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No Star Wars TPM on DVD
Troed pointed us to final, official word that Lucas has opted not to release TPM on DVD. This is a poor move for many reasons: SW fans are gonna often be techies with DVD players. Besides that, nearly every movie released these days comes out on DVD and VHS. I can think of only 2 reasons: He might be afraid of piracy, but lets be honest, but I think he really is doing this so he can wait a year and release the DVD and sell it all again. I have stopped by VHS, and I'm pretty bummed: I would have bought this DVD the day it was released. I feel like I'm being extorted: I've been a pretty loyal fan both in terms of time, and buying SW Stuff (I even have a Darth Maul Lightsaber!) but this really hurts.
Since I am waiting a few years to see the next movie anyway, I will just wait until next year and simply buy the DVD if/when it is released. I simply will not purchase any movie on VHS anymore, and even a movie I very much want to own will not make an exception to that rule. So if you are serious about wanting more DVD releases, do not buy this VHS. Or stop whining :)
The REAL sam_at_caveman_dot_org is user ID 13833.
It seems to me that I read an interview with Lucas a while back in which he stated that he wouldn't do any DVD until all 6 movies were released. At that point he wanted to put out the ultimate Star Wars DVD collection...
1) Lucas doesn't owe you anything for being a devoted fan.
2) He's got a known level of greediness.
This isn't entirely surprising. VHS tapes can be much more readily copied than DVDs can, so I seriously doubt that piracy is the issue.
There is also a third possibility, which I think is pretty likely -- the extra content being put together for the DVD will take quite some time to get together and polish, and maybe he's planning on doing something special with it, which will take extra time.
The Christmas special notwithstanding, Lucas' past releases have all been very well-polished, classy affairs. Maybe they're just taking the time to make sure that the DVD release will be something very cool.
I guess I can see the point about piracy, kind of...
Then again, I'm more of a George Clinton mind about things like that - it's better be ripped off and well known than to be well known for being a prick about being ripped off. Or something like that.
Or maybe it's just an admission that the movie sucked, and is suitable for viewing only by 5 year olds.
-=Best Viewed Using [INLINE]=-
Lucas is a major proponent of digital filmmaking - getting away from actual film, and turning to movies stored as data.
Which makes me wonder - why is he such a big hater of DVD, when it is the realization of his goals?
I have always loved the first three Star Wars movies. They will always be classics in my mind. Great story, simple, yet effective plot and exciting action.
TPM lost the magic that was in the first 3. Not only was it over hyped and poorly written, but I was quite put off by the amount of sheer marketing put into it. This was simply a moneymaking venture by Lucas, nothing more. I went to see TPM the first day... no matter how good the next one is, I refuse to see it the first day, my confidence in Lucas as a filmmaker has been irrevocably shattered.
Because of this, I doubt I will EVER buy TPM on VHS -or- DVD, simply because that will only encourage Lucas to make more terrible movies. The man has far too much money as it is, without subsidizing his toy market.
Before TPM came out, I remarked to a friend that Lucas would be insane not to release the first three on DVD. I would go out and buy a player simply to watch those movies! I would also be willing to spend well more for those three than I would for any other DVDs.
Besides... DVD is the perfect format for Lucas, who has championed superior graphics and sound in movies.
I know I'm jumping all over the place with this post, so I will summarize.
We in the geek community have showed intense loyalty and devotion to Lucas and his creations. He stabbed us in the back and showed himself to be more interested in money rather than in art. My only response can be to use what little power I have, the power of the almighty-$ in order to demonstrate my disapproval. I hope others will follow my example.
Doug
Venn ist das nurnstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ya! Beigerhund das oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
Or How I learned to loathe the bomb...
Let's face it, the Star Wars we knew and loved, has been clouded by the golden lens of nostalgia and memory. People cry, "But it's the same now as it was in '77!' Of course it was, but we were kids and didn't care. Now we're older, wiser and wanting to see more quality material. Like Galaxy Quest.
Ok. Maybe not.
Personally I won't even rent VHS tapes anymore because I end up getting too distracted by the poor video and sound quality to enjoy the movie.
