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Star Wars Original Trilogy Gets DVD Release Date
Angry Black Man writes "The Digital Bits is reporting that there is finally some official information from Lucasfilm regarding the release of the Star Wars OT (episodes IV, V, and VI) on DVD. The movies are coming to DVD in September of 2004. The animated series of Clone Wars shorts appearing soon on the Cartoon Network will also be released on DVD, possibly before the end of this year. The teaser campaign for Episode III will begin in January of 2005, leading up to the May theatrical release. Finally... Episode III will hit DVD in November of 2005."
I've been waiting for both this and Indy for a long time. I suppose good news comes in in waves. Or maybe it's just an apology for Episodes I and II.
About time. Too bad they'll likely never release the original theatrical release cut on DVD.
Will these be the remastered versions of the original trilogy that were released in the 90s, or will these be the "true" originals?
The "official information" is from an anonymous source on Aint It Cool News.
Tell me that Han shoots first in the new DVD.
"Max, come over here. French-Canadian bean soup. I want to pay. Let them leave me alone." - Dutch Schultz
Is this going to be the special edition versions or the original?
Having seen the original release in the theaters as a kid, I would love to have a copy of them on DVD, my VHS ones are starting to give up.
Heck, I wouldn't mind a six disc set with both. I think there's still a lot of people out there who like them in their original form.
I just felt as great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Star Wars fans cried out in protest, and then suddenly stopped whining about "when is the Star Wars OT DVD coming out?"
Ahhh.
Now if only Lucas would truly take advantage of the DVD format and include both the original and "Special Editions" on the discs. But I'm not idealistic enough to actually hope for that.
George Lucas doesn't try to re-edit them. Hans Solo would look stupid waving a walkie talkie around.
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy
I do hope that you're planning on including both the "old" and the "new" versions of the original trilogy.
Why, you ask? For one simple reason, and I'm going to type this very, very slowly to make sure you don't mess this up:
Han shoots Guido first.
Ah! No, I don't want to hear how Han isn't a bad man. Shut it, George - you made some good movies, but I don't want to hear it.
"Yes, I bet you have." BLAM! That's it - one shot. Deal with it.
And if you plan on including any new scenes, I will pound you. I don't want to see this:
Jar-Jar: No, it'sa not true! Messa is you father!
Chewbacca: Aaaarrrghhhghg!
Don't make us get the South Park kids to protect your own movies from yourself.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
From a bit further down the page:
Also, Lucasfilm has said in the past that there aren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials available for the original films, so having a single bonus disc of extras (as opposed to three) would make life easier for them.
I thought I remembered quite a bit of info on various "making-of" shows that showed the original models, how they did cutting-edge special effects on a shoestring budget, and the occasional flaws that made it through (like a TIE fighter shadow where the fighter itself had been removed).
Of course, nowadays I guess we expect someone to be filming the entire filmaking process for the express purpose of creating the ultimate making-of special. When even a film like Monsters, Inc., where every frame requires painstaking design and hours of rendering time, has "outtakes", "deleted scenes", and "goofs". Soon, we'll have cameramen following the cameramen, so we can see "The Making Of 'The Making Of "Star Wars VII: Attack Of The Menacing Phantom Jedi Clone Empire"'"
You know... maybe, just maybe, Lucas & co. should spend more time telling a coherent story with believable characters, and less time worrying about how he'll look in the outtakes?
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Wow... Only 2 years away! Thanks for the heads up.
We are blind to the Worlds within us
waiting to be born...
I can't wait to download proper dvd-rips off kazaa of the first three movies...
Fuck the MPAA!
GoatPigSheep, the 3 most important food groups
mmm. certain i am.
And maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass. I'm not betting on either event to ever take place.
How I wish for the days when I could say the same...
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Maybe the bonus disc will have the Holiday Special and we can laugh with glee at such gems of humor and "It will be delievered by hand, solo." Oh, how we laughed with glee and mirth.
