Boycott Star Wars on Blu-ray

Author: starwarskid1138
Date: 22-Aug-2010, 8:42 PM

Author: starwarskid1138
Time: 22-Aug-2010 8:42 PM (Edited)
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As most of you know the Star Wars saga will be released on Blu-ray in the fall of 2011. However according to George Lucas (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/movies/16lucas.html?_r=1) this release will not include the pre-Special Edition Original Trilogy. This is not acceptable to many of us Star Wars fans; but while we have frequently voiced our discontent over the years regarding the lack of a proper release of the Original Trilogy, we have not made an effective organized effort to do something about it. I propose an idea (one that most of us have toyed with) that we the Star Wars fans boycott Star Wars on Blu-ray unless it includes the pre-Special Edition Original Trilogy, fully restored and in high definition. I do not know what the best way to organize such an effort is, nor am I in away competent to lead it, but I do know that unless we do something about it, the prospects of us ever seeing Star Wars the way we long to see it are grim.

Outside of our fragmented efforts so far (like http://originaltrilogy.com/petition/ which is largely unknown outside of the active Star Wars fan community), I think one very good medium with the potential to reach even the most casual fans is Facebook. I had the idea to start a Facebook Page but it appears that one already exists (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Star-Wars-Blu-Ray/146137858743842) with a few people already supporting it. Instead of fragmenting our efforts I suggest we all simply support the existing Page. All you have to do is "Like" the Page and "Suggest [it] to [all your] Friends" on Facebook. If you have the time, it would also be of great help to mention this Page in other online communities you frequent.

I think that we can realistically get 1 million supporters for our boycott and I think this would be enough to create an impact and more importantly bring people together to organize and put pressure on George Lucas and the distributor of Star Wars on Blu-ray, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. I do not think this Page alone will be sufficient (even if we get 1 million supporters) but I do think it is a critical first step. What gives me great hope is the fact that while George Lucas might truly believe that the legacy of Star Wars should not include the pre-Special Edition Original Trilogy, the executives at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will be less sympathetic to this idea if their bottom line is threatened (especially since films by the likes of Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott have already been released on Blu-ray with all their different versions without taking anything away from the "canonical" director's cuts).

George Lucas is a great storyteller but he is also a great businessman, and I think that we can get him to come around on this issue. But we can only do this with a sustained and concerted effort.

Please boycott Star Wars on Blu-ray (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Star-Wars-Blu-Ray/146137858743842)! And also please give your input! :D

Author: A B C
Time: 22-Aug-2010 10:43 PM (Edited)
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starwarskid1138 said:

Please boycott Star Wars on Blu-ray (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Star-Wars-Blu-Ray/146137858743842)! And also please give your input! :D

Beware, I may mistake but I heard there is a reprehensible law against calls to boycott (perhaps it is only in my country, but I'm not sure).

The best way remains to propose a good fan edit or preservation anyway... Or to hang on the petition.

Author: TV's Frink
Time: 22-Aug-2010 11:22 PM
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There's no law against a boycott in the US.

Author: Mielr
Time: 22-Aug-2010 11:25 PM
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I'm not aware of any boycotting laws in the U.S., but I've already vowed to boycott the set, and I will not waver!

If the set includes any must-see deleted scenes from the OT, then maybe I'll rent, but that's as far as I'll go for Darth Lucas this time.

Author: A B C
Time: 22-Aug-2010 11:51 PM
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There's no law against giving your opinion however, haha!

Mielr said:

... but that's as far as I'll go for Darth Lucas this time.

Darth Lucas ?... I thought it was George Palpatine !

Author: A B C
Time: 22-Aug-2010 11:52 PM (Edited)
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TV's Frink said:

There's no law against a boycott in the US.

You can boycott, you can't call for Boycott (in theory, and in France). I only knew about that a couple of month ago.

Edit: yes, after a google search it appears that there is law against it but it's not really respected not clear.

Author: EyeShotFirst
Time: 23-Aug-2010 12:20 AM
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I don't have a bluray player, so I really am of no importance.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

Author: A B C
Time: 23-Aug-2010 1:04 AM
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Me neither.

Besides someone in my family has one and I thought it was too impressive... Yes, too impressive to watch every film you have in that quality. If I had one I would take it out of its box only for rare occasions.

Best avatar since the begining ESF. lol !

Author: EyeShotFirst
Time: 23-Aug-2010 5:33 AM
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A B C said:

Me neither.

Besides someone in my family has one and I thought it was too impressive... Yes, too impressive to watch every film you have in that quality. If I had one I would take it out of its box only for rare occasions.

Best avatar since the begining ESF. lol !

The Caddyshack gopher will stay.

Author: TV's Frink
Time: 23-Aug-2010 7:32 AM
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A B C said:

TV's Frink said:

There's no law against a boycott in the US.

You can boycott, you can't call for Boycott (in theory, and in France). I only knew about that a couple of month ago.

Edit: yes, after a google search it appears that there is law against it but it's not really respected not clear.

In the US you can call for a boycott.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott#Legality

Author: xhonzi
Time: 23-Aug-2010 11:12 AM
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EyeShotFirst said:

...so I really am of no importance.

QFT!

