coli

I am just interested on what you think of the release, and what is your state of SW fandom after this release?

I know many have boycotted the O-OT DVD release, and I do respect that, but I never had it on Laserdisk and my bootlegs would always freeze up, so I felt this was only avenue to watch my favorite 3 movie versions again on DVD that will atleast last.

I have to say the quality isn't spectacular, cause the non-anamorphic does take away 30% resolution, and that is a huge difference when DVDs are anamorphically enhanced. The colors definitely don't jump out at you like the 2004 release, but I have ask, which is right color now?

As for my fandom, I have to say I have become a picky SW fan now, and for the first time as a fan, I guess I am very bittersweet and just kinda put my hands up. The PT was not great, but I accepted that they were mediocre and moved on cause they are a seperate entity to me, but the fact that I can't watch the O-OT in a nice remastered DVD set like Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, and Superman annoys the hell out of me, and really makes me think less of Lucas anymore. And as for the saga boxset next year, and future HD-DVD releases, if it doesn't possess a remastered O-OT, I have no reason to buy it, cause I realized I only love the O-OT versions.

The one thing I noticed watching all 3 movies this weekend, is the O-OT is crap free of what I call 'WTF' moments in the SW that pervaded the SE & PT movies. These are moments that either make you cringe or questions WTF Lucas is doing? And anyone who has watched the SE & PT know the exact moments I am talking about (Jar Jar to start.....)

The O-OT are gritty without needless CG, and with the exception of The Ewoks it shows that Lucas really knew what was cool from 77-83, and really shows how much a different filmaker he was from 1997-present.

I was able to watch Han Shoots First, no silly CG, Vader say Bring me my shuttle, no Jedi Rocks, and Sebastian Shaw in ROTJ. Goodbye WTF moments, that is for the fans that watch the saga 1-6 with the PT + SE/OT.

Cameron

i think there are at least a half dozen threads on this website that explain how most people feel.

The Cow

Bought it. Seen it a gabazillion times before. No big deal. No change in my "fandom", whatever that is.

Moving to Star Wars subforum.

Disc-Flipper

A few random thoughts:

There is a hair on the opening 20th Century Fox logo of Star Wars!
I don't remember seeing that hair at the theatre. Did Lucas add that from his own body as a signature? You'd think at least they would run the video through a software package to remove dust, scratches and hairs. Eww.

Fox could've at least done fake anamorphic so the image would fill out peoples' TV screens, even if the resolution wasn't there.

They look much sharper than my bootleg copies, which have already have discarded.

The Tin is great. Best Buy couldn't answer the question whether the keepcases were inside. They said that I couldn't return the tin, once opened, if the cases weren't inside; even if I opened it in front of them at the checkout. Their company exclusively offered the tins but didn't educate their salespeople what was within. Luckily the cases were inside. English covers too, unlike all the bilingual ones if bought separately in Canada.

I like how they made the spines gold to match the prequels

My Star Wars enthusiasm is still there, but I'll only celebrate by watching the movies themselves.

Most of my fandom is gone - I seriously want to sell off my boxloads of action figures, ships, playsets, trading cards, books, VHS tapes and Laserdiscs. Anybody want to buy?

I have a set of Star Wars movies which will never be released on DVD - the Special Editions from 1997 with the cartoony Jabba, Greedo shooting first and Han not dodging, and the Luke girly scream as he falls.

I am dismayed that they did not fix the audio/video flaws of the 2004 special editions. I betcha the same masters were used.

gryffinmaster

Don't give them any ideas.

Jason

No, this guy actually likes Star Wars. All the other threads are about what an asshole George Lucas is, how not having the movies released to their exact specifications is ruining their lives, and how mature they are now that they've grown up and realize SW are kiddie movies.

LittleBuddy

Good Lord, people move on with your lives!

sracer

I purchased the BB tin knowing full-well the state of what was being sold. I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised by the resulting discs. The quality of the O-OT discs is far better than I expected. Sure I wish that they were anamorphic and cleaned up, but all-in-all, I'm happy with them.

As for the state of my Star Wars fandom... it is slightly greater than it has been since the initial theatrical run of Return of the Jedi. I had forgotten what a difference the O-OT makes vs. the SE versions.

Abe.

I'm still the same type of fan now, since I was a kid. They're movies afterall, not life.

I've seen hardcore Star Wars fans, it's not a pretty sight.

radewagon

This might sound weird, but I sort of like the fact that the print is covered with grain and film lines. Don't get me wrong, I still would have preferred an anamorphic transfer, but i am more than pleased with the video quality being less than pristine. It feels like i'm watching a relic from the past. It's an old movie and it looks the part in the way that an old LP has pop and hiss. I am quite pleased with my purchase and beleive that I won't be buying this movie again any time soon. If i have to relive the old star wars experience, i can do just that. And if I want a super clean transfer, i'll pop in the ol' 2004 edition. I know it's not a solution for most people, but then I don't really, save for the horrible jedi rock sequence, mind the alterations that Lucas has made.

