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Why Disney Can't Give Us High-Def Star Wars Where Han Shoots First
An anonymous reader writes "Lost amid the disappointment of the Star Wars prequels were the unfortunate edits George Lucas has made to the original trilogy when he re-released them. Lee Hutchinson points out a few of the worst: 'In Return of the Jedi, Jabba's palace gains an asinine CGI-filled song-and-dance interlude. Dialogue is butchered in Empire Strikes Back. And in the first movie, perhaps most famously, Han no longer shoots first.' Lucas flat-out refused to spend time and money remastering the original versions of the movies. But now Disney is in control of the franchise (and the business case for releasing different versions of the same films has been proven). So there's hope, right? According to Hutchinson: maybe, but not for a while. While technological advances have reduced the price tag for such an endeavour, lawyers will keep it expensive. It turns out 20th Century Fox still owns distribution rights to the Star Wars films. Because of complex and irritating legal reasons, Disney was not able to acquire those as well. Thus, Disney will have to get Fox's approval and probably cut Fox in for some of the profits, if they were to re-release the series."
. . . because there was no reasonable chance of this happening with Lucas. Man, how do you mess up Star Wars?!
If you look around, there has been a fantastic fan effort to create the Despecialized Editions that are as close to the original theatrical runs as possible for the original trilogy. They've mixed in the HD sources for the current releases with older footage to undo all the changes. It's pretty amazing.
If that's what happens when a studio buys something, I don't want to see the mess involved for Netflix to acquire streaming rights for different countries.
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I would tell you why, but if you didn't read the summary which has the answer, or the linked article I doubt you will read it again when I repost it..
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There are some very well done Fan Edits which take footage from various versions of the film and create a fan-friendly version. Han shoots first, no CGI Jabba the Hutt, etc.
You can often spot the differences when they went from HD to a DVD or Laserdisc source to keep the story true to the original, but that's part of the fun.
Trolling is a art,
Let me guess: the edits were made to have an extended copyright term on the movies
Read to the bottom of the summary. It's only 8 sentences long.
That is all.
With the Jedi gesture...These are not the version you're looking for... Di$ney want easy, quick and a lot of money. Sorry, they will put all their force in the new episode VII.
Who cares if Fox has to be cut in, does Disney not really care about the results $3B in profit that would result from a HD recoversions of the untouched original?
I think it's great there's any hope at all, from the headline I thought Lucas burned the originals.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How many bloody versions of the movie do there need to be?
There only needs to be one. It's just that no-one has yet made it fully in HD yet.
We buy some of the others to get a close approximation.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Forgotten about JarJar Binks, have you?
No, he hasn't. That's why he said:
"there was no reasonable chance of this happening with Lucas."
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
In Soviet Russia, Khena Solo shot first!
I'm sure this will get modded as Troll, but of all the things to get worked up about, this seems pretty unimportant. Given all the things of actual significance going on in the world right now (NSA/GCHQ/everyone_else spying, erosion of civil liberties, widening wealth gap, ever increasing police powers, etc.), why is this so all-important? Let it go and fix the world around you - it needs it more.
Why are you worried about police powers when the NSA is spying on the electronic communications of the entire planet? Since this is we-can-only-pay-attention-to-one-thing-at-a-time month, or something.
Do you have any idea how much money people are willing to pay for a faithfully restored version of the original trilogy??? Do you???
I along with plenty of other people would gladly pay an obscene price for a blu-ray copy of the original, untainted trilogy. Star Wars fandom aside, this is really something that needs to be done for the sake of preserving history. Few films if any have had the kind of cultural impact that these movies did. George Lucas has astounded me with his level of selfishness and lack of empathy when it comes to this. Plenty of other films have created director's cuts and whatnot, some of which needed it because they were originally ruined by last-minute editing, but they also preserved the theatrical release along with them. I have no doubt that there are plenty of movies that Lucas loves and would be furious if their creators came along and started making ridiculous changes because they didn't turn out how they wanted. Everyone knows he protested against colorizing black and white films in the 80s. What a hypocrite. Nothing turns out just the way you originally plan. That is often how good things come about in the first place; by accident. The only thing he has proven is that if the original movies had turned out the way he wanted, they would have been awful.
