Besides "The films need to be the way I want them," has Lucas stated anything as to why the Blu-rays became the travesty that they are? — Page 4

msycamore said:

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.

 Did either of you watch "Anatomy of a Dewback" on the third blu ray bonus disc? It's surprisingly low quality for something you think would have been ported over from a studio videotape master. However there are a lot of interesting parts.

Lucas says he saved everything from the films 1) in case he ever wanted to reedit them and 2) he is like a packrat that doesn't throw anything out.

They do show a video of the Look Sir Droids scene, as to how they add to it in 97. But it does include a clip of the original unaltered scene, that appears to be sourced from the YCM restored print. That means the stormtrooper doesn't have 4 eyes. And before that scene, the sandcrawler goes off in with clouds visible in the sky because it was day for night. Well, in the clip they showed, it was much more apparent that it was a daytime sky than the GOUT. (which is tinted darker to hide it somewhat)

So whatever they used had to be like the most original highest generation print of the restored film without any changes.

What the hell did they do with that tape? We're told they spliced in the new footage into the film print but still wouldn't they have made some kind of a video master from that? If nothing else to use as a reference?

But wouldn't that tape have been preferable to use in 1995 for the faces set? Or the 2006 dvd? And if you're going to make an archival tape, why not stretch it anamorphically because surely, LFL knew that would retain more detail and might be useful if widescreen televisions ever became popular.

Lucas is of course the biggest offender, but I think that the fact is that digital makes it a lot easier to make alterations and it leads many directors to do it "because they can." I only recently discovered Cameron's hideous revisions to ALIENS and T1, Michael Mann's revisions to his Criterion releases, what Walter Hill did to THE WARRIORS, etc. And that's not even counting THX 1138, which is never getting fixed. I think that digital has made many filmmakers to engage in revisionism just because it's easier. 

Yeah, I've always wanted to see the THX 1138 that George originally made. I will never get to see it. It's almost like George tries to cover up what he sees as mistakes, but when he does it he usually gets poor results.

Fang Zei said:

Yeah, I hate that directors can't leave well enough alone and have to digitally erase stuff from their older films. It becomes frustrating when a movie like Evil Dead gets a beautiful restoration for its blu-ray debut but is then altered from its original version because the director wanted to "fix" things.

By the way, did Cameron actually make alterations to T1? I remember reading about one or two shots that people had spotted, but I never saw screenshot comparisons. It's probably a given that he's made "fixes" to True Lies and The Abyss, which are hitting blu-ray later this year. I should probably brace myself for when the eventual remaster of T2 suffers a similar fate.

 What alterations were made The Evil Dead Blu-Ray? I know it didn't include the mono. The Terminator didn't include the original mono track, and much like he did with Aliens, Cameron has changed the color timing completely to that teal and orange that he wants it to swim in. I think the sadder part is that not only will T2, The Abyss, and True Lies almost certainly suffer the same fate (I still hate myself for supporting Wal-Mart and buying the HDX True Lies from Vudu, but it was the only place to get it.), and no one will give a damn. No one cares about the kind of revisionism practiced by Lucas, there certainly isn't anyone who gives a fuck about the recoloring on those films :(. The dark side of digital, change is easier than ever, and why? Because they can. And after Cameron spoke out against what Lucas did, too. FML.

From observing Lucas's behaviour in recent years, where he has told fans during face to face conversations to "grow up", for daring to question the logic of neglecting the unaltered versions, made Orwellian claims such as, the original films no longer exist, that in his mind, Han Solo always shot first and prior to 2004, Star Wars was "half a completed film", I can only conclude that he has gone insane.

The constant revisions (and now the additions to the BluRay releases) go far beyond trolling fans, he's as deluded as Palpatine, one of his own characters and like that villain, it appears that Lucas truly believes that his actions are correct and justified. The fame, wealth and prestige have transformed Lucas into a megalomaniac (or perhaps egomaniac?), intoxicated on his sense of power to indulge himself with any frivolity: to the detriment of the franchise and his reputation.

JayArgonaut said:

   

 Boba Fett isn't gay??!?! That's a new one to me.

I thought that's why his father Jango went down the cloning option, instead of just getting a lady pregnant. And since Jango was clearly gay, then all his clones would be too. Boba Fett and the Stromtroopers ;-)

(This is the point where thejediknighthusezni says that's why the Empire lost to the rebels LOL (See politics thread))

Ryan McAvoy said:

JayArgonaut sBoba Fett isn't gay??!?! That's a new one to me.

I thought that's why his father Jango went down the cloning option, instead of just getting a lady pregnant. And since Jango was clearly gay, then all his clones would be too. Boba Fett and the Stromtroopers ;-)

They call me Boba Fett, you wanna mess with me? I'll put my a balls in your mouth like Boba tea!

DominicCobb said:

THX 1138 is definitely not lost. I watched the original on-demand a couple years ago. I believe it was standard definition, but still.

 Maybe, but it's never been released on any home video format besides VHS and LD, I certainly don't see enough interest in the original version to get a it a Blu-ray release. It's like the recolorings of Aliens or Terminator, 99% of the population probably don't care enough for it to matter.