I've been coming to this board for quite some time now. I've made a few copies from my various laserdiscs over the years and enjoyed coming here to see what others have been working on. I've downloaded various "fan made" discs and also purchased bootlegs online before (which has cost me as much as what I'll end up paying for the official releases when they come out). I'm sure many of you have done the same!
Everyone on this board has waited patiently for this to be released... even after George Luca$ has stated that he would never release them. Those that are bit**ing on this board about "buying what Lucas throws at us" are the same people that bought the SE dvd's (even though that version is exactly what MOST of us here didn't want). But, we bought them anyway... WHY? Because it was STAR WARS and we thought that may be the only version we were going to get! Isn't that "buying what Lucas throws at us" simply because we wanted a digital version of our beloved movies? It's not really how we wanted them, but we still bought them. I can honestly say, I've owned the SE DVD's since the day they were released, and I have yet to watch them! Still, I wanted these movies in my DVD collection, even though it wasn't the version I wanted.
This board has existed mainly for us fans to stick together and try to preserve the OOT's as they were meant to be. We've waited anxiously for the release of the X0 project (which looks to be a great quality project, but most likely will not match the quality of these upcoming official dvd's). Honestly, I think most of us have gotten used to bit*hing about them not officially releasing these films, and now that they are, we still need something to bit*h about!
Do I think George Lucas is wrong for relasing these in non-anamorphic? Absolutely! Will I buy them? Absolutely! Am I buying them just for the sake of buying them? Absolutely not! The fact is that these will be the BEST way of seeing these films on dvd... PERIOD! It will be better than the dvd's I've made. It will be better than any other "fan made" version. And although I haven't had a chance to view the X0 discs, I'm willing to bet these will look better than that! I still look forward to one day viewing the X0 discs (assuming they finish the project). I think it's amazing what those guys are doing, but the fact is the materials they are using doesn't compare to Luca$' master sources.
Personally, I think GL is an idiot and in all honesty is a talentless hack! If you had asked me my opinion on the man before the SE's and before the prequels, I would've given nothing but praise of the man (after all, I've been a STAR WARS collector and fan for most of my life - I'm 36 years old). However, after seeing the Prequel Trilogy, I can't help but think that GL was just lucky with the original trilogy and doesn't have the talent to recreate the magic. The Prequel Trilogy is garbage... 100% garbage!
To all of those that are saying they won't be buying these when they come out in September, I don't believe it! There may be some that "stick to their guns", but we are all STAR WARS geeks (myself included) and we've all been dying for these to come out. I wish I could never give Luca$ another cent of my money, but the fact is I want these dvd's! If he comes out with an anamorphic release 5 years later, well then I'll be buying another set then!! And so will most of you.....
I bet if you go back through these boards from the time this site was started, you will find most were just begging to get a legitimate copy of the OOT, PERIOD! I'm sure we all weren't saying "I guess I would buy an OOT dvd IF and ONLY if it's Anamorphic, or it has XYZ extras, etc.). No, we didn't care, we just wanted a quality dvd release from Luca$. Well, this may not be what we ideally want, but it is the OOT and I have no doubts that FOX is going to release a set of quality dvd's! As a company, FOX would be stupid to release a set of DVD's that have the same crappy quality as the fan-made sets that are out there! Yes, most fan made versions are "crap" compared to an actual dvd release! Don't get me wrong, I love the sets that have been put out there, and all that have worked on them should truly be acknowleged for their efforts.. .but the fact is that they do not compare to an average dvd release, NOR SHOULD THEY! They are after all, fan made films that came from mediocre sources at best (used LD's and vdeotapes).
I'm sure what I've said may piss some people off (I guess they'll just have something else to bit*h about). That's not what I'm trying to do. I guess I just find it a little ridiculous that so many "fans" are "boycotting" this release, but in reality I think it's all b.s.! You know you will be in line right in front of me the day that these are released in the stores!
--RickWJ324