logo Sign In

4K restoration on Star Wars — Page 205

Author
Time

Are you kidding? All people sell at booths like those are bootlegs. Why do you think this should be the line drawn in the sand? That’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it always will be. Either you’re a noob to conventions or never bothered to check out those types of booths. None of it is official, even if it’s been officially released.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

digitalfreaknyc said:

Are you kidding? All people sell at booths like those are bootlegs. Why do you think this should be the line drawn in the sand? That’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it always will be. Either you’re a noob to conventions or never bothered to check out those types of booths. None of it is official, even if it’s been officially released.

I’ve been to a horror con a few times in recent years, and it’s a mix of legit titles, region free discs of unknown origin, (at least to me) and then bootlegs of films that have never seen a legit release, and workprints. All really depends on the seller.

The bi monthly comic con I used to attend up in L.A. back in the 90’s was the Mos Eisley of bootlegs though. Got my first copy of the Holiday Special there. A smaller local con I attended in 2002 had at least one seller brazen enough to be offering an AOTC VHS bootleg that was probably shot off a theater screen.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

Author
Time

SilverWook said:

I’ve been to a horror con a few times in recent years, and it’s a mix of legit titles, region free discs of unknown origin, (at least to me) and then bootlegs of films that have never seen a legit release, and workprints. All really depends on the seller.

The bi monthly comic con I used to attend up in L.A. back in the 90’s was the Mos Eisley of bootlegs though. Got my first copy of the Holiday Special there. A smaller local con I attended in 2002 had at least one seller brazen enough to be offering an AOTC VHS bootleg that was probably shot off a theater screen.

But that’s what I’m saying: it’s not “brazen” in the least. It’s commonplace and expected. That’s the way it’s always been.

Author
Time

Yeah I mean lots of people are lazy pieces of shit it’s nothing new.

Author
Time

Possessed said:

Yeah I mean lots of people are lazy pieces of shit it’s nothing new.

I wouldn’t call them lazy pieces of shit but ok.

Author
Time

For profiting off of the work somebody else did for free without their permission and potentially putting them at risk? Yeah I’d definitely call them a lazy pos.

Author
Time

Goatboy said:

Fang Zei said:

Goatboy said:

towne32 said:

Right. We are not giving them directions or writing a contract. We are hoping to raise awareness and increase discussion, and despite low chances of success, hoping that we might get some kind of information. A comment that is less worthless/ambiguous than the recent Kennedy interview.

If, someday, they release a 2k OOT (first of all, I would still be thrilled), it won’t be because, "hah! You ****ers should’ve specified 4K! Gotcha!"
I know people still feel burned about GOUT, but that didn’t happen due to a misunderstanding.

I don’t think Lucasfilm will release the theatrical releases on Blue-ray, at least as long as Kennedy is president. Because of her relationship to George Lucas and him appointing her president, she doesn’t want to touch what she sees as “his movies”.

And if it does ever happen, it wont be until 2020, when Disney gets the distribution rights to Episodes 5 & 6.

Getting Star Wars fans talking about it can’t hurt though.

She wouldn’t be doing anything to his movies, though. She would simply be including the original versions alongside his versions. EDIT: crissrudd beat me to it.

Welcome to the forums, btw!

Thanks for the welcome 😃

Lucas has said that, to him, the original releases don’t exist anymore, the current versions are THE movies and he talked how he wants that to be the only version that people see and how eventually all the VHS tapes of the old version will burn out and be thrown away. He underestimates the power of the internet and passionate fans.

So it seems to me like Lucas doesn’t want people watching the theatrical releases, and Kennedy is going to honor his wish.

But Kennedy is 63 years old, and will retire or change jobs within the next decade or two, so the new blood that steps in could have a different stance.

It will likely be John Knoll stepping up as CEO of Lucasfilm, once Kathleen retires.

Author
Time

John Knoll who was the inspiration for the Special Editions, showing George Lucas how easy it was to create CGI on his Macintosh !

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

Author
Time

That doesn’t necessarily mean he was showing George so he could erase the movies as they originally were though.

Author
Time

Yeah I don’t know if Knoll would be good or bad. I mean, the original film (and a chance encounter that led to him hanging out with the ILMers in '78 or '79 at their model shop as a wide-eyed teenager) is what led him down his career path to begin with.

And while his cgi hobby may have led to the SE’s, he’s also the guy who PAINSTAKINGLY recreated the original cg Death Star plans on his own time (which ended up in R1). And he also came up with the idea for Rogue One.

Author
Time

Was it actually someone else’s idea other than George to make changes to the movie (even if it was just re-doing a dozen or so shots with cgi) or were Muren and Knoll simply George’s enablers?

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Fang Zei said:

Was it actually someone else’s idea other than George to make changes to the movie (even if it was just re-doing a dozen or so shots with cgi) or were Muren and Knoll simply George’s enablers?

