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It's Official -- Star Wars on DVD
savagexp writes "There's yet to be an actual press release, but according to DVDFile.com, 20th Century Fox and LucasFilm have confirmed that The Original Trilogy will arrive on September 21st in a four-disc set. More info can be had here."
Bah! I knew it wouldn't happen, but I was still hoping against hope that he'd allow the original versions to be released, rather than the special editions. Ho hum. I'll probably still buy them anyway. At least I still have the real versions on VHS. Maybe I'll see if I can rip them myself...
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
OMG! The Force and my Mastercard will be with me!!!!
Now to just wipe the memory of the two new films completely from memory...
[SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
Lucas was going to wait longer, but realized if he did it would have to be released on HDDVD and he'd lose the opportunity to sell it to you twice.
Non gratis rodentus anus
From the article:
So what are the faithful to do if they don't want to watch the altered 1997 editions of the trilogy? Either give in, or don't buy. "We realize there's a lot of debate out there," says Ward. "But this is not a democracy. We love our fans, but this is about art and filmmaking. [George] has decided that the sole version he wants available is this one."
So you say it's not a democracy? That George "Artist" Lucas can do what he damn well pleases?
Perhaps Lucas has forgotten that he's in the marketplace -- where democracy indeed rules, and the cash register is the ballot box.
My vote will be for the version where Han shoots first. For me, it *is* about "art and filmmaking". Both of which were evident in the original, absent from the remake, and forgotten in the prequels.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Uh-oh, now that's a nasty troll if intended ;)
Ah, to be 18 again.
At last they release the Star Wars movies worth watching.
-Tolerate my intolerance
Please bear with my rant..
When I read of the Star Wars DVD release I immediately thought of the speech Gordon Gekko give the board of Teldon Papers in the movie Wall Street (1987) Years after the DVD has become ubiquitous they decide to release the original 3 on that medium. It was only a few years ago that they released the VHS set to the consumers. Wow! Thanks, George! The story makes it sound like they're doing us a favour! Yeah right. The only favour is to their bank accounts. The tide of cash flowing in from the "Official VHS set" has slowed to a crawl. They want the consumers to re-purchase the same stuff on a new format. George didn't "[find] some time", the market studies indicated that this is the right time to release the DVDs.
Thanks but no thanks George. After the embarassment of Episodes I & II and your blatant milking of the franchise you've lost a big fan in me. I'd only buy the set if I could guarantee that my money buys the exact slice of pizza you choke on.
Trolling is a art,
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/news/2004/02/ne ws20040210.html
It's not the original Star Wars trilogy. It's the version that Lucas ham-handedly put together in 1997. It definitely won't be on my list of must-have DVDs, regardless of how much I would love to own the original trilogy on DVD.
Greedo did not shoot first.
-Todd
"The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
these are not the dvds you are looking for...
tim
These are not the discs you're looking for :D
This is the sig that says NI (again)
Of course, the big question mark amongst fans has always been whether Lucas would allow the original, unaltered original editions of the trilogy to also be released on DVD. Not possible, said Ward, who confirmed that the upcoming set will feature only the 1997 Special Edition versions of each film. "What George did in 1997," Ward explains, "was [to] make the movie he originally wanted to make."
Oh well, Lucas can count me out.
StarWarsSchmarWars, the big news is that
The Gods Must Be Crazy - both I and II is in DVD as of today. Those movies are just alltime classics.
http://tinyurl.com/4ny52
as someone who doesnt remember much of star wars .. what's the difference
After all, Georgie-boy waited a long time for the technology to be "mature" (ie, in enough homes to sell to), and for him to be able to take advantage of all the DVD features (now with more Gungans and extra footage of Jake Lloyd being the best starfighter pilot in the Galaxy.)
Who am I kidding, I shouldn't be so cynical. I'll hold out until noon on the day the movies are released on DVD, before I break down and rush to Best Buy during lunch hour.
I'm a little segfault, short and stout.
> I've never seen a Star Wars movie.
You're not missing much. You want to watch Episode IV, which was the first one. The newer two (is the third one out yet) are a bit crap - sort of Battlestar Galactica meets the Muppets. If you're after modern sci-fi you're better off with the Matrix (but only the first one!)
Someone needs to invent a new SF franchise.
--- Ban humanity.
One horseman down, three to go. What's next? Indiana Jones on DVD? Doh.
Hrrmm... Is that the original (Han shot first) trilogy, or the "Special Edition"?
yrs,
Ephemeriis
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
It's also a good thing that there's no more than one extra bonus DVD, as opposed to the Lord of the Rings Extended DVD sets. It's simply too much, for me at least.
"Until you do what you believe in, how do you know whether you believe in it or not?" -- Leo Tolstoy
I really would like to own all the star wars movies ever in one giant dvd box set of super awesome. I don't even like eps 1-3, but the geek in me must own them. However, there is one problem.
GREEDO SHOOTS FIRST!
FUCK THAT.
I know it's super nerdy to complain about it, but I'm not willing to pay for a copy of the movie if that's the way it's going to be. Solo is supposed to kill him in cold blood.
Lucas, if you want my cash you're going to have to release the real deal. Spielberg, you too. I didn't buy none of your walkie talkie E.T. shit. Good thing I still have the real deals on VHS. But still, DVD would be nice.
Man, I am such a freakin' fanboy sometimes.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Actually the secret is this: Lucas has "artistically" re-edited the scene yet again. Now Han and Greedo hug each other and Greedo keels over from a heart attack after being overcome with emotion that they're no longer enemies.....
Han shoots first dammit!
It probably has to do with the amount of money Lucas is spending on Episode III. He must have a significant burn rate. It also could be an attempt to generate interest after the abysmal response to Episode II.
In God we trust, all others require data.
but not strong enough to resist buying dvd versions of movies I already have on vhs.
Greedo still shoots first.
I'm not interested in revisionist work. Give me back my memories.
I'll just have to get some genetic work done and outlive ol' George by 75 years or so. Then I'll get hold of the REAL original trilogy. Unless the copyright extensions keep pace with Mickey(tm)(r) Mouse(tm)(r) indefinitely, the films will be public domain.BR>
Hal Spacejock: Science Fiction with Nuts
Let's not forget about who you're talking about. Remember when the first trilogy was released on VHS? And then the widescreen edition. And then the digitally remastered edition. I'm sure they'll just release this, wait a year or two and then release the "classic" edition for people clamoring for it and they'll make loads of money yet again.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
What?! Star Wars is like the most essential science fiction movie on this planet. Matrix is just some postmodern crap ;-) No, give me Star Wars - that's a classic.
"Until you do what you believe in, how do you know whether you believe in it or not?" -- Leo Tolstoy
With all this talk about it not being a democracy and about it being about "art", I'm therefore amazed that George would allow a cut/cropped version of his baby out into the public. Were the movies shot matted so the full screen versions actually are closer to his "vision"?
Sounds like a typical holly wood thing to do, if all else fails, relese old stuff. Money must be getting tight with Episode 3 -- "Hey! I have an idea, lets re-re-re-release Episodes 4-6.... again."
Nothing like trying to bump up the public awareness of a project in it's gap year.
I enjoyed the originals (and the updates) and will probably buy this, but the timing is really shameless.
Phantom Menace and AOTC really sucked big fat hairy balls and IMVHO this is just a marketing ploy to get the Star Wars brand back in the forefront of the publics mind before the release of Episode 3.
Worst
that he was never going to release Star Wars onto VHS, and DVD was a distant dream.
Fast Forward a few years and we have Star Wars release as the most expensive VHS tape of all time - $120.
Fast Forward and we have 4, 5, and 6 released as a set.
And you tell me this wasn't expected? Puulleeasssee!
IT'S A TRAP!! /ducks
"I am a kernel in the linux army"
interestingly, supposed DVD Rips of episode 4 and 6 have been appearing on bittorrent sites in the last 24 hours.
It may not be too late to visit the Original Trilogy website and sign the petition to get the original un-updated version put on DVD. 50,000 have signed up already!
Well it may be too late, but the fans must be heard!
http://www.kubuntu.org/
This should answer all the questions below. Forget it. I want the original unaltered versions on DVD. Didn't anyone learn anything from New Coke?
Any chance of us getting the first three movies with those odious "extra" scenes removed or not added?
The heat from below can burn your eyes out
....looks like I'm going to have to take a sick day on Wednesday the 22nd, boss.... *cough, cough*
Chris Knight is my hero.
What are you smoking? The Matrix was alright, but VASTLY overrated. Any of the original SW trilogy (yes, even the third one) beats it.
Lucas made a big mistake in waiting to release this. He would have made a lot more money if he had released it before he deluted the franchise with Episode's I and II.
"There's yet to be a press release..."
So unofficially, it's official?
Chris
Twice?
I think this will be the 3rd or 4th time around for some people: Laserdisc, VHS boxed original, VHS boxed SE, DVD...
Bah.
Good, even more money for Lucas. This will give him the envy to make those sequels.
Wait a min...
HANDS DOWN! STAY AWAY FROM THOSE DVDs! Trust me, you don't wanna have a chance to see what's next in Lucas'twisted mind.
Je n'ai pas d'avenir Je n'ai qu'un destin Celui de n'être qu'un souvenir C'est pour demain
I've never seen a Star Wars movie.
Wow. And I saw the original in the theater in 1977. It's hard to imagine today how amazed people were back then by it.
must... stay... awake...
OK. I need your geek license. Hand it over now!
You should use AdiumX on your Mac.
luckily i have a set of the original laser disc release. i think that's the only (legal) way you'll get the originals in a digital format. God bless laser disc!
