Original Star Wars on DVD... Sorta

An anonymous reader writes "The Original Star Wars is available on DVD. Sure it's more moola in Lucas's pocketsess (Gollum accent). But he did finally release the original version for a limited time. But which Original Star Wars, I bet Episode IV is in the opening titles. " Also apparently the original versions are basically non-anamorphic transfers from the laser discs. So basically, they look terrible.

Comments

George Lucas' Fear of Failure

[eldavojohn]

Well, there wasn't much to the 'article' in this one except a bunch of odd links on www.starwars.com. But I noticed that CBS's Early Show was covering this and states:

Like it or not, this is probably all you can expect if you're clamoring for new "Star Wars" material. Lucas has vowed not to make any new movies for the series.

"I said it might be amusing to come back with Harrison and Carrie when they're 70-years old and make a movie, but I forgot that I'd be 70-years-old, too," Lucas said, referring to people who ask him about more sequels.

Lucas has talked about doing 3D version of all these films, for theaters. They would be released one-a-year. There is also talk of a 2007 "ultimate set" with all six films and new bonus material. There have also been rumors of a TV series, books, cartoons, and video games.

What, will the 3D releases offer you another chance to alter them? Was your 'original vision' to have Jabba the Hutt slither out on people's laps?

Oh, an ultimate set? You don't have enough of my money?

Seriously, I wish Lucas would understand that we would rather see completely new material from him than to see him repackage and alter what we have and do love from him. I would rather see him release 9 mediocre or bad movies than to have him edit, 3D-ify and edit again episodes IV, V & VI.

Damnit Lucas, let the studio technicians re-master the movie (they went to school for it, they know what they're doing) and give us more original content! Look at all the famous directors you've studied. Did Akira Kirosawa edit and re-release Shichinin No Samurai or Rashômon over and over and over again? No, he continued to make more movies, some very very good and some mediocre.

Re:George Lucas' Fear of Failure

[nucal]

Seriously, I wish Lucas would understand that we would rather see completely new material from him than to see him repackage and alter what we have and do love from him.

George Lucas had a few good movies in him, but in reality he had one great thing and that was to revolutionize the use of special effects. He is more of a technical specialist rather than a story teller - why else would he continue to re-work the same material over and over again by enhancing the effects?

But to expect any great new material in the form of new stories and plots from him is unrealistic. I think that Star Wars volumes I-III proved that.

Re:George Lucas' Fear of Failure

[elrous0]

why else would he continue to re-work the same material over and over again by enhancing the effects?

Piles and piles of money?

-Eric

The Defense of I, II & III

[eldavojohn]

Sadly, after the crapola that was ep's 1,2, and 3, Lucas has already failed, and failed in a very spectacular manner. So he should be used to failure by now.

I'll defend them.

I hated Episode One, I liked Episode Two and I loved Episode Three. Overall, they're a good addition to the Star Wars universe. Episode One was fluff and terrible fluff at that. But it'd be a lie to say I don't own them and I know that these are movies that will survive time and last in my movie collection.

The important thing is that I will show them to my kids, much like the IV, V & VI were shown to me. And hopefully, they'll spur imagination and entertainment for everyone that sees them. That is the point of sci-fi movies, by the way, not to satisfy everyone that views them. I think that any eight to fourteen year old kid would enjoy all the Star Wars movies thoroughly and that makes them good. I, II & III contain excellent social commentary even though some of the acting might be terrible and the plot clunky.

We expected platinum for Lucas and he gave us silver. That's not very fair. Still, I'd rather watch Episode One than 90% of the crap I see hit movie theatres these days.

Re:The Defense of I, II & III

[Moby Cock]

I thought Qui-Gonn was an interesting charcter. Darth Maul was very good. The light sabre fight was really well done. The starfighter and capital ship battles were astounding. This is all good sci-fi stuff.
The movie had its faults. The little boy was awful, the introduction of midi-chlorians was a mistake, and of course, Jar Jar was a disaster.
But for me, Ep 1 did not have the scope that the others had. It was too localised, and perhaps in that respect it was aptly named.

Re:The Defense of I, II & III

[Opportunist]

Episode One is by default boring to someone who knows the SW universe. It's supposedly the explanation to everything following it, the cause to what we see as the effects in later movies. Of course it is boring to someone who has seen the "old" trilogy of IV to VI. And Lucas most likely knew that it would have been equally boring if he filmed it first.

Why else would he have started with Episode IV? Usually, you start at the beginning.

My guess would be that IV is just as boring (over long stretches) for someone who saw them the first time in the "right" order (i.e. new trilogy first, old one last). Because it, again, explains a lot. A lot that you already know when you've seen I-III.

In total, though, EpOne was a huge disappointment in pretty much every aspect. It has long passages of rather boring background info that doesn't really come to fruit in the movies (it does in the books, but the movies left out a sizable portion of this). Generally, it consists in large parts of Anakin being introduced as a very great Jedi-wannabe and the zany antics of JarJar.

