logo Sign In

An article of lies and disgust - George Lucas talks re the 2004 OT SE DVD release... — Page 2

Author
Time
Luke, your comment, I believe was about him dying a lonely man with no fan base. That's what I was commenting on.

To reiterate, I'm not defending the re-fucking of the films, I'm CERTAINLY not defending keeping the original versions unavailable (and to those assholes snidely quipping that those of us who WANT to watch the originals go and watch our VHS, Lucas hasn't made those availble for YEARS!!!!!! Literally, if you want to watch the originals, there is no current supply EXCEPT the bootlegs). However, read the articles on the restoration and digitizing of the films for this release. What was done, as I pointed out, was to start a brand new restoration on the existing prints, clean and repair them, and prep a new HD digital master copy which will never degrade the way celluloid does, regardless of how well it's treated. Every frame of every film was done, not a few scenes. It IS an expensive process. I agree that any expense incurred will be recouped ABSOLUTELY, in probably the initial week of sales. Not the point. You can't fault the man as lying about that part of the process, it happened.

I've also wondered about this whole "milking" of the films. How much of what's gone on (and, to be honest, the films have been released an APPALLING number of times in different editions) is Lucasfilm, and how much is Fox. While I'm sure Lucasfilm okayed the various releases, I have a hunch it was something more like FOX video driving a dump-truck full of cash down Lucas Valley road to the ranch and asking permissions to re-issue the films. It's entirely Fox's style to keep flogging a sure thing, and, honestly, if it were your company, wouldn't you be tempted to say "Oh, alright...make the cheque out to 'George'"? Additionally, how much of this current release is Lucasfilm's idea, and how much is Fox's begging and pleading in a year they don't have any huge holliday sellers? Just some stream of conciousness thought....
Author
Time
"At the beginning, people went, "Don't you like it?" I said, "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be." They said, "What are you talking about?" So finally, I stopped saying that, but if you read any interviews for about an eight- or nine-year period there, it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was. You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it."

Does anyone know of any interviews that speak of this?

Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here, this is the war room!

Author
Time
Wait wait...25 to 30 percent?? So that would mean that like 70% of the films were changed? Does this guy even know what he's talking about?
Author
Time
this is ridiculous, these movies stood 'half finished' for over twenty years, they won awards, set box office records, made millions of dollars for Lucas and Fox, spawned countless copycats and created a Legacy that inspired a whole generation of film-goers, Yet somehow Mr Lucas is embarrassed by them?

Closer to the truth I think George is reacting to the negative feedback that his prequals have had, considering that these films are supposedly the exact way he wants them to be, his vision , under his total control and without the technical or budget constraints he had the first time around, He's pissed off and probably embarrassed that the public haven't accepted his latest ultimate creation with as much passion as they did for his earlier work (which he didn't as much control over) and the fact he has been knocked off this pedestal as the genius behind the original star wars trilogy, his best work 25 years behind him.

So he's decided to turn on the public who made him who he is "If they don't like my new films, then I'm not going to give them my old fims, which they hold so dearly!" "screw you guys , I'm taking my ball and going home!"
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: buddy-x-wing
this is ridiculous, these movies stood 'half finished' for over twenty years, they won awards, set box office records, made millions of dollars for Lucas and Fox, spawned countless copycats and created a Legacy that inspired a whole generation of film-goers, Yet somehow Mr Lucas is embarrassed by them?

Closer to the truth I think George is reacting to the negative feedback that his prequals have had, considering that these films are supposedly the exact way he wants them to be, his vision , under his total control and without the technical or budget constraints he had the first time around, He's pissed off and probably embarrassed that the public haven't accepted his latest ultimate creation with as much passion as they did for his earlier work (which he didn't as much control over) and the fact he has been knocked off this pedestal as the genius behind the original star wars trilogy, his best work 25 years behind him.

So he's decided to turn on the public who made him who he is "If they don't like my new films, then I'm not going to give them my old fims, which they hold so dearly!" "screw you guys , I'm taking my ball and going home!"


