Original Star Wars Trilogy finally coming to DVD!

[fermicat]

from Reuters:


Star Wars set for DVD bow
Tue 10 February, 2004 06:16

By Brett Sporich

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Star Wars Trilogy," one of the most-requested DVD episodic film franchises, is expected to be released as a four-disc DVD box set on September 21.

A global rollout on DVD is expected within days of the domestic release, according to Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

The trilogy, featuring the classic franchise films "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," will be released on three DVD discs, with a fourth disc likely to hold a newly made documentary about the "Star Wars" franchise and never-before-seen footage, among several other bonus materials, said Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's vice president of marketing and distribution and the DVD trilogy's executive producer.

"We are currently in the process of restoring and remastering all three titles for the DVD release, so we're still working on details of the marketing strategy," Ward said. "But I believe that it is safe to say that it will receive tremendous exposure across all media."

Lucasfilm and Fox chose the September release date to maximise on holiday gift buying during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, 20th Century Fox president Mike Dunn said.

"We sold about 17 million VHS 'Star Wars' units during two fall release periods in '95 and '97," he said.

Combining huge consumer demand for the "Star Wars" franchise with being first out of the gate during the busy fourth-quarter home video market, Fox and Lucasfilm are hoping to cash in on DVD sales throughout the holidays and up until the theatrical release of "Star Wars: Episode III," which is set for release nationwide May, 25, 2005, Dunn and Ward said.

Each of the three films in the "Star Wars Trilogy" has been digitally restored and remastered for sound and picture quality, Ward said.

"First and foremost, the DVDs will deliver the very best possible sound and picture and take advantage of everything the medium can offer," Ward said. "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. 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 sold exclusively as a collection at a still-to-be-determined retail price and not separately, Fox executives said. However, retailers have been known to break up DVD box sets and sell individual titles after the first month out on store shelves.



Can't wait! The originals rocked. I do wish they'd give us the option of having them in the original form (as opposed to the doctored up new versions).

[NebariNookiee]

Never-before-seen footage??? Oooooooo -- I hope it's the infamous Toshi Station scene with Fixer, Camie and Biggs. That would totally rock!!!!!

[TheBladeRoden]

So are these the original Star Wars or the CGified Special Edition?

[NebariNookiee]

Special Edition

Actually -- there's only two points in the whole of the "new" versions that bothered me --

-- The ending of Return of the Jedi -- the music just doesn't fit.

-- And my biggest complaint -- GREEDO SHOOTING FIRST!

[mrfobar]

When will George Lucas learn that we do not want his "Special" editions, they suck. I want the original 1977 release of of "A New Hope", the 1980 "Empire Strikes Back" and the 1983 "Return of the Jedi". Those are the good versions of an awesome trilogy. All Lucas has done by beafing up the special effects and changing scenes is just prove how mad he is with power.

[NebariNookiee]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Digger]

Originally posted by NebariNookiee

-- And my biggest complaint -- GREEDO SHOOTING FIRST! That pissed me off too. First of all, how the hell does he miss from two feet away!!! And secondly (and most egregiously), Greedo shooting at all takes away something from Han's character. I remember the first time I saw Star Wars. When Han shoots Greedo I remember thinking "this is not a guy to mess with". The scene as now shown makes him look weaker, less dangerous, less enigmatic. "Can't have one of the good guys shooting first!" say the PC police. "Only Bad people would do that! Kids wouldn't understand it if Han shot first and we made him out to be a hero! Sends a bad mesage!" :hork:

What a frelling travesty. How could you George?

[ChianaMuse]

:jedi:
hrm...I already have the original trilogy on DVD. :D gotta love those illegal movies that look legal enough:whoops:...my only qualm is that my copies are the infernal edition. eurgh. I hate the special addition :grr:

lucas:boom:

[BillFrugge]

Originally posted by NebariNookiee
Never-before-seen footage??? Oooooooo -- I hope it's the infamous Toshi Station scene with Fixer, Camie and Biggs. That would totally rock!!!!!

No such luck... and I've seen those scenes as well. No, the never-before-seen footage that will be added is not what you're thinking of. The footage is newly shot footage of Padme and some other additions. Hopefully, someone will shoot George before he adds Jar-Jar into them.

