[Rumor] The complete Saga 4K Bluray box set in the works

[CorporalCaptain]

To me the equivalent is: The Rebels might have thought that the Death Star was coming to blow up Yavin IV, but they didn't know. So why launch a preemptive strike on the station, murdering (looks it up) over a million people on board?

Greedo actually threatened either to kill Han himself or to take him to be killed in the conversation we saw, so it's not even equivalent. Han is on firmer moral ground just shooting Greedo, the way he did in the 1977 version.

Plus, there's the cardinal rule oft repeated in gun-safety courses, that you don't point a gun at someone who you don't intend to shoot. Either Greedo was breaking that rule or....

 

[Tallguy]

Well, that conversation went from fun to dead end quickly...

Apologies. I've had people put forward that argument more seriously recently. We're still having fun.

 

[BillJ]

Paying Disney seven dollars a month to watch thirty year old Simpsons reruns.

 

[Campe]

I paid $4.72 a month. And am definitely not watching Simpsons reruns. Worth every penny so far.

Correction: $3.92. Was looking at the wrong deal we signed up with.

 

[fireproof78]

Apologies. I've had people put forward that argument more seriously recently. We're still having fun.

Oh, good.

Yeah, I get the whole "Empire did nothing wrong' arguments can be very serious. I don't take them as seriously, largely because the Empire is meant to be evil.

 

[JD]

Paying Disney seven dollars a month to watch thirty year old Simpsons reruns.

I actually do plan on watching 30 year old The Simpsons reruns, but that is just one of the many, many things on there I plan on watching.

 

[Campe]

I find it interesting that the Fox logo is back on ESB and ROTJ.

Could it be an oversight? In the current non-4k digital releases, only ANH has the Fox logo.

I’ve started my rewatch leading up to TRoS. I was getting really frustrated with D+ timing out on streaming and then having to restart ROTS and find where I was so I went to the Apple digital files. The Fox logo is back, just FYI.

 

[DigificWriter]

I've started a full Saga marathon (which was initially only going to be a Sequel Trilogy marathon before I got bored) in the lead-up to my seeing TRoS on Friday, and hopefully I'll have enough time to finish all 8 films by Thursday night since Friday will be 'swamped'.

 

[Samurai8472]

Abrams had asked Lucasfilm about releasing the unaltered versions of the original trilogy commercially, but they had told him it wasn't possible

https://www.joblo.com/movie-news/jj-abrams-also-wants-the-original-cuts-of-star-wars-to-be-released

 

[DigificWriter]

Abrams had asked Lucasfilm about releasing the unaltered versions of the original trilogy commercially, but they had told him it wasn't possible

It's not possible to release something that no longer exists.

 

[Tallguy]

It's not possible to release something that no longer exists.

Except we've seen non-special edition footage since then (Empire of Dreams?). The cut might not be lying around in a can anyplace but neither was Bedknobs and Broomsticks. They kept the Biggs and Luke scenes as well as the entire Red Leader talking about Luke's father, but actively destroyed award winning effects footage? That's... a real trick, isn't it?

Plus, unless they actually *shudder* re-specialed the already special footage of Han and Greedo they would have gone back to that clean 1976 footage to make it more more more special. Maclunkey!

 

[JD]

I find it hard to believe that Lucasfilm doesn't have at least one print of each of the non-special edition Original Trilogy movies sitting in a vault somewhere, just in case they decide to release them, or just need to go back to them for some reason.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ What JJ Abrams asked about were Original Theatrical Cuts of the OT, which are not the same thing as the films as they were before Lucas created the "Special Edition" cuts that have become the official editions of the films.

Original Theatrical Cuts of ANH from 1977, TESB from 1980, and RoTJ from 1983 no longer exist.

 

[JD]

I find it very, very hard to believe that there aren't copies of it hidden away somewhere. Even if Lucasfilm has actually destroyed every copy they are aware of, and that is a huge if for me, there are probably still a few old school collectors who have some copies hidden away somewhere.

 

[Q2UnME]

There is an Original theatrical Cut of Star Wars (no bloody New Hope, A, B or C... ) in the National Archives in Washington DC. You think they would 'lone them out'?

 

[Tallguy]

There is an Original theatrical Cut of Star Wars (no bloody New Hope, A, B or C... ) in the National Archives in Washington DC. You think they would 'lone them out'?

Everything I've ever heard was that they wanted one and Lucas wouldn't give them one. This is the first I've heard otherwise.

EDIT: More specifically I've heard he wanted to give them the Special Edition (no idea WHICH Special Edition) and they would only take the original which he would not give them.

 

[Q2UnME]

From what I remember reading from back in the 80's, it went into the National Archive well before Lucas broke out his digital crayons and started tinkering with the "Remastered" versions....

EDIT: Turns out it is The Library of Congress that has a print of the original 1977 movie that had to be filed along with the copyright submission, but ..... the actual print is MIA, not in the repository where it's supposed to be...... *cues the X-Files music*

EDIT 2: Looks like prints of all three of the original films are on file with the Library of Congress. It's just that you can't check them out. They are for archive only. There was also some discussion of the originals degrading due to the film technology limitations of the actual film chemistry. There's also a couple of articles on the Lucas 'search and destroy' clause in his contract that required FOX/LucasFilm to confiscate any copy that pops up. One article mentioned that several private collectors have copies, but they won't see the light of day for fear of confiscation.

 

[DigificWriter]

I don't think many people realize that Lucasfilm was making changes to the Star Wars films as seen in movie theaters beginning in 1977, and therefore no true "original theatrical cut" of any of the films actually exists.

What people are actually asking for when they say they want "original cuts" of the films are pre-Special Edition cuts, and most of those don't exist any longer, for better or worse, due to Lucas having the power and clout to make his varied and various 'directorial' cuts of the films the definitive and official editions.

 

[Campe]

I don't think many people realize that Lucasfilm was making changes to the Star Wars films as seen in movie theaters beginning in 1977, and therefore no true "original theatrical cut" of any of the films actually exists.

What people are actually asking for when they say they want "original cuts" of the films are pre-Special Edition cuts, and most of those don't exist any longer, for better or worse, due to Lucas having the power and clout to make his varied and various 'directorial' cuts of the films the definitive and official editions.

I think people do realIze it. I think the language utilized is shorthand.

I also firmly believe that in the unbelievably slim chance that the films are released in pre-SE flavors, it is completely technological possible to get ALL the versions with bonus features in a 3-4 disc set per film.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ "Original Theatrical Cut" isn't shorthand for anything; it has a defined and literal meaning and is exactly what it says on the tin.

And the Original Theatrical Cuts of the SW films that once existed no longer do because they've been edited and messed with from almost the very beginning of the original SW film's debut in theaters in 1977.