Author Topic: "Original" Orginal Trilogy on DVD!  (Read 47630 times)

Offline ruiner

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #90 on: May 25, 2006, 08:52 AM »
While it's a good idea to send comments, you won't see a change on the DVD's coming out in September. 

I, for one, am skipping this weak marketing attempt to get hardcore fans to buy yet another version of the films.  Even though I don't have a widescreen TV, I think it's bull**** that we've seen the same movies re-released three times in the span of what, two years?

I'm happy with my SW DVD's for the time being and will wait for the Ultimate Box Set (we all know it's coming).

I'm not about to blow $60 for lame laserdisc quality movies.  I waste entirely too much money lining GL's pockets with toys and what not.

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #91 on: May 25, 2006, 09:25 AM »
While I too am disappointed with the set, there's a part of me that's still happy to be getting a wide-screen version. I missed the O-OT on Laser, but have a set on Tape (that 4-cassette set in the blue box with the hologram cover) and seldom watch it as to preserve it. Do I feel ripped off? You betcha. But I'm still picking it up.
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Offline Ben

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #92 on: May 26, 2006, 02:25 AM »
Well, I think I'll just buy this and be done with SW on DVD. I don't care what else he's got up his sleeve to get me to buy the next set, but I've lost interest in owning another set after this one.

It would have been nice to get a not-****** version of the OOT, but, eh.
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Offline Matt

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #93 on: June 1, 2006, 12:19 AM »
And it's not just the Rebelscum flunkies who are a little misinformed about the non-anamorphic DVDs--but (surprise!) their staff, too!



Dave Myatt tells it like it is:

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Seriously, LFL has just made the DVD set everyone has asked for. This is the earliest source available. You can't have it both ways. Either you get the original release or you get something that's been tinkered with.

This is the perfect example of how Star Wars fans can't find a better use for the internet than complaining.

When it comes to producing things for SW collectors, LFL and all it's license holders are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Funny thing is, despite all the belly aching we read on the interweb, Star Wars movies and products sell out world wide. Seems to me that 97% of Internet using Star Wars fans do little more than whine, and judging by the sales numbers, only 1.6% of Star Wars fans use the Internet.

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Basically, all the people who b****ed and moaned about having the unaltered original versions should have been more specific...

Dave decides there's still enough room for some more foot in that big mouth of his:

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you know, Wizard of Oz was shot in 4:3, so the version that looks good on your widescreen TV has been altered from the original print. THat goes completely against the concept of releasing the OT in it's original form. Once more, fans demanding this set should have been more specific. We are getting exactly what we as a community asked for. LFL delivered. That's the truth. You can sit there and complain all you want, but know that they are releasing exactly what everyone has said they wanted: The unaltered original print of the OT on DVD.

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You know, colour timing can be as easy as turning a knob. Having Greedo shoot first is as easy as hiring CGI artists to digitally paint in a laser blast and digitally make Han Solo flinch. No mater what you do, it's still altering the original print.

As for the crawl, I thought the Laserdisks had it on an alternate track, so it can indeed still exist...

And, after getting schooled by a couple of different people, Dave gets all huffy and demands that the thread get back on topic, without ever admitting that he may have been wrong, of course:

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Ugh. Against my better judgement I'm going to reply to this... Brent, more or less, you just kind of called me a liar. Now, unless I'm wrong, you don't work for LFL so you don't know for a fact that they are all sitting around coming up with new ways to screw fans.

you talk about facts, well the facts are simple as can be. Fans have harped about getting the OT completely unaltered from the original prints on DVD. LFL (the company, btw, not just George Lucas himself) listened and are now releaseing exactly what was requested: the OT completely unaltered from the original prints on DVD.

Changing it to anamorphic, even if it makes it better for your screen, would mean altering the source, thereby going against the entire concept of releasing the OT completely unaltered from the original prints on DVD.

You and I could go on for days with this silly discussion, so why not put it to rest?

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Offline Darth Broem

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #94 on: June 3, 2006, 11:00 AM »
Well I really don't know what the anamorphic (sp?) thing is.  I kind of get it but really need to see screen captures or something to know what the big gripe is here.  I am not a tech head.   I am one of those that just wants a copy of the OT on DVD.  Mainly because my VHS copies are practically ruined.  It's just easier to skip around on the DVDs obviously.  So, I'm okay with it being a transfer from the laserdiscs.  Isn't that what the bootleg copies are anyway?   

Lucas really does not even want the originals out there (I don't agree with him but that seems to be his position) I am surprised we are even getting this.  So, it's not that surprising to me that he is not putting much effort into it.  Again not agreeing with Lucas but that's his deal for whatever reasons.  Again it's just  a ploy to try and cut into the bootleg market anyway IMO.  But for me it's better than not getting them on DVD at all. 

