ORIGINAL STAR WARS TRILOGY COMES TO DVD!!!
 

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=14373

This is fucking awesome. I've never been one of those rabid assholes who hate Lucas and Star Wars because of the alterations he made, but this is still GREAT news! I've always wanted to see the originals, because I'm pretty sure I never have.

Awesome!!!

This is okay, but it seems like in some ways the special editions were superior and failed in other respects (Jabba the Hutt in Episode IV = what?). It's like the best version of the movies is an average between the two.

Fuck George Lucas.
I'm getting sick of this re-re-re-re-re-rerelease shit of his.

So now there are like what, 5 versions of this on DVD? :rolleyes:

Then dont buy it.

Put yourself in his shoes, buy releasing this, he pleases many fans, and makes alot of money in the process.

Double Post:
There is only one version on DVD my friend.

...VHS is a different story...

Thank you. I'm sick of all you proud cocks saying how much you hate Lucas and yet every single one of you buys the fucking movies. Don't buy it if you don't like it. Simple.

This is one of the smartest moves Lucas could have ever done. Unfortunately, it comes a bit late in the game, and he SHOULD have released the originals when the trilogy first came to DVD, but whatever, it's worth it just to finally have them now.

Like Eleo said, there are a lot of things good about the reissues, such as better sound and visuals, but there are also alot of dumb things as well. Either way, we can all finally experience the originals, and now every fanboy asshole can shut their filthy cocksuckers one and for all.

Finally! I've never even seen the original theatrical versions. I'll definitely be grabbing these on September 12th.

This is awesome news! Thank god Lucas listened to fans this time....and his bank account.

Praise the god damn lord!

...now if only they would release the old "Special Edition" of Empire Strikes Back, as that was the best of the SE ones, but they fucked it up on the DVDs with changing Boba Fett's voice to Temuera Morrison, who read the lines like he didn't care one bit, and the whole new "Emperor sequence".

Double Post:
Fully agree with that in regards to A New Hope and ROTJ. The Jabba scene was neat, but it should be left a "Deleted Scene" on a DVD, not slapped into the film as it's out of place and Jabba acts nothing like the heartless bad ass we know from the last movie. Likewise, that new song in ROTJ is just awful and way too corny.

*Drops to knees and cries* I never thought this would happen!!! Of course we all know who made Geoge Lucas do this...Thank you Chuck Norris! Seriously, this rocks; I can't wait!

With the release of Blue Ray/HD-DVD right around the corner, what's the point of buying this now. It may be a several years before they release it again on the new format, but why waste your money? If you already own the first dvd release, what's the point for buying another set? I don't care about seeing the shitty special effects. I'll just wait a few years and watch it in 1080p, and save $50+.

If you have to ask, then this set isn't meant for you.

This is the best news all year. Although I agree with Eleo; we'll never get the best of both worlds it seems.

The fact that Han's shoots first (yes it matters! It defines the character!!) and Hayden Christensen is nowhere near ROTJ makes it worthwhile.

Can't say I care one way or the other. I got the SE DVD set as a gift, might as well see if someone gives me the original version come Christmas, yet again. That said, I won't be sad if I don't ever see the original versions again, regardless though. The SE version I had seen in the past, the pre-DVD version, wasn't too bad... ;)

Most likely, I'll just wait until the ulta-deluxe set with every version on HD-DVD or Bluy-Ray however. :D

But heres the problem. These brand new DVDs will be using ancient video masters. Jim Ward, of Lucasfilms, comments: The original films' video quality will not match up to that of the restored versions. 'It is state of the art, as of 1993, and that's not as good as state of the art 2006,' Ward says." That quote can be found in this article from USA Today.

Some of the worst official dvd releases out there for movies have simply been laser masters dumped onto dvd with no care involved. And that's exactly what we'll be getting from the company that at one time was at the forefront of producing quality presentations.

Hopefully this will sell well enough in the US to warrant a further release elsewhere in Finland.

All of which would make watching it on a 1080i HDTV even more pointless.

I've got the originals on video for authentic 70's picture and sound quality, I personally don't feel the need to buy this set. It's a good thing for you youngsters who weren't old enough to see the originals first time round though.

Eh. A close friend of mine from high school did a masterful edit of the OT. He took the 2004 DVDs and then digitally layed in the LD versions over the SE composites.

