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George Lucas Speaks on Trilogy Changes
Warlock7 writes "Yahoo has posted an interview with George Lucas by the AP on the changes to the original trilogy from the new DVD box set. They also discuss the future of the franchise and the direction he intends to take it."
1) Han shoots first.
2) Lucas destroyed my childhood.
3) Lucas eats babies.
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
Seems like his edits to the movies are an insightful yet unintentional comment on how people whitewash history in real life too.
After the empire was defeted (ep 6), the earlier histories get re-written.
/me is shocked !
you mean that, no only this thing is going somewhere, it also has a direction ????
Stop the presses !
oh comeon please. Lucas a had one original idea a long time ago (in a galaxy far away probably) and milked it like no one has ever milked an idea before. I wishi everyone would just stop talking about him, then maybe he'd be forced to poop another idea instead of trampling in previous poop.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
"Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box
Yeah, and then they buy it five times over the next few years.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
He intends to take it to the bank, along with everything he does.
AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.
:-/
Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.
Lucas is going to have a lot of rocks thrown at him. As someone in an earlier post stated, Lucas is a control freak and doesn't seem to grasp that his vision today differs from his vision when he made the movies.
While the above is paraphrased, its more or less whats in the interview.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Q: Where are you taking Star Wars?
A: Straight to the bank!
It all looks up to me."
-- The Doors
...insert obligitory anti-Lucas, anti-SW, "raping" of our childhoods comment.....
Here is a story on IMDb about Lucas and his thoughts on Hollywood:
post at IMDb
Choice quote from the master of looks over substance: (Hollywood is) "making hugely inefficient movies for great amounts of money and they aren't creatively very interesting."
I wonder if the people who say one thing and do another (like Lucas and the Douchebag of Liberty, Robert Novak) realize they are doing it or if they truly think they are special and doing the right thing.
IANAL, but I play one on
"Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished."
Yeah. Suuuure. You're an artiste, and you must complete your work! That must be it. Nevermind that to most artists, integrity means keeping their original work untainted. And nevermind how your tweaks and changes, well, are largely either stupid glitz or just plain stupid. Han shoots first, damnit.
Please please please, don't reward Lucas's shenanigans by buying the DVDs.
Some of it "might be good" George?
Some of it is DAMN good and much better than anything you'd ever come up with. Come on, George, give credit to people who've already taken your universe and made it better.
The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
Yeah, how many times has this movie going to be changed? Pesonally I'd like to see it as I did when I was a 9 year old back in 78! Personally I can't stand the overuse of CGI in everything from LOTR (although that is the least offending of them since it's a fantasy type deal) to today's Hero movie. Especially bad was that Rock movie (only saw the ad for that) and the Brad Pitt disaster, Troy (again, the ad told me the 1,000,000 CGI soldiers would ruin the 'third wall' feeling of the movie).
Call me old school if you must, but if you're going to change/add to a movie upon re-re-re-release, please package adn title it as so
CB --- ---- ---- >
free ipod and free gmail!
Actually, I don't think he mentions any changes to the trilogy, other than they are the Special Edition versions.
They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
He wouldn't have been saying this years ago when he was struggling, and he needed fans. Now that he doesn't, he has carte blanche to go ahead and f*ck with it however he wants. What he doesn't realize is that it's bigger than he is now, and that's because of the fan base. It's culture, and history will judge him harshly for his selfish ways.
*yawn*
Jar Jar shoots first!
"I care" - Luke
'nuff said.
(THX 11-whatever anyone?)
I don't recall any stories about Picasso sneaking into museums with a paintbrush to touch up his old work....
Tons of complaints about "Lucas needs a new Yacht" and "he's gonna fuck up/he has fucked up Star Wars"... ...only to have them immediately turn around and buy the damn product.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
Coming soon in a fan created verson, Jar Jar gets shot first.
Philip
Signatures are broken
Nope. Don't care.
But I will say this before some other nerd decides to point it out: it has had an impact on my life, however small. Specifically, being robbed of several hours of my life by watching the first three shitty flicks in theatres several years ago.
Admiral Ackbar: "Luke, I am your mother!"
Luke: "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
Lucas was concerned by the fan backlash over the constant re-releases, enough that he issued a press release.
It reads:
"Squeal piggy!"
I think you mean Alderaan.
Your geek license has been revoked.
Man, I'm really coming to dispise this guy.
Read the unauthorized bio, Sky Walking, to get an idea of the changes that _Star Wars_ went through during its conception. No, the whole thing didn't occur to him in a flash with only technology holding him back from implementing it.
Like pretty much everybody, he made it up as he went along.
Even more pathetic: Why hasn't he done anything elese? Speilberg, love him or hate him, has gone beyond his kiddie-film origins, branched out and done lots of different sorts of films. He's grown up. He doesn't deal in comfortable bullshit any more.
Lucas, he's put a clothespin on his nose, settled in a bed of comfortable bullshit, and thinks he's doing us a favor by inviting us in.
Stefan
"And even most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done. ... I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it."
The problem I see with this statement is that most artists, painters and composers create new works to apply their new resources and technology. They usually do not stay stuck in the past. And why does adding technology and resources change the content of the work (Han shoots first, etc.)?
What's that? Into the ground? C'mon George, we don't need an interview to see that
AP: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
No, George, there may very well not be a market for this in three years. And not because of piracy. Because Star Wars is dead. 20 years ago I was into Star Wars as a kid, I bought the toys and had light saber duels in the playground with the other kids.
20 years later, and my kids really don't give a shit about Star Wars. This time around, you lost their interest to such notable franchises as "Spy Kids".
I'm not kidding. I tried to take my boy to Star Wars when it was re-released in theatres. He was bored, and couldn't sit through it's dated effects and cheesy dialog. I know Jar-Jar was supposed to suck the little kids into the Star Wars world, but he didn't. My kids thought him as annoying as I did.
There will be no market for Star Wars in 3 years, simply because it's uncompelling poorly written and over-marketted crap.
Much like Star Wars, it's original hardcore fanbase is growing up and dying off. The new stuff is not attracting new fans.
There's no market for a sequel to Citizen Kane either.
But of course, this idiot is inable to comprehend the writing on the wall, and follows the industry standard of blaming it all on piracy.
Make a good movie, and I'll pay to watch it.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Scenes from the original include..
... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.
... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
...
AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are.
Special edition scenes..
AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
Lucas: I'm George Lucas, bitch!
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
Lucas: Yes, in fact I have a joke for the fans. What did the five fingers say to the face?
AP: Uhh..
Lucas smacks AP
Lucas: SLAP!
AP:
Lucas: I'm George Lucas, bitch!
As much as I don't really like that he's gone back in time and changed things, I can see his point of view.
I can also see why he's not willing to spend millions of dollars and a lot of time touching up the original version. But that's because he would want to give it the whole THX treatment as well as the digital touch up.
However, if he just did zero work on it and just put it on disk, I can't see it being too difficult to do. Not that Lucas would ever release a completely stripped down, un-fancy movie.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are.
I have the impression that what the fans want is plot consistancy, not the debacle with "who shot first?" and so on.
Of course he has every right to do what he wants when making a film, but when he changes the course of events when he re-releases one of his films, people are gonna get pissed.
And WHY? You gotta milk that karma for all its worth!
"You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it."
George, do us all a favor:
Envision Star Wars, exactly the way you would want it:
Then go on a drug-induced bender of unprecedented proportions while making it.
The end result: Half of a half-assed attempt at putting together the film in your visions, and possibly the greatest achievement of your career.
from the article:
... I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
Lucas:
AP: After "Episode III," will you ever revisit "Star Wars"?
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it.
What an asshole. He basically said: "I know all the hard working and loyal fans want the originals but they can all go suck themselves off because I own the crap and I am god. But it's all OK because they'll bend over and take it anyway."
And the worst part is that, based on the way he opened the interview, if we all decide to *not* buy this crap, they will blame the poor sales on PIRACY - not the fact that he is making a high priced product that people don't REALLY want (again).
It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it.
Half completed? How? He added a bunch of filler scenes and touched up some special effects in the special editions. It's not like massive parts of the story were left out and put back in.
If you read the novelization of Episode 2, which explains why padme fell in love with Anakin and details Anakin's murder of the sand people then you know that if anything Episode 2 is the half finished movie.
where does the line to throw rocks at him start? do i need a ticket?
what a pompous ass
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
After all, he still have 195 and counting bugs to fix. That means George will do more hacks on HD-DVD/Blu-Ray SWSE++ release.
One of the most Insightful things I have read in a long time. *HINT HINT*
Given Lucas' attititude about the original version of the Star Wars Trilogy, don't be surprised if he offers a bounty on the VHS sets out there. It'll be something like a discount on the DVD boxed set if you turn in a VHS set. Where will all of these VHS copies go? Why right next to all of those copies of ET for the Atari 2600 out in the desert! Lucas won't be satisfied until the original ceases to exist. It all has a very 1984esque feel to it.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
That's ok... we'll just wait until 70 years after he dies and remake the original three the WE want it to be.
Or do those copyright laws apply here?
on "And even most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now.".
they'd like to do NEW WORK...
"I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore." umm. yeah sure.
"Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it." -> "I've noticed that pokemon is a hell of a money making machine and that it's really important to get to the kids every saturday morning"
disclaimer: the special editions aren't really that bad(they're done professionally after all and there's no yar yar..), but the reasoning the guy makes is just weak. though, for me the best stuff in the star wars universe were the games(more specifially, tie fighter) and books(the few good ones of them) - neither of which really happened in lucas's universe.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are.
And I will not spend any more money to see Star Wars nor buy any merchandise... and that's MY choice.
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Who pissed off Mr. Lucas? After reading the article George just sounds like a bitter old man crossed with an angry four year old...fine George! take your toys and go home!
No sig here...
The best thing in that article was his statement that the move to TV will be left to someone else. Get rid of Lucas as the director and the TV incarnation has a chance.
The Glass is Too Big: My Take on Things
I want this prediction put down for future reference. This attitude we see Lucas taking here, this "it's my work and the fans can go pound sand and watch my sucky rediting and uninspired dialog"... We've been treated to a prequel of what Kevin Smith in 20 years. Hell, he's well on his way already.
---
I remember how lucas changed this for the special edition because in the orig han walked around a CGI jabba but if taking to be real it would seem han is walking straight THROUGH jabba the huts tail! Lucas' fix was rubbish tho han sort of just nudged up then down and a new CGI jabba just sort of went OOWCH O_o
Thing is it looked unnatural and fake. I hope lucas fixes it again because IMO both the origonal and SE both didnt look right.
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are. ...
Wow. in any other industry "do you care about your customers", people are trained to at least give them some lip service.
I've never heard anyone flat out say, "no, I don't give a fuck about my customers."
He sucks. Can't he be like any decent garage band and sell out to us guys asking for the han-shot-first version?
This could be the best thing to ever happen to SW since the originals. Of course it must be done correctly, but think about it: The Zahn novels as a series.
I drool over thinking about Dark Force Rising (or was this just the comic book name) Luke joining the darkside and coming back, on television.
Only if Lucas hands over the reigns though, ohh the potential.
Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Gates M'dna wgah'nagl fhtagn.
It's about time.
[Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
Lucas shows he doesn't respect the fans wishes, he only cares about his own self gratification.
If he really cared about his fans, he would release the original version on DVD and make the bastard version as an optional or put it on the flip side, like Blade Runner did.
George, we fell in love with the original, leave it alone. We don't care what YOU think, we care about what we grew up with. Don't trash our memories of the good times. It worked for us then and it made you filthy rich. Why do you insist on pissing on the little people that elevated you to such a high and mighty position?
Sit back on your "Skywalker Ranch" and piss on the heads of the little people, the little people that paid for your empire..
Oh, and BTW, I guess I'll have to put my old VHS tape onto DVD myself now. Thanks George..
Quoteth Lucas and AP:
... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.
AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.
I think the problem is that we are using rocks that are far, far too small.
(I still have my originals... bwah hah hah!)
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
My bold. I wonder what the MPAA's take is on this...
ACK! /me cowers in shame.
Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
Unfortunately, this should have happened for eps I II and III.
Meet the new sig, same as the old sig
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein [or was it Alderaan] now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." - President of Vice, Cheney, August 2002
Amazing!!
All I have noticed he can do is mumble and drool on himself about some such shit. We only guess that its about Star Wars.
Will the wonders ever cease?
This is a bad time for Sci-Fi lovers.
I guess there is always Transformers of my childhood.... oh wait.... what is this Beast Wars, Armmoda and Energon Transofrmers about?
Arg.... where the hell is my Cherry Flavored Suicide Pill?
Jar Jar Jinx
Find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life.
Jar-Jar"Noooooooooo! Thasa nasa true thasa imposseeble"
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things. You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
The Clone Wars cartoons on Cartoon Network are really good; here's hoping that more product like that comes out in the future.
Lucas: "Not really."
Boy, I just feel all warm-and-fuzzy when I think of Lucas now... and I sure am looking forward to seeing "lava surfing" in "Revenge of the Sithians from Outer Space".
-----
"Cogito Eggo Sum: I think, therefore, waffle."
is This large enough?
From the artical:
... because I can download another copy off the internet. :)
"AP: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with. "
wtf?
yes george people arn't going to buy star wars on DVD because they can download it off the internet. It has nothing to do with the fact that they already own 5 copies already, or the fact that you keep changing the movie from the original, or because the movie is 30 years old, or cause now when you watch it you think of Ep. 1 or Ep 2 and that makes you want to puke.
Sounds like george is setting himself up for bad DVD sales. I used to be a huge fan, but I don't plan on buying the DVDs
So basically what he says is, he got lucky with Star Wars. Because what he wanted to make was garbage. Look at the prequels - he had much more control over these, and comparatively they sucked. They are tripe on their own, without using the original three as a crutch.
So the movies that people loved, and built his "empire" (so to speak) were not his true vision. We have seen his vision, and it isn't that great. So I think it is time to stop giving Lucas any credit for the first three movies. He doesn't want it, and he apparently doesn't deserve it. Actually, the more control he had, the worse the movies got. It was kind of obvious to me that he had more control with ROTJ, because of the Ewoks and some of the direction the story took. I am almost looking forward to EPIII - not to see it, but just to see how bad it is.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
I lost interest after The Phantom Menace and I have no intention of ever giving Lucas another penny. I can find more compelling story lines and characters elsewhere.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Jar Jar Binks: "Luke, meesa is your father!"
Luke: (turning lightsaber onto himself) "Nooooooo!"
Insightful? This guy is nothing but a troll.
See, it's like this. GL makes wacky changes to his films every couple of years. We just have to wait another 15 years or so for the 40th anniversiary, when he will re-edit it and have Han shooting first.
/. will be whining about how he changed it from what they grew up with, but, hey you can't have everything...
The only problems is, the (then) current generation of
Oota Guta, Solo?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Lucas desperatly needs to get his butt kicked every day for a month. Just some large guy named Lou that comes to his house with a 5 lb. NERF bat and starts swinging.
Then Lucas needs to appologize.. A blanket appology.. For EVERYTHING.. He even needs to appologize for global warming and the backstreet boys.
He needs to be punished... A billion dollar fine sent to the RIAA.. Heck I am sure their lawyers wouldn't mind one more person to sue.
After that... Then he needs to give the copyright for Star Wars to someone with less ego and more brains...
Which I suppose includes everyone on the planet.
At the start, when asked why he's releasing this set now instead of after the final release on Ep III, he says that he's worried there may not be a market for the DVD's in three years due to piracy!!
Now while I'm sure movie piracy will increase, I can't believe that Lucas really thinks that even with high-quality rips that we could download in two minutes with super-broadband of the future, that millions upon millions of people would not STILL buy the movies and box sets at $300 a pop if they chose to price it that high.
Give your fans a little credit for supporting you George. I can understand perhaps wanting to artistically perfect the movies, but have a little respect for the people that took you to where you are now and realize they will continue to do so.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So when is the Star Wars Christmas Special coming out on DVD?
I'd love to see the reaction to that. He'd probably walk out on the interview.
I think I hear the sounds of sweet angels singing...
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
If Lucas has updated the original films for timeliness, he'd have the Rebel Alliance blow up the death star and all of its inhabitants, then afterwards find out that in fact there were no weapons of mass distruction on board. Additionally, Luke would revisit Tantooine and find that his Aunt and Uncle as well as the Jawas were actually all killed by some irate sand people, with no connection to the Empire.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
AP: What were you thinking when you created Jar-Jar Binks?
Lucas: Well... cocaine is a hell of a drug.
What an assfag!
and his way sux
Well I can't see many people buying this version as we all know it's going to be re-released with the new trilogy in a year or so in a spanking box set, like Lord Of The Rings.
So I guess everyone will get a pirate copy of this version, and wait to spend their coffers on the full six episode version in a year.
I do think it's BS that he thinks piracy will kill the whole industry with 3 years though! It didn't do it for music, and that's a lot easier to copy.
#include <sig.h>
I been re-reading the Zahn trilogy and I tell you, I would LOVE to see that turned into a film with someone else directing it. Let Lucas be exec producer with Timothy Zahn, but let's get some fresh blood in to direct. Let someone like Peter Jackson try his had at it :)
George old boy, no one threw rocks at you until you decided to tell everybody what should and shouldn't like. Seriously, what a bitch. I wouldn't mind the special editions so much if the original movies were available in decent, DVD form. You don't HAVE to watch them, you have the luxury of ignoring them. But to say that the original series "doesn't exist anymore"? That's retarded. People fell in love with that he created in the first place, and to say "no, you're all idiots, you aren't allowed to watch that anymore, you must watch THIS version and like it" is an act of total assitude.
The worst part is how he acts like we've hurt his precious feelings. I LIKE movies that don't have tons of CGI cheese, and I LIKE the way the first SW movies were created. Ever see Aliens? That movie ROCKS becuase of the use of miniature models and lack of CGI (and awesome plot/acting), imagine if Ridley Scott was like "no, sorry, all old copies of Aliens have been destroyed, you have to watch this new version where the Aliens and Bishop are all fake-looking CGI, AND the mother Alien gives Ripley the finger, thus justifying the nuking of LB426". He'd get run out of town on a rail, just like Lucas has.
