Star Wars OOT On Blu-ray soon!?!?!

[HarryCanyon]

Who else think Lucas changing Anakin's ghost was a very dick thing to do? it's like trying to digitally alter Kurt Douglas out of 20,000 leagues under the Sea with Vin diesel as his replacement, it's very very disrepectful.

I just want Disney/Fox/Lucasfilm to bring back the original trilogy to their original cinematic identity on blu-ray, i mean Spielberg put out ET in both cuts on BD/DVD as much as he did with 3 cuts of Close Encounters. Hell Beauty and The Beast has 3 cuts on BD.

[ajmrowland]

It's hard to say. they kept the performance for his death scene, and there's clear symbolism stemming from a line earlier in the movie.

[DisneyJedi]

I just want Disney/Fox/Lucasfilm to bring back the original trilogy to their original cinematic identity on blu-ray, i mean Spielberg put out ET in both cuts on BD/DVD as much as he did with 3 cuts of Close Encounters. Hell Beauty and The Beast has 3 cuts on BD.

Really? I didn't see the 20th Anniversary Cut option on the Blu-ray.

[Mickeyfan1990]

Yeah, there was never a 20th Anniversary SE option on the Blu. It contained the Theatrical version only (although the deleted footage later added for the SE are included as extras).

[HarryCanyon]

That was only on the DVD but on the blu-ray it has the original unmolested theatrical cut on quality HD.

Did you all know George Lucas went against the colorization of black and white films in 1988 when Ted Turner was colorizing them? here is his unique condeming speech:

My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation.
I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.

The destruction of our film heritage, which is the focus of concern today, is only the tip of the iceberg. American law does not protect our painters, sculptors, recording artists, authors, or filmmakers from having their lifework distorted, and their reputation ruined. If something is not done now to clearly state the moral rights of artists, current and future technologies will alter, mutilate, and destroy for future generations the subtle human truths and highest human feeling that talented individuals within our society have created.

A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history.
People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society. The preservation of our cultural heritage may not seem to be as politically sensitive an issue as "when life begins" or "when it should be appropriately terminated," but it is important because it goes to the heart of what sets mankind apart. Creative expression is at the core of our humanness. Art is a distinctly human endeavor. We must have respect for it if we are to have any respect for the human race.

These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tommorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces," or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor's lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new "original" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.

There is nothing to stop American films, records, books, and paintings from being sold to a foreign entity or egotistical gangsters and having them change our cultural heritage to suit their personal taste.

I accuse the companies and groups, who say that American law is sufficient, of misleading the Congress and the People for their own economic self-interest.
I accuse the corporations, who oppose the moral rights of the artist, of being dishonest and insensitive to American cultural heritage and of being interested only in their quarterly bottom line, and not in the long-term interest of the Nation.

The public's interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.

There are those who say American law is sufficient. That's an outrage! It's not sufficient! If it were sufficient, why would I be here? Why would John Houston have been so studiously ignored when he protested the colorization of "The Maltese Falcon?" Why are films cut up and butchered?

Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.

I hope you have the courage to lead America in acknowledging the importance of American art to the human race, and accord the proper protection for the creators of that art--NOOOOOOOO!!!, as it is accorded them in much of the rest of the world communities.

Any thoughts?

[PixarFan2006]

Yeah this was from 1988 long before he got obsessed with making the Star Wars Trilogy "better".

[HarryCanyon]

Hey Pixarfan, do you think 1988 Lucas (the one who cared about film preservation) would hate the modern Lucas? it's important for an artist to acknowledge the existence of the original versions besides having other versions like say Blade Runner for example which has 5 cuts and Scott embraces those.

I refused to buy the BD boxset in 2011 in protest for i want the original versions to be included with it and by not buying it is because i support film preservation and all that.

But who is glad Lucas is finally retired, gone, moved away from his company and sold it to Disney as he will not destroy the original films anymore? i rejoiced when i heard the news and do you agree Disney-Lucasfilm-Fox should join forces together and do the right thing of restoring the original un-raped, untampered and unedited original theatrical cuts out of the Lucasfilm vaults, clean them up, do 3K scans and restore them for HD?

[rexcrk]

I hate that I'm saying this, and I'm in no way defending George Lucas and his not releasing the unaltered trilogy in a presentable format, but in his defense about the above statement regarding film preservation, he's talking about people tampering with other people's works. At least with Star Wars, he's messing around with *his own* creation.

