Do you think they should/will reboot the Star Wars prequels?

[Prax]

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?

It's not bad at all. It just isn't remastered like the special editions. That includes all the recompositing done for the special editions, which were basically rebuilt, frame by frame, element by element, from the ground up and some shots refilmed. The same goes for audio. But for the people that wanted them, they seem to be just right judging from the Amazon reviews.

Of course, for those wanting the Special Editions minus the director's cut aspect, there are fan made versions all over the interwebs, although some of them have added their own "director's cut" elements. Like "Adywan's" who has removed all of deleted scene additions from ANH, but added things like a scene from Star Trek: Enterprise when Alderaan is destroyed.

 

[Venardhi]

It's watchable. A slight improvement over the VHS probably. It's non-anamorphic widescreen and more compressed than necessary.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Regarding the unaltered OT DVDs, there's a periodic artifact, like faint snow, that basically ruins the experience. It's the best there is, but it's unsatisfactory.

 

[Prax]

So after I posted that I searched for the 2006 limited editions, and was surprised by all the "unaltered" theatrical OT on Blu-ray being sold on eBay. They've made the cases, sleeves, etc for them too. That seems like it would be illegal. Most were in the $30-$50 range for all three.

To get the limited Editions, the price seems to be around $50 a piece or $120 for the set.

 

[Venardhi]

It is very illegal, but in the age of the internet and global piracy even Disney has to pick their battles.

 

[Prax]

It seems like selling physical copies online would make yourself an easy target compared to a torrent/download type of site, but maybe they're coming from China or something

 

[Venardhi]

Almost certainly.

 

[Gaith]

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.

Harmy's Despecialized OT is mostly sourced from the blu rays. I have them, and they're definitely above DVD quality. Fandom finds a way.

 

[Prax]

Did you buy them on eBay? Or burn them

 

[VulcanMindBlown]

What are the main points that I need to take in terms of reasons that people have the PT?

 

[Venardhi]

Harmy's Despecialized OT is mostly sourced from the blu rays. I have them, and they're definitely above DVD quality. Fandom finds a way.

We already went over that.

 

[ichab]

I don't understand this point of view. A reboot doesn't erase the original, any more than the Special Editions erased the original cuts, etc, etc. If they reboot it, oh well. I'll still have my VHS and Laser discs copies.

For those that don't have access to old VHS or Laserdisc copies the SE did erase the originals since they aren't available anymore. It also got worse with new changes added to the DVD and Blu-ray releases. I'm sure if Lucas was still in control he would CGI Yoda or add more digital shit to the 4K release of the Original Trilogy. Maybe add some somersaults to Vader as he battles Luke and claim he had ALWAYS wanted that to happen....

 

[LJones41]

For those that don't have access to old VHS or Laserdisc copies the SE did erase the originals since they aren't available anymore. It also got worse with new changes added to the DVD and Blu-ray releases. I'm sure if Lucas was still in control he would CGI Yoda or add more digital shit to the 4K release of the Original Trilogy. Maybe add some somersaults to Vader as he battles Luke and claim he had ALWAYS wanted that to happen....

The SE did not completely erase the OT. It merely made changes.

 

[ichab]

The SE did not completely erase the OT. It merely made changes.

Changes that were unnecessary and only acted as distractions from the viewing experience. It would be like Da Vinci going back to put Double Ds on the Mona Lisa or the Beatles going back to add orchestra to the White Album and then claiming these to be the "definitive" versions and no longer will the originals be available.

That is why so many fans were upset. It's not just the fact the movies were changed but that fans were denied access to the versions of the movies they had fallen in love with.

 

[JD]

Yeah, it's fine if you want to make changes to your movie, but it is annoying to then never release the originals again. Almost every other director's or alternate cut of a movie is sold as an alternative, not as the only version available. Star Wars is the only series I know of where they absolutely refuse to release new copies of the original version.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I like the way Spielberg handled Close Encounters much better.

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah, it's fine if you want to make changes to your movie, but it is annoying to then never release the originals again. Almost every other director's or alternate cut of a movie is sold as an alternative, not as the only version available. Star Wars is the only series I know of where they absolutely refuse to release new copies of the original version.

Exactly. There are so many films that have different cuts released, from director's cuts, special editions, ultimate editions, unrated, etc, but Star Wars consistently treats the most latest release as the only release without any recognition of the value in seeing multiple editions.

 

[ichab]

I like the way Spielberg handled Close Encounters much better.

I loved the Blade Runner five disc set when it came out. I never knew there were so many versions of that movie. Disney would make a killing releasing the OT in a big box set with every version of those movies in it. Imagine having the theatrical release, late 90s SE, 2004 DVD versions and 2012 blue ray versions of those films all in one set.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I loved the Blade Runner five disc set when it came out. I never knew there were so many versions of that movie. Disney would make a killing releasing the OT in a big box set with every version of those movies in it. Imagine having the theatrical release, late 90s SE, 2004 DVD versions and 2012 blue ray versions of those films all in one set.

There were three different theatrical releases of SW77/ANH before ROTJ, each with their own tweaks: the original version in 1977, the 1978 re-release, and then the re-re-release in 1981 when "Episode IV A New Hope" was put into the crawl.

In addition, the original 1977 release itself had at least three different soundtrack mixes for different sound systems, with some noticeable though overall relatively minor differences, such as different sound effects and different takes on the voice tracks (the most noticeable being for Aunt Beru).

http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-sound-mixes/id/15294

From that page, a fascinating video comparing soundtrack differences:

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My first experience was the mono mix, which is forever ingrained in my brain. Every time I rewatch SW, it sounds wrong!