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**RUMOR** Original theatrical cut of the OT to be released on blu ray!!

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http://www.starwarsunderworld.com/2014/08/report-disney-to-release-unaltered.html?m=1

Please forgive me if this has already been discussed elsewhere. im still finding my way around here ;)

If this is really happening, im so psyched. i have the dvd set with the changes. like haydens face in ROTJ. and i absolutely hate that!!

My parents have the originals, but when i went to get my own, all i could get was the modified one. 

Yay!! :)

Padme

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I recall similar rumors coming out almost immediately after Disney got the license. I wouldn't be too surprised if these were true - after all, they must want to hype Episode VII - but until I hear from an official source I'm taking this with a grain of salt.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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Disney is the same company that digitally recolored Peter Lorre's face to make him look more seasick, so even if it is confirmed, so what?

So, a new book came out and we learned so much, and it is called, “Anguilosaurus, Killer of the Living”.

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I wouldn't be too surprised if it's true. I just don't let myself get my hopes up unless it's something a little more official. But I will admit that I am cautiously optimistic :)

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Padme said:

http://www.starwarsunderworld.com/2014/08/report-disney-to-release-unaltered.html?m=1

Please forgive me if this has already been discussed elsewhere. im still finding my way around here ;)

If this is really happening, im so psyched. i have the dvd set with the changes. like haydens face in ROTJ. and i absolutely hate that!!

My parents have the originals, but when i went to get my own, all i could get was the modified one. 

Yay!! :)

Yes Padme, digitalfreaknyc had brought the comicbook.com article up on page 32 of this thread a little earlier - http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/4K-restoration-on-Star-Wars-Official/topic/16857/page/32/

The dvd releases of the original versions (that your parents presumably have) are merely non-anamorphic 'bonus' discs on 'limited edition' 2-disc versions which had the 2004 Special Edition dvd versions contained too.  And the prints used for the original cuts hadn't been cleaned up very well either.  They are still readily available on the likes of Amazon and E-bay, but at inflated prices now, so it could be worth scouring anywhere that sells 2nd-hand dvds near you.

But considering how long fans waited to get an official dvd release of the original cuts, these proved a real slap in the face as far as the quality goes, when they came out.  Let's hope that all these rumours of a better quality release turn out to be true.  If that proves to be the case, I just hope that some idiot doesn't decide to give them a 'stylized colour-timing' and 'crushed blacks' similar to how the SE versions look!

Check out the threads on Harmy's DESPECIALIZED versions, and adywan's ongoing REVISITED project for a great way to see these movies in the meantime.

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This is great news but I am not going to get excited about this until there is an official announcement. Obviously a big project like this would take alot of time because the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions haven't undergone a restoration since the creation of the 1997 Special Edition Versions.

When I read the article on comicbook.com I was not surprised at all at this part.

"Our sources indicate that the project has been under way for quite some time, but it’s been challenging because of some damage to the original negatives they are utilizing"

George Lucas never wanted to restore the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions and re-release them on Home Video, instead he was purposely letting the Original Negatives deteriorate to the point where they would become unrestorable.

I wonder if Disney will ask George Lucas to come in and approve the HD Presentations when this major restoration is completed.

It would also be great is Disney could locate all of the Original Audio Elements and create brand new 5.1 Mixes for the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions. The Original Theatrical Stereo Mixes should also be restored and included. 

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I hope they don't let Lucas "approve" anything. I think they'll just say that the current blu ray is the Lucas approved version. riddler, you said that Lucas was letting the negatives deteriorate intentionally, do you think that's why the blu rays weren't a real restoration? That had never occurred to me before.

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Well, this is why I definitely think that Disney will restore all film, elements, frames, deleted scenes, still images, etc. etc. that have to do with the OT. With films as popular and well selling as the OT (whether unaltered or not) they are going to be restored up to modern standards. I'm sure they'll release the OUT eventually, probably before Ep. VII when people are most excited about Star Wars. If they're planning on restoring everything then they might as well release the OUT anyway. By no means am I an expert on the subject, so I could be totally wrong, but it just seems to make sense.

The Person in Question

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riddler95 said:

I wonder if Disney will ask George Lucas to come in and approve the HD Presentations when this major restoration is completed.

No way! That would be like asking for Nixon's approval before passing laws that weaken the executive branch.

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Platitude said:

They're skeptical of this, and I agree.  The distribution rights issues make it a real complicated situation.

If they don't do something about the distribution rights, all versions of ANH will go out of print in 2020, so whether or not Disney wants to release the OOT, they'll have to do something about the distribution rights by 2020.

