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

[ijthompson]

If this is indeed coming down the blu-ray pipeline in a year or 2, it'll be interesting to see if Disney antes up the budget necessary to do a full 4k archival restoration with photochemical and digital cleanup of the original camera negatives and effects shots...if that happens, I'll be a first day buyer of this newly-minted set of the true Original Trilogy of the '70s & '80s!!! I like the Special Editions, but was DEEPLY disappointed that GL refused to release the original theatrical presentations with them...

This is my thought, as well. I don't hate the Special Editions(es?), and I think Lucas truly has the right to revise them whenever he wants (hell, I might even buy 'em). BUT: he has an obligation and a responsibility to preserve and make available the original versions (which I want, above all). Anything less is a crime against cinema history.

 

[FoxyMulder]

I like many aspects of the revised editions but it seems they went cheap when producing them because some of the additions are just so amateurish and not what you expect to see in films which pride themselves on their effects work, it's great i can watch The Empire Strikes Back and not have to put up with the matte issues during the Millenium Falcon asteroid field chase, for years seeing outlines around those rocks bothered me, but they still have the annoying shuttle sequence at the end which they pinched from Return Of The Jedi, intensely dislike that scene.

 

[Didier R]

Ron, you need to lock this thread.

The Digital Bits just posted following on its Facebook:

RE: The comment in today's Bits post about the possibility of Star Wars theatrical cuts being released on disc by Disney one day. This isn't a leak based on special knowledge, it's not news. It was just a report of several conversations at the Con among industry insiders that we all found interesting. We were all speculating aloud as to what we thought was likely or possible. I know movie geeks NEVER blow such things out of proportion, but let's not blow these things out of proportion, shall we?

 

[Moe Dickstein]

No need to end the discussion, as this is all based on speculation anyway

 

[Kevin EK]

All Digital Bits is saying is that some industry people are speculating that such a release is possible. Which is something we already knew.

By the way, I would not expect Disney to be investing in a 4K restoration or any of the rest of that. I'd expect an efficient and inexpensive transfer of the 35mm interpositives with no frills.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

There are films that get released on BLU all the time that we wish looked better and we usually get the response that if the film were only more popular or more of a cash grabber then a better restoration could have been done. Id hate to think if the original theatrical versions and even the 97 SE versions get a BLU release I'd hate to think the distributor would find it not in their best interest to invest in such a constant money maker as Star Wars has always been.

 

[DVDvision]

I hope we will see bonfires in front of video stores of the current Blu-ray releases, if these ever get out Beatles comments on the christ era style. That would be awesome

 

[Didier R]

This will arrive in same year as Song of the South blu-ray Fox retain rights to all existing Star Wars films until 2020 I believe. So, if the blu-rays occurs, it won't happen before that. Pointless thread, as I already said.

 

[TravisR]

Pointless thread, as I already said.

I'll take a topic that generates 5 pages of discussion in 2 days over another "Why isn't [obscure title that even many movie buffs don't remember] out on Blu-ray yet?!!!!1" thread.

 

[TonyD]

I would like to see more then 20 posts per page so that post 21 doesn't generate a second page and 41 posts isn't already page three.

 

[Ejanss]

Ron, you need to lock this thread.

The Digital Bits just posted following on its Facebook:

So...basically, the whole thing really was started by "Say, Disney owns them now, that means everything will start over and new things will happen, right?"

(Er, yeeeessss, assuming they CAN happen... )

 

[cb1]

I'm as much as a Star Wars geek as anybody else. But I just don't see myself buying another set of these movies again.

 

[Didier R]

So...basically, the whole thing really was started by "Say, Disney owns them now, that means everything will start over and new things will happen, right?"

(Er, yeeeessss, assuming they CAN happen... )

Correct. They were having a good fun, and speculating aloud. That's it.

I'll repeat it again. Disney's doesn't own existing Star Wars films

"Fox retains ownership and distribution of all existing Star Wars movies (until that contract expires... UPDATE 4:: Episode 4 is owned "in perpituity" and all other existing movies are owned through 2020). "

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/59381

 

[WillG]

This is my thought, as well. I don't hate the Special Editions(es?), and I think Lucas truly has the right to revise them whenever he wants (hell, I might even buy 'em). BUT: he has an obligation and a responsibility to preserve and make available the original versions (which I want, above all). Anything less is a crime against cinema history.

