STAR WARS ON BLU-RAY - FALL 2011 (1 Viewer)

[jerauf]

Agreed. I would have liked to have seen the two trilogies released in two different boxed sets...so that I didn't have to spend another dime on the prequels.

 

As for the originals vs. special editions, a few things. There *is* the restoration issue which George Lucas mentioned and Robert Harris also mentioned on this forum. Aside from the restoration, I would love to see them included on the set (similar to the Star Trek episodes with a feature to choose enhanced SFX or original). The sticking point for me between the two versions is not the added SFX, it's the added scenes. Spruce them up all you want, but adding the few scenes bastardized the whole thing, especially the Jabba scene in A New Hope which is totally embarrassing.

 

The man has the money. Why not pay to have the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy restored? Unless the rumors about the royalties and his divorce settlement are true.

 

[TravisR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MielR

It's not about being "angels" - if the situation was reversed, and Lucas refused to release the SE in DVD or blu-ray form, I would not impugn the validity of SE fans' desire to have their favorite versions of the films released. Nor, I imagine, would many (if any) other OOT fans.

 

Many people have in fact expressed their desire for the 1997 theatrical versions, and I defy you to find an example anywhere of an OOT fan belittling one of those people because of their preference.

 

 

Fanaticism is a two-way street as well, Travis.

 

It's a long thread but I haven't seen anyone say something along the lines of "Buy the SEs and like it!" and anyone that thinks that is ridiculous. I'll be the first guy to say that this should be like Close Encounters and have the original cut, the SE and the DVD versions on there but just because I'm not tearing my hair out and cursing George Lucas doesn't mean that I'm demanding that other people have to watch or like the SEs.

 

As for OOT fans belittling people's opinions, look at any prequel thread and you'll see lots of people taking shots at anyone that dares to like a movie that they don't like.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by jerauf  

 

The man has the money. Why not pay to have the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy restored? Unless the rumors about the royalties and his divorce settlement are true.

The excuse about money is a crock and if his divorce settlement had some bearing on it, he wouldn't have released the originals on DVD. It seems obvious to me that the reason that they aren't coming is because Lucas doesn't like them because he feels they're imcomplete.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Michael Mann says "Hi".

True. And in the LotM thread, Mann is being taken to task for that. In Mann's defense, the comparative merits of the argument are whether to release all versions, not the in substantive elements of the changes. Mann should release all versions. But his changes are not comparable, because 1) he is the director (Lucas only directed one film of the three), and 2) he is using alternate takes and editing from the time of the film. To my knowledge, there are no CG Redcoats or extinct species being added to LotM.
 

But you are accurate. Lucas is not the only director/creator to control which version of his film audiences see. Mann does it too, and many forgive Mann (and shouldn't). But his films are much less popular even if they are much better directed.

 

[Ricardo C]

 

Originally Posted by TravisR

Quote:


 

It's a long thread but I haven't seen anyone say something along the lines of "Buy the SEs and like it!" and anyone that thinks that is ridiculous. I'll be the first guy to say that this should be like Close Encounters and have the original cut, the SE and the DVD versions on there but just because I'm not tearing my hair out and cursing George Lucas doesn't mean that I'm demanding that other people have to watch or like the SEs.

 

As for OOT fans belittling people's opinions, look at any prequel thread and you'll see lots of people taking shots at anyone that dares to like a movie that they don't like.

+20. Excellently put.

 

You know, I wish George Lucas were as greedy as some accuse him of being, because then we'd get EVERY single version the two trilogies have been released in over the years.

 

[Mike_G]

About this restoration issue:

 

Didn't he have to restore the films to SOME extent for the SE? And if so, what happened to the scenes that were replaced? Shouldn't that be all he has to do to put the originals together?

 

Something about this whole thing never added up for me. I own SW and ESB on 35mm. I know for a FACT that other people do as well, so there are decent prints out there in the world. I knew a guy who had a 70mm Tech print. This whole story about how lengthy and expensive the restoration would be doesn't hold water for me because you just need to put the old scenes back in. How many were replaced? Just a few, right? The "Look, sir, droids!" is a perfect example of how Lucas' explanation makes no sense because that's an original scene with CGI added in. We *know* the little snips that were missing had to be part of the '97 restoration for the SEs.

