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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: Star Wars Original Trilogy on dvd???
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-05-2004 08:00 PM
I, for one, am not really all that worried about making-of footage and other supplemental stuff for "Star Wars." My point? I don't want that being an issue that prevents the original, unaltered "Star Wars" Trilogy from hitting DVD. Even if the trilogy were sold as a bare-bones, movie-only item I would buy it. The main thing I want is for the audio and video quality to be well presented.
I also have no problem if a bare bones version of the SW trilogy is sold with another "super duper" version unveiled a year or so later. Lots of DVDs are repackaged and redone numerous times. For example, "Terminator 2" has been sold in three different versions. This is one reason why the original "Star Wars" trilogy should have made it to DVD years ago. There was no point at all in delaying it.
If anything, the delay has cost Lucas lots of money. Consider the possibility of Lucas having released the original "Star Wars" trilogy on DVD back in 1998? He could have gotten away with a non-anamophic laser-disc dub (as so many studios did in the early days of DVD). And then the trilogy could have been resold in separate "original" and "SE" versions with new anamorphic transfers. Then there could have been "Five Star Collection" versions with 2-discs. Finally, there's the new marketing window approaching with the final prequel's theatrical release. Everything could be sold yet again.
Probably the most unfortunate thing about all these "Star Wars" DVD delays is the raised expectations on the product when it is actually released. Elaborate DVD releases like the LOTR 4-disc sets or the new 9-disc Alien Quadrilogy set have raised the standards bar to very high levels. Lucasfilm will be lucky if the eventual release of "Star Wars" on DVD does not feel a bit anti-climatic. This is probably all the more reason for him to release the original, unaltered trilogy with just a few extras and the main focus being great video and audio quality. He can say, "this release is meant to satisfy film purists and we'll have a much more elaborate feature-packed box set with all six films in a future release."
Anyone who reads DVDFile or The Digital Bits on a regular basis knows about the latest "Star Wars" release rumors. Supposedly there may be an announcement from Fox and Lucasfilm regarding the original "Star Wars" Trilogy next Tuesday or possibly sooner. Again, it is all rumor. There's no way to tell if the announcement is made whether the release will be the CG-altered "SE" versions or the "pure" versions.
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-10-2004 11:43 AM
It's official! The "Original" Trilogy due September 21, 2004.
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/news/2004/02/news20040210.html
The Star Wars Trilogy on DVD
February 10, 2004
The most requested films for the DVD format will finally become a reality this September as Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox present the eagerly-awaited Star Wars Trilogy for the ultimate home entertainment format. The four-disc collection will be released on September 21 in the U.S. and Canada, with international release dates following closely.
"We know how long fans have waited for this release and how much they have been looking forward to it, so everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience," said Jim Ward, Vice President of Marketing and Distribution for Lucasfilm Ltd. and the DVD collection's Executive Producer.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi will be available in a four-disc set that includes a bonus disc filled with all-new special features -- including the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced about the Star Wars saga and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films. Each of the three films in the Star Wars Trilogy has been digitally restored and re-mastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality.
"First and foremost, the DVDs will deliver the very best possible sound and picture and take advantage of everything the medium can offer. On top of that, we are creating added-value material that gets inside the creation of the Star Wars films in a fresh and fun way," Ward said. "We want watching this DVD collection to be as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time."
The films of the Star Wars Trilogy will be available exclusively as a collection and will feature Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX. All three films are closed-captioned and subtitled in English, French and Spanish in the U.S. Internationally, sound and subtitling specifications will vary by territory.
Keep checking starwars.com over the coming months for more specific details about the content of this must-own DVD set.
[ 02-10-2004, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: Michael Coate ]
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Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 02-10-2004 03:10 PM
From today's USAToday:
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040210/5911884s.htm
'Star Wars' on DVD: Special editions only Many extras, but no original versions
By Mike Snider
USA TODAY
The movies that DVD fans have longed for more than any other, the original Star Wars trilogy, finally arrive Sept. 21.
With added scenes and a fourth disc that includes a full-length documentary on the making of the movies, the trilogy is expected to be one of the top-selling DVD titles ever.
But some die-hard followers are certain to blast Lucas and 20th Century Fox for not including the original theatrical versions of the movies in the collection.
In 1997, Lucas rereleased special editions of all three Star Wars films -- Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) -- in theaters. Each film had technological tweaking and added footage.
Those are the versions that will appear on the DVDs.
''The original versions technically don't exist,'' says Lucasfilm's Jim Ward, who is the project's executive producer. ''(Lucas) wanted to represent the films as they exist in his mind, and that's the special-editions versions.''
That will distress a small but vocal minority of fans who have held out hope -- expressed in online petitions and Star Wars Internet chat forums -- that Lucas might include the originals on DVD.
''The general public won't mind, but anybody who is a real fan of the films will,'' says Doug Pratt, who publishes DVDLaser.com and the DVD Laser Disc Newsletter.
Sure to be especially galling to Star Wars stalwarts is that Fox, in last year's Alien Quadrilogy DVD set, included multiple versions of Alien films. ''It would be a shame if they didn't take advantage of that technology,'' Pratt says.