In fairness, and just a reminder, Lucas did release the unaltered trilogy on DVD. I guess some people have the "it doesn't count" mentality because they were old, non-anamorphic LD transfers, but you can pop in versions of the movies on DVD that are at least equal to the LDs many people say they are still holding on to (versions that are even "more" original because of the removal of the Episode IV tag, and no need to change LD sides which is nice) and almost certainly better than VHS

Honestly, I think this is because, even at there young age, my kids find the original trilogy more fun to watch. The prequels are just downright boring at times.

Yep. I could forgive a lot of the story problems (and there are some huge ones), illogical character actions, sub par performances (not by everyone, but the cast did have some definite clunkers), laughable dialogue, overly convoluted plot etc. if they weren't so flat out boring (although this applies more to TPM than AOTC and ROTS)

When you look at the original trilogy, you had pretty simple plot lines at the core, characters you could easily identify with, characters that were initially at odds with each other, but worked together and developed believable friendships/romance (I never believed in the PT that Anakin and Obi-Wan even particularly liked each other, let alone being great friends), bits of humor that weren't forced, a strong/scary villain and while the acting was never great, all the performances were serviceable and I certainly don't recall any clunkers in the bunch. And it's those elements made the OT fun to watch. The PT did pretty much all of that wrong.

 

[Coressel]

I saw these movies in the theater when I was young, and as magical as they were at the time, I think nostalgia is blinding a lot of people as to the faults of the originals. For me, the original trilogy as it current stands is perfectly fine, and the changes also help to better blend it with the prequels.

This, all the way. I too am one of the "older" fans, and while I think it would be interesting to see a hi-quality release of the unaltered OT, I'm not clamoring for it. I'm fine with the Blu Rays I bought two years ago, and won't be slitting my wrists just because the 1977-83 versions haven't been remastered yet.

 

[EddieLarkin]

Correct. They were having a good fun, and speculating aloud. That's it.

I'll repeat it again. Disney's doesn't own existing Star Wars films

"Fox retains ownership and distribution of all existing Star Wars movies (until that contract expires... UPDATE 4:: Episode 4 is owned "in perpituity" and all other existing movies are owned through 2020). "

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/59381

That link is incorrect. Fox hasn't retained any rights of ownership to these films, because they never had ownership in the first place (apart from Episode IV, which they relinquished back to Lucasfilm around 1999). Lucasfilm own these films, and Disney own Lucasfilm.

How would Fox ever get ownership of Empire or Jedi when they were not involved in their production? Lucasfilm ponied up all the cash for those two, and had complete control. Fox distributed them, the rights to which they retain.

 

[Dave H]

All Digital Bits is saying is that some industry people are speculating that such a release is possible. Which is something we already knew.

By the way, I would not expect Disney to be investing in a 4K restoration or any of the rest of that. I'd expect an efficient and inexpensive transfer of the 35mm interpositives with no frills.

That would be ashame. Maybe someone like Spielberg would pony up the money to restore these correctly as he did with The Godfather if I recall? Especially considering his strong stance on retaining original versions of movies.

 

[Worth]

By the way, I would not expect Disney to be investing in a 4K restoration or any of the rest of that. I'd expect an efficient and inexpensive transfer of the 35mm interpositives with no frills.

I'd be perfectly fine with that. To me, an ideal video transfer is one that closely replicates the way a film would have looked on opening night in a good theatre.

 

[TravisR]

Lucasfilm own these films, and Disney own Lucasfilm.

I'm pretty sure that Disney bought Star Wars from Lucasfilm (rather than buying all of LFL). If Disney did own LFL, they'd own Indiana Jones and I never heard a word about that.

 

[EdReedFan20]

I'm pretty sure that Disney bought Star Wars from Lucasfilm (rather than buying all of LFL). If Disney did own LFL, they'd own Indiana Jones and I never heard a word about that.

Disney did buy LucasFilm (it was in the press release). They do have Indiana Jones. They have ILM and Skywalker Sound. They HAD LucasArts Star Wars was the most disucssed, though, as it was announced concurrently that a set of movies were being made.