But, yes, now that he's out of the picture, I'm really hoping that we'll get the unaltered trilogy at some point. There's definitely money there, *everyone* wants these. It would be a huge publicity thing, imagine Disney saying "for the first time ever, the original Star Wars trilogy is properly restored and arriving on Blu-ray"? The Internet would literally explode I would gladly pay top dollar for a set like that.

[dvdjunkie]

Really don't understand what the big crisis is because Lucas improved his films. If he did it really shoddy then I can understand the uproar.

Besides what does "OOT" stand for anyway? You should be happy with what you got, and you were not smart enough to buy the Star Wars set when it included the original release along with the new 'improved' edition.

The original thinking was for the series to be nine chapters long. Well, it looks like we are going to finally be getting Chapter Seven and with a good director and some of the original cast (simply the worst kept secret in Hollywood) let's see what is in store for us as the kids from Luke's marriage and the kids from Leia and Han Solo's get together, end up being what the story will involve.

Get over the fact that the original trilogy probably won't be released any time soon, and enjoy what you have. If you have a lot of money, the Episode IV, V, and VI are available on eBay if you want to spend a lot of money.

[rexcrk]

"OOT" stands for "original original trilogy", and a lot of the changes he's made over the years have been awful, stupid, or sloppy.

In the Blu-ray for A New Hope, after the Tusken Raider attack, we see Artoo hiding behind some rocks, then in the next shot when he's approaching Obi-Wan and Luke, the rocks are gone.
That's just one example.

And I do have the original versions on DVD from the 2007 rereleases, which would be awesome, but the transfer is pretty bad. You don't notice it on a standard def TV, but it really shows on an HDTV. While it's preferable to VHS, a true restoration of the original versions of the original trilogy needs to happen.

[dvdjunkie]

I'm sorry but you have too much time on your hands if you can nitpick little things like that. You didn't even mention the easiest thing to see, that is the eyes behind the mask of Darth Vader, and the questionable "who shoots first scene".

My thoughts are that Lucas was far ahead of the time with his technology, but then the technology caught up and he wanted to do these movies like he wanted them done in the first place. If you watch the special features of the six movie set on Blu-ray, you will hear him talk about that and also get to see that long extended scene from "A New Hope" that was mercifully cut from the final resulting film.

While I am a 'purist', I have no problem with what Lucas has done with the original Trilogy, except for that one horrific "No" in "Return of the Jedi".

I have not read nor heard anything about Lucas even thinking about the Original Trilogy release sans the improvements. I don't think they will happen in our life-time.

[rexcrk]

I don't really think seeing something that's right there and obviously sloppy editing counts as having "too much time on my hands", but I appreciate the laugh from that accusation anyway, so thanks for that.

[disneyboy20022]

While I am a 'purist', I have no problem with what Lucas has done with the original Trilogy, except for that one horrific "No" in "Return of the Jedi".

Yeah that's THE Biggest one I have issues with. While Artoo Hiding behind a rock and the sloppy editing then making Kenobi's Dragon Sound differ are frustrating, that is nothing compared to the incredibly idiotic Darth Vader saying No to Return of the Jedi as a rerise to Revenge of the Sith. That is hands down the biggest bull crap of an altered scene I've seen in these re-releases of The Star Wars Films.

Sorry for the rant, I just hate that scene which butchers the touching and seriousness of the scene itself.

[ajmrowland]

I didn't actually think that bit was really so bad.

Having CGI Jabba in A New Hope was worse. It doesn't look great on its own, but it makes the puppet in Return all the more obvious with the retrospect.

[disneyboy20022]

Exclusive! Original, Unaltered Cut Of Star Wars Trilogy To Be Released On Blu-ray By Disney
http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/08/16/ex ... o-be-rele/

For a long time Star Wars fans have been clamoring for Disney/Lucasfilm to re-release the original, unaltered cut of the first Star Wars trilogy, and Comicbook.com has now confirmed with two independent reliable sources that just such a plan is under way.

According to our sources, Disney has plans to release the original cut of the Star Wars trilogy on Blu-ray. Our sources indicate that the project has been under way for quite some time, but it’s been challenging because of some damage to the original negatives they are utilizing. The goal is to release A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of Jedi in their complete, unaltered, original form without the redone special edition SFX.

Our sources did not have an exact date as to when the original cut of the Star Wars Trilogy would be released on Blu-ray, due to the challenges Disney has encountered in pulling everything together. However, our sources indicated the goal is to have it ready and released before Star Wars Episode VII is released in theaters.

[HarryCanyon]

Sounds badass to see Disney/Fox collabarate together with Lucasfilm and do 4K or 3K scans of the OT, this could be awesome and make lots of money for 3 companies.