What was the REAL disappointment was the rest of the Trilogy. Ep2 had the ability to become a great SciFi movie. Hey, it had the growth of Palpatine, it had the beginning of Anakin's corruption and let's not forget, it had what made every SciFi movie great: Tons and tons of robots. Lucas decided to make a cheesy love story out of it. A love story. Now, name ONE SciFi movie that is named when it comes to numbering the greatest SciFi movies of all times that consists basically of a love story. Yes, of course, Anakins love was one of the key elements to his ultimate corruption to the dark side, but does it have to be stretched to the lengths that the average SW fan falls asleep?

Finally Ep3. I was waiting to be compensated. I was actually expecting, no, demanding that we'll see a movie that rivals the greatness of IV and... hell the whole old trilogy! Hey, we all knew what was supposed to happen. And we all wanted to know one thing: HOW? Just HOW exactly does Anakin become Vader? What do we get? A laser sword fight over a lava pit that doesn't even come close to the emotional struggle displayed in VI between Vader and Luke. Great CGI, no doubt. But where was the emotion?

And in the end, without further ado, we get a Vader presented shouting a simple NOOOOO. What? No gory details? I, at the very least, would have expected some bargaining between Palpatine and Anakin, something like "I save your life and you join me on the dark side", some epic personal struggle for Anakin, at least SOMETHING that gives me a reason to feel for those characters.

Generally, great CGI, great effects, great eye candy, shallow story. If I wanted that, I could as well play a game.

Re:The Defense of I, II & III

[Keebler71]

Why else would he have started with Episode IV? Usually, you start at the beginning.

First, he didn't start with Episode IV. He started with a movie called "Star Wars". Empire was the first movie to carry an episode number, and the original Star Wars did not get its "Episode IV" subtitle until its re-release. Second, it should be very clear to anyone who watched the series evolve in real-time that George Lucas was making up as he went. He may have had the very vague concept of something larger in his head but I refuse to believe that he:

• Had any idea of the plots for sequels
• Didn't improvise the death of Kenobi
• Luke and Leah would end up sisters (come on... would that kiss be in Empire? Note that the original theatrical trailers highlighted aspects of the movie as a love story)
• Knew Vader would be Luke's father (come on "from a certain point of view"?!.

I like the new DVDs

[arcticstoat]

I bit the bullet and bought the DVDs. Much as I'm loathe to give bullfrog-face Lucas any more of my money (having seen that he spends it on making rubbish like Jar Jar Binks), I decided that the Special Editions just irritated me too much, and I wanted to watch Star Wars without shouting at the TV. Quality-wise, I think they're actually pretty good. They're not the digitally remastered versions, but they still look very clean, and they're also in widescreen. These DVDs offer a much clearer picture than any old VHS tape will, although the compression is a little more obvious than on the Special Editions. The quality isn't anywhere near as bad as some whingers would have you believe anyway. At the end of the day, I'm glad I bought them. They might not be cleaned up, but if they'd never been digitally remastered before then you wouldn't be complaining about that anyway. I think of them as a piece of history i.e. the way the films looked originally, and should really look now. Now that I have the originals, I'm going to blissfully pretend that George Lucas died in 1984, and that the Special Editions and Episodes I, II and III never happened. This makes me happy.

Re:Will we ever get what we really want?

[Sancho]

I gotta call bullshit.

This is freaking ILM we're talking about. If they can't undo the changes they made from the Special Edition 'masters' (whether they're in digital form or actually some type of celluloid, I don't know) then I'll eat my non-SE VHS tapes. These people are masters at digital manipulation and restoration. There is simply no way that they are incapable of recreating the originals using the SE versions as a base + laserdisc (for reference).

Lucas cannot win. I have Karma to burn.

[dswensen]

The release of these DVDs firmly establishes that you cannot please Star Wars fanboys.

Demand for the release of the original, unaltered trilogy on DVD has come up in the form of a great and plaintive whine in every single Star Wars-related story on Slashdot since probably around 1999. Now, here they are, and what are the "fans" doing? Complaining.

Sure, Lucas could have remastered the OT's picture and sound, made it anamorphic, and left out all the Special Edition changes. But then you would just have fanboys complaining that that constitutes an alteration. I know, you think that sounds outlandish, but I guarantee you it's not. Star Wars has become less about enjoying the films than complaining about the films, at least around here.

I think the only way the whiny fans will ever be pleased is when the technology finally emerges to Choose Your Own Star Wars Edition, where you pick from a digital menu which alterations you want. "OK, I want the non-Special Edition, with remastered picture and sound, Han shoots first, lightsabers are colored, old sandcrawler but new dewbacks, I want the new space battles... hmm, the Death Star explosion: ring or no ring?"

I'm kidding, of course. That won't actually solve anything, the whiners will just complain that they're once again being "forced" to buy another edition. George Lucas wants me to pay for entertainment. I have no free will and have to pay for every edition whether I like it or not. Boo hoo. :(

The unaltered OT is out on DVD. You got your wish. Now, for Christ's sake, quit your bitching. Instead of continuing to moan about what you didn't get, count your lucky stars that we live in an economy that can support your having so many choices in your entertainment. And recognize that it is a choice. You great big giant babies.

Ahh, okay, I feel better. Have a great day.