For someone who claims to have his viewers best interest in mind at all times (Go read some THX crap to see what I mean) this is a slap in the face. Lucas is way to concerned about getting every penny he can out of the THX name to worry about quality at all anymore.
Note that there is nothing in that article that suggests the VHS will even be letterboxed. So not only do we only get a low quality video image with low quality not even surround sound but we don't even get the full frame of the movie! And this mastered in THX crap isn't worth anything sure it may be nice if you have a THX compatable home system (Major $$$$) which can create it's pseudo-surround effects but I'd much rather see plain old pro-logic surround than the sorry excuse of a remaster THX does for home video.
I'm sorry but if half of what that press release said was accurate they'd only be releasing on DVD with a full widescreen image, Dolby Digital or DTS soundtrack. If they did that I woulden't even care if they included any extra features or not. But as it is I won't even bother to rent the damn thing.
--- Juggle juggle@hitesman.com
...it's nice to get "official" word denying the release of SW:TPM on DVD, rather than all the unfounded rumors floating around. Now, if only we could get a similar "official denial" about the whole China/Linux crap!!!
Eric
open source man: george lucas, only you could be so bold. the marketing department of lucasfilm won't sit still for this! when they hear you've sabotaged a lucrative money-making scheme....
george lucas: don't act so surprised, you fanatical nut! you're not on any mercy mission this time! several illegal copies of tpm were beamed to this site by pirate hackers! i want to know what happened to the data they sent you!
open source man: i don't know what you're talking about! i'm a regular troller of slashdot on a mission to open source natalie portman!
george lucas: you are part of a grand pirating network and a criminal... take him away!
thank you.
the fat-time charlie online serial!! no macromedia shockwave content!! lynx friendly!! rms approved (no gifs)!! dvd player not required!! bookmark it and hit reload!!
Yeah, I heard that too - he better hurry up! Since I left college this May, I don't even have *access* to a VHS player, but I've got DVD for my home theater and one on my computer. THe hell with TPM, I want Leia in a bikini ;-)
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
Finding God in a Dog
- Every major studio is a public entity (i.e. their stock is publically traded), and they have the legal duty to their stockholders to maximize their profits. If they don't, they can be sued by their stockholders.
- There is a traditional big-big surge in video sales just before Christmas every year (how many of you gave or received movies as a gift?. Lucas knows this. What are the odds he will "change his mind" and TPM will be available around 1 December 2000?
- Lucas is by no means the first to have a rigidly-controlled home video release schedule. Disney is the "best" example... they periodically pull their videos from the market for years at a time, then rekindle interest with a "limited time release" (look at what they're doing with DVDs, now that DIVX (which they co-founded) is dead. 60 days only on each DVD Disney animated film. If you're a Disney fan, you've only got a few weeks left to get the first batch... can you say "feeding frenzy"?). So, while Lucas is taking the "dark side" on this, he is certainly not the first.
It certainly sucks, but Lucas well within his rights, and isn't answerable to anyone except you, when you decide whether to reach for your wallet.Except George Lucas. LucasFilm Limited is privately-held. It's accountable to George Lucas and nobody else.
This is important because it means he can pursue "non-standard" ways of doing things, right or wrong, profitable or otherwise. When you've got your billions, you get to indulge your Messaihanic ideas. When I get my billions, I know I will!
Ok kids lets face the facts. Lucas is a dictator, no matter how many people tell him that Jar Jar was a bad idea he is going to keep him in anyway, probably just to spite those who mocked him. Lucas is probably not in it for the money, he has too much as it is, he is just making the movie that HE always wanted to make with out a care for anyone else. The DVD WILL NOT be released until all movies are out, that is probably another one of Lucas' wet dreams.
But it doesn't matter you and i will both be in line to by the box set when it comes out come hell or high water.
"I AM THE TERROR THAT FLAPS IN THE NIGHT!!"
tHx
So much for his 'rules'.
**>>BELCH
Lucas has repeatedly said that that he wants DVD to be the "ultimate repository" (or something) for Star Wars. Meaning, he says, that he doesn't want to release _any_ of the movies on DVD until they are ALL DONE. Yes, that's half a decade away.