Bottom line: If you're selfish enough to make movies only for yourself (as Lucas clearly does), at least offer the fans of your original work the OPTION of seeing it, instead of pretending it doesn't exist (and by not releasing it on DVD, he's literally throwing it away) and that it's a piece of shit. Way to make friends, George.
Oh, and don't give me any crap about the "millions" it costs to restore the films, you'd make 1000x that amount on DVD sales, and if not that's tiny fraction of the Skywalker Ranch's giant vault of cash.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
There's way too much whining in this thread. I don't like the changes, but honestly its his movie, not yours. It doesn't matter if you had some life changing experience or epiphany when you saw it. You don't own the story. If he wants to release a new version where Jar-Jar makes a cameo during the "I'm your father" scene, then so be it. You still have your movie and your moment. He can't take that away from you. Just enjoy it instead of calling him stupid (or other unoriginal insult) because you disagree with his changes.
The fact that you can still see the original movie if you want is what takes my sympathy away from the whiners. It's not as if Leonardo was painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. At worst it's like Leonardo using new technology to make a Mona Lisa II with a mustache and then selling it. Who cares. The original is still the original.
If you are that desparate for DVD, find the best available source (laserdisc, old print) and pay for the transfer yourself. Why does he have to subsidize the transfer for you?
(End rant. Willing to take a karma hit to get a clean swipe at the whiners.)
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are. ... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way. "
The arrogance is apparent all throught the interview...I'm not surprised fans everywhere hate him. A question for all the fans out there. What do you think would have happened to episode 1, 2, had they been the first, if ep 4-6 had never happened? I think we all realize they would have been utter failures as movies. What changed?
"And I'll do it in that mode from the 1930s Saturday matinee serials, using kind of 1930s and '40s sensibilities, and I'll base it on sort of mythological motifs and icons. I'll just put it together in a modern form, and I'll have fun."
This is whats been lost... Mythological motifs? 30s and 40s feel? Tell me where that was in the new films, if you can. The grand tale of adventure is somehow lost in the inane squeals of Jar-jar and the rampant abuse of CGI. I'm sure I'll be burned at the stake for this, but Im getting sick of star wars.
Support more choices in goverment-Vote 3rd party.
...ever spend a dime to pay for any version of my favorite childhood movie wherein Greedo shoots the ceiling a microsecond before Han blows him away. FUCK YOU GEORGE LUCAS and fuck your Greedo shooting first and your walkie-talkie guns. South Park got it just right.
http://xkcd.com/386/
So GL claims that the SEs are what he really wanted to release originally but couldn't because he was limited by budgets and technology? So am I to also understand that Greedo was supposed to shoot first originally but the budget and technology only allowed for Han shooting first?
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
Downward! And always spinning, spinning...
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
what the god damn fans want is for Lucas to make the story their way..
no their fucking choice... star wars fans need to grow up.. and get a life.
star wars fans, the really hard core ones.. are pathetic.. who have nothing better to do than whine and bitch about Han shooting first.. who gives a fuck.. go spend your money on something else if you have such a problem with it.. shit.. all you people crying about lucas and him changing his movies need to quit whining... cripes.. after the 800th post about Han it gets tiresome..
I understand why people love this films so much, I am a huge fan of the films. I am a filmmaker myself and love watching films.. but I also know when to let something go and move on.. star wars fans should learn this.
In the new special edition, AP slaps first.
This space intentionally left blank.
AP: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. Have you seen the Phantom Edit of Episode II? Technological advances have allowed fans to show what a fluke the originally released trilogy was for me. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing [The revenue stream I can glean off of the remaining clueless] fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
Michalangelo Progr
They're his movies, he can do with them what he wants to.
If Picasso decided he didn't like the finished product of one of his paintings, he can take the thing, paint over it, and hang it back up. It's his choice.
I have never understood the "purist" standpoint that everyone else has, when everyone else didn't start this thing in the first place. Granted, it would be nice to have the original VHS movies available on DVD, but hell, even those aren't the original THEATRICAL releases.
Anyone who thinks Lucas sucks, needs to go get a life. Start complaining about how JK Rowling messes up Harry in her next book. Sheesh...
So when is the Hawkeye movie coming out?
...and Lucas will Die soon...someone (his Kids maybe) will find the hidden bok of star wars ideas (which I believe was once refered to as "The Book of the Whillis)...sell the rights to make new Star Wars Movies...then the Job will get turned over to people that would know how to make a good Star Wars Movie( Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Spielbergh, the entire creative team of Stargate SG-1, etc), give us our once promised 7,8,9 that he has backed away from...
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
Does this strike anyone else as incredibly short-sighted? Never mind that he's saying right out that the reason for putting out the DVDs are purely financial. But he also suspects that nobody will be making money on publishing movies in three years' time. He clearly doesn't care about putting out a physical box set for fans to cherish on their mantelpieces, before the time comes when publishing anything physical is no longer feasible: he's talking about money.
First off, my feeling is that there shouldn't be any episodes 7-9, simply because the story is told and finished at the end of the furry midget fest, er RTOJ. However there has been a lot of buzz about the possibility of more SW films.
From the interview:
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things. You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
Translation: I want to be the only one who gets to make cannon (movies), but I might let others spin off side stuff. I don't think this is a bad thing, as it might delay SW becomming the steaming pile of poop that Star Trek has become.
Here's my prediction: GL dies in another 10-20 years of a heart attack or something. GL's daughter wastes all the republic credits on fast cars and blow, and then in a effort to scrape up some more money, sells off the rights to a studio to make more films, merchandise, etc. One way or another, more SW WILL be made. It's just a question of when and by who.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
First, Lucas is only releasing the DVDs because he wants to release them before someone just takes VHS tapes, cleans them, and burns them to DVD.
Second, Lucas cares nothing for his consumers. ZERO. NONE. NADA. As stated above, the only reason he is making this is to A. make money, and B. get HIS version out there before someone releases the real thing. He did nothing because of his consumers. In fact he somewhat happily states he ignores them. Honestly, that single interview makes me never want to purchase anything in any way related to star wars just for the sole purpose of never giving money to such an arrogant ass.
At least he gives us a reprieve by saying he will be taking his crap to TV and leave the last 3 movies to someone else to do. We can only hope.
In closing, I predict someone is going to take the VHS tapes, clean them up and sell pirated DVD's of the actual movie. And that they will be fairly successful because, despite lucas's understanding of economics, consumers vote with their money and they will vote for what they want not what they are given. Personally, I'd be happy to buy pirated DVDs of the original series as long as the money never see's Lucas's claws.
I do security
18 Young Hopefulls are given a chance to work with the Palpatine, at the end of Each episode one is chosen as Unworthy...at which point he is electrocuted to death, or has throat crushed by Vader.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
THX1138 is being re-made/re-released right now. Sith is just around the corner. Star Wars Battlegrounds and KOTOR2 and a whole slew of video games are hitting the market.
The level of George Lucas hype is as high right now as it will ever be. In 3 years, Star Wars will be completely forgotten.
That's why they're being released now.
This guy blames everything on piracy. Last interview I read with him, he ranted about how Episode II didn't do as well as he hoped in the theatres, and of course - he blamed piracy, and threatened to completely scrap Episode III because "piracy" would just ruin it too.
I mean, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the movie sucking so bad that I can't even recall the plot with any clarity.
All I remember is they turned Boba Fett from a really cool, cold calculating faceless bounty hunter, into a Spanish kid with a grudge against the Jedi. "My name is Inigo Montoy^H^H^H^Boba Fett! You keel my fathor! Prepare to die!" OK, I read somewhere that the actor was maori. Either way, he's just a stereotyped hot-blooded latin now.
Should have left Boba alone. I could stomach everything else he did. I could deal with Jar Jar and the pod races. Greedo can shoot first all he wants. He could pencil in little furry boners on all the Ewoks, that's just fine.
But he ruined Boba Fett. Unforgivable!
The funny thing is, I can't recall seeing Ep II on any bittorrent sites or the other usual channels. It wasn't even good enough to be pirated far and wide.
I see more episodes of Will and Grace for download on sites like suprnova than I do Star Wars stuff... That should speak volumes.
Sorry George. You turned off most of the old fans, and failed to attact any newer younger ones to replace them.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
He'd "REMAKE" episode 1,2,3
Think about it...
www.geocities.com/James_Sager_PA
God spoke to me.
Back when I was in college, I got the letterbox VHS versions (this is right before the first "special editions" were reissued) and my college ACM chapter had a fund-raiser where we showed the films on a big-screen TV with a big sound system and pizza and whatever.
To my surprise, the main people who showed weren't students, but parents who were bringing their little kids to watch Star Wars for the first time. It was really cool to watch someone's first reaction to this stuff that a lot of us knew by heart.
I have to wonder: Will my kids be able to see the real version of the films, or are they going to be stuck with these inferior versions? How long can my VHS versions last? I watched 'em again last month -- they're already showing wear.
