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Star Wars DVD Set Previews/Reviews
Reducer2001 writes "USA Today has an article up that has a couple more details about the upcoming Star Wars DVD release. The cantina shootout between Han Solo and the green-snouted bounty hunter Greedo is virtually identical, but now it seems their guns fire almost simultaneously." Reader Jutebox150 writes "Time magazine has an early preview of the Star Wars DVDs and gives some justification for Lucas issuing the updated versions of the trilogy and talking about his many mental and physical battles to finish filming. The article also describes a 2.5 hour documentary by Kevin Burns that traces the origins of the saga. 'The first cut of Star Wars,' Burns' narrator says, 'was an unmitigated disaster.'" Reader spoco2 writes "The Star Wars Original Trilogy is due for worldwide release on the 21st on DVD, but the first reviews are appearing already in Australia (obviously of the PAL version). Yes, they are the SEs with even more differences (Now Gredo and Han shoot at the SAME time!). I'm afraid I'll be waiting for the day when George reconsiders and releases the untouched originals."
There's an in-depth review at Digital Bits, including some screen shots of the major changes.
For all of you who, like me, didn't get the Greedo reference, (probably less than 1% of /.) here's a link which explains the whole Greedo and Han thingamy bob.
Who is Greedo and what did he and Han shoot and WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ALL ABOUT?!
Pinky: "What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?"
Brain: "I would tell you Pinky but this 120 char limi
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarstri logy.html
Basically, everyone grew up and had kids and decided that the shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later Han was too violent to show their kids. So now we have to endure a kinder-gentler space smuggler.
"Initial success, or total failure!"
remin8.com
Han Solo unsportingly blasted Greedo under the table. It makes Solo look like a cold-blooded killer.
Lucas wanted it changed in the special edition to make it look like Han shot in self-defense only after being shot at first. The scene looks like crap. Fans universally hate it.
Top 10 Other Things that Han Shot that Didn't Shoot at Him First
http://www.fecundity.com/pmagnus/greedo.html
George Lucas thought the scene between Han Solo and Greedo in the cantina made Han cold blooded. Let's think about the original scene, shall we? Greedo the bounty hunter is holding Han at gunpoint and says in his gurgly argot that he is going to kill him. Han shoots Greedo through the table before Greedo can blow Han a new smuggling hatch. That's makes Han cool-- not cold.
Now let's look at the new scene. Greedo is sitting with Han at gunpoint again, only this time Greedo states his intent to kill Han and then shoots the wall. Han quickly avenges the stucco and blows away Greedo. Boy does the new scene stink! Even a stormtrooper could have hit Han at that distance! Perhaps Greedo turned to a life of crime after flunking out of Stormtrooper Academy.
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
Han is viewed as a rogue outlaw. Kill or be killed. He was talking to an assassin who pretty much said "i'm about to kill you, han." So Han shot Greedo before Greedo could shoot Han. The edit having Greedo shout first (and miss from two feet) makes Han look more like Aragorn than a rogue outlaw.
Then, under no circumstances, flog copies on ebay under an everchanging pseudonym
OK. The first paragraph is good advice.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
I still have the originals on laserdisc (widescreen) and my laserdisc player still works - so some of us can keep the dream alive.
Take a look on suprnova.org. There are actual torrents of Laserdisc to DVD conversions on there for fans of the original.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
Way to go, Reducer2001, by slipping that referral ID into the link for the box set. On a Star Wars thread, too boot; it's sure to generate a lot of cash.
From theforce.net (http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002 /16704309/?596)
---LIST OF DVD CHANGES---
A NEW HOPE
Confirmed :
- The opening crawl has been re-done to match the colour/quality of the PT opening crawl.
- Lightsaber effects have been fixed. The colours now appear more vibrant and the blades better defined.
- The lettering on various Death Star panels will be written in Aurebesh rather than English.
- An improved version of Jabba inserted into his scenes.
- Greedo still shoots first...however, Han's reaction is 'much more realistic'.
- R2's panels will be consistantly blue in all of the space shots, instead of just a few of them.
- The Dianoga now appears more lifelike and not so obviously Stop-Motion.
- The matte-painted hall in the detention block has been fixed rather than just having a bright white light at one end.
Rumoured :
- Stormtrooper voices redubbed by Temura Morrison (Jango Fett).
- The Emperor may possibly make an appearence to address the Senate in a new scene.
- The Imperial March may be inserted into the score in certain parts to maintain continuity with the other films.
- The 'Binary Sunset' shot outside the Homestead could have clouds to match Luke's later POV shot.
