Original Star wars on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Qui-Gon John]

I like ROTJ quite a bit. IMHO, most of the people who don't like it is just because of the Ewoks and the fact they look similar to teddy-bears. If they were just the same, but let's say were scaly-reptilian creatures, I don't think there would be nearly so many nay-sayers. For me, the movie is all about the dramatic conflict between Luke and Vader (Anakin), and Luke and Palpatine, and Anakin and Palpatine. Some of the best moments in all of Star Wars.

 

[Walter Kittel]

"All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets" - Dante.

But seriously, for myself the notion that the Imperial army could be defeated by a tribe of indigenous bears on the Endor Moon was simply laughable. That aspect of the plot originated, at least partly, from a documentary about Vietnam that had resonated with Lucas. I can't help but feel that his metamorphosis of that documentary's theme regarding the resilience of the Vietnamese people was mis-applied; at least from a tactical standpoint with regards to the conflict.

- Walter.

 

[Carlo_M]

Do you really expect GL to wait 2 more years for a format that may not have lasted? Again, he, you, I, studios could not forsee the success of DVD. Why do you think so many studios jumped in so late in the game?

Huh, actually GL is called a "visionary" by his fans, but then can curiously be "blind" to something when it suits their purposes.

And actually, I could and DID foresee the success of DVD. That is why despite making just above living wages, having just graduated from college, I bought my first DVD player in May of 1997. I knew it would take off in a way LD never would.

And so many studios jumped in late, but just as many championed the format at its inception. And don't forget, DVD didn't just magically appear in 1997 - that format had been worked and tweaked over very many years! And about GL supporting a format that may not have taken off? That didn't keep him from supporting Laserdisc (hardly a mass-market success, still called a "niche market" even by its supporters) with SEVERAL DIFFERENT LD VERSIONS of the OT! What would have made it so hard for him to even transfer a nice video master over to DVD when it was in its infancy? He had several nice masters already made for LD releases, it would have taken minimal effort to port them over to DVD, then release a super-duper version later. We all know, and cannot deny, his willingness to release multiple versions on a home video format.

 

[Aaron Cohen]

I really don't think Lucas deserves any praise for the greatness of Empire. He didn't direct it and Leigh Brackett did the majority of the script including most likely thinking up the incredible and startling revelation of Vader being Luke's father(unfortunately her death makes that a mystery forever).

As other posters here, I like SOME of the changes made to the SE. I think they are great. But others completely ruin it for me and seem silly, pointless, and just stupid additions such as Greedo shooting first.

But enough of that crap. Really all we can do is just hope for the best in terms of this release finally happening.

 

[Tom-G]

I really don't think Lucas deserves any praise for the greatness of Empire. He didn't direct it and Leigh Brackett did the majority of the script including most likely thinking up the incredible and startling revelation of Vader being Luke's father(unfortunately her death makes that a mystery forever).

That is incorrect. The script for Empire (Lucas' original draft) varies little from the final product. This has been discussed ad nauseum in other threads/discussion forums. So in actuality, Lucas deserves some of the praise.

Funny how Marquand never gets lambasted. Just Lucas. Further proof that Lucas can do no right.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

Funny how Marquand never gets lambasted. Just Lucas. Further proof that Lucas can do no right.

Well, Lucas did hire the guy.
I'm not sure what happened to Lucas between Empire and Jedi. Maybe nothing. Maybe something happened to me that changed how I perceived the movies. All I know is that Star Wars: A New Hope is great, though poorly-acted fun, Empire is very close to cinematic greatness, and Jedi is a confusing schizophrenic movie that is 2/3 great (Emperor/Vader/Luke, Second Death Star Battle being great, Ewoks being ridiculous) that could have been better if Lucas had used Wookiee's with their existing back story of being Imperial slaves.
Most of the changes in the SEs don't bother me one way or the other. Some are unnecessary (sprucing up Mos Eisley and the explosion of the Death Star), some are welcome (removing the boxes around the models...what's that called again?...and cleaning up some of the blue screen work in the Battle of Hoth especially) and some are disruptive and harmful to the experience (Greedo shooting first, Jedi Dance number and Jabba playing staircase for Han).
As for the new trilogy, I'll go see Episode III, but by this point I don't even care if its good or not. The last two were such bitter disappointments anyway.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

some are disruptive and harmful to the experience (Greedo shooting first, Jedi Dance number and Jabba playing staircase for Han).

Also the various dialogue changes:

Han: "yeah, I bet you have" for "I bet you have"

Vader: "bring my shuttle" for "alert my Star Destroyer to perpare for my arrival"

Luke: "you're lucky droids don't taste too good" for "you're lucky to get out of there"

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Tom, Lucas can do right. Just release the original trilogy on dvd, that's all we ask. I wouldn't even care if I had to pay a Godfather box-set price for it and it had little or no extras besides anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 sound. If that was released he would be doing completely right and ALL would agree.

Also, call me crazy but I definitely enjoy Return of the Jedi's ewoks bits, and was particularly annoyed that the Ewok song was gone from the end of the SE. I may be the only one to miss this but as I kid I really liked the ewoks.

And I hate Episodes 1 and 2 for the same reasons everyone else who hates them does. The unbelievable bad acting, poor plot that we were told by Episode 1 likers was "supposed" to be poor because it is the opening part of a serial and would set up the wonderful episode 2 (what happened there????), crappy dialogue, midichlorians, Jar Jar, and boredom of Episode 1 followed by the cringe-inducing dialogue throughout and romance scenes, stupid looking cgi EVERYTHING and more dull and uninspired performance, plot, and happenings of Episode 2. I wouldn't like these movies no matter what they were called. I will admit that in both instances though upon first viewing I came out liking them. I have determined that stemmed from seeing them both at midnight on opening day with hundreds of screaming, cheering, and dressed up fans, and the clever crowd-pleasing final reel of both.

