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Rick McCallum Answers "Why No Star Wars DVD?"
Anonymous Coward writes "Producer Rick McCallum answers the question, "So many fans want Episode I and then the Classic Trilogy on DVD. It doesn't make sense to us that you aren't going to release at least Episode I. What's going on?" at the official Star Wars site. " The answer is fairly predictable-Lucas hopes to do "something special" and doesn't have the time right now. I like the use of the word "exploit" in the answer - kinda what the VHS - DVD switch feels like.
"I like the use of the word "exploit" in the answer - kinda what the VHS - DVD switch feels like."
I like to use the phrase 'consumer driven obssessive dork' when people whine about not being able to buy some entertainment now, RIGHT NOW! OH GOD I NEED IT NOW! If I don't have the DVD version RIGHT NOW MY HEAD WILL EXPLODE AND IT WILL BE ALL LUCAS'S FAULT!!! AHHHHH, Killing spree!!! Killing spree!!!
Seriously, if you want, no NEEEEEEED to own it, and you want, no NEEEEEEED to have the DVD version. Get a freaking clue already! Exploit my ass.
I agree fully with you... George Lucas is pretty much in a no win situation right now. He can either release the DVD's as just movies, to make some people happy and get slammed in the reviews which will state "it was obviously rushed out the door. There's no interactivity features like you can find on other DVD's", and then slammed by the people he tried to make happy when he issues the real DVD's which also include other features. Then Slashdot will complain that he's hosing them not once but twice for the DVD's.
Of course, he's not doing that, and just waiting so he can release them once and only once and he still gets slammed.
Just as everyone gives Rob a break for not releasing his code on a timely basis, people should give George Lucas the same break. After all, if he released them now, you'd just have to buy them again when he really did release them as he originally envisioned them being.
In this case he is a film geek and likes to produce films.
Ahh... this old explanation. Look at this page on the IMDB. Now look at the number of films he's directed versus the number of films he's produced. A "film geek" would not have gone from 1977 to 1999 without having directed a single movie. Sure, he wrote some stuff (along with other people), but that's being a writer, not a film geek. And sure, he's produced a lot of stuff, but that's being a business man who likes movies, not a film geek.
Compare his record to Steven Spielberg, a true film geek. He's _directed_ no less than 18 films in the same period Lucas made 0.
Lucas is a business man, not a filmmaker.
>let's face it, if one had the potential to become a Dark Lord and kill the Jedi, don't you think that it would have sent off some vibes to warn someone???
:-)
Of course, maybe this is why Yoda resists letting him into the club at first? He senses something not quite right with the kid, can't put his finger on it, and comes up with some other excuse to deny Leeson's request to take him on as apprentice.
Of course, you can always come up with some plausible explanation for this kind of this. That's what keeps the SW newsgroups full of this kind of crap.
(barely on-topic, better moderate it down just to be safe )
Especially if Lucas actually does want to release a good set...The Shining in the Kubrick Collection is terrible; it has mono sound and no letterbox format. :( If Lucas puts the trilogy on DVD with the option to view it in letterbox (widescreen) or in pan-and-scan (edited), I'd be happy. If Lucas adds the option to view the Special Edition changes or to turn them off, I'd be VERY happy. I'll wait for them to come out.
Besides, we want II and III to be good. Then again, I suppose there's no guanrantee they will be with Lucas's full attention...
To all,
/. news) along the lines of a boycott on VHS SW:E1. While this might get the attention of the mainstream, I just do not belive it will get us what we want. SW is all about hype. The movies (VHS) will sell like hotcakes. George will make additional millions, and we will be SWless. If the guy can take the time to produce a VHS version, he can certianly burn it to disk. The "Special Features" box (you know the one I'm talking about) will read:
I have heard a lot of comments (on previous
Dolby 5.1
Spanish Subtitles
Chapter Selection
I for one will buy the VHS version ASAP. I will then buy the DVD version IF it has enough special features to justify the purchace. If it does not, I will wait till VHS is obsolete before I get the DVD.
