DVD Talk Forum - Star Wars

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I'm happy with the despecialized editions. I have the silver screen one as well, but just don't care enough to burn it.

I've always been interested in getting these Harmy versions on disc, but can never find how when I try searching.

I distinctly remember seeing those 2 disc DVD's with the OOT bonus discs at Costco on clearance. I actually thought about buying a copy of each, but like an idiot, thought the OOT would be officially released on BD in a couple years.

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Originally Posted by hdnmickey (Post 13022036)

I've always been interested in getting these Harmy versions on disc, but can never find how when I try searching.

He has a Facebook page called Star Wars Trilogy Despecialized Edition. In the About section, he has links and instructions to where you can download and burn a copy.

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Originally Posted by hdnmickey (Post 13022036)

I distinctly remember seeing those 2 disc DVD's with the OOT bonus discs at Costco on clearance. I actually thought about buying a copy of each, but like an idiot, thought the OOT would be officially released on BD in a couple years.

Same here. I never bought them because people were complaining that they weren't anamorphic and I thought they'd release them again anyway. They're the only dvds of the films I don't have.

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Originally Posted by Ranger (Post 13021862)

Wow, $170 for used DVDs? I remember when they were on sale for $11 each.

What brand BD-Rs you use? I just use flash drives. :)

Originally these 25 GB ones, but more recently I've been using these 50 GB ones for bonus features (look into NJVC's custom Blu-Ray set).

I actually took the money I made off the DVDs and put it toward buying the blu-ray burner, which I think was only like $50.

Found the Project4k77 page:
http://thestarwarstrilogy.com/starwa...e/Project-4K77

They say each frame is 100 MB and the full movie about 21 TB. Wonder how big the MKV will be when they release it if ever.

Edit: Thanks for the BD-R link. Looks like they went down in price. And didn't know that Amazon went back to $35 orders for free shipping!

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Originally Posted by Ranger (Post 13022329)

Any downloadable UHD version they offer will be designed to fit on, say, a 100GB BDXL disc, with maybe even a 25GB HD version.

The "100MB per frame" is for either an uncompressed or lossless encoding format, which is what they want to use for a source. But nobody releases a film in an uncompressed/lossless format.

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Originally Posted by Jay G. (Post 13019295)

The sales of, and the current demand for, the LE DVDs that included the non-anamoorphic OOT version pretty clearly shows a demand.

Enough to justify the corresponding cost.

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No, the biggest chance of a release of them is after the rights to most of the films revert back to Disney. I said as much years ago:

But I don't want to wait until 2020!!

https://media.giphy.com/media/13AXYJh2jDt2IE/giphy.gif

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I guess you don't know about Sunflower, the black centaur that was cut out due to being a racist caricature.
https://thesocietypages.org/socimage...neys-fantasia/
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Sunflower

I do indeed. Given that Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies had the guts to release their racially insensitive cartoons uncut, I wish Disney would too, but I understand that something racially intensive is a significantly different situation than what we're talking about.

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Disney made a deal with....

Disney actually seems pretty open to making deals to secure full rights to its properties.

I hope so. I've waited so goddamn long for this that is this point, it's hard to hold out much hope.

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Which is kinda my point. People dealt with the issues with that release because it was the OOT. An HD release of the OOT doesn't have to be "perfect" to see a lot of demand.

I and many others hoped that was testing the waters for future OOT release. So far, not so much.

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DVD is 20 years old and "still around," most of my Blu-ray purchases include it as a disc. Blu-ray is only about half that age. And then, it's possible they'll make a UHD Blu-ray release instead.

But I don't want to wait that long :D!

https://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l...535ko1_400.gif

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Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt (Post 13019336)

This should be a surprise to no one, but Pablo Hidalgo has confirmed that there are NO plans for a release of the original 77 version:

https://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2017...-and-more.html

Who's surprised? Show of hands? Thought so.

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Originally Posted by Mike86 (Post 13019413)

Well damn. Guess I might seek out the Harmy versions after all.

I'm inches from doing that, but...

http://www.lionsgate.com/uploads/cac...5745f4926d.jpg

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Originally Posted by milo bloom (Post 13019415)

Pablo seems to be saying it's up to George to release the original versions but he sold Lucasfilm. He does not own it anymore. Why does there seem to be so much contempt and disdain towards the Star Wars community from the people in charge? I don't give a shit about the theme parks or the celebrations or even the toys any more for that matter- I just want a good, clean version of the goddamned movies that made Lucas a goddamned billionaire and changed the face of movie making for-goddamnned-ever.

