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Starwars Episode 1 DVD?
|GopheR| writes "Mr. George changed his mind and is planning to release episode 1 on DVD before 2005? If The digital bits rumormill is right, then he probably did change his mind. " Note that they don't really have a date set, and Lucas hasn't said he *won't* release DVDs... just that it'll be years before they do. To bad. I own two copies of the original trilogy on VHS (Original and Special edition) but I've sworn off video. I woulda bought the DVD the day it came out, but I won't spend a penny on VHS.
I'd consider buying the first (or is that second) trilogy on DVD because "Star Wars" and "Empire Strikes Back" were so good. I'll even tolerate those damn made for selling dolls Ewoks in "Return of the Jedi" just to have the complete set and story line.
But "The Phantom Menace"? No. I don't think so. George Lucas can blame bad internet press all he wants, but "The Phantom Menace" just plain sucked. And if you are more than 10 years old, it sucked a lot. It's exactly the sort of film directors make when they've run out of original ideas but know they have a loyal fan base so they don't have to try very hard anyways and can concentrate solely on selling toys. The only reason I could see in buying it by itself is using Anakin and Jar-Jar "Meesa Gonna Sella Lotta Action Figures" Binx as suction cup dart targets on my TV screen.
If the next two films (assuming they bother making them) are back to the standards set by "Star Wars" and "Empire", I might include "The Phantom Menace" in my DVD collection just tohave the complete set. But the next two films will have to be abso-freaking-lutely amazing for me to tolerate "Phantom Menace" like I tolerate "Return of the Jedi". Given Lucas' recent track record, somehow I don't think they will be.
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 planningon 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 besomething very cool.
You'll only buy DVD? I thought all good geeks were boycotting DVDs to show support for DeCSS and the gang?
This means Star Wars: Episode 1 is NEVER coming out for beta! what the fuck?!?!?! I'm not down with this whole schmancy fancy VHS thing you crazy kids have got brewing!!! Seriously - it'll never catch on!
Usually I'd be agreeing with you except that this rumor actually comes from Lucas' mouth. Most rumors like this are just some guy hearing from some guy who knows a guy that delivers food to Lucasfilms.
...will he release a version without Jar Jar?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
By "You all," who exactly are you referring to? Last time I checked, the user base of Slashdot did not consist of one gestalt entity, but rather as thousands of individual entities. These entities, or "people," each have different ideas and opinions that make them unique from other "people" even though common interests draw them to a communal forum.
For instance, while some people who frequent Slashdot find that whiny, loud-mouthed latecomers who attempt to mask their own feelings of guilt and boost their sense of self-importance by spouting off-topic inflammatory garbage wherever they feel like it are doing the Slashdot community a severe disservice; others think that such persons are merely being dumbasses. However, all members of the Slashdot community can agree that such nonsense is unwelcome and not very well thought out.
Perhaps a more appropriate example is this: Some people like The Phantom Menace. Others don't. Some people agree with the MPAA's stance on Intellectual Property protection. Others don't. Some people read Slashdot. Other don't. Look Ma - all the circles in the Venn diagram intersect!
If everybody on Slashdot had the exact same opinion, there would be very little need for discussion forums at all, now would there? But there are forums, and those forums exist so that people with different opinions can share different ideas. That's why I read Slashdot. Not for posts like yours, but for the free exchange of different ideas.
But, I also hate DVD. Or rather, all the hassle with the MPAA/DeCSS etc etc. I hate region codes too. I could get my player fixed, of course.. but unless I do that there are tons of movies I can not view here in region 2. Not just the latest ones that WILL make it in time, also a lot of old classics that were only released for the North American market.
And forgive me for being so weak.. but so far the technical superiority of DVD seems to outweigh the other issues. I *am* getting more DVD's. Although more selective than what would-have-been in a more open market. Why must I buy my favourite Star Trek episodes on VHS? Why am I advertised to death with Episode 1 yet cannot buy the DVD?
DVD, can't live with or without you.
Stability: I don't know. I would think the industry doesn't like to switch formats a lot, lest they confuse the consumer and have trouble selling anything. Considering VHS has been around for so long, if they are serious about DVDs, the standard won't change very soon.
(more conjecture)
If the movie industry (read: major studios) could absolutely and unequivocally control the distribution of their movies, then we'd probably be able to buy anything. Maybe they should grab some bandwidth in the "500 channel" future of television. They didn't mind VHS because the quality degrades when you copy it but DVD brings up real problems so, they throw in the CSS thing and, well, insult most of us.