 

[Carlo_M]

Tom, Lucas can do right

Agreed here. For me personally, this would get Lucas back "in the light" - release the OT onto DVD, pre-SE versions. OAR is all I ask, and either original dialog and sound effects (whether it be stereo, DPL, 4.0 whatever) or if he chooses, a 5.1 remix but with the original dialog (not the SE'd lines). Just good video, audio, no extras necessary.

 

[Luis A]

It'll never happen.

 

[Richard Kim]

Just curious as to why Lucas gets all of the blame for ROTJ's "shortcomings" and he gets none of the praise for ESB's greatness? He directed neither film, yet he gets all of the blame and none of the praise.

I agree 100% with Tom. People keep saying how Irvin Kershner and Gary Kurtz are totally responsible for ESB's acclaim, and yet where are they now?

 

[Matt Stone]

People keep saying how Irvin Kershner and Gary Kurtz are totally responsible for ESB's acclaim, and yet where are they now?

Who says that? Certainly not me...I've always been pro-Lucas up through Jedi. Hear that folks...I even like Jedi, ewoks and all. Aaron...you aren't the only one.

Yub-yub for life

In any event, what does Lucas's responsibilty for the success (or failure) of ESB and ROTJ have to do with him releasing the OT on DVD?

 

[Ted Ehlers]

Wow!

8 plus pages of pure anger, with a dash of jaded DVD optimism. I understand the passion these films can evoke. However, damn! You want the OT on DVD or the Head of Lucas on a Platter? (HLP)

Everybody has chimed in. However, consider:

1. The REAL original version of A New Hope wasn't called A New Hope. It was called Star Wars. No "Episode IV", no Threepio Tractor Beam dubbed speech, and the stereo sound mix is TOTALLY different that it is now, including effects and ADR. So... which Original Version do you want?

2. The "old" effects look dated. Some look good, some sloppy. The "new" (re 1997) effects look like dated CGI. You can tell the space ships aren't real in both versions! Aparantly, it's cost-prohibitive to shoot on location in Space!

So, after 1997's SE round of updates, the Star Wars Trillogy is a mess! Star Wars has 2 clashing layers of dated visuals, plus old problems unfixed. Another round of effects will fourther clutter the screen with shiny new elements which will age poorly. We live in a world where an obscure Video Game character's ship has been painstakingly added to A New Hope, but Darth Vader's lightsaber has many missing frames of airbrusing. (Otherwise known as the Outrider/Vader's White Saber ratio)

3. At some point, George will be too old to retinker, and there his films will sit, getting old. According to science, eventually our sun will go nova and all copies of Star Wars films will fall prey to complete UV damage, including internegatives and digital masters.

And one final point. After the tame, flat, and unrewarding Prequels, 20 years of Video and TV viewing of the classics, arn't you all a bit DONE WITH STAR WARS?

You finnaly get your dreamed of DVDs, you flop down on the couch and... it's the same old movie, only now you have to sit through a menu animation.

Wake me up when it's over.

www.mp3.com/ted3000

 

[Brent M]

Ted,

Are you done with The Godfather or Raiders of the Lost Ark or Pulp Fiction or *insert movie title here*? Fact of the matter is, if you like a certain movie, it doesn't matter how old it is or how many times you've seen it. There wouldn't be over 200 replies to this post if people didn't want these films on DVD so if you're not concerned with the topic, feel free to abstain from reading this thread and posting to it.

 

[Luis A]

Well said Ted.

 

[Ted Ehlers]

Having said all that, yes, I like Star Wars, and yes, I want the OT on DVD. It's just that by the way these posts are stacking up, you'd think Star Wars was the most important movie ever made and its temporary absence on DVD was a crime against humanity.

It may just be a case of wanting what you can't have. Fast forward a couple of years, and imagine your Star Wars DVD covered in a light coating of suburban dust, unwatched for months.

I sold Episodes I and II last week. I could not imagine myself ever saying "You know what? I'm in the mood for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones right about now".

My name is Ted, and I am a recovering Star Wars fan.

Desperatly trying to downgrade to casual enjoyer of the original trillogy, the best way to start recovery is not to wet your pants in frustration over every little twist and turn in the drama of bringing Star Wars to the current hot format.

At some point, there will be a bunch of cranky videophiles ranting against how Star Wars has not been mapped to a high res 3D environment for use in the Home Holographic Projection Matrix, or rival personal hardware Virtual Reality Direct Retina Stimulator System.

Then, you can do a high-res fly through of the zippers on the back of the Ewoks.

www.mp3.com/ted3000

 

[Ricardo C]

Wake me up when it's over.

I'm sure someone will get right on that...

 

[Ricardo C]

I sold Episodes I and II last week. I could not imagine myself ever saying "You know what? I'm in the mood for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones right about now".

My name is Ted, and I am a recovering Star Wars fan.

Desperatly trying to downgrade to casual enjoyer of the original trillogy, the best way to start recovery is not to wet your pants in frustration over every little twist and turn in the drama of bringing Star Wars to the current hot format.

Please accept that your diminished enjoyment of the films doesn't carry over to everyone else, nor do we want to be "shown the light". You're over them, terrific. Enjoy, and God bless. I'll continue enjoying them, thanks.

 

[Brent M]

Nice posts, Ricardo. I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

[Dan Shogren]

HAY GUYS WATS GOING ON?



YOU'D BETTAR BERIVE IT CUZ IT TRUE!


Theres a small chance that i made this myself..........