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Thanks for the link to the Williams interview. I am disappointed to hear that he will tinker with the music for ANH, but there is proof positive that Lucas is further changing ANH. You asked for evidence that he is doing ANOTHER revamp, well there it is.
All the quote from Williams implies is that more music will be added into ANH. Williams, as a musical director, is not an authority on what is being done in the areas of visual effects, sound design, etc. For all either of us know, Lucas simply wants to add the Imperial March to ANH and maybe some other things as well, but has nothing else in mind for that film.
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Yes, I did realize that it was being released as "unaltered" for the last time, but that was only on VHS and laserdisc and unfortunately, DVD has since replaced both as the format of choice for the consumer. So no, it did not come as a surprise and I dutifily bought my LD copy. But now, for all those who would want the original, unadulterated version of the OT on DVD, they are totally out of luck. I have a copy of my LD burned onto DVD, but its not the same as having an official release using the masters of the original film and sound mixing to make a truly professional release. LD output is only analog, not digital, the LDs also just had Dolby Digital sound, not a remastered 5.1 mix. There is only so much that a guy and his desktop computer can do, when only given an LD to work with as the master.
I understand your feelings. I support releasing the original versions of the Trilogy on DVD as much as anybody on this forum. My point though is that, sooner or later, a new format will eventually put DVD out of business. Is Lucas supposed to release the original versions of the Trilogy on that format as well? And the next one? And the next one? And the next one? Hell, I hope he does! I'd LOVE to see the original versions of the Trilogy in high-def... but if never even get that on standard DVD, I'll be disappointed, but not disillusioned.
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If Lucas is worried that I might buy the OT and not the SE, he should fear not. Yes, I will be buying the Special Edition DVDs when they come out, regardless of whether he releases the non-SE OT, but that is for mostly technical reasons (i.e. sound/picture, extras/documentaries). That doesn't mean I have to prefer those versions over the original films.
It's not an either/or proposition and it shouldn't be. Lucas could release the original versions of the Trilogy on barebones DVD (without any extras at all) in four months and they would sell a mint and earn him two or three more fortunes. If he's as greedy as some of you say, he would've done so by now. The fact that he hasn't released those or the Special Editions tells me that he has his own reasons for sitting on both of them. Hell, if he wanted to, he could release a MEGA boxed set with one DVD containing the original film and the second disc containing the Special Edition version with one extra disc for all of the extra material. Nobodys ego would be at stake in that scenario and no one could say which version people really cared about buying. I'd hoped for this route in lieu of a separate release for each version (confusing the idiotic masses), but I'll take what ever I can get at this point.
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If Lucas proceeds with doing an "ULTIMATE" edition DVD after this (or if he's planning to make the changes for the Fall 2004 DVD release), then more power to him. It is "his" film whether we like it or not, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy the awkward "Greedo shoots first" scene. It's obvious that any sentiment towards the original cuts of the film don't seem to be registering with him.
I've never met Lucas, but I think of him as being a fairly obstinant man. It's all well and good for people like you and me to beg for the original versions of the Trilogy. In my opinion, he doesn't understand why we want them since (1) they're not his original vision and (2) the Special Editions are far superior in every technical way. He may very well not understand the sentimentality of seeing Han shoot first or my geeky need to compare the two versions to each other with friends and debate the merits of both.
Incidentally, this is why ALL artists and creative people are completely full of crap. EDITED BY TRENTOBI. APOLOGIES TO THE ADMIN FOR THE UNNECESSARY FRENCH
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If he does make more changes, I hope he goes all out and makes these versions even more different from the original cuts as possible. There are a number of things in the Special Edition that had me scratching my head and saying "Why didn't they fix THAT?"
Let's hope with these ULTIMATE editions, he will do that.
Agreed, 110%. There's no shortage of work that still needs to be done in all three movies, ranging from head-slapping-obvious (the Rancor matte line, screwy lightsabers) to the more subtle (the mother of all color correction screw ups when Leia, Chewie and Lando run past the camera during their escape from Cloud City).
With all that in mind, I really wish 20th Century Fox would've allowed Lucas to just work on ANH and skip the other two films (which was the original plan). He would've done the rest of them eventually and the quality level of ANH Special Edition (and the rest) would've been much higher.
- Trentobi