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Lucas Promises Star Wars on Blu-Ray in 2011
Several readers have written with word that George Lucas has announced a 2011 release date for the Star Wars series — all six films — on Blu-Ray. Engadget (linked) has an explanation of what to expect, and includes a video of a deleted scene that the Blu-Ray version will include. They warn that this might be a disappointment to anyone who (correctly) believes that Han shot first.
See your childhood memories die in brilliant digital picture!
That's impossible - only three Star Wars films were ever made.
... and then they built the supercollider.
George. Get the hint. Even if you aren't happy with your creation years ago - WE ARE
I will not buy anything without original footage, with solo shooting.
I'll keep my "original" trilogy dvd set until format is dead or he gets some balls
and give us what we all want - Choice of either or, or both
I bought an 'extra scenes' edition of the Original Three, which was gathering dust in my closet. A girl I rented out to said that she really wanted to watch Star Wars because, you know, "it's boy territory but she really wanted to see what it was all about". So I popped in film 1.
It turns out that the 'extra scenes' all came at the start of the movie - when R2D2 and C3P0 have just landed and are wandering around in the desert.
And they wander and wander and wander and wander.
Eternity is two robots and sand.
There is nothing but sand.
And robots.
For about half an hour.
She fell asleep and didn't want to see the rest. Epic fail.
Seriously, how many different versions will the fanbois pay money for? No matter how you feel about Greedo shooting first, doesn't owning four different box sets already make dumping $150 on another seem as silly as rebuilding your basement into the Emperor's Throne Room?
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
I mean, a couple years ago? Maybe. Now? No. So what's changed? Well, I've gotten older, there are better movies out there that I'd spend my money on, and frankly, I'm tired of producers yanking our chains with new versions every couple years.
So no. I will not be buying this, as I suspect will be the general refrain from his target base.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
As I commented on Engadget:
Originals == Buy.
Special Edition == 1080p MKV DTS torrent.
That and the decent Laserdisc rips of the originals will have to do, I guess.
Trolling is a art,
Call me crazy, but is Star Wars even culturally relevant anymore? It feels like Disco at this point.
The ______ Agenda
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/9/22/
The films largely are the same from their 70's/80's versions and the 90's enhanced versions. It's not like in the middle of A New Hope that Obi Wan decides to stop with this whole turning off the tractor beam business and start selling Amway to the storm troopers.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Gonna be completely honest here. I was young when the first Star Wars came out and watched it. When the Special Edition came out, I was older and enjoyed it also. Not until a few years later did I hear the words "Han shot first!" or something to similar effect. I always wondered what the hell people were talking about until I looked on the Internet one day and someone pointed out the scene in question. That's right, I never noticed that Han DIDN'T shoot first in the Special Edition. For that matter, I never even noticed in the original when I was younger that Han DID shoot first. I never noticed... or really cared. All that mattered to me is that Han blasted Greedo in the cantina. To this day I still don't really care and find it one of the more sillier things fanboys complain about. I mean, I see people's logic as to why but to me Han had his blaster out. He's gonna kill a bitch in that scene. The exact moment, if he does it before or after Greedo attempts to shoot, for the most part seems irrelevant to me. Feel free to call me a troll or whatever and point out the fallacy in establishing Han's character. That scene doesn't ruin Han's badassness for me or the movie for that matter. I still thoroughly enjoy it and Han's character.
Jar-Jar shoots Greedo.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
As a huge Star Wars geek, I've hated almost any discussion of the films I've been involved in since the prequels came out. I liked the prequels, especially Episode III, which is by far Lucas' best film. Just because you have fond childhood memories of the originals doesn't mean the prequels suck. Why is it that everyone acts as if the original three Star Wars films were perfect? They can be scrutinized just as much as the prequels have been. How is it that Darth Vader didn't sense Han coming up behind him when he was about to shoot down Luke in Episode IV? What happened to the force? What happened to Vader being the best pilot in the galaxy? Why didn't Obi-Wan kill Vader rather than sacrificing himself? He claimed that in death he would be more powerful, but his ghost did the same thing he did in life: guide Luke. We later learn that Luke never has the power to take on the Emperor himself, so wouldn't it have been better to eliminate Vader and then team up with Yoda and Luke and go after the Emperor? And for those who complain about Jar-Jar, I have one word: Ewoks. The entire series is riddled with plot-holes and silliness, but that's okay with me because IT'S A SILLY SCI-FI ADVENTURE. People are able to disregard that fact because, as a child, it was so much more. But as much as everyone wanted to revert back to that childhood mindset when they went to see the prequels, they couldn't, because like it or not they'd matured and the silliness of it all became apparent.
