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Star Wars EP1 On DVD Confirmed By Lucas
Bigmell was one of several people to write about a phone call George Lucas made to KROQ Radio in Los Angeles. Ain't-it-cool-news also had a piece running with the same information. In any case, it looks like a DVD is being worked on, with a September release date. Bonus material includes unfinished scenes from Episodes 4-6. Harry @ aintitcool also had a release date of Sept 12.
It has been released on videocassette (e.g. VHS) but not on DVD (i.e. disc).
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<sig>Guvf vf abg n frperg zrffntr
Does anyone else find it kinda hypocritical how /. is always so much against the MPAA and telling us to boycott them and the like, but then when news like this comes up, it creates such an excitement? "WOO! The DVD! Now I can go support the people who I was just saying are trying to screw us over!"
Pick a side, stay there... don't jump back and forth.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
First they are, then they aren't, then in 2005, now in September. It seems like Lucas has dropped a line and is slowly reeling it in.
A DVD release is customary of new movies, so how can they spice it up? They stir up their own controversy, by saying that they won't release it. Then once enough people become outraged over the news, far-off release dates are thrown out to lead us on. Once that news has settled, and everyone looks forward to waiting 5 years for it, they find out that it will actually be out in 6 months.
Sales will probably be triple of what they would if Lucas would release the DVD customarily. And every fan feels a spirit of gratitude to the man for not waiting 5 years to release it.
IMO, a ploy worthy of Microsoft.
And to think everyone pooh-poohed the petition!
I think that the reason why George Lucas has decided to do a DVD version of Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace is simple: there are now enough DVD players and DVD-ROM drives out there to justify the sales that can recoup the investment necessary to master this movie onto DVD (and make a nice, handsome profit).
With standalone players dropping under US$200 in price, DVD-ROM drives showing up on new computers AND new laptops in a big way, and this fall massive sales of Sony PlayStation 2's that can play DVD movies, not to mention lots of computer geeks wanting to see the movie just for its stunning technical details, I expect DVD sales of TPM to be at least 1 to 2 million copies in a matter of days.
In fact, now that it appears that Sony will most likely ship the US version of PlayStation 2 on September 9, 2000, wouldn't it be a heck of a tie-in for PS2 owners to get a discount coupon to buy the TPM DVD at the same time?
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
This just goes to prove that Lucas is a genius! When I heard there was no DVD, I bought the tape. If I could have I would have avoided the tape and bought the DVD instead. Now there is a DVD and me... the poor dupe that I am... will JUST HAVE to go out and buy the DVD too. Lucas got two sales out of me even though I didn't go to the theater! I've been media-RAPED!
// Zarf //
Well, it's not like I didn't really expect it from George Lucas anyway.
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[signature]
As far as the Aint-it-cool-news piece, I wouldn't put too much stock in it. First of all, this news comes second hand from a minimum-wage employee of a video store, not the greatest of sources. Also, on the very same page is someone else who seems much more reliable saying that there will be absolutely no DVD in the forseeable future. Furtheremore, Lucas has said time and time again that there will be no Star Wars DVDs until all 6 are finished, so I think it's a safe bet that we still have a long wait ahead of us.
Sony (or some other bug name electronics manufacturer) probably came to him and gave him a nice suitcase of money to release the DVD sooner, in order to hook more first-time DVD player buyers for this xmas season.
The other (slightly more far-fetched) reason could be that he wants to sell as many digital copies as he can before high bandwidth and huge harddrive space allows (even more) people to pirate movies.
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2B1ASK1
According to The Force.net article dated Mon, Apr 17, 00 04:18:47 AM EDT
The Force.net
***Ronald Epstein, who runs the 'home theater forum' of the Digital Bits, confirmed that there won't be an Episode 1 DVD release this year (The editor of The Digital Bits, Bill Hunt, seems to have some undisclosed inside information about the upcoming Star Wars DVDs). According to Epstein, "There are specific reasons why a DVD release is still quite a ways off, though the intent has been announced". However, the final result will be worth the wait: "You will be absolutetly floored!".
***
But there is one angle that I feel is understated. DVD is a significant improvement in technology over CD's and VCD's. Sound and picture quality is very much improved. To the geek community, this is kind of tech is too important to be associated with encryption technology, to be locked up and used to control access.