I am not really defending Dave.  As I don't quite agree with him and how he puts his opinions of the fans out there.  But I can sort of see where he is coming from.  Apparently most of you were expecting the OT to be unalterd on DVD but to be really nice and touched up to 2006 standards.  With sound and picture to be  jazzed up to the max.  Nothing wrong with that I just never expected it from Lucas given his record on poo pooing on the originals since 1997 when the SEs came about. 

If you don't want this version then don't get it at all is my suggestion.  Go get the bootlegs if you have not already.  Tell Lucas to stick it again.  Maybe on his death bed he will give the fans a spiffed up originals on DVD or whatever the technology is by then.  Just don't expect it from him.

Offline Mitsukara

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #95 on: June 3, 2006, 01:09 PM »
I'm happy to have this rather than nothing, and I might buy them, but I certainly wouldn't be if I already owned the original DVDs.

However, while I don't know what anamorphic technically means either, I get the impression these are going to be full-screen, fuzzy, generally crappy quality copies, and that's just not right when everybody knows that they could've at least given us crappy-quality widescreen versions. But I think what everybody was hoping to see was a remastered version of the original movies, in almost as good quality as the new versions. That's not really a whole lot to be asking for at this point either, but instead Lucasfilm wants to take the cheap route and still see if they can squeeze money out of the fans. It's VOTC C3PO all over again, so to speak.

Frankly, if Lucasfilm's position is "oh noes it's expensive to remaster the whole movie again," then surely they have some unedited copies from when they were working on the '97 SE, but also, if nothing else they could splice in the scenes that weren't edited/weren't edited significantly (sound modifications, stuff like Piett's rank badge) and only remaster the scenes that were truly modified (Han and Greedo's original exchange and such).

But, as I said, I'll buy these if nothing better comes along and I don't happen to find the original DVDs a lot cheaper. But I sure wouldn't be buying them if I had the original DVDs, because these copies are nothing to get worked up over- you could easily do the same thing yourself and apparently it'd even be quasi-legal.

Offline Matt

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #96 on: June 3, 2006, 02:27 PM »
Anamorphic explained.

[And make sure you check out this page, too--since it specifically deals with the issue at hand (not the same movie, but the same aspect ratio)]

I didn't really understand what anamorphic was, either, until I read that several years ago. 

Basically, if you have a 4x3 TV right now, and that's all you ever plan on having, ever, then you've got nothing to worry about with the upcoming DVDs.  Buy them up and enjoy both the 2004 and original versions for the rest of your life on your 4x3 TV.

But if you've got a 16x9 TV now, or are planning to get one, oh, at any point in the next 50 years or so, you might think twice about laying down your hard-earned cash in September, because this is what the original versions will look like on that 16x9 TV:



Whereas this is what they could have looked like if Lucasland weren't being a bunch of dickheads about things:



(Did you guys know that Max Fischer is being inserted into the movie?)
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Offline Artoo

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #97 on: June 29, 2006, 01:47 AM »
I was reading Amazon's stuff & the original versions are on Disc 2,that's strange since those are the only reasons these DVDs are coming out. ???
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Offline JeffGlow

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #98 on: July 6, 2006, 06:04 PM »
Ok, so I saw that the "unaltered" versions were coming out and I was psyched and really excited... then I found out it was non-anamorphic and I was sorta bummed... then I found out it was transfers from 1990's techology, and I was even more bummed.

So, do we know if Lucas is going to clean these up at all like the 2004 Trilogy DVD release? Is he at least going to sharpen them and fix some of the old classic errors like the boxes floating around the tie fighters and whatnot?

I was so excited for this "unaltered version" that I was ready to shell out cash to reserve a copy at my local video store, but now I think I'm going to have to wait to see what everyone else says, maybe try to rent them to see how crappy the quality is.

Offline Matt

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #99 on: July 6, 2006, 06:34 PM »
So, do we know if Lucas is going to clean these up at all like the 2004 Trilogy DVD release? Is he at least going to sharpen them and fix some of the old classic errors like the boxes floating around the tie fighters and whatnot?

This is an official response letter sent out in May by Lucasland's own Lynne Hale regarding the DVDebacle.  Somehow, it didn't get posted here.  Read it and weep:

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I wanted you to know how much we appreciate the passion and enthusiasm you have for Star Wars, and thank you for sharing your concerns about our upcoming DVD release.

