Star Trek VI transfer AR (UPDATE: Martin Blythe responds! see msg. 103) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Think of the opposite, though. Why should we tell the filmmakers how to present their film on DVD?

 

[RichardCrowther]

That's something of a wide net you cast there.

All some of us are trying to do is have a version of a film that is the best that it can be (subjectively speaking, of course), regrdless of whether it matches EXACTLY what was seen on screen. Otherwise, no-one would be buying the extended LOTR films on disc, and no-one would have bought the recent Indiana Jones boxset. But they did. A heck of a lot did, actually. But these have been just as "tampered" with, in their own way.

Now, I agree, 100%, that for those who wanted the theatrical cut, it should have been available to them, in some form, at some point. That it hasn't been is unfortunate, but at least there is some kind of "director approved" version (for whatever that label is worth) out there. Which is a lot more than can be said for a lot of films on the market at present.

 

[Seth--L]

 

[PhilipG]

I suppose that depends on the filmmakers' assumption. If they're changing it because they're unhappy with the way it looked on the Big Screen, that's one thing. However, if they're changing it just to look good on what they perceive to be the average consumer's TV - that's where I have the problem.

 

[Jay Pennington]

The what?! Please explain.

 

[Chad R]

But, it's not like tinkering is new and exclusive to filmmaking. Artists and writers have done this for ages. Look at the work of Walt Whitman, arguably the greatest American poet, who continued to add, expand and rewrite his seminal work "Leaves of Grass." He would add poems to the work, rewrite existing poems and even delete some poetry--and he did this 4 or 5 times.

 

[Dave H]

You can't tell me there hasn't been a vast change in the last seven or eight years compared to the previous hundred or so years.

Star Wars: SE, E.T.: SE, Apoc. Now Redux, Exorcist: TVYNS, Superman: SE....just to name a few. We never saw anything like this before.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Not really. Although, you could consider the last decade to be "revenge" for all the studio-imposed tinkering that was done to films like Greed, Metropolis, and Phantom of the Opera.

 

[Shane Dodson]

Recent technological advances in filmmaking has allowed such revisiting. The CONCEPT is nothing new. The technology required to further carry out the concept IS new.

Regards,

-S.D.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I agree. In fact, in mediums based on performance (like theater), tinkering is the rule, not the exception.

M.

 

[Ed Vandeweerd]

I can't wait to get mine!

 

[Seth--L]

Exactly. Many notable music composers only stopped revising their scores when they died. In fact, composers like Mozart and Berlioz reworked their scores so they could take advantage of new and improved instruments.

This idea of the fans having final cut authority and thinking that they know what the director's vision should be is ludicrous.

 

[Daniel J.S.]

Also, Baroque composers like Bach and Handel would rework their scores to accomodate the abilities of the particular group performing. Messiah was revised so many times, determining the definitive version is difficult to say the least. And then there is the matter of Bruckner's revisions to his symphonies; that's a huge quagmire, although many of those revisions were at the behest of well-meaning but misguided friends. Bruckner was somewhat lacking in self-confidence you see. But the point is that composers are probably the ones that fiddle with their works the most; we cut people like Brahms slack but not Nicholas Meyer? What gives?

 

[Geoff_D]

I'm a tiny bit disappointed that ST:VI still hasn't gotten a 2.35:1 transfer, but I'm glad that it's finally received a decent DVD release. The 'flashes of conspirators' addition is a bit cheesy (it certainly made me go "Huh? Whazzat?"), but the movie still stands tall as one of the best in the series. The presentation of the DVDs leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the previous releases (white Alpha case, upside-down disc artwork, no insert); thankfully the discs themselves contain quality Trek goodness.

 

[Seth--L]

Bruckner gets his own special category when it comes to revisions.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I can. Ever read any stories about how D.W. Griffith would attend screenings of his films and re-edit them right there? Birth of a Nation was later re-edited for every major release it had. And while Griffith may have been an eccentric, he was far from the only filmmaker who recut his own films. Alternate versions of films were often released as a matter of course during the start of the sound era, with some theatres getting A-roll sound-on-film footage, others getting B-roll silent footage, etc. As is often disucssed here at HTF, Charlie Chaplin re-cut the vast majority of the feature films he directed. While you give a short list of various films that have been modified in recent years, a competent film historian could give you a list limited to pre-1980 revisions that would blow your list out of the water.

The changes to films in the last 7 or 8 years seems more glaring for a few reasons:
- The heightened scrutiny that directors get (the auteur theory wasn't a glimmer in anyone's eye in Griffith's day)
- The spread of home video, making changes to film seem more permanent
- Our own awareness of the situation (how many on this forum followed the alterate versions of Birth of a Nation as they were released from 1915 to the 1930s?)

It's all nothing new. The critical mass that the situation appears to have achieved only in recent years is an optical illusion.

DJ

 

[Aaron Silverman]

For all of you folks discussing revisions, I have but one word:

[rant]Greedo.[/rant]

 

[Patrick McCart]

So, that revision alone is proof that filmmakers shouldn't be allowed to revise their films?

That's not even a major revision. Why does everyone have a problem with the Greedo scene, yet not the re-instated Jabba the Hutt scene that is redundant? 3 minutes vs. a 4 second revision.

 

[Seth--L]

Coming in Winter 2004 from LucasFilm Ltd. and FOX Home Video:

'Star Wars: The Fan Boy Edition'

For the first time ever on home video, LucasFilm and FOX give YOU, the fan boy, the opportunity to edit 'Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope', because you know better than George Lucas.

Included in this one-of-a-kind mega DVD box set:

Disc 1: Avid Xpress Pro and Sorenson Squeeze for PC/Mac - use the industry standard in digital video editing software to make your cut, then burn it to DVD (DVD-R not included) or put it on the web as a streaming video file!
Discs 2-16: All the footage shot for 'Star Wars' including footage from the 'Special Edition'. Dialogue and many sound effects have been synched. All sfx have been rendered.
Disc 17: Additional dialogue.
Disc 18: Sounds
Discs 19-20: Music

MSRP: $2,200.00

Available in English only.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Seth: