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Is it Lucas, or Fox, who has prevented the restored OOT release? — Page 2

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Just my own anecdotal opinion, but I’d say the percentage of the general movie watching population that even knows about the changes is low. I’d even go further to say the percentage of actual Star Wars fans that care about the changes is also low. The unaltered originals are not commercially available. George’s version is in 4K UHD and streaming digitally. I’m sure he feels history has successfully been rewritten.

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Back in the 1980s Lucas warned us about the dangers of digital technology being used to alter classic films for the historical record. Now he’s illustrating that danger by his own example.

“That Darth Vader, man. Sure does love eating Jedi.”

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Nien Nunb said:

Fated-Dualist said:

'Mr. Lucas said that to release the original versions of these films on Blu-ray was “kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good.”

“You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally,” he added. “It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.”
 

I still find it hard to imagine George saying all this with a straight face. Even he has be aware of how stupid this sounds. Despite no longer being in charge of Lucasfilm, I’m sure by now he also has to be at least somewhat aware of recent fan preservation efforts and the significant advancements that have been made since those statements, which have completely disproven his argument.

Keep in mind we are talking about the guy who in 2012 was insistent that Greedo “always” shot first with the confusion being the original had the sequence in closeups. Sure George.

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crissrudd4554 said:

Nien Nunb said:

Fated-Dualist said:

'Mr. Lucas said that to release the original versions of these films on Blu-ray was “kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good.”

“You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally,” he added. “It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.”
 

I still find it hard to imagine George saying all this with a straight face. Even he has be aware of how stupid this sounds. Despite no longer being in charge of Lucasfilm, I’m sure by now he also has to be at least somewhat aware of recent fan preservation efforts and the significant advancements that have been made since those statements, which have completely disproven his argument.

Keep in mind we are talking about the guy who in 2012 was insistent that Greedo “always” shot first with the confusion being the original had the sequence in closeups. Sure George.

George also forgot about the original scripts and novelisation being quite clear that only one person at the table got off a shot from their blaster… and it sure wasn’t poor Greedo 😃

The FE Renegades thread; from the people who post ‘go kill yourself’, ‘fuck you’, ‘let’s throw abuse’, and more at OT staff & members. Four years on and still throwing accusations, slurs and abuse at the OT & anyone outside their Salacious Crumb filled clique. + FE Discord “to vent” more at the OT. Wook’s take.

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“The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.” George Orwell

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The news from the far reaches of the galaxy is that J.W. Rinzler will be hosting a live YouTube event on July 1, 2020 at 11am PST called Everything Star Wars. No questions off limits. This would be a good time to ask about GL and the OOT.

“If it ain’t workin’, eat sugar.”

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And hopefully ask the ultimate question in a coherent manner. 😉

If they take questions from the text chat thingy, stuff is going to scroll by at lightspeed though.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

And hopefully ask the ultimate question in a coherent manner. 😉

If they take questions from the text chat thingy, stuff is going to scroll by at lightspeed though.

My dear Silverwook, you are not suggesting that anyone create an ‘OT-BOT’ to bombard JW with questions are you? 😁

“If it ain’t workin’, eat sugar.”

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No, but if as many of us as possible were in the chat and ask the same question? But is Rinzler in any position to know or comment on it?

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

No, but if as many of us as possible were in the chat and ask the same question? But is Rinzler in any position to know or comment on it?

He may know GL’s position on whether the OT should be given a high quality release, but may not be able to comment.

Hopefully he can explain why his Star Wars blog had to be withdrawn (we can guess, but it would interesting if he gave more details) and also confirm whether his ‘Making of the Force Awakens’ book will ever be published.

“If it ain’t workin’, eat sugar.”

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Any cost or technical excuse is bullshit, because they could literally just scan, minor clean, and time an IP or seps (of which there most certainly is at least one) and most all of us would be happy. Disney could do that with their eyes closed.

TV’s Frink said:

I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.

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JW Rinzler has updated his Twitter feed to confirm he will discuss:

Force Awakens book — why canceled
Rise & Fall of SW — why blog taken down
GWL’s onion
Marcia Lucas interview discussed
SW-related book TBA
And more… (plus — mumbling!!)

😀

“If it ain’t workin’, eat sugar.”

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Starting Soon

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?!

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While it was interesting, it barely covered anything. All the questions seemed to be beforehand asked/selected. I’d love to hear the full Marcia interview, that would be so great. It would be nice to know what she thinks about the prequels or if he and George have been in touch at all etc.

