Lucas to release the ORIGINAL Star Wars trilogy (Non-SE)

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Lars Vermundsberget
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Post by Lars Vermundsberget »

No reason to make new movies when people are willing to buy these over and over and over again.

(And no reason to bother with that "anamorphic" thing either, apparently. Is it possible?)
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anger is pointless
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Post by anger is pointless »

i dont like the cover art why didnt they just use the original art

are the original cuts gonna be widescreen
GO WIDE SCREEN AND SEE THE WHOLE MOVIE THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED
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DarthPrime
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Post by DarthPrime »

Yes they will be widescreen, but they may not be anamorphic. From what I've read they may be the same transfers that were used on the 1995 VHS/Laserdisc releases. These transfers are ok, but I really hope they do make them anamorphic.
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Post by The Lizard King »

DarthPrime wrote:Here is some pretty disappointing news if its true.

The Digitial Bits is reporting that the Originals will be NON-ANAMORPHIC! :evil: :evil: If this is true then boo to Lucas. Well I guess he didn't have to release them at all but if he is going to then why release a non-anamorphic transfer in 2006?
The Digital Bits has been wrong many many times before...

TLK 8)
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Post by lord-of-sith »

The cover art here dissapoints me, I prefer the covers on the 2004 editions, but that's just me. Also, I don't get why RotJ is constantly pictured with Jabba's palace (and that particular series of scenes) when the real stoy is about Luke's final desicion and his struggle with Palpatine. The 2004 cover showed this brilliantly.
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Post by Escapay »

The Lizard King wrote: The Digital Bits has been wrong many many times before...

TLK 8)
Especially concerning how many times they said Back to the Future would be on DVD before it actually came...

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Post by Timon/Pumbaa fan »

lord-of-sith wrote:The cover art here dissapoints me, I prefer the covers on the 2004 editions, but that's just me.
I agree. These covers try to jam as much as possible. The other just contained just the important details.

But in the end, it's the films that count.
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Post by The Lizard King »

Escapay wrote:Especially concerning how many times they said Back to the Future would be on DVD before it actually came...
Yup, among others.

TLK 8)
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Post by DarthPrime »

The Lizard King wrote:
Escapay wrote:Especially concerning how many times they said Back to the Future would be on DVD before it actually came...
Yup, among others.

TLK 8)
Which is why I'm hoping they are wrong on this one.
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Post by TM2-Megatron »

If it's true that the transfers will be non-anamorphic and, worse yet, the old laserdisc transfers to boot... there's absolutely no way I'll touch this release.

It's incomprehensible... nothing, absolutely nothing should be releeased in that way anymore, unless it was originally filmed in 4:3 or that weird pillarboxed format some early (mostly German, it seems) movies are in. Lucas is either doing it out of spite, or just because he doesn't want to contradict is earlier proclamations that the proper source material doesn't exist to transfer the original versions to DVD (bulls**t). The "special" editions must be 85%-90% the same footage, so why in God's name wouldn't the remaining bits of old footage not be around to remaster? Also, I'd imagine Lucas doesn't want people to realize the movies can look just as good without the presence of that god-awful CGI used in the SEs.
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Post by DarthPrime »

If they are indeed using the Laserdisc transfers then thats a letdown. They said in the release information first posted on StarWars.com that they had been searching for the best material for these films.

I'm hoping they are Anamorphic, but I'll still end up getting them if they are not. The only version of the O-OT I have is a aging Pan and Scan box set. Its really showing its age, so sadly a Non-Anamorphic Laserdisc transfer will be better than what I have.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm also preparing for the worst. Saying the material is not there anymore is pure bull though. They had to have the originals to make the Special/2004 editions. They had to have had a restored print in order to add the CGI changes for the 1997 releases. So somewhere there is a good transfer of the O-OT. Will we ever see it? Who knows.

While I do agree for the most part the Special Editions do help tie the two trilogies together, the O-OT are the films that made MILLIONS of Star Wars fans and changed the way movies were made. They deserve a proper release on DVD.
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Post by TM2-Megatron »

DarthPrime wrote:I'm hoping they are Anamorphic, but I'll still end up getting them if they are not. The only version of the O-OT I have is a aging Pan and Scan box set. Its really showing its age, so sadly a Non-Anamorphic Laserdisc transfer will be better than what I have.
I really wish you wouldn't... how will Luca$ ever be convinced to release the films properly if fans still guzzle down everthing he craps out?

Personally, I didn't expect a "perfect" release either. Knowing Lucas, I expected only the movies, probably with zero bonus features (maybe trailers). Usually I won't buy a movie without at least some extras (preferably alot, including multiple commentaries, a feature-length documentary, etc.); however I was willing to make an exception in this case.

So, expecting only the movies, I at least expected them to be transferred properly (hell, that's pretty much the only thing Lucas can do well these days). Despite all the woeful inadequacies of the SEs, they at least look and sound incredible (with the exception of the garbage CGI), even compared to movies filmed digitally today. However, if they aren't even going to bother remastering these films or encode them anamorphically and just slap on some LD-transfer from over a decade ago, then Lucas has yet again lost another customer. I don't care how much I want the movies, I'm not just going to take whatever Lucas decides to hand out... the man is morally and artistically bankrupt, and his ridiculous distance from being financially bankrupt won't make up for that.
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Post by DarthPrime »

Well if noone buys them then Lucas can say, "See I was right there is no demand for the O-OT." So we lose either way.