Problem with this theroy is he advertised the 1995 VHS release as the last time ever. Showing he was planning to replace the originals from the beginning. I also don't think the prequals are hardly less accepted then the originals. I know plenty who like Attack of the Clones the most and I don't know anyone in person who likes Return of the Jedi more then Attack of the Clones. I mean know one. Lucas is an artist. Most good artists ignore there critices and often change there work.
Author
Time
I like ROTJ over Clones. I'd take it any day over the crappola that was ATOC. Plenty of people on here will be the same Jimbo. Just because you don't know us in person doesn't make our opinion/argument less valid does it? Or does it to you Jimbo?
Author
Time
"Well, that would explain why he never replied to my letter. What a weiner. I hope he gets the clap."

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"hey assholes..........comments calling him "childish" and "selfish" really reflect on the person saying them."

You were...[ahem]...saying? :roll eyes:

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

Author
Time
Return of the Jedi is so superior to AOTC...characters that you actually care about, battles with heart and soul (unlike the digital clone battle)...

Give me Luke vs. Vader anyday over Yoda vs. Dooku (it was cool and all but it was so short and pretty pointless)

In Jedi we go to Jabba's Palace and the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine, Death Star II, Endor. Clones had Coruscant, which I don't even like (I dont know about you), Kamino, which was so boring, and Geonosis/Tatooine, which are your standard desert planets.

The Speeder Bike chase was soooo much better than the Coruscant one. AOTC's was boring and was loaded with the worst dialogue ever. So lame...

AOTC had scary villains. Vader and the Emperor are so much better than Dooku/Tyranus. He wasn't even threatening except in one scene. And Sidious is onscreen for 20 seconds.

Ewoks = better than Geonosians, Kaminoans (or whatever), and all other digital creatures...

Come on, AOTC better than ROTJ? In what alternate quantum reality does this happen??
Author
Time
even the weakest link in the original Trilogy is much more enjoyable than any of the prequals released so far.
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: buddy-x-wing
even the weakest link in the original Trilogy is much more enjoyable than any of the prequals released so far.


Yeah, basically.
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: Darth Justin
Quote

Originally posted by: buddy-x-wing
even the weakest link in the original Trilogy is much more enjoyable than any of the prequals released so far.


Yeah, basically.


Yep I agree.
Author
Time
now I'm even more mad at Lucas. Lucas says he is sorry if we fell in love a half done trilogy. How bout returning all the money we spent on it Lucas? I wonder what he would think if Moe, Larry and Curly came back to life and said that they originally meant to do the films in color, and refused to issue B+W versions on DVD? What a nut he is!!!
Author
Time
I agree that Jedi is better than Clones.

When Georgie boy dies, who gets the rights to the movies?

Also, what he said about the fans really pisses mo off. If it wasn't for us, the fans, where would Lucas be today? What has he done since Jedi in '83? Howard the Duck? Yeah. Why doesn't he fix that movie? here the fuck does he get off? He is where he is today, because of the fans! US! Lucas, you are a power hungry ass with an ego problem!

OK, I'm done bitchin'
Author
Time
And all the ass-kissing fanboys don't see that he does have a problem. They'd just as soon go down on him or carry his next child then see the truth. Seriously, what other film-maker has ever done what Lucas has? This guy's gonna go down in history as the film butcher.
Author
Time
"Howard the Duck? Yeah. Why doesn't he fix that movie?"

LOLOLOLOLOL

...but honestly, I love that movie. Leia Thompson is HOT!!!

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

Author
Time
i WONDER IF I CAN SEND MY VARIOUS VHS COPIES OF THE HALF FINISHED TRILOGY BACK TO FOX IN EXCHANGE FOR A COMPLETED FILM? NOT THAT i'D WANT TO ,THOUGH
Author
Time
Quote

He still has plenty fanbase who respect him and like his changes.

ya these are also the fans that want to have sex with him...
arent you one of those fans?

oops did i say that?


and ROTJ is far better than AOTC...
now you know someone jimbo...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
Author
Time
Quote

i WONDER IF I CAN SEND MY VARIOUS VHS COPIES OF THE HALF FINISHED TRILOGY BACK TO FOX IN EXCHANGE FOR A COMPLETED FILM? NOT THAT i'D WANT TO ,THOUGH


That is a great idea! I think a letter writing campaign is in order. After the DVD's are released, I am going to write Fox, Lucasfilm and tell them how upset I am at how the made me think I was getting the "original trilogy". And until I get a decent response, I will keep sending letters to them and the media. Anyone else who has had enough of Lucas' BS should do the same.