Excuse me. I think i need to trow up now.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
DVD has the technology to allow you to watch the original cut of the film or the special edition yet Lucas will just say that the original cut wasn't his original vision for the film. Yeah right, the first film was nearly chopped around and turned into a TV series. The original Star Wars release doesn't have the Episode IV: A New Hope at the start either, that was slipped in later. The original versions need to be seen in the context of when they were made.
Actually, he won't even shoot at all. Greedo will instead be killed by his own shot reflecting back at him. Every time Han gets in a fire fight, or is otherwise in danger, he will escape only through dumb luck and ingenuity cleverly disguised as incompetence. It will also be revealed that he is related to Jar Jar Binks from the later triology, a scene which was unfortunately left on the cutting room floor, but was always intended to be a major part of the story. Han Solo has always been related to Jar Jar Binks; Lucas definetly did not make that up later.
This is how he was meant to be portrayed all those years ago, but the technology just wasn't there. Han was never a greedy, violent outlaw. That simply wasn't the case. The audience just mis-interpreted the character. In fact, Han's original signature costume was a pink jumpsuit with bunny ears and gumdrops affixed across the chest to create a rainbow smile, a technology that didn't exist in the 70's. Now, with CG fairies buzzing around him, singing a merry tune throughout the entire film, George Lucas will finally be able to realize his perfect vision of the Han Solo character.
It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
yeah ... until the next big thing comes out, or a new viewing medium is invented.
Yeah, i know this is star wars and this is the first time it is gracing this new playback medium and everyone is throwing flowers. Dancing in the streets. But look, its just a dvd. I mean, better quality sure. But the still same-old same-old.
I'm just so burnt out on marketing speak these days. Anticipated DVDs. Box office smashers. Its all just talk to push product. And at the end of the day, it's all pointless.
Yes - I'm having server problems today.
There are bootleg DVDs around, encoded from the widescreen LaserDisc versions of the original trilogy. They're actually quite good, all things considered, and cheap. I got all three for about the price of a light lunch about two years ago.
Check eBay, look around the 'net. Maybe if "unofficial" sales of the original version outnumber sales of the special edition DVDs, Lucas will develop sense and release the proper, original films.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
He was waiting until he had enough of Episodes 1 - 3 done so he could rework the real originals to correct all of the errors in the historical continuity he brought in with Episodes 1 - 3.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
I got the set from dvdmoviebox.com, Fed-Exed from Malaysia for about $30. Unfortunately, the quality isn't so hot, definitely not your standard DVD quality. There does appear to be surround sound, however, the image is interlaced, and the transfer and encoding are less than professional grade. They arrived in a flat document mailer, with the DVD sleeves and discs in a flat plastic sleeve, so you'll have to get your own DVD case. The image format is 4x3 letterboxed. The region is 0 (region free), and there is no CSS encryption (a sign of quality). In short, you get what you pay for, but I'll probably have to get the official set when that's released, just for the full DVD resolution and progressive image quality.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
The source of this is Aint-It-Cool-News, which has been a major source of false rumors since the prequels began to come out.
Aint-It-Cool-News is the source of such things as the Grando Calrissian rumors... entertaining, and surely a contribution to Star Wars fandom, but hardly a source of definitive reporting.
I would suggest that the editors do not place such things on the front page until they are confirmed from such places at the Official Site.
I am taking this story with a grain of salt.
.
I could go on about how the special edition had so many little changes that it's impossible to squeeze both versions onto a disc with seamless branching, but honestly I don't think that there were that many extensive changes, and some of them might not be very noticable (like cleaning up some of the special effects -- it's not a drastic change, so why have two shots?), so that's not what I think the issue is.
Lucas is so arrogant and egotistical that he will never admit that there are Star Wars fans who prefer the movies as they were presented originally. As such, he sees no need to ever release the original trilogy in their original format, ever. There's no demand in his mind, because his ego won't let him see that a lot of the people don't like the changes.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
Ah, but at least we have one good movie. (bye bye Karma, I'll miss you)
MMMMmmmm!