Anyway I'm one of the few that doesn't really care about a ton of bonus features. So if we just got a cleaned up transfer that was anamorphic I would be perfectly happy.
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Post by TM2-Megatron »

DarthPrime wrote:So if we just got a cleaned up transfer that was anamorphic I would be perfectly happy.
That is basically what I said above... I usually only buy stuff with bonus content, but knowing Lucas I was willing to make an exception in this case (because we all know there's no hope of any bonus features on these DVDs). However, if what's being reported is true, then Lucasfilm isn't even giving us that. It's doubtful the transfers will be cleaned up any more than they already were for the LD release, and they won't be anamorphic.

There's a follow-up article on The Digital Bits now, with some more information about these transfers.

What really gets me is this:
It's been reported previously that when Lucas went back to the original negatives of the Star Wars films in the mid 1990s, they were found to be in bad shape. Such bad shape, in fact, that had they not been restored immediately, the films could have been lost forever. So restoration is exactly what Lucas had done. Except that when he was creating the new 1997 Special Edition versions of the films... he cut the original negatives. So the original negatives of the theatrical versions no longer exist. Okay, we knew that. But what's the big deal?

Well... at the same time as he was preparing the 1997 versions, Lucas apparently went on a little tear and recalled every release print of the theatrical versions that he could get his hands on, and he had them all destroyed. Which means that when Lucas said back in 1997 that the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars films no longer existed, he was serious. He apparently tried hard to make sure of it.
The man really is insane. At this point, after all this BS, it's hard to tell if it's just exploitative capitalist crap (this, at least, I can understand) or actual hatred for the OT and those who prefer it. Either way, it amounts to the same thing.
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Post by DarthPrime »

WOW :shock:

I know he said that he wanted to do that to the Holiday Special, but the Originals? They are a piece of movie history. This is insane.

The more I think about it the more I'm confused about this release. I REALLY want them, but then again I don't want a 10+ year old transfer just slapped on a DVD.

Who knows what I will do. More than likely I'll still end up getting them, but then again I might not. I'll have to see as more information gets released about these.

I've noticed on other forums people are starting to write complaints to them about the non-anamorphic Laserdisc transfers. Hopefully it will help, but somehow I doubt it.
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Post by 2099net »

Yes. Well, it may be an "Urban Myth" but isn't Lucas supposed to have destroyed the negatives for the original editions long ago?

Pehaps he didn't lie after all...
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Post by anger is pointless »

What really gets me is this:
It's been reported previously that when Lucas went back to the original negatives of the Star Wars films in the mid 1990s, they were found to be in bad shape. Such bad shape, in fact, that had they not been restored immediately, the films could have been lost forever. So restoration is exactly what Lucas had done. Except that when he was creating the new 1997 Special Edition versions of the films... he cut the original negatives. So the original negatives of the theatrical versions no longer exist. Okay, we knew that. But what's the big deal?

Well... at the same time as he was preparing the 1997 versions, Lucas apparently went on a little tear and recalled every release print of the theatrical versions that he could get his hands on, and he had them all destroyed. Which means that when Lucas said back in 1997 that the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars films no longer existed, he was serious. He apparently tried hard to make sure of it.
no way did he really do that
GO WIDE SCREEN AND SEE THE WHOLE MOVIE THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED
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Post by DarthPrime »

Well they are non-anamorphic and from the old Laserdisc masters. I've seen some of the screenshots of the DVDs online and they look pretty rough from the review. I'm still not happy about this release being non-anamorphic, but I have decided to go ahead and pick them up. I know they will be better than my old Pan and Scan VHS set, so thats the main reason I want to go ahead and get these.

Will the O-OT ever be released again? Who knows, but there is talk about more changes to all 6 films for a box set sometime next year. If these sell well maybe eventually he will release an anamorphic set for these, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that.

I hope the Tin thats listed on the Best Buy site for Canada makes its way to the US. It looks pretty nice. Wal-Mart will also have Graphic Novels for the movies as their bonus.

Anyone else still planning to pick these up on the 12th?
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Post by TM2-Megatron »

DarthPrime wrote:Well they are non-anamorphic and from the old Laserdisc masters. I've seen some of the screenshots of the DVDs online and they look pretty rough from the review. I'm still not happy about this release being non-anamorphic, but I have decided to go ahead and pick them up. I know they will be better than my old Pan and Scan VHS set, so thats the main reason I want to go ahead and get these.

Will the O-OT ever be released again? Who knows, but there is talk about more changes to all 6 films for a box set sometime next year. If these sell well maybe eventually he will release an anamorphic set for these, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that.

I hope the Tin thats listed on the Best Buy site for Canada makes its way to the US. It looks pretty nice. Wal-Mart will also have Graphic Novels for the movies as their bonus.

Anyone else still planning to pick these up on the 12th?
Shameless consumerism... you're upset that it's non-anamorphic, and you don't even like the look of the quality from previews, yet you'll lower yourself to buying it despite all this? People who do this have pretty much no right to complain about DVD releases they feel are inadequate.

I, personally, won't be buying this. I have no desire to watch something that'll probably look only marginally better than VHS, not to mention the lack of 16:9 enhancement. The OOT will eventually be released properly, perhaps by some company like Criterion, when Lucas eventually croaks... of course that's assuming he doesn't put some clause in his will explicity denying this right to whoever he leaves the rights to the films to... and I really wouldn't put it past him to do this.
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Post by Escapay »

I would, but Lucas took my money already, so I'll just screw him over and get anamorphic bootlegs. After all, it'll be the same thing anyway: a transfer from the 1993 laserdisc in 2.0 Surround

Then again, I don't know of any bootleggers who have the OOT in anamorphic DVD.

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