It's a cultural loss on the same level as if Wells had burned "Citizen Kane" after it got a few bad reviews. These are *the* defining movies of that generation.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
I admit that the sand pit in Jedi did look way too much like a really nasty vagina until Lucas put in the appendage with the beak, so that's fixed.
It's called vaginoplasty and it's becoming increasingly fashionable these days...
Whose got the rocks?
jack's bicycle is music to my ears
Aah, all right. I'll have, uh, two with points and... a big flat one.
I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is an imaginary number. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and dial again.
The phrase we are looking for is Down the pan...
These started showing up on Usenet over the past couple of days. Despite being downsampled to fit on a dvdr, these prints look WONDERFUL. Better than anything we've seen in pervious editions with cool commentary tracks. Well worth buying if you ask me, but could have been so much better.
Now as to what Lucas should have done, I would point to the Alien re-release. Not only do we get commentary, but we get the original theatrical release, a director's cut, and a menu option to activate scene markers. You can see 'deleted scene' or 'added scene' as the movie plays. You make the choices and are provided the information to enjoy as entertainment or study as a film student. This was what DVD was supposed to be all about in addition to better visuals.
You can see how lame and arrogant Lucas is. He says he is releasing these now because in 3 years pirates will have apparently taken over the world. What is he thinking?
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
I like my Star Wars as much as the next geek. I love it even but I have to say that George Lucas is so full of stinking shit that it's almost unbelievable.
His whole pompous BS about why he made Star Wars in the first place just grows every year that passes. He says he's bringing them out now on DVD because of piracy? Please. He's bringing them out now on DVD because he's afraid that based on his original plan he won't get the fat DVD version payday. He's afraid that a new format will be coming into play and he'll have missed the chance to fuck his fans out of their cash for the DVD's.
Launching into the piracy argument tells me that he's not just full of shit. He's full of shit AND he thinks the rest of us are too stupid to see it.
I like Star Wars but fuck George Lucas. Fuck him in his stupid ass.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. :O
Oh cool, that means he doesnt recognize it.
Does anyone have a torrent for the originals? I mean, it doesnt exist to him anymore, so why does he care if we download it?
In his song "The Powers That Be" from Radio K.A.O.S....
They like order, make-up, lime light power
Game shows, rodeos, star wars, TV
There you go, Star Wars TV! He was singing about George Lucas! And if you see them come, you better run!
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it
So what, you're trying to tell me you wanted Greedo to shoot first, but that you were unable to do so 30 years ago?
-Colin
Jar Jar Binks: ITSA BESA TRAP!
Ackbar: I knew I should have joined the Empire when they took over my homeworld.
Fuck you George... Fuck you you God-Damned hollywood-grassfucker... I hate you and I hope you die of some really bad VD that has yet to be discovered. You piece of shit money-grubbing whore.
Talking about the films being unfinished before and just needing you to throw millions of dollars at them and your fancy special effects computers to churn away on them. I call bullshit.
Did you not have enough money in 1976 to make Greedo shoot first, was the technology not available at the time, was that it?
George: Harrison, sorry, um yeah, well see here's the thing, we just don't have enough laser special effects to have Greedo shoot at you first so we'll just have to have you kill him in cold blood.
Harrison: But won't that make my character an "anti-hero"?
George: Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. I solemly swear to fix it in post-production 20 years later restoring bland noble virtue to your white hat wearing space cowboy.
Harrison: Um, okay George.
There is a place for you in Hell you pedantic fuck, I hate you.
Seriously...
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
AP: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
To make more money... come on George, you know poeople would buy them still if they were another 3 years... he just did this so im 5 year he can sell them again as HD DVD or Blue Ray discs...
and he doesnt want to spend the money (millions, i dont think so) to release the original ones on DVd, why not?
All we want is the original untouched trilogy on a disc instead of tape, so we can move to chapters and stuff, i dont want special features, hell i dont even need an in-depth menu...
Just wanted to know why no mention of Hidden Fortress? I have a Japanese printing of the artwork for Ran, and on the obi Lucas thanks Kurosawa for the inspiration for Star Wars.
in the orig han walked around a CGI jabba but if taking to be real it would seem han is walking straight THROUGH jabba the huts tail!
What are you talking about? Did they even have CGI in 1977? It was all models and latex and puppets!
The scene wasn't even in the original version, and Jabba was portrayed as a human. No tail at all, and left on the cutting room floor.
You're remembering TV specials about the restoration of Star Wars and the creation of the CGI Jabba and mistakenly ascribing it to the original version.
This is one of the problems with these revised versions: people don't remember the original accurately anymore. Enough repetition of "Han shoots first!" and people forget that originally only Han shot!
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
AP: After "Episode III," will you ever revisit "Star Wars"?
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things. You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
this is at least good news, maybe the final 3 will be saved by new people in charge of it...
Torrent here
If Lucas can't be bothered to take 20 minutes out of his day and do this so I can pay him, I'm just not going to pay him.
The key difference between a Programmer and a Senior Programmer is that one of them is Mexican.
You know, he almost had me with this one, but you can't tell me that there was much more involved in having Greedo shoot first. It'd be what, another flashpot and some smoke, and maybe some debris falling out of the hole in the wall where he (inexplicably) missed Han?
It's NOT the original vision. The Jabba scene, and all the extraneous junk wandering around the spaceport, I don't care about, but this one really sits in my craw.
ceci n'est pas un sig.
Yay!
He was a verray parfit gentil knight.
Why does this interview remind me so much of a Bush interview? I don't know, but one thing is for sure, Lucas is a damn money WH0RE!
Just thought I'd post a number for a rape crisis center.
1-800-DEAL-WITH-IT
Lately I've been wondering what Harrison Ford's opinion on this whole Han/Greedo shoots first controversy is. Anybody know?
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
...when he released them.
When you make a movie, you make it not only for yourself but for the people who will want to see them. People go to movies to enjoy themselves, and to take home a part of the world that the people who made it bequeathed to them. Star Wars did that and was wildly successful; many, many people have internalized the world of Star Wars, built on to it, and fitted themselves into it. That's why, even twenty years later, the movies are still popular and still worth talking about.
By changing the movies, Lucas is appropriating not only his work but that of the people who have watched and internalized his world. If you want a movie which is alterable to your changing desires, don't release it. Once it's released, the movie is no longer yours exclusively - not quite the people's who made it, not quite the people who watched and enjoyed it.
Complaints about people's complaints on the alterations is like the complaints of stars about their fame. Some of fame's consequences are ridiculous, but they knew that when they set out to get there. Lucas set out to make a popular movie - and popular movies become as much the public's as the people who made them. If he wanted a private vision, then he should have left it there. I am glad that he didn't, but I am not suprised at the backlash - when you play with people's cherished memories, you are going to make life hard for a lot of people.
You nailed it man. On top of everything else he also assumes that everyone else is so fucking stupid that they won't see right through his shit.
I have no mod points today or you would certainly have one.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
Lucas: Not really.
Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.
As an amateur recording artist I can vouch for works of art never being done, but man, where do you draw the line on that one? Is he going to change his mind 20 years from now and suddenly declare the old DVDS the 'wrong version' and redo the redone versions to fit his ideas at the moment?
Ok I know he had grand designs of what the film should have been like 20 years ago, but really how can you say you know exactly what you want when the technology does not exist yet (or at least did not in 1977)? When does it end?
Should we be sorry we fell in love with a half completed film as well?
-- (Score:i , Imaginary)
Star Wars: still has the film school mindset, lets do "Hidden Fortress" set in space.
Empire Strikes Back: Control freak syndrome settling in, my money so I do it my way. Combined with the youth and attitude that comes from being in the up and coming generation of filmmakers at the time. Great, dark movie with the focus being on the characters and atmosphere.
Return of the Jedi: How many millions did we make on action figures? Maybe we should toss some more stuff in there for the kids. Why did I ever look up to that Solo character?
Special Editions: I need a showcase for all the SFX stuff my company can do. And more cash. In the happy land of my dreams it is a kinder gentler place where the hero never shoots first. No its not aging, I always felt that way.
Episode 1: The kids are gonna love this. Maybe I should do all the dialogue myself. Computer gfx are neat.
Episode 2: Hmm. Maybe Jar Jar should've been an Ewok. Ah well, now for the uplifting romance. Should be a breeze to write. I'm George Lucas after all. See, I got a standing ovation at the end of the love scene. No, thats not sarcasm. I'm George Lucas. Please save my movie Yoda.
Trilogy DVDs: Almost 60% there to my original vision. Oh the wonders of computers. Chewbacca your days are numbered.
Episode 3: Ahh Anakin betrays his master cuts off the rattail and murders hundreds of Jedi delivering the universe into the grips of the evil Empire. I sure had a twisted imagination when I was young. Wonder how I'm going to sell this to kids. Maybe add some Ewoks.
Right? Right??
... how about to the shelf, where it can rest in peace? Episodes 1 and 2 have had just about the same effect on the original movies as DS9/Voyager/Enterprise have had on Star Trek. He's ruining something that was just fine the way it was.