This leads into the issue of boycotting. I really can't decide what to do here. I love DVD quality and enjoy watching movies, but I really don't like the idea of having to use liscensed players/software (although I do have a DVD decoder card in my system since it really helps) and I absolutely hate the idea that I can't take this disc around the world and watch it wherever I go. I know you can't do that with VHS, but you can at least convert it.
I haven't bought some DVDs in some time, as I've been wrestling with the issues. I do maintain we should be able to write free software, if we so desire, to play DVDs with or without a decoder card and that I shouldn't have to purchase my DVD collection again should I choose to move to Europe or wherever.
For the time being, I'm going to refrain from purchasing much of anything DVD related.
Woz
Was it released on Laserdisc? I've got VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD. I saw this thing rumored yesterday and canceled my order for the VHS Widescreen edition, but I'll buy a Laserdisc version. This is where the DVD story first broke, as far as I can tell. There's also some info about a radio interview with Lucas, where he supposedly said this himself. Anyone have a link to where I can get the Laserdisc?
---
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout. --Robert A. Heinlein
I would happily pay for a special edition "No Jar Jar" release. :-)
Not flamebait, just an observation.....
/.'ers couldn't stand to watch, sure are making a big fuss about not being able to get it on DVD. For a movie that's as bad as it soposedly it(from posts when the movie was out in theaters), why would you care two pieces of monkey crap if it ever came out on DVD. Or can Lucas put shit in a handbag, toss a "Star Wars" label on it, and it's suddenly a must buy?
Why does anyone even care?
For a movie that most
The movie studios should be pushing DVD. It is much cheaper to manufacture a DVD disc than a VHS videotape. They may be trying to follow the example of the music industry with CDs by keeping the price of DVDs higher than that of VHS tapes.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
You don't understand, that's the wholepoint of DVD. The one Das Boot disc has both the subtitled version and the dubbed version and the original german version all on it. This is why DVD is so great, i have seen the DVD version of Das Boot and watched it dubbed in english with english subtitles on. It was real cool because they didn't parallel and I got to see two different versions of the German translation.
"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." --Saul Belloe
But Das Boot is already subtitled on DVD, by default. You can't get it any other way. So if you buy any copy of it, it will be subtitled.
And why would you be strolling down to the local store to pick it up, anyway? You can get much better bargains and selection online at places like Express.com, not to mention Netflix's $20-a-month-unlimited-rentals by mail program (which I'd hop onto in a heartbeat if only I could afford right now).
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
For those of you who haven't taken the time to go read the source material, this *rumor* comes from a radio interview with Lucas last week. The upcoming DVD, which is in production will most likely have previously cut scenes from TPM.
George Lucas has a myth that he wants to tell in the way he sees fit, that is why he left the large studios after Star Wars. This artistic vision is the reason he does some things that seem out of whack, why he waited 15 years to start the prequels, why he wants to do something special for the DVD. I personally feel that the reason that TPM seemed quirky and chopped up in some ways, is that it will only seem complete when the other two prequels come out.
Some may say that this film should stand on it's own, but I want to see Lucas' vision. This is also the reason that I haven't gotten into much of the extended universe literature that has come out surrounding Star Wars.
I read the Salon article that a reader posted earlier, and I thought it had some valid points, but I believe the author missed some others.
Star Wars takes place in a world where democracy is collapsing and racist dictators are plotting with greedy corporations to carve out their own empires. Star Trek takes place in a world with a strong democratic government that, while having threats to it's stablility, are not in the same mortal peril as the Star Wars universe.
The reason that conflicts are waged in the Star Wars universe with active warring rebellions vs. the Star Trek one with civil discourse and so on is the setting. Let's face it, Star Trek devolves into kill 'em all every time the Borg show up. In Star Wars there isn't even the mystery of where the enemy comes from. The enemy is something that has existed in that universe for millenia.
As for the demigod status that the Star Wars universe confers upon it's heros, it is demigods that inspire. For me, I always saw the ascetic Jedi as something to live up to. To fight the good fight, but to do so with honor and to not allow fear and anger to cloud a morally just cause. Quite frankly I've never been inspired by Star Trek, yes I've always agreed with most resolutions to moral quandries put forth in the various stories, but the characters always seemed more distant to me than those in Star Wars.
