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pawnshopsign

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Join date
24-Sep-2004
Last activity
5-May-2006
Posts
9

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Post
#206748
Topic
The Official 2006 Discs Will Be No Better Than What We Have!
Time
All right, listen, I think everybody's looking at this a little backwards.

The image quality isn't the real issue. Yes, with the information we have, it's basically going to be a Laserdisc port. Laserdisc -> DVD does look good, so it will obviously look better. I'm sure there will be more than a small boost in quality. They're not going to give the OT the same treatment they gave the 2004 release. But, that doesn't matter. I hope they leave it as alone as possible. Less of a temptation for Lucas to mess with it.

But none of this is really the point. I'm seriously considering boycotting these new releases as well, but not for picture quality or anything like that. Think of it this way:

Studios put a DVD box set on the market. Let's take the Alien Quadrilogy. It's out for about a year, it sells a bunch, then sits on shelves and the sales start going down, naturally. Then Fox puts out the exact same discs with the exact same content, only in individual releases. Nothing's different about them, they're just repackaged and you can buy Alien without buying Alien Resurrection. This is EXTREMELY common, if not the standard.

Lucas is doing the same thing here. This was planned from the very beginning. But, with Star Wars, you run into a problem.

First, there are VERY few people out there who are going to buy one of the original Star Wars trilogy without buying the other two. Even if you don't like Return of the Jedi that much, even the most causal of fans wants all three. So, everyone who wanted them has already purchased a box set.

Second, there are the people who didn't buy the box set in the first place because it doesn't contain the Original Theatrical Versions and certainly aren't going to buy the individual releases for the exact same reason.

So how do you get people who already own the films in their newest incarnation AND the people who won't go near it in the first place buy the new individual releases?

That's right, add the original versions as "bonus material."

Read the official press release closely:

"In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film."

It's no different from releasing a movie in a new edition with more extras after the bare bones has already been out a while. Only, this time, Lucas has one hell of a "bonus feature" that no Star Wars fan could resist. Short of making The Star Wars Holiday Special extra material, this is the holy grail of "bonus features."

It's still a victory for anti-cinematic revisionsim. The original films WILL be out there in the DVD format, that's a moderate success.

But, it's a very underhanded and sneaky "fuck you" to the very fans that made Lucas what he is today. It's the most brilliant way I've ever seen to get people to buy something they already have, whether it's the 2004 editions or bootleged Laserdisc DVD-Rs. Star Wars is Lucas' own private financial institution. The fans are his ATMs. This is just another trip to the bank.
Post
#68171
Topic
tr47 bootleg artwork help!
Time
Yes, the TR47's are incredible. I saw some of the new set playing on a TV at Costco yesterday, and I was actually pretty unimpressed. The screenshots online look amazing, but presented on a nice big screen, in 16:9, I really wasn't that blown away by it. There's more detail, to be sure, but the TR47's/Definitive Edition laserdiscs look WONDERFUL. They now sit nicely, with artwork, in my DVD collection.

I have the THX-1138: SE coming from Netflix soon and I'll definitely be posting a full review of that. I have a bootleg of the original THX, as well.

-Chris
Post
#66938
Topic
tr47 bootleg artwork help!
Time
Hello. I read the forum regularly, but I finally decided to join. I received the TR47 bootlegs yesterday and I am VERY impressed. Highly recommended, very cool.

He sent me the artwork, which is fantastic, but I'm at work at the moment and I left it at home...I have a very high quality printer here and I'm looking for the artwork online. Does anyone know where I can find it, or can anyone email it my way?

Sorry to join and then ask for help, I promise to actually post in other discussions now, honest!

Anyway, the TR47 bootlegs are fantastic. They look and sound wonderful, much better than my VHS tapes.

-Chris
Post
#66966
Topic
lifestyles of the rich and insane
Time
I agree with you Starkiller, it's not really a specific comparison. I've just never seen a filmmaker do something quite like this before, so it's more about money than all of the other variables. While Britney may not exactly have control over her music, etc., wealth brings a lot of power. It seems like these examples, and others, become more selfish with more money and lose touch with the (quote-unquote) "real world."

But, yes, all other comparisons between George and the others don't really exist.

Although Britney as The Supreme Leader in Captain EO would have been...interesting...

-Chris
Post
#66947
Topic
lifestyles of the rich and insane
Time
I think Lucas is losing his mind. This isn't just about the theatrical cuts vs. newfangled things, etc. He's seriously exhibiting behavior that suggests to me that he's losing his mind, billionaire-style.

All right, let me explain myself. Michael Jackson got really famous, really quick. His money supply was practically limitless at times. What happened to him? Well, unfortunatley, he completely lost his mind.

We'll take another pop star example, Britney Spears. She became very famous and very rich very quick. What is beginning to happen? She's starting to lose her mind. If you actually followed the day to day news stories on her (but, honestly, why should you?), you'd see that she's lost touch with all reality. She's in her own little world.

I believe the same has happened to Lucas.

This guy had talent. He created some of the most well-known and loved films in history. But, I think we should have started to worry around the time the Star Wars Christmas album came out. Though, honesly, what do you get a Wookie for Christmas if he already owns a comb? Oh, love and understanding, true.

Howard the Duck...we can excuse that.

Then those Special Editions came out. I was a little bewildered. Sorry, ILM, but you're *still* no good at CGI, even today. That was terrible.

Now, the 2004 editions. And now, possibly most insulting to me, at least, the redux of THX-1138, which took an absolutely brilliant, terrifying, claustrophobic film and added explosions, car chases and sweeping futuristic vistas, completely ruining the idea of confinement and uncertainty.

So, no original versions of those films ever. He said it himself in the interview with CNN, "they're out there on VHS, [the fans] can get them there." Jerk!

Then his statement on colorizing films...

Honest, guys, he's losing it. He thinks that all this CGI looks good (it doesn't), the new films are good (they aren't) and Hayden Christensen can act (he can't).

I don't think it's senelity, I don't think it's stupidity, I just think all the power and money has gone directly to his head and he's living in a CGI dreamland.

Lucas, I love you, please come back to us. Make these artsy movies you've been threatening us with for so long. Give me just one reason to believe you're not insane.

Sorry for ranting, I don't mean to upset anyone. If you read all of that, thanks. Off to my bootlegs...

-Chris