The original Star Wars has been so meaningful to so many people and in so many ways. For many it has been the height of dramatic entertainment for over a generation. For others it was a morality play that spoke of the struggle between good and evil. To many it was a magical fantasy world to lose their imaginations within. There are too many ways to count. The point is that many people were deeply attached to what originally came before (warts and all).
Now, Star Wars is very different. Much of the original beauty we all saw in Star Wars movies, and fanatically came to love, has now been deemed illegitimate by the very man who was the epicenter of their creation and now naturally controls the films' destinies. Much of the amazing and historic work performed by so many other people on the behalf of George Lucas' films has now been casually rejected by him as lacking all importance and value. While he has the legal right over Star Wars to make that judgment, he also claims to have the moral right, and that's just plain wrong.
Art is not something that stands apart from the time and space it occupies. The greater effect that a given piece of art might have had on the world, the more respect that particular piece of art should be given. The previous DVD release of the “original” Star Wars was not the same, classic film that we all remember. It was in fact George Lucas’ special edition from 1997 but without the “special” designation (and it contained even more revisionist changes beyond the 1997 version). The original films that affected so many people so deeply were instead maligned by their creator as something that didn’t even exist anymore (only in his mind of course).
Fans of the original Star Wars don’t want to sound like big crybabies, but the upcoming Star Wars DVD release, which merely puts a “Laserdisc master” of the “theatrical” Star Wars on a “bonus disc,” is far from acceptable treatment for such obviously important films. There are many who work in the field of film restoration (such as Robert A. Harris) who would absolutely jump at the chance to help restore the original theatrical versions to a modern, digital form and then transfer it to DVD. This act has been performed with far less important and far less marketable films and yet they somehow managed to generate profit. Yet Lucasfilm, with all of its resources and skill, cannot give this same, standard treatment to Star Wars?!
Whatever format a film is released in, it should try to mimic the original quality as best as possible. Using an older, laserdisc master is not the best representation of the original, theatrical Star Wars on DVD by any means. The sad part is that we know Lucasfilm has the means and the money to do a proper digital master for DVD. It’s not as if fans and movie enthusiasts would not reward Lucasfilm for a high quality, release. Instead, the sheer arrogance of Lucasfilm and George Lucas takes all the fun out of this for many Star Wars fanatics. I for one will not be purchasing this release of Star Wars despite my devotion to it. As much as I love to support the preservation of the original films, that same love of mine prevents me from supporting inferior, DVD treatment.
Lastly, as a Star Wars fan, I already have purchased the 2004 DVD version of the original Star Wars trilogy. It is plainly insulting that I should be expected to repurchase those same films a second time just to get a Laserdisc-quality version of the theatrical releases on DVD. This was the nail on the coffin in terms of my excitement for this upcoming release. Was that the ultimate “artistic vision” of George Lucas?
Thank you for your time,
Chad Derek Jacobson