Fanchildren, Cease Thy Whining

[bandit29]

Ya the OT "bonus" movies are LD rips and non-anamorphic...better than the HK bootlegs I have but not much.

The tin from Best Buy is alright. Good luck finding one that isn't dented.

[Keith]

Dents? I thought that was supposed to be "authentic battle damage" damn you Lucas!

[Apollo Leader]

I have all three movies reserved at Suncoast (don't worry, they will match the better prices in town) and will probably stop there tonight to pick them up along with Smallville S5.

Off the top of my head these are all the versions of Star Wars OT that I currently have:

1995 Laser Disc set. I can't remember if I sold off my VHS set (fullscreen) when I got rid of most of my VHS collection last year.

1997 Special Edition on VHS (Widescreen) - bet you next year that Lucas puts out a two disc set with the 1997 and 2004 SE versions together for comparison!

2004 DVD boxset (Widescreeen)

Since I have the 1995 Laser Disc version and my LD player seems to be working just fine, should I just stick with that? Are the extras that come with the DVD's that came out yesterday the same exact extras that were in the 2004 boxset (I know the commentary track by George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, et al on the special edition disc is the same)? If the only thing "new" is the original theatrical cuts and that's it, I might go ahead and save the $40 and not buy them. The original theatrical cuts will probably see the light of day again when the super box set comes out or when Star Wars makes the leap to DVD's successor (whether it's HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, or something entirely different).

[Black Valkyrie]

Even as a SW fan I don`t care anymore, why bother. I made my own SW-OT DVD set :

1- SW-E4 (2004 edition) [i like that version]

2- SW-E5 (97 edition) HK bootleg

3- SW-E6 (97 edition) " "

So there you have it

[Apollo Leader]

In the end I decided to cancel my preorders and applied the money to my Smallville season 5 set. I'll stick with LD set for now.

[Uxi]

Meh. The SE widescreen set I got 04 is enough to hold me over until an ueber Blu-ray set comes out. In the meantime, I've had some fun with editing my own "cut."

I hope there's a future set with all the deleted scenes integrated in (if not a full Expanded Edition... Lucas has made many cuts for time and for home theater those concerns just aren't as relevent IMO). The Prequels need a revisit, too. Replace the EP1 and Ep2 Yodas with the Ep3 CGI Yoda for consistency. I toss back and forth whether Ep 5 and 6 Yoda's ... mostly out of nostalgia's sake, I'm thinking don't, but it could certainly be enhanced and made less obviously a puppet. Same for the space slug.

Get rid of Greedo shooting at all, though.

[Mechwolf]

I'll wait until Lucas releases the 1995 THX version on DVD. Or, find some one to transfer my VHS copies on to DVD. Until then, my 2004 DVD boxset is all I really need.

And fundementally, I agree with the HSF Church. However, it really is smaller concern when compared to all the good added scenes & enhancements.

[Duke Togo]

I've been reading user comments on the new DVDs over at OriginalTrilogy.com (home of just about every fan edit/restoration of Star Wars on the net), and they all seem pleasantly surprised and very happy with it. Is it exactly what they wanted? No, certainly not. Is it far better than they were expecting? Yes, and superior to any release, official or not, of the unaltered Trilogy.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Duke Togo

[Hurin]

I've been reading user comments on the new DVDs over at OriginalTrilogy.com (home of just about every fan edit/restoration of Star Wars on the net), and they all seem pleasantly surprised and very happy with it. Is it exactly what they wanted? No, certainly not. Is it far better than they were expecting? Yes, and superior to any release, official or not, of the unaltered Trilogy.

Yeah, there are moments of "bleh". . . but ANH looks remarkably good (especially indoor, static scenes). I still think it was a bit of a back-handed gift on the part of Lucasfilm. . . but I'll takes what I can get.

Best,

H

[JsARCLIGHT]

I broke down and bought ANH out of curiosity a few days ago.

Personally the quality difference is noticable to me. On my plasma the new version of the movie is crisp, clear and nice with it's clean 5.1 audio. But the whole reason I bought it was for the original version which had to be centered in my screen using my monitor's aspect ratio controls... doing so caused a slight "zoom" effect on the footage which as a side effect caused it to be somewhat blurry. All in all it was decent... my biggest gripe being about the 2.0 dolby audio, but that is to be expected.

To be honest if you have a normal non HD 4:3 TV and no fancy stereo crap like I have I bet the transfer would be more than adequate, even good... but for an audio/videophile like myself it was just bad enough to make me notice it and then focus on it the whole time. It's not the DVD's fault that I'm playing it back the way I am. Suffice it to say I'm not going to buy the other two movies. I mean, the only reason I bought this one was because I wanted to see the original cut once again so badly I broke down and got it... but playing it back on my home theater was kind of painful to me. Just blurry enough to be annoying and that 2.0 audio mix was just too old school for my tastes...

