• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

SW blu-rays have changes to the films again

Status
Not open for further replies.
davejames said:
When you read those recent Making Of books, it's clear he had all the right instincts and that his PRIMARY concern was always with keeping the story moving and making sure it flowed. Somehow that's all gone completely out the window in his old age.
Click to expand...

Lucas has never been happy with the OT. He has probably always wanted to go back and tinker with things.

Watch Empire of Dreams on the 2004 dvd set.

The only thing Lucas was completely happy with was John Williams' music.
 
Last edited:
The scene were Vader turns on the Palps was already about as perfect as it could be. Even with the mask on you could sense the inner conflict and turmoil in Vader and see the moment when he makes his decision to turn on the emperor and save his son. It doesn't need to be spelled out with dialog; in fact the scene is much more powerful without words. Besides you must have a real tin ear to think that Vader doesn't sound ridiculous every time he says "NOOOOOOOO."
 
Last edited:
Wow, all this drama over chatty Vader and a few blinking Ewoks. I can't wait to see the reaction to the new ending where the Deathstar shoots first.
 
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9NROjAKwgU[/yt]

The reason why I couldn't take Vader seriously at the end of Sith, and why I don't want to get the Blu-ray of Jedi, although I probably will :rolleyes:
 
Professor Zoom said:
Temis the Vorta said:
The nerds have been heard! Deadline has picked up the story.

One of the commenters raises a good point: why isn't the Director's Guild of America doing something to stop Lucas from frakking with movies (ESB and ROTJ) that are other directors' artistic products? Aren't guilds supposed to stop their members' work from being destroyed (which it will be, since Lucas refuses to release the original and altered versions), regardless of what corporation owns the work?
Click to expand...

I would bet in this case, the corporation owns the work in total, copyright, etc. It's work for hire, essentially. As long as that artist continues to be paid....

If Richard Marquand wanted his actor to wreck a scene by whining noooooo at a pivotal moment, that was his call to make, not Georgey boy's.
Click to expand...

Actually, no. "Georgey boy" was writing the checks. The director, especially Marquand, was a hired director to do a job that Lucas wanted him to do.

Lucas didn't hire people that had sway in the industry, he hired people he could kinda tell what to do.

Edited to add for clarity: The Directors Guild would most likely only be able to insure payment, etc. The film company owns the movie. Now, also, Marquand might not have been a member of the DGA. Lucas quit the Guild because they didn't want to allow him to put credits at the end. So, Marquand might not have been on a Guild contract.
Click to expand...

Two reasons...

Lucas has more of a right to tamper with ESB and ROTJ because he owns the films. Fox owns ANH but he controls the sequel and merchandising rights and can pretty much do whatever he wants with that. But Lucas financed ESB and ROTJ, produced them, wrote them (he really did write half the script to ESB) and hired the directors.

Secondly, Lucas is not a member of the Directors Guild. He dropped out of that, the Writers Guild and the Producers Guild after Empire. He broke a Directors Guild rule by not having "Directed by George Lucas" appear twice during the opening credits but the Guild ignored that because it was his film. When he did it again for ESB and ROTJ (directed by two different directors) the Guilds attempted to block the release of the film. That obviously didn't happen. They fined Lucas $250,000. He paid it, then dropped out of the three guilds and I believe the Motion Picture Society of America.

He finances the films and it's a guild member so he can do whatever he wants. Whether people like it or not.

EDIT: Just read the full post I quoted...looks like Professor Zoom already explained it. My bad.
 
Hasn't it become a nice tradition and, as such, a comforting sign of stability in this ever-changing world that each new SW release reliably brings one of these controversial additions? ;)

Y'know, what I feel annoyed by in all this is how I see George Lucas as some kind of cosmetic surgeon who obsessively facelifts his aging patient, falsely believing that he (the patient) has become less attractive by getting older, and not realizing that sometimes, excessive cosmetic surgery makes one look like patchwork. SW used to be the benchmark for VFX for years, even decades, but technology develops and naturally, 34 years later, it will have been superceded by better-looking films. That doesn't change its impact or relevance. The same goes for changes that affect (if ever so slightly) characters and story. I don't care much if Vader says "No" or not. It works either way, but the continuing tinkering with what was a perfectly fine film, not just in its time, but still today, shows that Lucas has lost all perspective on his creation. As an earlier post said, these changes do sometimes draw attention to themselves (especially in beloved films like these) - at this rate, will the SW releases of, say, 2021 or 2031, and you know they'll be coming, even feature any of the filmed scenes and recorded sound from 1977-83? He should rather just make new films, Star Wars or not, and rest easy in the knowledge that however they do critically and commercially, he has made 4 among the 20 most successful movies in film history. So why the insistence on rewriting that history once every seven years?

Oh well...
 
George Lucas said:
"My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation.I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.(...)


People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society"
Click to expand...

Lucas, biggest troll ever! I'm humbled by his powers! :lol:

http://savestarwars.com/lucasspeechagainstspecialedition.html
 
In fairness to Lucas, this was the action of copyright holders - who typically had nothing to do with making the movies - as opposed to who people who played a central and guiding role crafting the films, as he did with the Star Wars movies. I'm sure if he was ambushed with that quote now he'd offer a defence along those lines.
 
OK, normally I don't mind making changes, the Han shooting first deal is a problem for me but I accepted it but now with Vader saying no in Jedi is just a bit much. To me, the scene is much more powerful with seeing Vader fighting within himself and eventually just grabbing the Emperor and tossing him over. This addition really cheapens that scene IMO.
 
Mutenroshi said:
George Lucas said:
"My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation.I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.(...)


People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society"
Click to expand...
...

http://savestarwars.com/lucasspeechagainstspecialedition.html
Click to expand...

Kegg said:
In fairness to Lucas, this was the action of copyright holders - who typically had nothing to do with making the movies - as opposed to who people who played a central and guiding role crafting the films, as he did with the Star Wars movies. I'm sure if he was ambushed with that quote now he'd offer a defence along those lines.
Click to expand...

The phrase "cultural heritage" most certainly implies a view of art that explicitly validates much broader interests relating to its preservation and exhibition than those acknowledged by the enforcement of intellectual property rights, regardless of how connected the holders of those rights are to the creation of the art. In particular, it validates the interests of the audience in retaining access to media which can reproduce its original experience of the art, or accurate facsimiles thereof. In addition, the greater the impact that original experience had on the culture, the more that original experience is part of the cultural heritage. The original theatrical editions of the OT are therefore some of the poster children for movies that are a part of our cultural heritage.

So, especially since he chose to use that language, I have to say that these remarks of his certainly suggest without question that Lucas should support both the permanent preservation and exhibition of the original editions of Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI, which of course does not preclude his creation and exhibition of new versions of them ad infinitum.

Of course, people can and do change their minds and retract what they have said earlier. He is of course free to do that as well.

Thanks for brining that up, Mutenroshi, and thanks for the link.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Moviefan2k4
Star Wars: After Endor
Replies
1
Views
434
Jedi Marso
Jedi Marso
Moviefan2k4
Star Wars: Dark Side Visions
Replies
0
Views
316
Moviefan2k4
Moviefan2k4
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top