The good news is that George has listened to all of the complaints, and he is changing it so that Greedo does NOT shoot first. Okay, George, what about the rest of the complaints? We want our film the way we remember it in 1977!

(I have superb DVD transfers of the LD Definitive Editions -- not the infernal editions. There are 2 different variations floating around.)

[TheBladeRoden]

I want Luke's old funny lines back! "You're lucky you don't taste very good." And do something about that CG Jabba

[BillFrugge]

Originally posted by TheBladeRoden
I want Luke's old funny lines back! "You're lucky you don't taste very good." And do something about that CG Jabba

Oh, yeah... There is a change there, too. Han no longer steps on Jabba's tail.

I think the details are somewhere on thedigitalbits.com

IIRC, they're changing the music when Darth Vader first appears in order to match Annakin's theme instead of the Imperial march.

George: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You had no idea why it did so well back then, and you've got less of an idea now. You're not making it better.

[stellar]

I'm just jazzed that I don't have to waste money on the phantom menace and the attack of the clones.

[Mrelia]

I'm not buying any of the "Special" :freak: editions with their frelling cartoon additions! :grr:
I want the Star Wars I grew up with. If my tapes break down & I can't find the original on DVD, then I'll wait until after Georgie-Boy keels over and wait to money-grubbing heirs to release the "Ultimate" collection with every scrap of everything they can dig up to capitalize on the free press.

Cynical? Me??!?




As for Eps 1-3 -
I wasn't too thrilled with Episode 1, so I probably won't ever buy a copy.
I appreciated Episode 2 for the PURPLE LIGHTSABER because the mean boys I used to play Jedi with said my lightsaber couldn't orchid purple because light sabers "only come in red & green". MAWHAHAHAHA! I WAS RIGHT...IN YOUR FACE BOYS!!!!!! I think they were jealouse 'cause I was also gonna have flames painted on the sides of my X-Wing.
I'll give 3 a chance just for the creature design;) .

[frellyou]

Originally posted by mrfobar
When will George Lucas learn that we do not want his "Special" editions, they suck. I want the original 1977 release of of "A New Hope", the 1980 "Empire Strikes Back" and the 1983 "Return of the Jedi". Those are the good versions of an awesome trilogy. All Lucas has done by beafing up the special effects and changing scenes is just prove how mad he is with power.

The guy doesn't really make films anymore and hasn't for quite some time. I don't count those stupid prequels. All he's got is his silly star wars films. If you only had one piece of work to look back on and not much ahead I think you would start screwing around with your old films too. Most real filmmakers have other projects to move on to. They don't go back and start constantly tinkering with their old works.

[Twich]

Three's gonna get a BIG chance from me cause of all the Scapey connections.

Come on guys...no one's gonna go to see Wayne? Or the creatures built by OUR folks? ;)

[Digger]

Oh, I'll go see #3. Mostly for Wayne and the Hensons. #1 and #2 were just awful and I dread how they'll screw up #3, but it's become something like a train wreck. Sometimes you can't help watching.

Edited to add: I was gonna boycott it until I found out about Wayne and the Creature Shop being involved.

And something just occured to me. Farscape was (IS!) partly a project that was designed to show people exactly what the Henson Company could do outside of children's programming. I'd say it worked. Star Wars. Hitchhikers Guide. These are not small steps for them. The success of these projects could lead to even bigger and better things for Henson and the Creature Shop. Like Farscape: The Motion Picture (and hopefully Season 5!)

[fermicat]

Originally posted by frellyou
The guy doesn't really make films anymore and hasn't for quite some time. I don't count those stupid prequels. All he's got is his silly star wars films. If you only had one piece of work to look back on and not much ahead I think you would start screwing around with your old films too. Most real filmmakers have other projects to move on to. They don't go back and start constantly tinkering with their old works.

Someone (I forget who) once said that George Lucas would make movies without actors if that were possible.... which is probably why the recent movies suffer from wooden, one-dimensional characters with little development. His movies are now all about the effects, when a truly good story is all about the people.