- Rumours of work on Obi-Wan's death scene with CGI.
- Door closings/openings could be smoothed out without the frame jumps.
- Rumour that the aliens and other creatures blink now to make them look non-mask like.
- Vader and Obi-Wan's fight scene may be upgraded with CGI work.
- Battle of Yavin shots cleaned up and recomped.
Denied rumours:
- Bail Organa will not be in ANH, for when Alderaan blows up.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Confirmed :
- The opening crawl has been re-done to match the colour/quality of the PT opening crawl.
- Lightsaber effects have been fixed. The colours now appear more vibrant and the blades better defined.
- Ian McDiarmid is now in place for Emperor Palpatine's scene, rather than the monkey-eyed old woman. There are also a couple of new lines in this scene.
Rumoured :
- The Tauntauns could be re-done with CGI. .
- Rumour that the missing Wampa Attack sequence may be back into the beginning of the film
- 'Grander escape sequence' between Lando, Leia, Chewie, C3PO and R2 in Cloud City.
- Possible additional deleted scene(s) with Yoda on Dagobah.
- Boba Fett's voice redubbed by Temura Morrison (Jango Fett).
RETURN OF THE JEDI
Confirmed :
- The opening crawl has been re-done to match the colour/quality of the PT opening crawl.
- Lightsaber effects have been fixed. The colours now appear more vibrant and the blades better defined.
- Hayden Christensen appears at the end of the film in place of Sebastian Shaw as 'Ghost Anakin'.
- The Rancor's matte-lines have been removed.
- Naboo now appears in the end celebration sequence.
- In Vader's death scene, Shaw's eyes have been recoloured (to match Hayden's) and his eyebrows removed (as they would never have survived).
Rumoured :
- Palpatine's Force Lightning may have been re-done.
- Rumour that the Jedi Temple now appears in the background of Coruscant during the end celebration sequence.
- Work done on background matte-paintings.
- Rumour that the Ewoks have had CGI work done to animate their facial features.
- Rumour that Watto appears during the Tatooine celebration sequence at the end.
Denied rumours:
- Padme does not appear at the end alongside the ghosts of Anakin, Ben, and Yoda.
MISC INFO
Audio Quality
- "I spoke with Ben Burtt recently. He mentioned the upcoming Star Wars DVDs. It seems that they were able
Check my journal for gmail invites!
There is a petition on the internet requesting that George Lucas releases the originals untouched. Please sign it.
There's also a fourth disc of extras (not sure if it's on suprnova) that comprises most of the extras from the definitive collection, such as documentaries, old trailers, etc. It's geek ecstasy and it's an interesting look back at Lucas when he was seemingly quite content with his creations.
A website I won't link to out of courtesy (slashdotting) has images you can download and print out that look like and work like DVD covers. They have covers that look like the style of the currently released DVD's and covers that have the original movie posters. I opted gor the movie poster ones. Printed out on a color laser printer, the untrained eye can't tell a difference between them and the episode 1 and 2 DVD cover spines on a shelf (save for the reflective gold ink on the official ones).
Now I must say, after getting these, watching them, etc., I'm content with the DVD's coming out later this month. Sure, I would still like official releases of the theatrical cuts, but these work for me. Heck, since for some reason they've decided to make the spines of the official widescreen releases silver I won't even have "duplicates" on my shelf.
So to recap, get these laserdisc --> DVD-R rips. They're worth however many days it takes to download them. Find a DVD burner somewhere, somehow. Buy the officials (like I am). Be happy that you have both.
Schnapple
And so began down the path to the Dark side.
2. The shot of Carrie Fisher and her stunt double? Whoa.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Note that the commentary track is not screen-specific (i.e., it's not Lucas & crew sitting around watching the movie). I believe this hails from back when Laserdisc commentaries were rare and so few people did that. What it is is a bunch of audio clips from interviews, documentaries, etc. It's done such that the thing you're hearing has to do with what you're seeing but it's not like the people were sitting there and commenting in real time. The upcoming DVD's, I believe, will have a commentary like this.
Also note that there's an obsessive 67-page thread on the OT.com forums on it dissecting all the various versions (many will sell you DVD's with the OT on them) and people discussing making their own DVD's from laserdisc. Apparently there's some short scenes that go missing now and again from all the various reissues. And now that dual-layer DVD burners are coming into vogue there's people discussing making higher quality anamorphic discs.
Schnapple
VideoHelp.com has a Star Wars Laserdisc capping thread at http://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=102 812&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0