Regardless of how you feel about censorship, as a family entertainment company they have a rational business reason to avoid releasing offensive footage. Fantasia or Song of the South is completely different from Star Wars.
As the kids probably don’t say anymore, hell to the yeah.
I agree with you OP. No one would have ever gived a damn if all he did was some non-intrusive, seamless FX updates and corrections. No one cares that they did that to the original Star Trek series. Granted, that’s partly because they still made the originals available, but no one really complains about the quality of the updated versions either. Because they were done faithfully to the intent of the originals without trying to fundamentally alter the content or story and without instantly dated shots that do nothing but distract the viewer and mess with their brain because they’re seeing stuff that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the stuff on the screen at all.
I mean, that’s pretty much exactly the point.
It’s kind of a bad example to use because they did their changes and then offered the unaltered versions alongside them, allowing the people who did care to choose their preferred version. If they’d done that with Star Wars, it’s likely that nobody would have cared in the first place. People might even have preferred the changes.
But they didn’t do that. Instead, they made massive changes to not only effects and locations, but to characters and events, replacing a lot of the revolutionary, groundbreaking effects, editing, and sound design that made these films what they were (which is frankly akin to spitting in their faces).
But all that would have been fine if they had just offered the unaltered versions as well, but instead, they intentionally phased out and replaced all the other versions with each newer version of the films (meaning that the 1997, 2004, 2006 and any other releases I’m missing have also been overwritten).
Doing all this without giving the originals the proper restoration and redistribution they deserve (people are quick to mention the 2006 DVD extra, but that was an absolutely shit quality version of the originals and isn’t even available legally anymore unless you find one from a reseller) has made the Trilogy the poster child of what George Lucas himself argued shouldn’t be legally allowed to happen to films back in 1988 (RE: Tobar’s comment).
I mean, we even have/had a few people around here that don’t even particularly like or care about Star Wars, but are just as outraged as any of us that it hasn’t been properly restored in its original version purely because of its place in the history of film, which should tell you that it’s not just a handful of supernerd fans who want this (though we do make up the majority here) whining about it, and that it truly is about the historical preservation of a watershed in cinema history.
Anyway, hopefully this helps some of the newer folks here understand the reasoning.
Keep Circulating the Tapes.
END OF LINE
(It hasn’t happened yet)
I look at it the same way young George Lucas looked at it:
A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history.
People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of
power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society.…
It will soon be possible to create a new “original” negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.
In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.
…
The public’s interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.
…
Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.The original Star Wars trilogy is an incredibly important part of cinematic history and it most certainly deserves to be preserved in its original form. To alter the films and then intentionally suppress them in their original form is not only selfish but an insult to the many, many craftsman that all worked hard to create these treasured pieces of history. They’re what won all of those Academy Awards, not the Special Editions. The SEs have their place but even more so do the original theatrical versions.
And yet, the SE will be the only versions the public will be allowed to see for decades to come.
What an unjust and cruel world. No other film is treated like this. Nor is any other film more important to cinema.
Which REALLY confused me! Until I realized that perhaps Disney was never pandering to original OT fanboys(the type that built this site for instance) but rather the general public who did not care for the PT.
After all most people don’t care for the PT and therefor Disney tried to be as retro as possible(with the exception of Kylo Rens crossguard lightsaber and the brief mentions of clones). However while OT fanboys share similar opinions about the PT as the general public, the general public is probably not so concerned with the original version of SW as the hardcore SW fans are.
The type that built this site? Lol.
The type that built this site? Lol.
Any grammatical error or something?
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The type that built this site? Lol.
Any grammatical error or something?
no
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The type that built this site? Lol.
Any grammatical error or something?
no
Then I don’t know what the question mark is doing there.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
I look at it the same way young George Lucas looked at it:
A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history.
People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of
power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society.…
It will soon be possible to create a new “original” negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.
In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.
…
The public’s interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.
…
Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.The original Star Wars trilogy is an incredibly important part of cinematic history and it most certainly deserves to be preserved in its original form. To alter the films and then intentionally suppress them in their original form is not only selfish but an insult to the many, many craftsman that all worked hard to create these treasured pieces of history. They’re what won all of those Academy Awards, not the Special Editions. The SEs have their place but even more so do the original theatrical versions.
And yet, the SE will be the only versions the public will be allowed to see for decades to come.
What an unjust and cruel world. No other film is treated like this. Nor is any other film more important to cinema.
Which REALLY confused me! Until I realized that perhaps Disney was never pandering to original OT fanboys(the type that built this site for instance) but rather the general public who did not care for the PT.