[KingNor]

audio is so beyond me, so long as it's sterio and has good bass, i'm usually pretty happy. Surround sound confuses me, makes me look over my shoulder and think people are in the back room shooting lazers.

freak show.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I love that stuff... sweeping multi-channel sound gives me wood.

The intro to Apocalypse Now with the "ghost chopper" audio sends chills down my spine when heard in 6.1 surround cranked up past 10 into "Gojira" range.

[Keith]

Nope, even on a standard set, you can see it's vastly inferior to the quality on the "special edition." Which brings up the biggest whole in the whole Lucasfilm excuse for this. Assumedly, they went & remastered if not all, then most of, the original film at some point. What was left should have only been a small amount. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume most of what they restored was pre-effects shots so that they could go over with their new special effects, but none the less, the bulk of the film is the same damn film. No reason why they couldn't have gone back & finished up the original cut. But whatever, if this is all we get, then I'll be fine with it, as I've also got the HK's for the LD extra's.

[JB0]

I'll wait until Lucas releases the 1995 THX version on DVD. Or, find some one to transfer my VHS copies on to DVD.

Isn't that what this IS?

Do you mean "goes back to the '95 remaster and does a proper anamorphic transfer of it," or did I miss some horrifyingly ugly part of this mess?

[Keith]

Maybe he meant the pre-prequal special editions where Greedo shoots first, instead of at the same time?

[sketchley]

This topic has got me thinking - Mr. Lucas is continually tweaking the movies as they get rereleased. Me thinks that in a few years, after the next generation of DVD has defeated its opponent, he'll do a new release - possible all 6 movies - but he'll get the guy who played Vader in the 2nd and 3rd movies, and place him in all of the shots where he appeared in the 6th movie - not just the final one, of the 3 ghost-like jedi masters...

As a creative type, I can fully understand why Mr. Lucas is doing his tweaks and changes. Heck, most manga-artists do it when their manga is collected into pocket book form... though, I do agree that some of the change (some of them even mentioned here) weren't necessarily improvements, and some just didn't look very good at all on the big screen (4th movie, arriving in the port city on Luke's speeder - the 3D pan of the city was a big blur! Hideous.) I also wonder why, after spending oodles of moulla on fixing and adding SFX, why they didn't fix the red bar over the emperor's eyes in the 6th movie... that's bothered me from day one.

[Dobber]

Besides Greedo shooting at all, my least favorite change isn't nessessarily anything drastic but....

It's in Empire, after Vader and Luke battle it out and Luke "sacrifices" himself in the core. I always loved the scene when Vader is walking back with his croonies and he grumbles "Bring my shuttle" I just loved how he said it... short, staright and to the point.

But, in the SE the got James Earl Jones to redo the line with "Alert my Star destroyer to prepare for my arrival." For me, it just didn't sit well.

Kinda of like the special edition Army of Darkness that had an alternet line to "good bad I'm the one with the gun."

Anywho, I'm on the fence to these DVD's, my wife actually bought them for me, but after reading the intial reviews here I returned them, but now......

Chris

Edited September 16, 2006 by Dobber

[Macross73]

So i finally watched all 3 "originals" of this new release and I'm happy.

Why?

cause their the originals.

NO special effects, none of that flying robot crap in the background, and monsters/aliens taking away from the tension of a scene.

Is it perfect? NO. the quality could have been better Lucas could have had his people digitally remaster this but no, just a "bootleg", excuse me, Transfer from the laser disks. At some point someone close to him will say something or maybe he'll read that the fans really do like the originals better than new Artistic vision he thinks people want. Oh and to add insult to injury making the "originals" disk 2 in the set doesn't help. For now these work, but if you've already got these dont bother picking them up. Oh and i'd like to nit pick about the images to used to decorate the Disks but i think i've done enough.

edit: dont try to type fast when your thinking faster than you can actually type. ha ha

Edited September 16, 2006 by Macross73

[Noriko Takaya]

But, in the SE the got James Earl Jones to redo the line with "Alert my Star destroyer to prepare for my arrival." For me, it just didn't sit well.

That's not James Earl Jones, unless they did a switch around. I remember hearing an imposter when I first saw the updated Empire. Now I'm going to go check.

Edited September 16, 2006 by Noriko Takaya

[Noriko Takaya]

Maybe he meant the pre-prequal special editions where Greedo shoots first, instead of at the same time?