If so, perhaps one could use viewing this as a threat to get the kids to clean their rooms.
have you not seen empire? or, as everyone with a brain calls it "the best star wars movie ever"
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
The Original Trilogy will arrive on September 21st in a four-disc set.
This trilogy is starting to sound a lot like the HHGG 'trilogy'....
--voxlator
"Worst episode ever"
quote:
The original versions technically don't exist," says Lucasfilm's Jim Ward, who is the project's executive producer. "(Lucas) wanted to represent the films as they exist in his mind, and that's the special-editions versions."
So, its not official then, right?
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
If this news had come five years ago, I would have been right there with my credit card ready to pay whatever price George asked.
But since then, we've had Episode I and II with silly plots and terrible acting and Jar Jar Binks, and the Star Wars series has become WAY overmarketed. I didn't think it could become even *more* commercialized than it was in the eighties, but, it did. And on top of that, George keeps going back and messing with the original movies -- what's this I hear about new footage of Amidala being added into RotJ?
So, yawn. I used to really want the Episode IV-VI DVD's, but when they weren't available, I found my love in other series. I'm buying the extended DVD editions of all three Lord of the Rings movies. I couldn't care less about Star Wars.
I don't get why people say that. In the dialogue, Greedo had just said the he was going to enjoy killing Solo in a moment, so Han shot first and killed Greedo in self-defense. It's not like Solo sneaked into the cantina, spied Greedo, and shot him in the back.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
1. Making of the movie 2. Making of the special effects 3. Making of the money with footage of George Lucas hauling bags of cash to bank.
slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
Star Wars is just pulp fiction, populated by two dimensional characters who are either entirely good or entirely evil. Sure the Matrix has turned to shit what with the dire sequel which has put me off seeing the third, but at least it doesn't consist of a bunch of cliches strung together and every other line being someone saying stuff like "I've a bad feeling about this".
"...won't get fooled again".
Last dime George Lucas got from me was for Phantom Menace. I did view a divx of Return of the Clones and felt no guilt in doing so.
Ehh wheres is the Torrrent??
What the hell's this pinksock.com thing? It's either a "Mutts" reference or some sort of circumcision fetish site, and I'm afraid to see which. Last thing I need is for my boss to walk by and see me looking at a picture of some dude with a cue ball in his foreskin...
this quote from one of my favorite movies, was actually 'based on' a speech by the infamous Ivan Boesky a few years earlier.
Don't buy the DVDs. Tell your parents not to buy them for you. Tell your siblings not to buy them for you. Tell your girlfriend not to buy them for you. Do not see Episode 3. It's the only way to get George's attention.
But perhaps it is too late for him...
> It's very similar to the strategy followed by LOTR.
Except for the inconvenient fact Peter Jackson told the truth up front about there being two releases.
If they ever release hyper-super-extended editions, then you can make that comparison. In any case, there might be legitimate reasons for another release of many movies, if HD-DVD becomes the norm.
Of course, if you think regular DVDs are already good enough, no one is forcing anyone ot upgrade.
Lord Pixel - The cat who walks through walls
A little bigger on the inside than out
Wait until they release "Birth of a Nation - The Special Edition" where the guys in white sheets hug black people and join hands in song.
Wasn't the purging of art and history to fit current standards something you'd expect from a despot like Stalin? Guess moviemakers really are dictators.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
I will buy the DVD's
There is nothing inherently safe about liberty. That's why so many people died protecting it.
What the hell is fark.com? Don't assume we all read the same websites (other than /. obviously).
Original?
Does this mean the theatrical version, the digital version or the fubar version with new scenes and a Han Solo that doesn't fire first?
If this isn't the theatrical version I (and probably everyone else) will pass for obvious reasons.
I got to see it at a DRIVE IN!!! it wasn't that cool though [the drive in part] I was only 5...just barely old enough to remember it...I think I actually fell a sleep for part ...hey! it was WAY after bedtime!!
Perhaps Lucas has forgotten that he's in the marketplace -- where democracy indeed rules
Yeah, right.
Listen, I know there are many people out there who think that the marketplace and democracy are the same thing. They're wrong, and so are you.
Democracy; various flavors, but the intention is that what the majority of people want, they get. This means that if the country votes for a government-controlled socialist utopia, it's democratic, and when another country invades and forces a market-based economy upon them, it's not (or vice versa).
Marketplace; people have money and goods. Money and goods are exchanged at the highest perceived benefit to both parties. Those with more money have more buying power. Those with goods/rights can do what they like with them. Those with no money or goods/rights have no power.
Do you understand? Two separate concepts. Until the people in such-and-such a country vote for a law that says George Lucas must release the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD, there's nothing "undemocratic" about his decision (in the sense that we are discussing here) like it or not. The democratic USA (*) (and most other countries) has passed laws which allow whoever holds the rights to do pretty much what the hell they like with the Star Wars movies.
And while I'm here, I'll point out that liberty is also different to capitalism *and* democracy, regardless of bluster to the contrary.
(*) You can argue the toss about the effectiveness of US democracy, but that's another topic altogether.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
That being said, I still would rather have the 'as first released version' over the Special Editions.
And in ET they thought the kids looked like "terrorists" dammit!
F*king revisionists!
I will buy them when Lucas has finished all three trilogies, and all nine movies are bundled together in the Ultimate Death Star Box, including both the classic and the extended editions, at least three special feature DVDs, and with and without Jar Jar replaced by a pink furry rabbit.
Already happened. They're called Star Wars 1, 2 and 3. Includes purile humour, plenty of out-of-place CGI and some unused scenes from Titanic.
i-name =twylite [http://public.xdi.org/=twylite], see idcommons.net
You forgot the VHS boxed THX re-release. My mom has the original, THX, and the Special Edition. She has the last two (first two?) movies too. She'll probably get the DVDs of the first trilogy when they come out. Maybe I will too, but there is no way I'm letting Episode I and II enter my house. III either.
by two dimensional characters who are either entirely good or entirely evil
Not quite - why do you think that Han was by far the most popular character in the films? Complexity, and reality. Of course, that can be changed through CGI these days.
Er, most popular human character, that is. The Falcon probably takes top honors overall... at least, it did when I was a kid...
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Entirely good or entirely evil characters? What about Darth Vader?
And you fuckin' replied. Brilliant.
Errr...
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
Find the article on USAToday HERE.
1. 5 minutes of yet unseen footage of Princess Lea in chains and bikini
2. 15 minutes of extended (grusome) Ewok death scenes during the final battle.
3. 10 minute conversation of luke and Darth reminicing and coming to terms over their 'broken family' .
4. cut scene of Luke working on the farm....tilling perhaps...or milking the cows. - you know, to add context
5. an indepth and real explanation of the implications of the kiss between luke and his sister....ewwww.
6.ummmmm, more cut scenes of lea belly dancing in the casino ship.
that would add atleast another 40min easy! :).
Well, LOTR dates back to before Star Wars, and, even by a stretch the size of Star Jones, is not sci-fi.
--- Ban humanity.
There are 3 versions of the film on the disc. Firstly, the original theatrical edition that means that if you want to watch what was first released at the cinema/on VHS, you can. Secondly, a 'work in progress' edition that was shown at the NY film festival - lots of non-coloured images/coffee stains etc. Thirdly, the Special Edition which includes "Human Again" which was a song added for the stage show and added in later (which as an add-on is quite entertaining and works with the rest of the film).
I imagine these versions were done by setting the film to just use different chapters, so parts could be added at different points.
Why can't Lucas do that? Give us the improved sounds and visual effects of the Sp. Editions, but give people a choice of Original or Pointlessly Remixed versions of the film.
PS If you've never seen the Platinum Edition of B&TB, do so. It's a great example of how to make a great DVD set.
Peope, people. Han DOES shoot first in these editions.
I saw it the first week it was out. When the first battle cruiser went over, the whole theater went ooooooh.
My other Slashdot ID is much lower.
I just hope that the ORIGINAL Star Wars is put onto DVD. I really don't want to see the Special Edition anymore.
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
Star Wars was fun, pure and simple fun. No hidden meanings, no moral lessons, just a backwater farmboy fulfilling his dreams of rescueing a princess and fighting the good fight. No annoying political lessons about why the bad guys are bad (They blew up a populated planet just to prove they were the baddest guys in town).
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
The trilogy, featuring the classic franchise films "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," will be released on three DVD discs, with a fourth disc likely to hold a newly made documentary about the "Star Wars" franchise and never-before-seen footage, among several other bonus materials, said Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's VP of marketing and distribution and the DVD trilogy's executive producer.
Oh please let the bonus materials be a digitally restored copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special!
Imagine the marketing possibilities! You could promote the touching "Life Day" celebration! Multicultural wookie Goodness!
If you haven't seen it, go here. You really need to.
Have a Very Wookie Christmas! I know if I get this I will!
Dragging people kicking and screaming into reality since 1996.
Maybe it's a battle to the death for marketshare. All of the sites are in it to make money, and all competing for somewhat, if not totally, similar audiences. It's no different from the way that "real" news stories echo across the TV channels in a matter of minutes.
I signed the petition. But if Lucas does not release the "real" originals on DVD perhaps someone will recreate the "real" originals from the DVDs. I know that some scenes were updated and some added, but were any deleted?
Honk if you're horny.
Please people, realize the power that you have as a consumer. You have the one thing every company craves: money. All marketing of consumer goods is trying to convince you something is a "must-have", while in reality there are almost no such things, especially not in the luxury goods market as DVDs. Please take a moment to think how it would affect your life if you don't have these latest DVDs are CDs or whatever gadgets, before you part with your hard earned money.
So, anyone got a source for a nice, MPEG-2, digital audio rip of the original-version widescreen laserdiscs?
All 3 StarWars films (the *real* ones) are in LaserDisc and a quick short look on Ebay shows they are available.
Ok, it's on step away from 8-Track, but it's the real movies and much better picture than VHS.
Of course, the big question mark amongst fans has always been whether Lucas would allow the original, unaltered original editions of the trilogy to also be released on DVD. Not possible, said Ward, who confirmed that the upcoming set will feature only the 1997 Special Edition versions of each film. "What George did in 1997," Ward explains, "was [to] make the movie he originally wanted to make."
so scene in cantina where Han shoots first... stupid scene where Han steps on Jabba's tail... is right? in Special Editions most new CGI scenes is really great. but some scenes are awful. looks like my vhs tapes with original episodes soon will be priceless...
http://www.originaltrilogy.com/index.cfm it's worth a shot...
After years of waiting, hype and hope, the rumors can at last be laid to rest: the holy grail of DVD will finally be released this September. Yes, it is the original Star Wars trilogy: Episodes IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (which many regard as the best in the series) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
While a full press release has yet to be issued, both Lucasfilm and Fox Home Entertainment confirmed today that the trilogy will touch down on September 21st as a four-disc set, available in both anamorphic widescreen and full screen versions, containing the three films plus a bonus fourth disc with extras, a la the top-selling Adventures of Indiana Jones set released late last year. The films will not be sold separately, at least initially, according to Fox representatives.
While the long-held rumor was that George Lucas would wait until the completion of Star Wars Episode III, due in theaters in May 2005, to release the original trilogy on DVD, Lucasfilm VP of Market Jim Ward revealed today that Lucas found some time in his schedule and was willing and eager to make it happen.
Today's announcement came early and without finalized specs due in part to the intense anticipation amongst consumers for the titles. We are currently in the process of restoring and remastering all three titles for the DVD release, so we're still working on details of the marketing strategy, revealed Ward, not before adding with knowing understatement, but I believe that it is safe to say that it will receive tremendous exposure across all media.
According to Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn, both the studio and Lucasfilm arrived at the September 21st date to gain maximum exposure during the holiday season: We sold about 17 million VHS 'Star Wars' units during two fall release periods in '95 and '97, he explained. With that in mind, we designed our release strategy to pick the best release date that had the most gentle sales curve decline on home video.
While the full details on what extras will be included in the set are still pending, Ward promises that Lucasfilm are creating added-value material that gets inside the creation of the 'Star Wars' films in a fresh and fun way. We want watching this DVD collection to be as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time. He also confirmed that rumors that Lucas would not contribute new audio commentaries to the set are false, although there are as of yet no exact details on which films will receive commentary tracks, and who will be among the participants.
Of course, the big question mark amongst fans has always been whether Lucas would allow the original, unaltered original editions of the trilogy to also be released on DVD. Not possible, said Ward, who confirmed that the upcoming set will feature only the 1997 Special Edition versions of each film. What George did in 1997, Ward explains, was [to] make the movie he originally wanted to make.
So what are the faithful to do if they don't want to watch the altered 1997 editions of the trilogy? Either give in, or don't buy. We realize there's a lot of debate out there, says Ward. But this is not a democracy. We love our fans, but this is about art and filmmaking. [George] has decided that the sole version he wants available is this one.
With no press release due for at least several weeks, watch this space for further updates as September 21st approaches. We'll keep you posted, and as always.... May the Force Be With You.
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
No problem. Just rent the DVDs and copy them.
End of Difficulty.
George gets his due....a rental. You get the "modified" movie and the knowledge that you haven't paid for more than what it was worth and you haven't been "milked."
Posted anonymously for obvious reasons.
So what?
George won't be around forever. Eventually, he'll retire or be bought out or be pushed aside in a merger.
Eventually, someone else will be in charge, and that someone else will not be blinded by an emotional attachment to the work. THEN you may see the original movies released.
Unless, of course, George does something stupid like get the original masters from the film vault and destroy them...
> why do you think that Han was by far the most popular character in the films?
It's because he's the only person in any of the (first three - not familiar with the newer ones) films who can act. Alec Guinness looked awkward, and absolutely hated the films. I don't remember seeing any of the other actors in anything else since.
Wait - didn't the actor who played Luke Skywalker appear in some of the FMV in the PC version of Wing Commander 4?
The music, by John Williams, is a cheap copy of Stravinsky too, btw.
It's a shame, but there really aren't very many intelligent science fiction films. Bladerunner, and...um....er....
...shooting first but give us the Jabba the Hutt scene in Episde IV to make up for changing the story in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Laserdisc might be the best way to get the original flicks on DVD. They have 5.1 surround and widescreen formats. I still have a laserdisc player, but I think the Star Wars Laserdiscs are very pricey.
Carl: Attack of the Clones sucked more!!!
All the while fighting with plutonium rods.
Simpsons and Star Wars
Come on everyone, pony up right now so you can be a fanboy and pay more later!
It effectively changes Han's character from an outlaw who cares only about himself, to some sort of good guy who found himself in trouble.]
Add to that the fact that the added effects shot was so poorly done that I still cringe just thinking of it. Greedo is sitting two feet away from Han with his blaster aimed squarely at him, yet somehow misses by a mile?
Assuming the new scene is the same length as the old scene, it would be pretty easy to splice the old scene back in.
I don't mind the new Jabba scene, having already seen the film. But I think it takes away from Jabba's evilness in part VI. Which is one of the few decent parts of that film...
Hot many times has Jaws or the Godfather been released on Video? You don't know, becuase no one keeps track of that shit. Movies that sell well are re-released multiple times becuase there's a market for them. Otherwise people try to unload over 'out of print' versions on ebay and elswhere as over-priced 'collectibles'. The SE's came SIX YEARS AGO on video, they mostly sold out and were going for twice the retail price on e-bay, then were released again around the tim of TPM - FIVE years ago. Compare that to the Double dipping of the LOTR saga - basic edition released then an Expanded edition released 4 or 5 months later - with different extras. yet no one complains about New Line or Peter Jackson's 'greed'.
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
Sure, I agree with all of you, Han should be shooting first, it's more "in character" with him, and makes him coming in to save the day at the end that much more important (If he's always a good guy, why is it such a shock - sometimes there are shades of grey George!)
OTOH, we should be pointing out what a tremendous slap in the face to all those that worked so hard on the original movies (that made George into what he is today) it is to refuse to release the original versions on DVD. By refusing to release the original, unedited editons on a format that preserves them for generations instead of decades because they (paraphrased quote)"aren't the movies the way I wanted to make them, but wasn't able to because the technology didn't exist," George is saying that the incredible achievements of ILM on those orginal versions is worthless. He forgets the fact that those movies changed the way all movies were made from that point on. He dismisses the hard work of his cast, crew, and effects workers on the original cuts as weak, and unfinished products - nevermind the fact that those unfinished, weak versions made him a millionaire many times over, defined a genre, created groudbreaking visuals, and broke box office records that stood for years to come. Think about it, when "A New Hope" came out it cost roughly $2.00 a ticket, and it wasn't until Tim Burton's "Batman" came out at an average ticket price of more than twice that for the box office returns record "A New Hope" held was broken.
George's attitude shows through in more than his words, his actions speak louder than he ever could, he hates the fan base. He ignores our request to be able to relive a cherished moment in our upbringing in order to feed his own ego. Why do we put up with him anymore. Listen to your fans George, they put you in that ranch, and while we won't be taking you out of it, I miss being able to look up to you. Stop ignoring our requests, and quit stoking your own ego. Stop spitting on those that made you who you are.
Save the Original Trilogy - Sign the petition
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society - M. Twain
Go ahead and release the Special Editions. Hell, add Jar Jar to the end of the ROTK (it couldn't suck much worse, could it?).
But (and I'm very serious here)...
Fix the Han and Greedo scene and, right before the DVD's come out, go on CNN and apologize for changing the scene in the first place. It's a small change, no big deal. Then all of the fanboys and fangirls around the planet won't have any excuse to wait a week or so to "punish" you for screwing up the films -- they can safely go and stand in line at Wal-Mart to buy them at midnight and skip work or school the next day to watch them!
Everybody wins!
I don't think for a moment that most of the slashdotters saying that they won't buy the DVDs are serious. They'll wait a few days or weeks, but everytime they walk by them, they'll feel the urge and eventually they'll give in. If Lucas made that one little geeky, stupid change, everyone would swallow up the rest of the CGI and cuteness.
Overall, I liked the special editions just fine, particularly ESB (I like the cloud city FX). But, for completeness, if he issued the original-originals and the SE-originals, I'd probably buy both sets the first day (with or without Han shooting first -- at least I could remix the scene from the original-original DVD).
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
While I appreciate the story telling of Episodes 1-3 to tie in the original 4-6 trilogy, I will never buy them. 4-6 were my all time favorite movies (I horribly resent the special editions). I *will* buy those (hopefully I will have the option of the original versions) but I dont need the crappy Ep 1-3.
and whatever rhymes with eloquent
Wherever Tom Selleck went.
People found him eloquent.
No charge to you.
You don't understand...the technology to allow Greedo to shoot first didn't exist in 1979.
I didn't even see any TV ads for "Star Wars." I heard two ads on the radio, and then of course the title itself indicated something.
So when I went into the theater, I didn't have any expectations.
In the words of Isaac Asimov, it was "one giant-sized charge and then it becomes your baby-blue habit for life." (He was talking about altered Spaceoline, though).
*waves hand*
These are not the DVDs you are looking for.
Several years ago I saw an IMAX film on special effects. The opening scene for Star Wars was recreated in IMAX. No digitial enhancing bull. They cleaned up the models and shot them in IMAX.
The effect was amazing. I saw it in one of those semispherical IMAX screens and the footage and sound completely enveloped you. Very impressive.
More evidence that Lucas won't give us what we want.
Give us a prequel that doesn't suck! Um...No.
Let Stephen take a crack at it! Um...No.
Give us the original original trilogy! Um..No.
Try to understand that I don't give a flying-f about your art, that i'm a consumer and I very much want to spend my money on what I saw in theaters as a kid! Um...No.
FireFly is the answer. You have a kick-ass writer/director who is more than willing and able and actors who have already put in some amazing acting. You have a plotline that grabs you by the gut and pulls you along for a ride.
I warn everyone who has not seen Firefly yet -- if you get the DVDs and start watching them, you will go one half of the best ride of your life. It will be like getting on the world's greatest rollercoaster (with 10 loops!), making through the first 3 loops and having the rollercoaster stop in the middle of the ride. You will love what you get and be disgusted that there is not more.
Still, if people continue to buy the DVDs and word of mouth continues to spread, there is still the movie in the works and hope for SciFi or someone else to pick it up. Fox should be smart enough to put it into production again as long as they are getting paid.
What people are pissed at is that if I don't want to sit through the extra hours of orcs I don't have to, I can buy the theatrical release. YOU CAN"T BUY THE THEATRICAL RELEASE OF STARWARS ANYMORE except second hand.
That's why people are pissed.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
I rarely care about changes and always just loved the story(The Han thing is a bit disturbing though). However, when the special editions came to the theater I was actually confused and astonished to find out the Music changed at the end of Return of the Jedi when everyone is celebrating with the ewoks. To me this is a huge deal. Imagine if the intro song or Vader's theme changed. But I never here anyone mention this, am I the only one who notices it.
To me, when I heard that that's when things changed.
Which Stavinsky piece is he copying? That sounds interesting.
Needle Nardle Noo
The B-Roll to accompany the DVD announcement is on Telstar 6, transponder 21 right now (C band). They're showing scenes from each of the three movies. This video is intended for local stations to use as part of their news programs. They keep doing a real time rewind and showing the roll over and over. No Ewoks.
Pick a side people. There is no in between.
Are you for the guy that inspires girlfriend to wear bikini slave girl costumes in public, or are you for the guy that inspires LARPing?
I think the choice is clear.
then after they release Episode 3 they will release a brand new uber box with 1-6 in it. and out go all the fanatics and but that one as well!
Honey, what channel is TGL on? Do we have any blank HDDVD disks? Where's my walker?
I have to get across the living room to the touch screen tv wall to change the channel!
Why don't you use the force you moron!
What do you mean by that!? I knew I should havd traded you for a robot when I had the chance!
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
I have both the original and SE versions on LaserDisc and the original is far better. There is running commentary and extras, the whole nine yards and the picture (THX mastered) and sound (THX uncompressed Dolby Surround) are excellent.
:-) I bet they don't even release these new ones with DTS sound, savages!
Looks like I'll still be able to lord it over people even when this DVD set is released
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
Does anyone remember the scene when Boba-Fett gets burped out of the Sarlac pit? I remember watching it as a kid, my dad remembered it, and I remember discussing it as a kid on the playground with my friends. I'd like to see it included in the set, even just as a cut scene.
Also, the scene where Han and Leia make out on Endor and the Imperial Troop transport on Tatoonie. I haven't seen these scenes for years but what really gets me is that no-one else, or at least, none of the younger Star Wars fans, believe that many of these scenes exist. Does anyone else remember them or any other cut scenes which are missing?
Needle Nardle Noo
I would buy it but only if it comes in it's original format, without the added in CG crap.
I saw it both ways and I like the way it was to begin with, like it was when I saw it 100 times at the theatre when I was 15...
Leave it alone man, we don't like no steenking CG !!
I've been noticing boing boing feeding a lot of stories recently. And you shouldn't overlook the monthly "new stories on wired" karma whore feeding frenzy...
I dunno what happened here, but in that scene they also changed what Han says.
They removed the insult... and I guess they could not get the man who was Han's voice back in 1977 to re-read it, and the result is a *completely* different voice.
This is awful. I was shocked when I saw the special edition
Han knows greedo is going to probably shoot him so he shoots first. He is not a cold blooded killer, hes a man living in a lawless space frontier.
I like the way it is shown in the original trilogy.
What Lucas has done is nothing short of 1984-style rewriting history hoping that we will forget.
compared to the massive edits in the new DVD versions. C3PO will be digitally replaced by a cylon, Luke will have an new digital up-to-date haircut instead of that lame 70's long hair, the deathstar explosion will be redone (again). Instead of just shooting in the saloon Han and Greedo will duke it out kung-fu style, since the Matrix made that compulsory for any fight scene. Darth Vader will speak with an english accent because the actor's guild requires this for all villains nowadays. The stormtroopers will probably speak with an arabic accent. And wait till you see the product placements :)
Williams has made a career out of copying Stravinsky, but the piece I'm referring to, which he copied in Star Wars, and again in Jaws, is The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps). Listen to the music in Star Wars IV when the droids have crash landed on that desert planet, and the camera is panning around, with the eerie music in the background....then listen to "part 2 - introduction` of Le Sacre. I just tried to find a site online where you can listen to parts of this excellent piece of music, but unfortunately the first 10 or so disks I found on Amazon break the piece up into 20 or so tracks (and rightly so), not just two, and Amazon only let you listen to the first 6 or so tracks, but if you look long enough you'll probably find a copy online with just the two tracks, and it'll be the start of track 2.
I can't recommend Stravinsky's music enough.
I want the original versions on DVD. The movie that changed the way I imagined movies to be! Lucas may say this is not a democracy, but the votes with your dollars do count to this ass.
I will not buy them, instead I will rent and copy with DVDShrink (look it up on Google). It's freeware, its awesome. Shrink any DVD to fit on one 4.7 DVD-R or +R. It copies AC3, DTS, subtitles, everything. Even with shrinking a 2-hour movie that is ove 6GB (dual layer) they look great.
See, I still buy a few DVDs. DS9 box sets, Indiana Jones trilogy box set, Seabiscuit in red colectors slipcases, the LOTR Fellowship and Two Towers in 4-disc set. I copy the ones that I like enough to watch again but are not important enough for me to own.
Send a message. Have your cake and eat it too.
Okay, three scenes being shown that'll show up on your local news; destructions of the death star ("Great shot, kid!"), Luke gives Vader a hand ("I'll never join you!"), and the speeder chase ("Jam their comlink!").
... and just as I typed this the feed went cold.
Phone numbers for more info (from the B-Roll end splash page) are:
Harry Parrish (Fox Home Entertainment) 310/369-1628
and
Lynne Hale (LucasFilm Ltd.) 415/662-1962
I have seen DVDs that contains the Widescreen and Normal screen version on the same disk. I have also seen DVD movies that give you the choice to play the movie with the extended scenes or not.
Why not release the DVD so that you can play them in any one of the carnations that exist? Am I wrong or does it seems very possible to do?
Long ago in a galaxy far far far away Lucas Films was on the cutting edge to Technology. Why not be a leader once again buys delivering a DVD with the countless versions of the movies and the ability to select which version you really want view. Leave all the other crap off disk and include a supplement disk. That would actually make the fans happy. Sad thing is that the only way Lucas could get more money would to do some actual work produce something new. It would have to be somewhat creative for even people to buy it. It seems that Lucas has long ago lots his creative edge and now relies on marking teams to decide what is best. But what do I know I am just in customer services.
The original Star Wars was made before the PG-13 rating was created. In order to maximize toy sales, George wants the Star Wars universe to be solidly PG, If you recall, the PG-13 rating was actually created in response to that other classic Lucas series. Early on, people often referred to PG-13 as "The Indiana Jones Rating". There was a big push to create a new rating between PG and R because many people were upset over the fact that Raiders of the Lost Ark really pushed the edges of PG.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
UGO took them over. Realmedia file is gone.
You see Darth Vader.
Darth Vader announces: "I am your father!"
You are confused!
Darth Vader announces: "I am your mother, too!"
You are more confused!
There's a wall in the way! [x4]
[Paraphrased from r.g.r.a.]
as always, too late.
"...objectivity resides in recognizing your preferences, subjecting them to especially harsh scrutiny." -Gould
I couldn't care less if Lucas finally releases Star Wars on DVD.
What I want to see is THX-1138 on DVD. His one great movie.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
- or ignore the copyright and buy an original DVD set on EBay.
Seeing as how laws have a funny way of changing everytime some important cash cow piece of art is due to enter public domain (ie: Mickey Mouse) I think we may be waiting a long, LONG time for that. (bad pun)
But in either case, this arrogant jerk will not be getting my money.
". . .the original version technically don't exist."
You can't blame him. I mean how many times have you clicked on "Save" in the File Menu instead of "Save As"?
I didn't actually compare the movies at all. You are welcome to choose your poison. This isn't about the content - it's about the business model.
/that/ star wars. We are talking about the one that came out in the 90's. You can't buy the '77 one anymore even if you wanted to. So I guess the star wars that defined the genre is dead. Now all we can see is the one that fell victim to the cliches of the genre it helped spawn.
Peter Jackson and New Line, regardless of the movie's content, are treating those who choose to purchase the films with respect. George Lucas is not.
