re: Star Wars
 

Maybe this time around he will finally edit the Biggs/Luke scene back into A New Hope.

re: Star Wars
 

Here's a question: how sharp will be the 1080p video be on Episodes I, II and III? Remember, these three films were made into digital "prints" for theatrical digital projectors and I expect no less than stellar quality video on the Blu-ray release. :)

Another big question is what will the lossless audio format Lucasfilm use? DTS-HD Master Audio is becoming the de facto standard for audio on Blu-ray discs because DTS-HD MA tracks can be decoded as standard DTS 5.1 surround sound on older receivers.

re: Star Wars
 

you people all need to stop bitching, holy shit. Did anyone really expect the original releases in 1080p in this bluray set? Over 75% of the people who are saying they won't buy these on bluray because of that probably will. Just accept the fact that the original releases won't see release until after lucas dies.

Everyone said the same thing when it was announced Avatar was coming out without any bonus features, and its the best selling bluray ever.

re: Star Wars
 

Given that this will be released through Fox, I fully expect DTS-HD MA to be the sound codec used.

re: Star Wars
 

There isn't a chance in hell of me getting this set unless I read reviews of the A/V quality to find out if all the flaws in the 2004 versions were fixed, and even then as I said before, I haven't watched the 2004 versions since 2004. I have not watched the prequels since 2005 when "Revenge of the Sith" came out on DVD.

So there's basically six movies in this set I have no interest in watching, but if the problems are fixed, I might reconsider, but that's doubtful.

As for "Avatar", I gladly bought the barebones Blu-ray and will gladly buy the 4-disc ultimate when it comes out in November.

re: Star Wars
 

I don't know about anyone else here, but after seeing how well Apocalypse Now is being treated, I was beginning to have hope... [insert "A New Hope" joke here]

Re: Star Wars Saga (all six films) CONFIRMED for "not too distant future"
 

I don't really mind Episode II but Episode I is just downright atrocious. I haven't completed that movie since I saw it in the theaters.

re: Star Wars
 

I'm all in. The changes never bothered me, and I will probably just keep the DVD's with the original cuts for completion.

re: Star Wars
 

I'm in. Personally, I made my peace with the Prequels years ago. They're not the movies I imagined they would be, sure. I can choose to nitpick them or accept them, and I'm at a point in my life where the nitpicking just seems pointless. Plus, I really like the characters Qui-Gon Jinn and Dooku, and thought Ewan McGregor was great as young Obi-Wan. It'll be interesting to see how the Prequel generation reacts to the inevitable tinkering that will befall those films. We already know we're getting a digital Yoda for The Phantom Menace, and I won't be surprised to see other tweaks.

I actually have to give Lucas credit for his ongoing tinkering; I don't think it speaks to the kind of "artistic visionary" his image has been crafted around, but at least it means that each time out we're not completely double-dipping. I was part of the "leave it alone" crowd once upon a time, but I've been presented with so many re-releases of so many other titles in the DVD era that I've come to actually look forward to the little moments where I pause and say, "Hey! That's not how that used to be!"

All that said, it would make my day if From "Star Wars" to "Jedi": The Making of a Saga were to be included. I need to track that down on VHS sometime; I'm not sure what became of the copy I used to own.

re: Star Wars
 

I turned mine into a DVD, but it didn't playback very well (must have been a disc burning issue). My VHS of it is from the 1992 widescreen collector's box. Tapes were sealed and brand new inside when I got it used in 2004!

Only problem with the set is "Empire" has a bad audio track.

re: Star Wars
 

That's a bullshit excuse about not having enough money to remaster the original trilogy. As a result, I'm not buying this.

re: Star Wars
 

Really? We need to stop bitching on the internet? Ok. Thanks for the advice.

