The pacing was bad and with commercials was abysmal. I still think it was the ABC Sunday Night Movie that really tanked TMP's reputation in the '80s.
But finished enough for him to release it and take the money.
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The pacing was bad and with commercials was abysmal. I still think it was the ABC Sunday Night Movie that really tanked TMP's reputation in the '80s.
But finished enough for him to release it and take the money.
Largely because the technology was not where he wanted it to be at. So he settled. But, I don't think he ever felt like they were worthy of the accolades given. Certainly not the fervent desire to see the original cuts.
Again, the 1977 version(s) of Star Wars (plural as there were a few cuts and audio mixes) is a piece of cinema history. It should be preserved and released for the people. Its a matter of ego that they've not been released. Releasing it in a modern format, I don't think is asking too much. But alas, it likely never will happen.
I recall JJ Abrams asked if LucasFilm were gonna release the original versions of the OT and the answer was they couldn’t. My guess is that before Lucas sold off his company he put it in the contract that Disney would only release the versions he considered the “definitive”. Either that or LFL is only holding back out of respect for Lucas’ wishes.
He’s a stubborn fellow. And as time goes by, fewer and fewer people even care about the theatrical versions because many new generations have been brought up with the altered versions and more will continue to see them. The only fans that have an interest in the unaltered cuts are cinephiles. So at this point it’s more of a niche audience salivating for the originals.
He’s a stubborn fellow. And as time goes by, fewer and fewer people even care about the theatrical versions because many new generations have been brought up with the altered versions and more will continue to see them. The only fans that have an interest in the unaltered cuts are cinephiles. So at this point it’s more of a niche audience salivating for the originals.
Sadly, it is to preserve ego at this point.
It doesn't seem like a big deal to us. But, reading and watching about Lucas it is a huge emotional deal to him.
Making revised versions is one thing. But trying to suppress the original version...
I think it will happen, though maybe not in my lifetime. But the historic merit of the original will win out eventually.
Eventually, though, the cinephile interest will outweigh the popular interest as mainstream audiences care less and less about something "old." If Star Wars 77 becomes a lost movie, the original version will become the one that really matters, as has happened with every other lost movie.
Yeah, well... Most adults accept the idea that things don't always go their way and move on.
It is something else. It also isn't rational.
Depends on the adult. Lucas has demonstrated a tendency to become very depressed and anxious over his work, especially Star Wars and how that impacted his marriage. So, humans don't always behave rationally when it comes to such painful memories, depressive tendencies or anxious thoughts.
Otherwise I wouldn't have a job.
The movies were his. He wanted to fix what he saw was wrong. It's the fans that took unwarranted "public domain ownership" of the Original Trilogy as if they legally belonged to the masses and not Lucas. He may have made some idiotic personal choices with his Special Editions and the later Bluray releases but it's not as if the wider public could stop him.
At the end of the day he could do anything he wanted to them and the most embarrassing side effect of the Special Editions wasn't Greedo shooting first, it was fans lecturing George about altering his own intellectual property and injecting unneeded vitriol into it.
At the end of the day he could do anything he wanted to them and the most embarrassing side effect of the Special Editions wasn't Greedo shooting first, it was fans lecturing George about altering his own intellectual property and injecting unneeded vitriol into it.
Again, from a perspective of film history, the 1977 Star Wars was groundbreaking. It won awards. Lots of them. It changed the history of film for good or for ill. I don’t mind the special editions. I really don’t. You’re right. They are George’s movies. I just would like the original versions along side the SEs for the sake of film history. I hold no belief it will actually happen though. The opportunity was there last year with the release of the complete saga set. It didn’t happen. I don’t think it will happen.
And GL did make a big deal in Congress about a decade before the SEs came out about the importance of the preservation of film history. Just saying.
And GL did make a big deal in Congress about a decade before the SEs came out about the importance of the preservation of film history. Just saying.
There will be bonus features, but maybe different to what people might guess. Last time, the DE team found unseen audition tapes for Ilia and Xon. They have definitely been doing some rummaging through the archives.
Agreed, which is why it always amuses me how there is the demand for particular format, as if we are owed anything for it. We are not.
As much as I loved seeing the previously-clipped out and/or abandoned TMP material (which Australia finally got the SLV on VHS in 1986*), it did not address the major complaints about TMP from critics and audiences in 1979: that the theatrical version was "too long, too slow". Yes, the SLV added some great lines, but an extra 12 mins of running time - plus ads on US TV - made the movie less interesting to casual fans.
(* Just remembered, I did get to see the SLV on New Year's Eve, 1983. I was staying in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and my penpal's father ran out and bought it as a treat to welcome in 1984. But my friends Down Under had to wait until 1986.)
Mmmm. Not sure I have met too many of them.
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The director's Edition adds about 6 of the 12 minutes from the SLV into the movie. It also removes about 5 minutes of other footage. The opening Overture music is an additional 2 minutes and the credits are extended by about a minute maybe for the director's Edition credits at the end. So the director's Edition is actually 4 minutes longer than the theatrical cut but when you're watching it it sure seems to move a lot faster.
To be fair, the point he was making in Congress was that studios were altering films without the consent of the makers. Lucas altering the films under his own production is one thing, Ted Turner colorizing IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE to the objection of Frank Capra is something else.
And colorizing it badly. Even in the late 1980s that didn't look very good, and the average computer then looked like it didn't even deserve to be in Matthew Broderick's bedroom in WarGames.
Like they did with Suddenly (1954) when they gave Frank Sinatra brown eyes.
I forgot or never realized that. That's pathetic.
Exactly! It achieves its goals. Mostly.
Sure, but it doesn't make their position right, or even worth giving the same level of consideration as a rational position.
I've seen this counter-argument many times, but have rarely seen the argument. Most everyone agrees that Lucas should make as many revisions to his works as he wants. It's trying to suppress the originals that people have a problem with.
In the home video era it would have been great bonus material. Though I agree with @Grant, the "I weep for V'ger" scene hits a great point on the movie's emotional narrative, such as it is. But the cutting of the movie was a bit of a mess, I think that much is established!
That's true. But he was framing his argument with a moral imperative of preserving cultural heritage. It's hard to accept the premise that film's contribution to cultural heritage has value, and then make a big exception for whatever the creator thinks about it. Once the film has been released, its historical and cultural impact is made. Trying to sweep the work that made that impact down the memory hole, even by the creator, doesn't fit with his overall moral argument.