I think it has more to do with the universe that these to fantasies are set in, with Star Wars being one where there is a complex story of governments, history, religion and culture that mirror much of what has happened on Earth. A world where farm boys and smugglers find their path in life that leads to a righteous struggle. Not only is it a righteous struggle, but they must carry out this struggle in a certain manner in order to maintain righteousness. Studying history, I see more parallels with Star Wars than Star Trek, and so that universe always felt more real, or personal. Of course, there are others who may feel the same way about Star Trek.
To me the question of Vader's redemption at the end of ROTJ is more about the belief that anyone can change, and be personally redeemed. Was justice served? Did Vader pay for his crimes? Of course not, but that is not what the story is about, it's about personal choices and struggles.
A question that the author of the Salon article forgot, was what is Hitler was captured, and then became a devout Christian, believing that Jesus had died for his sins. Even if Hitler paid for his crimes against humanity with his life, according to Christian beliefs, he would have gone to heaven.
I am eagerly awaiting the DVD, and the next two movies, which may be the only reason I break my boycott against the MPAA. I have faith in Lucas' artistic vision to present an interesting way to give us a morallity tale. I think that the Salon author goes for some of the easier shortcomings of the Star Wars story without exploring many of the explanations and perspectives that have evolved around the story.
I was rather intriuged by the explanation of how SciFi in general goes against much of the storytelling tradition in our world. I found it a very interesting discussion and I must say that I agree with the author on many of his points. I do however disagree with the insinuations that our age old tradition of creating heros to overcome our enemies no longer has value. I believe that these heros do much to show that one person can make a difference in the world and inspire people, especially children, to become more like those ideals.
In the end, I'd say it's all about perspective. Much like whether or not Obi-Wan and Yoda lied to Luke or merly offered a way of looking at the fall of Anakin. You can say that the Star Trek is a more mature universe and the the egalitarian views are more noble, and I might agree, but I think that Star Wars has always held the personal inspiration for me to attempt and forward those ideals.
I guess you could say, Star Wars for personal insperation and Star Trek for an ideal of what our society should strive for. But remember, it's all perspective.
So....
May the force be with you!, oh yea and, Live Long and Prosper!
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
I want to mark this entire story as "Redundant"
Me? I'm just a-waiting for my Laserdisc of Phantom Menace to show up in the mail...
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
..while the previous 2 posts where AC's, I'll be more than happy to place my name on this one. I agree with the AC's about this subject..isnt' the idea to boycott DVD's with Region coding (which I'm MORE than sure SW:TPM would have) until those WHORES from the MPAA drop their stupid ass lawsuit? Either we stick with the boycott or we don't. Which is it? I for one am not about to give into the corporate bullying that the MPAA is trying to pull off. I've sworn off of buying any new DVD's and even if SW:TPM had been released on DVD, I wouldn't be buying it. Even though Lucas wrote, produced, financed, etc the ENTIRE project, he has become The Man, Inc. just like RIAA, MPAA and all the others are. Lucas needs to stop playing these BS games of his and make some REAL statements. I guess the $$ is just too much too resist. Kinda like Metallica. Sorry, my ethics aren't for sale. And neither should anyone else that supports OUR choice of OS. So CmdrTaco, which is it going to be? You have my email if you want to respond. Hell, you can even call me on the phone if you want.
"Klaatu, verada, necktie!" -Ash
," the bulletin (which was also a press release, AFAIK) contained a large paragraph denouncing video bootlegging of Episode 1. Wow. Lucas really has copyright and control on the brain, doesn't he?
Yeah, God forbid he wan't to keep people from stealing his work or anything like that.
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
Why should you have to pay more to get the whole movie?
Well, if you buy the pan-and-scan version, aren't you essentially paying less for less of the movie?
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
Whereas Brin taught us that you can take on of the great series in Science Fiction history, namely Asimov's Foundation series, give a well thought of author a pen, and he can produce a complete piece of crap.
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
Now, while I'm not boycotting the MPAA, seems like most people here seem to *say* they are and are not. I have a DVD decoder card that happens to work great under Linux (Creative DXR-2) so I really don't care about DeCSS and all that crap. I understand the freedom issues at stake here, but I paid 200 bucks for this damn thing, and fuck if I'm not gonna use it.
You all bitched when Episode 1 came out - everybody went on for hundreds and hundreds of comments about how much it sucks. And every time a story about the MPAA is posted, there are hundreds and hundreds of comments about how much they suck and how you're all boycotting them.