I feel the same way about Indiana Jones. How is the Crystal Skull any more silly than Temple of Doom? And the Holy Grail one was just absurd on every level. If you want to watch a serious Lucas film, watch THX-1138.
Concerning Star Wars, I'll always view the prequels as better, despite my fond childhood memories of the originals. The originals were so black and white, good vs. evil. The only intellectually intriguing moments was when Vader turned on the Emperor, and that lasted like 5 minutes. Episode III gave a deeper meaning to the entire series. A balance between good and evil can never be achieved when one group (Sith or Jedi) is in power. In the end, their allegiance is to an absolute adherence to their ideals, not to what they know in their heart to be right. Compromising men are the only effective governors, men like Han Solo or Lando Calrissian. Men who have vices but have a good heart. But Han and Lando are just presented as bumbling adventurers, it's not until the prequels that their greater significance is realized. It's not until the prequels until we are told that "the Jedi aren't all that," a message that many fans probably didn't want to here.
All this directly ties into politics: we want our politicians to be Jedis. To be free of vice, absolute to their ideals, and courageous. But setting such impossible standards is what makes politics as a whole so dishonest. It's what makes distinguishing between a Sith and Jedi nearly impossible. So we never understand the motives of our politicians because they're so cold an calculating, whether for good or for bad.
Maybe that's not the best explanation of the prequel's theme but that's also what makes them so good: there are so many different angles one can view them from. With the originals, it's black and white. The final declarative message clearly deals with paternity, something like, "nothing can destroy a father's love for his son." I just find the prequel haters to be so ungrateful. Lucas not only made the films, but he added elements that went beyond the simple adventurism. If you didn't like the end product, don't hate on Lucas for it, it's HIS saga, not yours.
"From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
but if you can stand living in a world where Greedo shot first
I can't.
Send your spendthrift head of state this
If you liked the prequels that's fine but we are also entitled to our opinions. I thought they sucked. 3 was marginally ok, 1 was just incredibad. If you want some specifics:
1) The acting. Just bad, bad, bad. This was probably partially the bad writing, partially directing, partially the fact that they were almost always on complete green screens. The combination just adds up to an extremely unconvincing performance from most of the actors. Also some were just flat out bad actors for the roles. The child Anikan was -horrible-. Anikan is supposed to be some hardened, badass slave kid and we get a kid who plays him as a happy go lucky middle class white boy.
2) The writing. As I said the writing is very poor. The dialogue is really bad. Most of it does not feel natural and appropriate, it feels forced. The love scene dialogue in #2 is one of the very worst of all. There's plenty of non-dialogue related badness though, such as the space fight scene at the end of #1 where Anikan is just "playing" effectively and yet kicking ass. Rather than show him as extremely competent with supernatural talents, as you'd expect given the backstory, he is presented as a bumbling kid that happens to be lucky and manages to do what is needed by accident.
3) The story. It was a shitty story arc. You had some just flat out retarded shit like the miticholrians, but over all the story was just bad. In particular the final part of Anikan's conversion to Vader was trite, forced, unbelievable, and poorly developed. It was a massively rushed conclusion that seemed stuck on to a meandering story to try and make it connect to the later films.
I could go on, but I really don't need to because someone already did an excellent and extremely lengthy (and funny) analysis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI There's one on EP2 as well.
"don't hate on Lucas for it, it's HIS saga, not yours."
Oh please, of all the cop out lines this is the worst "You can't criticize this because you didn't make it!" That is the same as saying "You can't criticize the government because you aren't the president!" Fuck you, it was MY time and MY money I sure as hell can criticize and I can can refuse to spend more on it. You can get down on your knees and blow Lucas and worship everything he does but you cannot demand I do the same. I get to have my own opinions and my opinion is that the prequels suck.
when the first trilogy ended with dancing teddy bears.
Watch "A New Hope", for the scene where Obi-Wan tells Luke he knew Luke's father in the Clone Wars. That's a classic throw away line. The writer thinks, "Where could they know each other from? I know, they were in the army together. Hey, it's SF, do they even have an army? Well, space navy or whatever... Anyhoo, they were in the war together. That oughtta fit with the title. We got this new rebellion, and now I should mention older wars so Star Wars makes more sense. Vietnam? No it's space, so they were in a spacy sounding war together. Hey, how about 'Clone Wars'?"
