naitram

*Carnac the Magnificent*

...Star Wars threads, driving, and the election...

*rips open envelope*

...all things that bring out the absolute worst in people

*drunk ED* ho ho haw haw ho

FangsFirst

Yeah, but it's not like Sam Raimi or ESPECIALLY John Carpenter (it would be totally out of character) or those Universal directors are BEHIND those re-releases--the fact that Lucas himself seems to be behind these, that's saying something.

Though we should all really get off this threadcrapping topic...sigh. I'm such a hypocrite.

(while I'm at it: nyah nyah JarJar, you sound like you don't think Lucas has ever done anything wrong or greedy, or as if those things are okay since he used to do artistically valuable things when he used to actually listen to input from other people instead of convincing himself he was a brilliant auteur)

Michael Corvin

I just think it's funny to think back a few years when Lucas didn't want to put SW on DVD.

FangsFirst

or when he said to anyone who wanted an un-edited version of the original films that they were "available on VHS"?

cinemaphile

only because they dont own the rights to their own movies, therefore it's not their decision to make. The studios who own the rights make those decisions. Lucas happens to own his own films, so he is both director AND making business decisions.

...anyway, enough of this talk... theres no reason to buy these, im not even sure why i clicked on the thread.

naitram

because...

cinemaphile

::

milo bloom

In case there's still confusion, it was clarified in the thread in the main DVD section of the forum here that there is no new material. It was even in the writeup on the official Star Wars site where they blatantly said so.

Here
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/53...-2008-a-6.html

post 149


Of course I still hold out a fool's hope that one day they'll slip in 16x9 copies of the original versions under the radar.

FangsFirst

Alas, I think fool's hope is the exact description...

OldBoy

it's funny i was watching "Silent Night, Deadly Night" last night and in the toy store they showed the Jabba the Hut lunch box on the shelf and i was like didn't SNDN come out in 1981 and then was like whoa!, but then realized it must have come out after 1983 and remembered it came out in 1984 so it would be fine to see the box, but seriously...WHY WOULD ANYONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND BUY THIS SET AGAIN!!!!!!!!

joltman

Because the two sets are matching and are slimline cases. That's reason enough for some people, myself included, to buy them.

grenier

Believe it or not, some people don't own the movies yet. That's reason enough.

I din't know why it bothers some people so much.

FangsFirst

In fairness, that would not be "AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Because for once instead of being cynical about a company (eg, Universal) we KNOW the creator is behind it, performing blatantly obvious marketing ploys, which is generally seen as antithetical to art or entertainment (in terms of its creation--ie, someone who does that does not make good art, and someone who makes good art does not do that).

It's a clash of priorities/belief systems, and an image of a man, in some minds, driving his work further and further down the toilet by first playing with it, then the snubbing the people who got him the money to be ABLE to play with it by snottily telling them they couldn't have the movies they saw before (in contrast, see Ridley Scott/WB--yeah, you've gotta get one of the sets, but you CAN get the theatrical cut, even though Scott hates it and it did poor business), then the double-snubbing of those who were reluctant but gave in as he implied the original cuts would NEVER be released (and then were), and of course the general flushing of taking what is loved by many (theoretically including him) and "cheapening it" into pure product instead of anything resembling a labour of love.

Not saying you should agree with the above, but, c'mon, you can at least see the perspective, right? Might still be ridiculous to you, but...y'know...

Houstondon

And he was endlessly beat up for that decision too...

mr. b_dvd

Saw them Friday on the shelves at Target in my area as well. I told one of the workers, pointed out that they should not be on the shelves until Tuesday, 11/04, and even pointed out on the sign they had that said it. He just looked at me like I was talking a foreign language or something. I told him to show his manager.

They do look nice and matched each other okay, but I'm fine with the copies I have now, and by the time I get a Blu-ray player, they'll probably have these released at least twice in blu.

Chaza

I'm happy with my fullscreen vhs copies of the Original Trilogy. I haven't watched them since the they were ruined and put into theaters in the late nineties.

joltman

Where is the proof that Lucas himself is behind this release?

grenier

I took his "AGAIN!!!" as asking why anyone would buy the movies period, not double dipping.

Mr Bear1116

I still have not bought any of the films. Lucas really needs to take a que from Peter jackson and re-lease at the least the prequels with all those finished deleted scenes edited back in. It would be nice if the OT could have extra scenes (Biggs on Tatooine, Wampas in Echo Base, etc...) in addition to including the theatrical versions all cleaned up. I honestly find it odd that someone would waste the money to rebuy something they have simply so the packaging matches, and this is coming from someone who is diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive.

Jeremy517

I'll remember that when you start spamming hte forum in about 15 minutes.

The Cow

Good catch.

FangsFirst

I'm not sure I follow, but fair enough for that interpretation (even if I'm not sure where it is!)

Travis McClain

Lucas himself has made no secret over the years of the iron-clad control he has over his properties. This is why Star Wars marketing is so comprehensive--when he negotiated the production of the first--sorry, the fourth--film, he demanded and received ownership of the property. The relationship with Fox is entirely for distribution of his live action films (theatrically and on home video), as is the relationship with Warner Bros. concerning the Clone Wars film and series. Hasbro ponied up untold truckloads of cash just to make action figures, and they can't manufacture anything that is not approved by Lucasfilm. Check out the forum at rebelscum.com sometime to get an idea just how minute the attention to detail can get.

Travis McClain

I actually don't have a problem with this go-round of DVD releases per se. It's only the second time for the Prequel Trilogy, and the first time those three have been collected. I think my misgivings are actually with what hasn't come out already. A matching box set edition of the Prequel Trilogy would have been nice to accompany the 4-disc Original Trilogy box from 2004, for instance. A boxed version of the OT with the original versions would also have been nice (one store's exclusive tin does not a box set release make). For that matter, who honestly expected 2007--the thirtieth anniversary year--to come and go without a comprehensive collection of all six films, complete with anamorphic original versions and an entire DVD of George Lucas skinny dipping in a pool full of $1000 dollar bills?