I personally like the prequels. They're not flawless by any means, but I enjoy them and watch them regularly. Also, I sit down and watch the 2004 SE set from time to time. Again, not flawless, but I like 'em for what they are regardless. I also have the Clone Wars cartoon, Ewoks movies, Ewoks and Droids cartoons and even R2-D2: Beneath the Dome, all on the official release DVDs.
In short, I love Star Wars. I will watch pretty much anything that comes out because the characters and story are still interesting to me. It's just the way I am and I figure if it ain't hurting anybody, then what the hell does it matter?
But I still want the original Original Trilogy. It's what I grew up on, it's what I remember, it's what shaped me as a kid and helped me be the man I am today.
When they were wheeling my wife into the surgery room to perform a C-section because there were complications during the birth of my daughter, I was understandably freaking out while I stood alone in the hospital room, waiting for a nurse to come in and escort me in to be with my wife. As I stood there, exhausted from having been awake for the last 72 hours, already running on reserve energy and cigarettes, I just thought to myself, "Now, what would Luke be doing in this situation?" Cheesy and a bit stupid? Of course. But the point is that this perfect calm and clarity came over me. I had spent my entire like watching the adventures of this farm boy growing into a man and learning to control his inner darkness in his fight against the shit life threw at him, and I was finally able to take something from that.
I wasn't thinking to myself "man, when Luke was falling down that shaft in Cloud City, screaming like a school girl the whole time...” I was thinking about the strength and purpose of the characters I had grew up watching… the strength they’ve shown since 1977. The strength they showed before Lucas went in and started messing around with who the characters were, not just what was going on around them.
"Great, Reb... but what's the fucking point already?"
Well, that is the point. That's the whole freaking point of this fight to get the OOT. They aren't just movies anymore. They were the catalysts for the dreams and imaginations of a whole generation. I’m not saying they owe us the movies because we own them in some fashion… far from it. I’m saying that they owe us the movies because of the responsibility they’ve taken on by doing something so influential in the first place. Their legacy has become the icon of a generation.
I can’t hate Lucas for what he’s done and what he’s doing, because he gave that to me. But I can sit back and sadly shake my head at what the man has become. He may still put out some entertainment from time to time that I can enjoy where others may not, but he’s lost touch with something, somewhere.
I’ve always maintained that the OOT would see the light of day again. I’ve argued the point until I was blue in the face and had plenty of evidence to fuel my conjecture. Now it turns out that I was right… sort of. We’re getting them, but they’re being shipped to us with none of the respect they deserve. A transfer from a laserdisc master, in non-anamorphic widescreen would, quite honestly, be fine for me. I just want the movies. What upsets me, however, is how this whole thing is being handled. Packaged with the ’04 editions? I already have them. Extras disc? These are movies… not cut scenes. Best way to present them without spending ‘too much money’? Lies, obviously, as I can pop a number of DVDs in my collection into my player right now and show you bits of the OOT in a gorgeous anamorphic transfer.
So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not buying them. I had originally planned to get them because I wanted them, and despite what Jay might say about “some people will buy any crap that’s thrown at them”, or a number of others claiming “fanboy” toward anyone willing to shell out more money to the Lucas Money Machine, I wanted them because it was pretty damn close to what I had asked for. Lots of features that other’s clamor for were never on my list of demands because what I wanted were the movies themselves… not a list of special features.
But as I sit back and look at what Star Wars really means to me, it becomes clear that my love for Star Wars is exactly why I won’t be buying this set. I bought the prequels because I didn’t have them, and I wanted them. I bought all those other DVDs because I didn’t have them, and I wanted them. But there's something different here: I have these movies. Laserdisc transfer? Yeah… got that already. I have the Star Wars I love and there’s nothing new being offered in the upcoming release.
It’s not that I’m insulted with what they’re doing here. Some may be, and I fully understand that sentiment, but personally I couldn’t care less…
…it’s just that with the personal importance I place on Star Wars, I look at the upcoming release and think, “Sorry, I’m just not interested.”
Well, that was pretty much everything that’s been going through my head recently. I’m sure it made little sense overall, but hopefully there’s someone out there who can see what I’m trying to say and maybe it’ll let that person know that even the “fanboys” are on your side on this one.