Therein lies the central issue. We care enough about the tech to want to see content on it. That is why we protest against CSS and region locking. If DVD's weren't a technologically superior alternative to VCDs and current CD's nobody would care.
Many people believed Lucas, and bought the VHS version under the false impression that a DVD version was not forthcoming. What Lucas should be required to do is offer all the poor saps who bought the VHS version an option to upgrade their copy to the superior DVD format.
I imagine that in 4-5 years Lucas is going to come out with a special edition DVD/VHS box set with all Star Wars movies. This means that if you listen to the marketing machine at Lucas films, and bought all of the versions of his Star Wars movies you'll have
If I did my addition and multiplication right, it means you'll have bought 16 copies of the various Star Wars movies for a total price of of at least $400. Pretty amazing.
Sig goes here
But, on second thought: DVD is definitely superior to VHS, but is DVD as it is today going to last as long as VHS did? For audio formats, there are now both SACD and DVD-Audio and it is not entirely clear which will prevail (if any). On the video side, specifications for hi-def video, as well as for recordable media are mostly nonexistent (for both technical, but mostly legal and economic reasons).
Then there are the (somewhat ridiculus) issues of encoding and regions. The main argument for regional coding is that companies do not want to lose revenues: for instance, the same movie that sells for $20 in the US, sells for about $10 in, say, India. Even though companies do have profits in India, they want to maximize the overall profits, esp. given the high production and distribution costs of today's films. So the argument is, more or less, that if they do not do that, they won't be able to stay in business. In the meantime, India (to use the same example) produces about 3-4 films per week, at much lower costs (and keep in mind that costs for SFX etc are but a fraction of the overall costs in making and distributing a movie...).
However, I don't think the coding schemes will last for long (even now, they seem to rely more on lawyers than on engineers to work ;-). And I do not think that Hollywood is unaware of this (even though they might seem to be). For instance, Lucas himself has been experimenting with various innovations to reduce costs. For instance, the technology for producing SFX might be an obvious one.
Also, Lucas was the first to experiment with digital distribution of films (the movie is transmitted to a hard disk at your local cinema and then projected -- the monstrous JVC-Hughes lightvalve projectors were used in the experiments, with excellent results). This practically eliminates the costs of producing (physical) copies of the film and allows for simultanous world-wide distribution (no need to share copies etc...)
So, I believe we will see a lot of changes in the near future and DVDs a few years from now might be entirely different from those of today. But, then again, if Lucas thinks he can make profit today as well as tomorrow... why not? In the meantime, we will satisfy our... addiction. ;-)
What on *EARTH* are you talking about?
Go to www.imdb.com, and see the second headline:
Over $100 million in VHS sales in its first two days of release!
This is ridiculous. This is informative?
matt
George Lucas made me buy seven copies of the original trilogy! What a total bastard! There I was, innocently wandering the aisles of my local video store, when in walks George Lucas, carrying a board with a nail sticking out of it! He... he... oh god, the pain... Jeezus, people. No one is making you buy every version of the Star Wars trilogy. I'm one of the uberdorks who saw Ep. 1 multiple times DESPITE the digital tomfoolery (read: Jar Jar, who reminds me of that whore in Full Metal Jacket, dont ask me why), and I have yet to buy it on VHS? Why? Because I can wait until it comes out on DVD (yeah, even if I'm 60 when it happens). Don't bitch at George Lucas because of your lack of self-restraint. Bitch at him because he desperately needs a screenwriter.
I had made the painful decision to buycot the VHS release of TPM. I loved the movie, Jar-Jar and all, but I was not going to pay for this AWESOME movie on crappy VHS. Looks like I may end up being one of the lucky few to not get hosed with buying both the VHS and DVD versions.
On a side note... All of the SW movies have had annoying, to you and me, characters. Many found C3-PO very annoying, and what about those furry little Ewoks... Jar-Jar is just continueing that SW tradition. If not for Jar-Jar, my wife would have COMPLETELY hated the movie.
I think I would be in heaven if only I could find a Linux job.
