New Lucas interview 2: 'Insists Unaltered Versions Of The OT Will Never Be Released' — Page 2

Caston said:

I thought this deserved its own thread, rather than posting it digitalfreaknyc’s New Lucas interview - the originals “look terrible” thread, as it is a different topic being discussed by George Lucas doing the media rounds at Cannes, for his honorary award.
 

George Lucas “I think a film belongs to its creator. When Michelangelo made the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he looked at it and said: I’m going to redo this part.”

 
^ The Star Wars Underworld twitter thread link: https://x.com/TheSWU/status/1794151443835781317
 

A ScreenRant article on the subject:

George Lucas Defends The Star Wars Special Editions, Insists Unaltered Versions Of The OT Will Never Be Released
 

Many of the comments in the Star Wars Underworld twitter thread makes some very good points, and the majority are wanting the theatrical cuts to be released, or are calling George out for him comments.

There really was no reason to create another thread. They’re about the same exact thing.

I really like that Screen Rant article; its short and to the point with virtually no bias. Here’s my favorite part…

“Lucas’ ownership of the Star Wars franchise as its creator gave him every reason to make changes to the original Star Wars films. While some may disagree with some of the minor changes such as Return of the Jedi’s musical number, Jabba the Hutt’s A New Hope appearance, or Greedo shooting Han Solo first, the bigger changes to match the visual style of both trilogies make a lot of sense. These changes were simply about Lucas furthering his ownership for the franchise he created, explaining his defense of them.”

Like it or not, the fact remains that as long as George was in charge of his own company, he was free to do whatever he wanted with those films, whether anyone else liked it or not. While I’d definitely purchase the UOT in a higher video quality if he changed his mind someday, I’m not going to act entitled or stay eternally upset with him about refusing to do so.

Unfortunately Screen Rant is a rag and George didn’t make the films by himself. As per early in the thread:

Mocata said:
George is clearly one of bean counters who would have commissioned somebody else to create a work of art. Imagine if a Pope back in history claimed that some masterpiece was all their own doing and had the right to paint over it.

I think still having to argue with people over why the original should be on Blu-Ray and 4K and Han why Han shooting second is stupid, 20 years after we signed a petition to the get the original released just to get Lynn Hale’s spiel, kind of makes me think it’s a lost cause.

I have 4K77 and I’m reasonably happy with it.

It won’t be lost because the British Film Archive and Library of Congress have the original. Its just not available to the general public. Unless you have out of print DVD, VHS or laserdisc. Yeah none of those is theatrically accurate but whatever.

JadedSkywalker said:

I think still having to argue with people over why the original should be on Blu-Ray and 4K and Han why Han shooting second is stupid, 20 years after we signed a petition to the get the original released just to get Lynn Hale’s spiel, kind of makes me think it’s a lost cause.

I have 4K77 and I’m reasonably happy with it.

It won’t be lost because the British Film Archive and Library of Congress have the original. Its just not available to the general public. Unless you have out of print DVD, VHS or laserdisc. Yeah none of those is theatrically accurate but whatever.

Does that mean that the original negatives are archived in a place where they are available for scanning at any time today? From what source do you get this information? It is really very interesting

YAREL_RGP said:

Does that mean that the original negatives are archived in a place where they are available for scanning at any time today? From what source do you get this information? It is really very interesting

One can only hope. They are trying to tell us that the negatives were used for the Special Edition in 1997, but there are too many references and hints that this may not be true. There was a dedicated website to this matter, but I can’t recall its name.

YAREL_RGP said:

JadedSkywalker said:

I think still having to argue with people over why the original should be on Blu-Ray and 4K and Han why Han shooting second is stupid, 20 years after we signed a petition to the get the original released just to get Lynn Hale’s spiel, kind of makes me think it’s a lost cause.

I have 4K77 and I’m reasonably happy with it.

It won’t be lost because the British Film Archive and Library of Congress have the original. Its just not available to the general public. Unless you have out of print DVD, VHS or laserdisc. Yeah none of those is theatrically accurate but whatever.

Does that mean that the original negatives are archived in a place where they are available for scanning at any time today? From what source do you get this information? It is really very interesting

Not negatives no, but LOC do have 35mm prints they have scanned and archived. I’m almost 100% certain BFI has done the same. But I don’t have some inside knowledge.

Lucasfilm has the negatives, and it is true that the O-neg is conformed to the 1997 edit. But they saved all the trims. What is lost is the original color reversal negative, all the wipes and dissolves. Anyone who says they can’t do a restoration is being foolish. It’s not about the money, it’s not about can it be done. It is all about George, he hates the original and does not want it restored.

The restoration has already been done… by the hobbyists and fans.

Library of Congress was never given an original negative, it was the Special Edition right?