Especially after their actions in the Firefly debacle.
I'm contractually obliged to mention this in every Star Wars thread on the Internet.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
First implies an order.
An order implies there is more than one.
Han doesn't shoot *FIRST*, Han shoots.
There is no "first," because there is no "second."
There is no "second" because Greedo doesn't shoot at all.
Stop with "Han shoots first" - start with "Greedo never shoots".
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
Like it or not, George Lucas never wanted Han to shoot first. He made it the way he wanted it, and that's the end. Maybe we should all get over it.
After making billions off the franchise, the man decides to make a rather drastic change to an original scene in some vain attempt to secure a level of morality that was in question for all of 60 seconds out of hours of Han Solo's screentime.
And decides to make this change... thirty fucking years later.
And you're telling us, to get over it?
Oh, that's fucking rich.
Well... It bothered him, and he changed it when he was able to. If bothers the rest of the internet, and all they can do it bitch about it, forever. So yeah, I do think you need to get over it. Go take a break, drink some blue milk, then come back and look at the anger in your own comment, and think about things you're allowing to get under your skin.
"Eagles may soar, but weasels dont get sucked into jet engines."
Greedo never shot.....NEVER
OMG, like no other scifi movies have been released during this whole time
Seriously. Who gives a shit? Just buy the originals, if this obsession about the 'purity' of a fucking space movie matters so much.
1977 Lucas did, and wrote the script and made the film that way. The guy who changed the film, 1997 Lucas, had the edge and artistic integrity that 1977 Lucas had.
It's unfortunate that 1997 Lucas can screw with the work of 1977 Lucas.
Or maybe we should try to preserve a work of art against the deprivations of corporate scum, and of screenwriters and directors who lose their talent.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
He didn't shoot first. Saying he shot first implies there was a second shot. There wasn't.
to make a rather drastic change to an original scene
Frankly, I didn't think it was that important of a scene.
Nobody gives a flying fuck except anal nerds.
- Anal Nerd
Apparently they're not old enough to remember the original since they disagree with you.
I would think that since Fox has the rights to distribute the movies; they are who should ask to do so. There are three possible reasons why they haven't release the Original Theatrical Versions.
1. Lucas and now Disney has the right to veto any distribution of the film.
2. Fox didn't want to jeopardize future Lucas-film distribution rights by upsetting George. No longer a problem.
3. They simple don't have the video rights to Original Theatrical Version or have some how promised George that they wouldn't They only have the movie rights.
Also Fox might not want to release the films because they would make royalties for Disney and/or Fox's part of the royalties is just too small.
Most of these are just matter of sorting out the royalties and legalities which might never happen.
Another Factor is that Disney may be dragging it's heels until it get close to release a New Star Wars Movie because it wants to use the release of the theatrical version as tie in to the new film. I pray that's whats going on.
Disney will have to get Fox's approval and probably cut Fox in for some of the profits, if they were to re-release the series.
First, why hasn't Fox put out DVDs or Blu-rays themselves?
Second, why would Disney scoff at such a deal? Even minus some to Fox, Disney would make a lot of money.
The originals in high resolution would be snatched up, both by fans who just like them that way and by collectors who deem first things higher.
You really need to stop and think about your life. You are getting angry and outraged over movies that were released more than 30 years ago.
Yes - Lucas made billions off *his* movie. You watched the movie. That is the end of his obligation to you or any other O2-wastin' sperg out there.
Well... It bothered him, and he changed it when he was able to. If bothers the rest of the internet, and all they can do it bitch about it, forever. So yeah, I do think you need to get over it. Go take a break, drink some blue milk, then come back and look at the anger in your own comment, and think about things you're allowing to get under your skin.
Uh, changed it when he was able to?
There's a word to describe where the following of the franchise elevated to after 20 years.
Cult.
Once it rises to that level, it's best to not screw with things. Even if you are the man.
On top of that, I'm certain other directors, musicians, or actors have had regret or embarrassment about previous works, and would like to change the past. But they don't, and know why they shouldn't. Filmmaking contains a certain element of preservation. To capture the time and era the film came out in, and leave all nuances intact. Yet another reason why film colorization for classic films is more often rejected than not.
