Josh-da-man

I haven't read the book (yet), but on Brin's website he does some excellent critiques of the Star Wars movies.

shaggy

This is why I love Star Wars so much, the films are mostly great, the universe is outstanding, and the drama surrounding everything that comes out is almost as entertaining as the films. I personally hope Star Wars is released every single year on every format that is on the way. No one is holding a gun to your head to buy it. And lets be honest if 13 going on 30 can be double dipped and many other films are already on DVD 4 times, then surely Star Wars can be tripled up on DVD without everyone throwing a hissy fit. I have had the originals on laserdisc for years and I also have truly amazing fan created DVDs of the original trilogy so I never cared if they were officially released. I actually look forward to seeing more changes, I look at the changes almost like sequels. Maybe they will be cool, and if not we still have the originals. There is nothing Lucas could do to Star Wars that ruins the originals. I hope the rumors from a few years ago are true, put a digital yoda in Empire, have Ewan replace Sir Alec whatever, it could be cool to see. People are nuts about Lucas, he sells his big hit the same way everyone else does. Actually better than most. If you are a Star Wars fan, deep down you know it to be true. We get awesome Toys, collectibles, videogames, DVDs, etc.

I have always said the one big mistake Lucas made was not making the originals available. Why piss people off for nothing? Make them available, and then release every other version and 90% of people will buy the new ones too. He finally releases the orginals and it still back fires because he doesn't make them anamorphic. Its really too bad because the poor treatment of the theatrical original trilogy is the only leg the Lucas bashers have to stand on. Everything else you guys bitch about is laughable.

coli

But that is why fans are still bitching, precisely cause Lucas keeps changing them and non either releasing the O-OT, or finally putting them out in laserdisk quality.

I don't care about the SE nor the PT, just like I don't care about the EU, but the reason nobody bitches about the EU, is Lucas didn't change the OT films to fit around the books, and then decide not to release the O-OT films.

If Lucas put out a great O-OT DVD, fully remastered, 99% of the fans would be happy. Sure there would be that 1% would bitch and moan on the internet, cause they always will. But this release has moved alot of moderate fans who never took shots at Lucas to really questioning what the f**k he is thinking putting this out in non-anamorphic?

sracer

...perhaps the biggest reason for not putting out O-OT DVD discs that 99% of the fans would be happy with is that once he did THAT, Star Wars would no longer hold its unique place in the DVD arena.

Put it out... buzz for a week. Withhold it... buzz for years. Put it out in a substandard form... mega-buzz for years.

The history of Star Wars on DVD is a lengendary tale... orchestrated by Lucas. If he released the O-OT back in the day, it wouldn't have that unique position.

milo bloom

I don't know, I've always maintained that if he had started releasing SW on DVD from the start (like releasing the SEs on DVD alongside the VHS and LD's back in 97), he would have had a lot happier fanbase to deal with over the years. That is, along as the originals had also been released at some point. I can easily imagine myself and many others upgrading our SW DVDs multiple times over the last nine years (nine!), but because he waited so long instead, he just created resentment that, for the most part, is really just based on his stubborness to play ball with us, rather than any type of artistic decision he may have made.

I think he's done far more harm than good by stringing us along all these years, then starting the double dipping from the beginning. Had he done that, it would have just been more of the "That's our Lucas!" type of reaction, than the current "That damn Lucas!" which is unfortunately so prevalent.

coli

It has only fueled more cynicism towards Lucas and SW, and it has actually made many fans forget about Lucas's ultimate goal of looking at the saga 1-6.

By Lucas totally disregarding the O-OT a couple of years ago, he actually created that fanbase now, cause many of those fans who like the O-OT feel that is the 4-6 saga now, not 1-6.

If Lucas wouldn't have tampered with the OT, or just did the SE in 97 as a theater release for the anniversary, and put out the O-OT in 2004, and then the O-OT + PT in this upcoming boxset, many fans would be more willing to accept 1-6 now.

I know many friends who don't like ROTJ, but they always bought the OT boxsets, and considered ROTJ part of the OT saga at that point, even though they didn't love it. I feel many would do the same had the OT never been changed, just look at the OT as the better trilogy, but still have no problem buying the PT movies with it.

By dissing the O-OT, Lucas has actually split the OT fanbase now, and he has a decision to make: Does he release the SE & O-OT on every future release, cause he has made a fan like me only want to buy upcoming SW boxsets with the O-OT in it. If he just left the OT alone, I would be buying saga 1-6 boxsets like I did in the 80's/90's. So not only has Lucas lost me buying 3 future movies with the PT movies in the boxset, he has now lost me buying all 6 movies PT + SE/OT, cause I don't love those versions enough to rebuy them.

FaustBos

That line speaks for itself.
Popping in Galaxy Quest right now. Now there is a true classic.

Dane

FaustBos

This is great point, and if you read between the lines and in other postings, you can see clearly the game thats playing out. Whoever said in this threat that lucas can milk the fan boys is spot on. If this is what people want to support, then buy the dvds and accept whatever scraps are thrown your way. I'm sure the saga as it has played out is carefully choreographed, and planned. No matter. It is what it is, and its my choice what I buy and what I can live without.

Im in the catagory of looking at the 6 films as 2 separate entities. There are the original 3 films. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. As stated above, I don't think ROTJ is a good film at all, but i'll take it for it it is. I can ignore the marketing. I'd even be happy with the enhancements if there was a choice in which I could buy. I don't consider the upcoming release as a choice though. There is no heart behind the release. You might as well, buy a LD, Rip it and make your own DVD, as many have. For serious movie buffs, this really just is a raw deal from start to finish.

