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

[Bryan^H]

The movie as it stands now is the movie that George Lucas would have made if he had had the budget, the time, and the technology. It has finally reached the point where the author and director is satisfied with his own work. Shouldn't we respect that?

Respect, yes certainly. But if you like the original theater releases much more, then it is a major loss for the fans of those versions.
I made this analogy before:
Del Shannon created one of the most memorable Rock and Roll songs of all time "Runaway" in 1961. Well liked by many. From those that grew up with it in the golden age, to youngsters of today. It is still finding new fans all the time. The mark of a great song. It stands the test of time.

In 1967 Del Shannon re-recorded the song. It was more polished and cleaner, but....different. Same song, same singer, different feel.
The ferocity, and sadness of the song somehow got lost when it was cleaned up. It flopped. No one it seems wanted a polished version they wanted the grit, and emotion of the original, and they got it.
If the original version was suddenly unavailable for listening With the polished version the only alternative, the importance of that song would have been lost forever.

From a historic standpoint and a lifelong fan of practical SFX. I'm sad that the original trilogy has not yet been released in HD.
.

 

[Carabimero]

Again I am sympathetic to all those who love the original versions and would see no harm in those being made available in HD.

Having said that, wasn't Star Wars (the first movie) an untested property made on a bit of a shoe string? The movie as it stands now is the movie that George Lucas would have made if he had had the budget, the time, and the technology. It has finally reached the point where the author and director is satisfied with his own work. Shouldn't we respect that?

I have no problem with the existence of the special editions. Most fans I know don't have a problem with their existence, either.

Our problem is that the originals should also be made available in HD, the actual movies we grew up loving, the actual movies that revolutionized the history of cinema. If for no other reason they should be preserved for posterity. They changed everything. And the fans responsible for making Lucas his fortune, by and large through paying to see those expunged originals, want them available in high definition.

 

[AshJW]

Our problem is that the originals should also be made available in HD, the actual movies we grew up loving, the actual movies that revolutionized the history of cinema.

And that is the whole point.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I hope when THX 1138 gets another disc release they will put both versions on it . Right now I have to haul out my laserdisc to see the original release I saw in the theater.

 

[Worth]

Again I am sympathetic to all those who love the original versions and would see no harm in those being made available in HD.

Having said that, wasn't Star Wars (the first movie) an untested property made on a bit of a shoe string? The movie as it stands now is the movie that George Lucas would have made if he had had the budget, the time, and the technology. It has finally reached the point where the author and director is satisfied with his own work. Shouldn't we respect that?

But every film ever made is constrained by budget, schedule, available technology and a thousand other factors that make it what it is. I'm sure there's never been a filmmaker who doesn't wish they had had more time, more money, less interference, better technology etc. on each project they worked on.

Lucas seems to have come to believe that no film is ever finished - that it's like software that can constantly be upgraded. But at what point is it enough? The SEs already contain changes like Greedo shooting first, which isn't just fixing a glitch, but changing a story point that could have easily been done during the original shoot.

 

[TheSteig]

I dont have a problem with their existence but I wont watch them, Ill stick to how they were originally made. Listening to Darth Vader say NOOOOOOOO among other major changes Lucas made throughout the series doesnt really cut it for me lol

 

[Carlo_M]

Do you really think they would win today?

Following your "logic" to it's fullest conclusion, I'm sure you advocate for Pro-tools'ing and Auto-Tuning all those classic rock albums that used "crappy dated effects" on their instruments. We need to run Jimi Hendrix's and Zeppelin's albums through today's DSP processors to get much improved guitar effects. We should also auto-tune the hell out of the Beatles to show those boys how great they could have sounded with today's tech!

 

[TJPC]

Following your "logic" to it's fullest conclusion, I'm sure you advocate for Pro-tools'ing and Auto-Tuning all those classic rock albums that used "crappy dated effects" on their instruments. We need to run Jimi Hendrix's and Zeppelin's albums through today's DSP processors to get much improved guitar effects. We should also auto-tune the hell out of the Beatles to show those boys how great they could have sounded with today's tech!