Honestly, Lucas disrespected his own work as an artist and a director by changing it. It would be akin to Paul McCartney wanting to change the lyrics on the White Album decades later because he's had a political change of heart (ironically I'm talking about the man who wrote "Let it Be"). Any backlash Lucas gets is deserved.
I've been annoyed that I haven't been able to see the original movie since it was first in theaters back in the 70s; SW4:ANH just isn't the same thing.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Filmmaking contains a certain element of preservation. To capture the time and era the film came out in, and leave all nuances intact.
So how do you feel about the aforementioned and highly lauded fan cuts? Why is it okay for fans to make edits, but not the original creator? I seem to remember the praise the internet had for other editors, such as Topher Grace, when he re-cut the prequel trilogy, and people were rabid about wishing to see it. Or the endless reappropriation of Disney princesses into other forms of art, or Garfield Without Garfield, or Nietzsche Family Circus, or I could go on...
Where is the line between re-editing, and reappropriation, and why is it okay for some people but not others? I'm genuinely wondering. Perhaps people were bitter because they felt that Lucas was cashing in again?
"Eagles may soar, but weasels dont get sucked into jet engines."
Evidence suggests he did, he just tried to retcon the real world with that claim.
Besides, it no longer matters what he wants, the story is now part of culture.
Filmmaking contains a certain element of preservation. To capture the time and era the film came out in, and leave all nuances intact.
So how do you feel about the aforementioned and highly lauded fan cuts? Why is it okay for fans to make edits, but not the original creator? I seem to remember the praise the internet had for other editors, such as Topher Grace, when he re-cut the prequel trilogy, and people were rabid about wishing to see it. Or the endless reappropriation of Disney princesses into other forms of art, or Garfield Without Garfield, or Nietzsche Family Circus, or I could go on...
Where is the line between re-editing, and reappropriation, and why is it okay for some people but not others? I'm genuinely wondering. Perhaps people were bitter because they felt that Lucas was cashing in again?
The main aforementioned "cut" in question relates to fans attempting to piece together an HD (or near-HD) version of the movie that is merely as intact as the original release.
Attempting to un-fuck the directors own doctoring is not exactly a "fan cut" as compared to any other editing done for any other reason. Bootleg live recordings are popular among fans too, but they also still appreciate the original..to the point of society even reverting back to vinyl recordings these days oddly enough.
People were bitter simply because an original work was changed. Cashing in, settling a bet, religious indifference, whatever...the reason behind the change, even if it was to reverse some original intent, did not matter. For many, it's simply a matter of artistic integrity. That's it.
And you don't even have to be a Star Wars fan to see that.
The difference is like the difference between someone doing a Garfield as the Mona Lisa vs. the Louvre having someone repaint the smile on the original.
One is making a play on a part of our culture. The other is trying to rewrite our culture. The law may allow Lucas to do this, but it doesn't make it morally right.
After seeing what Paramount did with the Blu-Ray release of the original Star Trek, there might actually have been hope that they would put out a proper restoration of the originals, possibly with selectable audio mixes and VFX.
So where does Tron Legacy fit into the chronology of Tron and The Matrix?
Let me explain. There were five Star Wars films. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi were made first. Years later, Lucasfilm made Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which should be watched as a flashback between Empire and Jedi . After Darth Vader's identity is exposed at the end of Empire (it's not a spoiler if you speak Dutch), we see how the situation was set up, and then we see how it ends. Just skip the cash-in that was The Phantom Menace.
"while technological advances have reduced the price tag for such an endeavour, lawyers will keep it expensive"
This is true of far too many things, beyond just the movie industry.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
Were 1977-1980
George, constrained by a reasonable budget, gave us just enough. A deftly spare sketch of an entire universe. I started drawing, model making, and animating. Others started writing, painting, costuming, and composing. The true value and measure of Star Wars is that it re-kindeled the imagination of a generation. This amazing film got us doing and thinking. Of late, it has become a fundamentalist religion, with cannons, dogmas, sects, and rebellions. This is proof of the power it taps into, Use that power to create the future, not morn the past.
Yes, it would be lovely to have the original film back. Somewhere, somehow, somebody deep in Disney/Fox/LucasFilm has their hands on the 1977 CMY B&W separations. This is the only proven archival photographic material. Hopefully they have been cleaned and scanned to 4K. God knows what's happened to the audio tapes by this time.