[NebariNookiee]

I think of George Lucas as the Bill Gates of the film industry. Think about it – Bill Gates is famous for creating Windows… what else has he personally done? He basically built his empire on the back of that one product. Lucas was the same way. Besides directing the Star Wars and Episodes I, II and III – he only directed two other movies (THX 1138 and American Graffiti). His whole empire was built on the back of Star Wars.

But what an empire it is -- Whatever problems we may have with his latest products, without ILM we wouldn't have Farscape(indirectly) . They paved the way for that technology to grow and become what it is.

[vhsiv]

Originally posted by fermicat
Can't wait! The originals rocked. I do wish they'd give us the option of having them in the original form (as opposed to the doctored up new versions). Here's a link to what may be some of that footage: http://www.mastersoftheforce.com/ep456/videos/biggscut1.avi

It's an .avi file that I haven't looked at yet - it is probably best to download the file from the link, rather than try to view it in your browser...

ADDED NOTE: The above file seems to be corrupt - for me at least. There's 'something' there, but it is unwatchable.

Didn't Irvin Kershner direct 'The Empire Strikes Back (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A15750)'? And someone named Richard Marquand 'Return of the Jedi (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A41093)'. I haven't been keeping track of the newer films, but that pretty makes George 1 for 3...

[Digger]

Bill Gates is famous for creating Windows To be completely accurate, Gates created DOS. Windows was something he got from the people at Xerox PARC. They developed it. Xerox didn't know what to do with it. Gates found out about it, bought it and the rest is history.

[NebariNookiee]

Okay -- now you're nitpicking.:D But you get what I'm saying.

[Digger]

Originally posted by NebariNookiee
Okay -- now you're nitpicking.:D But you get what I'm saying. Who me? Nitpick? Nah! :D

[vhsiv]

Originally posted by Digger
To be completely accurate, Gates created DOS. Windows was something he got from the people at Xerox PARC. They developed it. Xerox didn't know what to do with it. Gates found out about it, bought it and the rest is history. To be more accurate, Bill Gates stole DOS from another, independent developer in Seattle by the name of
Tim Patterson (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&q=%22Tim+Patterson%22+QDOS&btnG=Google+Search). Gates and Paul Allen had already signed a contract with IBM to create an operating system, but couldn't deliver the goods - luckily they came across Patterson's 'Quick-and-Dirty DOS' (QDOS) and paid him $100,000 for it.

QDOS subsequently became MS-DOS, and the rest is history.

[Digger]

Originally posted by vhsiv
To be more accurate, Bill Gates stole DOS from another, independent developer in the Bay Area by the name of Tim Patterson Now that I did not know.

[vhsiv]

from http://www.chromehorse.net/rants/rants00/gates_gaffe.htmGates Gaffe

Time Magazine recently released an issue devoted to movers and shakers of the 20th century. I found an interesting little item on Bill Gates:

http://www.chromehorse.net/images/gates_txt.jpg

Interesting, isn't it? "..together they designed the breakthrough software to run the first microcomputers..."

A few points:

1. Gates was kicked out of Harvard for stealing computer time -- he didn't "drop out".

2. Gary Kildall (who employed Tim Patterson, in Seattle) designed "DOS"; Bill Gates and Paul Allen did NOT. They bought Kildall's company and then licensed the software to IBM. How nice that "history" is so enamored of material success that it begins to re-write itself. Suddenly, not only is Gates greedily, madly, insanely rich -- he must deserve it in some way!

2. The software they didn't create -- DOS -- was as much of a "breakthrough" as the Edsel. It was a piece of dated, inadequate code that couldn't even address memory above 640K for more than 10 years. The "breakthrough" was the Macintosh OS from Apple, which Gates shamelessly pillaged for Windows, and which itself stole from the Xerox lab at Palo Alto. Breakthrough? Geosworks was a breakthrough, and unlike Windows, it worked. Breakthrough? The 80386 chip was breakthrough. But Windows still runs as if it's on a 8088-- it can't multi-task or multi-thread. Breakthrough? On the same machine, Linux hums and 0S/2 throbs.

[...]

Let us pray that "history" has more regard for the truth than Time Magazine or Bill Gates.

Digger, NebariNookiee, there's actually a pretty good documentary out there by Robert X. Cringely, ''The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115398/)' (1996) that lays all of this information out in an easily digestible format - it has been broadcast on PBS a couple of times, and seems to be available on VHS and DVD.

