Baronlando said:
The '97 certainly started out as an honest restoration, which the movie needed, even the original plan of a few shots wouldn't have been unreasonable, but then turned into a perfect storm of drunken digital crayon mayhem and classic movies being used as R&D. The lameness of the blu-rays is probably just basic cheapness.
True, it may have started out as an honest attempt at restoration but it was pretty clear from the beginning that Lucas was also going to revise the film. They started storyboarding changes to ANH in 1993, added Jabba in 1994 for example.
What I don't understand is why the heck did FOX pay for all this restoration and not release a home video release of that effort or even produced new prints before the drunken digital crayon mayhem began? Instead they went with George's wishes and re-released the '93 telecine as a "Last time available" video in '95, simultaneously with this "restoration" being worked on. But I guess they were Lucas' lapdog at that point with the forthcoming prequels on the horizon. I don't think a restored original release on the shelves would have diminished the income for their Special Edition theatrical release either.
Fox is basically as much guilty as Lucas in this travesty.
Tobar said:
I don't know if it was trolling so much as indifference. I kind of imagine it going something like this.
Lucasfilm: Hey George, we're going to be releasing the original trilogy on blu-ray soon. Was there anything else you'd like to update for this release? It'd probably up the value for the collectors. You know how they are.
George: Um....well. I never was happy with that Krayt dragon call. Oh and I was always disappointed we couldn't find the right rock on location for Artoo to hide behind. I was never quite happy with Marquand's delivery of the death of the Emperor...needs more emotion somehow....OH and you're going to start work on the 3D releases soon right? Why not see what you can do with Jabba's door or something so we can get that out of the way now.
I honestly believe people inside Lucasfilm would just go up to George and ask for suggestions and then take whatever he came up with on the spot as law. What lead to the fall of 1313.
Here's a funny story from Marc Weilage, one of the colorists working on ANH and ROTJ in 2004:
BTW, note that there was stuff from the 2004 transfers I did where we ran out of time and Lucas was not able to get more fixes done. Whenever this happened on a specific shot, George would turn to his assistant and say, "note that as a BSI fix." After he left the room, I turned to my data op and asked, "what's a 'BSI'?" And he laughed and said, "that's a Boxed Set Issue, because George eventually wants to put all six films out as one set, which will be the final-final versions." To my knowledge, this set has yet to be released. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/true-original-star-wars-trilogy-blu-rays-coming-in-2014-or-2015-from-disney.324294/page-7
To my knowledge that BSI was released in 2011.