I thought lucas was just going to fix the effects in the original trilogy, didn't he say that once? to me if he just fixed and enhanced the fx them i wouldn't we upset. but he didn't fix alot of the bad fx issues he just used that so he can add alot of bad scenes. since perfect cgi technology is almost here does this mean we will finally see the trilogy that george invisioned because i don't think he will ever be satisfied until he gets things perfect.

Like another poster mentioned, this bit was never included in any version of the film but made its way into supplemental material.

It might be something that was in the script, but was cut from the movies or never filmed in the first place.

I have a suspicion that it might've been filmed, but cut from the movie when the special effects didn't quite work. If you watch ESB closely, after Luke climbs up the AT-AT and tosses the bomb into its "belly" the AT-AT's head blows apart and the critter collapses. Since Luke's bomb probably shouldn't have blown the head apart after the initial explosion and the head explosion scene doesn't show any other damage to the AT-AT (such as smoke coming out of it). Makes me think that the original speeder-crash scene was at least partially filmed and then combined into the other scene.

Consider these two excerpts from the fourth draft of the script:

Thanks for all that.

Man! Why does my memory swear I saw that scene in the theater as a kid then, and then on initial VHS release I was wondering where it was?

Implanted memories! -eek-

Great post Rooked, 100% agree. The sad thing is about the whole changes to the OT movies, is if Lucas didn't go overboard the mainstream fans like me wouldn't care.

If Lucas kept every scene intact (Han shooting first, Vader original line in ESB about bringing his shuttle, NO Hayden in ROTJ, Jedi Rocks, etc.) Shit like this is so jarring in the movie, everyone of those scenes sticks out and takes away from the originals.

If Lucas just fix all the small things like matte lines, and a few of the dog fights in the trench run, lightsaber colors, the Rancor, and small additions to Cloud City, etc. Stuff like that wouldn't bother me as a fan, cause it wouldn't be so jarring.

It comes down to Lucas going too far with the changes, and he aint done yet! If he made the minor changes, there would be a very small fanbase that would hate anything, but now he has actually turned moderate SW fans who actually like some of the SE changes to the O-OT side, because we don't want to see Greedo Shoot first and Creepy Hayden as a force ghost.

Now I see the O-OT as the saga of 4-6, and I see the OT/SE as the saga of 1-6 with the PT movies. Good job George, you have given everyone who doesn't want to recognize the prequels a way out: Just watch the O-OT movies.

I haven't seen this mentioned and I was curious if anyone noticed this after all the bitching about the new releases' front dvd cover artwork (myself included).

If you flip between the front of the dvd and the rear of the dvd, they tried to recreate the back poster art completely with real-life photos of all participants (including ships & explosions) in all similar/same positions and in the same order as the posters. I guess that explains the picture of Star Wars' Han Solo on the cover of ESB. Maybe it was the most similar they had?

Kinda cool. Whatcha think?

Yeah, I noticed that when they first posted the cover art.

You're right, it came out wrong

I guess I was referring to the many J6P types who have 4:3 displays, never even bother calibrating with Avia or DVE, and just don't care one way or another. I mean they would hardly notice the quality difference or care. I know someone who has a 4:3 Sony 53" HDTV CRT RPTV. It wouldn't matter to her, for example. Her display does the "anamorphic squeeze" but she never takes advantage of it.

Am I the only one who noticed the 'telecine wobble' during "Star Wars" .....? Talk about lousy!

*Leaves an origami unicorn on Snowmaker's dresser*

It's been there since the laserdisc.

OK, I just watched "A New Hope" today..and it looks like shit. Scratch marks all over the print, little grey flecks everywhere..I can't believe the video got a higher rating than a 4 out of 10. Take a look at the scene where Luke is training with onboard the Falcon..right around 58:31. The whole print looks horrible.

This is a very interesting tradeoff. Is having the movies in anamorphic remastered picture the most important thing to you? Or is it more important to you to have the original theatrical versions of the films? The answer to that question is up to each individual. I'm not going to tell anyone else what they should prefer.

For me the answer is easy. I saw all 3 films during the orignal theatrical releases. Then I watched them on HBO huge numbers of times. Then I watched them on other channels a whole bunch of times. Then I watched them on VHS a whole bunch of times. For me it's not even close. The orignal theatical versions are my preference. I have wathced all 3 of the "bonus" DVDs twice so far, and I am super glad to own them. This is awesome! Whoo hoo!

hmmmm...... ...no.
Not a good argument. Not since the early days of DVD have we been asked to make a choice like this on such a high profile title. A new anamorphic master could have very easily been made. This is either malice or incompetence, or likely a mix of the two.

I too grew up with the originals, my first copies of TESB and ROTJ were taped from TV, so not only pan and scan, but edited for time and with commercials (same with Wrath of Kahn). I eventually picked up widescreen VHS and LDs of the OT, and as long as I've been waiting for the DVDs, I can wait for them to be done right.

Whether or not it was malice or incompentence is almost beside the point, although I doubt making a newly restored transfer of the OUT is as easy as you think it is. Even if it was malice, then end result is still the same: an old transfer of the OUT on DVD. And for the consumer, it's the end result that matters. Now it's up to the consumer to settle for this release, or to wait for a better release that may never come.

