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Bob_S.

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I remember paying $70 for Empire when it first came out on vhs. And yes, the Ewoks did ruin ROTJ and it was Jar-Jar AND Jake Lloyd that ruined The Phantom Menace. That being said, I do like the Prequels.
 

TJPC

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I bought the first set of the original trilogy on VHS, which came with three “beautiful lithographs suitable for framing” which sat sideways on the shelf above the tapes until they were thrown out after the tapes were donated.
 

TJPC

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The original "Star Wars", "ESB" and "ROTJ" widescreen LDs were $70 each.

I used to join the Columbia House LD club, get those 3 as my "free" initial choices, and then trade 'em in for store credit at Tower.

I funded years of LD purchases that way! :cheers:
Anybody still wonder why Tower Records went belly up?
 

Colin Jacobson

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Anybody still wonder why Tower Records went belly up?

Yes - it's because I traded in laserdiscs.

Brand-new laserdiscs that they then put on the shelves and sold.

Brand-new laserdiscs that I didn't misrepresent - I let them know the deal. They were fine with the exchange even though they knew no one bought the LDs at Tower.

But if ya wanna scapegoat me, party on Garth!
 

TJPC

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A big historic chain here in Canada was Eatons department stores. There policy always was to accept all items for returns. It is often cited as a reason it went bankrupt.
 

Colin Jacobson

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A big historic chain here in Canada was Eatons department stores. There policy always was to accept all items for returns. It is often cited as a reason it went bankrupt.

From what I understand, Nordstorm used to accept nearly anything as an exchange.

You could bring a half-chewed piece of gum and get store credit!

Apparently they modified that a while back, but they're still supposed to be pretty liberal with returns.

I never "tested" their system so I have no idea!
 

Dave Moritz

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I find it interesting the JJ Abrams supposedly attempted to get Lucasfilm to release the untouched theatrical but they declined. While JJ Abrams might not have the pull to make that happen I am sure since Disney owns Lucasfilm that Disney could direct them to release it! Especially since Lucas doesn't own the company the question should be is there anything in the contract that keeps Disney from releasing the theatrical of the original trilogy? You would think that a handshake deal would not be much if Disney decided to release it since they are the legal owners of the content now. Moving on I am very much enjoying the new Mandalorian show on Disney + and can not wait to see where the story goes and how baby yoda ties in with it all. Am also looking forward to seeing the new Star Wars within the next week.
 

Jake Lipson

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since Disney owns Lucasfilm that Disney could direct them to release it!

Disney could release it. But they probably don't think the amount of money that such a release would generate is worth going against Lucas' wishes. I know that it is difficult for us to understand because almost everyone here would buy the originals in a heartbeat, but the reality is that the special editions have now been "the" editions for longer than the originals were before they were changed. Film buffs like us want them, but the general public probably doesn't care. Physical media sales were declining even before Disney put all of the movies on their streaming service in 4K for $7.99 a month. I really don't think the theatrical cuts would be as much of a draw to the average Joe Star Wars fan as we think they are based on our preferences around here. Of course, they should release them for the sake of film history, but I don't really think Disney sees that as a priority.
 

Greg.K

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I wrote this to a friend as a joke but it actually kinda works:


This has been the public reaction to Star Wars in my lifetime:

1983: Ewoks ruined Star Wars!
1997: Greedo ruined Star Wars!
1999: Jar-Jar ruined Star Wars!
2002: Hayden Christensen ruined Star Wars!
2005: George Lucas ruined Star Wars!
2012: Disney ruined Star Wars!
2015: J.J. Abrams ruined Star Wars!
2017: Rian Johnson ruined Star Wars!
2018: Kathleen Kennedy ruined Star Wars!
2019: BABY YODA! OMG SO CUTE!

Don't forget 1980: The muppet ruined Star Wars!
 

Osato

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Tim
Before any home video format (or Cable TV) I had to make due with this audio LP to get my Star Wars fix...
StoryStarWarsLP.jpg

I still have this one, empire and Jedi story lps.
This is how I experienced the films for the most part in the 1980s. I did see empire and Jedi in the theater too. We rented them in vhs but I didn’t buy them until the early 90s. I still have a copy of the thx faces vhs releases. I have the dvd box and the blu ray set from 2012.