I give Lucas credit for doing his own thing. Don't think any of this Lucas bashing is new he took heat for Jedi and the ewoks being too cute(think jar jar esque with less media hate).
;)
Look at his early scripts, Luke Starkiller? What George Lucas has always written has been cheesy in the way of
"And I'll do it in that mode from the 1930s Saturday matinee serials, using kind of 1930s and '40s sensibilities, and I'll base it on sort of mythological motifs and icons"
He's been saying that as long as I've been paying attention. I think it's a safe bet that he wanted to make the first movies even cheesier except for studio executives forcing him to bring it back to the mainstream. He was young and had to do what the studio told him, not having the clout or finances to do otherwise.
I think he is re-releasing THX-1138 in part to say "The shit I did before star wars was freaking wacky and the fact that you happened to like the original trilogy was luck"
He is producing art and just because it's not the hollywood standard sun glasses cool doesn't mean it's any less as a work. These are his ideas and I respect him for not caving to popular opinion and doing it how he wants. All that being said I think Han shoots first
Would anyone at this stage still argue that the original version of The Hobbit was the only real version, was the superior version and that Tolkien screwed everything up by changing it? After all, that's the version the original readers of the epic fell in love with, right?
--Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
Lucas: I'm like Roddenberry, aren't I, fans? Aren't I? Please? Please make me like Gene, please? Attach my fucking name to everything Star Wars related so I will live on after my death with everything "based" on a pulp movie I put out in the 70s. Please? Will you? Pretty please with sugar on it?
I downloaded laserdisc rips of the originals. As good as you can get quality wise without the bullshit changes.
AP: So, when are you going to remake THX-1138 with the
violence taken out, and with added furry muppets?
Lucas: I am hoping to get to that sometime this decade.
There will be many other changes too: better SFX
during the tunnel chase scenes; and the drab white
backgrounds will be digitally replaced with more
colorful ones. You know, I originally wanted the
setting to be brightly colored, but we just didn't
have the paint and wallpaper technology back then.
>;k
Star Wars was a rip-off of the Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress, set in a galaxy far far away instead of Midieval Japan.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
After reading this interview, I have since lost any respect that I once held for him. How much more insulting to the public can he be, short of saying "All of the Star Wars fans throughout the world are ignorant morons for enjoying the original trilogy". Granted, the man definitely has some insecurity issues, but it isn't the fans fault that they like the original trilogy (and I don't mean the SE versions either). Let's face it, George had a great vision, but his directing is horrible, his script writing is subpar, and his dialogue absolutely reeks. There is a specific reason why Lucas didn't direct Episodes 5 and 6, and I firmly believe this is why, and it probably also explains why he vehemently hates the Original Trilogy. I find it interesting that he hates the original trilogy so much, but he sure doesn't seem to hate the money that it made him. Take some Prozac George, and go up to the mountains and commune with nature or something....oh and HAN SHOOTS FIRST!!!
I have nothing clever to put here...
Phantom mennace is way too boring to assosiated with LSD. Its more like Lucas took a group of fanboys and had them write it. Its rather geeky. I mean that in the sence that its just a sequnce of events with no emotional ties between them. No real character development. I understand that eveyrone here thinks that they could have done better, but not many of them understand hwo easy it is create crap and how difficult it is to create anthing better.
Its much more like Caffine and cheetos. Jittery and really cheesey.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again.
Rate article +5, Funny.
You're not Dave Chappelle, and you're not funny
Anybody want to rip the laserdisc and burn some DVDs? I bet you could make a pretty penny doing that.
Not that I'm advocating anything illegal. I was just curious. No, really!
Constitutionally Correct
I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore.
/ 2004-09-06-star-wars_x.htm
Complete BS. Didn't the last Star Wars article point out that the original prints were used for digitizing the HD version:
"The process: First, he analyzes the film and notes its biggest problems, be it dust or softness. Then he sets parameters for the restoration software. The computer system divides the film into segments and applies fixes, identifying flaws by comparing neighboring film frames. Lowry and his team check the processed scenes daily, frame by frame. Restoration took about a month per film. As footage became ready, segments were downloaded onto a portable hard drive and shipped to Lucas for approval."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations
I'll base it on sort of mythological motifs and icons.
Nah; Lucas didn't say that until much later. After people noticed he'd used all the elements of an epic hero, he retrofitted on this idea that he was deliberately trying to do something to match Joseph Campbell's work. When the whole point of Campbell's work was that these motifs arise unconsciously, without deliberate attempt.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
AP: Why did you rework the original trilogy into the special-edition versions in the late 1990s?
... I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it. At the beginning, people went, "Don't you like it?" I said, "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be." They said, "What are you talking about?" So finally, I stopped saying that, b! ut if you read any interviews for about an eight- or nine-year period there, it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was. You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it. So this was my chance to finish it.
... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
Lucas: To me, the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make. Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown into the marketplace, never finished. It's a very rare experience where you find a filmmaker who says, "That's exactly what I wanted. I got everything I needed. I made it just perfect. I'm going to put it out there." And even most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done.
This is heartbreakingly wrong on so many levels. The Aldous Huxley quote in another Score:5 comment hit so close to home, I hope it falls under Lucas's eyes at some point and moves him to reconsider. If you can make the movie and modify it now, what's to stop musicians from changing CDs every time a new batch is stamped? Movies are not dynamic, they are static releases. If someone wants to invent an evolving art form and continually update something on whims, great. But world-renowned cinema is not the place to experiment with this concept. The movies spoke to people as they were. They produced reactions, both positive and negative, for good reason.
I could type about this for an hour and still not make all the points I want to, so I think I'll just stop.
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are.
Because I have seen more than my share of whiny SciFi fans, I begin to identify with the "it's nice to have an opinion..." part. But the second half of his cocky statement is a self-aggrandizing "...but my opinion is the only important one." "I'm making the movies" is a ridiculously over-simplified remark, especially considering the crap about hundreds of people losing their jobs if someone downloads a movie on the Internet.
This only punctuates the assessment that Lucas is not an artist, not a true filmmaker; but more of a hack who got a lucky break by being in the right place at the right time with a good (at the time) product. In fact, the changes he's made and the tack he's taken now seem to indicate that either 1) He never had real talent, but had exceptional help making a good product in the 70s and 80s, or 2)He's gone through some sort of change where a legitimate genius has dissolved into a worthless husk of a man who's banking on previous successes, with an egotistical mindset that power and wealth have obviated the need for QUALITY.
I'm banking on the latter.
I never thought I'd say it, but George Lucas, you really ARE an ASSHOLE.
Lucas: "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be."
Me: So... 70 to 75 percent of your movie is a retarded scene with an animated jabba, a dewback in the background, and an extra shock ring or two on the space explosions? Hmmm...
$8.95/mo web hosting
Here is a split screen video comparing the 97 "New Hope" Jaba to the new DVD release.
enjoy
"Capital punishment makes the state into a murderer. Imprisonment makes the state into a gay dungeon-master"
Four words: Laser Disc Definitive Collection.
[
Oh sure, there's torrents on Suprnova and Myspleen.
Moll.
What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
You teabaggin' liberals are soooo angry...did daddy not love you enough, if you know what I mean? Go smoke a cock.
Is anyone else disgusted at the huge song and dance number at Jabba's palace in the special edition? And what's with Jabba in a new hope? He looks radically different from the one in ROTJ, and it's only a couple of years apart. And in general, the mixing of the new computer animated stuff, and the old stuff, doesn't mix.
... I have to agree with him that an artist is never satisfied with his art and never thinks it's perfect. Same with programming - when I make a program, unless it's a really trivial one, I never think of it as 'finished' and always strive to add more features, improve the UI, etc ...
Remember way back in the good old days, before piracy, when a movie like Finding Nemo could really move DVDs out the door? Boy, it's too bad nowadays, that more recent releases have such dismal sales.
Poor George. Your pain must be unbearable.
an audience lends power and validity to a work of art. what artists tend to forget is that w/o an audience art is meaningless and masturbatory. if that was the intended reason for the creation, so be it - but as soon as a work of art is public it is no longer sole property of the artist.
consensus makes something more than a lump of clay or a random wave of sound or a string of pictures.
Uh... where have you all been?
There is a new trilogy that has taken the place of Star Wars for future generations and it is called The Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson.
Regardless of whether you liked them or not, these three films (in both forms) and their director are more respectable than Star Wars and Lucass was or ever will be.
Who gives a flyin' flip what Lucass does anymore? I've already downloaded the originals to replace my four degrading VHS copies anyway.
Shaft: Luke, I'm your baaaaaaaaad mother----
Luke: Shut yo mouth!
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
Coming soon after in the news: Lucas shoots first fan.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
While what you're saying is true - the artist should have complete creative control over his work (and, I would add, that it's my belief that purchasers should have near-complete creative control over their purchased version of the work) - what the debate is about (aside from those who are screaming about how Lucas raped their childhoods) is this:
Is the urge to tinker with a work and the ability to do so always a good thing?
The best analogy I can make is with word processors. Compared to writing longhand, a word processor gives the user the power to instantly change, delete, and re-order text. Has that ability made for better writing, on the whole?
