http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front...gure_98249.asp

You are completely right. Go back to the special features on the SE laserdiscs or VHS tapes, and Lucas does say in them that he made changes to the original negative to make the special editions. The original Star Wars films do not exist in that form anymore. However, I know that Lucas commissioned Technicolor London to process the Star Wars negative and make five Technicolor prints back in 1977, so at the very least, a good-as-new version of A New Hope exists. I've actually seen one of the five prints, and there's no sign of color fading. Note, the film wasn't shot in Technicolor, he just had Technicolor use their process to make five prints that wouldn't ever fade in color. I don't know if he did this for Empire and Jedi, but I know that there are 70mm prints of both that are around in excellent condition, and both could be used for a DVD master. Again, neither films were shot in 70mm, they just made 70mm blow-up prints. And this is before any remastering. So I have no doubt that these DVDs will look pretty darn good, if not as good as the 2004 ones, which would be taken from the actual negative.

When criticism comes "cheap and easy" it usually has some logic to it.

What do you fucking care? Seriously? Are we not allowed to discuss Lucas' decisions? What's the harm in talking, criticizing whatever? I can't do anything about a lof things in the world, doesn't mean I can't discuss them. Sports, politics, world peace..not much I can do about those topics,,but we can talk about them.

You spend a lot of time bashing people's right to talk, or even decision to talk. Who the fuck are you? Seriously. Just because I don't the rights to Star Wars doesn't mean I can't discuss it.

If ownership is the only thing that gives you a right to talk, then about 6 different companies would have the monopoly on discussion of movies.

Lucas is going to clean these up considerably. He's going to put them out in anamorphic widescreen. I don't think there can be any doubt about this. But I myself doubt that can't stand up to the new DVDs in terms of color saturation, detail, sharpness, etc.

When Lowry did their remastering, they never saw any original film elements. They didn't scan any film. They were given digital files of the SEs, with ILM's further changes and additions, to clean up and remaster.

You're right, the 2004 versions would not be taken from the original negatives, but the 1997 SE versions were. My point is simply that people need to stop worrying about these looking like subpar laserdisc rips, because I've seen with my own two eyes film versions that can stand the test of time.

You're going to have an aneurism. You need to calm down! Nobody has attacked/flamed you or anyone else in this thread. Not one. We're just pointing out the obvious, which you obviously don't like. Many of us are tired of the whining. If you don't like what others have to say, including me, put us on ignore.

Yeah, I agree with you. They're going to look good.

When I was a kid, I thought Greedo's name was actually Gweedo. Don't know why, guess that's just how it sounded to me. Didn't think anything more about it until years later when I observed people referring to his actual name. And even then I thought they were wrong. Took a while before I realized.

--THX

It's mentioned in an interview concerning about the LDI cleanups that Lucasfilm did transfer the original negatives to HD and worked from there.

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but it sounds like there will be a box set, in addition to the three individual releases:

--from an e-mail I got from SWshop.com

Bah. I was just reading the info from the SW site, and I didnt know that each DVD came with the 2004 version as well. Guess I'm guessing off my boxset now..LOL. Oh well.

i can't wait to see those odd looking Tie Fighter panels that glow just a bit during the chase scenes.

I read that Lucasfilm scanned the negatives from the SE negatives. But I can't for the life of me remember where I read that. I can't imagine why there would have been any need to use the originals.

They're commonly-referred to as "matte lines."

Maybe Lucasfilm isn't really releasing the original versions at all and, instead, this is just a ploy to get in these extra changes that make sure Han Solo only shoots in self-defense in every scene:

http://portfolio.iu.edu/rianders/Stormtrooper.avi

http://portfolio.iu.edu/rianders/Officer.avi

http://portfolio.iu.edu/rianders/droid-test.avi

http://portfolio.iu.edu/jtwalker/Control_Final.avi

http://portfolio.iu.edu/rianders/Garbage_Full_2.avi

http://portfolio.iu.edu/jtwalker/Vader_Final.avi

http://portfolio.iu.edu/rianders/greedoclip.avi

Cool. I still remember the guy's face in the video store; he was incredulous when I pointed out SW in the glass cabinet and he said, "You want to BUY it?" But it was $100 well spent.

EMPIRE came out on VHS around 1984, I believe, and I snapped that up quickly too. I'd had a 4th or 5th generation dupe made by a friend of a friend whose dad worked in a theater and it looked AWFUL.

I've been tempted to pick up the DVD boots but glad I waited. Another good point made earlier in this thread: this will take the wind out of the bootlegger's sails. This may have been instrumental in Lucas' decision to release these after all. He stated before that his reason for releasing the SEs years earlier than he'd originally planned was prompted by the market being flooded with bootlegs. In that case, he has every right to protect his property by offering these products himself. After all, while many are upset that GL will 'profit yet again,' the fact is that SOMEone will be raking it in by selling the OT. Why shouldn't it be Lucas himself?

This is true... I'm sure the quote is linked multiple times in the miriad of other GL threads out there. He had said that the restoration done to the films to create the 1997 SEs were it -- there was no restoration done to re-create the original 1977/80/83 versions.

I'm assuming that this is actually true -- which is why Jim Ward is saying these DVDs will be 1993 technology vs. 2006. 1993 would be when the masters were created for the Definitive CAV collection (later released -- with minor corrections to video issues -- as the CLV 'faces' collection). They're going back to these masters because that's all there is to work with.

Are you sure you weren't watching the rare Elmer J. Fudd version?

Or garbage mattes.

Forget the original Star Wars Trilogy... where's our STARCRASH (1979) DVD, starring David Hasselhoff, Christopher Plummer and Caroline Munro at?



TRAILER

If I'm not mistaken, he wasn't originally even going to release them to video at all. He wanted to do the Disney thing and re-release them to the theaters every seven years. It wasn't until the bootleg VHS market got so bad he relented and put them out on video.

I won't b*tch one bit!! I'm so glad to be able to finally get an official release of the Original Trilogy!! I'm sure they will look great. 2.0 mix doesn't bother me either. I hope they are Anamorphic, but if they aren't that's fine. I'll still buy 'em!!

This is good news indeed!! --RickWJ324

I can't imagine they wouldn't be.

LOL.

Quite possible. Of course, VHS became huge and changed everything. No longer could we count on experiencing our favorite films every couple of years or so via theatrical re-releases.

It's no coincidence that GL hooked up with Steven Spielberg, who held out for four years with JAWS before selling to HBO and ABC. And with RAIDERS, the initial ads stated that the film was "in theaters only" and would be "unavailable on television or on videocassettes!"

One thing is certain, these two men LOVE film. I don't always agree with their viewpoint on certain issues, but I simply have to respect them for creating some of the most memorable pictures of all time.

I must say, I really enjoyed the '97 theatrical re-releases of the SW films, and while I respect GL's interest in continuing to work on the films, the current DVDs are kind of hard for me to watch. I think he's finally arrived at a solution that should satisfy everyone.

I hope...