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Platitude said:

io9 has an article about it here: http://io9.com/is-disney-really-releasing-the-unaltered-star-wars-tril-1622812966

They're skeptical of this, and I agree.  The distribution rights issues make it a real complicated situation.

Well, I honestly don't think it does. Fox has no more control over Star Wars now than they did when Lucas owned it. Fox just gets a distribution cut and Lucasfilm gets the rest, so it's really not a big deal to my knowledge. Also, Fox has no reason to refuse to allow Disney to release an unaltered set since they have nothing to gain from letting them do this and would just be passing up on money. If Disney just HAD to get the distribution rights then Fox will likely be willing to deal since they don't have them for long anyways (2020 is a red herring because Fox owns perpetual distribution for SW so a deal has to be made anyway). If Fox is unwilling to deal then Disney could just refuse to let them sell any Star Wars films, making Fox have no choice but to sell. As for anything Devin Faraci said, which is cited heavily in that article, I don't believe really because he thinks that Fox OWNS the movie as in they literally own the movies, not just the distribution rights, which I know for a fact is not true. George Lucas has absolutely no control over Star Wars anymore. They may listen to him to be polite but he is not making business decisions anymore. Fox owning distribution rights means that any Star Wars release has to be through them, but they can't release stuff if Disney does not want them to since Lucasfilm owns the material. Correct me if I'm wrong, again I'm no expert, but I think that covers most of the distribution rights issue.

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darklordoftech said:

KilroyMcFadden said:

...AND the TFNr's are already debating which changes should stay.   #smh

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/rumor-disney-to-release-unaltered-old-trilogy-on-br.50020327/page-8

Sadly, the same is occuring on Reddit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/2dqm18/disney_to_release_original_unaltered_cut_of_star/

 Well, if Disney restores the negative, then that means not one post-97 change is included, so that means they just have to get rid of all the 97 changes and restore those original parts. I for one offer my personal guarantee (whatever that's worth) that Disney simply WILL NOT release the unaltered films, and advertise them as such, and leave in alterations. TFNr's are a total minority when it comes to Star Wars fans, it's the only place on planet earth where some people think the original versions should never be released. It's also one of the few places on earth where people scream praise about the prequels. I know we see PT fans on the internet a lot but I've never seen one in the real world who was older than 15.

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gizzy2000 said:

darklordoftech said:

KilroyMcFadden said:

...AND the TFNr's are already debating which changes should stay.   #smh

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/rumor-disney-to-release-unaltered-old-trilogy-on-br.50020327/page-8

Sadly, the same is occuring on Reddit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/2dqm18/disney_to_release_original_unaltered_cut_of_star/

 Well, if Disney restores the negative, then that means not one post-97 change is included, so that means they just have to get rid of all the 97 changes and restore those original parts. I for one offer my personal guarantee (whatever that's worth) that Disney simply WILL NOT release the unaltered films, and advertise them as such, and leave in alterations. TFNr's are a total minority when it comes to Star Wars fans, it's the only place on planet earth where some people think the original versions should never be released. It's also one of the few places on earth where people scream praise about the prequels. I know we see PT fans on the internet a lot but I've never seen one in the real world who was older than 15.

I'd say the PT is mostly forgotten; when I ask people about it who don't care about Star Wars they're just like, "Oh yeah, I don't really remember anything that happened in those". Honestly, this rumor could be true, and I find it easier to believe than Bleeding Cool because of that gag about retconning the prequels. They mentioned restoring the original negative and the "damage" could potentially be the fact that it was chopped up. Honestly, if this guy at comicbook.com would elaborate on his sources (if he actually has sources) then I'd greatly appreciate it. Until then I'll have to hold firm on my stance that it's a click bait article with an appealing headline. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't cautiously optimistic... 

The Person in Question

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I think there's a reason why there's so many of these rumors right now, not just this and Bleeding Cool, but also the whole thing with the 4K restoration thing, and the picture of sound work done on Return of the Jedi. If they're restoring the original film in 4k, then it makes perfect sense to me that they'd also restore the OUT while they're at it, and kill two birds with one stone. They could release the "official" Special Edition version alongside the original versions. Who knows though since nothing that's been done to Star Wars in the last 20 years has made sense...

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The one thing in our favor is Disney needs a marketing "hook" to sell people beyond the fanbase on buying the movies again, only a few years after the first Blu Ray release from Fox, and the more recent combo packs. (Neither trilogy has ever really been out of print since the first DVD releases.)

