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Make your voices heard! (again) - re the 2006 GOUT DVD being in letterbox format

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 (Edited)

Hey guys, I’ve been reading the various threads and have mostly stayed quiet just waiting to hear the details of the new releases for the OOT from Lucasfilm. But now with the news it’s only going to be letterboxed, well I think it’s time for our voices to be heard (again). I’ve actually have felt about writing this previously to this news, as I’m not happy that we’re just getting re-releases of the 2004 versions. I don’t mind buying those sets again (with the OOT), but I really want the issues (ie, lightsaber color, soundtrack, etc.) fixed. I also feel Lucasfilm should give us a $40 rebate for those that have bought the 2004 set to go toward these limited edition sets (if they’re just re-releases). I’m weak for buying that set, I know that LOL.

I feel now’s the time to make your voices heard. Instead of all the bitching, take the time to do something constructive. Voice your opinion to Lucas. Perhaps if he gets enough letters, calls, etc. he’ll change his mind (even though it’s a long shot). Hopefully with the dvd industry, they’ll persuade him even more. I plan on writing a letter to him, first thanking him very much for finally releasing the OOT on DVD. But then I’m going to show my disappointment in the reported news of it only being in letterbox format and not 16x9 widescreen. I wrote a letter back in 2003 voicing my displeasure on his announcement of him not releasing the OOT in DVD and did receive (probably a copy letter) back from one of his secretaries. The address I used then was:

George Lucas
c/o Lucasfilm Ltd.
PO Box 2009
San Rafael, CA 94912 USA

Is this the most recent address? Don’t know if it switched.

Besides the 2 problems with the 2004 (I listed), what were others?

I also feel this is part of his mater plan. He knows he’s running time to make a profit for the OOT on DVD with the new HD wars coming up. It also seems to be an odd time for him to finally release the OOT on DVD, with the 30th celebration (wow, I’m actually going to be 30) next year. I find it very hard to believe he won’t have a big box set (w all the extras that we didn’t get on DVD yet) next year as well. Hopefully for that set, we’ll get the OOT DVD in 16x9. I suspect for whatever format wins the HD war, we’ll eventually see a release for that. So we probably have at least 2 more releases to go (on different formats).

But at least in the mean-time I still plan to write Lucas and hopefully persuade him to release this set in 16x9 for us. If he gets enough letters and calls, who knows?

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I'm with you, I just posted about it in the other thread. I know there's another address, and it'd probably be better to address it to Jim Ward, VP of Marketing, than it would be Lucas.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Why dont we wait until we know its not anamorphic.

Cause all we have is rumors. I mean did you all write to Lucasfilm when it was "confirmed" that Leonard Dicaprio was cast as Anakin?

I'm concerned too but i dont think this rumor is true. Lets just wait and see.
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Here's the thing:

it doesn't hurt to send them a letter or drop a voicemail at this point. if Hunt is wrong (which he rarely is, I can only think of once) then all these calls and emails will simply be reinforcement that going anamorphic was the right decision.

but if Hunt is RIGHT, then this is the window to get that changed. It's a pretty small window. Sitting and waiting just means the window is closed and our opportunity to seriously alter the outcome has passed by.

I'm not saying they need to mail Lucasfilm flaming bags of dogshit. But a letter or a call to the offices stating that putting this thing out non-anamorphic is not a good decision isn't going to hurt.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Jim Ward
Senior Vice President
Lucasfilm
P.O. Box 29901,
San Francisco, CA 94129.

or:

Jim Ward, Senior Vice President
Lucasfilm Ltd.
5858 Lucas Valley Rd.
Nicasio, CA 94946
Phone: 415-662-1800
Fax: 415-448-2495
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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I just called Lucasfilm at the number listed by The Bizzle. The number reaches the operator, and when you ask for Jim Ward's voicemail, you will get his secretary's, Erin Haber (sp?).

His title according to her VM message is actually "President of Lucas Arts". Perhaps, he's not the one to contact concerning this?
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He's also senior Vice President of Lucasfilm. Since he's the one making the announcements on this set, he IS the one to ask for. Contact that guy, and let him know. Going after George isn't going to work.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Jim Ward fills both positions. He became president of Lucasarts a while ago, while keeping his position as head of marketing at Lucasfilm.
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He's also the producer of the new dvds...
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Cool. Good to know. Thanks everyone.

Now, how do we make sure we have enough people on board to make this thing effective given the relatively short time frame?

You know, so we don't simply look like the lunatic fringe (though I'm sure Lucasfilm would listen to them if there was money in it).
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I dunno..if you have an account at TFN, post this info there in a thread or something. Or whatever other Star Wars forum you visit. Or regular movie forum. Do as Neil (and to a lesser extent, I as well) does: Just wallpaper the internet forums. Movie boards, geek boards, game boards, anything like that. If you visit somewhere and you know people like to talk Star Wars there, Say "Here's his contact info--leave him a voicemail telling him the LD transfer idea is stupid and we want an anamorphic transfer."

You'd be surprised how many people will get a look at this. The ideal is to get this on the front page here and have Bill Hunt at Digital Bits post the number himself and ask his readers to also call and/or mail.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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What's Chud? (yeah, I'm a newbie).

I just posted to a few threads on StarWars.com, though.

Here's the basic post:

"Sounds like a lot of you are concerned about the original, unaltered trilogy on DVD, too. Jim Ward is producing the September release.

Let's call, write letters and post this contact info across the web! If it is true that the movies in their original form will not be anamorphic but only letterboxed (www.thedigitalbits.com/#emp), then we've relatively little time to make our voices heard.

Jim Ward
Senior Vice President
Lucasfilm
P.O. Box 29901,
San Francisco, CA 94129.

or:

Jim Ward, Senior Vice President
Lucasfilm Ltd.
5858 Lucas Valley Rd.
Nicasio, CA 94946
Phone: 415-662-1800
Fax: 415-448-2495

Tell him that merely letterboxing the movies will not get us to buy this release. Tell him that we will only be satisfied with anamorphic treatment of these irreplaceable pieces of film history.

For more contact with other concerned fans:
www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=2&threadid=5382&STARTPAGE=1"
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Thanks. Feel free to steal it if you want to post it other places.

BTW, what IS Chud?
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It's a movie news website. I also emailed Quint at aintitcool (he's already vented about this anamorphic thing once) and asked him to stick that contact info in his current news story on the front page of the site.

Also, from what I can understand, you can also reach Sansweet at that number.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Better safe than sorry. Nice work. Thanks for the info on Chud. Glad to hear about AICN, too.
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Well, no one on Chud is really paying attention (most of the discussion in the thread I posted to involves defining what "ANAMORPHIC" even is) and Quint hasn't looked at his email, so there's no guarantee that info IS going to be posted in his article.

But It'd be cool if it was.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Yeah, it would be cool. The more people who know about this, the better.

I received one reply on StarWars.com which said it was probably too late in the game to make any changes, but if we all had that perspective, then there wouldn't even be the chance of letting Lucasfilm know how uncool the apparent DVD plans are.