Example
http://orangecow.org/starwars/rojclassic19.jpg

Thats 2004 DVD Luke standing over a 1993 LD Sarlacc

Are those videos widescreen?

Because you're missing a ton of the picture frame if that's all you have.

That'd be the only reason I'd get the OT on a newer format. I'm very much against "pan & scan."

Here's the thing though:

http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/7325/hpim06534go.jpg


I already bought them.


All these DVDs are are hand-me-downs, being released solely for Lucas to put more money in his pocket.
Hell, I can make these things right now. Let me hook up my Dazzle, copy the VHS tapes to the PC, and put them on a DVD-R.

So I'm wondering, how will the laserdiscs (yes, laserdiscs) look in comparison to these DVDs, do you think? Cuz, I already got those.

"These DVDs" = the 2004 Lucasfilm DVDs or the ones my friend made?

No, the DVDs of the original version.

That's what I've been saying to my roommate ever since he started bitching about the re-releases. This news finally shut his gaping bitch-hole, so I could care less how it looks. This dvd release is happening to both shut up the rabid zealot fans, and put millions in Lucas's pocket. It's win-win for everyone.

I don't see how putting out substandard product is going to shut anyone up. If anything, youre going to hear a louder outcry than when the 2004 discs came out.

Personally, I think VHS quality is part of the 'persona' of the first series. Otherwise you would clearly see all the duct-tapes and strings in the background for the FX.

These people don't care about quality, they just want the unaltered versions of their precious trilogy for some reason. They feel like Lucas owes it to them for some reason. I'm sure there will be outcry over the crap quality, but there will be far less overall outcry about the fact that "they haven't released the originals lol" because it's no longer a problem.

Personally, I think the quality of the special editions is great. It's wonderful to look at and listen to. I think some of the changes Lucas made really do suck, while others are great (I think adding Haydensen in ROTJ was good because of the reason Lucas gave. Go ahead and challenge me), but in the grand scheme of things, THEY'RE HIS FUCKING FILMS AND HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS WITH THEM.

/rant

Maybe because, say, we are the one that put Lucas where he is today. We are the ones who've made him rich as jesus. And is movies is a part of the childhood of millions of people who were pissed off at Lucas for raping their memories.

So yeah, that's the least he could do.

Actually, I can name about 72,000 people who are pretty livid at the moment, thank you.

You underestimate the shittiness of people on the internet.

Christianson was a pointless addition. Anakin died an old man who made peace with the Force, as did Yoda and Obi-Wan. Adding Anakin as a younger man remains completely nonsensicle.

You really don't want to get into this arguement with me.

"I am very concerned about our national heritage, and I am very concerned that the films that I watched when I was young and the films that I watched throughout my life are preserved, so that my children can see them." -- George Lucas, speaking out against the colorization of black and white films

Aw man, I forgot about that. You just gave me a boner! :edgartpg:

You're right, I probably don't, but the reason Lucas gave was "the ghosts represent the Jedis when they were at their most pure" or something. Therefore, adding young Anakin at that point makes sense (for me anyway). I see both sides of it.

Haha, ok you win this one.

An utterly baffeling statement.

You mean to tell me that Obi-Wan was at his most pure in his old age after failing in training Anakin, which lead to the demise of the entire Jedi Order as well as countless lives during the Clone Wars, let alone the reign of the Empire?

Lucas is a limber-dicked moron.

Good point, but, Obi-Wan atleast SEEMS to have put that behind him and learned to live with it. I don't know if that's in writing somewhere, but he seemed pretty okay with his life at this point.

Double Post:
EPECIALLY since he just trained Luke, the new hope for the Jedi!

Which he could have done in the first place when he released them on DVD. You think it took them all this time to "find" source material they could use for a DVD release? They were working with it the whole time when they made all the changes to the movie in the first place.

I mean, for god's sake, he's releasing a 2 disc edition with both versions of the film. It's obvious it could have been done from the beginning and still manage to make plenty of profit on it.


You mean this one or this one?

And VHS and theater releases count too. You can't say he didn't rerelease it when he obviously did.

Although truthfully, they're no more his films than the directors he chose to stand in on Empire and Return, or the actors that made up all of the characters we know and love. Etc.