(* Still clinging to his THX Widescreen Dolby Digital 6.1 Special Edition Laserdiscs and strokes them gently *)
I have the original THX edition (non-special edition) laserdisc boxed set too....
I wonder WHICH will be on the DVDs? I do kinda like watching the original versions too.
These were listed on the Star Wars Galaxies forums, so take them as you will. The guy who posted 'em swore they were legit, but we all know how that goes.
Got this off of a site that talks about movies, 411mania.com. I kept in the post the actual site they got their info from. Sounds good...and bad......the endings of Return of the Jedi I'm sure you'll hate now. Anyways, here it is:
CREDIT: AICN news
Episode IV: A New Hope
01. The Imperial March has been added to Darth Vader's first appearance on Princess Leia's ship.
02. When Obi-Wan is talking to Luke about his father Anakin's Theme plays in the background and then it turns into the Imperial March as he talks about Vader.
03. The lightsaber effects have been redone and the frame jumps of lightsabers being turned on has been removed.
04. There's a new scene which has been shot during the filming of Episode III in which the Emperor dissolves the Senate.
05. In the Cantina, the Duros(green aliens guys) have been replaced with Neimoidians and some aliens from the prequels have been added.
06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it's now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds.
07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.
08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tale.
09. In place of R2 wobbling down the stairs to the Falcon's hangar, a CG R2 navigating the stairs like he does in Attack of the Clones was added.
10. The white boxes around space ships have been removed and new CG shots have been added.
11. The scene of the Falcon being chased by the two Star Destroyers was modified. The Falcon now does spinning moves, avoiding the Star Destroyers' fire.
12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.
13. The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and were are now able to see more of the creature.
14. The Death Star's paneling and computers have been slightly altered to show similar displays to those in the prequels.
15. The words "Tractor Beam" with Aurebesh lettering.
16. More stormtroopers have been added to the Death Star.
17. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for use with all the stormtroopers.
18. The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene.
19. The Death Star plans that are taken from R2 have been updated. When the Rebels are reviewing the Death Star plans they look similar to the plans we see in Attack of the Clones.
20. The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels.
21. There's a new scene(shot during Episode III) where Darth Vader goes to Coruscant and lands his ship in the same building Count Dooku does at the end of Attack of the Clones. Except now the building is all fixed up and it is now Palpatine's palace. He meets with Palpatine to ask for forgiveness for his failure and inform him of a new potential who is strong in the Force.
22. Chewbacca now gets a medal.
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
01. The taun-tauns are now CG.
02. The battle of Hoth is much more epic. We see the Imperial ships land on Hoth and release AT-ATs. The AT-ATs have been sped up a bit. There's a ground battle between the Rebel soldiers and stormtroopers featuring new ships and vehicles.
03. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for the older Boba Fett and all the stormtroopers.
04. The white boxes around space ships have been removed.
05. The slug monster is CG.
06. Ian McDiarmid has refilmed scenes as the Emperor. The conversations between Vader and Palpatine is now longer and features a few connections to the prequels.
07. Yoda's face is
This is important information that all of us need, and I for one wish to thank you for providing it in a timely manner.
And don't for a minute think I'm joking.
Lot's of people are saying this, but I have no doubt this will be one of the biggest selling releases on DVD. Lucas is going to make millions off of this again, and probably a second time when he releases the super special edition of all six in one box. I doubt he's going to notice the few people who refuse to buy any version where Han doesn't shoot first. As much as I'd like to see that, I'm perfectly willing to accept whatever Lucas wants to sell.
You know the scene in the Mos Eisley cantina where Han is confronted by Greedo, a bounty hunter? In the original film, Han shot Greedo first, and strolled his cocky ass out of the joint.
In the Special (as in Olympics) Edition, Greedo shoots first, misses from 2 feet away, and THEN Han kills the sumbitch.