Then there are episodes 1-3. Perhaps these might have been better received had the full saga turned out differently. Who knows. But the would certainly have turned out better, had there been better scripts, better acting, better direction, better dialog, .... a better production team, or perhaps to be fair, a production team on the cutting edge of filmmaking.

Nothing about the 3 new films "wows" me. Nothing at all. The dumbing down of the franchise reaks. One of the charms of the original trilogy were the languages. I guess kids these days can't be bothered to read subtitles. No matter. Its a mystery to me why the original films don't have voice overs for all of the speaking aliens. Again, no matter.

Lucas does deserve alot of credit for alot of techno advances in film making. I personally think his all digital world if heading in the wrong direction however, but his production teams have paved the way for some amazing on screen affects. Its a shame that so many other production professionals are doing it soooo much better than Lucas Arts these days.

I will not buy the non anamorphic discs, because I look at this as a total slap in the face of serious film fans. Thats my right to feel this way, and my right not to buy the films. Not complaining any longer. I can live without the release. I'm sure the releases will look just fine on my 2.6 meter screen, but I don't care to really find out. There are far too many good works available, important films that get proper treatment and care to worry about this. Maybe some day a decent release of the originals will come out, but i've got no doubt i'll be enjoying something that was released without incident when it does, and will probably stick to that.

Feathers McGraw

Oooh. Missed it by $3. Future Shop pricing today says $26 each, so $88 bucks after tax.

Sorry George, I ain't buying. Your carefully set up self-fulfilling prophecy will come true, sales of these disks are going to be pathetic.

Spiderbite

I really like the idea of the reprints of the Marvel adaptations mentioned in the other thread. I have an old beat-up version of Star Wars, a worn copy of ESB in the paperback version, and can't find my ROTJ copy.

For the right price, I might consider this dammit. I am starting to falter a little on not buying this release even if it is non-anamorphic. If I add up the money I have spent buying and rebuying these movies on VHS, Laserdisc, and Bootleg dvds (all non-anamorphic versions), it is a drop in the bucket compared to what I would spend on these releases. I have been hitting the "zoom" button for the last 4 years since i bought my first widescreen television and my anamorphic bootlegs are already suffering dvd-rot.

I just would hate to buy these and see them given a proper release later on dvd or HD-dvd (or released separately from the "special edition versions" which I would rather not own).

Decision, decisions. Any others out there starting to falter? I am an old school fan that has not bought any copies of Star Wars on dvd and have held out for the OT the entire time.

nodeerforamonth

Doubt it. Joe Six Pack doesn't care about "anamorphic" disks.

MontyPythonFan

Lousy, lousy, lousy! (though not as bad as some expected)

Here are screencaps:

http://outnow.ch/Media/Img/1977/StarWars-Episode4/

digitalfreaknyc

at least Vaders blade is red.

Cameron

i'm not so sure thats the new dvd...screencaps should have black on all four sides...the menus have been online for two weeks now...

digitalfreaknyc

No they wouldn't.

Jay G.

digitalfreaknyc is correct. The "black on all four sides" pics are simulations of how this DVD will appear on WS TVs without zooming in. On standard 4:3 TVs, and on the image that is actually stored on the DVD, the caps are correct.

The Valeyard

Mr. Six Pack probably doesn't care about the originals movies either. If they wanted to buy Star Wars on DVD...they would have picked up one of the other releases already. I work with about 13 people of various age ranges and most of them already own the 4 Disc set from two years ago and thought they already owned the "originals." And most of them saw Star Wars back in the day!

It's doubtful Mr. Six-Pack will double dip for this. This release was specifically targeted at the fanbase.

CertifiedTHX

Certainly not the pristine transfers of the 2004 releases, but probably better than any VHS copy I've ever watched. Anamorphic or not, I will be happy to pick these up on September 12. At least these are the versions with which I grew up, and I do love the trilogy in its original form.

As I said many pages before, the only purpose in having these is to satisfy my sense of nostalgia. When I want to watch any of the original Star Wars films, I will put in the 2004 versions, with their superior A/V. But from time to time, I will love to go back in time with the classics.

--THX

CertifiedTHX

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#082406

I post this not as news--LorenzoL already did that--but to comment. Don't know why some of us are reacting in horror or surprise by this. A boxed set of everything has been rumored for a while now, since before the DVD release of Sith. Even had there been no rumor, this is only logical. A set of the entire Star Wars saga.

I find this news--and further changes to the original films--exciting. Lucas has already "ruined" New Hope, Empire, and Jedi--why not go all the way and do everything he can to modernize them? I don't get upset by that anymore. I just enjoy watching these films evolve with more facelifts. Long as I have the classics--which I will in a few weeks--it's all good.

--THX

sracer

since CertifiedTHX is all about the facelifts, I thought he'd like a sneak peek at how George Lucas is going to enhance Carrie Fisher's appearance in Star Wars IV: A New Hope.

Reservoir

And the 30th Anniversary version:

nodeerforamonth

That's a good point. Time will tell if this sells or not.

Jay G.

I think you're overestimating the percentage of the general population that owns Star Wars already. Take last year's 3-disc boxset that literally had nothing new in content for the hard-core fan, in fact it had less, but was a lower price-point for people who hadn't grabbed the 4-disc set yet. This release is not that different than when Paramount released the three Godfather films separately after the box set of those films. There are some people that maybe only want one or two of these films, while others may be more inclined to pick them up as 3 separate purchases than as a box-set.

Still, adding the unaltered trilogy as a bonus disc will draw in the hardcore fans who may already have had the sets, but I don't think this release was planned to solely get money from those people.

MigusMaximus

This release was solely planned to get money from ANY people (LOL).