When the agents and lawyers have circumscribed their pound of flesh (and maybe after a few more creators have died or sold out) the film will be restored. They usual marketing ballyhoo is: "See It As The Director Intended" Rather ironic in this case.
In the movie Silent Running one of the pods is blown up in outer space. In the movie the explosion was show and it was silent, just like it would be in real life. Somewhere along the chain of making Laser Discs or VHS tapes, someone decided to dub in explosion sounds.
What do expect from Hollywood Whores?
Adywan's Star Wars Revisited is even better and more detailed in its edit than Harmy's
This Deal's Getting Worse All The Time
estestetes
You really need to stop and think about your life. You are getting angry and outraged over movies that were released more than 30 years ago. Yes - Lucas made billions off *his* movie. You watched the movie. That is the end of his obligation to you or any other O2-wastin' sperg out there.
Yes, we watched his movie, just like we watched hundreds of other directors make damn good movies over the years. We became fans of them, just as we've become fans of the concept of artistic integrity.
Lucas made a movie. Then he decided to change it decades later for nothing more than selfish personal reasons.
That was the end of his artistic integrity, which is my only point here. I'm not angered or even a Star Wars die-hard. I'm merely floored over the concept of changing a body of work that has been submitted and revered in the public realm, and then attempting to defend that change in any way.
and then everything into the public domain. the way the legal system protects the rich at the cost of human development is just lame. extremely lame.
You can't go by the imsdb, it's just not authoritative. Notice that the script (such as it is) is portrayed as a "reading draft" and doesn't have scene numbers or any revision marks. Even if the script said it we have no idea what he actually shot that day, the editing is heroically saving his generally terrible setups throughout that sequence, and it's not clear what happens without the sound effects and the cutaways spelling it out.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
no, Obi-Wan lied to Luke to prevent Luke from wanting to know anything about Vader or his father.
Who cares if Fox has to be cut in, does Disney not really care about the results $3B in profit that would result from a HD recoversions of the untouched original?
3.2 million copies of "Frozen" were sold on its first day of DVD and Blu-Ray release --- returning about $65 million gross.
"Frozen" as a global cultural phenomenon is damned impressive even by geek fan-boy standards. I would expect an HD restoration of the 37 year old Star Wars to be financially viable ---- but, as these numbers suggest, not the pot of gold at rainbow's end.
they'd probably have to do some restoration, and that's crazy expensive.
Thanks for the great observations, I agree with all of them- including this one.
But even though it's crazy expensive it also seems like that cost is nothing compared to what they would earn.
The crazy expensive part could be a blocker for a company without enough capital but Disney is anything but lacking capital.
I am pretty sure we'll see a re-release of Star Wars in HD (again) as the original movies, in part I'm sure of it because the new movie they are making is a continuation of the older ones. So it makes a ton of sense that some kind of release would happen then and a "classic" release would be significantly different from the Blu-Ray discs already released (which I never bought hoping someday we'd have a "real" version).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This sort of thing is the only reason I haven't really dug into the fanedits yet, even their own forums are a mess with no real chronological pruning so it's impossible to tell what the latest versions of everything are or if there's a clear consensus as to what's the "best".
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
Hollywood seems to love a reboot or reimaging on classic movies. Why wouldn't Disney do this with Star Wars Ep4? Just retell the story with new young actors and modern CGI. Then you don't have to bother with the crusty old original footage.
Honestly, this is a lesson for film makers about licencing. Avoid signing anything with the words "in perpetuity" in it unless it's yourself keeping all rights.
As for how much I would care or pay to see the original version. I've seen the original version. I don't think I've ever seen a complete run of the DVD versions and I certainly haven't seen the Bluray versions. Seeing a movie once is typically enough for me. When I became aware of this entire "Han shot first" thing I read about it, but the only noticeable element that came to my attention was the one scene that they replaced an actor with a CGI Jabba.
