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Well at least the reversed surround channels have been addressed.
New DVDs NOT 16x9 — Page 4
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Originally posted by: The Bizzle
Jim Ward
VP of Marketing,
Lucasfilm
P.O. Box 29901,
San Francisco, CA 94129.
or:
Jim Ward, VP of Marketing,
Lucasfilm Ltd.
5858 Lucas Valley Rd.
Nicasio, CA 94946
Phone: 415-662-1800
Fax: 415-448-2495
Jim Ward
VP of Marketing,
Lucasfilm
P.O. Box 29901,
San Francisco, CA 94129.
or:
Jim Ward, VP of Marketing,
Lucasfilm Ltd.
5858 Lucas Valley Rd.
Nicasio, CA 94946
Phone: 415-662-1800
Fax: 415-448-2495
According to this, Jim Ward is now the President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd.
Neil
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You still gonna push on for the boycott or you gonna try and take part in this one?
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A janitor or maid at Lucasfilm came upon some employees as they were working late into the night, trying to make the best home video release of Star Wars ever. She saw it on a TV -- either 4x3 or 16x9, it doesn't matter -- and noticed the black bars at the top and the bottom. (Remember, 16x9 is not the OAR of Star Wars, so even an anamorphic transfer on a widescreen TV will have a letterboxing effect.) Thrilled at her newfound "insider" status, she immediately leaked this information, but she knows nothing about video encoding or display, so she isn't entirely clear about what she is leaking. Then, like a game of Telephone, the news gets twisted and distorted until it hits Digital Bits, who erroneously report that the new DVDs will not be anamorphic.
In the event that my hopes are dashed, I will have a fun time arbitrating between the "Boycott inferior goods!" and "Support superior goods!" facets of my personality. But if I buy it, and it's not anamorphic, I will consider it faulty and freely download any future versions of the trilogy as upgrades to a recalled product. Sue me, George.
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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Originally posted by: eros
And your going to watch them on a crt that can only show half the resolution at any one time whether anamorphic or not.
really?
when did a 92' screen and projector become a CRT?
please dont be so iggnorant and think that everyone is just like you in this world... it gets you nowhere...
Originally posted by: eros
So, what percentage of Joe public do you think won't buy this because it's not anamorphic?
And your going to watch them on a crt that can only show half the resolution at any one time whether anamorphic or not.
really?
when did a 92' screen and projector become a CRT?
please dont be so iggnorant and think that everyone is just like you in this world... it gets you nowhere...
Originally posted by: eros
So, what percentage of Joe public do you think won't buy this because it's not anamorphic?
personally that depends on what you mean by Joe Public..
if they are a moderate Star Wars fan and would just like to own it on DVD then im sure tons will buy it regardless if its anamorphic or not...
but then thats saying they are not into home theatre, movies, DVDs or just has a general knowledge of picture differences..
then there are star wars fans who will only buy the anamorphic set...
so the Joe Public your talking about is basically someone who has a very minimal interest/knowledge in movies/DVDs, doesnt own a home theatre, does not collect DVD's, is not a Star Wars fan and would just like to own them on DVD...
in that case im sure 10% maybe 15% and thats being generous will buy any shitty edition Lucas releases..
i'll give you that...
i think im past the bitter point with many fans at this point...
i think the only time ill be happy is once he's dead and can no longer screw with his fans...
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Again,
Jim Ward, Senior Vice President
Lucasfilm Ltd.
5858 Lucas Valley Rd.
Nicasio, CA 94946
Phone: 415-662-1800
Fax: 415-448-2495
give it a ring. it DOES work.
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Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker think the only time ill be happy is once he's dead and can no longer screw with his fans...
Jim Ward is in charge of this and it looks like he may have screwed us over with a non-anamorphic transfer so...
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Originally posted by: Jay
Call me crazy, but I kinda thought the whole point of the petition was to demonstrate the market for the theatrical cuts.
There's no way I'm giving Lucas more money as a demonstration of my undying loyalty to Star Wars. Seriously, if this news turns out to be true, fuck him.
Excuse me while I go watch Return of the King.
Originally posted by: THX
It's good news any way you look at it. Until May 3rd we all thought LFL might never release the OUT. Now they are, it demonstrates they're interested in making money from it. All we have to do is demonstrate that they can and subsequent releases will be better.
It's good news any way you look at it. Until May 3rd we all thought LFL might never release the OUT. Now they are, it demonstrates they're interested in making money from it. All we have to do is demonstrate that they can and subsequent releases will be better.
Call me crazy, but I kinda thought the whole point of the petition was to demonstrate the market for the theatrical cuts.
There's no way I'm giving Lucas more money as a demonstration of my undying loyalty to Star Wars. Seriously, if this news turns out to be true, fuck him.
Excuse me while I go watch Return of the King.