Hey GL deserves much respect for his independence from the big studios
If you're small time and then make it big without the studios 'help', then you deserve some respect, but when you have enough Liquid wealth to spend $200,000,000.00(US) on a movie, it's not that difficult. Add the fact that you're releasing a film people have been looking forward to for over 20 years, its a cinch. Hell GL could of released it as a sock puppet show, and still made $100,000,000(us):)
The movie has grossed approx. $400,000,000 dollars, BUT, if GL had to pay Lucusstudios the same as anybody else, it would have cost $500,000,000(US) to make. So if I had made the exact same movie, and had the exact same reputation as GL, I would have lost $100,000,000(US)
His methods are a great blueprint for "how to make art AND money without selling your soul to a huge lumbering corporation
You mean use the studios to make you huge money, then cut them out of the picture? not much of a blueprint if you ask me.
It must go something like this:
1:Make movie that gross's over 10 times it's cost
2:Be sure nobody believes it will be worth a dime so you can keep the merchindise money
3:use your Billions to make 'Independant movies'
There is a rule in 'the business'(and by The Business' I mean 'The industry':) ), that says never use your own money. I think TPM may have been the exception do to everybodies high hopes. I still believe that if TPM was the first to be released, then it would have been lucky to break even. The critics(in general) couldn't wait to use this opportunity to kiss his butt.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
AICN is the worst of the worst when it comes to Fan-Boy hype.
Harry has gone to premieres and given rave reviews to a flick (ie Godzilla) then come back a few days later to publish a "retraction" or not quite-so-positive review.
AICN.com is in severe need of some Slash-style moderation. Once these raving fan-boys start getting and giving the smack, they might smarten up.
OTOH, I'll believe this DVD crap when I see it.
Does the first link in the story actually go anywhere? I got a big story about how much money studios are making off of DVD, nothing about Lucas phone call...
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
If you really dislike what's happening with the DeCSS issue, then it shouldn't matter what they release, you should stick to your beliefs.
It's easy to be for/against something that doesn't directly effect you. The real challenge doesn't come until you have to give up something for your beliefs.
If you give up a 'belief' the moment it becomes even slightly difficult or inconvenient, then you never really had those beliefs, did you?
Lets face it, a movie coming out on DVD is hardly something to compromise your principles for, especially one that you can get in a format that you(probably) already own.
This is in no way a flame against your beliefs, just pointing out the philosophical implications of your situation.
The fact that you buy a DVD player that can circumnavigate the region coding, doesn't mean you made strives to help the DeCSS issue, just that you found a way to placate your guilt. Now that I said that, I hope your guilt will be more difficult to placate. Yes, I'm a mean bastard, but I have to stand up for my beliefs.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I looked around on the net for prices on the LTBX edition of PM, and here's what I found:
Amazon.com: US$29.95
HMV.com: CAN$31.99
Bwah hah hah!
Sometimes, living in Canada can be good. Not that I'm buying VHS anymore, but good to know.
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
I simply wouldn't know what to do if Phantom Menace wasn't released on DVD. Thanks to Georgie, now all of us can be irritated and annoyed by Jar Jar in full digital sound and video! :)
:)
Thanks, but no thanks. I'll wait for Lucas to release a 100% Jar-Jar Free Directors Cut of the film. Oh wait, he already did. That was the 2-minute trailer.
Bowie J. Poag
Project Founder, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://metalab.unc.edu/propaganda)
Bowie J. Poag
I think I must be about the only person on the planet not to have seen the film. In fact, I've deliberately chosen not to watch it. The more the Star Wars mania continues, the more it'll continue to push me away from the notion. I hate hype. My basis for this reasoning is the popular vs good theory. A thing can either be one or the other. For example, the British Tabloid papers are popular - but they are not good journalism. Over hyped films (and this most certainly was one of them) will be at the bottom of my viewing list.
Give it 10 years, and I might watch it, on my Betamax video.....
M.
Let's consider the options on whether to believe this. I figure there are two options:
Option one, Lucas decides to release the DVD version of Episode 1. By doing this, he goes back on several years of announcing there would be no DVD version until the series was complete. In addition, he decides not to make a general announcement but instead leaks the information to one distributor, forgoing the chance to make a big deal of the fact that this will indeed be the first Star Wars DVD released.
Option two, Suncoast messed up by announcing something that doesn't really exist, which happens all the time
Seriously, in all likelihood this is just a misunderstanding based on a mistake made at Suncoast.
What gets me is how retarded this whole thing about 'racism' is. Yeah, Jar Jar had an accent. Some people say it sounds Jamaican, but I don't see it. For the sake of argument, we'll say that it was meant to sound like that.