So why the fuck are you all bitching about how you can't get Episode 1 (a bad movie by most accounts) on DVD (an evil format by most accounts)??? You need to either stick to your convictions or stop bitching about things.
You are only hurting yourself by this action.
/. and the EFF can use all the money it can get to fight the various incredibly important battles it had going on. Imagine if each /. reader sent a few hundred dollars to the EFF!
If you really want to make a difference, buy a player that you can disable the region controls on easily, supporting the makers to continue.
Then, buy all of your DVD's used or from auctions, so the MPAA does not directly get any of your money.
As for myself - I don't do any of the above (though I will probably get a region free player if I can get a five disc changer that plays MP3's), but I did donate money to the EFF last year and I plan to donate a bunch more this year.
If nothing else, donating money to the EFF is the best thing to do - in reality the MPAA is not going to miss your money, or indeed the purchases of the entire population of
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I have seen many posts on /. indicating they are boycotting DVDs, and many other posts saying how they are also doing so but torn over the choice.
Well, I'm here to play devil's advocate, to give you reasons why boycotting the DVD format is not in your best interests. I'm really interested to see the counter arguments to the ones I give, as I think it's an interesting discussion.
First the monetary angle - you not buying a DVD player or DVD's is hurting the MPAA.
Let's say that you get one million followers of the boycott going. Pretty impressive, surely that would stop the MPAA and make them reconsider the evil of there ways!
But wait - the estimated population of the United States in July 1999 was 272,639,608. The estimated number of televisions is 215 million. If even a quarter of the people with televisions buy a DVD player, what impact does the loss of a mere million people worth of revenue have?
Consider also how you are fighting them. By simply not buying a player or DVD's, you may think you are fighting them. But unless you are writing to the studios explaining that you are boycotting the system, you are really doing nothing except making them market a bit harder than they were before to your demograohic. That means you are helping a SALESPERSON make more money!!
But all that is just pointless jabbering unless I have some kind of soltution to replace the boycott (and even then no doubt some will still consider it pointless). As you might have guessed, I of course have such a plan.
I propose that to really make a difference, you see who is already in the fight and is making a difference. Though there may be other forces, the main ones I can think of are:
The EFF (providing legal help in many cases, including the deCSS case).
The people who make (essentially) regionless DVD players.
To support the EFF is easy - send them money. Lots of it. If you got that same hypothetical million people to donate $100 each to the EFF, don't you think that would help a lot more than simply not buying "It's a Bugs Life"?
In the second case, buying a DVD player where the region encoding is easy to defeat helps to make this a more desired feature in all players. This is already true in Euorpe where the DVD players in which they can play region 1 DVD's are selling like hotcakes. If you provide enough of a profit incentive then eventually some of the brand name DVD players will have to follow suit.
But more than buying one of these for yourself, explain to others around you why they should buy one as well. Let's face it, are you going to be able to convince more people they simply should not buy a DVD player at all, or that they should buy a really cheap one that can play DVD's from anywhere?
I will add one final argument. By not getting a DVD player now you are missing out on some DVD's that will not be around when the fight is won. Things like Disney movies that cycle into the market every few decades. Thing like the "Army Of Darkness Special Edition".
And in addition if you really don't want to give the MPAA money while still getting DVD's, buy them all from used CD stores.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It's worse than that. As noted at AICN, the DVD versions of the first trilogy (4-6) will be released with MORE "new special footage" as well. So if you didn't already buy the first four releases of the movie- here! pay the entire price of the movie over again for some new footage! But it isn't just that- Lucas is talking about litterally CHANGING the movie itself AGAIN. Sigh. It's not like this isn't a great bussiness idea, but it hardly makes him worthy of anyone's respect as a human being or a filmaker. As far as TPM, the more suspiscious of us believe that they _deliberately_ claimed that the DVD wouldn't be out anywhere in the near future so that everyone (especially video chains) would be more likely to buy more of the VHS version. Now that the initial rush is over, why not release the DVD version as soon as possible and grab some repeat buyers as well as those that boycotted the VHS? It's an important lesson about intellectual property- you don't just get the "movie" in raw and abstract form. You get the movie in whatever decaying format it's stuck in. I hope that someday I'll be able to purchase viewing rights to movie, and when "extras" are released, I'll only have pay for those instead of the whole shebang again. Course, I never bought ANY lucas movies. I just taped em off Tv. So what am I complaining about?
"wherein Darth Vader is forgiven all his sins, because he saved the life of his own son."
Is it not more that he renounced the evil that had controlled his life, thereby being forgiven of all sins.