[Digger]

Originally posted by vhsiv
there's actually a pretty good documentary out there by Robert X. Cringely, ''The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115398/)' (1996) that lays all of this information out in an easily digestible format - it has ben broadcast on PBS a couple of times, and seems to be available on VHS and DVD. I've actually seen parts of that. That's where I learned about Xerox PARC and their work developing the GUI interface that eventually became Windows. I had forgotten about the Steve Jobs connection.

[vhsiv]

Actually, that film seems to be ridiculously expensive as a retail item from Amazon, but it seems to be available for less than $20 form Ebay and Half.com - I suspect that even PBS might offer it for a reasonable price.

Here it is: Nerds 2.0 (http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1406118#related), $39.95, a 3 tape set.

http://qpbs.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPBS1-1165037reg.jpg

Alas, PBS offers it only on VHS, whereas some other retailers offer it on DVD ($$).

[mrfobar]

So getting back to Star Wars on dvd...

Where did you hear about Wayne being in the next Star Wars?
Link?

[BillFrugge]

Nerds 2.0 is not the same as 'Triumph of the Nerds.' Triumph is a good documentary, well worth the watch, and Cringely's book is also good.

It's a bit off thread, but the facts tend to vary with whomever you talk to.

Anyway, George has done some other stuff besides Star Wars. He had a hand in the Indiana Jones movies and 'Howard the Duck'

[Da-Met]

By the way, DVD versions of the ORIGINAL Original Trilogy, ripped from Laserdisc, anamorphic widescreen, chapters, and from all reports looking excellent... float around on eBay all the time.
Periodically do a search for Star Wars Original DVD and you should see them. Right now I see a few sets for 60 dollars, buy it now, one for 55, and other normal auctions that are being pushed up into the 80-90 range.. usually new ones pop up in Buy It Now for 55-60 every few days.

[Frag_You!]

Actually, George had nothing to do with "Howard the Duck." The problem with that movie was that a few of his friends were making that movie, but they needed more money to finish - the studio wouldn't budge and give them the money. So Lucas added his name on for them for an Executive Producer's credit to get the studio to hand money to them. He had nothing to do with any creative, shooting, or...any processes on Howard the Duck. So fear not.

And being spoiled as I am about episode 3....I'm gonna go out and say, right now, it's gonna be better than Empire unless the biggest screw-up of all time happens in post-production. I didn't care much for the first two, but I'm REALLY jazzed for this one. I can't wait.

[BillFrugge]

Originally posted by Da-Met
By the way, DVD versions of the ORIGINAL Original Trilogy, ripped from Laserdisc, anamorphic widescreen, chapters, and from all reports looking excellent... float around on eBay all the time.

Save your money. They're not that good.

Hint... (http://www.prillaman.net/starwarsdvd.html)

I'll let you figure out the rest...

[Farsight]

I'd say, Save your money. You can get them for free. :)

And if you look hard enough, you can find versions that look better than the LaserDiscs they come from.

I won't pay money for the "Special Editions". They're garbage. Nearly every change robs the movies of what made them great. It's sad how far these movies have fallen - I no longer even care about them, and won't go to see Ep3. Lucas can rake in his money, and his new movies will fade away into obscurity. In the future, today's kids will be showing their kids The Lord of the Rings, not Lucas' mindless drivel.

[Da-Met]

Originally posted by BillFrugge
Save your money. They're not that good.

Hint... (http://www.prillaman.net/starwarsdvd.html)

I'll let you figure out the rest...

the newest ones are not on that site (he received the DVD-R ripped from laserdisc in 2002 according to his review). The new ones have a few features on them.

That being said, his reviews of the older DVD-R Laserdisc ripped DVDs is quite encouraging. Since I wont be getting the SEs, i would consider getting those. But i dont have to cuz of the better ones!

Farsight: ???... do you mean by downloading, or??? If there's some way to get them on honest to god DVDs for free, (i have no burner), i'd love to know :cool:

[BillFrugge]

Originally posted by Da-Met
Farsight: ???... do you mean by downloading, or??? If there's some way to get them on honest to god DVDs for free, (i have no burner), i'd love to know :cool:

He's probably referring to the DrGonzo versions. Those discs are good, but, since he includes a commentary track, menus, and easter egg, the amount of space on the DVD is slightly reduced. I'm not able to do a side-by-side comparison, but both have a decent video quality. You find the DrGonzo versions either by accident, or know somebody who has them. You do need a DVD burner in order to get them on DVD, but you can play them off of your hard drive.