Since you brought up the content and the genre defining aspects of films, I have to make a side comment:
Star Wars may have come out in 1977, but we aren't talking about
As someone hinted at elsewhere in the posts, Lucas may be pulling an intentional version of the "New Coke" fiasco. According to Wikipedia:
The public were unhappy with the new taste, and even more unhappy that they were no longer able to obtain the original product, and so the company had to backtrack and return to the older formula. However, when they went back to the original formula - now renamed Classic Coke/Coca Cola Classic - demand for the classic taste grew to a greater extent than before New Coke...
Sounds like something an evil marketer might want to try... Who knows, maybe we'll see Classic Star Wars in 2006, when all of the marketing from the newer Star Wars' is finished and Lucas is scrounging around for something to sell before making Episode 7. G'ah.
...the DVD's I'm looking for," SW Fan, waving a hand at Best Buy clone.
"These are not the DVD's you're looking for," replied the Best Buy clone.
Seriously folx, the who original concept of the DVD film industry was the presentation of director cuts, alternent endings, etc... There is no reason, other than GL's insanity that they shouldn't offer the DVD set with the option to turn the Special Edition features on and off.
More thank likely, after they are released and sell a billion copies, the original version will be released as a special edition on the 30th aniversary and they'll sell another billion copies.
Considering that he was the Emporer in ROTJ, and considering that the "Emperor" in ESB was only a voice part, I don't think it'd be really worth the dubbing and resyncing of audio. I mean, really, how far must you go?
They're fine, it's fine, everything's fine. Enjoy the movies for what they are -- an epic space adventure. Don't nitpick everything into nothingness.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
I got a copy of the theatrical release ripped from laser disk.
Has menus, greedo doesn't shoot first, snai snoodle signs her original song, and the ewok party doesn't span the galaxy.
I like the special editions.
That makes sense. They're very well done.
However, Lucass should really include both versions on the DVD -- and he should have done so about 8 years ago. Think about any director's cuts you have -- the original will be on there too. The special editions would be far superior if he hadn't have messed with the plot.
In the special edition, they make guido shoot first. He doesn't do that in the originals. I hate that enough to not like the special editions. Also, I really like the original snai snoodle song (jabba's bar) and was pissed that they changed that. Also, I'm apparently the one in a billion that liked the original ewok Yub Yub song at the end of jedi. Most people seem to hate it, but...
Those moves aren't very good and I have memorized them. The only reason to watch them is to remember the first time, or to appreciate movie history ... or something. The special edition isn't that. :) I understand why he subbed out the two songs. The new scenes were longer than the old songs -- but I'd rather watch the old scenes than suffer the new songs.
I'll never understand why greedo shoots first.
DISCLAIMER: I realize this is pretty unimportant shat... But it is important to me.
Imagine if you weren't allowed to use roads because a bus company complained about your driving 3 times. --skunkpussy
Who cares? I've owned these DVDs for years...in fact, I have the original trilogy and SE trilogy with a total of 37 different covers!!! All with Chinese, Malay, and Thai subtitles too! Beat that Lucas...you fool!!!
Face it; at the end of RoTJ, NOBODY IN THE GALAXY was supposed to know what was going on.
The Second Death Star had been destroyed. Whee. The Imperial Fleet was defeated. Whee.
The Rebels were victorious. Oh joy.
We forget two very important things:
#1 - People fear change almost as much as they hate oppression (look at Iraq / Islam in general; a bunch of seventh-century savages they remain, even while claiming to overthrow governments in the name of their "freedom").
#2 - The Rebels were a minority in the galaxy, whose population mostly just wanted to be left alone.
It's been explored in the novels and elsewhere; during the time of the Empire, there were a few planets in rebellion, but mostly it was just business as usual. Unless you got the attention of the Imperial government, you did business the same way you'd done it under the Republic.
If you joined the Imperial Forces, chances are you did it because of a slick recruiting plan and promises of good wages / adventure -- hey, Luke was about to join up before Obi-Wan came along, wasn't he? For that matter, the officers of the Imperial Navy might have feared Vader, but the grunts were happy enough as they were, obviously.
Therefore, having a LOCALIZED celebration on Endor made sense. There were a bunch of Rebels present, because they'd won the battle, and there were a bunch of Ewoks around because they were indigenous.
Showing celebrations elsewhere? Yeesh, people. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO CELEBRATIONS ELSEWHERE.
You think the entire galaxy would have just cheered and shouted and gone "Whee, the Emperor's gone! Yay!"???
Fuck that. They'd have been hand-wringing, worried about who was restoring/keeping order with the StormTroopers now out of a job. Planetary governors would alternately have been quelling civil distress and working on plans either to take over territory or work their way into positions of power in the new government. Smugglers wouldn't have given a flying fuck, except that the unrest made it easier for them to slip stuff into ports undetected.
That's the reality. On Endor, and maybe a few other Rebel bases, there might have been a party. Mon Calamari perhaps, given what the Emperor did to them.
Coruscant? The seat of the Emperor's power? FUCK NO. Coruscant wouldn't have been cheering. The other planets shown? Likewise.
"Yub Yub" and the original party scene make sense. The Special Edition bullshit is just that, BULLSHIT, and completely ignores the realities of the universe Lucas constructed in the first place.
Jesus, how many times can you all watch this?
And you're going to shell out 50-? bucks to watch it again?
You should all just lie low and make them suffer for not releasing it nine years ago.
You've lasted this long.
I noticed the comment on the website Empire Strikes Back(Regarded by many as the best in the series). Who are these people? Empire is better than Phantom Menace, but so is Barney. My Rankings 1) A New Hope 2) Jedi 3) Empire 4 and 5) Episode II & III 6) Barney 7) Phantom Menace
Hopefully that inspriation works both ways, PJ may have inspired Dark Overlord Lucas to make the final three episodes the Jackson way; shoot all three in one go and finish the whole project in 4-5 years time, not 10. That means they may actualy get made before George is too old...
I grew up LOVING all things Star Wars. I saw episode IV in a theater, before I was out of diapers. I was Darth Vader for like 6 halloweens in a row. I saw Empire and Jedi during their opening weeks. As soon as the trilogy was first released on VHS I got a copy. I went to the theater to see the "Special Edition" movies. How did Lucas repay people like me, Star Wars fans?
By trying to anally rape us all. First there was that festering piece of feces that we'll just say rhymes with "Mepisode 1". For now, I'll just forget about the announcement about the original trilogy not being released on DVD. Episode 2 was a little better, but Episode 3 better be spec-fucking-tacular to make up for the horror of Episode 1.
I'm not paying a cent for the DVD version of movies that I alreay have. I'll go to blockbuster, rent them, and um... you know...
This cash cow is shutting off the udder. Lucas isn't making another cent off of me.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Yeah! How dare George not tell us his plans for the DVD or even VHS release in 1977!
My amazing wife - Artist, Author, Philosopher - Laurie M
Well it's offical. The DVD is now a complete success. Wasn't these and the Indiana Jones movies purposly held from dvd for a while because Lucas (And his buddy Spielberg) didn't believe in the market for Dvds. Now that he is giving up his baby, it proves that the Dvd is one of the most succesful formats of all time.
Open Source Sushi
having greedo shoot first (and miss) does 2 things a) shows that aliens with suction cups on their fingers shouldn't use guns b) han loses some depth as a character
I think Empire has the least intruse "ehancements" The extra fighter in the A New Hope looked outta place, and the cantina scenes do not even merit responses. OFr the most part Empire limited its intrusive CGI to Cloud City and it sorta helped out it in my book.
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
A lot of people are whining about it being the special edition.
If you like crappy quality video and audio (like the original version had), go get the VHS tape. DVDs are meant to be high quality, and the special edition has been completely remastered with THX and a much clearer video.
Or are you whining about the fact that they added scenes? If anything - that's just an improvement.
Perhaps you're just whining about the fact that they took some of the corny (70s) special effects out and decided to use state of the art (90s) special effects to improve the X-Wing scenes.
I just don't get the mentality behind flaming the special edition. I like both versions, but if anything, the Special Edition was an improvement.
One thing that REALLY pisses me off about the LOTR extended DVD series is that the Two Towers extended DVD does NOT contain the short film by Sean Astin "The Long and Short of It" (with making of documentary). The theatrical DVD does have this.
So now I need to either purchase the theatrical, or rent and rip it, because I have not seen it available for D/L anywhere.
Of course, I'm sure Panavision or a film professional like my dad could explain it better than I can.
I took my widesreen edition VHS tapes, worked around the macrovision protection and made my own DVDs of the original trilogy. Sure the quality is not that great (compared to other DVDs, that is), but they don't wear out from repeated viewings (and they are only for my own personal use, so I consider them fair use under copyright law). If I wanted the Special Edition movies on DVD, I would have already bought them on eBay. I imagine I'll end up buying this set for the extras, because I've always wanted to see the scenes left on the cutting room floor, especially for Episode 4.
It's because they took out "Yub-Nub" at the end of Jedi, and replaced it with some corny "non-Ewok" sounding music. At least that's my major beef!
That and the CGI Jabba in Empire. Unneccesary!
How could I say to men: "Speak louder, shout! For I am deaf!"? -Ludwig van Beethoven
First off, for still cameras, there ARE ones that rival or exceed 35mm film. Take a look at the Cannon E01 as an example.
Now as for movies, generally all-digital is going to give higher quality. Why? Well mainly because when you go from analogue film to a digital format, there's always problems with the consistency of the exposure. It's easiest to see with stuff shot on lower res flm like 16mm. Watch Resivour Dogs and notice the sort of "snow" effect in solid colour areas. It's less pronounced on good 35mm film, but still happens.
