For now, and only through aftermarket or grey/blackmarket means. Complacency with that standard of availability doesn't sit well with me.
Well, I have a plan...I'll need a 11 guys, and we'll be able to pull of the heist of the.... Never mind, wrong plan. I think there will always be people who have them out there and available.
I don't mind the Special Editions and other new versions over the years, but it is kind of shitty that they refuse to release the original versions.
The point is those are outdated, lossy formats that are becoming increasingly difficult and/or illegal to procure. If a lossless version of the unaltered trilogy can exist for people to buy, it should. Full stop. The next generation is not going to be interested in a version with 1/36 the resolution of the latest 4k release because some old nerds on the internet tell them they should be. By leaving those original cuts to wither at DVD resolution, they are effectively erasing them and the significance of them in the time they were created.
I think the classic movies will be rebooted and be seen as the beginning of a new Star Wars universe but my take on this is that the prequels will be rebooted as the "real" past of the original "Star Wars" universe before that happens. I think they will wait until the stand alone movies are no longer seen as viable and maybe even after another post Abrams era trilogy in the future is done. reboot of the prequels IMO will be "Star Wars" last atempt to feel connected to the original movies in anyway before they start over from scratch. Jason
Ultimately, I don't think it will be prudent for Disney to reboot the prequel trilogy without doing a complete reboot of the entire saga. At some point, they probably will- that just seems to be the way of things. I don't expect it will happen in the near term- right now they have a lot of fresh ideas and material to run with, but eventually, new blood will be in charge and they'll decide the time is right to go for it, and that will be that. My guess is that such a move is a good decade or two away. As a side note, for people interested in seeing remastered (in terms of pic quality, not SFX) original versions of the OT, type 'Star Wars Despecialized' into your favorite browser and then follow the white rabbit into the weird world of fan edits. It won't be easy or painless to win through to the end result, but it is possible.
One problem I have with the idea of rebooting the prequels to start a new universe is it makes more sense to remake the original movie's first so you can use the iconic characters like Luke Skywalker,Han Solo, Darth Vadar,Princess Leia and so forth. That to me though is why they will do the prequels first because it's the best way to make some final money off the original universe. Unless they really screw up some of the newer movies they are making the Prequels will always exist as this almost seperate thing that isn't being used for anything except for the cartoons but I am not sure how much they really care about the tv stuff. Plus the idea of fixing something a lot of people hated is a good selling point to get people to go see the movies. Granted this might be so far in the future that many of those people will actually be dead can change things. It will be intresting to see how the prequels are seen in another 20 years. The originals are basically going to go down in history as classic's along the lines of "Citizen Cane" or "Godfather" that will always feel relevant to even people who didn't grow up on those movies. Jason
I agree but what I was saying is the PT I see being done more as a reboot and the orginal trilogy more as a remake. Granted that could even lead to a 3rd reboot of the Prequels as well if the remake is a success. I guess I just don't see a flat out remake starting anywhere other than the classic movie's because they will certainly want to use the iconic characters to start off a new universe. Jason.
I'm not certain. I could see them starting with Episode 1, but have it be the "Adventures of Luke Starkiller" rather than beat for beat the original films.
That's possible but I get feeling the "Star Wars" universe is going to start feeling like the "X-Men" universe were I'm not certain how or if all the movie's are somehow connected. I asume the 3rd movie along with the individual Wolverine movie's are erased because of Wolverine going back in time and I think "Logan" might be from that future or maybe it's in a alternate future. Also you have weird things like two different Trask's and a Angel who doesn't make sense that he is in "Apocolypse"but also still a young man in the 3rd movie as well. With them already starting to recast characters like Han Solo and Lando you got to wonder if they will always be written as early versions of the one's we are use to or will they someday be seen part of a new reboot which then means will the new Han Solo be a prequel to the classic movie's or a prequel to a new Star Wars universe set of movies. Jason
They released the original trilogy without the special edition changes on DVD. I still have my copy of a New Hope unaltered in its shrink wrap.
You mean the bonus disk extra that is a worse copy than the 25 year old Laserdiscs? Pardon me while I roll my eyes.
Forgive me for it's been years since I bought it but they actually released each film individually (not in a box set ) unaltered. I'd have to dig it up to verify, but that was my understanding. I could be wrong
The SW universe timeline is so long that it would be wiser for SW to just start a new "saga" at some earlier or later time. Then if they want to make a seamless trilogy or nonology or whatever they would have a blank slate to work with rather than having to recreate scenes 1:1 (not that SW doesn't already recycle scenes, but they aren't literally the same scenes).
I looked. It's the edition with two discs, one with the special edition, the other with the unaltered. I believe you spoke of such earlier. I never opened it; was the original one that bad of quality on that release?