/. readers would agree with me here. Interviewer after interviewer has asked Lucas (or is it £ua$?) why he won't release the films on DVD. He always says, "well, I'd like to wait." Who cares about what you want, you selfish asshole! I can just imagine the studio execs pleading with him, trying to get him to relent.
Everyone knows this is stupid. Everyone knows this is greedy. Everyone knows that there will be HDDVD by then. Everyone doesn't like it. And there's nothing we can do about it. Lucas is a greedy asshole, pure and simple.
Just look at the Special Editions. They suck complete ass. All of the additional effects stand out like badly computer-generated sore thumbs. Not only that, but he changed some key plot points, including Han Solo's now-justified killing of Greedo, and several eight-frame cuts of violence.
What can I do besides complain? Well, I have decided to boycott lucasfilm completely. This includes:
1. All Star Wars, VHS or otherwise
2. All cute star wars toys. If you have 'em, burn 'em.
3. Anything produced by Lucas, including Indiana Jones.
4. tell other people to do the same.
5. Encourage people to not buy the bootlegs.
As much as you may like Star Wars, you should not allow one individual to control the distribution of his most popular films. I would think that the mostly Libertarian
But no. Push has come to shove, and we must shove hard.
They clearly stated, even before SW:TPM was in the theater, that NO STAR WARS movies would be released on DVD until the first 3 were done. Why is this rehashed all the time? It's no surpsise...
it's not news...
I bet we'll hear about it AGAIN when they release the episode 2 on VHS... the slashdot title will be 'Lucas refuses to release Episode 2 on DVD..'
then there will be several hundred comments of speculation as to why this is the case.. then someone will point out that this was always the plan.
Feh.
1. Lucas isn't necessarily afraid of DVD. IIRC, he redid a scene from "American Graffiti" in the beginning where the sun is setting; the new version features a digitally-redone sky which apparently makes it look much better than the VHS version.
2. A friend of mine received a VideoCD version of TPM for Christmas. I haven't seen it, but the point is clear: illegal copies already are out there.
3. How hard is it to hook up a DV-converter to your VCR and digitally copy the TPM VHS tape? Apple sells just such a converter (from Sony) on their web site for turning your old movies into stuff you can edit with iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Maybe the VHS tape is copy-protected somehow with Macrovision or some other quality-degrading format.
4. Having said this, the only way I would watch a pirated copy of TPM is on an Apple Cinema Display or something of that nature; anything else will be smaller than my 27" TV set (which is barely big enough for most DVDs anyway). Then there's the sound issue. My computer doesn't output AC-3 Dolby Digital sound, ergo I'm losing out on much of the joy of watching a DVD movie to begin with.
5. Forget TPM. I want my Buckaroo Banzai DVD!
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
It has been pointed out (true or not I dont know) that Lucas is considering a 6 DVD set, or that it wasn't going to come out in 2000 anyway. I still think he's mainly afraid of piracy. Reemmber back before the movie came out? I remember this quote from him that I read on wired.com ( a bit butchered probably): "if this movie gets pirated by a lot of people there won't be another movie". Remember how he got the FBI involved as well? Almost everyone I knew had a VCD of The Matrix but almost no one had Star Wars TPM because of all the threats he made. I don't particularly support movie pirating but I think he got much too paranoid.
I love the star wars series of course, but I think all the money he's made has given him a serious lack of perspective. It seems that he just can't get enough money. If there is any movie people really want on DVD, it's the star wars series. He could have easily got the first 3 episodes (or 4 to 6) out by now on DVD no problem. He'd be raking in the money. I think it's all due to the threat (imagined or not) of piracy. I think he's waiting to see what happens in the digital world, particularly the current DVD situation. He doesn't really have much to worry about. We've been over the DVD issue many times.
For someone who has pushed the technological envelope in the medium of movies, he has really fumbled the ball in the consumer market.
No DVD: You've caved to industry pressure you craven little coward! (I'm venting here.)
What about LaserDisc? Nobody is crying about unencrypted LDs, or that they (now or ever) contribute to piracy and destroy the profits of movie studios!
