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

Greedo didn't do it!

[plover]

Han posted first!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself :-)

darnit

[yoduh]

So its the same as the last DVD release but one of the bonus features is a crappy version of the very original?

I have every VHS and DVD version of the movies and can usually point out most of the differences. But, I am getting better.... I no longer live in my parents basement :)

----------
You know what else grinds my gears? When I can't find the droids that I am looking for.

Re:darnit

[ZSpade]

A move to the attic isn't what they meant by "It's time to move up in life.", Yoduh.

Re:darnit

[mccalli]

I have every VHS and DVD version of the movies and can usually point out most of the differences. But, I am getting better.... I no longer live in my parents basement :)

"That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world"

Cheers, Ian

Will we ever get what we really want?

[Cerberus7]

Honestly? Will the original Trilogy ever be released in a non-craptastic form? Perhaps we will have to wait for the Blue-Ray HD-DVD battle to be resolved. This particular release leaves me feeling underwhelmed, and my pocketbook will stay closed.

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).

Re:Will we ever get what we really want?

[Rico_Suave]

From The Digital Bits: ( http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa121.html )

1) The original negatives are gone, destroyed as part of the process of creating the 1997 special edition versions.

We're inclined to believe this is true. Still, the original negatives are not the only viable elements that can be used to transfer the films for home video release. There are numerous interpositive prints. There are the separation masters. Worst case, there are a number of high quality release prints available. In short, other elements exist that can be used for this purpose.

2) The other existing original elements have deteriorated too badly to be used.

We'll come back to this one in a minute.

3) There are just no quality film elements remaining anywhere that could be used.

See our answer to #1. Even if it's true that Lucas and his staff destroyed all of the original negatives, it's unlikely in the extreme that they also destroyed all of the interpositives, all of the separation masters, and all of the release prints. In fact, we know that they didn't. Where, for example, would the anamorphic footage of the original 1977 opening text crawl from A New Hope - the footage that appeared in the Empire of Dreams DVD documentary - have come from if not from quality surviving film elements? Still, even if Lucas did destroy every single scrap of original film available in the Lucasfilm Archives... we know for a fact that high quality die transfer release prints exist in the hands of a number of archives and private collectors. While not ideal, any of these could be given a high-definition transfer, a bit of digital clean-up and color-timing, and could be presented on DVD in anamorphic widescreen in quality that would be superior to a 1993 non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer.

4) The 1993 laserdisc masters are the best source material that can be found for use on DVD after exhaustive searches of the Lucasfilm Archives.

See our answer to #3. This is flatly absurd. If this were true, Lucasfilm's archivists should be ashamed of themselves. We know of few professionals tasked with the preservation of film materials that would allow such critically important film elements as the original Star Wars films to be lost, to deteriorate or be wholesale destroyed. And again, even if Lucasfilm's vaults were so woefully incomplete, we know for a fact that quality elements exist elsewhere. Given 48 hours notice, we could track them down ourselves. Surely, with its significant resources and influence, Lucasfilm could do the same. If the 1993 laserdisc masters are really the best that Lucasfilm can do, it's disturbing. If not, a statement like "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD..." seems terribly disingenuous - the corporate PR equivalent of "I'm so sorry, but the dog ate my homework."

But let's get back to #2...

2) The other existing original elements have deteriorated too badly to be used.

It just so happens that one of our regular contributors here at The Bits, the author of our ever illuminating Yellow Layer Failure, Vinegar Syndrome and Miscellaneous Musings column, is something of an expert on the subject of film preservation and restoration. Robert A. Harris, in point of fact, is one of the world's best known motion picture archivists, and has does significant work in this field through his company, Film Preserve. Robert's experiments in color technology and more recent advances in the digital domain have set standards in the industry. His reconstruction and restoration efforts, primarily in the large format field, have brought back to the screen some of the most important films ever produced, including Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, My Fair Lady, Vertigo and Rear Window.

We asked Robert what might be done with the original surviving elements of the Star Wars films in order to rejuvenate them and present them in high quality on DVD

Re:Will we ever get what we really want?

[lightspawn]

And again, even if Lucasfilm's vaults were so woefully incomplete, we know for a fact that quality elements exist elsewhere. Given 48 hours notice, we could track them down ourselves.

Jack Bauer could do it in half the time.

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

[slapout]

"I would rather see him release 9 mediocre or bad movies..."

3 down, 6 to go.

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

Reminds me of..

[Ka D'Argo]

a line from the Comedians of Comedy documentary

"Yea I saw Phantom Menance and Attack of the Shit. It was like your uncle sticking his weiner in your mouth. Not like when you were a kid but grown up. You don't expect it either, your uncle's your favorite person, got you high, bought you your first beer, hate your mom hate your dad but your uncle is cool.