The thing is, if George Lucas felt he had to modify the movie to improve it, we should just accept that. If the fans prefer the original cut, then what should happen is Disney/Fox should arrange for a (4k/8k) Bluray release that takes advantage of the multi-scene playlist. I've actually seen this in practice with Disney's Wall-E Blueray. If you rip the disc at a per scene level, they have alternate versions of most scenes that shown signage. Like the newspaper scene near the beginning of the movie, if you play the movie in english, the paper and signs are in english, if you play the movie in french, the paper and signs will be in french, but the disc player silently makes the substitution. Similar to the multi-angle feature on DVD.
So the theoretical disc release would have a "Original theatrical release (no remastered effects/edits)", "Remastered theatrical release (remastered effects, no edits)", and "Remastered Directors cut (remastered effects and edits)" all without having 3 physically different copies on the disc. This is entirely doable.
Since the problem is really just Fox, I think Disney will wait till 2020 and use distribution rights as leverage to get episode IV. eg Fox will give Disney all the rights to Star Wars it owns in exchange Fox will get distribution renewal rights on all Star Wars films for the next decade or something. Failing that Disney will just buy Fox and solve the problem by then. It could also trade rights, eg Star Wars for some sports rights on ESPN, which is far more valuable in the short term.
Like it or not, George Lucas never wanted Han to shoot first.
How do you know? He put Han shooting first into the first movie. That proves you wrong. Yes, he later changed his mind, but to say he "never" wanted it is silly. That's how he wrote and directed it the first time. He just didn't understand the rest of the movie, and changed his mind later.
Learn to love Alaska
You can't go by the imsdb, it's just not authoritative.
In the absence of any other cites, it trumps everything you posted to support the "other side". So IMSDB wins. Well, that and IMSDB matches what was actually made (directed, performed, edited, and presented), so why would you doubt evidence that matches reality?
Learn to love Alaska
The perpetual distribution rights have nothing to do with copyright law. That was an agreement between Lucas and Fox. Lucas needed money to make the movie so he sold perpetual distribution rights to fox. Once Star Wars did so well, he was able to fund the other movies without having to sell so many rights.
OMG, it's like copyright wasn't originally a max of 28 years, where if it stayed, it'd be well out of copyright. Why have we abandoned the basics of copyright to limit Public Domain?
Learn to love Alaska
I find it amusing as hell that the laws Disney fought so hard to put into place to prevent anyone from ever using their material.... happens to be biting them in the ass right now.
For everything he did after Jedi, I want to beat that man about the head and neck with a sweat sock full of nickels.
Seriously, violence doesn't "solve" anything but it would make me feel better.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
no, Obi-Wan lied to Luke to prevent Luke from wanting to know anything about Vader or his father.
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Lucas' grand pre-planned nine episode story was created on-the-fly AFTER the unintentional and accidental success of the first movie named "Star Wars", not "A New Hope." Every incongruous element in the series from Princess Lay-uh/Lee-uh's name pronunciation, to Obi Wan's bullshit explanation for his description of Anakin's "death" to Leia's unexpected sibling kinship to Luke was made up on-the-spot without regard to continuity, storyline development, or credibility. Ever wonder why Lucas stopped at RoTJ? He realized he had nothing. His nine episode fantasy was a financial goal, not any sort of developed story he had to tell.
Lucas had no friggin' clue where "Star Wars" was headed immediately after 1977. He had no epic story preconceived prior to "Star Wars" And he obviously didn't have the sense to make one up that was at least internally consistent with what was already created. The 3 prequels were just the exacerbation of his cluelessness begun with Empire. Why would anyone be surprised at midichlorians or some jacked-up rabbit-man with a Carribean accent and IQ below room temperature becoming a "Senator"? Or R2D2's sudden ability to fly which he seemed to forget in the later (earlier?) movies. The re-edits shouldn't surprise anyone. He lucked out mightily in the late 70's by co-opting Kurasawa and throwing in a little space shoot-em-up in the mix and rode out that luck despite having no idea what he was doing or where he was going with it.
We all cringed at the poor acting and dialog and the Deus ex machina and the internal inconsistencies in the original trilogy, but we swallowed hard and rationalized it all away. Then came the re-edits and we were all outraged. Then came the abomination of the prequels, but time had passed and Star Wars was no longer fresh and no amount of fandom could overlook the steaming pile of feces Lucas left on the floor. The signs were always there. We just conveniently ignored them.
