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Lucasfilm lunch hour

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I just want to lay out a different way to look at it, based on what I have read in and between the lines. This is purely my speculation and is not intended to suggest inside knowledge.

Imagine that there are people working at Lucasfilm who have the best interests of the Original Trilogy at heart. They want to see the movies given not only the best possible home video release, but also fully restored theatrical treatment. Let's call two of these people "Jim Ward" and "John Singh" for the sake of argument...

INT. LUCASFILM WATER COOLER - DAY

JIM: We've got to get the Original Unaltered Trilogy restored to its former glory.

JOHN: Yeah, but how? You know George will never agree to it. He wants the Special Editions to be the ONLY editions.

JIM: I'll just march into his office and tell him we need to do it, for the sake of history.

JOHN: You wanna get fired?

JIM: Well, what do you suggest?

John looks over his shoulders to make sure no-one is listening in, then leans in and whispers into Jim's ear.

CUT TO:

INT. GEORGE LUCAS'S OFFICE - DAY

JIM: George, I've got a great idea - let's release the Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD.

GEORGE: Ha ha ha ha ha. Okay, so do you really have an idea or not?

JIM: I'm serious. Did you see how many people signed that petition at originaltrilogy.com?

GEORGE: Original what? Look, Jim, you know we pulled the negs apart for the SE, do you have any idea what it would cost to do the necessary restoration? And you know I don't want those versions out there.

JIM: It doesn't have to cost a dime. We can just make them from the '93 video masters.

GEORGE: Are you crazy? They're not even anamorphic! No-one releases letterboxed discs these days. Anyway, I don't want people buying them and thinking they own Star Wars. The Special Edition IS Star Wars. Don't forget that.

JIM: That's right, which is why we'll package them as bonus discs with the SE. That way it will be clear that the (ahem) enhanced edition is the one, true Star Wars.

GEORGE: Well, I don't know...

JIM: And we'll be able to get sales from a sector we haven't reached with the SE discs.

GEORGE: Sales?

CUT TO:

INT. LUCASFILM WATER COOLER - DAY

JIM: John, you're a genius. It happened just the way you said it would. Consider yourself promoted: I'm making you an official spokesman.

JOHN: Thanks Jim, but remember this is only Phase 1. When this thing sells like hot cakes, we have ammunition for the HD restoration.

JIM: The fans are gonna love us, we'll go down in history. I can't wait to log in to originaltrilogy.com after I make the announcement...
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That's kind of how I see it too. The only bad guy here really is Lucas.

People boycotting this DVD release (even though I understand why) is going to hurt us. We need to see these sales do extremely well. Amazingly well. And even though our complaints are logical and founded, how are we going to let Lucas really know that the OOT disks are the ones we want?

I've pre-ordered mine. I know that they aren't great, but I'm not buying them because "I need them." I have a bootlegged copy. I'm buying them in the hope (and the investment) that a HD disk will come out.

Sure the e-mail response lady said that "it will never happen." But so did people who said that the OOT would never be on DVD. And yet...it will be, in September.

