with more resolution. The only difference is that it had a revised version of the shot of the jeep going over the cliff using digital effects. I have only seen it broadcast at 720p, but imagine there is a 1080p version. This used to be shown regularly in the US, but the most recent HD broadcasts I have seen used the blu master instead. I had it on my DVR for a long time, but finally deleted it for space, which I now regret.

See the revised jeep shot here (not my video, but it caused some controversy). I thought it looked fine but I prefer the original:

W T F ?

That was god awful dreadful.

This is what happens when George tampers with the Ark. Everything, f%cks up.

 

[Wayne_j]

Screened for $75.00 that is shockingly high! Nope don't care for the '97, I hardly play the THX LD '97 these days. Its Originals only. Ticket cost should be $4.50 for an old film. Even cinemas are getting greed now, $75.00 really.

It was a special event for the 75th anniversary of the theater, tickets for this type of thing can go shockingly high.

 

[andySu]

It was a special event for the 75th anniversary of the theater, tickets for this type of thing can go shockingly high.

Speechless.

 

[andySu]

this is funny

 

[andySu]

This might be the only interesting video.

 

[TheSteig]

so is this really going to happen or is it just speculation ?

 

[FoxyMulder]

so is this really going to happen or is it just speculation ?

Speculation and wishful thinking with a touch of optimism thrown into the mix, i hope it happens.

 

[Kevin EK]

Malcolm isn't alone. A lot if people wish there would be a 4K restoration of the Star Wars Trilogy. But there is no indication that anything like this is happening, and it appears that nobody at Comicon has asked the question to the guys at Lucasfilm.

 

[TravisR]

...and it appears that nobody at Comicon has asked the question to the guys at Lucasfilm.

That may be due, in large part, to Comic Con being next weekend.

 

[Dave H]

I read one report that the Atlanta screening was the actual Blu-ray being projected. lol Has anyone been able to confirm this?

 

[Sam Favate]

Malcolm isn't alone. A lot if people wish there would be a 4K restoration of the Star Wars Trilogy. But there is no indication that anything like this is happening, and it appears that nobody at Comicon has asked the question to the guys at Lucasfilm.

Let's give 'em a week.

 

[SilverWook]

I read one report that the Atlanta screening was the actual Blu-ray being projected. lol Has anyone been able to confirm this?

A poster at originaltrilogy.com did attend, and confirmed it was the Blu Ray version shown.

Might have been nice if the theater had been able to tell people upfront what version they were getting, instead of the confusing statements they posted to facebook. It's possible they just didn't know either way.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I just saw "Episode IV" at the Film Forum in NYC as part of an Alec Guinness festival at the end of June. They showed an archival 35mm print of the 1997 special edition version. I saw that the AFI Theater in Maryland is doing a similar festival, and they will also be showing the 1997 special edition version, probably the exact same print I saw in NY.

I think if a theater wants to show "Star Wars", at this point, those are the options, and reading between the lines of what Film Forum was saying about getting the print, Fox may not be making it easy to get one of the special edition, and they're not providing the original version in any way, shape or form (of course, this is not news). The print was in pretty decent condition, it had obviously been run a bunch of time but scratches and fading seemed minimal. The 1997 versions of the new CGI seemed inferior to what's on the Blu-ray.

I'm actually a little surprised that "Star Wars" (any version) isn't shown in repertory more often, but maybe Fox makes it nearly impossible for it to be shown? If you live in NYC, you can see the original Robocop, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Blue Velvet, The Shining, The Big Lebowski, Eraserhead, Jaws, 12 Monkeys and a few other titles multiple times in a year, they seem to rotate in and out of the various theaters that do midnight showings pretty regularly. With the possible exception of Raiders, Star Wars is a bigger hit than all of those movies, so I'm surprised there aren't more opportunities to see it on the big screen. I've been living in the NYC area since fall 2009, and last month was the first time any Star Wars film (not counting the Episode I 3D re-release) has been booked in a theater around here, and it was for one showing only, which sold out well in advance. Usually Film Forum will add showings for their most popular films, and seem to have planned gaps in the schedule to allow a one-day-only screening to be extended if there's demand. Considering the line for it went around the block, with a pretty decent sized standby line, there does seem to be demand.

Is there anyone in the know who might be able to comment on the Fox/Lucasfilm policy on letting theaters screen the film? Clearly they don't want the original, unaltered version shown but it is surprising to me that no versions of it are shown at really any time around here. Considering so many of its contemporaries are shown regularly in repertory here, it seems like it's something other than lack of audience interest that's keeping it from being shown.

 

[Kevin EK]

I stand happily corrected about Comic Con. I had thought it already had started. That said, I would hope that there will be interested parties asking the Lucasfilm reps there about Reliance, the original trilogy and 4K. I expect they'll be told that this is a portfolio of older work, done some time ago. But at least there should be some kind of confirmation.

 

[lukejosephchung]

Comic Con doesn't start officially until Wednesday, July 24th...the details of the "Batman"(1966-68)TV series blu-ray/DVD box sets are being revealed that day and there's also buzz from The Digital Bits that James Cameron will announce street dates for anniversary blu-rays of both "The Abyss" & "True Lies"...this would be the ideal forum for LucasFilm/Disney to announce blu-ray remasters of the original trilogy cuts...

 

[Jari K]

"This would be the ideal forum for LucasFilm/Disney to announce blu-ray remasters of the original trilogy cuts.."Yes, I would say perfect timing since the new films are in production. I'm not holding my breath, but keeping my fingers crossed. Or something like that.