Then you've got the Trade Federation, with their strange accents. These I could see as having been based on Mandarin or something.
These characters are either considered 'bad/evil', or 'foolish/stupid'.
So what?
In the original trilogy, how did all of Vader's henchmen speak? In a very clear British accent. They were considered bad/evil type people. How did C3P0 speak? Something like a British butler, and he was the fool throughout the series. All of the 'good guys' more or less spoke with normal American accents - not exactly unexpected, given that these were American movies.
Why isn't anyone complaining about the unfair treatment of the British in the original trilogy? Because they are apparently fair game according to the PC crowd, and the British actually have a sense of humor and didn't care.
People seem intent on turning anything into a racial issue. Give me a break - there are plenty of cases of real racism and injustice out there to go after, you don't need to make them up.
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff
GL was on KROQ radio(Los Angeles) and was asked about DVD. He said that it was "in the works. but Episode 2 is taking to much of his time" He said nothing about a release date, and I would presume(no fact in this at all) that it won't be released until after episode 2 at the earliest.
If any employee, outside the highest levels of management, knew of a release date you would here about it in the news.As sad as that is.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I'm pretty sure that wasn't a maze, but rather a long straight hallway with several force-fields of some sort. I'm guessing they were some sort of blast shield or something to keep fire/radiation out.
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff
The "Red Maze" is, in my opinion only, part of the main reactor for the city.
Yes, I feel that it's placement next to the hangar could've been rethought, but if you look at all the bright towers all over the place, they could only be for power distribution.
The red "doors" could very well be a timed channel for capacitance and overflow. The "pit" might well have been the heat dissipation exhaust.
(Jedi and Sith can resist temperature extremes...)
Mind you, this is only conjecture.
HEWOLF
"Well, how would you like it if you woke up in a vat and told your life was a lie?" Neo
Sadly, the Star Wars news needs to be laid to rest. I didn't see TPM when it was released, because there was just too much hype, and I didn't want to get sucked in by it. I have great memories of the first three movies, so I was certainly eager to see it, but I didn't. I finally saw TPM recently and, in all honesty, there's only one thing that can be said about it: It's a bad movie.
The characters were flat; you didn't care about them at all. The acting was wooden, with no exceptions. The plot was poorly written and suspenseless. It jumped all over the place, throwing out names and terms like crazy, but I just didn't *care* about what was going on. The presentation waffled between trying to be complex--with all the diplomatic nonsense and so on--and trying to be a kids movie, with goofy characters that used comedy accents (Italian, Asian, JarJar's faux Jamaican). Nothing was played up like it should have been. Darth Maul was just sort of thrown into the plot in a casual way and didn't seem to fit. And yet he turned out to be in the climactic battle at the end? Strange. Anakin accidentally blows up the control ship to save the planet? Uh, I guess that was supposed to be the force guiding him but that was never brought up. An army is exterminating JarJar's people, yet he's making pratfalls throughout the scene. Come on, why didn't Saving Private Ryan bring out the vaudeville during battles? And that oh, so sophisticated droid army doesn't seem to have advanced beyond US revolutionary war tactics: get in a big line and march forward so to be easy targets.
The CG effects were nice, but they didn't save the rest of the movie. I like SF, but I have to admit that TPM was abysmal. To say otherwise would be to belittle the good movies I've seen in the last few years.
I have this image of Lando, at age seven, as a tough-talking gansta wanna-be, before learning that you can catch more flies with honey and evolving into soopa-slick Billy Dee.
"You say people gonna die? I'll tell you who's gonna die - it's always the white Naboo who start wars, and the black men who get killed. F**k that s**t, b***h, this n***a ain't fighting!"
I would have paid serious money to see that.
I like to watch star wars when I'm washing my ass out in the sink. I have the TV positioned just outside the door so I can pick poo and watch TV too, ( hehe that rhymed ). I'm happy about the dvd thing too cause I like the playstation and picking me butt at the same time too.. which means I won't have to drag the playstation, tv, AND vcr,.. just the tv and playstation and I'll be able to watch it through the play station while i pick poo. Cool stuff!
rm -rf ~/.signature
The URL in the above post should be http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35178,00.ht ml. Don't know why it didn't show up properly.
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