Originally posted by: yanksno1Originally posted by: Mike OWe're going to get fine DVDs of the OOT as part of a retrospective collection, you mark my words! I will not be palmed off with these September Discs!
Initially, I thought so too. I thought that LFL was using these discs to see if anyone would buy the OOT and then maybe they would remaster it for the 30th anniversary boxed set. Now, well, I'm not so sure. Apart from Sanwseet (who is really just parraoting what the higher-ups tell him anyway), there seem to be other signs. "We have no plans, now or in the future, to restore the earlier versions." And then there are all of the comments being made about how the real prouduct is the SE and this release is for people who don't care which versions they get and don't want to buy the boxed set (which makes absolutely no sense). Then there are Lucas's comments, however. "It's just the original versions as they were. We didn't do anything to them at all (No, you bloody well didn't.). We're not sure how many people want that. Now we'll find out whether people really wanted the originals, or whether they wanted the mproved versions. It will all come out in the end." So many people are probably going to avoid this release, that Lucas can easily say, "See? There is no demand for the original versions." And even if they do sell well, it doesn't gaurantee anything. He could just as easily say that now the minority who wanted the OOT have what they've wanted. We're passionate, but we're a minority (though perhaps a growing minority). Maybe all of the passion in the world can't change the fact that 2+2=4. Maybe Ozkeeper's brutally honest pessimistic/realistic post just rattled me. But this looks like the final nail in the coffin for OOT fans. Lucas appears to have won. There is the ray of hope of the discs well and the 30th anniversary. But my optimism is waning at this point. I guess that all we can do now is cross our fingers. I'm not giving up, but at this point, I just don't know what to do.
What's he going to say? "I'm releasing this crappy set with the OOT to persuade people who never bought the 2004 sets (since I have so many sitting in storage unsold), but just know there's a better set coming in a few months for the 30th anni." That's going to persuade a lot of people to buy them. The thing I look at this is the timing of it all. If this was the last set ever released, why wouldn't he wait till the 30th anni in a few months? It makes no sense to me other then they have a bunch of unsold 2004's sitting in storage and this is a new way to get rid of them. That's all. There should be a line on some gambling site on the chances of the uber set being released next year for the 30th anni, which I'm still banking on that happening.
This whole thing doesn't make any logical sense. Something here doesn't add up. The comments from LFL and Sansweet state that this was just an attempt to release the SEs individually. But the marketing campaign keeps streesing that the originals will be in the set, as though that is the reason to buy it. Then there are the conflicting reports. "We have no plans, now or in the future, to restore the earlier versions (they're the originals guys)." Then we have Lucas himself. "It's just the originals, as they were. We didn't do anything to them at all (no, you certainly didn't). We;re not sure how many people want that.
Now (notice this word) we'll find out wheter people
really (that word was italicized in the original interview) wanted the originals, or whether he wanted the improved version." Now, here's the interesting part. "
It will all come out in the end." Now, this could mean an number of things. Lucas could just be talking to here his own voice. In other words, it might not mean anthing. It could mean that he wants to appease the minority (from his point of view) who want the OOT so that we will shut (which we of course won't until we get a release that treats the films with the respect which they deserve). There is, however, a third, very remote possibility. Perhaps, just perhaps, LFL were going to releae the films individually and then decided to include the originals to test the waters to see if there is a market for these versions, possibly for the 30th anniversary? Of course, LFL might have also just attached the OOT to sell the discs of the SEs, and really have no plans to include the originals ever again. And then there is the bizzare possibility that the latter was the original plan, and the former has become a side effect. There's just something here that doesn't add up. God willing, the situation will work out well. Maybe Ozkeeper's post and the Comicon situation just exacerbated the problem or put up in black and what what I already knew. I don't know yet. But come the 30th anniversary, if the discs aren't in it, which I for some reason doubt that they will (which is the opposite of what I thought a mere few days ago), then I just don't know. Maybe it will be over and maybe not. This whole thing is so confusing. But I have this nagging feeling that, with this release, Lucas has blown the doors on the situation wide open, and with Mark Hammil and, most particulary, Gary Kurtz, having a go at him in the press, it seems that, at the very least, this release has made a bit of noise, although whether that is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. I guess that it depends on how pessimistic or optimistic you want to be. All that we can do now is wait and hope. Again.
Besides, they need to clear out the old stock so they can have an excuse to fix more problems and have a new release for '07. And by problems, I mean not fixing the matte lines or miscolored lightsabers, but adding dinosaurs to more scenes. And spaceships and characters from the comicbooks and video games. You know, his 'original vision'.
! I was just saying that this release was either a really good sign or a really, really bad one. I guess we'll just have to wait. I hope that you're right about a good release coming out, and hopefully soon. Do you think that there's a chance of seeing it in the 30th boxed set, or no? just curious. Now if you'll exuse me, I'm going to go lift my spirits by watching