My argument would be that it hasn't. Word processors have given people the ability to ramble in text, to endlessly edit without actually improving the narrative. At the same time, appreciation of language itself is steadily eroding, since writing is so easy - there's no compelling pressure for clear or consise writing.
Yes, Lucas has the right to change his work as he wills. The problem is that his original vision, as poor as he sees it now, was perfectly adequate to the vast majority of his audience, and the "improvements" that he makes are, for the most part, not. (I certainly enjoy the clarity of the digital remastering, clearer sound, and improved SFX - but that's equivalent to cleaning the Sistine. What Lucas is doing is comparitive to adding Jesus Christ on a motorcycle to the fresco during restoration).
His "artistic vision" will feature a surfboard battle on molten lava in the next movie.
His "artistic vision" recycled R2D2 and C3PO from the original trilogy.
His "artistic vision" results in a massive space ship being destroyed to save the day with one shot in 3 out of the 5 episodes so far.
His "artistic vision" is empty. It wasn't always, but now it is.
...Lucas releases the original theatrical versions of episodes 4, 5, & 6 on DVD in 3-5 years because of "pressure from fans". Basically the only reason he's not selling it right now is he knows he can get people who only want the original cut to settle for his "special" editions now, and then buy again a few years down the road. If he released multiple versions now it would just confuse consumers and fragment the buying base.
But it actually would be really easy for him to rerelease the theatrical versions in a restored state - what do you think he based all of the current footage on? Sure he added a bunch of stuff, but I guarantee he went back to the original negatives and separate effects shots, scanned those all in and cleaned them up before adding all the Special Edition crap. Essentially he already has what the people want. He just knows that a good number will buy twice (or more) if he's careful about his release strategy.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I thought we were discussing Star Wars, not Raiders of the Lost Ark.
--
dman123 forever!
Filtering out the -1s and 0s since 1999.
The second version must be correct. If Han had pursued a doctrine of preemption, it could be argued that he never really knew for sure that Greedo's gun was or wasn't loaded (and the fact that in the orignal, he didn't check Greedo's gun afterwards just goes to show how insensitive he really was).
(Score:-5, Conservative)
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are. ... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
Well put, George. My idea is, the "special edition" isn't the true film. So I'm not buying these.
Oh, and about piracy being a threat to the market? Who wants to bet that in a year or two Lucas says that "I would've released the original versions, but all those pirates on e-Bay selling ripped laserdisc versions ruined the market..."?
Ah well, George - have it your way. I don't think these will sell as well as intended. And I'm waiting for the backlash when the 80% of the public that's expecting the original films on DVD finds out they're getting the "special" editions instead.
Anyone know if the rumors are true that Jar Jar is getting inserted into one of the films, and that Hayden Whatshisface will be shown as a ghost at the end of Jedi? I'm interested in getting the DVD (in spite of the travesty of Han not shooting first, etc etc) but I draw the line if Lucas has added stuff from the crappy prequels to the original trilogy.
PRIOR ART! PRIOR ART! PLAGURISIM! LAWSUIT! HYSTERIA!
/.? I'm very vunerable emotionally, you know...
This guy is stealing all my best material!
Say, what is the monitary renumeration that can be claimed for emotional damages due to being plagurized on
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Teabags, eh? I remember when a bunch of TERRORISTS dumped a load of tea into a harbor. They later became YANKEE IMPERIALIST BASTARDS who TERRORIZE everyone and then bitch when someone responds in kind.
In a surprise turn of events, Bantam Classics, the publishers of Moby Dick have decided to release a new version, with every "A", "E", and "U" removed. Some of the "Y"s will remain. "The original was called 'Moby Dick,' not 'Maeiouby Daeiouck', and we fill that Herman Melville would have wanted it this way. Really, it improves the work. I don't know why everyone is so upset," wrote the president of Bantam Classics, when reached by email. "Frankly, the old version wasn't as good, and we're never going to publish it again."
"Cll m Ishml." reads the first line of the improved version of the epic work.
</sarcasm>
Some works you don't need to see to criticize.
Education is the silver bullet.
Fuck yeah, homestone. Keep 'em rolling.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
How about this?
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the DVD player, sitting down with George Lucas, and hitting him?"
The man needs a reality slap!
It's OT and I'm sick of people modding their opinion like it was goddamned fact. He's a troll. If he said something inflammatory like that against Kerry, he'd get modbombed into hell and you know it. But because the slashbots all think the same way, as long as you flame in the acceptable direction, it's "insightful." Not to mention it's hard to be insightful when you keep spouting off the same damned troll, but I digress
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
This remake will become interesting if it includes, at least in the deleted scenes section, the ones with Koo Stark.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
I don't know what marketing group told Lucas stupid sells, but I want my money and time back asshole.
n/t
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
He's being a jerk about this and abusing the power he has thanks to copyrights.
....
... He insists on changing them because he can..."
He's an egomaniac
In short:
To summarize, he's becoming Palpatine.
In the new version of Episode 4, the Death Star's beam has been changed into a giant walkie-talkie.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
Uh, how can you bitch at people for quoting Chappelle and other actors, and then use a sig that is a direct quote from an SNL skit????
In Soviet Yoda Russia, back strikes the Empire.
even though I saw the original versions as a child and bought all those damn toys. :P I think it's nice that he gets to refactor his movies to make them the way he wants.
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
"Cogito Eggo Sum: I think, therefore, waffle."
.sig file that you think you are a waffle...
Er...in the original "ergo" means "therefore." You've just declared in your
Robert B. Marks
Author, Demonsbane in Diablo Archive
I've got an idea how we can get the original SW movies...
;)
I just wondered how difficult it would be to edit out the special effects added in the special edition releases, and release a version of Star Wars closer to the original?
As I understand it, the DVD version is remastered to be clearer and less "grainy". If you've seen how Indiana Jones turned out, I'm sure you'll agree that the remastering (not the added special effects) is really well done...
When SW is released on DVD, we could use it as a base. We take out all the extra scenes that were added to the originals.
Any remaining scenes that were changed, we'd overwrite them with a laser disk verson.
Sure its going to be all crisp and clear, and then go grainy in the Greedo scene, for example.. but I'd take that any day over the bastardized version released on DVD.
That could just be the start too. Once all the scenes from the LD are in digital format we could begin the process of removing the grainy detail from each frame. Yes its painstaking work, but software could be developed that does some of it for us.. as a SW fan I'd clean up a frame per day. I'm sure others would too. Distributed film cleanup
I know I'm simplifying things, but are there any film buffs who want to take this on?
That should shut up all you pansy liberals that whine about "preemption"!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I can't help it. I have wanted them for so long that I'll just deal with the fact that it's the special edition. Plus I'm getting older so I think I'm starting to forget some of the originals anyway. ;-)
Jim Lynch
Tech Analyst and Community Manager
Let's not leave it to Lucas to release the edition we want. Let's make it ourselves.
From what I understand, most of the changes are minor, and the DVDs will be remastered and cleaned up. This should provide better quality than VHS or Laserdisc.
So what are the specific complaints? Greedo shoots first? No problem. That is only a couple of frames that need to be edited. Don't like the goofy Jaba scene in episode 1, edit it out.
We can rip the MPEG2 and make the changes we see fit.
What changes would you like to see?
All we have to do is pray that lucas will die sooner than later. Then whomever gets the rights to his movies can be pressured into releasing the originals on dvd for the HUGE somes of money they will make.
so come on everyone ask gawd for divine intervention and wisk George off to the great beyond!
...To me, the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make...
...most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it...
Later in the same interview question:
Bingo, Mr Lucas! Well said! A new perspective. This means, that the special edition SW triology are not the films you had originally invisioned. I have no doubt that Lucas felt he was not done with the films at the time that they originally released, but I do doubt that the special edition is what we had in mind.
Time changes people. For example, several years ago when the MMORPG market was small, I thought about putting together a review site specifically geared towards those type of games (there was no review site of it's kind at the time.) A new MMORPG had come out at the time, when I had this thought, and I played it and began writing a review. The review was harsh, straight to the point, and insightful at all the same time. I'm surprise to this day that I was able to write in such style. I never did put together a site, but whenever I think of doing it, I try to write in the same informative and critical style that I used back a few years ago and I simply can't. My perspective has changed. I'm now more informed about what it takes to develop these type of games. I work as a programmer for a living. I sympathize with what other coders working for a living have to put up with at their jobs. I realize that my perspective has changed and thus I can not produce the type of review style, a reader would want to read.
Lucas' perspective has also changed. As much as he denies the films not having been complete, changes like Greedo shooting first was not part of his original idea.
It seems to me that he may expect revenge of the sith to be so regarded so badly that no one will want anything star wars...
(Not to mention what's happened with SWG and all the other star wars related games).
... who thinks the following odd:
- Lucas paraphrase: I'm releasing it now, at the height of the pirated movie craze, because in 3 years the pirates will win and everything will be 0w|\|3d.
- Am I the only one who recalls that, originally, Lucas was going to do 3 prequels and 3 sequels? Am I also the only one who thinks he saw how shitty the first 2 have been, and couldn't get funding to do another 3 piles of crap?