After all most people don’t care for the PT and therefor Disney tried to be as retro as possible(with the exception of Kylo Rens crossguard lightsaber and the brief mentions of clones). However while OT fanboys share similar opinions about the PT as the general public, the general public is probably not so concerned with the original version of SW as the hardcore SW fans are.
The SE has existed for decades now. There are people who were too young or weren’t even born when they came out, who are now late teens/ adults. We are seeing a whole generation that is unfamiliar with the REAL versions of the OT, and the trend is irreversible.
All thanks to a mentally insane human being who didn’t even create most of the things that made SW and Empire great.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The type that built this site? Lol.
Any grammatical error or something?
no
Then I don’t know what the question mark is doing there.
I’m pretty sure it’s the ironic type of question mark directed at the intelligence of the person who asked the question.
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The type that built this site? Lol.
Any grammatical error or something?
no
Then I don’t know what the question mark is doing there.
I’m pretty sure it’s the ironic type of question mark directed at the intelligence of the person who asked the question.
But it was not a question it was a statement.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The type that built this site? Lol.
Any grammatical error or something?
no
Then I don’t know what the question mark is doing there.
I’m pretty sure it’s the ironic type of question mark directed at the intelligence of the person who asked the question.
But it was not a question it was a statement.
It wasn’t a quote.
Doesn’t matter; in 2026 we’ll still be in the same rut as we were in 2006, in terms of the OT being unavailable.
Or not / sounds reasonable.
The general public knows that films were altered. Han Shot First and all that. Hayden in Jedi is still being booed at showings of the film.
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
It seems like people are really embracing the new characters. In fact, the big question people ask me now about Star Wars is, “Are Finn and Poe gay lovers?” And really how the f*ck would I know? My second husband left me for a man, so my gaydar isn’t exactly what you’d call Death Star level quality. ----Carrie Fisher
lovelikewinter said:
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
Just like every nonsensical fad that has arisen in the last few years it’ll pass.
The general public knows that films were altered. Han Shot First and all that. Hayden in Jedi is still being booed at showings of the film.
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
Then why has Disney not released the original version?
Also most PT fans don’t like the special edition either!
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The general public knows that films were altered. Han Shot First and all that. Hayden in Jedi is still being booed at showings of the film.
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
Then why has Disney not released the original version?
Also most PT fans don’t like the special edition either!
The PT fans here don’t like any version of the OT.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The general public knows that films were altered. Han Shot First and all that. Hayden in Jedi is still being booed at showings of the film.
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
Then why has Disney not released the original version?
Also most PT fans don’t like the special edition either!
The PT fans here don’t like any version of the OT.
Why is that? They were altered a second time in 2004 solely to pander to them.
In my experience, the PT fans love the SE, because they shoehorn PT elements into the classic films and are part of Lucas’ “Artistic Vision” or whatever they use to justify stupid shit like R2’s rock and Obi-Wan’s new call.
As for why the OOT hasn’t been released, I have a couple ideas. Keep in mind until Kennedy says anything on the matter, its still speculation.
It seems like people are really embracing the new characters. In fact, the big question people ask me now about Star Wars is, “Are Finn and Poe gay lovers?” And really how the f*ck would I know? My second husband left me for a man, so my gaydar isn’t exactly what you’d call Death Star level quality. ----Carrie Fisher
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The general public knows that films were altered. Han Shot First and all that. Hayden in Jedi is still being booed at showings of the film.
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
Then why has Disney not released the original version?
Also most PT fans don’t like the special edition either!
The PT fans here don’t like any version of the OT.
Why is that? They were altered a second time in 2004 solely to pander to them.
Beats me, I’m just assuming based on all the PT people coming here lately to rate PT movies higher than OT movies.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
The general public knows that films were altered. Han Shot First and all that. Hayden in Jedi is still being booed at showings of the film.
It seems the PT generation is always trying to discredit the OOT.
Then why has Disney not released the original version?
Also most PT fans don’t like the special edition either!
The PT fans here don’t like any version of the OT.
Why is that? They were altered a second time in 2004 solely to pander to them.
Beats me, I’m just assuming based on all the PT people coming here lately to rate PT movies higher than OT movies.
Just because the prefer the PT does not mean that they hate the OT and no, most of them prefer the unaltered editions of the OT.
Speaking of which does anybody know why ´´something something´´ was banned?
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
Speaking of which does anybody know why ´´something something´´ was banned?
Obvious troll, was Obvious.
If you post at a rate higher than mine but with zero quality, you aren’t going to last long.
If you post at a rate higher than mine but with zero quality, you aren’t going to last long.
Don’t no anything about that ‘‘quality’’ you speak of.
IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer said:
If you post at a rate higher than mine but with zero quality, you aren’t going to last long.
Don’t no anything about that ‘‘quality’’ you speak of.
Or what “no” means, apparently.