My DVD purchase is an investment and with every investment there is a calculated risk. I'm willing to shell out $35 for the 3 movies, crap-vision or not. I'm not happy with the quality, but my money speaks louder than my letters. Who else but the OOT fans are going to buy this? So when that $$$ sound goes off another tally goes up for "who here wants the OOT on DVD?"
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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Jenny, you're doing the right thing. Just because LFL does the wrong thing doesn't mean we all should to. And just like the official SE, the official O-OT will sit untouched in my collection while I watch my own SE edit or while I watch the X0 project. If they try to sue, I can say "for what? I bought it, and I'm not pirating it."
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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I really wanna boycott all things Lucas at this point, but I can see a slight positive to purchasing the sets as well. And this is funny too. If it is a case where they have 2004 editions that they need to get rid of, and part of this is a repackaging thing, then it will be hilarious if people send the 04 discs back. Lucas sells them, and gets them back. He STILL can't get rid of them! Anyway, in my mind, since I'm so pissed off about the whole thing I'll just happily imagine George sitting on a mountainous pile of SE dvds that he can't get rid of for the life of him. I'm talking Uncle Scrooge McDuck style sitting on his piles of gold in his vault. Lucas can sit his ass down on piles of shitty 'special motherfucking editions'.
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Yo know if we had the resources, i'd love to go to the stores on day of sale and just give away OCP's DVDs saying "These aren' official but they sure as shit look better than the crap you'll be paying for. have a nice day."
There's good in the Original Trilogy, and it's worth fighting for.
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
http://www.myspace.com/harlock415
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[quote]People boycotting this DVD release (even though I understand why) is going to hurt us. We need to see these sales do extremely well. Amazingly well. And even though our complaints are logical and founded, how are we going to let Lucas really know that the OOT disks are the ones we want?[/quote]

They're going to have to sell amazingly well, or not at all. Anything in between will send a mixed message that LFL is free to interpret however they want, and in that case, ego may trump greed. I know which way I will be tipping the scale.
"It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." -- Tom Shales on Star Wars
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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We hoped that releasing those “original” movies on a bonus disc would be a way to have some additional fun with the debut of the movies as individual DVDs. We certainly did not want it to become a source of concern or frustration for any of our fans. Read: we are surprised, we honestly thought you guys would be pleased.
The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition. Read: it would cost a lot of money to restore the Original Trilogy properly.
So many fans have requested the original movies, we wanted to find a way to bring them to you. But since these movies do not represent George's artistic vision, we could not put the extraordinary time and resources into this project as we did with the Special Editions. Read: but since these movies do not represent George's artistic vision, we could not put the extraordinary time and resources into this project that we would like to.The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material.
Read: which is the only way we can release them right now as George has not approved a full release.We want you to be aware that we have no plans – now or in the future – to restore the earlier versions.
Read: he will probably never approve a full release.We hope you will understand our decision and, again, want to let you know how much we appreciate your interest and enthusiasm.
Read: we did what we could to give you what you want, honest!
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Originally posted by: Scruffy
They're going to have to sell amazingly well, or not at all. Anything in between will send a mixed message that LFL is free to interpret however they want.



I know, and that is the sad thing. I've heard from other people at other various boards, and personal friends of mine at the university that they ARE going to buy these DVDs (mostly because they held out in 2004 or have only bootlegs).

All or nothing is what we have to work with, and since so many people already (including myself) are planning to buy them it seems like the "nothing" option really isn't going to work (not with so many people getting this set).

It's like we are all on a SE boat and we need to go all Poseidon on it's ass. To the port side is the September release, to the starboard is the "do nothing" release. We can't tip this boat over if we evenly devide ourselves on deck. And since I see more people filing over to the port side railing, that is where I'm going to throw my weight too to tip this damn thing over.


EDIT: And yes, I also do plan on mailing back the SE disks that will come with this release. Just so I know for sure that Lucas has gotten at least one message that the OOT is all that I wanted. He loves those disks so much, well, he can have them.
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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Nicely written, THX. That's what I'm thinking too, basically. There are people working in Lucasfilm that are as passionate about seeing the OOT restored as well as possible, but they aren't being allowed to do so and I'm sure there are plenty of unhappy people at the Ranch, too, speaking to each other about it in hushed tones.

And yes, the more we talk about it, the more sense it makes that these September sets must sell very well if there's any hope for future, better restorations. No harm in buying them, keeping the "bonus" discs, then sending back the SEs (in resellable or unresellable shape is another thing people can't agree on) along with a polite note.