;)

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

Author: Baronlando
Time: 23-Aug-2010 1:15 PM
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If it's no originals and just the 2004 versions, I guess I'm boycotting. But...maybe...it will be a new version where the changes are subtle! Where they don't stick out like...er, yeah, I can't even finish that. Boycott. (I just realized they restored and branched old and new versions of EIGHTY Star Trek episodes! And LFL can't be bothered with this? The hell?)

Author: sunday256
Time: 23-Aug-2010 2:02 PM
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I will most definitely be buying the blu-rays. Hopfully one of these days the OT will be released as it should, but there's no way in hell I am going to pass this up.

Author: Harmy
Time: 23-Aug-2010 10:20 PM
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I'm almost scared to say this here, but if there's no OOT, I'm most probably not buying them... but if they prove to be a lot better than the current HD broadcasts I just might obtain them some other way (you can believe I mean getting them for x-mas if you choose to) to use them for a new version of my PARTLY DESPECIALIZED EDITION. And having bought the STAR WARS TRILOGY exactly 10 times now (8x on VHS 2x on DVD) I think it's not gonna haunt my concience.

www.facebook.com/despecialized
Despecialized Editions MUST NEVER BE BOUGHT OR SOLD!!! You can find all the info you need here

Author: Chewtobacca
Time: 23-Aug-2010 10:37 PM
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Eight times on VHS? Did your tapes wear out?

Author: zombie84
Time: 23-Aug-2010 10:40 PM
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I bought them 4 times between 1994 and 1998 so I can kind of believe it, although 2 times it was the Special Edition.

Author: Harmy
Time: 23-Aug-2010 11:03 PM
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OK, I wanted to make a list here, but I'm just gonna direct you here:

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Little-Men-Little-Wars-Share-Your-Star-Wars-Collection/post/411013/#TopicPost411013

www.facebook.com/despecialized
Despecialized Editions MUST NEVER BE BOUGHT OR SOLD!!! You can find all the info you need here

Author: Chewtobacca
Time: 24-Aug-2010 12:38 PM
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Harmy said:

OK, I wanted to make a list here, but I'm just gonna direct you

Ah, that explains it. What a collection you have there, Harmy! :-D

Author: LeeThorogood
Time: 24-Aug-2010 1:34 PM (Edited)
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I am more then happy to boycott this release, mainly because its neither the Theatrical or '97 SE release of the OT, I don't care for the Prequels and it also helps I suppose that I don't have a blu-ray player.

Hopefully I will be able to get the releases I want on blu-ray some day.

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Author: captainsolo
Time: 24-Aug-2010 8:27 PM
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After taping the films on TV numerous times a a kid, buying the 95 VHS box set, the 95 WS VHS box set, 97 Fullscreen VHS Box set, 97 VHS Widescreen Box Set twice, 97 SE Laserdisc, 2004 DVD Box Set, and GOUT I think I have enough official releases to last me a lifetime.

After borrowing the GOUT from a friend four years ago and realizing that it was the 93 master I gave up on Lucasfilm. Now we have been teased with this blu release and smited yet again. This time they've added the deleted scenes that we were never ever going to see so that our defenses will crumble again.

No dice.

When fans can make better versions than the official companies there is a serious problem.

I don't have blu capability either, so it won't really matter for me in the long run. It will sting though. Already I have had to talk to many who are excited about this new release and explain to them that it's the 04's again. We're not crazy fanboys anymore. Regular people are actually getting pissed about this now.

Who needs this Blu when we're on ot.com? We're like the unofficial OOT restoration crew anyway. If anyone so much as mentions star wars we go off on a tangent about four eyed stormtroopers and color timing and sound mixes. If Lucasfilm actually wanted to make the final definitive collection all they'd ever have to do is just ask around here.

So no straight transfer of either the 97SE or GOUT master. The least they could have done (which still would have been infuriating, but maybe better than completely ignoring) was to release the GOUT master in HD and anamorphic. That would have taken what, all of 5 minutes? WB released a limited edition cleaned up version of Blade Runner a year before the box set's release. It's not like it hasn't been done before.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
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Author: Darth Cracker
Time: 26-Aug-2010 10:33 AM
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Just signed up.

only 31 supporters! :(

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Star-Wars-Blu-Ray/146137858743842

More of a whisper than a scream...

Author: doubleofive
Time: 26-Aug-2010 11:17 AM
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While I probably won't buy the Blu-ray, I'm not a fan of joining FB groups for things like this. The only thing that Facebook groups have done is put Betty White on SNL, which is a show that would look at FB for ideas like that because they are so desperate. Sorry.

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Author: TV's Frink
Time: 26-Aug-2010 11:28 AM (Edited)
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doubleofive said:

The only thing that Facebook groups have done is put Betty White on SNL, which is a show that would look at FB for ideas like that because they are so desperate.

Author: Leonardo
Time: 26-Aug-2010 12:49 PM
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[Homer] Facebook? Is that thing still around? [/Homer]

Author: starwarskid1138
Time: 26-Aug-2010 5:33 PM
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Darth Cracker said:

Just signed up.

only 31 supporters! :(

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Star-Wars-Blu-Ray/146137858743842

More of a whisper than a scream...

Thanks!

There is still over a year to go before the release so hopefully we can get a lot more support by then. My impression is that most casual fans of Star Wars are not even aware that this set has been announced and as the word spreads more and more are likely to join.