I totally agree Jay.
In fact change the home page of OT.com back to how it was with an added caption "Mr. Lucas...we'll inform you when you have REALLY released the original 3 Star Wars Theatrical releases on DVD! Try again buddy." - OT.com members
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May 17, 2006
Jim Ward
Senior Vice President, Lucasfilm
P.O. Box 29901
San Francisco, CA 94129
Dear Mr. Ward:
I’m writing on behalf of any fan of Star Wars who has been waiting nearly ten years for the original versions of the trilogy to be released on DVD. All we’ve been asking for are the best possible preservations on the most modern format, currently DVD. A new 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, no digital enhancements, one of the original sound mixes, all done with care to preserve film history. I’m writing this because, even though Lucasfilm has announced the release of the unaltered trilogy on DVD, we do not believe we’re getting the best possible preservation.
I am an immense fan of Star Wars – I have been since 1995, when I first saw the pan-and-scan VHS tapes from the eighties. I fell in love with the characters, the story, the music – everything. Then, in 1997, I was excited that the films were being released in theaters again. So, I went to see Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in the theater for the first time. I was eight. Even then, every time something different than I remember came on the screen – the “improved” Mos Eisley, Cloud City, or Jabba’s palace; Jabba in Star Wars, the new ice monster in Empire, or the bird-beaked Sarlacc in Jedi – I thought, “Why? Why did that need to be changed?”
Seven years later, after its conspicuous absence from the most modern format, the Star Wars trilogy was finally released on DVD. Needless to say, I was as excited as when the excellent original versions of the Indiana Jones films were released. As I watched the films, however, I discovered to my horror that they were the 1997 Special Editions. But, worse than that, they had further alterations, to the point of replacing the original actors!
Don’t get me wrong – George Lucas has every right to do whatever he wants to his films. They’re his property, not mine or anyone else’s. However, he has no right to suppress the original versions – they should be preserved in the best form possible. Currently, that best form is DVD. Needless to say, I was excited when Lucasfilm recently announced the release of the original, unaltered trilogy on DVD. I’ve been following the news of this release closely.
Many complain of the lack of 5.1 sound, which doesn’t bother me in the slightest – 2.0 surround is perfectly acceptable. I’d prefer the original mono mix for Star Wars, along with the original stereo and six-track (4.1 on DVD) mixes for all three, but the 1985 or 1993 stereo remixes are just fine. Others complain that you have to buy the 2004 editions again to get the originals. Again, I don’t mind. But one recent rumor brought forth by a respected DVD news site has me and many other fans extremely upset: the apparent lack of an anamorphic transfer.
I, and many other Star Wars fans, own a widescreen TV. I own many DVDs, the vast majority of which are anamorphic, or 16x9 enhanced, or any other name you wish to describe it by. A few, however, are not. Watching these non-anamorphic DVDs on a widescreen TV is near torture – the quality is horrible. Even on a 4x3 “fullscreen” TV, the difference is startling. If these releases are truly non-anamorphic, it will be a stab in the back to all the Star Wars fans you’re trying to appease.
It seems to me that this may be Lucasfilm’s – or, more specifically, Lucas’ – attempt to show the “high-quality” Special Edition transfers (though those are plagued with problems that I won’t get into here) against poorly-done laserdisc-master transfers of the originals, to prove that “his” versions are better. If this is so, I urge you to persuade Lucas to reconsider. He can release his saga sets with the prequels and his versions of the originals as many times as he wants, as long as the unaltered originals are available in the highest possible quality alongside them.
I strongly urge Lucasfilm to take the same care with these releases as Universal did with E. T. That release should be Lucasfilm’s model for the new Star Wars DVDs – a good-quality, anamorphic transfer, with no alterations to the original print. If such care is taken and the quality of this release is to today’s standards, bootlegging will stop and fans will no longer complain. But if the release is a sub-par, non-anamorphic former laserdisc master, the bootlegging will continue and fans will be just as adamant as they have been since 1997 about getting the original versions in the highest possible quality.
Sincerely,
[NAME REDACTED]
Suggestions? Good? Bad? Too damn long?
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it was well written.
I'd call, too, just because. And also--if anyone can dig up Steve Sansweet's contact information--since he's head of fan relations, he might be a good person to yell at.
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Originally posted by: ChainsawAsh
Suggestions? Good? Bad? Too damn long?
Suggestions? Good? Bad? Too damn long?
Like Bizzle said; the last paragraph says it all.
If anyone wants to steal this blurb I wrote and posted on StarWars.com, feel free:
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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Take back the trilogy. Execute Order '77
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MTFBWY…A
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I also PM'd Bill Hunt over at the HTF, and asked him on the boards to do the same. Hopefully that will happen, and that will help, as well.
Again, thanks Jay.