What is so goddamned hard about that?

Why does George's opinion matter in the slightest? If he sold it to Disney it should be their decision, the end.

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Originally Posted by Jay G. (Post 13019438)

Well, from Pablo Hidalgo's posts, it doesn't seem to be about contempt for the audience, but respect for the creator of the films that's holding them back. If true, we may have to wait for Lucas to croak before getting the original edits.

Then I'd frankly rather not get them. The idea of these being contingent upon the death a guy who's by all accounts a pretty good person is frankly kind of depressing.

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Originally Posted by GoldenJCJ (Post 13019453)

Just when I get a little bit of hope, a little optimism, you sons a bitches gotta come in here and ruin it for me! :sad:

Don't have hope with the OOT. Ever.

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Originally Posted by mcnabb (Post 13019603)

It is mind boggling that the Originals haven't been released (other then the shitty 2006 versions) on DVD and BluRay as it is approaching 20 years since the digital format started. I will always say if only DVD had hit the market a few years earlier, we would have never had to go though this bullshit. The last time they were released on VHS was 1994, and if DVD had been the dominant format at the time, we would have gotten an Anamorphic Release of them because the SE were still a few years away. The worst is that the OT DVD's didn't hit til 2004 and BluRays in 2011, so it gave Lucas 2 more opportunities to fuck with the movies even more as the insertion of Hayden Force Ghost wasn't in the 1997 SE. Heck, I would take those versions on DVD at this point as that is the one SE change that I hate with a passion.

All or nothing. I'm tired this "Well I like this change, but not that one" from so many fans. No disrespect or anything, I'd just like to see this done 100% correctly.

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Originally Posted by Josh Z (Post 13020703)

I'm not sure why you assume this was an error and not a deliberate decision to only use the revised animation.

I'm inclined to agree here; it sounds like Disney just messed up and didn't feel like fixing it.

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Originally Posted by Ranger (Post 13021862)

Wow, $170 for used DVDs? I remember when they were on sale for $11 each.

What brand BD-Rs you use? I just use flash drives. :)

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Originally Posted by skywalker8 (Post 13021975)

I'd love to get the Despecialized versions and the silver screen edition, but I don't have a Blu-ray burner. I saw someone sell them (for a ridiculous amount) on ioffer but that didn't include the silver screen edition.

Blu-ray burners are fairly inexpensive. I use mine for VUDU disc-to-digital all the time.

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Originally Posted by Jay G. (Post 13022415)

But nobody releases a film in an uncompressed/lossless format.

Is that even physically possible?

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Originally Posted by Ranger (Post 13020969)

Wasn't Bob Iger supposed to leave Disney this year?

Bob Iger is retiring at the end of this year. There could always be the possibility he stays as CEO until the board finds a suitable replacement (there were rumors Disney was trying to court Reed Hastings).

I don't think Iger would hold back the releases of the original trilogy. He knew how much money Lucasfilm was leaving on the table when Horn and him initiated the buy out. Disney knows theirs a shitload of money to be made by releasing the original trilogy.

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Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138 (Post 13029282)

Why does George's opinion matter in the slightest? If he sold it to Disney it should be their decision, the end.

Legally speaking, yes. However, it sounds more like them respecting his wishes than being legally bound to do so.

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Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138 (Post 13029282)

Then I'd frankly rather not get them. The idea of these being contingent upon the death a guy who's by all accounts a pretty good person is frankly kind of depressing.

The man isn't an immortal, he's going to die sometime. But I wasn't wishing him ill or anything; he may very well live another 40-50 years. But you might be waiting that long for the OOT as well.

Let's be honest...the original Star Wars ever seeing the light of day in our lifetimes has about as much chance as Song of the South doing the same. It's just never going to happen. There's just too much work and too many legal hoops to jump through for Disney to waste their time with it.

Not a great comparison, but I see where you're getting at. Star Wars has actually had their work done for them. And a company that makes billions in profit each year could do what they want any way they choose in a heartbeat. Song of the South is the simple acceptance of acknowledging the severe overall racial tones. They seem more skiddish of that than any rights issues they have with A New Hope and spending real money to remaster the originals. Think about 20K Leagues Under the Sea - they did a 4K remaster a couple of years ago and no word at all as to when it'll be released.

If Disney can't go back to the original negatives, couldn't they use whatever was used for one of the special editions and make an edit from that? It wouldn't be perfect, but the major additions could be edited out, giving us something that at least resembles the original cuts. I mean, if a couple guys on the internet can reedit the footage to give us theatrical cuts, Disney should have no problem doing the same.