Actually if it really was my choice, except for the Beatles, I would actually destroy all masters of all rock albums and force everyone to listen exclusively to show tunes!

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Do you really think they would win today?

Not really a valid point. That's not what we are saying.

Would any sfx heavy film from 1977 win today (Close Encounters or Damnation Alley to name a few others - Although Close Encounters was the only other nominated film)? If they were made today, maybe so, because they'd all be using today's CGI for the effects.

 

[TJPC]

Some how the special effects for Close Encounters still hold up. I find the movie still as thrilling as when I first saw it in first run.

 

[Bryan^H]

Do you really think they would win today?

YES!

 

[questrider]

For me I don't have an issue with the existence of the Special Editions (although personally I abhor them and will never watch them again), it's that the original theatrical presentations do not exist for consumers in a way that is compatible with modern technology. It's about the importance of film restoration and preservation for the sake of film history.

George Lucas Speaks Out Against Altering Films in 1988
http://www.slashfilm.com/george-lucas-speaks-altering-films-1988/

The Blade Runner blu-ray set with all five versions of the film is the proverbial exemplary release of how to do it right.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Lucas seems to have come to believe that no film is ever finished

He said as much on the SE VHS bonus features. "Films are never completed, they're abandoned."

 

[Carabimero]

Coppola said publicly that it was sad George Lucas spent his entire career basically on Star Wars.

 

[BobO'Link]

To pull the remastered ST:TOS series back into the discussion...

That's how I'd like to see Star Wars presented. Both versions in remastered form. Let me decide which version to watch. Like Star Trek, I'd watch the originals as that's how I first saw them. The new versions look very good, but they're just not quite "right" enough for day-to-day viewing. It's the same with Star Wars. I watch the non-anamorphic versions on the DVD-LE releases as that's how I remember the films. I'd rather zoom the image, with all the associated issues that presents, rather than watch the remastered editions with all the changes.

 

[TravisR]

Coppola said publicly that it was sad George Lucas spent his entire career basically on Star Wars.

I'm sure that Coppola means that there was a bunch of interesting work that never happened because Lucas became 'Mr. Star Wars' and I suppose that's true to some degree. However, George Lucas added so much to the technical side of movie making that that legacy- while much less known- has arguably had a much greater impact than Star Wars ever could.

 

[TJPC]

To pull the remastered ST:TOS series back into the discussion...

That's how I'd like to see Star Wars presented. Both versions in remastered form. Let me decide which version to watch. Like Star Trek, I'd watch the originals as that's how I first saw them. The new versions look very good, but they're just not quite "right" enough for day-to-day viewing. It's the same with Star Wars. I watch the non-anamorphic versions on the DVD-LE releases as that's how I remember the films. I'd rather zoom the image, with all the associated issues that presents, rather than watch the remastered editions with all the changes.

My problem with zooming the image is for some reason the image still doesn't look right on my Sony set. I still get rather fat characters and cut off sides, no matter what setting I use.
It must have looked right on my old gigantic Hitachi monster projection set, because I remember being quite satisfied with the picture when the discs first came out.

 

[Carabimero]

I'm sure that Coppola means that there was a bunch of interesting work that never happened because Lucas became 'Mr. Star Wars' and I suppose that's true to some degree. However, George Lucas added so much to the technical side of movie making that that legacy- while much less known- has arguably had a much greater impact than Star Wars ever could.

My takeaway from what he said was that George spent too much time tinkering with the same movies, and we missed out on some potentially great other work because of it.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

My problem with zooming the image is for some reason the image still doesn't look right on my Sony set. I still get rather fat characters and cut off sides, no matter what setting I use.
It must have looked right on my old gigantic Hitachi monster projection set, because I remember being quite satisfied with the picture when the discs first came out.

Have you checked your player's settings? You might have to set it for 4:3.

 

[TJPC]

I'll try that, thanks!