As far as my fandom is concerned, I always remember being one and not much has changed since then.

thomkai

I waited on the boxset in 04, and bought the Tin at BB. I'm fairly pleased (except I still want the boxset so I can have the extra disc and box!)
I mainly justified it being a crappy transfer in that if the much anticipated X0 Project release of OT finally gets released, I can say that even though I have a bootleg I am still supporting Lucas, and not just taking without giving (although sometimes that' what it feels like he is doing).
As far as fandom, this actually stirred up my old Star Wars Fandboy inside me. I used to be all over SW, when I was a kid: Fan Club, Toys (really loved the Micro Machine Star Wars toys!), you name it. This brought back that feeling, which was fun

Abe.

I actually own a TON of those Micro Machine toys. I have them in boxes in my closet.

bookcase3

HA! A priceless comment!

Brian Shannon

Glad I have them on my shelf. I'm happy.

PaulNJ21

I know that this is about the original uncut, unedited version of the Star Wars movies, but what does OOT stand for exactly? Something original theaterical?


Paul

marioxb

OOT- Original Original Trilogy

No wait, there are more, that I recently learned about:

OUT- Original Unaltered Trilogy
GOUT- George's Original Unaltered Trilogy (I guess these "bonus discs")

Personally, I'm happy with these releases. I'm just glad I have the old versions and they are better than my VHS's. I'll always prefer the 2004 or newer versions.

exharrison

I'm quite disgruntled by the different coloring of the spine lettering on the OOT vs the PT. Actually, not really. I would personally have liked the six to match up right, but can't have it all.

marioxb

I thought they fixed that for this release? I didn't buy em yet, but aren't they gold rather than silver this time around, like the PT?

dhmac

I wouldn't go that far because Return of the Jedi has quite a few of those cringe-worthy moments (Jabba's Band, Salacious Crumb, every scene with the Ewoks, etc.)

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coli

There is nothing more ironic than when a person like yourself seems to be wasting the same amount of time as us,to open up a forum you could probably gives two hoots about, just to make a comment like that.

Ford Prefect

I bought them, and despite being disappointed about the original cuts not being anamorphic, I will never again upgrade. I'm done with all the leaching a certain person has been doing (I don't want this to become a Lucas bashing thread, though he deserves it) and will not sink any more money into the franchise. That being said, they do still look decent, and I am just happy to not have Greedo shooting first.

milo bloom

It doesn't sound weird so much as it sounds defensive. I can't help but think about when the Godfather films were first released, and all the brouhaha about the less than stellar image quality of those DVDs. I didn't see more than a small handful of people defending those because it reminded them of "a relic from the past".

It's an apologist statement, and little more. I don't want it to sound like a personal attack, but I keep reading too many posts from people going out of their way to defend these sub-par transfers in any way they can.

There are plenty of transfers from the same time period and well before that are able to be restored and given an anamorphic transfer. There are far too many people that seem to think Lucas can do no wrong.

marioxb

I think that Lucas thinks much the same way as I do. If you want to watch the old movies, watch them all inferior-like. If you want to watch them remastered, watch the new versions. That's exactly the way I feel. I LOVE the 2004 versions, except for the wrong colors. I love all of the new scenes. Never cared either way about the Greedo scene, and I think Hayden was a good choice to put in ROTJ. I mean you still have the other dude there when he's unmasked. Lego Star Wars II further solidifies the fact that Anakin should be Episode III age as a ghost.

milo bloom

Is my post (#22) in invisotext?

This statement makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If any other film came out in this day and age with this shoddy of a treatment, there'd be pitchforks and torches and rioting in the streets, but since it's from the almight flanneled one, people will use the flimsiest justification they can think of to defend buying them.

coli

Does anyone understand what remastering really means? Every old movie, whether it was filmed in 1980, or 1950, or 1990 has been remastered when it is prepped for DVD. Since 2001, 99% of the DVD's are anamorphic, and that gives the image 30% more resolution.

The Indiana Jones Boxset is Remastered, and that is why it looks so great. If it was just thrown together like the O-OT set last week in non-anamorphic, it would look average too. Same with Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Rocky, Jaws, etc.

Only Lucas can convince his loyal followers that the SE is better than the O-OT because how it looks. For everyone who doesn't understand, IT IS THE SAME MOVIE!!!!!!!!! The SE just has all the stupid crap added in from '97 & '04, and if they were both remastered, they would look the same.

For anyone who still doesn't understand, go by the ET DVD set. It has the 2002 SE, and the 1982 Theatrical Cut in the same boxset, and both have the same transfers except the 2002 has the updated effects.