Here's what it boils down to. I want to be excited about Star Wars coming to Blu Ray. I'm not even an enormous fan or anything, but I've always liked the movies. I haven't actually watched the films in years because I find the additions to be jarring, and very distracting from the magic of watching a movie. It's very much like watching a TV show and then seeing a little miniature guy walk onto the screen and you realize he's a character on the show that's coming on next, and he does a little dance and the logo for his show pops up and he points at it and smiles, and then does a little pratfall and crawls off. When you're watching a movie from the late 70's and a CGI monster starts jumping around behind the main action, calling attention to itself, it just reminds you you're watching a movie that someone came back and tinkered with. It kills the magic. I WANT to want these on Blu Ray! I have a lovely Blu Ray player and TV that I would love to come home to with a pretty box set all ready to unwrap, but I know I'm just not going to subject myself to an annoying movie-watching experience, and I'm definitely not going to pay for it. I might Netflix Empire just because its changes are the least jarring, but that's about it.

Couple that with comments that Lucas makes that is just plain insulting to one's intelligence. They take freaking silent films like Nosferatu and technicolor films from the 50's and make them look glorious on blu-ray, and he's saying with a straight face that it's too expensive to remaster films from the ancient times of 1977, 1980 and 1983? I think it's perfectly reasonable to ridicule him for that. It's just plain laughable.

re: Star Wars
 

I've got an LD rip of it, and it looks/sounds perfect...

re: Star Wars
 

This is a definite purchase and I doubt many of the naysayers are actually not going to buy it. This will be a huge release. Like someone mentioned, did you really expect the non-special editions? This is the way it is and it's still Star Wars.

re: Star Wars
 

I don't think I'll ever watch the prequels again, but I would be happy to spend the money on the six movie set if they just included the unaltered originals.

As it is, I'm happy enough with the altered OT I have on my HD DVR, even though I'm sure the BD transfers will blow them out of the water.

The inclusion of deleted scenes is pretty damn brilliant though. I'm sure they'll sway a lot of the fence-sitters.

Lucas' excuse is ridiculous though, and I wish someone called him out on it. As someone else pointed out, the Apocalypse Now set includes re-framed transfers of both the original and Redux, plus a HD transfer of the feature length 16mm documentary. Blade Runner is an even better example...

re: Star Wars
 

The original trilogy were my favorite movies as a kid. With all the bullshit and avoidance of giving us the original unaltered films, I've never picked up the films on DVD and it looks like I won't be picking them up on Blu either.

re: Star Wars
 

Rental for me. I wanna see these films in high def but I have no desire to pay good money for the SEs. My dvds of the original versions will serve me fine until he decides to double dip or dies.

re: Star Wars
 

If I remember correctly, didn't an ex-wife of Lucas demand compensation if they "cleaned up" the original 1977, 1980 and 1983 releases? A compensation that could run into nearly an 8-figure sum? That's why Lucas only prefers the upgraded "Special Edition" releases that were never edited by his ex-wife.

As for Avatar, the lack of special features on the disc was more than compensated by the spectacular quality of the video and audio--it looks really good on my 40" Sony LCD flat panel TV. http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/standart/good2.gif

re: Star Wars
 

re: Star Wars
 

At least he's no longer calling the original theatrical versions "workprint"

"“We’ve been working on them for quite a while,” Mr. Lucas said, “but still, there are pipelines. Unfortunately, the recent releases get priority over what we call the classic versions of things.”"

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ray-next-year/

re: Star Wars
 

I'm all in for the boxset in 11'.

re: Star Wars
 

Where can I preorder?

On a side note, I just love the internet's diabolical hatred for George Lucas.

re: Star Wars
 

I'd like to see the following in this set:

- digital Yoda in TPM
- no more EE on TPM
- corrected surround mix on ANH
- better contrast to eliminate Vader's "bubble gum" lightsaber

re: Star Wars
 

I've never seen the original Star Wars trilogy. I probably would have bought this set if it included the theatrical versions, but I have no interest in making my first Star Wars viewing the bastardized versions of these films.

re: Star Wars
 

This has been all brought on by George Lucas for being a dick about the Original Versions. Every director who has a 2 versions of a film has put them out in either DVD/BluRay in the same quality except Star Wars. Such movies as T2, ET, Lord of the Rings, Bladerunner, Aliens, I could go on and on.

It is real simple for fans like me to warm up to George, put the SW movies out in the same quality in the same boxset with both the special editions and original version. :)

It isn't rocket science ;)