“George said, ‘As long as we’re going to re-release Star Wars, I always wanted to do more in the sequence at Mos Eisley [the metropolitan spaceport of Tatooine] because the town didn’t appear large enough.’ So we went back to expand Mos Eisley, and then to do matte paintings of the Sand Crawler and Jabba the Hutt’s lair. The initial scope of it involved just two dozen shots.” - visual effects producer Tom Kennedy

“I remember first hearing that they were going to re-release the movies in anticipation of the new series of films. A few weeks later, I heard that George was going to add some scenes that he had always wanted to do, and fix some things up. I felt we could improve the matte edges on some shots that had been done at the last minute—particularly those involving explosions. But there were also a number of shots in the space battle where the movements just weren’t right. If we could smooth them out, the action would have more clarity, and viewers would be able to follow the movie a little better. I suggested digitally re-doing shots in which the models were moving incorrectly.” - Dennis Muren

(I started gathering sources for a History of the SE years ago, kind of missed my 20th anniversary deadline, eh?)

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

Author
Time

I’d like to see that history if it’s ever finished.

Author
Time

I don’t think linking to the homepage of this site is a good idea. Have any of you seen the homepage? It looks like a defunct niche website from 2007. It says ‘news’ and the newest thing isn’t from this decade… no offense of course.

Author
Time

Technically the newest thing is from 2015, but your point still stands. It needs an update.

Author
Time

The Bull’s Eyed Womprat said:

I don’t think linking to the homepage of this site is a good idea. Have any of you seen the homepage? It looks like a defunct niche website from 2007. It says ‘news’ and the newest thing isn’t from this decade… no offense of course.

Yeah already mentioned somewhere, the letter will probably go up there

Author
Time

Mocata said:

The Bull’s Eyed Womprat said:

I don’t think linking to the homepage of this site is a good idea. Have any of you seen the homepage? It looks like a defunct niche website from 2007. It says ‘news’ and the newest thing isn’t from this decade… no offense of course.

Yeah already mentioned somewhere, the letter will probably go up there

Couldn’t we just make a page specifically for the letter instead of putting it on the main page?

As I recall, that’s exactly what we did for the most recent petition.

Author
Time

Is the long version of the letter still an option?
If so, how about changing this:

We live in an era in which even “bad” movies are respected enough to be meticulously restored and made publically available.

… into …

We live in an era in which even “cultural less important” movies are respected enough to be meticulously restored and made publically available.

Rogue One is redundant. Just play the first mission of DARK FORCES.
The hallmark of a corrupt leader: Being surrounded by yes men.
‘The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly.’ - V.E.S.
‘Star Wars is a buffet, enjoy the stuff you want, and leave the rest.’ - SilverWook

Author
Time

True, there is a difference between “bad” and “less significant.”

A good example is John Carpenter’s The Thing. It’s not as culturally significant as Star Wars and yet it’s recieved two different blu-ray transfers.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

The Bull’s Eyed Womprat said:

I don’t think linking to the homepage of this site is a good idea. Have any of you seen the homepage? It looks like a defunct niche website from 2007. It says ‘news’ and the newest thing isn’t from this decade… no offense of course.

We know! We know! It does help us avoid any Imperial entanglements though. And yet we still got flooded with new kids after TFA came out. 😉
I’ll bug the heck out of Jay to insure it’s updated in time.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Dear Disney and Lucasfilm,

Today being the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, we just wanted to ask:

When will you properly restore and release on Blu-ray the original theatrical versions of the original Star Wars trilogy?

Please don’t leave us hanging. We would buy such a release in a heartbeat, if it existed.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
The staff and members of Originaltrilogy.com


Tossing my own version in the hat. Feel free to take out the “if it existed” part if you think it will read better.

Author
Time

Fang Zei said:

NeverarGreat said:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=star wars unaltered trilogy

Some info on when people have searched for ‘Star Wars unaltered trilogy’.
In short, there were small spikes in 2006 and 2011, then people cared a whole lot right when TFA came out, then cared a bit less when Rogue One came out.

So I’d say it’s obviously a good idea to create a stir when it coincides with a major movie release or a blu-ray/4K release of the OT.

Rian Johnson is not a fan of the SE if this tweet from January of 2011 is any indication:

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/23164864209887232

Granted, this was still more than three years before he was hired for Episode VIII, but I’m sure his feelings on the matter haven’t changed.

People were still replying to this more than four years later in August of 2015. It might be worth replying to it and/or liking it and/or retweeting it on the 25th.

I mean, he never deleted it so…

I’m sure Disney would rather no know he said that, and his opinion has probably “changed” in the wake of getting hired.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

Author
Time

Any big anniversaries coming up in the next 7 days?

I know. I’ve given up hope too. 😦

Author
Time

Cedric T Sealion said:

Any big anniversaries coming up in the next 7 days?

I know Star Wars Insider will put out their next issue by then. Apparently it’s about the 20th Anniversary of the Special Editions.

😦

Author
Time

Writing an article about the 20th anniversary of the SE while also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original movie is actually a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.

It’s the biggest acknowledgement that the films have been changed since … well, since they were changed.