Now, this is no big deal when the presentation is analogue, you'll probably never see it, even on the big screen, and certianly not on a TV. However that's not true when it goes compressed digital. The MPEG-2 encoder will try to encode all this, or rather an approximation thereof. Now this causes two problems:
1) Uses data that could be used for other information. There's only so many bits per second it's allowed to use, and when they get used encoding something unnecessary like this, there's less for other detail. It's also not real efficient at encoding that kind of noise which leads us to...
2) Because it's not good at encoding it, it tends to generate artifacts that make it much more noticable.
Now when it comes from a digital source, and is digital the whole way, this is not a problem. Thus, on a compressed digital distribution medium, like DVD, you get a better end result.
It will also probably result in a better theatre experience. In the theatre analogue film suffers from some major problems that digital does not:
1) Generation loss. You never see the orignal film, you see, at best, a copy and usually a copy of a copy. Each time, detail is lost. Digital is the orignal every time.
2) Film damage. I've never seen a movie that the film didn't have at least a few flects of dust or the like on it that were visible. Again, never happens with digital.
3) Projector rumble. At all the theatres around here, the projector shakes ever so slightly. This is understandable due to the mechanics of it. Thing is, that slight shake becomes not so slight when transmitted to the large screen. The jitter is certianly visible. DLP projectors (and related technologies) don't do this either.
Combine that with the high resolution that digital films are ususally shot at (3840x2400), and I think the experience will be superior.
So where do I take my VHS copies to trade them in for the DVD upgrade? After all, I've already paid for my license to watch them.
Yes, the video quality and special effects improved. But they retitled ROTJ, and Jabba the Hutt, who in the original "Star Wars" was a fat guy, was replaced in "Episode 4: A New Hope" with the big worm from "Revenge of the Jedi".
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
All this jawing over original vs. extra-crispy -- er, I mean, specical edition -- is obscuring another aspect of this that people should be paying attention to: you can only buy ALL THREE MOVIES. In other fields, this is called bundling, and it's illegal.
But in DVD's, the studios have discovered they can get away with it, because we're letting them do so. So you have to buy the sucky third Godfather to get the other two, and you have to buy the TWO lameass Indiana Jones sequals to get the only one of the three that's worth a damn, and you have to put up with those two truly awful "Back to the Future" movies to get the first, and now we'll have to buy "Jedi" to get "Empire" or "Star Wars" (fuck calling it "New Hope"), assuming you want that last one after they change it so that Greedo shoots first.
Fortunately, it will be possible to buy singles from folks breaking up the box sets on ebay.
But we're still being diddled here, folks, whichever version they're putting out. You might want to take that into consideration.
I'd like for these to not sell, and everyone, without exception, to not buy them because they're not selling us what we want. But I'd also like world peace, an end to world hunger, and for George W. Bush to die in jail, preferably while being anally raped by his 300lb. cellmate, but I don't expect that, either.
Also, to those of you running out the theory that Lucas is an evil marketing genius who cleverly intends to sell you the original cuts later and is only holding on now to get more money from you down the road, get a grip. It's NOT a conspriacy -- just check out his recent movies. His judgment really has gotten that bad.
I mean, this is the mind that thought up Jar-Jar.
Make a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May you burn in hell George. You're a cocksucking ass fart. GIMMIE THE ORIGINAL.
"THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY." YOU'RE RIGHT, BUT I AIN'T BUYING YOUR FUCKED UP SHIT.
DIE.
May your heart explode and you land in a pile of your own dung.
You obviously are using the standard scale in your judgement of acting and not the weighted SciFi scale.
In non-scifi works, actors are expected to have emotional range and be capable of pulling the audience into the plot for the plot's sake. Their ability to project the suspension of disbelief is key into the audience feeling that they are part of an actual event instead of simply an observer.
The SciFi sliding scale, however, is broken into several sub-categories of attributes that are appealing to your typical SlashDot reader. This attributes include such qualities as bust size, scruffiness, ability to immediately represent a given stereotype, bust size, how they look sitting naked on a rock on a desert planet, how they look in a form fitting uniform, bust size, and how they look shooting a ray gun. Occasionally, if they are not female, thus making bust size irrelevant, their acting ability may come into play unless they can show documented proof of being on such hits as "The Scarecrow and Mrs. King".
So what are the faithful to do if they don't want to watch the altered 1997 editions of the trilogy? Either give in, or don't buy. "We realize there's a lot of debate out there," says Ward. "But this is not a democracy. We love our fans, but this is about art and filmmaking. [George] has decided that the sole version he wants available is this one."
That's right, it's not a democracy, it's capitalism and I'll buy the version that I want, and ignore the version that I don't.
While the long-held rumor was that George Lucas would wait until the completion of Star Wars Episode III, due in theaters in May 2005, to release the original trilogy on DVD, Lucasfilm VP of Market Jim Ward revealed today that Lucas "found some time" in his schedule and "was willing and eager to make it happen."
Yeah, I'll bet he "found some time" in his schedule -- from making episode 3? That really puts me at ease about the quality of the last Star Wars movie. Actually, it does, because I have the sneaking suspicion that the less that George Lucas has to do with it at this point, the less likely it will be to *suck*. Also telling that he's eager to release SW 4-6 (and altering his schedule to do so) before the last movie comes out. Maybe he's becoming unsure about the new franchise - of course, I'm arguing the artistic vision of the man who brought us Jar-Jar Binks and "I don't like the sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating--not like you. You're soft and smooth." So I could be wrong. Of course, it's all about the art and the fans.
According to Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn, both the studio and Lucasfilm arrived at the September 21st date to gain maximum exposure during the holiday season: "We sold about 17 million VHS 'Star Wars' units during two fall release periods in '95 and '97," he explained. "With that in mind, we designed our release strategy to pick the best release date that had the most gentle sales curve decline on home video."
One more thought about Jar Jar Lucas and the idea "that the sole version he wants available is this one." Don't misunderstand me in my claim that this is all about the money - it's a good thing. Obviously, the man has lost all of his non-technical artistic judgement and talent, but he can still understand his bank statement. Don't rush out and buy the inferior ("New And Improved!" TM) version, and see how long it takes him to offer the classic version. It worked with New Coke...
Carthago delenda est!
Go over to thedidgitalbits.com
LOTR extended editions also include newly composed and recorded music to go with the new footage.
It's going the extra mile that is not often found in contemporary capitalism society...
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
I hope that George Lucas releases a Special Edition of Episodes 1 and 2, and edits them into better movies.
I didn't even notice that little "shuttle" difference because it's kind of an offhand line that wasn't very memorable to me. Some of the ones that bother me are a couple of cases where they intentionally took out humorous lines and replaced them with boring stuff that's just lame filler.
In ESB, when R2 has just gotten spit out by that whale-thing on Dagobah, Luke turns him back rightside up and asks him if he's OK. In the original, he says the line, "You're lucky you don't taste very good." It is replaced with "You're lucky to get out of there."
In ROTJ, when Han is hanging off the edge of the skiff on Tatooine, and he gets the blaster so he can shoot the Sarlacc tentacle that's holding Lando, Lando yells, "Wait, I thought you were blind!" In the original, Han's response is, "It's all right. Trust me." It was changed to, "It's all right. I can see a lot better."
Is that some kind of thing to make them easier to understand for non-native English speakers or something? I've never seen any mention of why they messed up clever dialogue like that. It wasn't even a special effect "improvement"; it was just dumbing down the script!
We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
Years and years of bitching and moaning in every Star Wars related story about how badly you want the original Star Wars on DVD.
You finally get a release date and not a single one of you are happy. All you can do is whine, piss and moan like little bitches that George Lucas is fucking you yet again, that Greedo is shooting first, that he's holding a gun to your head and forcing you to buy his product -- how dare he make a red cent off of Star Wars after entertaining you pack of boobs for TWENTY FIVE FRIGGING YEARS.
I think it would be funny if Lucas re-relased the movies on DVD with Han shooting first, no CGI Jabba, and said "this is the last format that Star Wars will ever be released on, ever, when DVD goes obsolete (and it will) Star Wars is gone for all time."
Then you bunch of ingrates will have nothing to complain about anymore.
I will rip the video, and edit the audio so that Ben Kenobi says:
"Skywalker Ranch. You will never find a more greedy hive of scum and re-releases."
Laser Discs ONLY convert to interlaced analog
In SW, Luke has a small microphone on his flight helmet. It keeps switching from one side to the other. OK, not a biggie. But...
In Jedi, in the scene where Fett pulls his gun on the "bounty hunter" that has Chewbacca, his antenna is on the wrong side of the helmet--the costume is backwards. I presume this was because it was shot wrong... Fett was aiming to his right but later in editing they realized from where Fett was standing he would really be aiming to his left. All I wanted them to do was do a little Photoshop clone stamping (no pun intended) and flip that antenna around. But no.
There are other errors, but I'll leave those to the fans who still give a damn.
Nah, Greedo looked pretty tired... he was just taking a nap.
This is pretty much an official press release.
Except that the cost of owning all 4 Indiana Jones is about the same as two separate DVDs.
Truly.
Dragging people kicking and screaming into reality since 1996.
Wanted it, and wanted it, and wanted it. He said
no. I moved on. Sold my VHS version, haven't
seen the latest 2, won't see the new one either.
I've found better stories, and better movies, to
spend (waste?) my time on. Mr. Lucas, you will
not get ONE PENNY out of me, EVER AGAIN! Too late!
Anonymous because every time I post something like
this I get modded down. Sick of it...