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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LexX said:

While it was interesting, it barely covered anything. All the questions seemed to be beforehand asked/selected. I’d love to hear the full Marcia interview, that would be so great. It would be nice to know what she thinks about the prequels or if he and George have been in touch at all etc.

Unfortunately he did not address the OOT question. I didn’t realise questions had to be sent via Twitter.

However, regarding Star Wars in general, he said as much as he could without putting himself in legal peril. There are comments in the Youtube video that some will use as fuel on the fire regarding Disney and the sequels.

The Kazanjian book sounds interesting. Two versions on the way.

“If it ain’t workin’, eat sugar.”

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Womp rats! The day they have something like this where questions aren’t screened in advance Tatooine will freeze over. 😕

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Where were you in '77?

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The tweet linked to in this thread from last week specifically said “tweet me your questions” or to send them to his website.

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If any of the current rumors are true (KK out, Favreau in, retconning the ST, etc.) does anyone think we might get an OOT release? IF Disney is actually taking this seriously and is wanting to appease some of the angry fanbase, I think that would go a looong way. Just call Mike Verta and ask him to finish up his restoration. 😄

SSWR’s YouTube channel

Attack of the Clones: Alternate Timeline Edit Thread:
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/SSWRs-Attack-of-the-Clones-Alternate-Timeline-Edit/id/66888

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The current rumors aren’t true, they’re sourced to a known bullshitter and being further spread by a farmer of clicks.

Disney isn’t looking to appease an “angry fanbase” because the fanbase they’re worried about (which is exponentially larger than the group of people who hawk YouTube and Reddit comments sections) isn’t angry at all.

Mike Verta’s restoration is vaporware. It will never come out. It was never going to come out. Lucasfilm was never going to buy his restoration for release.

An OOT release, if it happens, will be a bonus feature on either Disney-Plus (most likely), or on a future box-set run at very limited numbers (less likely), numbers too small to be seen as any significant measure of “appeasement,” and it won’t be prompted by some desire to “appease” fans, since it’s been 20 years of them knowing there’s a segment of the fanbase who actively desires this, and it didn’t matter. And in the meantime, that segment of the fanbase has only continued to shrink.

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^ and yet demand for the preservation projects of them remains very high - probably as high as it ever has been.

This is especially the case with so many bootleggers making big profits from illegally selling Harmy’s, adywan’s, and TN1’s (and others) projects - with eBay and other sites reluctant or not interested in doing much at all to stop it ($$$).

As I said in my early days on here… when you ask anyone from Lucasfilm what the question they get asked about the most is… and they’ll tiredly answer with a variation of ‘when are the original versions coming out?’

^ It is the same now as it was 15-20 years ago.
 

Just with thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of fans, all with Harmy’s Editions on their shelves or computers.

Many of them would still jump at the chance to buy an offcial release of the classic version - if done with the care, attention and quality it deserves. As would many others, including those who’ve proably never even seen the original version or know much about them.

50 Cent is just an imposter

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Nobody said there aren’t thousands of people who want to buy it. I’m one of those thousands.

But thousands isn’t enough. And it’s not hundreds of thousands, either. Bootleggers aren’t making “Big profits.” Just plain ol’ profits. Kind of. Probably not any more notable than any other bootlegger anywhere is making by burning torrents to blu and throwing that up on eBay. It’s not a lucrative hustle.

The demand seems high because we’re us, and we’re the ones making the demand, and we’ve been making it for 20 years. But we’re obviously not a priority to Lucasfilm. It’s why our preservations are left alone. It’s not because we’re secretive, or careful, or because we only upload to the most private of trackers, or anything like that. They’re left alone because we’re not competition, because our numbers aren’t enough to give very much consideration to.

We’ll know when an OOT is finally getting officially released because that’s when everyone’s fan-project is going to get shut down. Until then we’re a niche of a niche that isn’t worth bothering with.

Which is fine because with 4K, D+, and Despecialized, we dont’ really need to bother with them, either. The only thing an official release can get us now is corporate validation and that doesn’t really matter much, if at all.

Either way: These dumb rumors aren’t signs of anything but the rumor mill still working the way it always has. Nothing we’re hearing has anything to do with whether or not Disney and Lucasfilm decide to make the OOT available as a bonus feature for anything in the near future. That decision, if/when it’s made, will be made for reasons that have nothing to do with “appeasement” or money. Hopefully it’ll get made, but to continue believing there’s a way that “The fans” can make this happen doesn’t seem prudent, to me.

The fans have shown they’re better off making what they want to see themselves.

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I wasn’t talking about rumors - just the demand for the OOT.