I, and I expect many others, own a laserdisc player. It has provided me many hours of enjoyment. In fact, I purchased it and the Star Wars Remastered Limited Edition (not the redone movies) together back in '95.
Yes, I'm the sort that likes to have a big screen and big sound.
Yes, I know it's not nearly as convenient as DVD. You can't watch one on your laptop. Or at work. Or on a plane.
Perhaps Lucas is afraid that DVD will be subject to piracy. What's he feeling when there are people selling copies of TPM -- complete with New Line Video(!!!) security stickers -- within a week of it's cinema release?
I have heard reports that Lucas is expected to rake in $1 Billion USD from all things related to TPM; Box office receipts, merchandising, other tie-ins, etc. Is the fact that DVD can now be played without Windows threatening his profits THAT much? I think not.
The fact that there is neither a LD or DVD (read: durable format that doesn't wear out) release tells me that Lucas is going to come up with a "Limited Edition Collectors Set" or some such nonsense as soon as we set some sales records for his videotape. Thanks, Lucas. Your fans are watching you!
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
From what I know, piracy is not a major concern for Lucasfilm right now. No matter how they release the movie and other materials, other entities have been responsible for copyright enforcement (such as the RIAA pursuing anyone who served the duel of the fates mp3).
As far as *REAL* reasons are concerned, Rick McCallum has said himself at the Fan Celebration in Denver last year that they were waiting to release them all in one set... yet this again seems kinda far off for any sensible marketing plan, don't you think?
However... back in the day when the plans for releasing Ep1 were being made... Divx was still in existence. Divx a large share owned by Dreamworks SKG.. a company headed by Mr. S... Steven Speilburg - a good friend and collaborator of Lucas on many projects.
So Lucas was probably just waiting things out the way I see it... he's no dummy when it comes to technology (we all knew divx wouldn't work) but he didn't want to deliver the death blow by releasing one of the most popular movies ever on a competing format.
And Colonel Mustard did it in the Conservatory with the candlestick!
There's a reason you don't see pirated DVDs. Its not because the piracy in and of itself is impossible, either.
Its due to the fact that DVD copying equipment is prohibitively expensive! And not even good enough quality to pirate with!!
The media for sale is $25 a disc! And that's for 4.75 GB, One-sided, single-layer media. Nevermind the fact that DVDs you purchase are 19 GB two-sided double-layered DVDs... So in other words, it would take you two RAMs for each side of a ROM. Hmm... Lemme think. $25 for a real version or $100 for one that I'm going to have to swap in the middle of the movie (Remember LaserDisc?).
This is not actually a dificult choice!
One other thing (about trading DVDs online): DVD Quality Video/Audio is approximately 1 meg per second. Most Cable rates don't even come CLOSE to touching half of this. And even still, if you were to download one side of a DVD movie, it would cost you 9 GIGS of HDD space, And 9 Gigs of download time! (At 250K a second this would take approximately 8 hours)
--
"A mind is a horrible thing to waste. But a mime...
It feels wonderful wasting those fsckers."
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
The true piracy threat are those ASCII films. All we have to do is purchase one VHS of Starwars, have someone with lots of time on their hands convert it to ASCII. Say goodbye to your vhs player as well as that dvd player! For the future is here, and no one can stop us ASCII film pirates.
macks
-----
Surrender, enjoy the abduction.
Apparently everybody seems to be focusing on only the TPM not on DVD issue and ignoring other new lucasfilm announcements of the day:
1) Soundtracks now only offered on Reel to Reel.
2) Other films will be re-released in beta for "prime home viewing"
3) Action figures will now be made exclusively of led.
4) SW:TPM RPG for the Atari 2600!!!
5) SW: The Desktop office for OS/2 and WinCE.
And finally, the most disturbing announcement:
6) All Special Effects for the Episodes 2 & 3 will be done on enhanced windows 2000 workstations.
Be afraid, be very affraid....
Click here to read too much about my personal life
I feel betrayed. Yes, we knew this was coming, just like we knew Rob would be a hypocrite regarding slash 0.4, but between these two things, I've come to realize that two of the things I enjoy most are really just becoming major disappointments.
