Star Wars original trilogy on DVD: the new petition is finished and ready to sign. (1 Viewer)

[Jay Sylvester]

I thought I'd post a new thread since the old one has gotten pretty long and people may have stopped following it. There is a new, improved petition that is now online and ready for you to sign:

http://www.originaltrilogy.com/

For those of you who don't know, the purpose of this petition is to convince George Lucas to release the original theatrical cuts of Star Wars on DVD. He has said numerous times that the only versions we'd ever see would be the Special Editions with even more new footage and effects altered. We're trying to change his mind.

It was decided to abandon the first petition hosted by petitiononline.com and create a new one that could be properly monitored. While it's a shame that we had to abandon the old petition, the abundance of bad submissions (fake names, insults directed toward George Lucas) left us with no other choice. Petitiononline.com didn't allow the petition owner (me) to edit or delete bad signatures, and they made the petition look unprofessional.

If you signed the old petition, you'll have to submit your signature again. The old signatures were not carried over.

I'd like to thank Ron Epstein for supporting the petition and posting the very cool Flash banner you can see right here at HTF. I'd also like to thank Hector Cruz for drafting the actual petition letter itself that's posted at the site. Other sites supporting the petition are listed at the bottom of the petition letter.

If you're a Star Wars fan, please read and sign the petition now. Recent comments made by Lucas's representatives have revealed that Lucas may be open to changing his mind on this subject. This petition could help sway his final decision.

Thanks,
Jay

 

[Matt Everett]

I just signed it. Thanks for your efforts!!

 

[Chris Farmer]

Just signed, very nicely worded. Next question is, if Lucas is doing a final "definitive" cut of the OT to make it complpetely match the PT, will ther be a petition for the original Special Editions as well?

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I would suggest trying to get support from some of the Star Wars sites, in addition to DVD sites which current support you. If you can try to get everyone on board to support you as the official outlet for this cause, I'd imagine you could get some good support.

I would also suggest draft a press release and faxing it everywhere you can think of.

I submitted this site to slashdot (http://www.slashdot.org), and would suggest that everyone else do the same!

-Vince

 

[Ray H]

Next question is, if Lucas is doing a final "definitive" cut of the OT to make it complpetely match the PT, will ther be a petition for the original Special Editions as well?

Yeah, if Lucas goes ahead and makes a definitive edition, what's the demand to see the '97 SE on DVD? Well, I signed it.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Yeah, if Lucas goes ahead and makes a definitive edition, what's the demand to see the '97 SE on DVD?

I'd support anyone's desire to see these released on DVD as well, even if I don't care whether they are or not personally. However, first things first, right? Let's get one battle won before we wage another.

 

[oscar_merkx]

nr 55 signed last week in the other thread.

How about Jedinet and Starwarsfan.org ?

 

[David Lambert]

I submitted this site to slashdot (http://www.slashdot.org), and would suggest that everyone else do the same!

I looked at the site, Vince, and don't immediately see a method to do that. Can you describe more about this?

 

[Jay Sylvester]

I've contacted theforce.net about it, and am waiting to hear back from them regarding their banner size requirements.

As for the other sites, I may be a Star Wars fan, but I don't regularly visit the fan sites. I have no idea what most of them are. So if anyone here knows of a site and wants to let them know about the petition, please do.

Vince,

Thanks for submitting it. I feel bad for my poor hosting service if we actually get slashdotted. Btw, I did receive your e-mail message the other day, but when I tried to reply it bounced back. My hosting service is having some e-mail problems, and while 99% of people submitting messages and signatures are getting their e-mails just like they're supposed to, some aren't getting anything.

The press release is a good idea. I did start gathering media contacts and had planned on sending something out.

 

[Rain]

I signed that petition a few days ago, but never received a signature confirmation.

 

[Anthony Connor]

Signed it. Thanks. Number 87 or something.

Regards

AXE

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I signed it too, but I would want the original cuts of the trilogy to be at least fully restored with the optical effects COMPLETELY re-composited digitally to get rid of the matte lines/haloing and double exposure see-through problems. Fully remixing them to 5.1 or 6.1 surround (DTS or DTS-ES Discrete too, please!) would be fine by me as well!

Warner Brothers fully restored, erased visible wires from some flying shots, completely cleaned up the optical effects by recompositing them with today's technology, and color corrected Superman: The Movie without CGI'ing anything and it looks a hell of a lot better than the theatrical prints and original optical effects and almost makes it look like a brand new movie.

I want the original, un-f*cked with trilogy, but I also want them to be presented in the best possible way.

Dan

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

If you need any help on that front, let me know.

-Vince

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

While I like the idea, I can't really fathom the point. Lucasfilm has already gone on record that they know there is a strong demand for the original versions of the OT. Is it to rouse the media into bullying Lucasfilm to submit? I'm not trying to thread fart, I just don't see how such a petition would change things. I'd be happy to sign it if you could help me understand. Thanks.

 

[DennisP]

You would think he could release the originals with the added footage or effects as a seemless branch if the viewer chose to see them. I like the way they did T2.

 

[Loring]

I signed it a couple days ago. #691 hehehe. I want both if at all possible but rather have the originals if I had to make a choice.

It is what I grew up with. So that is what I want.

Happy Listening,

 

[Ted___________H]

I will try to provide you with a list of fansites and forums in which to advertise your site:

www.forums.starwars.com - The Official Star Wars Forums
www.boards.theforce.net - TFN's SW Forums
http://www.galacticsenate.com/ - The Galactic Senate

www.theforce.net (of course)
www.episode-x.com
www.jedi.net
www.jedinet.com/


Newsgroups:
alt.fan.starwars
rec.arts.sf.starwars.info
rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc


Those were just the major ones, a search on Yahoo will give you many more.

Rest assured, if you send the word to people at the sites listed above, they will come to sign in droves.

 

[Michael Hall]

Jay, they might not be Star Wars film sites, but you might want to contact some of the SW toy collecting websites to see if they would agree to put up a banner supporting the petition. Here are the three main ones that I visit on a regular basis.

Rebelscum
Yakface's Realm
Galactic Hunter

There are a lot of fans who avoid the major SW fan sites, due to wanting to stay away from spoilers from the next film, so toy sites might get a lot of people involved who might not normally see the petition.

 

[Dave H]

You would think he could release the originals with the added footage or effects as a seemless branch if the viewer chose to see them.

It wouldn't work because some of the exact same scenes had CG added to them in the SE.

 

[Jay Sylvester]

Speaking of which- if you guys are having email problems and having trouble getting confirmations out- you might wanna look into that before really spreading the word. Hate to see a good effort snared by bad technology!

It's such a small percentage of overall submissions, and so random. For example, your confirmation obviously went through because I saw your name on the signature list. However, the e-mail I tried to send to you that same day got bounced back.

Unfortunately, telling people to hold off at this point is trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle. All I can do is hope that my hosting service gets its act together. They're usually very reliable and I've opened a trouble ticket stressing that the success of this site is based entirely upon e-mail working properly.