"The Cage" Original Version
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I kind of enjoyed the rough b&w footage from the Roddenberry print, it gave The Cage even more of a golden-age 50's vibe than it already had.
Yeah, I had that on VHS back in the day, and I loved it, even though Roddenberry is full of crap in his intro.
I had both VHS versions of "The Cage", with the black&white cuts, and the full color version. I was one of those who suspected it was simply colorized, though later details about the discovery of the found color footage has me leaning the other direction. I had two copies of "The Menagerie" too, the one released in the series package, and an earlier one in a big cardboard book-like case. The latter was the first tape I bought after buying a VCR. It was the store's only rental copy, and I convinced them to sell it to me. It must have been around 1985 or 86.
I have a VHS containing the pilots from TOS, TNG, and DS9, which I has the complete episode.
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Lucas was hardly the first creator to rework his creation when given the opportunity. Few creators are ever entirely satisfied with the published/released versions of their works. The "finished" work is the end result of a lengthy process of rethinking and revision and trial and error, so why should that process end just because the story's been released to the public? The creator's still going to think of new ideas and improvements and fixes even after it's come out, especiall once there's audience feedback to point out flaws the creator didn't notice before.
So many writers have revised their novels on later re-releases, even rewritten them as completely new novels -- like Arthur C. Clarke reworking Against the Fall of Night into The City and the Stars, or David Gerrold expanding Yesterday's Children into Starhunt and then rebooting it entirely as Voyage of the Star Wolf.
There is also the Orion slave scene that was edited/rearanged before it was shown to anyone:
http://www.startrekhistory.com/cagepage.html (scroll down)
Someone should make a list of all the "Cage" versions (original, B & W print, "Menagerie" edit, 1986 color/BW hybrid, 1988 color/color hybrid, remastered, and different broadcast and DVD/Blu-ray permutations etc.) with all the differences detailed.
http://www.startrekhistory.com/cagepage.html (scroll down)
Someone should make a list of all the "Cage" versions (original, B & W print, "Menagerie" edit, 1986 color/BW hybrid, 1988 color/color hybrid, remastered, and different broadcast and DVD/Blu-ray permutations etc.) with all the differences detailed.
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The complete B&W print?I have a VHS containing the pilots from TOS, TNG, and DS9, which I has the complete episode.
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^ Either way, my name gets in the scene. 
One thing I will say about "The Menagerie" is that they did a superb job editing . . . better than the full version of "The Cage." The pacing to me is just better. One thing about "The Cage" that just drives me crazy every time I see it is when Pike and Vina are fighting the K'lar and after they knock him down the stairs; what do they do? They pause for a conversation instead of running or preparing for the next combat. That edited scene plays MUCH better in "The Menagerie" edit. There are others but I'm sure you all have your own opinions so I won't bore you with mine.
Agreed. And just because Vina had the illusion of youth, doesn't mean she has the body of one. Throughout the episode, she is jumping and running around, but when the Talosians take her illusion away, she can barely stand.
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I'd like to see the full B&W version, with the original soundtrack, possibly cleaned up a little (but not too much!)
Maybe so, but Lucas is the one that's famous for doing it.
Since you brought it up: George Lucas did not fix the editing flaw in the first X-Wing attack run in the first Star Wars film and many others. But he altered something nobody except him found fault with: That Han Solo shot first.
Gary Kurtz put it eloquently: If George Lucas (1976) would have wanted Greedo to shoot first, he could have already done that in the original, theatrical edition! People change and in this particular case George Lucas became "Citizen Lucas", IMHO. I prefer the vision of the idealistic, young creator and not the revisionistic one of the Emperor the young man had become. Nor do I like that the late Ridley Scott is drowning most of his films in blue color. These things are not improvements, they are alterations of once talented directors that seem to have become senile.
Back to the topic:
IIRC the first releases of "The Cage" on home video were mostly the original b & w film which had been "colorized".
"Colorization" of b & w classics (Ted Turner having been one of the strongest advocates) was quite controversial in the late 1980's but in this exceptional case a convenient tool, IMHO.
However, I'm not sure whether they edited the color footage from "The Menagerie" together with the newly colorized b & w elements.
(I could also add a few comments on George Lucas' feelings about colorization, but that would probably be too much OT
)Bob
I got to see it as it was originally printed on VHS back in the 80's. It was a great experience to see it all put together....seams and all.
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