I have watched the original films on Disney+ in 4K recently and I have never seen them look better. I’m hoping the pricing drops a bit on the UHd Blu Ray set coming in March. I’d like to buy the UHd box set but may just settle with the UHd individuals of the original films.
 

WillG

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Disney could release it. But they probably don't think the amount of money that such a release would generate is worth going against Lucas' wishes. I know that it is difficult for us to understand because almost everyone here would buy the originals in a heartbeat, but the reality is that the special editions have now been "the" editions for longer than the originals were before they were changed. Film buffs like us want them, but the general public probably doesn't care. Physical media sales were declining even before Disney put all of the movies on their streaming service in 4K for $7.99 a month. I really don't think the theatrical cuts would be as much of a draw to the average Joe Star Wars fan as we think they are based on our preferences around here. Of course, they should release them for the sake of film history, but I don't really think Disney sees that as a priority.

I agree. I also imagine that their unofficial stance is “pretty good recreations (if not even better than what Disney would put out officially, we all know something would get screwed up) of GOUT are not hard to obtain.”
 

WillG

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My first Star Wars viewing experience was the late 80s trifold box where Fox instead of pan and scanning simply left the anamorphic image unsqueezed. This is probably the reason I'm not nearly as keen on the "GOUT" as many are.

I remember those and when I was a kid wondering “why does everyone look so skinny”
 

RICK BOND

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I still have this one, empire and Jedi story lps.
This is how I experienced the films for the most part in the 1980s. I did see empire and Jedi in the theater too. We rented them in vhs but I didn’t buy them until the early 90s. I still have a copy of the thx faces vhs releases. I have the dvd box and the blu ray set from 2012.

I have watched the original films on Disney+ in 4K recently and I have never seen them look better. I’m hoping the pricing drops a bit on the UHd Blu Ray set coming in March. I’d like to buy the UHd box set but may just settle with the UHd individuals of the original films.
I saw the original trilogy on Disney + also. They looked Excellent ! The 4K UHD releases are coming in March 2020 ? I did not hear any release news yet. I just Love and want the Original 3 films 1977-1983 They are the Best.
 

rsmithjr

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Robert Smith
I love George Lucas, but he failed to appreciate that when you sell a thing, you don’t control it anymore. And I’m not sure that he truly objected to them not using his outline. I think the objection was more that each prior SW film before TFA brought something new to the table and TFA, enormously well-executed as it was, didn’t bring anything new. For a guy who spent half his career living in the world while avoiding telling the same story twice, that must’ve been disappointing.

I don’t think George necessarily grew tired of Star Wars or filmmaking. I think he grew tired of the unhealthy and nearly unprecedented level of vitriol being thrown his way every time he did something. And that vitriol has continued long after he’s left the franchise. People feel strangely entitled about Star Wars in a way that just boggles the mind. “Fans” sent Lucas death threats for revising the original trilogy. Most people just choose not to buy a thing they don’t like. But Star Wars “Fans” are special. “Fans” bullied Jake Lloyd when he returned to school after shooting Phantom Menace and that bullying, which started when he was in single digits, pretty much wrecked his life. “Fans” nearly drove Ahmet Best to commit suicide. “Fans” have felt justified in stealing and bootlegging and disseminating copies of stolen 35mm prints because their desire to have a copy of something that wasn’t theirs somehow carried more weight than copyright law and prohibitions against stealing. And after George sold the company, “Fans” harassed Kelly Marie Tran to the point where she didn’t feel safe being online anymore. This is not normal behavior, but it seems to go mostly unchecked in Star Wars fandom. I think it’s that factor, more than any other, that led George to sell. I think he loves his creation and wanted to see it thrive and grow but just didn’t want to go through that merry-go-round again where people would be out to get him no matter what he did. Because when it comes to Star Wars, it’s not enough to take it or leave it, nope, it’s about punishing people for seeing different things in it than you did.

Thanks, much wisdom in your post. Steadies the force.

I do think that not making the original versions of the first trilogy available is petty and unfair to customers. I have the "definitive" LD set and the many other LD's of the films and have chosen not to buy the modified films until now. I am however giving up and buying the new 4K set, who knows if we will ever see the originals on Blu-ray or 4K.

There really is not that much difference compared to many other films that have been completely changed by new versions.
 

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