Star Wars films officially coming to Blu-Ray

[davejames]

Beyond my own selfish reasons for wanting them I think Lucas does himself a disservice by diminishing the extraordinary things he and his crew were able to accomplish 30 years ago.

Agreed. Not only should their original work stand forever as a testament to the incredible leap they were able to make in filmmaking, but the original FX are what give those movies a HUGE part of their charm.

To me changing the OT is like going back and redoing all the FX for the original King Kong or Jason and the Argonauts. You'd be destroying what made those movies so unique and memorable in the first place.

 

[The Wormhole]

Since I still don't own a blu-ray and don't plan on getting one any time soon, I could hardly care.

Still, one would think it wouldn't be too hard to include both versions of the OT in the set. Do something like a side-by-side comparison like what I hear they did with the remastered episodes of Star Trek TOS.

 

[David cgc]

I heard somewhere else that when Lucas first did the Special Editions, he dickered around with the original film masters to get the top quality, so that's what he means when he says it'd be difficult to get the original versions back out.

I'm not sure why they couldn't just use a print. There must be a clean surviving print of Star Wars in a vault somewhere. Maybe ask the Library of Congress nicely if they can borrow theirs.

 

[RandyS]

Since I still don't own a blu-ray and don't plan on getting one any time soon, I could hardly care.

Same here. I already own both versions of the OT on DVD, as well as the PT, and I'm happy with that.

 

[Set Harth]

Maybe ask the Library of Congress nicely if they can borrow theirs.

This isn't the print you're looking for.

I can go about my business in the vault.

You want to go home and rethink your life.

 

[KB24]

I may rent the blu ray just to see how they look, but I probably won't consider buying them until the price comes down considerably. Besides, I don't want the prequel trilogy. I'd only be interested in seeing the restored original trilogy anyway. Now, will this be the special editions anyway? I've already got I think, five versions of these shows on vhs and dvd.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Does this mean they're going to fix some of the errors: Obi's lightsaber, the TIE fighters' background, etc? They stick out like sore thumbs on both DVD editions. I can only imagine how bad they'd look on BR.

 

[milo bloom]

Give me the 3 originals in HD, cleaned up with no crappy extra song and dance routines added, or fuck off.

I know it's a broken record but I would be more excited for the new versions if the original versions were made available in a decent release. Beyond my own selfish reasons for wanting them I think Lucas does himself a disservice by diminishing the extraordinary things he and his crew were able to accomplish 30 years ago.

Yeah, no originals-no sale. But let me clarify that by saying that I would buy both versions if available. I don't mind have the SE versions as alternates, but I just can't get excited about an SE only box ( I bought the first DVD release, in the silver box, and those will do until respectable versions of the originals are released). If down the road he releases the originals on Bluray, I'll pick them up day one, and I'll pick up this SE release to sit right beside it on my shelf.


And there are a crap ton of prints in the hands of private collectors, and there are tons of older films constantly being restored at what are apparently cost-effective levels, so again, Lucas is basically bullshitting us. Again.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I wish I could care but I don't have a blu ray player so won't be buying these. It's too bad that Lucas won't satisfy a large contingent of fans and include the non-special edition version of the Star Wars trilogy. I know and understand that these are HIS preferred versions of the film but for many fans they are not theirs.

 

[sidious618]

The films are Lucas'. They're his vision and if he feels that the SE are the definitive version then that is what he should be putting out and nothing else because, as the artist, it's Lucas' vision that is most important and not ours. This idea that he owes us the originals is ridiculous. Lucas doesn't owe us anything. He puts out what he feels is the best representation of the Star Wars saga and I applaud him for that.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ I just stated that in my post.

 

[sidious618]

^ I just stated that in my post.

I wasn't replying to you. It was more of a response to the complaints in general and from years past. Sorry for the confusion, mate.

 

[Admiral_Young]

No worries.

 

[RAMA]

I'm finally getting a Bluray player next week that's netflix ready. Should look great!

 

[KB24]

I think it tells you how little people care by how little responses there are in this thread. Its like the LOTR blu ray gimmick. Eh. I'm still waiting for the prices on a lot of br to come down.

 

[Starbreaker]

I don't think it's a gimmick. A lot of people prefer the LOTR theatrical editions and are going to just buy those and be done with it. And I'm sure when the SW blu-rays hit the shelves they're going to be the top selling BDs of the year. Lots of people who don't care about that retarded song in ROTJ will want the set.

Anyone want to take a guess at the price? I'm guessing $199

 

[milo bloom]

I think it tells you how little people care by how little responses there are in this thread. Its like the LOTR blu ray gimmick. Eh. I'm still waiting for the prices on a lot of br to come down.

Exactly what gimmick is that?

The ones where the tried to foist the theatrical cuts on us when we know good and well the extended editions are better, and that there are tons of extras that have yet to see the light of day?

I don't think this is a valid comparison, this is actually a case of the people *wanting* the theatrical cuts over the "extended editions". Though I imagine the reaction wouldn't have been nearly so bad if he had merely extended them, i.e., adding back the Biggs footage, the wampa footage, the little deleted lightsaber scene that was recently released. Instead he had to muck them up with flying droids and other stuff that nobody had been asking for over the years.

The films are Lucas'. They're his vision and if he feels that the SE are the definitive version then that is what he should be putting out and nothing else because, as the artist, it's Lucas' vision that is most important and not ours. This idea that he owes us the originals is ridiculous. Lucas doesn't owe us anything. He puts out what he feels is the best representation of the Star Wars saga and I applaud him for that.

He was perfectly happy selling us that first, flawed vision for 20, 17 and 14 years (and I was perfectly happy to buy it). Look, when it comes to art, I'm as hippy-dippy, bleeding-heart liberal as you want to get. I'll defend all kinds of crazy shit as "art". I won't accept "artists" who "change their mind" decades after the fact. Spielberg has said he couldn't make Close Encounters now because of how Roy leaves his family, but not only does he allow the movie to be released, but he also releases all three versions on DVD and Bluray.

Sorry, the "tortured artist" routine doesn't fly with me, not with Lucas anyways.

 

[Pingfah]

The films are Lucas'. They're his vision and if he feels that the SE are the definitive version then that is what he should be putting out and nothing else because, as the artist, it's Lucas' vision that is most important and not ours. This idea that he owes us the originals is ridiculous. Lucas doesn't owe us anything. He puts out what he feels is the best representation of the Star Wars saga and I applaud him for that.

People saying they prefer the originals and won't buy the box set without them is not the same as people saying he owes them to us. At no point in the thread up to your post did anybody say he owes us.

I don't think he owes us anything, I just know what I want. I don't think there is a problem with me expressing that desire

 

[davejames]

I don't think this is a valid comparison, this is actually a case of the people *wanting* the theatrical cuts over the "extended editions". Though I imagine the reaction wouldn't have been nearly so bad if he had merely extended them, i.e., adding back the Biggs footage, the wampa footage, the little deleted lightsaber scene that was recently released. Instead he had to muck them up with flying droids and other stuff that nobody had been asking for over the years.

Yeah, I think most of us would be fine if the special editions were presented as just an extended, "alternate" cut of the films (because let's be honest, it WAS a lot of fun seeing all that new stuff the first time in the theater).

But the fact Lucas now wants us to accept these as the "official" versions of the movies is just really hard to take. Especially when you see how horribly out of place most of that new material looks now.

I realize it's his work and all, but it's still too bad that he isn't more... understanding toward his diehard fans.