Sounds like another Christian idea George Lucas has pinched...
Still I agree with the rest of the comments (or can't think of anything against them)
Putting whether DVD is a good technology aside, it blows as a medium. But as far as a medium goes, it redefines "closed." To distribute a DVD movie, you must license the technology; to play a DVD movie, again you must license. Pay to play.
Compare this to the historically most successful medium, paper. No one owns the patent to make paper, and you don't have to pay license fees to read it. As a result, no one controls what can be put on paper.
As long as your movie distribution format is closed, you better get used to someone else telling what you can and cannot see on it.
That said, I doubt that Lucas isn't doing DVD to protest a closed medium. More likely, he is protesting that it isn't his closed medium.
We already ripped his theories to death eight months ago on this thread and flooded his email box, prompting him to post this response, which we then also tore to shreds on this thread over here.
Actually, perhaps "tore to shreds" is a bit too strong. Really, we just ignored Brin and alternately bitched and creamed our pants about the great event of visual masturbation that was/is StarWars TPM. Or at least that was my gist from the audience.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
But even still, it is not the same as saying that Adolf Hitler "saved his son". Vader did more than save his son; he killed the emperor. He turned his back on the dark side and sacrificed his empire out of love for his son. He "redeemed" himself... at least in the eyes of the movie. So yeah, if Adolf Hitler saved his son AND destroyed the Third Reich, sacrificing his life to do so... I think that would be a redeeming quality.
-----------
"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
I saw the VHS in a local store and was tempted, but I just don't want to own any more video tapes. They're big, the're clunky, they break and the picture quality sucks (though, I hope the DVD-compression hardware gets better, I'm sick of seeing squares in dark backgrounds).
Other then the slightly annoying Japanese subtitling.. (not that it wasn't expected in a Japanese import!) the Laserdisc version is great. Bright vibrant color, digital sound.. The only thing I found odd was that the credits were almost unreadable. The font was too small, and the picture quality was aweful during it. (At least the rest of the movie was good..) :)
BTW I paid $120 after shipping for it.
--Mark
You'd expect a so-called technology supporter would promote something like DVD. What's the matter, it wasn't developped by ILM or LucasArts? Why is it that even Star Wars IV: A New Hope is not available on DVD, and that Raiders of the Lost Ark is just coming out?
I'm amazed at how big a technological boat Lucas is missing here. This is mind-boggling, until you realize that Lucas has always been motivated by profit. No, Ep. 1 is not available on DVD, but please, buy this $30 VHS package with lots of crap inside so we make a little more money off of you.
Anybody who has a DVD player should boycott the VHS release and wait. Don't justify this shameless money-grabbing scheme. I know it's probably too much to ask for a boycott of Star Wars (we're so spineless), but at least stick to your guns when it comes to buying it in video.
I always thought this was the case, what's so special about DVD that Lucas can't release a standard version now and when he's closer to death 5(8? 10?) years later he can release his Jar-Jar free version or whatever he's planning. Even Natalie Portman nude scenes aren't worth the wait.
Lucasfilm acts way too much like Disney for my tastes.
>---------- Forwarded message -------
> Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 08:02:26 -0500 (PDT)
> From: George Lucas <xxxx@thx.com>
> To: LocalYokel@Rednecks.com
> Subject: RE: TPM DVD
>
>Hello, Mr. Slackjaw!
>
> Thank you for a very well crafted flame urging me
> to release TPM on DVD. I have read your arguments,
> and followed the link to the "Slashdot" site hat you
> gave me, and have decided that I am being quite
> foolish about this business.
>
> We have been secretly working on a special DVD
> release of this movie, but from what I see on this
> website you sent me to, the cat is already out of
> the bag. The TPM DVD will be released shortly as
> Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace SE. We had
> intended to make the "s" stand for "Special", but it
> is clear that it should stand for "Slashdot". ILM
> has been working quite feverishly to add a subplot
> involving the capture of Queen Amidala in her quar-
> ters. As she is changing into the costume of her ser-
> vant, the captors will freeze her in a block of car-
> bonite. For all intents and purposes, Natalie
> Portman, naked and petrified.
>
> Thank you, and please be patient. The final touches
> will be made as soon as we complete our open source
> Beowulf cluster. Thank you.
--
--
E2 IN2 IE?
You have to realize that rumors are... just that, rumors. Earlier this year, another site also rumored that Lucas would be releasing it on DVD early. Then, they retracted their statement....