Putting Empire of Dreams and Star Wars to Jedi:The Making of a Saga, and any other "lost" extras in would be great, but it's too esoteric to be a selling point to the larger audience awaiting Episode 7.

The originals are really the only trump card left to play.

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

The one thing in our favor is Disney needs a marketing "hook" to sell people beyond the fanbase on buying the movies again, only a few years after the first Blu Ray release from Fox, and the more recent combo packs. (Neither trilogy has ever really been out of print since the first DVD releases.)

Putting Empire of Dreams and Star Wars to Jedi:The Making of a Saga, and any other "lost" extras in would be great, but it's too esoteric to be a selling point to the larger audience awaiting Episode 7.

The originals are really the only trump card left to play.

 I agree :) The only compliment I'll give the blu ray Special Editions is that they did give us a lot of extra features. I do think that if you slap a big sticker on the front of the set that says, "Original Versions Included" that'll get you a lot of extra customers right there!

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gizzy2000 said:

I hope they don't let Lucas "approve" anything. I think they'll just say that the current blu ray is the Lucas approved version. riddler, you said that Lucas was letting the negatives deteriorate intentionally, do you think that's why the blu rays weren't a real restoration? That had never occurred to me before.

 darklordoftech said:

riddler95 said:

I wonder if Disney will ask George Lucas to come in and approve the HD Presentations when this major restoration is completed.

No way! That would be like asking for Nixon's approval before passing laws that weaken the executive branch.

 Obviously the reason for why the films weren't given a new restoration for the 2011 Blu-Ray release was because George Lucas clearly felt that the 2004 HD (1080p) Masters were good enough of a source to be used to create the transfers. I remember reading in Summer of 2010 that George Lucas said the reason for why the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions were not restored and included on the 2011 Blu-Ray release was because it was too expensive of a process to be performed. 

When I said "I wonder if Disney will ask George Lucas to come in and approve the HD Presentations when this major restoration is completed." I meant that maybe they'd ask him to approve the HD Transfers to make sure the Picture & Sound Quality will be accurate. Directors & Producers are often brought in to approve newly created HD Presentations of their films. For example Steven Spielberg has approved the Blu-Ray transfers for several of his films, Ridley Scott supervised and approved the restoration for the Final Cut of Blade Runner, and heck Martin Scorsese was even brought in to oversee some parts of the restoration for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

I don't think George Lucas would even bother to approve the HD Transfers for the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions. Because for starters they are not his preferred versions of the films and for so long he refused to restore them and release them in High Quality on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Shortly after the 2-Disc Limited Edition DVD Sets of The Star Wars Trilogy were released in September of 2006, I remember reading somewhere that the reason for why the Theatrical Cuts were presented on DVD in the Letterbox Format with Dolby 2.0 Surround Mixes was because George Lucas did not allow a restoration to be performed. So they were basically forced to create the transfers using the 1993 Video Masters created for The Definitive Collection Laserdisc Boxset.

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I always assumed the reason the really bad laserdisc ports were released was because everyone at LFL and Fox wanted them released and George finally said, "alright, as long as it doesn't cost one penny" so they did it the cheapest way humanly possible.

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gizzy2000 said:

I always assumed the reason the really bad laserdisc ports were released was because everyone at LFL and Fox wanted them released and George finally said, "alright, as long as it doesn't cost one penny" so they did it the cheapest way humanly possible.

 Because a restoration could not be performed, those 1993 Video Masters provided the best source to create DVD Transfers for the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions.

With Disney apparently restoring the Theatrical Cuts in 4K and releasing them in 1080p on Blu-Ray next year, they'd probably look significantly better than the 2011 Blu-Rays of the Special Edition.

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riddler95 said:

gizzy2000 said:

I always assumed the reason the really bad laserdisc ports were released was because everyone at LFL and Fox wanted them released and George finally said, "alright, as long as it doesn't cost one penny" so they did it the cheapest way humanly possible.

 Because a restoration could not be performed, those 1993 Video Masters provided the best source to create DVD Transfers for the Original Theatrical Unaltered Versions.

With Disney apparently restoring the Theatrical Cuts in 4K and releasing them in 1080p on Blu-Ray next year, they'd probably look significantly better than the 2011 Blu-Rays of the Special Edition.

Bit a both. George didn't have to 4:3 letterbox the DVD or only include a stereo soundtrack. That was just out of badness IMO

Oh and on the main topic, I'll believe it when I've pressed play on the Blu-Ray.

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