How long are you willing to wait? 10 more years? 20? It could be even longer, since Lucasfilm has said that they "have no plans – now or in the future – to restore the earlier versions."

http://www.originaltrilogy.com/Lucas...R_response.cfm
http://www.theforce.net/holonet/stor...ions_98595.asp

ok. just got this tin set as a birthday gift.. So who am I to complain? I didn't own any version of these before today!! whoopee!!!

Haven't seen them yet -but actually glad I have both versions. And it looks like the non-anamorphic versions of the old are the only ones.....

So my only real question is why in the world isn't the bonus supplment 4th disc included in this tin? I heard great things about it - and it's not included. I think it's strange that the only real bonus feature (discounting the old versions) is some commentaries...

Is the 4th disc available separately?

Congrats and Happy Birthday! That is a sweet gift to receive. These editions are available "separately" for the first time. So, no 4th bonus disc. I don't understand why the bonus disc wasn't available in last year's repackaging. That to me was the worst reissue out of all this. So, no, the bonus disc is NOT available separately. You might get lucky on Ebay, though.

Last year's 3-disc boxset was specifically for those who wanted all three movies without the bonus disc. Lucasfilm could sell just the 3 movies for less, so that people wouldn't have to pay more for a bonus disc they didn't want. It was specifically for a limited time and didn't replace the 4-disc set. I actually think it's the best reissue since it didn't have anything that would prompt people who already had the 4-disc set to re-buy.

As for why the tin doesn't have the 4th disc: the tin was a Best Buy repackaging of the separately available 2-disc LEs. It wasn't an official "box-set" made by Lucasfilm, although I do think they signed off on the tin. So far Lucasfilm hasn't made the bonus features disc available separately for those who bought either the 3-disc box-set or the individual 2-disc LEs.

Do I need to point out all the inconsistent statements from Lucas over the past thirty years? Lucas has established enough "reasonable doubt" in my mind that I can wait him out for decent versions.

It'd be helpful if you could point them out, yes. The only "inconsistency" I can think of is his previous claim that the OUT would never be released on DVD. However, this new release seems more consistent than inconsistent. Most people don't consider this a "proper" DVD release anyway. Considering that they used a 13-year-old transfer that they already had from the laserdisc, the release just barely counts as new. It's clearly indicative of the amount of effort Lucasfilm has and will put towards restoring and presenting the OUT, which is next to zero.

Plus almost all the advertising centered around the films being available individually. He didn't hype up the O-OT aspect of this release at all.

You're joking right? All the original announcements were about the originals being available. It was all "Han Shoots First" and "see the original crawl without EPIV and A New Hope". Look at the title of this thread, it's a carryover from the first part, where the initial announcement was about the original editions being available. It was only after they started taking flack for being non-anamorphic that they backpedaled and changed their tune.


Jay G., there's some of your inconsistency right there. Want more? How about "it's 12 movies", "it's nine movies", "it's six movies". Or how about this gem, "Vader was always meant to be Luke's father." Now I've accepted the six episode saga story about the rise, fall and redemption of Anakin, but I'm also aware that it was shoehorned in for ESB.

If you want to get into the commercial side, first he swore Star Wars would never be on VHS nor TV, he mentioned for years that no DVDs would be released until after the PT was released (for the wiseguys that say we shouldn't have forced his hand on this, do you really think the DVDs we got would have been that much better?). And last, but not least, he swore the original versions would never be on DVD at all. So even though these are a half-assed attempt, it's still a chink in the armor.

It's kinda like the people spouting the nonsense about the originals being a more nostalgic viewing experience because they're not remastered; I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we would not see the originals on DVD ever. This pathetic release is an insult more than anything, and I can keep on being satisfied with my widescreen VHS and LDs (not to mention my 2004 box set, because I'm not totally against the idea of the SEs. I just want the originals too.)

You're right, milo, the internet announcements focused on the O-OT. But all the TV ads I saw made no mention of them. And I don't think it's because they were non-anamorphic. Do you think the average Wal-Mart shopper knows what anamorphic is? Lucas just doesn't like the O-OT, period.

We were in Wal Mart just the other night and I noticed they had ROTJ playing on all their widescreen displays. The original version, so the image was either stretched out, or pillarboxed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out something's wrong with that.


And the TV ads came way after online announcements, which initially touted the original versions, and then the backpedaling started. The internet community was the biggest driving force to get the originals on DVD, so they'd naturally start with that demographic. I guess they didn't think the uproar over using an old transfer would be so loud, so they changed tactics.

And frankly, I don't care if he likes the O-OT or not, they deserve respect for being the groundbreaking films that they are. It's nothing short of hypocrisy that he champions film preservation for old black and white films and such, but his own multi-billion dollar trilogy gets relegated to second fiddle/disc and a poor presentation to boot. I stand by my sig, this is not a release for the fans, it's a 2006 Q4 profit item.

It wasn't just the internet. The initial poster blitz for retailers was see the
originals "Unaltered", with no mention at all of the special editions.