If there's one thing about Lucas, if he says he's going to do something, he does, and he doesn't go back on it. Just as he said he's going to release it in 2005, he most likely will not release it anytime sooner. Even if he did release it early, do you think these guys would know about it?... I don't think so.
By the way, you've heard of redundant posts... this is a redundant story...
Star Wars: TPM NOT on DVD in 2000
No Star Wars TPM on DVD
Rick McCallum Answers "Why No Star Wars DVD?"
Mr. Lucas said that Episode I will be released on DVD soon. Unfortunately, it will only run on an Amiga that will be bundled with a version of Microsoft Office for Linux. Just for fun though, he'll infect every fortieth DVD with the Goodtimes virus, so be careful!
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
I know this is offtopic -- get over it.
Question 1: I really like the idea of DVD but am afraid of buying a player and a movie collection only to find that the standard changes on me, or that the weird copy-protection and region codes scare people away and DVD evaporates like that digital audio cassette system from several years back. I don't want to have the 21st century equivalent of an 8-track collection. Do you think that this really will be what replaces VHS? Or should we all wait for these court cases to settle down? Do you think that consumers will be turned off by the fact that they don't have the freedoms that they have with CDs? These are things that churn around in my head when I think about taking the plunge into DVD.
Question 2: In response to the MPAA's charming behavior towards free software developers, people occasionally say that they are going to boycott DVD until the standard gets opened. What do y'all think about this? Is this something people are serious about, and do you think it will be productive? I ask because I'm willing to boycott if I know it is a part of a larger effort and if I think there is a chance it will be productive, but if it isn't going to do any good, then that's different.
If y'all have any opinions,it would be cool to hear them.
Take care,
Steve
========
Stephen C. VanDahm
As for the first question, I think that DVD will only replace VHS if serious interoperability problems don't arrive. The average joe won't even notice things like region locking, and likely won't even care that they won't be able to make backup copies. But if the DVD folks create a whole new format, thereby rendering obsolete all existing players, and all existing movies (go to a Blockbuster - there are a _lot_ of movies on DVD) then people aren't going to like it too much.
:)
And as for the second question, that one's easy. Before I knew about the whole DeCSS thing, I was planning on buying a DVD-Rom drive, and some DVDs to watch with it.
I have no plans to do that now.
I can't speak for those who already have DVD players, but I personally am not getting anything DVD related until this ends - and ends in our favor.
I know of others, too - one friend of mine is carrying the boycott to everything MPAA related. She won't see movies, or rent videos, or even buy from a tie-in venture (like, for instance, the recent Pokemon: The first movie items at Burger King).
So, yes, there are at least two of us doing a boycott. Likely, there are more. And yes, support would be appreciated
-Denor
If only if it means we may see a bastardization on detonate.net from the guy who did the matrix one, he only seems to work from DVD.
Anamorphic DVDs are letterboxed movies where instead of adding black bars to the bottom and top to keep the aspect ratio, they just don't. Viewing such a DVD on a TV that can't squeeze the picture vertically (or on a DVD that can't do it) everything will be distorted, i.e, people will have "long faces".
What I'm trying to say is that anamorphic movies has just as many scanlines as 4:3 movies ... it's letterboxed movies that have _less_ ...
Anamorphic is better - but they don't have more horizontal resolution than a standard television can display
it's in my head
I don't own a DVD player and i'm seriously sick that i get punished for not being on the cutting edge of tech - no...most people still don't own DVD players, we just get to watch the movies released for DVD several weeks/months earlier at a friend's house.
This is a common misconception. DVDs and VHS are released at the same time, however.. VHS has two releases. The first VHS release is highly-overpriced and basically for rentals.. but you can buy them if you look hard enough, usually its around 100$ a tape. The 2nd VHS release is the general public release, those are usually 15$ or so.
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
no
Well actually for what phantom menace was it was pretty on the ball. It was mainly plot building. Alot of people missed alot of the subtle things like Senator Palpatine. If you pay close attention to the later movies you notice somehow he becomes Emperer Palpatine. It was a plot builder and thats about it. Meet the characters. When viewed alot it was fairly mediocre but when thought of as a prolugue its alot better. Granted had the whole series been started with PM it probably would have flopped, the middle 3 books as they call them were a much better way to start. If you have ever read the book Shogun you can see a shining example of this. The first 250 pages basicly suck ass. After that it gets good for 750+ more pages. Id venture to say after recently reading the terry books novel Phantom menace that the movie stayed true to form and that we were just watching the prologue. Personally I think Jar jar was pretty cool although he probably should have had a joint hanging out his mouse and hung out with Jedi Elder Bob Marley instead.