At that point. Lucas has no idea who or what the clones were clones of, which side the clones fought on, or anything else about the Clone Wars, just that they give the film a feel that fits his title. Later, when he writes sequels, prequels, and Christmas specials, he goes back to look for hooks that can anchor them into the same universe, and decides to make this one of his hooks.
That's not bad writing. It's also not good writing in and of itself. A half way competent writer normally asks some questions that don't follow from the basic plot ("OK, so Agent Clarice eventually stops Lecter, but what makes her succeed when others have failed? She's more committed. Why is she more committed? She really empathises with victims. I'd better write a scene to emphasise that." The writer looks for chances to fit that scene in, and a month later, realises he hasn't written a scene where Lecter tries his special mind screwing powers on Clarice yet, and realises he could probably combine the two. A week after that, the writer realises what the title of his work should be.). These days, college writing courses will teach people to add detail or individual touches to any line that comes out as cliched as "They met in the war" does in the short form. Lots of writers have learned, if you do this, you also automatically create hooks you can go back to if you want a sequel or whatever. Once it's clear that Kirk and Spock went through the academy together, a prequel about those days becomes an easier option. If the original throw away line says the academy is in Frisco, there's a setting for the new story, already picked. (Remember, for Trek, it was part of the basic rules not to show Trek era Earth, so references to where the academy was were never expected to be all that important until that rule was changed. In that case, the throw away nature of the line is more obvious than most.)
Who is John Cabal?
Lucas will try to jerk us around some more but there really isn't anything more of value to see. Ever since Episode One Lucas seems to be nursing a grudge against his fans. "You don't like JarJar? Well prepare to see a lot more of him!" Now "you still think Han should have shot first? Well we're splicing in additional scenes showing he didn't!" Maybe even since Return of the Jedi, when geeks who were supposed to be praising him as a god instead got a little too snarky about certain spear-wielding teddy bears. (A show of hands: Who saw "Ewoks: The battle of Endor"? Yeah. Have your eyes stopped bleeding yet?)
Fer crissake, skim Lucas' imdb entry, and try to pick out anything he's written or directed in the last quarter century that wasn't a shameless, heartless, lifeless rip-off of Star Wars or Indiana Jones. The guy hasn't had a fresh idea since the early '80's.
Give it a rest. Everyone, please just give it a rest. Let Lucas pee in his own sandbox on his own dime. You know the added clarity of Blu-ray will not make up for the additional liberties he's going to take with your childhood memories. Let us demonstrate that collective geekhood can say no to Star Wars. For God's sake, let it go. Find another up-and-coming director to patronize, one who isn't yet barn-sour and can still produce a fresh idea.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
In this version Han shoots first and last!
Few people realize that Han Solo was using a quantum blaster. Upon the first viewing of the state of the shots fired, it appeared that Han shot first. In reality, the quantum state had a 50% chance of Han shooting first, and a 50% chance of Greedo shooting first. When Lucas remastered the movie, the observation of the quantum state rendered it as Greedo shooting first. So there was actually no change made to the movie.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
The film's original negative was in bad condition in 1997 (color fading badly) when they took it out of the can for the creation of the special edition, and they actually spliced in restorations, and inter-prints that were better quality that the damaged original, along with the new optical composites from the camera negatives, and the 'special edition enhancements' into the original negative of the film to create a new 'original negative'. After the SE film release, all prints of the original film still in circulation (always owned by the studio) were recalled and probably destroyed. There is no more Star Wars-The Original Version.
In 2004, to do a DVD release, they digitally scanned the film and did digital restoration to make a 1080p restored master (no, not 2k or 4k or even 8k, 1080p is the new digital master) with scratches and dirt digitally removed, along with the color being re-timed badly. This 1080p version is now the canon, It has been show as the HD version on tv and printed on film for further cinematic releases, and the Blu-ray will probably get a hardly-fixed version of this digital transfer. You will not see Star Wars again in the original version: the original movie no longer exists (a very awesome long article about the quality and treatment of the original Star Wars negatives.)
Wait, there were six Star Wars films!?
A New Hope
The Holiday Special
The Empire Strikes Back
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Return of the Jedi
Yep. Six movies.
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