Are there any preservation efforts for the Theatrical Versions of the Prequels, most importantly the Phantom Menace? I wouldn’t be surprised it there wasn’t, they’re not popular films and there aren’t nearly as many changes, let alone controversial ones. However, there are some changes, especially to the Phantom Menace, so there might be one out there, and there definitely will be one made in the future.
Does one exist? (this totally isn’t because i’m secretly in love with the old puppet yoda…)
Reading R + L ≠ J theories
I know AoTC and ROTS have a hard time restoring the film versions of their theatrical release, as there’s never been a Home release of them (they’re all based on the digital versions), and I haven’t heard of anyone acquiring a print to make use of for restoration work.
I think there’s been attempts to restore The Phantom Menace, but I can’t remember the name of the project. Sorry if this wasn’t too helpful, but I figured even a vague answer would be better than nothing.
I know AoTC and ROTS have a hard time restoring the film versions of their theatrical release…
Not ROTS. The only difference between the theatrical and DVD is a cut vs. a wipe. The DVD version was shown in HD so it is available, and the BD has the proper wipe, so a reconstruction would be very simple.
I know AoTC and ROTS have a hard time restoring the film versions of their theatrical release…
Not ROTS. The only difference between the theatrical and DVD is a cut vs. a wipe. The DVD version was shown in HD so it is available, and the BD has the proper wipe, so a reconstruction would be very simple.
Huh. I thought there were some dialogue changes in RotS like there apparently was in AotC. My mistake.
I know AoTC and ROTS have a hard time restoring the film versions of their theatrical release…
Not ROTS. The only difference between the theatrical and DVD is a cut vs. a wipe. The DVD version was shown in HD so it is available, and the BD has the proper wipe, so a reconstruction would be very simple.
Nope. The wipe, different Wookiee houses during the battle, different audio including e.g. added stormtrooper voices when they attack the tall people …
I just can’t understand the mentality behind making that kind of change. George really thought it was worth changing a wipe to a cut for the DVD, and then changed it back for the Blu-ray. What the actual fuck? Did he honestly think that there is anyone, anywhere on the face of the entire planet who would care about this? Did he really think it added to or took away anything from the film at all? True insanity. I honestly believe he has a legitimate obsessive-compulsive disorder or something, there is no other explanation.
I just can’t understand the mentality behind making that kind of change. George really thought it was worth changing a wipe to a cut for the DVD, and then changed it back for the Blu-ray. What the actual fuck? Did he honestly think that there is anyone, anywhere on the face of the entire planet who would care about this? Did he really think it added to or took away anything from the film at all? True insanity. I honestly believe he has a legitimate obsessive-compulsive disorder or something, there is no other explanation.
Don’t try to understand GL’s thinking, you’ll just go as insane as him. After witnessing some of the 1997 alterations and then the 2004 revisions: designed to make the OT fit the PT’s continuity, instead of writing the PT to work vice versa, I started having suspicions. However it was when he claimed during an interview that Han was always meant, all along to shoot second, instead of first, that I had to conclude madness has consumed him.
“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”
I know AoTC and ROTS have a hard time restoring the film versions of their theatrical release…
Not ROTS. The only difference between the theatrical and DVD is a cut vs. a wipe. The DVD version was shown in HD so it is available, and the BD has the proper wipe, so a reconstruction would be very simple.
Huh. I thought there were some dialogue changes in RotS like there apparently was in AotC. My mistake.
In the Blu Rays, yes. But not the DVDs.
Reading R + L ≠ J theories
I just can’t understand the mentality behind making that kind of change. George really thought it was worth changing a wipe to a cut for the DVD, and then changed it back for the Blu-ray. What the actual fuck? Did he honestly think that there is anyone, anywhere on the face of the entire planet who would care about this? Did he really think it added to or took away anything from the film at all? True insanity. I honestly believe he has a legitimate obsessive-compulsive disorder or something, there is no other explanation.
Uhg, there is another explanation, believe it or not George isn’t some big old crazed meanie out to get you.
This was covered around the time the BD was released in 2011; the removal of the wipe was most likely an accident, minor things like this happen extremely often when prepping a film for home video release. Believe it or not Star Wars isn’t some special case for films not getting proper theatrical releases on home video, most films have very minor altercations before releases either intentionally or accidentally, Star Wars just gets more heat for it because of the history it has with the extensive changes.
I’ve worked on several films that have had minor edits done to them between screenings and release, and it’s usually just small tweaks to certain technical aspects or something might just go weird in the rendering and exporting process and nobody picks up on it. Obviously it’s nice to have something as big as Star Wars have an actual theatrical release and I understand that as well as anyone else around here, but minor things like the wipe removal in ROTS are actually very common practice for just about every film when making the transition between theatres and home video.
I’m not trying to excuse George’s weird behaviour when it comes to altering his films, but putting him on blast for something that was more than likely a simple mistake or in his/the editor’s mind a minor “fix”, is just silly.
Indeed. It seems like it’s simply a mistake in this case. Adding and removing Luke/The Emperor’s scream from ESB is a much better example of his indecisiveness.
JayArgonaut said:
However it was when he claimed during an interview that Han was always meant, all along to shoot second, instead of first, that I had to conclude madness has consumed him.
Yeah, this was total BS. Han shooting first is so much more consistent with his cavalier attitude. This change bothered me the most out of all SE changes because it actually changed the very core trait of an important character.
As for the prequel changes, I think George is just never happy. If he had someone else write and direct we would have something different (and IMHO much better), but it also would have let him let go. He has that famous quote about films never being completed, just abandoned. I think he always feels like he has the need to “correct” or finish previous work, even if the changes are so inconsequential - to him he has “done something”.
Indeed. It seems like it’s simply a mistake in this case. Adding and removing Luke/The Emperor’s scream from ESB is a much better example of his indecisiveness.
The fact that he literally just sped up and looped the Emperor’s scream for that addition makes it one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments in the trilogy, well in 1997 anyway.
I was a little self-conscious coming on here asking if there were any way of obtaining the original theatrical versions of the prequels, worrying that it may be considered some sort of blasphemy to like them. Regardless, being as obsessive about original releases as I am, I do hope to eventually get these films the way they were originally seen. I know RU.08 has been working on The Phantom Menace, which is not the easiest undertaking.
What annoys me is that Attack of the Clones literally has a few seconds of extra dialogue that wasn’t in the theatrical release that Lucas just felt he had to put in even though there’s a perfectly nice Deleted Scenes section on the DVD (and later Blu-Ray). This isn’t much, but it’s just enough to make it a different film than the one shown in theaters. Hopefully this would be a significantly easier fix than going through TPM and taking out the extra shots from the pod race and reinserting the original puppet Yoda along with the other aggravating difficulties.
Anyway, if anything comes along, I’m all ears. Thanks.
What annoys me is that Attack of the Clones literally has a few seconds of extra dialogue that wasn’t in the theatrical release that Lucas just felt he had to put in even though there’s a perfectly nice Deleted Scenes section on the DVD (and later Blu-Ray). This isn’t much, but it’s just enough to make it a different film than the one shown in theaters. Hopefully this would be a significantly easier fix than going through TPM and taking out the extra shots from the pod race and reinserting the original puppet Yoda along with the other aggravating difficulties.
For reasons that have been described in a few of the other threads on the same topic, AoTC is actually the more difficult one. There are a few shots which do not exist as in the theatrical version, except on film (though the digital theatrical release did have the updated robotic hand, so that could be considered fair game). To get it perfect, the scene you describe with the additional dialogue also needs to be modified. To insert that dialogue, they shortened the shots before and after.