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Classic Star Wars Trilogy Finally on DVD
chinton writes "From starwars.com: 'In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie, as well as the original theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.'"
If only they could now release episodes one through three with remastered versions that don't feature lousy acting, shallow characters and crappy plots.
Some say he is made with ascii, others that he is eyeballed daily by millions. All we know is, he is known as the Sig
Well, now we know that even someone like George Lucas can be influenced by the promise of a ton of money. Well... probably not Lucas himself but all the people who can influence him.
So now we'll have the opportunity to purchase yet another copy, bringing some people up to 5 seperate copies of the same set of movies.
That's pretty impressive.
It's not possible to "enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977."
Watching a DVD is NOT the same as watching projected film on a screen in a theatre.
But the big problem is, I don't know of any safe way to erase, then subsequently restore, my memories of the past couple of decades so that I can see the film knowing nothing about the movie except a Time magazine review and a friend saying it was great.
How can I watch the 1977 Star Wars without the burden of twenty-nine-years'-worth of accumulated "spoilers?."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
He did say that, but then his pizza budget hit an all-time high so he decided to milk this withered udder one more time. Until the release on BluRay and HD-DVD are available, that is.
Trolling is a art,
If this is the original, Han doesn't shoot "first" since, in the original, Greedo NEVER shot!
There are a lot of people who have a particular memory of how things were, and want that memory respected. I think, in all seriousness, there's only one serious flaw in the 2004 remakes, the whole Han-on-Jabba's-tail thing. The Han and Greedo shoot each other simultaneously is, really, nothing. It doesn't matter. It would never have been an issue, nor changed anyone's view of Han as a character, had it been that way in 1977. It only matters because it's a change, and because it replaced an even bigger change in the (awful) 1990s releases. For the most part, the 2004 versions fixed the ugliness of the 1990s versions. The CGI is fixed. There are no serious characterization issues (beyond Jabba's tail.)
I think this release is a good thing. There are people who'll watch both and will say "1977's for me, it's the real deal, I'm never going to like anything else", and there are others who'll watch both and say "You know, now I've seen it, I don't think my fears about the 2004 version are realised." We'll see.
Hopefully the number of valueless idiots who keep comparing Lucas's wish to keep his movies true to his vision to an act of terrible violence perpetuating largely against women will dwindle too. There's no excuse any more for it.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
That one galled me more than Han shooting first, and it was mostly because there was so little reason for it to have been there -- I as a 10-year-old understood perfectly that Vader could have caught a shuttle to his star destroyer in the time allowed. I didn't have to fucking have it spelled out for me, and I especially didn't need to see it done so badly. I mean, there were maybe 2 or 3 things in all of the special editions that were done so well they were a pleasure to see -- the re-done Mos Eisley, and the liftoff of the Millenium Falcon from same, but they didn't clean up a lot of the obvious green blotches on the screen left over during the final battle scene, and almost all of the extras were in some way slopped in there. It's like we've got a clone of George Lucas monkeying with his films, because whatever touch he had in the '80's with filmmaking he's completely lost -- he thinks nothing of shattering the rhythm of a scene with gratutious special effects or fanboi money shots. This applies to the new films as well. It's like they were made by a different person.
I still own the originals on laserdisc, but like a complete tool I will probably be buying these re-issues because the resolution is higher on DVD. And my LD player is broken and I can't think of a good reason to replace it.
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Here's what bothered me about that scene. Imagine you're the biggest crime boss in the galaxy. You're chewing out some underling that just cost you a lot of money. And he steps on your tail! Don't you think you'd do a little more than give a quick squeal?
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Well hell, if it doesn't exist, then he shouldn't mind if I make a few hundred copies and hand them out at conventions.
As far as I can tell, the original trilogy had been the subject of more "labor of love" really well done fan DVD sets than anything else I can think of. I personally have three different DVD sets, all well done, some with nice extras and good menus.
Honestly, I've already bought the original trilogy at least 3 times, once on CED videodisc (!), once on VHS, then again on VHS special edition (I recently put that box set on a "freebies" table at a convention and nobody took it). I'd probably buy the original series on DVD, but I'm not buying a combo original+SE copy; I wouldn't want anyone to think that I actually bought it because of the SE.
Lucas releases Star Wars Trilogy on DVD!
Slashdot: You suck! We don't want Han to shoot first! Gives us the original version, not the Special Edition!
Lucas releases Classic Star Wars Trilogy on DVD!
Slashdot: You suck! I... uh... asked for this a year ago.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
Greedo didn't shoot, but he was sitting there with a gun pointed at Han saying "I'm going to kill you."
Han killing Greedo before Greedo can get a shot off doesn't make Han a bad ass, it just makes Greedo an idiot.
Sorry George. I bought bootleg copies (very nice bootlegs) a half a decade ago when you stated publicly that you would NEVER release these.
:) And it's all Lucasfilms fault that I'm not giving them any more of my cash. I didn't buy the 2004 editions (raping the memory of dead actors by replacing them digitally was the limit for me), and I won't buy these.
Now that you've changed your mind, I'm not just going to run out and buy them. Why should I? I already have them. Sure, they may have a bit better video quality, but I'm refusing to give you my $ just because you realized you needed the cash and it meant more than your supposed "artistic integrity".
Too little, too late. You had a good 15 years of me buying everything you put out (FS VHS, Widescreen VHS box set, Definitive Collection LD's, "face" CLV LD's)....but your attitude towards fans, in spite of this 11th hour reversal, just make me not care.
I have no problem paying good money for great product, but conversely when someone like Lucas dicks fans over and over I have no problem going the bootleg/download route. I bet the BitTorrent sites will have it before it even comes out.
AE