These aren't the torrents you're looking for. Move along. Move along.
Biggs went off to the Academy. He didn't join the Rebels till later, and Luke never knew Biggs had till he met him on-base. Luke wanted to go to the Imperial Academy, like Biggs had.
Or are you not paying attention when Aunt Beru talks to Uncle Owen about how he "promised" Luke could go off to the Academy?
Yeesh. Idiots abound.
Planetary governors would have just absorbed Stormtroopers into their defense forces.
Still-Imperial sectors, no way in hell they would have been celebrating.
Only a few planets, if that, would have had any reason to have a party the day after Palpatine died. The Special Edition bullshit makes it look like the entire universe is throwing some gigantic party.
Accurate, yes. Read the Koran, the Hadith, and Shari'a, then tell me it's not a bloodthirsty, barbaric, genocidal bargain-bin religion.
If you can do that honestly, you're the moral equivalent of Hannibal Lecter.
Let's see; in the Bible, horrific things are done to the main character, who endures them and tells people to forgive those who did and treat them kindly.
Yeah. Real violent.
In the OT, it's historical accounts of wars. Ok, check. For that matter, Homer's tales, and most other historical accounts are pretty bloodthirsty. So?
The Koran/Hadith/Shari'a, on the other hand, prescribe brutal punishments and the horrific treatment of women. They include direct calls to convert "infidels" by the sword, to wage war till all are converted.
They call for the enslavement of the "peoples of the book" and the destruction -- wholesale -- of any others.
Compared to the Koran/Hadith/Shari'a, the OT and Bible are childrens' novels about a Turle named Yertle.
You reply to someone's comment, they mod you troll.
They never moderate the islamofascist terror-appeaser troll, however. Nosiree.
"The release will be a 4-disc set, encompassing 3 movie discs and a 4th bonus disc of supplemental material. All three films will be digitally-remastered and THX-certified, and will be available in anamorphic widescreen video (there MAY also be a separate full frame edition, but this is still TBD). The audio for the films will be English Dolby Digital 5.1 (they may also be EX, although again this is still TBD), with subtitles in English, French and Spanish. The films will also be closed-captioned. Each film will include new audio commentary with creator George Lucas, along with various members of the cast and crew (the specific participants will be announced at a later date). The highlight of the bonus disc will be an all-new, feature-length documentary about the making of the films, which will include never-before-seen footage and other material. There may also be DVD-ROM weblinks to the official Star Wars website (TBD). There WILL be additional supplemental features, which will be announced at a later date. The films will only be available as a box set, the retail price for which has yet to be decided (despite reports to the contrary). I have officially confirmed that the films will be the 1997 Special Edition versions, as determined by Lucas himself. You should also know that, as with the Indiana Jones DVDs, the folks at Lowry Digital are once again involved in the remastering process. They're doing digital restoration and clean-up work on the new masters."
from http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents (2/10/2004).
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
every year or so, a true gem of a comment comes along. That was one. Brilliant.
I for one will not purchase the special edition set. I would certainly buy the original set unaltered on DVD, that is what I want, but the special edition versions suck ass. Boycott with me!
Read my short stories - You won't regret it.
Acting? Cinematography? Sorry, but who the heck cares? The difference between us is that I go to a movie to be entertained for 2 hours, not to find a new philosophy in life.
Good movies do both. Take Kurosawa's films for example. His movies entertain, they impart strong messages, and part of that is because he pays attention to great acting (Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura) and cinemoatography. A great actor can make people feel something (and that is entertaing!) in 1 motion which would take normal people 10 to convey (Kurosawa said something similar about Mifune). Great actors a part of the story and they make it their business to play their role and show the audience their role in the film. By your logic, blocks of wood be as entertaining as actors (even the masses don't believe that - look at Keanu in the last to matrix films and fan reactions).
Cinematography too does the same thing; the way a shot is light, balanced, etc. subtly imparts a mood or vibe for a movie. Take the balances in Seven Samurai - they show a lot of how the samurai see other, the villagers, etc. Take The Royal Tenenbaums for example - the cluttered Tenenbaum house says a lot about the family themselves. Unless you're stuyding it, you might not see it the first time through, but it does affect your perception of the characters.
Cinematopgrahy and acting are paramount to a great, entertaing film. It's the difference between a 2 page plot synopsis of Lord of the Rings and reading the novels; there's no comparsion.
Take a film class somewhere, I promise you'll learn quite a bit about visual story telling.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Jackson had no choice in the matter. He was forced by the studios to cut his movies to 3 hours for theater release. He knew this would alter the story and leave out important points and plotlines. So he requested that he be able to release the extended versions on DVD before the next theatrical movie came out. They refused, he threatened to quit, the studios relented. If it wasn't for Jackson we would have never gotten the extended versions before seeing the next one and as we all know the extended versions are the TRUE versions of the LOTR films. PJ did us all a favor. IMHO he set the gold standard for value when to comes to making an extended edition.
"Trying is only the first step towards failure." - Homer
Finally? What?
I've had my Malaysian DVDs of the trilogy for for a couple years now.
Combine that with the high resolution that digital films are ususally shot at (3840x2400), and I think the experience will be superior.
As far as I know, even the Sony HDW-900 is only recording 1920x1080x30p at a maximum. Twice that? in 16:10 format? I think you're way off. Maybe you're thinking of some special effects, they can typically be rendered at 2x the final resolution before being superimposed on the footage...
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I can keep it up all day long. You know you're abusing the system when you mod down a reply but not the post that caused the reply.
Most retailers break up box sets and sell the units individually after about a month (according to CNN).
I heard rumours these were "destroyed" during the making of the SE editions of the movies 7 or so years back.
:(
Does anyone know if this is true - or just one of those little quirky internet rumours started to infuriate star wars fans even more?
I really would love to see the original movies cleaned up on DVD - hell I'm not even a hardcore SW fan but the new ones just grate me.
I haven't seen star wars since those theatre releases either - it's high time I saw it!
--Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
There's yet to be an actual press release
So what you're saying is...it's NOT official.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
that was a very funny read. thank you.
Why not try using XVID or DIVX or one of the other MPEG-4 compression formats? Then you can get extra-high quality. Here is a list of DVD players that also play DIVX. And hey, if and when you do your super-transfer, please do send me an email ;-)
Da Blog
Until the people in such-and-such a country vote for a law that says George Lucas must release the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD,
We all love Star Wars, or at least the original Star Wars. But the rights to call something Star Wars, the rights to the films, the movies, the characters, all that.. they were created by George Lucas. They are his property. He is free, because he owns it, to make whatever ill-guided decisions he wants about it. He is free to be irrational, to ignore the thousands of fans who made him rich to experience star wars. and we are free to not trade with him.
You couldn't pass a law that says Lucas must do X with his property. Well, you could, but it would be immoral. Democracy is a principle of self-rule, not mob rule. Meaning those governed control their fate through votes. but almost every modern democracy has restrictions that democracies or majorities cannot vote against the rights of individuals.
having said all that, Lucas is a jerk. Why? Almost every artist who's ever lived has created new art instead of butchering his old art. And to hide his old art as if he never did it, and as if the new versions are definitive, is a travesty. I'd respect him a lot more if he just made new creations instead of rehashing his old ones.
PS... does anyone know if he butchered indiana jones when he pressed the DVDs recently? he might have done the same thing there, too
Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
Thank goodness for technology. I ripped the CAV original LaserDiscs of the trilogy and burned my own DVDs.
"Population 1,656"
I seem to remember seeing the emperor. ... yeah.. yeah... there was a shot of him, ... dork.
1. 5 minutes of yet unseen footage of Princess Lea in chains and bikini
2. 15 minutes of extended (grusome) Ewok death scenes during the final battle.
You must really hate Ewoks. May I suggest you take a little less interest in completely fictional creatures and a little more in solid real-world attributes?
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
You mean he did not have SVCS or SourceSafe (shudder !!!)
It depends, sometimes 2.35 and 1.85 films use a special anamorphic lens which compresses the whole image so it fits within the usual 1.33 24mm by 18mm frame but some directors don't like anamorphic lenses so they instead mask the film during shooting or afterwards. James Cameron usually uses the latter process and shoots on Super 35.
I am... was a big fanboy for the movies. I got through the Special Editions, and persisted in liking them. I got through Phantom Menace, and wavered a touch, but held my ground. I even defended Jar Jar. Then Attack of the Clones came out. My initial reaction was "that was pretty good... minus this, that, and the other thing."
Then it sat in my head a while, and the sheer weight of the suckage in the two prequels brought the whole facade down. Now I'm bitter, resentful, and accusatory about the movies.
I don't know about filmmaking, but there definately is an art to crushing one's love for a childhood fantasy, and in that art George Lucas is a grand master.
*honk*
This is my sig. It's prescription, I swear. I need it for reading things... on the other side of things
It's sort of how the first drafts of The Matrix are hokey and suck, and the studio made the Wachowskis change a lot of things and streamline it, and the movie was deliciously paced and really good.
Then for Reloaded and Revolutions, they were given free reign. Hmm.
I seem to remember some scenes & lines from him that I liked, that aren't there in the re-release.
Supposedly ppl have the original cuts available on p2p networks but I've searched to no avail.
I guess I'm using the wrong search words? It would be nice to see the unbutchered versions again.
"...good ol' photographic film, which offers a resolution far higher than any existing digitised video format..."
Ok, i'll give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume you mean physical medium formats (e.g. DVD, etc...)
But here, you're WAY wrong.
"Same goes for digital cameras - even the best still don't match the resolution of a decent 35mm film."