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I'm new here. I've been lurking a while, but late developements have made joining up necessary. What I think this site needs, and quick, is a unified response. There seem to be many differing points of view on how best to deal with this latest news. This is not good. We need to send Lucasfilm a response to shake them to their foundations, and we ALL must be behind it 100%. I suggest we have a vote on what our response should be, and then we send that out LOUD and clear to Lucas. Whether we, as a group, decide to buy the discs and send the SE discs back, or not to buy them at all, should be decided right now. Before the announcement of the discs and subsequent news that we were basically getting a 'official bootleg', we were all unified in simply wanting the original trilogy on DVD. I dont think it occured to anyone that it would be necessary to specify that they be high quality. Now things have changed. Lucasfilm needs to know that we will not take this sitting down. They need to know that if they go ahead with this, _______ will be the consequences from the hardcore fanbase. Who agrees?
“We like to think that we are very particular, because we’ve done about a hundred movies now, and we strive to make our output pristine. So to work with a guy like Lucas is fabulous because he’s got his head in the same place, pristine.”
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Originally posted by: Obiwampa
"I dont think it occured to anyone that it would be necessary to specify that they be high quality."
I don't know if this is right, but I figure it was assumed by many since the site began that if they did release them on DVD, it would be at least up to current DVD standards, which we know they aren't going to be.
"Now things have changed. Lucasfilm needs to know that we will not take this sitting down. They need to know that if they go ahead with this, _______ will be the consequences from the hardcore fanbase. Who agrees?"

Yes, action still needs to continue instead of walking away defeated, but in the end, it's all up to one man. If he finally caves in and gives us what we want someday, great! If not, we'll just keep on putting that bug in his ear that we don't care if some of the effects are dated, or that continuity may be ever so slightly flawed, etc...we still love the OOT and just want them to get a treatment deserving of their legacy.

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Thanks Shim, IJ, ADM, skye, Scruffy & Ripplin for your positive responses to this thread.

Obiwampa: I don't think you'll get a unified response on the questions of buy vs. boycott or sending the SE discs back - everyone has different opinions. I honestly don't think the September release can be changed at this point, anyway. But I still think we should look at it as something positive. I used to think the OUT might never be released, and now it will be. I like to think it was due (at least in part) to Jay's excellent petition. The way forward seems to me to be to agree what OUT fans want in the future and make a new petition based on that. If it worked this time, it could work again. Okay, so it might take a few years, but so will the HD disc format war.
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The entire fate of the OOT is spelled out for the next year: it will bomb, and it will never ever be released again, becuase Lucas deliberately made it letterbox to make one last stab for the kill. Then the OOT will be gone for good.
SW trilogy RIP
5/25/77-12/31/06
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Ripplin, are you talking to me? Expressing our concern to the media will not work because 95% of all mainstream media is under the slavery of right-wing corporate synergy, and they sure love profits! Bootlegs cannot fill this void because even the Dr.Gonzo set has missing footage! Nothing can stop Lucas from destroying the originals now, because "free-market economics" will eventually villify him, when the true reality is that the motherf****r is so stubborn to refuse to even doing a 5min anamorphic transfer, which the entire DVD industry uses now and would be essential as writing essays in college.

Don't worry, Im just venting some anger. At least I have the originals on VHS which I bought in 1997...
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95% of all mainstream media is under the slavery of right-wing corporate synergy

The RIGHT wing controls the media? That's a new one for me...

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People boycotting this DVD release (even though I understand why) is going to hurt us. We need to see these sales do extremely well. Amazingly well.


I don't buy that. DVD purchases aren't investments. They're product. I pay for something because I want the product inside. I don't buy something in the hopes that a couple years down the road I'll finally get a chance to PAY again for what I wanted in the first place. SCARING me into a DVD purchase doesn't work, because DVD's aren't important enough (for as much as a film enthusiast as I am) to SCARE me into parting with my money. I wrote something similar at the HTF, but here's the general idea, as I see it:

In this instance, the movie I'm buying comes with a movie I already own and has been offered one more time after I already bought it, and the quality of the movie I REALLY want is sub-standard. Besides which, I already essentially OWN a copy in that sub-standard quality because the release is 13 years old.