The DVDs being released in September will contain two versions of Star Wars: Episodes IV, V and VI – the Special Editions (which represent George’s vision of the movies) and the first versions, which will be included as bonus material. We hoped that releasing those “original” movies on a bonus disc would be a way to have some additional fun with the debut of the movies as individual DVDs. We certainly did not want it to become a source of concern or frustration for any of our fans.

As you may know, an enormous amount of effort was put into digitally restoring the negatives for the Special Editions. In one scene alone, nearly 1 million pieces of dirt had to be removed, and the Special Editions were created through a frame-by-frame digital restoration. The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition.

So many fans have requested the original movies, we wanted to find a way to bring them to you. But since these movies do not represent George's artistic vision, we could not put the extraordinary time and resources into this project as we did with the Special Editions. The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material. Although these are non-anamorphic versions, they do preserve the original widescreen composition of the movies.

We want you to be aware that we have no plans – now or in the future – to restore the earlier versions.

We hope you will understand our decision and, again, want to let you know how much we appreciate your interest and enthusiasm.

Sincerely,
Lynne Hale
publicity@lucasfilm.com

I think the best (if not the only) way to enjoy these releases will be to do it just like it's 1993 all over again.  Put on your Fresh Prince of Bel Air t-shirt and your Zubaz pants, and watch the films, while drinking your Crystal Pepsi, which was placed on your Beverly Hills 90210 TV tray.  In between movies you can cheer for (or bitch about) President Clinton, celebrate the Chicago Bulls' third consecutive NBA championship, and look forward to the new Nirvana record.

That's gonna be the way to get the most out of these discs.
« Last Edit: July 6, 2006, 06:36 PM by Matthew »
"The good news is that all that blood is actually ketchup. The bad news, however, is that all that ketchup is actually blood."

Offline JeffGlow

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #100 on: July 8, 2006, 01:17 PM »
Wow... what a way to screw the fans George!

Offline ruiner

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #101 on: July 11, 2006, 05:26 PM »

I think the best (if not the only) way to enjoy these releases will be to do it just like it's 1993 all over again. Put on your Fresh Prince of Bel Air t-shirt and your Zubaz pants, and watch the films, while drinking your Crystal Pepsi, which was placed on your Beverly Hills 90210 TV tray. In between movies you can cheer for (or bitch about) President Clinton, celebrate the Chicago Bulls' third consecutive NBA championship, and look forward to the new Nirvana record.

That's gonna be the way to get the most out of these discs.

 ;D
« Last Edit: July 11, 2006, 05:27 PM by ruiner »

Offline Matt

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #102 on: July 11, 2006, 11:45 PM »
;D

And that was a rare glimpse into my life, circa 1993.  Glad you enjoyed it.  I sure as hell didn't.

----

New news!  But is it good news?  Could it be worse than what we already know?

TDB is reporting that some French dude is reporting that Fox France is reporting that the old school discs will indeed be in glorious anamorphic widescreen--at least in France, anyway.  (Which pretty much means they'd be anamorphic here, too.)  Nothing more at this time--but what a nice surprise it would be if Sansweet made an announcement at Comic Con that, due to the overwhelming fan demand, that Lucasland had indeed decided to make everything anamorphic.  That'd go a long way in turning around what has been a fairly piss-poor summer for the filthy OT purists out there. . .
« Last Edit: July 11, 2006, 11:46 PM by Matthew »
"The good news is that all that blood is actually ketchup. The bad news, however, is that all that ketchup is actually blood."

Offline ruiner

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #103 on: July 12, 2006, 09:46 AM »
I'll believe it when I hear it (can't see it on my 1990's 4:3 television).

Take pity.




Offline Matt

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Re: Holy Trilogy on DVD!
« Reply #104 on: July 12, 2006, 10:08 PM »
And now, from the "Everyone Should Have Seen This Coming A Mile Away" department:

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We've got some more interesting standard DVD news to report today, starting with a follow-up on that French Star Wars DVD controversy we mentioned the other day. We've gotten a follow-up e-mail from our friend Arnaud at DVDRama  in France. He's actually had the chance to see, with his own two eyes, the new Star Wars DVDs being released there, and it turns out Fox France was wrong. Someone in marketing over there apparently still doesn't know what anamorphic means. The special edition versions of the films on Disc One of each set are anamorphic, but the original theatrical editions on Disc Two of each are definitely NOT anamorphic. They're just letterboxed widescreen as we expected. Fox France has apparently apologized for the confusion, and we definitely appreciate Arnaud's efforts in confirming the truth of the situation. France is getting the same sub-par Star Wars  DVDs as the rest of us. 'Nuff said.

Link

That one little glimmer of hope, crushed like a bug. 

Enjoyable.
"The good news is that all that blood is actually ketchup. The bad news, however, is that all that ketchup is actually blood."