- That all these "Special Edition" and "Platinum Edition" and "Unrated Edition" releases are SHIT? Seriously, a friend got the "Unrated Edition" of "The girl next door", which has been getting all this commercial coverage as "Oooh, unrated! racy! sexsexsex!", and I've been forced to sit through Sex and the City episodes that were racier? See, "Apocalypse Now: Redux" was a SPECIAL edition, with noticable extra content... even Das Boot: SE had noticable additions. But the 5th release of Terminator, the 12th of Star Wars 1-3, and pretty much every other SE in the last few years has been absolute crap. Most of them don't even incorporate the clips into the movie... they're "Extras" that you have to play later and go "yeah, that was cool, wish I had seen it an hour ago when I was actually watching a movie", and silly interviews where everyone says they love each other, and occasional directors commentaries that you can tell were recorded on a dictaphone while he was sitting on the crapper, scraping crabs off his Intel after another night at the Casting Couch.
I had a point in that rant. I think it was "Special Editions almost always suck, and I won't buy any movie that I have not seen first, and that includes SEs, because they're all crap".
Except for Natural Born Killers. That was one wicked-ass directors cut.
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
I sense a great disturbance in the force, as if a million SW fans cried out all at once.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
Dr. Zoidberg: Hurray! I'll be rich and admire!
Admiral Ackbar: No, I am the laughing stock of the Internet and mostly a living joke.
Dr. Zoidberg: Hooooaaaaaaaa.
That's from George Lucas and it typifies what I've always believed about directors - they work best when under financial and artistic constraints. A great example is The Matrix. The Wachowskis had a fairly limited budget and created a masterpiece. For the sequels they had a vastly larger budget and made turkeys. In fact, I think their best movie was the fairly low budget Bound. The same is true of many other directors including Lucas. Left to their own devices they'll make a mess of things. It really makes me cringe when a director says "now I can make the movie I've always wanted to make". When that happens you get self-indulgent crap. But the goal of film is to indulge the audience, not the director.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Ironically, it was people like George Lucas and Steven Speilberg who protested against the modification of existing classic movies when black and white movies were being colorized. In fact, they both testified before Congress against the practice of colorizatioin and other forms of alteration. I can vaguely recall that one of the arguments was that technology could reach a level in which people would do alterations like replace actor's faces with those of newer actors. Yet, they are the first to alter their own classics. Spielberg replaced guns with walkie-talkies in ET, and now Lucas is changing his movies as well. This is exactly the kind of alteration they testified against.
You can see the edited version of the clip here, with Lucas's braindead commentary on his reasoning for the change.
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
linky
(/facetiousness)
/. commentary (or the last fifty, for that matter), then please, shut the barn door. The collective IQ is dropping.
Honestly, people, I know karma whoring is a virtual sport now, but if you don't have anything new or interesting to say that couldn't be cut and pasted from the LAST Star Wars
For everyone else that's been reading this site for more than, oh, a week, every post that's simply rehashing (A) "Lucas is a money grubbing hack!", (B) "Lucas raped my childhood!" or even (C) "Lucas owns the movies, not you!" grates the nerves until I just want to proverbially shoot every last one of you, just to end your supposed misery.
No, making long-winded stream-of-consciousness variants of (A), (B), or (C) that you have to "Click to read the rest of the comment..." does not count as interesting or new.
No, using Boston Brahmin to expound and elaborate on (A), (B), or (C) does not count as being interesting or new.
And no, relating your latest pet analogy that you ripped off from a poster in another story to George Lucas and (A), (B), or (C) is not interesting or new, either.
(/soapbox)
Light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Go here to view the comparison. Big differences.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Greedo: Han, it's your ba..
Han: *BANG*
Episode 1 sucked but the rest were entertaining and I'm glad they exist. The extended universe is fun too. Where else can I see tao monks fighting in outerspace?
I'll take as much sci-fi as the pretentious directors and producers want to put out there. That said I'm not going to buy the DVDs-- I'm not into watching things over and over again.
With a refrigerator.
ideas for a new slashdot poll.
word.
I'm saddened to see Han shooting first, because it is a historical revision of a much loved character. He's the rough-around-the-edges loner who discovers something bigger than himself and who ends up showing he really is a good guy. But without a bit of the perception of him as scoundrel and Grey Hat, his transition to mostly White Hat is less profound.
:(
The truth is, with the exception of cleaning up the bluescreening around the models, the new versions haven't added much for the better. The original three had a powerful story with a number of iconic and mythologic themes. Everything George has done to them (yes TO them...) since has been a pretty bad idea.
And his latest product is visually stimulating and absolutely devoid of other quality.
And George himself is turning into (we're giving him the benefit of the doubt in the early days) a self-absorbed prima donna and a bit of a pratt to boot.
Another great example of how to ride great beginnings into mediocre endings.
But as I said in my post title, this isn't Lucas' first example to revise SW history. Ask for a copy of the Star Wars Christmas Special at your local Blockbuster. Good luck... George has pretty much seen to it that this was more or less only to survive in old bootlegged versions. It wasn't great art (far from it), but it is just further evidence of trying to revise the past.... and about as well thought out.
I think George has been turned to the Dork Side.
-- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
We have the technology to do.
I like some of the updated stuff in the movies. The space battles are better looking, the could city is nicer.
But, I think once the DVD's are released, someone could just splice in the old han solo scene from an original laser disc version. And cut out some of the crap lucas put in.
then release on bit torrent.
I only saw the enhanced version of Episode IV once, as my doctor has advised me to avoid situations which make me feel suicidal. So I need someone to confirm my memory of one particuarly awful point.
In the hacked-in scene where Han talks to Jabba, is it really the case that Han's lines are practically word-for-word the same as his earlier lines to Greedo? Like the script was cut-and-pasted from one to the other with a few penciled-in changes?
Am I imagining things? Because if not, and if that's the way it was in Lucas's grand creative vision, Lucas is needs professional help, pronto. Because that's just plain sloppy filmmaking.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
You've complaining about improper grammar when somebody is using Yoda-speak. I mean, come on...
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
In the AP interview, Lucas says the original SW films are incomplete and it's too bad fans fell in love with it. He has no plans to release them on DVD.
Now check out the THX 1138 DVD. Why the f*ck is his original student film on it???? After all, that student film is an uncomplete work and it's too bad fans want to see it. He should not be releasing it, but of course, he's a hypocrite.
Like, "How do you feel about the Star Wars universe becoming a total corporate playtoy?" and "What do you say to the majority of your fans who all think you turned the Mona Lisa into a Nike logo?" and "How does it feel to be the things you've always hated to become, and how does it feel that all your one time fans now hate you for it as well?"
Reading that article he just came off so... selfish.. so corporate.. so controlling. He was completely the opposite when he made those movies - They were a tribute to directors who could work outside of controlling figureheads. My analogy of the Mona Lisa were more than just a perfect movie, but the perfect way to MAKE the movie. He perfected every single area of it, from refusing to give control to FOX, to getting his own personal loans for the completion. And now... Ugh.
The Original Trilogy... in its unedited, unspecialized form... is now public domain? Or, more importantly, if he's abandoning the original trilogy, can one get sued for making DVDs of the original trilogy and selling them? 'Cuz, I'll tell you what, I have a Pioneer LaserDisc player and can get these puppies delivered on DVD in about a weekend for $5 a copy!
Another possible parallel, the "quickie" program that's written to fill a short-term need ends up hanging out for years, taken over by someone else, getting patched, modified, and expanded way beyond it's original design objective, then coming back to haunt me 20 years from now. Hence my motivation to put more thought and planning into the "quickies" -- they're gonna be my tombstones.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
The Special Editions have some good changes. The X-Wings are more detailed. The Death Star explosions are more realistic. They've brought out the textures in a lot of (otherwise bland) scenes. The colors are very vibrant, although nearly distracting sometimes.
...
I don't really care for Han Solo walking over Jabba's tail. He was a fat-ass in the Third film, so I don't know how he managed to push his fat-ass over to Tatooine; much less be denigned to discuss the matter with just another smuggler. The fucking musical CGI shit in the Third film was worthless, as well. But everything pales to Greedo.
PALES.
Either he (Lucas) was smoking enough dope during the 70's to keep some kind of fucking attachment to the rest of society, or those fucking boots he's wearing are cutting off the circulation to his god damn brain. Lucas is just another has-been in the pipeline of Hollywood director's. Everything he does in his lifetime is just fewer things that someone else would be able to do right.
I recommend a burial at sea, as soon as possible, dead or alive, in an ocean FAR, FAR AWAY
Leia: Luke, in Soviet Russia my mother is you!
Luke: *head explodes*
On why he brought it out now: "A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now."
What? Every place I look claims DVD sales are very stong and not losing momentum any time soon (mainly thanks to idiots like me who buy 2 and 3 versions of the same crap I already own). Regardless, his decision boiled down to cold hard cash... not fan appreciation, not the desire to allow us to preserve the movies in a non-degrading format, not the desire to give us a higher-resolution better mastered version of the movies we love. Screw that, he needs cash.