You're at your parents for christmas, everyone's in bed, you're watching Letterman and you look over and see your uncle trying to put his weiner in your mouth. That's what Phantom Menace was like.

I'm not even gonna see the third one (ROTS). It'll just be me walking into an empty theater and there will be Lucas ready to rape me some more. And I'll just do it to get it over with.

Then he'll put on a Greedo mask and call it the Special Edition."

Bugger.

[tygerstripes]

These are not the DVDs I'm looking for...

Originals probably still exist

[davidwr]

You may be referring to the great print recall in the 1990s. According to this guy high-quality prints still exist and so do the "original" interpositives. Granted the guy is speculating about the interpositives but he seems pretty sure about high-quality prints. If stored carefully these are probably better than the analog laserdisks.

Re:Originals probably still exist

[salzbrot]

No, the originals were definitely destroyed!

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"?!.

So...

[Black Parrot]

They're not really the originals and they look terrible, but otherwise they're fine?

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.

Not THAT bad

[iamjoltman]

I just wanted to clarify something. They aren't transfers from LaserDisc, they are transfers from a 1993 LaserDisc master. Big difference there. And I think crappy is a bit harsh. Do they look as good as they could? No. Are they anamorphic? No. But are they better than the LaserDisc-ripped bootlegs? At the time, I think the answer is yes. Granted, once the X0 Project gets completed, there might be some competition there. But for now, I think this is the best you're gonna see the legitimate non-SE original trilogy. (In other words, that doesn't include some where people integrated the 2004 DVDs with LaserDisc rips, while that's better quality, it's still not the same as a legitimate release)

Side-by-side comparison, and anamorphic vs. non-an

[Mr Z]

First: Here's a shot-by-shot comparison of the newly released footage to recent home releases.

Next, here's a simple explanation of what "anamorphic" is all about. It originally comes from the cinema. An anamorphic lens stretches or shrinks the image along one axis. In the movies, they use it to shrink the image horizontally when they film it, and stretch it back when they project it. This is what allows theaters to fit a widescreen image on square cells on the film. Anamorphic DVDs work similarly.

See, the aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) of the Star Wars theatrical release is somewhat larger than TV's traditional aspect ratio of 4:3. Annoyingly, the video format that DVDs use is hard-coded to a range of fixed resolutions, all of which have 4 times as many pixels across as they have vertically. (Ok, I'm oversimplifying slightly, but not critically.) To fit content wider than 4:3 onto a 4:3 format, you have 3 choices:

• Shrink the image uniformally so that it fits width-wise. This gives unused areas at the top and bottom of the image. The resulting output is referred to as "letterboxed."
• Crop away the sides, adjusting camera shots to bring in the most interesting aspects of the scene. This is referred to as "pan-and-scan."
• Shrink the image horizontally so that it fits width-wise but fills the screen top-to-bottom. This uses all the available pixels but gives you the complete image. This is referred to as "anamorphic."

To display an anamorphic DVD on a regular-screen TV, the DVD player will still need to shrink the image top-to-bottom, otherwise everything will look tall and thin. On such a TV, an anamorphic DVD will not look much different than a letterboxed DVD. On a wide-screen TV, though, the DVD player can stretch the image side-to-side to fill the entire width of the display. This provides a direct benefit over simply enlarging a letterboxed DVD image: You gain vertical resolution.

--Joe

Terrible?

[Schnapple]

Also apparently the original versions are basically non-anamorphic transfers from the laser discs. So basically, they look terrible.

It's true they're non-anamporphic transfers from the Laserdiscs, but over at the forums on OriginalTrilogy.com a number of people have bought them and say that actually, they're pretty good. These are people who have more or less every bootleg transfer on the Internet and still have their original laserdiscs, high-end setups, etc. And many are reporting that while yes, their video quality can't really hold a candle to the quality of the 2004 versions of the movies, they do blow away every previous LD bootleg transfer, look better than the Laserdiscs (not too surprising) and actually hold up well when zoomed in (as you would need to do on a widescreen set). I don't own the discs nor do I have a high-end setup so I can't really vouch for any of this.

Lucas and Microsoft

[blacknblu]

So, is this the equivalent to Star Wars Service Pack III? Even Microsoft stops updating it's OS after a certain number of years.

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.

Re:I Have A Point To Make About Episode III

[shurikt]

Dude. That was "A Long Time Ago..." remember? The seriously-are-you-really-totally-positive button wasn't invented until, like 1993.