If the only reward, for me, is that maybe in the future I'll get a return on my 20-30 dollar investment, essentially getting what I paid for a year or two down the road, then that's not much of a reward. That'd be like buying a movie ticket and then being told that MAYBE that movie will play 2 years later, so check back then.

Assuming how this is going to work is dangerous, because no one really assumed we'd get this. Ever. Maybe some of you did, but that's not really the point. There's also no guarantee that everyone buying this is going to mean they'll release it again. You could just as easily dream up a scenario where Lucas says "Well, look how many people bought that. See. Now they've got it. We dont' have to sweat it anymore. it sold like hotcakes so most of the people who could have ever wanted it now have it. They're happy. moving on."

It's just as easy to paint the picture that everyone buying it could ALSO mean it'll never get released again. It's just as speculative and specious.

The only thing you should be basing your purchase on is whether the product they're offering you is worth it FOR YOU. Don't buy it thinking it's an investment into later purchases you might make. That's essentially consumer blackmail. Eventually it's just going to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

and not to derail the thread into something political, but take a look at who owns what media outlets and then look at what their political affiliations are. Then look at the ownership of most major corporations and note THEIR political affiliations. It's pretty easy to see which way the powers that be typically lean.

but that's neither here nor there, really. Should probably be finished up in the Off-Topic forum.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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First, let me explain my synergy opinion. If our efforts at Lucasfilm failed, can we know if mainstream media should work? That's it, let's forget it.

Second, it really pisses me off that there would be a subsatandard DVD by a company once known for quality (like Memorex- they have DVD-r's that decay in 2 months) as a vendetta against a loyal fanbase and to destroy the originals de facto. It's like making an angus steak from a steer with mad cow disease! We have waited for this release for years, and now Lucas has done the unthinkable again, to make us not buy the DVD's. It seems laziness is now a garantee for any release of the Star Wars trilogy. Now I cynically hope criterion takes over.

BTW, does the Dr. Gonzo set still missing the Leia welding scene
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Originally posted by: The Bizzle
There's also no guarantee that everyone buying this is going to mean they'll release it again. It's just as easy to paint the picture that everyone buying it could ALSO mean it'll never get released again. This is true. However, I can't imagine a scenario in which boycotting it promotes a subsequent release.The only thing you should be basing your purchase on is whether the product they're offering you is worth it FOR YOU.
Well I like watching the OUT, and don't like watching the SE. Right now the best version I can get of the OT is a laserdisc rip, so that's what I watch. I have every reason to believe that the September release will be better than any existing LD rip, so that is a good enough reason to buy it. Especially as I think it probably won't be released again (but then I thought this release wouldn't happen, so what do I know?)
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Originally posted by: The BizzleI don't buy that. DVD purchases aren't investments. They're product. I pay for something because I want the product inside. I don't buy something in the hopes that a couple years down the road I'll finally get a chance to PAY again for what I wanted in the first place. SCARING me into a DVD purchase doesn't work, because DVD's aren't important enough (for as much as a film enthusiast as I am) to SCARE me into parting with my money. I wrote something similar at the HTF, but here's the general idea, as I see it:

In this instance, the movie I'm buying comes with a movie I already own and has been offered one more time after I already bought it, and the quality of the movie I REALLY want is sub-standard. Besides which, I already essentially OWN a copy in that sub-standard quality because the release is 13 years old.

If the only reward, for me, is that maybe in the future I'll get a return on my 20-30 dollar investment, essentially getting what I paid for a year or two down the road, then that's not much of a reward. That'd be like buying a movie ticket and then being told that MAYBE that movie will play 2 years later, so check back then.

Assuming how this is going to work is dangerous, because no one really assumed we'd get this. Ever. Maybe some of you did, but that's not really the point. There's also no guarantee that everyone buying this is going to mean they'll release it again. You could just as easily dream up a scenario where Lucas says "Well, look how many people bought that. See. Now they've got it. We dont' have to sweat it anymore. it sold like hotcakes so most of the people who could have ever wanted it now have it. They're happy. moving on."