Damn, this is making me cynical.
"You can never have too many elephants on your team."
Oh wait, I don't have a DVD player.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
My god...this must be like the 5th article about stupid TPM on DVD. Does anybody really give a damn? I don't...
Besides that TPM was just eyecandy and a ridiculously hokey plot, DVD hasn't caught on and probably won't because FMDROM (or whatever that Flourescent technology is called) is already feasible.
Jazilla.org - the Java Mozilla
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
What Lucas expects: Mainstream folks will buy TPM on VHS because they don't care about format. Star Wars geeks will buy it on VHS because they have no other choice. Then, when it finally comes out on DVD, Star Wars geeks will buy it again, because, well, they're Star Wars geeks. (And as a bonus, that DVD will probably be more effectively copy-protected than today's discs.)
What will happen: Most mainstream folks will still buy TPM on VHS, although probably not quite as many as Lucas expects. Very few Star Wars geeks will buy it, because they're insulted by Lucas' position on DVD. (And for that matter, a lot of them didn't like the movie very much.)
The video release will bomb. (By that I mean, it will fail to completely shatter all sales records, as a Star Wars movie is expected to do.) Lucas will still make a lot of money off of it in the short term, but the embaressment will severely damage his future prospects.
Keep in mind, George Lucas is a pretty dense fellow. This is the guy who came up with Jar Jar Binks.
MSK
You planning on paying Rob for that source code?
Seems to me that some metaphors just don't stack up...
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff
That's your reply?
He gave a valid reason, and this is the best you come up with?
BTW - What you are askin Taco for, is free. There is nothing resembling extortion here. Source code is NOT a right.
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff
Okay, so Star Trek is a little off-topic, but I almost wonder if Paramount isn't doing the same thing with the Star Trek DVD's. I've been buying them slowly, for they're fairly expensive, and they have basically zero extra features! They've got the trailers and scene access, well, to quote Crow T. Robot, whoop-de-shit! I'm betting that Paramount wanted to cash in on the newness of the DVD format and all the geeks that are getting the DVD's, then a year from now, they'll release the 35th anniversary editions or somesuch, complete with commentaries, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, etc. Will I buy those too? Yup, cuz I'm a fan, and I'll want that stuff, but I don't have to be happy about it. I got a Laserdisc player for free, and I'm having a good time collecting Laserdiscs of movies that aren't available on DVD (or are edited, like Roger Rabbit) they're available fairly cheaply on eBay too. Now what I'd really like, is for Paramount to release big sets of the ST:TNG episodes for DVD, much like Fox is doing with the X-Files Season One box set. As it is, I'm collecting the ST:TNG and Deep Space Nine laserdiscs, slowly but surely, having them on DVD would be a mixed blessing, as I'd then have to sell of my Laserdisc versions!
---
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout. --Robert A. Heinlein
You should have returned your disc because I've never seen any problems on any of the Matrix discs I've seen.
And anyway, the Matrix is far from the first DVD to have special content on it. The only special content problems I've seen is the MST3K-like commentary on Ghostbusters, which only worked sometimes.
The same thing happened with CDs at one point. They wanted to support 24 bit 192khz sampling. The quality was so good that it would give consumers just a little too much control over what they did with it. So CDs are still 16 bit 44100. George is just a little to control freakish.
>60 days only on each DVD Disney animated film. If
>you're a Disney fan, you've only got a few weeks
>left to get the first batch... can you say
>"feeding frenzy"?).
I don't doubt that Disney has done extensive
cost/benefit analysis on this one, but let's take
a step back. What happens when a manufacturer
generates a scarcity of product (intentionally or not)?
Piracy. Someone will step in to fill the void; I
think this approach will actually foster the very
same DVD piracy that the consortium is so vewy
vewy scared of, and at both the commercial and
private level.
We aren't customers. We haven't purchased anything from him
I enlcosed the word customer in quotes precisely because I was aware of the semantic hoops that we can go through in debating the definiton of customer. Regardless of whether we pay money to Rob Malda directly, Malda does benefit financially by our visits to his site. I'm sure that those ad dollars would dry up if we all stopped using his nice forum. The traditional models of patronage are changing quickly but that discussion is best left for another day.