He simply is in a position to ask for more money. What is there to be said? He's a fucking vampire. He may have the "right" to do whatever he wants with the film, but that doesn't mean everyone else should stop calling him a profiteering asshole for it.

I'm not saying that, I'm saying that people bitch about him not having the right to do it even though they're his films and it fucking disgusts me. What are we, fascists?

I don't agree with everything Lucas has done, but that doesn't change the fact that he had the right to do it. That's all I'm saying.

Guys, guys, guys! I'm not a STAR WARS freak, per se, but I've heard countless times about the fact that the movies, the new trilogy, the gazillion of books plus the old trilogy contradicts itself like crazy.

So you just have to realise that the series as a whole is quite flawed and idiotic and learn to love the only true masterpieces of it all; the original trilogy. Remember that? Remember when we used to think that the galaxy was ENORMOUS instead of the fact that everyone knows each other, like Lucas did in the new trilogy.

Me personally, I just wanna wait until Lucas puts the entire film saga of Star Wars in one bundle. That to me, would be the untilmate collection to get. I have the first trilogy on VHS [infact, it's the videos on the first page]. I'm content with those, and I don't think I need to re-buy the DVD version of it. I'm curious though...just this past christmas they released a different trilogy, it had a colored drawing pic of the original Star Wars cast on the cover of it. I thought that version of the trilogy was the original one, without all the special editions stuff? Forgive me ignorance, I don't follow Star Wars avidly.

Not at all. For all intents and purposes, it was the 2004 release without the 4th bonus disc, and different artwork. It was an excuse to sell more copies, and no doubt to trick people such as yourself into buying it.

Nah, it's the same "revised" edition as the other DVD pack, it's simply missing some bonus disc.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...v=glance&n=130

All I can say is thank God. I hated Hayden Christianson in the II and III and lucas be damned I don't want to see his ugly mug stuck in the GOOD trilogy. I saw enough of his static, unemotional, ugly and boring face in II and III.

By far the worst travesty IMHO was making Greedo shoot first. I mean WTF mate? Hans whole demeanor in that situation made no sense whatsoever. He's supposed to be a bad-ass space pirate, not some sort of pansy.

That, and the CGI they stuck in was really out of place when with everything else they used puppets.

From what I read, this "re-re-re-re-re-re-re-release" or whatever it is by now is still remastered like the re-re-re....the release before this one, so I don't see why it would be subpar quality.

All I can say is south park had it right when they had an episode complaining about directors trying to change films :). These films belong to everyone, not just the director...theres something just WRONG about perverting a series that was amazing and perfect to begin with. They are part of history...I mean its almost as bad as rewriting the textbooks to say the south won.

...fanboy rant over :).

Haven't we had the "It's Lucas' vision" versus "Lucas is a senile old man" debate about 40 times over already? There's not going to be any reconciliation between the two camps, let it go. This is not a zero sum game, you're allowed to have both versions. If nothing else, the originals should exist for the sake of marvelling at what ILM managed to accomplish with 1970s level technology.

Still, I'm not at all seeing why they can't go to the trouble of giving the original masters another pass. Yes, 1993 technology isn't as good as 2004 technology - so why give all your fans the finger by refusing to clean up the image any further with 2006 technology? Granted, the difference will probably go unnoticed by most people, but it still reeks of unprofessionalism.

Here's what I don't get: Shouldn't it be possible to release the original (cleaned up but original content) version alongside with the SE version on the same DVD?
Other movies manage to do that. Why - short of cashing in even more - can't Star Wars do that?

That's actually the plan, unless I'm reading the article wrong. Individual film releases, with 2 discs each of original and special edition both included.

It begs the question of why they weren't both released initially, though. I'm not entirely sure I buy the explanation that it would cost millions to have done it simultaneously with the production of the 2004 release. They had to clean up the original footage to make the 1997 theatrical release, so someone in the industry has to have the unrevised, cleaned footage. The sound production is the same situation. Nothing would have needed to go to the studio if they had just kept the footage on file. From there it would just be a matter of consumer-end costs like packaging and promotion (Promotion? Ha! As if it would have been necessary.)

I was refering to how many versions of the movies had made it to DVD, not how many times it has been released on the format.

Those two sets have the same version of the movies in them, one set is just a different box, less the bonus disc as you probablly know. As far as releasing a specific version of the films, they both have the same one, hence one version on DVD thus far.