Thoes of you who will boycott want it on DVD now. But, would it be worse to buy the VHS now and then a Directors Cut DVD in a few years, or buy the DVD now and then buy the Directors Cut DVD AGIAN in a few years.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
f you had total control of a franchise like Star Wars(TM), you could do pretty much what you damn well wanted to do. At least Lucas is giving us the first three episodes (and don't flame me on how PM sucked...it was the first part
to a story that we already know how it ends...no movie would have satisfied everyone).
Tell me why did people go for that? Seems that it really would spoil the end and just cheapen the movie. Suppose you know that every fairy tail ends with people "living happily ever after" (yeah right); dosn't this in some way cheapen the fairy tail? I would have been quite entrigued if for example you don't implicetly know that Darth Vader is really this Anakin person. In fact from that movie only you can imply that in fact he will be quite the model of good and truth. At any rate his approach is flawed because basic human logic and memory can cheapen the whole thing. I guess the only thing that really makes it is the fact that it uses a lot of computin' thingees
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
Everybody knows Lucas is a cheap bastard with no intent on the happiness of his customers. All he cares about is the billions of dollars he makes. When the Star Wars TPM comes out on DVD if you want it you will have to buy it
in a huge Star Wars collectible set. This is bound to cost upwards of $200 CAN, just another billion in Lucas' pocket.
A couple of things:
1. Exactly how much is $200 CAN in USD at the current exchange rate I might have a better understanding of the kinf of cash you are talking about.
2. Possibly however not everyone actually hates to buy all that stuff or to buy all that gear. I suppose that if you bought one and then kept it in good condition you might be able to sell it as antique or maybe you just like crazy SW crap. I mean if you are the type of person who has a Darth Maul double edged light sabre then this would be your pot of gold.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
I would rather he didn't quickly throw just the movie with a little bit of this that and the trailer stuck on the DVD with it. I would be forced to buy it because it is Star Wars, and then I would be pissed off because I have nothing more than I would get on a videotape basically. His idea of waiting till he can do something special might not be a money grabbing scheme as much as he realizes how special star wars is to all of us. Maybe he doesn't want to release crap with the Star Wars movie on it. Of course if he waits a year or two and then releases the DVD with nothing special on it then we will have reason to be pissed. But I guess we will have to just wait and see.
I am 31337 or something.
The delay just gives the pirates more time to pillage the DVD market.... SW:TPM is already on sale in DVD form in Hong Kong and places East (I've seen a copy that a friend brought back with her from her last jaunt out that way).
Then again, Lucas probably isn't too badly concerned with profits lost to piracy; they'll be minimal due to how slowly the DVDs will trickle in to the US, and what few losses he'll incur will be dwarfed by the extra profits gained by releasing to VHS first -- impatient consumers will quickly gobble up the tapes, then repurchase the film when the official DVD is finally released.
So I have to ask the question: who is really the pirate here?
-- WhiskeyJack
You hit the nail on the head. I got into a small discussion with a Sony Rep who was doing a demo at a large advertising agency who produces HDTV spots for Monday Night Football. In front of a large crowd I said. 'Now where does this put DVD?' He replied it will look great on this. I said yeah, better than on our current TV's? He said, much better. Then I said as good as these images were watching off of TAPE. He stuttered and said not quite. I had him where I wanted him and said. I've read that current DVDs allow for about 20 minutes of HDTV Data on a disc. He said yes, but there are several new technologies that will allow us to store more. So we will continue to use DVD. I replied back 'with the same old players and discs?' He said no. Now who's complaining about Lucas taking you guys to the cleaners?
This is the exact same thing, almost word for word, that the Lucasfilm folks have been saying for months, including the last time this story popped up on Slashdot. Nothing has changed. Are our memories so short that we need these constant "reminders"?
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Don't you people know what patients are? Why back in my day we didn't have these DVDs and VCRs, if you wanted to watch a movie again you waited for it to be re-released in the theatres... I'm telling you ever since these "talkies" came out the cinema has been going downhill anyway....