The problem with Greedo shooting first is that the original version put Han on the edge of good/bad. He changes in the movie to be a great ally to Luke and Leia, but only after some FUD (fear/uncertainty/doubt) experienced by the audience. In the new version, Han loses the bad-guy edge and is a bit less interesting a character.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
In the Star Wars, Han Solo kills Greedo in the Cantina while Greedo is holding a gun on him (Greedo is a bounty hunter trying to shake down Han for money he owes Jabba the Hut). Han shoots him under the table.
This is, of course, perfectly in character for a scoundrel and smuggler who has to get by in the criminal underworld -- if he didn't shoot Greedo, he'd have been killed (or worse).
During the "enhancements" that Lucas made to the movies a few years ago they added in a quick laser blast from Greedo so that he shoots first, because Han Solo is a "hero" who would never shoot someone except in self-defense.
Not only is it stupid for characterization reasons, it also looks stupid because Greedo has been holding a gun 6 inches away from Han's face for the past few minutes and then misses by about 3 feet when he pulls the trigger.
It was just a pointless change that represents in a fraction of a second of film everything stupid Lucas has done over the past 20 years to diminish the work that he was once so respected for.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
www.originaltrilogy.com has a nice explanation, and a petition
George Solo: Coherent story and believable character are no match for a good Bonus DVD at your side, kid.
New Fan: How did the original trilogy die?
Oldi-Fan: An old director, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire edit and destroy the original trilogy. He betrayed and murdered your trilogy.
Darth Lucas: The ability to write SW-OT is insignificant next to the suckiness of the New Trilogy
Fan: What a piece of junk!
George Solo: She'll make point five past a gazillion dollars. She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special CG modifications myself.
SWFAN-3PO: We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life.
Fan: Never. I'll never like the new trilogy. You've failed, your highness. I am a true fan, like my father before me.
Emperor Lucastine: So be it... fan.
I love SW... I just hate the terrible scripts of Epi1 and Epi2.
"There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
I thought I remembered quite a bit of info on various "making-of" shows that showed the original models, how they did cutting-edge special effects on a shoestring budget, and the occasional flaws that made it through (like a TIE fighter shadow where the fighter itself had been removed).
I remember watching those when I was a kid. The one on The Empire Strikes Back clearly sticks out in my mind. I was about 11 or 12 then and this was the first time I had ever gotten a chance to see movie magic in the making. I remember being stunned at the painstaking process of stop-motion animation that was used to animate the AT-ATs. The fact that they actually built a full-scale X-wing fighter that was lifted by a crane to simulate Yoda lifting the fighter out of the Degoba swamp. The Degoba sound stage, incidently, was the largest indoor stage in the world at that time. The rebel fighters who formed the ground forces on Hoth were actually Norwegian (or Scandanavian) people who didn't understand a lot of the english instructions being called out by the director.
I also remember fondly The Making of Return of the Jedi. They showed how some poor linguist sap had to don a giant Admiral Ackbar arm puppet and control his lips to match the sounds without being able to see Ackbar's mouth! I could go on and on. Those shows were great!
Does anyone have any idea how I can get copies of these? If there was any legal way of obtaining them, I'd gladly pay for them. However, as with so many things these days, they have disappeared into the ether because of the neglect of the copyright owners so I assume that I will have to rely on bootlegs. Please, any help would be appreciated.
And, oh yeah, what the fuck is wrong with you Lucas? What are you trying to pull with this "there aren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials available for the original films" bullshit? Christ, at least you could have said that whatever stuff you did have all rotted because of failure to preserve it. To say there weren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials shot is an obvious lie.
GMD
watch this
There is a petition online to try and gain mass support to get the oringinal trilogy published on DVD. They have almost 45,000 digital signatures. Let's slashdot that number up to 100k.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
Is a cock. Why the hell has he waited so long to release the original DVDs of the movies that made him a demi-God to the geeks?
I know that there was a laser-disc edition released a while-back. Was he waiting for the DVD standard to die??
George Lucas has really made me a sad geek with his last two Starwars episodes. I think for a lot of people when I say that they should never have been made.
Yes, George Lucas is a cock.