First, standard DSLR's have advanced a LOT in the past few years. Although megapixels are fast becoming irrelevant (color depth, CCD sensitivity, etc... are becoming much more important) the top of the line cameras are much higher resolution than they used to be. The Kodak DCS 14n which isn't even new is 13.8Megapixels. As mentioned the Canon EOS-1Ds is 11MP.
But if you want to compare against the high end, how about a PhaseOne H25 22Megapixel 4x5 scanback?
Or how about a 140.76Megapixel Super10K-2 from BetterLight.com?
Super10K-2
10200 x 13800 pixels - Native CCD resolution
402 MB max. file 24-bit RGB (804 MB in 48-bit RGB)
Now you may argue I'm comparing apples and oranges (4x5 vs. 35MM), but your comment was that the best digital cameras don't match 35MM...which IMHO is wrong when compared to the best format digital cameras.
Plenty of people thinking they will put out some form of mega-collector's set after the final (extended) movie comes out.
I recently read an interview with some of the crew in an audio nerd magazine (either Audio Technology or Sound On Sound), and they let slip that there was going to be a boxed set, including a new special feature thingy about the audio production techniques used in LoTR.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
The "Kate and Leopold" DVD has something similar. There are one or two story points that the studio wanted dropped for the theatrical release, and the DVD has both versions of the film.
*honk*
This is my sig. It's prescription, I swear. I need it for reading things... on the other side of things
Did anyone read the statement in the release ?
"With that in mind, we designed our release strategy to pick the best release date that had the most gentle sales curve decline on home video." -
err can someone translate that to me in english, or any other UNDERSTANDABLE FARKING LANGUAGE ?!?!
They've had 10 million viewers just dying to get a DVD copy of the original series and they have been 'making' money by denying us ?? I can think of several people who won't have a thing to do with Star Wars anymore after the last pathetic theatre fiasco. I can hardly believe that they think they made more money by putting out crappy movies to turn off new and potential paying customers while shitting on the grandiose memories the rest of us had of Star Wars with that crap the called the Phantom movie..I mean menace.
Once again someone told Lucas how good he was too many times and he now believes that the story of Star Wars is somehow pre-naturally good or sacrosanct...You'd think the slap in the face LoTR was to his releasew plans might have been a wakeup call but I think Lucas is beyond that...
Hard to stay objective living in the center of the universe....
Of course George Lucas is going to release this set before he finishes episode three. That way he can get all of the fans to buy this set and the in another two or three years get them to buy the six movie set. If he waited another year to release it , a lot of people would wait to buy, but by doing it now he can make more money. It's the same tactic many companies follow releasing the basic movie first, then the "gold edition" in wide screen, then the extra special "platinum edition" with bonus footage. That way they sell three copies to the same person. I will wait until they have all six in a set before I buy it.
Of course, if someone has a link to a .torrent of this, I'd love to know where it is. I should be able to download it legally, since I already own the VHS tapes, right?
Some people are really upset the original versions aren't being released on DVD. I could see their reasoning, especially if they saw the original versions in the theaters. Fans of thingd just don't let the creators work how they want it. Anyway, I'm psyched for this.
Slashdot corrospondants would like to apologize for this story, but asks readers to understand that absolutely nothing better is going on.
~Knautilus
Can anyone help me find this: "a nicely transferred version is floating around the internet already - complete with high resolution covers and a "bonus" DVD full of extra material." A number of people have stated that boot versions of this are floating around on DVD. Since I don't have the copying equipment or the Laserdiscs I need to aquire these. And since Lucas states thus far that he has no intention of releasing the original triliogy in it's original form, I have no moral problem with obtaining bootleg copies. I am absolutely NOT associated with law enforcement... could someone suggest where I might look? I sincerely thank anyone who will help.
I watched all three Indiana Jones movies on DVD, and found they are chock full of what the prequels lack. As far as I could tell, there were NO stupid re-processing of special effects, every cheesy face-melting, truck fliping-but-able-to-see-the-flip-mechanism effect was still there. Spielberg didn't Fux up them that I could tell, and obviously didn't let Lucas screw them up either. jaz
Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. No-one sees motorcycles
> Except that the cost of owning all 4 Indiana
> Jones is about the same as two separate DVDs.
That's one way of figuring it. I pre-ordered the box set and sold all but "Raiders" on ebay. I came out $10 ahead on the deal.
Make a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Did you read the parent post?
But the rights to call something Star Wars, the rights to the films, the movies, the characters, all that.. they were created by George Lucas. They are his..
Which is pretty much what I was implying.
You couldn't pass a law that says Lucas must do X with his property.
You could, and if it was passed under a democratic system, that would be "democratic".
Well, you could, but it would be immoral.
You could- exactly. And I don't think you can dismiss it as "wrong", let alone "immoral" that easily. The descendants of the Brothers Grimm did not have the right to stop Disney nicking their stories, hacking them about and have the copyright to that particular version.
Democracy is a principle of self-rule, not mob rule.
No, that is liberty.
Democracy is self-rule of the whole group, but not necessarily individuals. To quote someone "Democracy is two wolves and a rabbit deciding what to have for lunch; liberty is a well-armed rabbit contesting the vote." See grandparent post for more details.
almost every modern democracy has restrictions that democracies or majorities cannot vote against the rights of individuals
This is not an inherent part of democracy per se; they were included after the majority of people decided they would be A Good Thing. If they were forced upon a constitution without any sort of vote, then they are not "democratic".
To make my point briefly; my dispute is that you discuss democracy as if there is something inherent in the principle that guarantees such-and-such freedoms for individuals. It doesn't. Democracy isn't an ideal, it isn't the free market and it isn't liberty. It's a system, and it's up to the people to use it wisely.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
You can go to fantasymovie.com and buy them on DVD today! Original set, not special edition, and an added bonus! Subtitles in English, Chinese, Thai and Malay! Only $34.99! Direct from Asia to your television:)
would be interesting to see a version of the film that takes up 4 gigs but is mpeg-4
That is exactly the approach of M$ and others now pushing the pseudo-HD MPEG-4 "DVD" discs. Using 4 Mbps DIVX they can get super high resolutions on discs using regular DVD laser pickups.
Da Blog
I have two, you and George Lucas can have a deep intellectual conversation while sucking on them.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
It's really sad; but what it really boils down to is that people just can't stand it when somebody's really successful. It's just not fair that somebody can make so much money off of an idea/skill. And we all have to find one reason or another to hate that person for it...
Whether or not SW sucks is a matter of taste. Whether or not CG makes good effects is also a matter of taste. IMO I think Starwars is a great Saga, and I hope it never ends. And as an aspiring CG artist, I totally dig the direction film making is taking towards using blue screens and CG; the possibilities for creative film-making are now limited only by our imagination...
I enjoyed the original trilogy, I enjoyed the SE, and I enjoy the prequels. I enjoy the video games, and love hanging out at online SW fan websites chattin it up with fellow fans. What got me hooked? The Jedi part of SW. I think the mesh between sci-fi and ancient myth is what got me interested. Lightsabres (a futuristic spin on an ancient weapon), the Force, the mysticism and the ancient style robes... all mixed in with blasters, and land speeders; pure genius.
But anyway, it's all a matter of opinion. Some think SW now sucks, others think it rocks. But I'll tell you this; you have to admire the sheer amount of work that has gone into Starwars, and the depth and detail of the entire Starwars Universe. Here you have a make-believe universe, with different solar systems\planets, cultures, languages, species, races, and religious/political systems; and hence an infinite number of possible stories, and sagas that can be derived from such a rich universe. It's pure genius; whether it is to be liked or not is a matter of opinion.
IMO I couldn't give a rats ass whether or not Greedo shot first. But the edit was clever; and if you truly had a sharp eye, you'd notice that Han's head was made to shift slightly to "dodge" the shot, that would have otherwise blasted his head off. In other words; Greedo's shot was dead-on; he didn't miss by a mile. I see all the other edits in the same light; clever work arounds to show what can be done to old footage... but this is an entirely separate issue that I could rant on for hours.
Anyway, I liked the special edition, because the effects looked much better; and the editions made the movie much more interesting to watch. It really breathed life into some scenes that seemed rather cramped and stuffy; I'm glad that Lucas was finally able to do things the way he really wanted. Although I must admit that the 'Yub Yub!' song at the end should have stayed...
I can't wait for Episode III; and I'll definitely be getting those DVD's
garbage in, garbage out...
FYI, you can listen to a short clip at iTMS - search for "Rite of Spring"...
Democracy; various flavors, but the intention is that what the majority of people want, they get. This means that if the country votes for a government-controlled socialist utopia, it's democratic, and when another country invades and forces a market-based economy upon them, it's not (or vice versa).
Marketplace; people have money and goods. Money and goods are exchanged at the highest perceived benefit to both parties. Those with more money have more buying power. Those with goods/rights can do what they like with them. Those with no money or goods/rights have no power.
I think most governments are Marketplaces rather than Democracies then.
I don't remember seeing any of the other actors in anything else since.
:-)
Actually, Carrie Fisher was the therapist in Austin Powers 2 for the support group that Dr. Evil and his son go to. I enjoyed this very brief role at least as much as all the Princess Leia stuff and to some degree it has replaced her Star Wars appearance as my primary Carrie Fisher association.
They have all appeared in other stuff, but like you I remember mercifully little of it. Mark Hamill was in "A Boy and His Dog", another sci-fi flick. He was also in a Simpsons ep, "Mayored to the Mob" in 1998, where he pretends to have a broken ankle to make Homer carry him through an angry crowd. Some characters never change.
zach