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"...The news is absolutely true by the way. We've confirmed it specifically with reps of both Lucasfilm and Fox. It is no rumor.
What you will, in fact, be getting on the second disc in each of these new 2-disc sets (unless something changes dramatically and soon) are transfers of the original films that were done for the 1993 "definitive collection" laserdisc box set release. (By way of confirmation, Lucasfilm's Jim Ward had this to say about the transfers in the recent USA Today story: "It is state of the art, as of 1993, and that's not as good as state of the art 2006.") Great. Thanks. Swell.
So the transfers, and the technology used to produce them, are MORE than a decade old. Of course, they're going to be digitally cleaned up a bit, and even a non-anamorphic transfer is going to look better in digital video on DVD than the same transfer would when presented on an analog laserdisc. Colors are going to bleed less, detail will be a little sharper. There's also apparently an additional bit of tweaking being done, because Episode IV will feature the original 1977 version of the opening crawl (sans the "Episode IV" text) which has NEVER been released on home video before, save for in excerpted form in the 2004 Empire of Dreams DVD documentary (which, we feel strangely compelled to point out, WAS ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN). In any case, the bottom line is that the transfers we're getting on DVD are old and they're non-anamorphic. The video resolution and quality is going to pale in comparison to the look of most other widescreen films on DVD.
It's been reported previously that when Lucas went back to the original negatives of the Star Wars films in the mid 1990s, they were found to be in bad shape. Such bad shape, in fact, that had they not been restored immediately, the films could have been lost forever. So restoration is exactly what Lucas had done. Except that when he was creating the new 1997 Special Edition versions of the films... he cut the original negatives. So the original negatives of the theatrical versions no longer exist. Okay, we knew that. But what's the big deal? What about the original interpositive prints? What about high-quality release prints? Why can't Lucasfilm just use either of those elements to do a new transfer for DVD?
Well... at the same time as he was preparing the 1997 versions, Lucas apparently went on a little tear and recalled every release print of the theatrical versions that he could get his hands on, and he had them all destroyed. Which means that when Lucas said back in 1997 that the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars films no longer existed, he was serious. He apparently tried hard to make sure of it.
Nonetheless (and thankfully), we know for a FACT that beautiful dye transfer prints of the original versions of the films still exist in private hands, and that additional copies are preserved in a number of film archives around the world. What's more, Lucas would have been foolhardy if he didn't keep the original interpositives carefully stored in a climate-controlled vault for preservation's sake. Come on... of course he did. No one is THAT stupid that they'd just trash all the original elements of the films that made them rich beyond the dreams of avarice. In any case, neither the man himself nor senior Lucasfilm executives are willing to admit to that they exist, because as Lucas has said many times in the past, "They no longer exist."
So what are we left with? Either the films truly don't exist anymore, so it simply isn't possible to give them to you in state of the art quality (unlikely in the extreme, despite public and private statements to the contrary)... or Lucasfilm DOES have copies of the original versions in their vaults, and they're just unwilling (or too damn cheap) to spend the money to give them to you in state of the art quality... yet.
If the former is true, there can be no future anamorphic release of the original versions on DVD, and there can be no high-def release on the new Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD formats. Laserdisc is as good as it will ever get for those original theatrical cuts. If, on the other hand, the latter is true (and we believe it is)... Lucasfilm's greed is truly boundless."
Reckon that's a pretty ballsey thing for the Bits to write, and hopefully other respected film-ralated sites will follow suit. Luca$ has just sunk to new levels of suck-dom with this.... tried to destroy all copies of the original trilogy?!? WTF?!?!? It just gets worse and worse doesn't it.... Also seems like they ARE 'reconstructing' the title crawl to slip into the LD masters footage from '93 which also sucks. Original Theatrical Versions my ass..... screw this release unless something changes....
I just hope we AT LEAST get the 'clean' LD transfers i.e. before they used all those AWFUL digital noise reduction processes which resulted in image smear, shimmering and so forth. Actually this could explain why no anamorphic transfer as it would just show up these faults in greater detail. Wonder where the documentaries on the Empire of Dreams got their anamorphic original trilogy clips from......? No money was spared there to give them to us in high quality, so why not this release?!?
George? You've finally lost this fan...
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Carry on watching your LD caps instead of buying LFL's releases then....
Yeah right, I say bullshit. 99% of the people whining in here will be like excited little 8 year olds on 12th Sep running down the store the night before to be first in the queue.
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This is getting ridiculous.
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I agree with what RATLSNAKE said.
And at this point, Star Trek is starting to sound like a very appealing franchise to me, even in the pathetic shape it's in now. Never liked Star Trek, and no offense to those here who are fans. Star Wars is so completely in bonkers-land now, I may jump ship for a lukewarm fandom aboard the USS Enterprise, LMAO.
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