How did Darth Vader "sense" his son on the Shuttle heading to Endor in RoTJ, but have no clue that he was right behind him in the Deathstar trench in the original Star Wars? Maybe because Luke WASN'T Vader's son in Lucas' storyline until he pulled that out of his ass years later.
Adywan's Star Wars Revisited isn't better, it's got completely different goals. Harmy's goal was to rebuild the theatrical cut, Adywan's goal was to make a better special edition. Neither one is "better" than the other because they're completely opposite directions.
What's worse than uninformed bullshit posted as an "article" on the Internet?
Uninformed bullshit that then gets picked up, summarized in a modern game of telephone via a retarded summary, compounding the uninformed bullshit to complete horseshit, and then posting it on /.
There are bits of truth in there, but since this is all speculation on everyone's part until Disney announces anything (or Lucas/Fox spills the beans, see below), It's easier to just lay it out instead of trying to refute/correct all the inaccuracies in both the summary and the "article":
There have been industry rumors (reported by sites such as Digital Bits) that Disney has been working on these since practically when the deal was signed, as it was the obvious first place to start the machine going as pre-pre-production on Episode VII was just starting and they needed to set to work on getting the franchise in order. They are stressed as "insiders are talking" - but since the post-production/restoration community is pretty small, usually where there is smoke, there is fire. When a group is sitting and working on a film day and night, it's difficult to hide.
It makes perfect sense; Disney is going out of their way to realign the direction of the franchise with the OT - toy and novelty manufacturers have been directed to wind down Prequel products, they are going out of their way to let folks know that they aren't shooting on digital. They are emphasizing the real-models are being built as opposed to overly relying on CGI, etc. Lucasfilm has been so focused on selling to kids for years, to dwindling merchandizing success, and Disney, who knows if they go after the adults and nostalgia, from their own business experience (theme parks, etc.) - the kids will come along for the ride (and just to make sure, Rebels is coming for them to explain). This is exactly the target audience that will gladly replace their 2011 Blu-ray sets with a big brand new one from Disney in Christmas 2015, just in time for Episode VII. So yes, still a rumor - but personally I have no doubt we will have the unaltered OT on Blu-ray next year. Oh, and let's not forget that virtually the entire surviving cast is hanging out in London together as we speak - they've never contributed anything signifigant in terms of "extras" before individually (Carrie and Anthony did a partial commentary on the OT, really only a few minutes - everyone else, nada), much less as a group. Sounds like an opportunity to me...
As to the rights issues - there have been a couple of semi-mainstream articles (which really have just been opinion/speculation pieces) about the "Fox thing" as this one does (likely they all are just referencing each other), but it's pretty much assumed by all evidence that those issues no longer exist.
To begin with, only Star Wars itself was ever affected in terms of ownership. You can read all about it in quite a few books, but long story short (too late!) Fox pretty much made the biggest studio blunder of all time - they insisted on heavier ownership of the original film, but as every good geek knows, Lucas negotiated the rights to both merchandising and sequels (which the studio gave up as there was no such thing as modern merchandising until Lucas invented it, and Hollywood had seen very few successful sequels, especially for low-budget "sci-fi" which is how they saw Star Wars). The rights demands went back and forth during financial troubles on both the original sequels as he worked to finance them himself (you can read the entire story, with memos from the Lucasfilm archives, in the Rinzler "Making of" books recently released), but in the end - Lucas came out on top. Way on top.
So at one point, Fox technically owned Star Wars, Lucas owned the sequels, and Fox had an ongoing agreement to distribute the films (which was fine with Lucasfilm as they weren't a distributor). Then, the special editions/prequels happened. It had long been rumored that somewhere in between the special ed
>> And that's why you can have my widescreen Laserdisc editions when you pry them from my cold, dead, hands...
"Your terms are acceptable. Would you prefer (a) being strangled with Dark Side powers, (b) getting chopped into mincemeat by a lightsaber, (c) being gunned down by jackbooted thugs who are barely competent enough to polish my shoes, or (d) being thrown down a shaft into a nuclear reactor? Also, how much do you want for your Laserdisc player?" -- Lord Vader
Some people think it's ok, but it's central to the issue for me. In Episode IV, in the original no remastered master, Had walks around Jabba and apparently walks through his tail. So??? Really, so what??? Big f*%king deal. It's actually more believable than Hand not only, dumping his cargo before imperial inspection, then killing one of Jabba's bounty hunters, and then to top it all off, deliberately stepping on his tail and getting a way with all of it. It aint broke, so don't try and fix it.