I used to work in a video store so i know where you're coming from. In point of fact...some movies actually cost up to $500 a tape depending on their "worth" to the movie renting public. I believe that's what we got some crappy Tom Cruise movie for several years back.
:P
However, these videos are generally only sold by resellers so they are nearly impossible to come by for joe video buyer as the resellers usually only sell these in bulk. Yes - you can buy just about anything at any time...it's just a question of price. but WTF - maybe i'll pay that much when infinite jest is made into a movie
FluX
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
I know that with DeCSS that DVD's are evil now, but wait ... does this really mean that because of some computer software we have to watch a analog version of a digital movie?
I may not be the smartest man around, but I do know that you do loose something when you go from digital to analog ... so why wouls george do this?
I mean ... let's do it for jar jar here ...
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
Maybe parts of the post you responded to and the article went overboard, but I also think they raise valid points.
I get sick and tired of all the people who want to draw social, economic and moral conclusions from a damn movie.
And why, exactly, shouldn't we? The amazing success of this movie indicates something about us. The mere fact that people respond to the story says that we find it compelling -- I don't think there's anything wrong with comparing this plot with other widely known tales and placing them inside the context of the environments from which they were created. There is a truth that stories and tales we find interesting and personally entertaining reflect on us and who we are. In fact, today's mass-media culture in certain ways requires that we define ourselves to others, in part, through our consumption of books, music, clothes, food, or operating systems (ahem).
Maybe some of those Indie artsy-fartsy movies are trying to send a message, but most Holywood blockbusters are only trying to do one thing; make money.
Exactly. I'm not going to try and blame Lucas or "hollywood" or "the man" for things we like and enjoy - I just happen to think that the very fact we have hundereds of posts here discussing some rumor about a minor facet of the movie says something about us.
Maybe it means that we (meaning most people) have an inherent apathy or disregard for the common good and the average citizen, or maybe it means we're all too obsessive about this movie. Either way, it has to mean something.
Finally, I'd like to point out that I posted a response instead of moderating down, and I'd like to thank you for doing the same to the post you responded to. Oh, and no, I didn't spell check, and yes, I should have.
.sig last updated Jan. 14, 2000
Granted, this was a far cry from universal sufferage; but then, universal sufferage is a 20th century concept. It is not difficult to imagine an electoral monarchy evolving universal sufferage over time, once you have an understanding of how modern Democratic governments evolved.
"The axiom 'An honest man has nothing to fear from the police'
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
There are many people that feel the same. Is this because this is a freedom we assume we have, or a freedom that we are losing in today's "high tech world" like many other freedoms.
If you are going to protest something, do it for the right reasons.
I read "Don't buy DVDs!"
I read "Don't buy PM1 VHS!"
Decide, then go further and block the companies that support the very thing you oppose.
See DeCSS Movie Boycott Helper
Question: Wasn't there a boycott of PIII's because of a Hardware ID in the chip of some sort?
What if a company only made software that would work on an Athlon chip?
If I were protesting Intel, I would be happy for this. Maybe the people unhappy about no PM1 DVD release are not protesting the DVD industry?
Keystone Light! Ahhhhhhh
cheers
Let's examine the facts of the case:
You'd think that we geeks would be used to that whole "don't trust everything you read online" thing by now, eh?----
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
Mr. Lucas has learned as the years went on since the first trilogy was relased, he was capable of keep making money from it.
We, the stupid consumers, pay for anything "new", no matter if it is useless or not. We teached the lesson!
Now, in a very smart move, Lucas delays the DVD relase of his picture in order to make the consumer, specially the Star Wars Fan, to pay/rent the movie now (maybe several times), and then relase the "New Thing", in this case, DVD and get profit again, years from now...
I would like to think that Lucas don't relase the PM DVD because he wants to fight a holy war against the stupid DVD encryption/zoning fiasco. But I know that his reasons are more economic than anything else.
I can't judge this behavior as bad. I think that if it works for him, it's OK, it's his movie and his money.
But I'm sure I won't buy a DVD player, so I'll never be able to buy PM or any movie in that format. It's my little act of protest.
These rumors fly around every few months. They have been since May 1997 when DVD hit the shelves.