If people constantly harrassed you about code you wrote, constantly asking for the latest version, you would be annoyed too.
Interesting choice of words. I am not privy to the emails sent Rob's way but just as you can sympathize with Rob getting annoyed, I can sympathize with people getting annoyed at Rob not living up to his promises. No matter what Rob attributes his delays to, he has not fulfilled his promises.
His primary concern is maintaining this site. If he can package up Slash in a tarball, all the better. If he can put up a public CVS server, all the better. Though, the work to put up a CVS server for public use is quite a bit. The work to secure it is even more..
No one has asked Rob to go to all the trouble of setting up a CVS server. Rob is the one who mentioned that he is looking into that aspect. What does it take to tar up the directories to the code, the data model for his database and dump that on a FTP server? I don't think it would take much. He doesn't have to gussy it up. There are some smart people out there who can figure out what his code is doing. He needs to stop underestimating people or hiding behind excuses.
Lucas on the other hand has a small legion of people who could put TPM on a DVD at the snap of his fingers. Given that Malda probably didn't know that Lucas was waiting until he could put all six movies on DVD, I can't fault his attitude. It certainly doesn't smack of hypocracy.
Ok, you allude to Rob being too busy to release the code. I don't buy it. Linus and everyone else working on Linux are working full time jobs and still hacking on Linux and releasing the code. If they need help, why don't they ask for it? Why don't they utilize the Open Source community that they are so quick to laud? You also refer to the fact that Lucas can whip out DVD's without problem. Of course he can. He doesn't want to, however, and has never promised to do so. He can do with his property as he pleases and as long as he doesn't lie to his fans and contradict himself, I cannot complain about his actions.
Hates people who have stupid little sigs
here's the link.
- A.P.
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THINK!
- A.P.
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"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
I seem to recall hearing months ago that Lucas had no plans to release Phantom Menace or, indeed, any of the Star Wars films on DVD yet. He planned, so sources said, to wait several years until the rest of the First Trilogy was in the can, then sell the set as sort of a Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Edition thing.
Has any of this changed? The only thing I saw that might have portended a change--that website crowing that Phantom Menace was going to be released on DVD--turned out to be a red herring.
Frankly, Lucas has always been a bit of an oddball about things like this...going back and CGIing and reshooting the original trilogy just because he wanted to, for instance. I'm not at all surprised by this. Saddened a bit, but not surprised.
I will be surprised if Lucas changes his mind any time soon. Despite what all the people have been saying about him, I don't think Lucas does what he does out of greed or commercialism. For him to turn around and release the films in time for Christmas of this year because they'll sell more copies just doesn't strike me as likely.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Theory #1 comes from my housemate who claims that Lucasfilm hasn't released any DVDs because they own a particular movie production company that isn't licensed to produce DVDs. Sorry for the ambiguous statement, but the general idea is that they won't produce DVDs because of some corporate license or dreamworks had no hand in the DVD technology. Very speculative statement, but I'd like to hear otherwise if you get what I am trying to convey.
Theory #2 was thought up by myself during one of these discussions with my housemate, and it's a bit more 'conspiracy theory'. Basically, I think it is possible that Lucasfilm is going to sell everything on VHS until the market is saturated. Take for example the fact that they released all sorts of versions of the original Star Wars episodes in the older unmodified versions. After they made a pretty penny there, they re-released the whole shebang with the new computer enhanced versions. So, everyone who is a big Star Wars fan goes out and buys all these newer copies on VHS since it is the only format available and they really want it. Once the sales drop off, then they release it on DVD since the people who really wanted it on DVD in the first place but couldn't get it will now go out and buy it. The only reason for not doing it YET is that they still have time to cash in on Episodes 2 and 3 on VHS before doing DVD; if they did a partial release of the 6 episodes on DVD, then it would be a noticable scam that they only release (say) episode 2 on VHS but not DVD. Once they release DVD, then they will always have to.
I like my theory (#2), but then again I probably watch X-files too much. Interesting thought if anything, though...
--
Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...