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Originally Posted by big e (Post 13030621)

If Disney can't go back to the original negatives, couldn't they use whatever was used for one of the special editions and make an edit from that?

The fact that the original negatives were altered to the SEs is a red herring, especially in this digital age. It's been noted that all the footage edited out of the negative still exists as stems, so they'd need only to scan those in digitally and restore them, then edit them into the main film.

I mean, this is a day and age where CBS went back and rescanned and re-edited all of the TNG episodes, which had them going through hundreds to thousands of hours of footage and assembling 178 episodes all over again. Doing a 2 hour movie should be child's play in comparison.

Also, there's other sources besides the original negative. There's a few theatrical prints floating around, and Lucasfilm may have some archival copies in one form or another. This article goes into more detail:
http://fd.noneinc.com/secrethistoryo...gstarwars.html

Bottom line: There's nothing, on a technical level, that's stopping the OOT from being restored and re-released. The only things stopping it are the costs involved, the rights issues between Fox and Disney, and potentially the wishes of George Lucas himself. Everything else is a smokescreen.

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Originally Posted by Jay G. (Post 13030630)

I'd put this entire post in my sig if it would fit and just point to it every time this issue came up.

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Originally Posted by Jay G. (Post 13030630)

I mean, this is a day and age where CBS went back and rescanned and re-edited all of the TNG episodes, which had them going through hundreds to thousands of hours of footage and assembling 178 episodes all over again.

...plus there are tools now that didn't exist then (I don't think...?) like iConform that make the process even on a very large scale less painful.

I agree 100% that there's no consequential barrier whatsoever.

Harmy already restored them all. Toss him a few million and boom, print to blu.

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Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt (Post 13030600)

I don't know, there's a lot more money to be made in releasing the OOT than there is in releasing Song of the South, which just might motivate Disney to make it happen. It just may not happen before 2020.

I would not be surprised if Disney were to do the legwork and restore and release the original trilogy. I believe Disney has a history of restoring their movies regardless if there is a release or not on the horizon (I think a few years back SOTS was restored, and obviously at this point in time that's just for archival purposes).

Outside of the distribution issues with Fox, there really isn't anything to stand in their way.

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Originally Posted by E Unit (Post 13030728)

Harmy already restored them all. Toss him a few million and boom, print to blu.

While Harmy's versions are by far the best easily attainable way to watch these movies, they're still highly compromised fan edits. Even Harmy himslef would probably agree that they're not fit for official release. Besides, the first movie has already been restored by a dude name Mike Verta to a state that blows Harmy's out of the water. If Disney (or Fox as the case may be) is going to be throwing money at anyone, it should be him.

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Originally Posted by Adam Tyner (Post 13030722)

I have to wonder if a big obstacle to getting the original unaltered trilogy released is Disney itself.

The current corporate culture seems to be opposed to things like directors cuts and extended versions of their films. The Marvel movies don't have extended or directors cuts even though, in many cases, they could. It's known that Joss Whedon wasn't satisfied with Avengers Age of Ultron, and we know that the "other" cut of Rogue One won't be seeing the light of day any time soon.

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Originally Posted by Josh-da-man (Post 13031313)

Ironically, the versions of the first three Star Wars currently out are the director's cuts.

Also, I don't think Disney is necessarily opposed to multiple cuts, when they feel it's merited. There's 3 cuts of Beauty and the Beast on the Blu-ray, for example.

They don't seem big on creating new extended or director's cuts, but I don't think that necessarily means they'd refrain from releasing alternate cuts that already exist.

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Originally Posted by Jay G. (Post 13031397)

Ironically, the versions of the first three Star Wars currently out are the director's cuts.

They're more like producer's cuts. Did Irvin Kershner or Richard Marquand have any involvement with the recuts?

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Originally Posted by majorjoe23 (Post 13031436)

They're more like producer's cuts. Did Irvin Kershner or Richard Marquand have any involvement with the recuts?

True, Star Wars is a director's cut, while the other two are producer's cuts. Irvin Kershner, if I recall, wasn't directly involved, but he's ok with the re-edit, and specifically liked the addition of more windows in Cloud City, which is something he wanted originally but they couldn't afford to do.

TESB always got off the easiest with the SE changes. The expanded scenes on Cloud City are all beautiful but changing Vader's line from "Bring my shuttle" to "Alert my Star Destroyer..." plus the added footage was just clunky.