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
Well, Lucas is still hard at work writing Episode II: Jar Jar's revenge. When asked by a reporter, Lucas explained his approach to the movie.
"I've been working on making sure that there will be a lot of hype around the movie," said Lucas, "I'm expecting to do a lot with Mace Windu this time. He's a badass Mofo. Also, Sideous' new apprentice will be 10 times as cool as Darth Maul, not to mention Boba Fett and the entire army of Darth Maul clones!" Lucas smiled a bit and then continued, "That hype will get them into the theater, of course, but I'll be sure to piss them off when they realize that half of the movie is just more of Jar Jar Binks acting like an idiot! I can't wait to see the faces on all those people who payed for a ticket to see some action, and instead got Jar Jar!"
When asked about the Original Trilogy on DVD, George Lucas explained his actions to hold back. "Well, we're still waiting for the generation PI players to come out so we can implement some radical changes to the series. First and foremost, I plan on releasing the super-special edition of the first trilogy. This way I can add Jar Jar to those movies as well. Then I can implement my DIVX enhanced type PI features in those DVDs as well, and force people to shell out five bucks per viewing to eliminate Jar Jar entirely from those movies. This is where I wanted to go originally back in 1977, but the technology didn't allow me to do such a thing. Now, thanks to the technology that the generation PI DVD players will provide, I can suck even more money out of these geeks!"
(Due to recent instances of 1337 hax0rz doing evil things with DVD encryption, the status on the release of the PI generation of DVD players is currently in the air. Until then, Lucas will release at least three more different "versions" of the original trilogy and TPM on VHS, which he expects you all to buy.
"You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're dreaming or awake?"
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
"Why no Star Wars DVD?"
I think it would be a truly wonderful thing if the answer to that question was: "Because the DVD consortium is unfairly restricting the use of that format". But, unfortunately, that's not what they said. A lot of the posters here feel it's a trick for money, and that could well be the truth. However, Maybe our small case can be heard. It's probably unlikely, or even impossible, for Lucas to go against the will of the MPAA, but it would be nice for a public figure in the movie industry to let people know what they think. I would love to be able to buy a DVD with a clear conscience. Hey, I can dream, can't I?
-Denor
Personally I think that everyones making far too much noise about this.
The excuse is that George Lucas wants to spend time on it himself. Any really greedy corporation would just churn out a generic DVD with virtually no features, and then release a "Special Edition" at twice the price after a year, then release a special Boxed set with "Special George Lucas Edition" extra features after Episode 3.
It is conceivable that George Lucas genuinly doesn't want to release a half baked product.
Finally, please remember that as he is the creator of Star Wars, he deserves the right to release it as and when he wants. Even if you disagree with it. No-one is forcing you to buy the video.
I can't imagine anyone feeling exploited by DVDs. Here's why:
* Nobody's forcing you to buy them. I don't know of many movies these days being released on DVD only. They're all DVD and VHS. (Excluding a few old ones like Cannibal Women and the Avocado Jungle of Death, which you would be hard pressed to find at all, if not for DVD.) VHS will be around for a long time, and if it's all you want, stick with it.
* The image and sound difference is amazing. Watch the same movie in VHS and then DVD. You'll be shocked at what came out of your TV.
* DVDs have lots of cool things you don't find on VHS tapes, and they're still pretty cheap. (I've been buying them for ~$20, and I haven't been scouting for deals.)
As it is, if I'm being exploited, EXPLOIT ME MORE!!!
Does this sound familiar to anyone (*cough* Slash source *cough*). Maybe Lucas should open source the work on the Star Wars DVD's.
Skippy
"False modesty is the refuge of the incompetent." - The Stainless Steel Rat
We all want to see Star Wars on DVD, and of course we all want it to be a good transfer, but I don't buy George Lucas explanation. He isn't a Zen master who must wave his hands over the equipment to give a good transfer. If they can make truely excellent DVD transfers of other movies they can do the same thing with Star Wars.