 

The thing about the SE is that it doesn't bother me *that* much. The only real piece that bugs the crap out of me is Vader's return to his Star Destroyer at the end of Empire. It breaks the tension of the scene and it's a shot from Jedi. Bad.

 

So let me be in the camp of people that still think Lucas is full of crap.

 

I'm buying the Blu-Ray set btw.

 

[Worth]

Even if you accept Lucas' claim that the negatives of the theatrical versions no longer exist, I find it very hard to believe that there are no interpositives or internegatives kicking around in either the Lucasfilm of Fox archives.

 

And both 70mm and 35mm prints of the originals exist. I know I'd be happy with a new HD transfer taken from the best available print, without any DNR or other digital manipulation, save for some colour correction to compensate for fading. All of which would add maybe a whopping $100,000 to the cost.
 

I know Lucas has pledged to give away half of his fortune, but I find it hard to believe that he couldn't scrape up an extra $100K.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Mike_G

The only real piece that bugs the crap out of me is Vader's return to his Star Destroyer at the end of Empire. It breaks the tension of the scene and it's a shot from Jedi. Bad.

The reason I don't like that addition is because it drops the "Bring my shuttle" line which, for some reason, always sounded badass to me.

 

[Cory S.]

He doesn't want to. It's really that simple. It's always been that simple. Forget whatever excuse he comes up with, considering all the info this forum has given to us over the years about this very same subject. If you weed through it all and understand the man, you know that he just doesn't want to. Period.

 

And this is not a criticism by me.
 

 

[Worth]

And I'd have more respect for him if he simply said: "Screw you all. It's not about the money and it's not about the condition of the original elements. I just don't like the originals anymore and I'm not going to release them."

 

[Cory S.]

Worth,

 

But, he has kind of said that over the years. When he called the original films "work prints", that was our indication right there.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

No OT originals = No Sale.

 

 

[Chuck Mayer]

True. He also said he always wanted Greedo to shoot first and that ESB is the least of the SW films. But his films, his choice. He is the studio.

 

[Nelson Au]

Wow, this new of the films coming to blu ray really just came out with a whimper!

 

I would have expected a new and flashy thread with lights flashing declaring that Star Wars was coming to BD. I didn't realize it till yesterday and I had to dig through the thread to find it!

 

Well. This is great news. Should sell a few blu ray players. I actually am not all that excited. I like Star Wars a lot and I have collected past box set laserdisc definitive editions. Maybe I feel more like I'll believe it when I see it!

 

Maybe the new prequal films dampened my feelings too. I certainly don't have as much an issue with them. They were okay, but I realized the expectations for them were too high probably! So I look forward to the set. It should be fun.
 

And I don't have as strong a feeling about Lucas. He owns the films and if he's not happy with the rubber masks in the first film, or Han shooting first, I understand being in a creative business myself. If I could fix something, I would too. But there are times I feel it was the best I could do at the time and let it go. And I let go a long time ago.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by oscar_merkx /forum/thread/303111/star-wars-on-blu-ray-fall-2011#post_3720213

 

[Brian Borst]

Originally Posted by Cory S.

Worth,

 

But, he has kind of said that over the years. When he called the original films "work prints", that was our indication right there.

He could call the '97 versions the same thing, because his 'final versions' were altered once again for DVD, and probably will be altered again for Blu-ray. Lucas once said that "movies aren't released, they're taken away from you". Maybe he just needs to cope with that. Most other directors seem to do fine with that knowledge.

 

[jerauf]

This bickering is pointless. Lucas, release them.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by Cory S.

Worth,

 

But, he has kind of said that over the years. When he called the original films "work prints", that was our indication right there.

Interestingly he is no longer calling them work prints. In his recent interview he calls them the "classic cuts". Maybe he is softening to the idea.

 

Doug

 

[Aaron Silverman]

 

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
 

Interestingly he is no longer calling them work prints. In his recent interview he calls them the "classic cuts". Maybe he is softening to the idea.

 

Doug

That's very promising IMO. Fingers crossed!

 

FWIW, the details escape me now, but I seem to recall liking the OT versions that were released on DVD more than the '97 Special Editions. (The Greedo scene in particular was tweaked to be slightly less ridiculous, IIRC. Or that might just have been some self-defense mechanism in my brain. . .)

 

[Steve Christou]

I think this was the last revised version of Greedo shooting first -