Despite my feelings on the butchered editions, I will buy whatever GL releases. I'm one of the freaks who have purchased all of the different VHS releases and the VCD release. Even though GL insists on ruining them, he knows that each time they release them "for the final time," people like me will fork over good hard earned cash. I think he understands that people want the original editions, and he can get more by releasing them after the SEs rather than before.

[waltersgirl]

Come on guys...no one's gonna go to see Wayne? Or the creatures built by OUR folks?

the only way George Lucas will ever get another dime of my money is if, a) someone pays for the ticket, and even then i'd have to seriously think about it, b) the new DVD is the original version and that's it, or c) when he gets licensing fees from any Star Wars books that i buy.

i want nothing more to do with him. whomever said above that GL would make an entire movie with CGI if he could get away with it...i believe that completely. and you know, if that's what he was trying to do from the outset, trying to push CGI into almost an offshoot art form, that would be interesting...as long as he was smart enough to let someone else write the scripts. the guy creates magnificent worlds. my dog can write better dialogue.

[Third EYe]

Lucas needs therapy.

[Farsight]

Actually, there's a better quality version (IMO) than the "DrGonzo" one... :)

Searching the internet should reveal some options for seeing the true original trilogy pretty easily. I'd prefer to buy real DVDs of the films from Lucas, but that apparently will never be possible, so these will have to do.

[Third EYe]

Why not purchase the LDs and an LD player, then transfer themselves yourself to DVD? This way you get what you want, and you don't break any laws.

[Kurt_eh]

This complete and utter disgrace is a few weeks old, but here goes.

(or, if it's true, why I will refuse to give Lucas a dime for the "original trilogy" dvd set and encourage others not to buy it)

From The Digital Bits (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/) Rumour Mill:

Also this morning, I imagine by now many of you have seen the altered Return of the Jedi DVD screen shot posted yesterday over on Ain't it Cool News. While some sources are still hedging their bets... yes, we can confirm that this is authentic. It IS one of many changes that are being made to the original Star Wars films for the September 21st DVD release.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/miscgfx2/jedichanges.jpg

We've been saying for months now that there were going to be changes made to these films for DVD, and while many believed us, a number of Star Wars fans have e-mailed to say we must be on crack. Nevertheless, believe it or not, we know for a FACT that several more changes are being made to these films. Trust us on this - our contacts are in positions to know. Like it or not, the films we will get on DVD on 9/21 are NOT going to be the original theatrical versions and they're not going to be the 1997 special editions either. Even Lucasfilm's Steve Sansweet has confirmed this, saying at the recent WonderCon convention that the films contained on the discs would be the incarnations of the films "as George Lucas sees them today."

It's gonna get mighty interesting in the months ahead, folks.


Dear Mr. Lucas,

Thank you for pissing on the memory of a fine actor and discgracing the memory of Sebastian Shaw, who, as you've obviously forgotten, played the "actual" person of Anakin Skywalker (sans Darth Vader suit).

I have but one question for you, since you are so into erasing the works of deceased actors from the face of the planet, why did you choose NOT to replace Sir Alec Guiness with the image of Ewen McGreggor?

I thought so... :irked:

[fermicat]

:hork:

I was hoping the DVD set would include BOTH the original version and the re-done version of each movie. Guess that was too much to hope for....

[Twich]

I'm guessing this just goes to show that Lucas has no clue what the fans would really like....

[fermicat]

And if he made the other three movies (the ones after RotJ) they would suck too.

[TheBladeRoden]

does this mean they reshot the whole "you were right Luke" scene?

[Mike0812]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/miscgfx2/jedichanges.jpg

:g2f:

George, please dude, step back from the Dark Side...you've been playin' there for too long now...

[Twich]

I can understand wanting continuity between ALL of the movies...but damn man...give it up. Anakin's bound to look a little different after decades in the suit. And it messes with what MADE you George Lucas.