It's just as easy to paint the picture that everyone buying it could ALSO mean it'll never get released again. It's just as speculative and specious.

The only thing you should be basing your purchase on is whether the product they're offering you is worth it FOR YOU. Don't buy it thinking it's an investment into later purchases you might make. That's essentially consumer blackmail. Eventually it's just going to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

That's exactly right. The only reason I might buy this set is because all I own right now are VHS copies and I'd get a slight imporvement with a Laserdisc rip onto DVD. I've given up on Lucas. He shouldn't need any kind of stupid confirmation. A completely shit-brained idiot could see that the original trilogy would make a lot of money on DVD because of its fan base. I guess we all know what that makes Lucas.


Originally posted by: The Bizzle

and not to derail the thread into something political, but take a look at who owns what media outlets and then look at what their political affiliations are. Then look at the ownership of most major corporations and note THEIR political affiliations. It's pretty easy to see which way the powers that be typically lean.

but that's neither here nor there, really. Should probably be finished up in the Off-Topic forum.


Uhh, are you trying to say there is some kind of conspiracy where corporations control what news is reported for political reasons? And are you implying that "corporations" are executing a similar but different conspiracy to not advertise with a media outlet for political reasons? If so, then what's your evidence for any of that?

Anyways, even if there is evidence for such conspiracies, not every media outlet is owned by right-wingers. Especially once you figure in the internet. And as for corporations and their political afiliations, they aren't going to ignore good advertising time or keep people from being exposed to stories that are popular. Conspiracy theories are so silly to me. If left wing media outlets were actually profitable on the free market, even the most extreme right-wing corporation would promote it in order to make money. Making money is the chief concern of mainstream media outlets and their advertising corporations.

The mainstream media is not left wing or right wing. I actually wish it were one or the other, and then perhaps we'd get real news. Most of what you see on television, from ABC to CNN to Fox News is disgusting tabloid journalism and very rarely will you see it to be anything more. Unthinkingly simplistic and cheaply emotional, all of their stories and hype are spread for the sole purpose of increasing ratings. Mainstream media outlets, no matter how many socialist-leaning journalists work for them or free-market capitalists own them or advertise for them, care nothing for real news.




Oh, the following is a link to some funding data that I found a while back. Corporate support is pretty even handed when looking at each party. You can't lump all corporations onto the side of republicans.

http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/blio.asp?cycle=2004

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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Uhh, are you trying to say there is some kind of conspiracy where corporations control what news is reported for political reasons?


Whoa. Fuck no. I'm just saying that corporate heads tend to be more right wing than left. I'm not implying that bias leads to any sort of conspiracy, it was just the initial statement seemed to say something about a left-wing bias or whatever, and that looked highly erroneous. I'm happy you've posted that it seems the corporate ownership of most major companies in America appears to be nicely divided between right and left wing, although you're talking about FUNDING, and I'm merely talking about the political affiliations of the people at the head of the companies, not where they spend their money. As we've seen with Abramoff and the latest Williamson scandal--both parties will cross political lines if it means it'll make em more money to do so.

Although again, this has jack stamp to do with this subject and should probably go in Off-Topic.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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Originally posted by: The Bizzle
Although again, this has jack stamp to do with this subject and should probably go in Off-Topic.


Yeah, sorry. Figured it might relate to Star Wars since high art isn't a major concern of tabloid journalism. I know that's a stretch though.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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This may be a really dumb question but...

is it possible that the reason Lucas hates the OOT so much is because of a messy divorce? I haven't followed what's been going on with Lucas' life but maybe the ex-wife might be getting a chunk of the profits for any release of the OOT on video whereas the SE versions are free and clear of this issue.

I ask this because I've never seen a filmmaker (to my knowledge) display such vehement hatred for such profitable works.