This same rumor mill (that is at The Digital Bits) is the same rumor mill that in Sept. 1997 was saying "Star Wars on DVD in Feb. 1998!" Then it became "There is a warehouse full of DVDs!" Then it became "Here is the cover art!" which was basically cover art from the Hong Kong black market VCD. Then we got to hear about "They have a warehouse full of discs they are sitting on!"
In other words, unless starwars.com says it is so, don't believe a bit of what you hear on from Digital Bits, E-Town, DVD Resource, or any of the other "In the Know" websites. They don't know.
I havent owned a single cassette tape since about 87 and I have thrown out most of my VHS. I have a few odds and ends that arent available on dvd yet which I dont want to lose but the minute I see them come out on dvd I'll replace them. You will always be penalized for owning obsolete technology. You just have to go with the flow and update your equipment. Thats like saying I own a 386sx 16 because I dont really need the speed of a pentium. Sure linux runs fine on a 386 16 but do you really want to? Id been penalized for years because my sun was only an old Sparc 5 but eventually I was forced to upgrade. I didnt immediatly throw out the 5 but now it makes a nice Xterm for my new machine which doesnt have a frame buffer. Upgrading is a way of life. When the technology expands beyond your capabilities you become obsolete. Its just part of life.
I marked my fathers retirement 2 years ago as the end of the executives who didnt know how to read email. He was obsolete, It was time to go. There will always be a few hold outs and theres alot of nostalgia out there on old stuff. I bought an apple ][ at a garage sale not long ago for 10 bucks cause I thought it would be fun to play with since I used one for years. Wasnt worth the 10 bucks. In another 10 years someone will say the same for VHS. Sometimes this fails of course. While I dont own a single cassette player in my house the one in my truck gets used to play books on tape. Why? Well the library has them, most of which were donated by people who got rid of there casettes in favor of cd. Of course anyone whos ever tried to look up anything current in there local library on computers knows its a losing battle. They are never current, just part of life. On the flip side if i need to remember how to program that apple 2 I can go down to the library and get an applesoft basic book. Librarys are basicly museums of one form or another, VHS belongs in one such museum as is evidenced by the fact that you can now check out VHS movies in the local library. Mines even started to offer a few DVD's.
PURE ENTERTAINMENT
Why should we infer any moral lessons from Star Wars? In case you didn't catch it, Star Wars is a Science Fiction movie. Meaning it isn't real. Meaning you shouldn't read too deeply into it.
I get sick and tired of all the people who want to draw social, economic and moral conclusions from a damn movie. Maybe some of those Indie artsy-fartsy movies are trying to send a message, but most Holywood blockbusters are only trying to do one thing; make money.
Get over it.
Gentoo Linux http://gentoo.org/
On a more serious note, David Brin wrote a thought provoking article for Salon a while back entitled "Star Wars" despots vs. "Star Trek" Populists. He seriously examines the moral themes of the Star Wars series and compares them to Star Trek.
Brin argues that the moral lessons that we are supposed to draw from Star Wars include:
Elites have an inherent right to arbitrary rule; common citizens needn't be consulted. They may only choose which elite to follow.
"Good" elites should act on their subjective whims, without evidence, argument or accountability.
Any amount of sin can be forgiven if you are important enough.
True leaders are born. It's genetic. The right to rule is inherited.
Justified human emotions can turn a good person evil.
Not too surprising given Lucas's view that "there's probably no better form of government than a good despot." (New York Times interview, March 1999)
Brin makes one particularly interesting point about Darth Vader's redemption in Return of the Jedi. He writes:
-- Diana Hsieh
-- Diana Hsieh
GeekPress: The Weirder Side of Tech News
Personally, I'd much rather see the original (you know, the "good") Star Wars episodes on DVD before anything else, including an episode 1 DVD or even before the theatrical release of episode 2.
I think Lucas ought to hand Ep. 2 over to a director who knows how to make movies not suck ass and work on doing his required lot of smarmy, self-congradulatory psudo-interviews which he seems to think we all want to see on the DVD version and just get them out.
I mean, do we really want to see more of Jar Jar? Wouldn't you rather have the original movies with digital sound and picture?
----
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
It was my understanding that when they released the DVD it was to be done "right" meaning with deleted scenes, directors cuts, etc. and that Mr. Lucas would not have time to do this until after the other 2 episodes are completed. I for one would like to see it on DVD and will not pay for VHS but I can see where he does have a point. I dont see why there cannot be two versions, one of the movie released now and a collectors edition a few years from now. just my 2 cents