In addition to the fourth disc's full-length documentary, each movie disc will include commentaries from Lucas and members of the cast.
Fox and Lucasfilm are discussing whether to release a collector's edition and a full-frame version, says Fox's Steven Feldstein.
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''The original versions technically don't exist,'' says Lucasfilm's Jim Ward
I wonder if this mean that George plans on buying up all the old VHS versions of the original versions"? That would be putting his money where his mouth is.
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Tao Yue
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 209
From: Princeton, NJ
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-11-2004 06:05 AM
Ron Keillor wrote:
quote:
I'm satisfied with my ßeta copies, although special effect elements inserts show up surrounded by black squares of a shade different from the backkground.
and Joe Redier replied:
quote:
Ron, those "black squares" are matte lines and I believe they are even in some shots of the Special Edition (I'd have to re-check).
Surely Ron was talking about garbage mattes, not matte lines?
Matte lines are outlines (usually black) tightly surrounding each individual element -- they're caused in photography (lighting effects near edges), the hi-con printing to get a matte (more edge effects), and compositing (even more edge effects, especially when bipacked).
Garbage mattes are big polygons loosely fitted around an element, and allow longer motion-control moves to be made. These are necessary because in such a long tracking shot, it is impossible to keep the entire background blue, so they only keep the immediate area around the ship blue and garbage-matte out the rest (lights, people, equipment, etc.).
An example is in Star Trek II -- in many scenes where the Enterprise goes from a speck in the distance to filling the screen, you can even see the garbage matte jumping every half second or so as they expand the matte to not cut off the ship.
Garbage mattes also help prevent black density from degrading. Contrast ILM's work on Trek II and EEG/BOSS and Apogee's work on Trek I. You're not going to see any garbage mattes in Trek I, but the deep black of space is often the reddish-gray of space.
Pre-digital-era Cinefex back issues are really interesting, I highly recommend them for people trying to figure out why a certain shot in an old effects film looks phony.
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Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 02-11-2004 04:19 PM
Oh god, so he's messing with them AGAIN?!? Someone should slap him on the hands every time he reaches for the mouse on the CGI computer. ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
As a writer myself, I feel that once you say your work is done, and you release it to the huge appreciation of the public as has happened with Star Wars, then that means they love your work for what it is: Your completedwork. The whole story. Now, if you go back and mess with it adding this and removing that and changing this, then that tells all those people that your work really wasn't done but you released it anyway. Maybe to make a fast buck, maybe to gain instant fame, who knows. Or maybe you revisited them later to "jazz them up" as Lucas did, but not releasing the original work is like turning your back on all those people who loved it the first time around.
The special edition grosses should NEVER have been counted with the originals... ITS NOT THE SAME MOVIE!!! Technically, if Lucas said the original versions "Don't exist" then we will never see "Star Wars" on DVD. Only "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope Special I Need More Money Edition."
Whats more, how does someone explain this to a new generation of kids? "Daddy? I didn't know they had all those digital effects back in 1977!" -- "No. You see son, there's this thing called Greed..."
=TMP=
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Hillary Charles
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 748
From: York, PA, USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-12-2004 09:03 AM
For those who believe there's not much behind-the-scenes footage of the production of "Star Wars," I'd like to point out the 1977 television special, "The Making of Star Wars."
I just showed my 16mm print of it yesterday to two friends, and it was like a time capsule. God, I miss Meco and their disco version of the theme!
That special contains a great many behind-the-scenes sequences, of the Tunisia shoot, as well as the studio and special effects work. It would be nice if the tv special could be included on the DVD. At least, there's probably much more raw footage of the making somewhere in the Lucas vaults.
And I agree with those who feel the original versions should be available, because THAT'S the one that everyone in this special saw and motivated them to buy the t-shirts and disco records...
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-12-2004 12:22 PM
quote:
I'd like to point out the 1977 television special, "The Making of Star Wars."
quote:
Wasn't that included on the Star Wars special edition video tape.
Are you thinking of From Star Wars To Jedi: The Making Of A Saga, originally shown on PBS in 1983 and subsequently released on video?
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quote:
For those who believe there's not much behind-the-scenes footage of the production of "Star Wars," I'd like to point out the 1977 television special, "The Making of Star Wars." [It] contains a great many behind-the-scenes sequences, of the Tunisia shoot, as well as the studio and special effects work.
Among the interesting behind-the-scenes footage included in the special are some brief glimpses at two deleted scenes. Portions of "Luke & his friend Biggs on Tatooine" can be seen in the background during one of the shots of a "malfunctioning droid" montage, and a few seconds of "Luke reuniting with Biggs at the Rebel Base" can also be seen in the documentary. The Rebel Base scene was reinstated in the '97 Special Edition, though some sources, including the book The Unauthorized Star Wars Compendium, claim it was present in original 1977 prints.
I suspect that these moments during The Making Of Star Wars has contributed to many fans thinking they saw these scenes in a version of the movie at one time or another.
quote:
God, I miss Meco and their disco version of the theme!
The Meco theme is available on CD! It appears on both Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk and Meco's Greatest Hits.
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