PS

Is anyone here good at writing letters?
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: buddy-x-wing
i WONDER IF I CAN SEND MY VARIOUS VHS COPIES OF THE HALF FINISHED TRILOGY BACK TO FOX IN EXCHANGE FOR A COMPLETED FILM? NOT THAT i'D WANT TO ,THOUGH


If you bought a car, and it was half-finished, wouldn't you want it to be replaced by a fully functional car? So it is our right to have the DVDs in exchange for a 9 year old heavily used VHS tape. I am going to send letter and/or call the local Fox Films distributor here and ask them. (although I belive they probably won't know what I'm talking about)
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: Patrick R.
I also wanted to mention something else concerning Lucas' "milking" of Star Wars. If he wasn't "milking it" by not releasing things he did not care for, there would be no Full Screen (AKA Pan&Scan) versions of the films on DVD. If you have kept up with Lucas over the years, you know that he despises Full Screen because the film is not being presented in it's original aspect ratio (OAR). If you'll remember, there was no Full Screen version of Episode I on DVD until the Episode II DVD came out. If he hates Full Screen so much, why release Full Screen versions of his films on DVD. Well, because he knew he could put aside his dislike for it and make a lot of money since there are a lot of fools out there who hate Widescreen. If that is not one example of "milking it", I don't what is.

Patrick


Excellent point. The defense that these new DVD versions are "the way Lucas always wanted them" can't hold up when you realize fullscreen is created to appease a certain segment of the population and is in no way "Lucas' true vision"!

So since I saw a movie in 1977 that was only half done, how complete was it in 1997 when it was rereleased? Three quarters? What am I? A marketing test subject while Lucas spends 30 years fine-tuning his movie??? So if "Empire" was only half done when Luke Skywalker quietly fell from the catwalk in Cloud City, then it was "complete" when his scream was added, does this mean the movie is half done again now that the scream has been removed once more? Or since the movies are now "complete" (which angers me since Lucas is now admitting to having knowingly released incomplete films back in 1997), does that mean all this CGI tinkering madness will stop, and once they are released 30 years from now on High Definition Holographic Crystals they will be the 2004 versions?

Talk about a load of B.S.!

Author
Time
Quote

Originally posted by: buddy-x-wing
i WONDER IF I CAN SEND MY VARIOUS VHS COPIES OF THE HALF FINISHED TRILOGY BACK TO FOX IN EXCHANGE FOR A COMPLETED FILM?


Hmmm....now there's a thought. Unfortunately I don't have all of the VHS copies that I used to have but I'd be willing to try this. Seems only fair to me. If the films were only half complete then yes, we should be able to exchange them for completed versions.

Keeping The Star Wars Hoiliday Special alive. Once person at a time. Stir, stir, whip, whip, stir, beat, beat.
Author
Time
"The defense that these new DVD versions are "the way Lucas always wanted them" can't hold up when you realize fullscreen is created to appease a certain segment of the population and is in no way "Lucas' true vision"!"

Not only that, but I'd love to know what "technological hurdle" prevented Lucas from orginally filming Greedo shooting first. Whatta-buncha-horse-shit.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

Author
Time
ROTJ is WAAAAAAYYYYY better than AOTC.

Luke... help me take this mask off.

But you'll die.

Nothing... can stop that... now. Just for once... let me... look on you... with... my own eyes.

I got weepy during Vader's unmasking and death in 1983 and I still do now.

AOTC made me feel nothing, unless you count boredom.

See Jimbo? Just because you only know about nine people doesn't mean that they're a surveyable group for your bogus statistics.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Goering.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Goebbels.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - Orwell.
Author
Time
Quote

See Jimbo? Just because you only know about nine people doesn't mean that they're a surveyable group for your bogus statistics.


don't you think your being a little generous with 9??


i agree though..
the burning of Vader is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire trilogy...
with the look on Lukes face, the semi visable Vader mask in flames, and of course John Williams amazing score... that scene is an all time favorite...
long live ROTJ!!!
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
Author
Time
But the greatest scene of the OT comes in Empire:


Vader:

"Obiwan never told you what happened to your father?"

Luke:

"He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"

Vader:

"No! I am your father!"
(play John Williams score here)

Luke:

"no,NO!! that's not true!! thats impossible!!"

Vader:

"search your feelings you know it to be true!"

Luke:

"NO!! NO!!!!!!"

one of the great all time movie plot twists