Big money is obviously subjective. In the context of certain bootleggers selling hundreds of sets on certain sites for £40, $50 ot $80 - and we’ve all seen multiple sets go for $100 or more on ebay. Given the profit margin on these cheaply made sets… and the numbers sold over a period of 5 ot 6 years now by just a handful of the known bootleggers… that’s big money (to me, anyway). Many officialy released films haven’t likely sold as well over that time. So it is indeed quite lucrative - the bootleggers seeing all the profit - unlike an official physical media release does.
 

The demand is actually high for the OOT because people still want them - and still ask Lucasfilm about them; obviously, that’s not just us. That Lucasfilm don’t respond to the requests anymore is on them - and does not negate the demand.

(Maybe they still feel burnt with their claims back prior to the 2006 GOUT release about the demand, and what they actually released in the end? 😉)

 

As for the ‘And it’s not hundreds of thousands, either’ - you’ll likely find it is. I’m not just talking about the bootlegers, but also the many who’ve downloaded it on public torrents, private torrents, usenet, dodgy download sites. Many of which have made additional dvds or sets for friends, colleagues and family, or just helping other out online, like people have one here.

That one guy who set up his server claimed over 11,000 downloads, and if I remember correctly he only offered that free service for less than a year. Then, you have the same again for the NJVC sets, and again the differing version releases of Despecialized… where a good percentage have likely re-acquired them to get the latest version.

It all adds up. It may not be figures you may think or want - yet they are there, and significant - far more than just us on this site or similar like-minded other sites - as demonstrated above.

50 Cent is just an imposter

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“The demand is actually high for the OOT”

It isn’t. Sorry.

“As for the ‘And it’s not hundreds of thousands, either’ - you’ll likely find it is.”

No, I likely won’t. The numbers aren’t hidden. Everyone knows what they are. Heck, you’re even noting that many of those downloads and bootleg purchases are double-and-triple dips by people who already got previous versions. There’s a post on this forum that features almost everyone who contributes here talking about the 5-6x they’ve bought the official OT. That doesn’t make the number of us bigger in the way you’re trying to make it look. It simply calls attention to how habitual our number is.

The numbers are known. And the numbers aren’t even really the point, because even when the numbers were large enough (and had yet to be hurt by the overall negative taint the phrase “Star Wars Fandom” now conjures up) to possibly justify making Lucasfilm answer our requests, it didn’t happen. Again, is this about the movies, or getting some sort of corporate validation after all this time? Because corporate validation doesn’t matter much. It probably shouldn’t. The OOT’s aren’t a “reward” for our vigilance. Especially not in the face of what’s happened since people realized they were going to have to do it themselves. Our reward is 1) the community and 2) the results of that community’s work to provide for itself in the ways the corporation wouldn’t. That’s a double-edged sword (or saber) of course, but such is life.

The numbers don’t matter outside of whatever feelings of security and validation they might provide in knowing you’re not alone in wanting this thing. I’m part of those numbers too. We’re not alone, and I never said we were. I never said anything about our numbers beyond that they’re obviously not enough by themselves, and they’re shrinking. And that total isn’t worth much beyond the cold comfort “We’re not alone” provides if they don’t translate into an official release, and they’re not going to. That official release, if/when it comes, has nothing to do with how many of us are out here, because it’s not a question of supply/demand, and hasn’t been for a very long time.

I’ll be happy if/when it ever happens, but I’m happy now, too. Because I don’t put any weight, validation, or satisfaction on whether or not Lucasfilm ever comes around. I don’t need to anymore. Honestly, I didn’t need to back then, either, haha.

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Facts don’t cease to exist because they are ignored 😉

The demand is there - as stated previously… ask anyone from Lucasfilm, now or over time in the last 15-20 years. The demand is there as demonstrated by the popularity of Despecialized, 4KXX and other OT preservation projects over time - whether illegally sold or acquired for free (as they should be).

The casual Star Wars fan would likely buy such as a set, and even film fans in general. Evne if they didn’t it is the type of thign that gets bought for you by firend and family on Chrismtas or Holidays and Birthdays etc.
 

When you use “The demand is actually high for the OOT” without the rest of… “because people still want them - and still ask Lucasfilm about them; obviously, that’s not just us. That Lucasfilm don’t respond to the requests anymore is on them - and does not negate the demand.” you can, and will, it seems… change the context.
 

“corporate validation?”, ““reward” for our vigilance.” - I don’t know what this means (the full part of what you wrote about). I’ve never mentioned that, just highlighting that demand you have an apparent issue with.

I’ll leave it here, as you’re now bringing up statements that I dont’ know what you’re on about - and this isn’t a thread to derail from the OP’s topic.

50 Cent is just an imposter