On the altered footage: It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it.
Wow... what complete and utter contempt for his most die-hard fans. "Screw you, this is what I like." "Screw your support for the past couple decades, this is what I want." Hate to tell you, Mr. Lucas but both your originality and your integrity have gone steadily downhill since those first 'incomplete' Star Wars movies. It's become painfully obvious that instead of a compelling storyline you'd prefer fancy effects. Instead of well developed characters you'd prefer good looking twits and CGIed alien idiots. It may be age or greed getting to you but make no mistake, you didn't release these special editions because they were the 'movies you wanted to make.' You released them so you could slap "New Special Effects" and a media-whoring poorly CGIed Jabba scene on the box cover and make a mint. Maybe, just maybe everyone fell in love with your movies because they were, you know, good. And just maybe we're all bitching because not only are you releasing movies that aren't any good but your destroying those that are.
On the future of Star Wars: "Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it."
Well, this is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, Lucas seems to be relinquishing control to someone who may possibly have some talent. That would be cool. On the other hand, we all know this is a last ditch pimp out to squeeze every little bit of cash from his cow. I can only hope that the TV series takes place in a land far far away from the trilogy's universe. There's not enough material in a movie to have a multi-season tv-show intersect with the same characters and timeline without seriously affecting the story. At this rate I wouldn't be suprised to see some "Leia: The Teenage Years" pushed on the ignorant masses.
And finally:AP:"Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?"
Lucas: "Not really."
Yeah, Fuck you too.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
The Originals Suck.
and the result is a special edition with poorly done cgi scenes that look extremely out of place in a movie full of "old school" technology.
...he just comes out and explains he wanted all of his movies to be absolutely horrible. That way it makes perfect sense that he would go back and make them worse.
If Kurosawa were brought back from the dead and it was explained to him that The Phantom Menace was at least in some way derived from The Hidden Fortress, he'd promptly fall over dead again.
"A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself."
Are you secretly the Joke Explaining Troll?
send them to my server? contact me and we'll work out a deal to where I can compensate you for your efforts.
--zo *use my GPG key below!
Perhaps it was because of the brevity of your 'inspired social commentary'. You didn't add anything new to the discussion. You didn't even add anything old. And if you want to echo the 'general tone' of what's been said already in a new thread then your post was actually redundant, don't you think? So piss off, you kneebiter!
He kept saying that he had to leave the others half finished, and that this was his attempt to finish them. If that's truly the case, we should fire out a petition to get him to just stop wherever he is on the new one and release it now, as it's clearly better if he doesn't put too much work into his movies.
The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore.
This is obvious bunk. The original versions were cleaned up dramatically, both picture and sound, for the Ultimate Edition Laserdiscs, or whatever they called them. And there are some very, very, very fine DVD conversions (and Divx versions!) of the LD editions floating around as torrents. So Lucas's weird wish that they be confined just to old mouldering VHS is just fantasy. He doesn't even acknowledge the existence of Laserdisc, and all the late-80s/early-90s high-quality Star Wars releases. My God, a guy I know even has a Videodisc edition of the Trilogy and it looks very fine. Anyway, this interview once again illustrated to me that Lucas is indeed a man devoid of shame.
Da Blog
Well, most movies tend to decompose sitting in vaults somewhere, especially if they aren't popular... Film isn't a stable medium-that is the reason it often has to be restored even if stored properly. And Star Wars wasn't an excellent movie-it had stellar effects for the time, but only a mediocre (recycled) plot. Very popular, yes, fun to watch, yes, very good, no.
Right or wrong, movies don't belong to the public only to their owners who can do to them as they like... Sure, it may be part of our popular culture but I don't think copyright makes too many allowances for that. If you don't like that, become involved in politics.
You're a little late on that one, people have been doing it for a while...
http://movie-nite.com/sw.html
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
Anyone know if Luke's friend Biggs will reappear in this installment?
I'd like to see the Hong Kong movie industry or the Coen brothers do their own Star Wars film. Lucas and his band of a**-kissers are way past their prime.
Yes, they all stand outside the box, thinking how cool it would be to actually play with the merchandise, and lamenting the waste of money that going into the box represents.
That is the _apotheosis_ of thinking outside the box... 8-)
Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
--"Code Complete" Microsoft Press
It's not too hard in this case. Take the cleaned up masters, put them on DVD.
Once he got that he could sell EACH movie as a boxed set with the original, a directors cut, and his precious Special Edition. He'd make a mint. He's just too caught up in his "artistness"
Clearly he has remastered the originals. How else would he have had the footage and sound to change?
Star Wars is just another cash cow he's going to milk until it's driven into the ground. In the mean time, the Laserdisc to DVD versions should be okay.
Also, on the television thing, I seem to recall reading a quote that read something like "I wouldn't want it (Star Wars) to turn into Star Trek".
And then he goes on with good old Spieldy to testify in Congress about the use of CG to modify films?
NICE CREDIBILITY BUDDY.
He just keeps contradicting himself.
Leia: Luke, I am your mother!
...
Luke: Wait, you said you were my sister. I want the truth! (slap)
Leia: I'm your mother! (slap) I'm your sister! (slap) Your mother, your sister-- I'm both!
Luke: Leia, put the blaster down, let the stormtroopers take care of this!
Leia: But don't you see? Vader owns the stormtroopers! (Leia mounts a speeder, goes about ten feet and dies gruesomely.)
Luke: Noooooo!!! Noooooo!!!
Han: Forget it Luke-- it's Tatooine.
(Roll credits.)
--All your stolen base are belong to Rickey Henderson
Where the kids go on a campain to save movies from their directors and the "re-re-releases" of movies.. Where the "guns where replace with walkie talkies" and "the term wookie was replaced with ...." etc.. etcc..
Lucas just RELEASE the originals and maybe people will see your 3rd star wars movie!!
Mvdbt dibohfe uif dboujob tdfof tp uibu hsffep, uif cpvouz ivoufs uibo Ibo xbtufe xjuipvu b tfdpoe uipvhiu gjsfe gjstu.
Lucas changed the cantina scene so that greedo, the bounty hunter that Han wasted without a second thought fired first.
Xmd erscl onesce smr.
Yeah, tell me about it. Especially since I'm in love with my sister.
April fools :)
Clever signature text goes here.
The cheesy, new agey music they put in the end of the third movie replacing the original, did not exist back there, it was not possible to write cheesy pseudo irish music back then.
That is what I call progress.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
... of Picasso to change Guernica 40 or 50 years later?
There are things that may be possible and legal.
That does not mean they are also wise and moral.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
.... it would have been his choice and right.
But that would not mean he was taking the correct decission or that he was doing something morally correct.
Take the Guernica for example. That painting had a cultural impact the engulfs our full understanding of the horrors of WWII.
If Picasso had decided to change it in any way after it was completed it would have amounted to vandalism, since the work entered that thing called popular culture.
But that is copyrights for you, in their current form they clearly damage the culture of the world as a whole.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
It is not like somebody sat in front of you and pressed the link to read the posts on this thread.
How more pathetic can some people get?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
For a laugh check out this sarcastic review of the Trilogy DVD which includes a "HAN SHOOTS FIRST" / HAN VERSUS GREEDO SCENE: http://www.toastedpixel.com/starwars/anewhope.html
"It's not exactly the book I wrote then. It's not exactly the book I'd write now. It's a joint effort but, heh heh, I don't have to give him [Pratchett's younger self] half the royalties. He'd only waste them."
Terry Pratchett on his revisions to The Carpet People.
Actually, he was going to stick in an animated character but ran out of money/reason to do it. The human actor was only ever intended to be a standin. I remember seeing the footage years ago. What's kind of depressing about this is simply that the shine has come off. The originals worked because they were consistent. He keeps going back and jacking with that consistency, and it's jarring.
One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel / the next it's rolling over me / I can get back on / I can get back on
There is no reason why someone can't take the newly released movies, the DVD-R versions of the old films (from the LD) and combine them into precisely what they want. Making Han shoot first is trivial! Furthermore, the examples of Episode I.I: The Phantom Edit and The Two Towers: The Purist Edit show that you can do much more with the footage provided by the director.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
For instance, in the original Star Wars SE, it's pretty obvious that Jabba the Hutt is a poorly rendered CGI blob. I notice this right off the bat, and it destroys the illusion. On the other hand, if I watch RotJ, released in the dark ages of the 1980s, Jabba's merely a "primitive" puppet, but damnit he seems real.
Don't worry - there will be a "Very Special Edition" in 2010 with a Jabba that looks like the original, only CGI rendered.
This will be the only version available in HD.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I heard Lucas will be removing the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy shoots first.
You have to remember that the art belongs to the artist and it's the artist's vision that he is trying to do justice to, not yours.
It's not that I don't feel for you; I think the original movies were sweet in a way BECAUSE they left a lot for our imaginations to fill in!
That's why the whole mythology could fit your hopes and dreams so closely.
Everyone's hopes and dreams.
we all filled in the blanks so nobly for the same reason we were drawn to the story in the first place.
Anyhow, I remember how I felt, and I still feel that way today, it lit the way for me, and that,s still valuable.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J