Because at the end of the day, the same people who don't value original production (warts and all) are the very same people who can't recognise the greatness of the original and inevitably screw up anything they put their finger tips to.
Our solution is 'Han steps on Jabba' Great.... leave it alone dummies, don't touch that keyboard.
Google and download the despecialized versions. You can find them in HD without all the extra crap Lucas put in. There is no need for Disney to release them.
Like it or not, George Lucas never wanted Han to shoot first.
How do you know? He put Han shooting first into the first movie. That proves you wrong. Yes, he later changed his mind, but to say he "never" wanted it is silly. That's how he wrote and directed it the first time. He just didn't understand the rest of the movie, and changed his mind later.
Well, I KNOW because he has SAID so, many times, all over the place, ever since the beginning. I'd cite some sources, but I;m sure you know how to use the internet. The only thing that is "proven" is that someone, some editor or effects tech was a bit too ambiguous, and Lucas didn't change it at the time because he didnt notice, didnt think about it hard enough, or lacked the time or money to do so. You don't think Lucas himself hand painted every frame of film? Or that he had the sort of iron-fisted creative control that he had in later filmes?
"Eagles may soar, but weasels dont get sucked into jet engines."
"(c) being gunned down by jackbooted thugs who are barely competent enough to polish my shoes."
Wait a minute, when did any stormtrooper actually hit anything they aimed at? Even at point blank range?
This seems to be the safest option.
Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
dude, telling some one that you could cite sources but that instead they should attempt to find what your referring to is bullwhip on the highest level. either cite your sources or leave them out of your argument.
There are dozens of little improvements. Better special effects generally, better compositing, losing the blur under the landspeeder. Similarly with the others, the troublesome changes are minor. I'd love to see an almost special edition.
"Wait a minute, when did any stormtrooper actually hit anything they aimed at? Even at point blank range?" But look at those blast points... Too accurate for sand people!
"Wait a minute, when did any stormtrooper actually hit anything they aimed at? Even at point blank range?"
But look at those blast points... Too accurate for sand people!
Man, I want to see a comedy with those sand people now.
Every cite I found indicated he "changed his mind" after seeing the movie in its entirety. He made the protagonist of the fist one Han. The protagonist in literature is the character that undergoes a "change". For IV, that was Han. He realized he intended to make Luke the hero, but screwed it up because of his bad writing and direction.
He initially intended to show Han as a rogue, who tried to talk his way out of it, and used violence when the talking failed. That's what he indicated he wanted. That's what he did. He just changed his mind about the character after seeing the complete film. Your "never" is not supported by any cites. He obviously intended for it to be the way it was.
That he changed his mind between filming it and releasing it doesn't make "never" true. It just makes him a bad writer and director.
Learn to love Alaska
On top of that, I'm certain other directors, musicians, or actors have had regret or embarrassment about previous works, and would like to change the past. But they don't, and know why they shouldn't. Filmmaking contains a certain element of preservation. To capture the time and era the film came out in, and leave all nuances intact. Yet another reason why film colorization for classic films is more often rejected than not.
Honestly, Lucas disrespected his own work as an artist and a director by changing it. It would be akin to Paul McCartney wanting to change the lyrics on the White Album decades later because he's had a political change of heart (ironically I'm talking about the man who wrote "Let it Be"). Any backlash Lucas gets is deserved.
The most crazy thing about Lucas making such drastic changes to his movies is that he agrees with you that it shouldn't be done. He has been a big proponent of keeping black and white films in their original. george lucas on colorization He argues that everybody else should keep the movies as they were originally made, but when it comes to his own movies that does not apply.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
to have those originals remastered. I have two separate copies of the trilogy, one of the originals and one remastered. My problem (and the reason I have two sets) is that I got these at 2 different thrift stores. The 1st one I got (original) is missing one... ESB or RotJ, can't remember which now.