No, he's talking about the restored versions of the originals which were released on VHS remastered with THX sound. Remember the different covers, one of Vader, one of Yoda, and the other of a Stormtrooper?

[bsu legato]

That's not James Earl Jones, unless they did a switch around. I remember hearing an imposter when I first saw the updated Empire. Now I'm going to go check.

According to Ben Burtt, it was indeed JEJ. The line was an unused recording from ANH. Or so the story goes...

[Keith]

No, he's talking about the restored versions of the originals which were released on VHS remastered with THX sound. Remember the different covers, one of Vader, one of Yoda, and the other of a Stormtrooper?

Yeah, that's the set I never bothered to pick that set up, though, in fact, I never picked up SW until the HK DVD rips came out.

[CoryHolmes]

According to Ben Burtt, it was indeed JEJ. The line was an unused recording from ANH. Or so the story goes...

That still doesn't justify why that switch was made. That's one of the changes that really bugs me in the new set.

[Keith]

There are a few odd dialogue switches like that made. Such as Luke's dialogue when pulling R2 out of the swamp (empire), and Han's dialogue after pulling Lando out of the pit (Jedi).

[bsu legato]

That still doesn't justify why that switch was made.

Umm...I never said that it did. I was just pointing out that supposedly it wasn't a newly recorded piece of dialog, made by some half-assed JEJ impoersonator.

[Dobber]

That still doesn't justify why that switch was made. That's one of the changes that really bugs me in the new set.

Cool! I'm glad that line change bugs someone else as much as it bugs me!

Chris

[Keith]

Not even that line change can top the stupidity of the new Max Rebo song at Jaba's Palace....it's Jar Jar to the 1oth power!

[Warmaker]

I'm going to hold off on these versions for now.

Maybe they'll actually do a worthy version of the ORIGINAL Original Trilogy in the future... however long that may be

[Hurin]

The only part that bugs me about the loss of the cooler, better delivered line: "Bring my shuttle". . . is that it's the perfect example of Lucas fixing something that didn't need fixed at all. I don't know anybody who ever said: "Hey, how did Vader get back up there so fast?"

Nobody ever seems to take Lucas aside and say: "Dude, you've lost perspective here. The audience isn't confused. You don't need to do that."

or

"You need to look at this as an audience member. That little silver droid is just going to distract everyone from what the characters are actually saying. It may look cool. But there's a reason we didn't put one on a friggin' string twenty years ago. Because it's distracting!"

It makes me wonder if anyone, ever interjects their opinion in a Lucas project. He's just gotta be surrounded by Yes Men (or very poor filmmakers).

Edit: Though I suppose you could argue he's earned the right to not be questioned on his creative decisions considering he's responsible for the most profitable film series in history (by far).

H

Edited September 18, 2006 by Hurin

[KingNor]

The only part that bugs me about the loss of the cooler, better delivered line: "Bring my shuttle". . . is that it's the perfect example of Lucas fixing something that didn't need fixed at all. I don't know anybody who ever said: "Hey, how did Vader get back up there so fast?"

Nobody ever seems to take Lucas aside and say: "Dude, you've lost perspective here. The audience isn't confused. You don't need to do that."

or

"You need to look at this as an audience member. That little silver droid is just going to distract everyone from what the characters are actually saying. It may look cool. But there's a reason we didn't put one on a friggin' string twenty years ago. Because it's distracting!"

It makes me wonder if anyone, ever interjects their opinion in a Lucas project. He's just gotta be surrounded by Yes Men (or very poor filmmakers).

Edit: Though I suppose you could argue he's earned the right to not be questioned on his creative decisions considering he's responsible for the most profitable film series in history (by far).

H

You've come face to face with quite a few telling things here:

one is that lucas is almost surely surrounded by yes-men at this point. AND star wars has put him in a position of godly "say-so"

in the film industry you're simply not allowed to question someone who makes more money than you, and lucas makes more money than anyone. lucas earns money, people buy his drivel and it makes him less and less free to do as he pleases. think about that next time you see the same movie with three covers in your shopping cart. dont' buy into his nonsence.

keep in mind that in the early days, lucas wasn't mr-god-of-movies. he was just another shmo makeing a space movie. what passed for original designs was more often than not a desperate need to save money. examples being lightsabers are really old style camera flashbulb handles.. the gun ports on the flying orb are just model car chrome wheels and so on.

Lucas is unrestricted now,, both with his ideas and with his budget.

[Keith]

Hmm, so what you're saying is, Lucas should donate all of his excess cash to us Macross Worlder's, so he can get back in touch with his inner struggling artist...BRILLIANT!

Now the only trick is convincing him.