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Star Wars: 30th Anniversary (2007 - New Box-set) — Page 2

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I seriously think the man has OCD as mentioned, or like some have also mentioned, has been in his own world so long that he's out of touch with reality.

That being said. I have the 2004 set, and laserdisc rips of the definitive set. I'm not buying the set on September 12. As George had to do was at the very least provide anamorphic transfers and I would've plunked down my cash. Now I'm not. The only way I will the set in 2007 is if there are anamorphic transfers, and I won't be surprised if it does or doesn't happen.
Graduate student in Vocal Performance. Movie and hometheater PEZ collecting geek.
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I have absolutely no interest in a 'saga' boxset. I don't care for the prequels and I don't care for Lucas' 'original vision' OT, so why would I buy this?

War does not make one great.

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If Lucas can be convinced there is money to be made by spending what it takes to give the OOT a proper release, he will do so in the end.


On the other hand, if Lucas can be convinced there's money to be made by dicking around with the fans, releasing cheaply-made inferior products, bundling them to maximize revenue, and banging the "Last Chance to Own!" drum again and again, he'll continue doing that.

Which of these two courses of action are indicated by his historical and present activities?
"It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." -- Tom Shales on Star Wars
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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Originally posted by: Scruffy
On the other hand, if Lucas can be convinced there's money to be made by dicking around with the fans, releasing cheaply-made inferior products, bundling them to maximize revenue, and banging the "Last Chance to Own!" drum again and again, he'll continue doing that.
Well of course he will. Lucas just wants to earn more money. If he can earn more money by giving people what they want, he will do so. Naturally, this also means that if he can earn more money by doing something that displeases a large portion of the fanbase, he will, as we have seen in the past, do that as well.
Which of these two courses of action are indicated by his historical and present activities?

Both actually. At one point he stated that the Star Wars movies would not be made available on VHS, but it happened eventually. He also said he would not release them on DVD, but after a while he did. All the while he does these things, he exploits most of the publicity stunts and maketing tricks available to him, so that he can earn as much money as possible. Did I mention that experience tells us that, more than anything else, Lucas is out to earn as much money off Star Wars as he can?

I, for one, won't be buying the Sep. 12 release and will instead wait to see what the 2007 set brings. Perhaps more disappointment, and if so, I won't be buying that one either.
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Actually, the latter COA is indicated. The former COA requires a significant investment (finding/striking a good print, scanning it, downrezzing for DVD, QA) and shuts off a future revenue stream (fanboys who think if they buy it the next one will be done right). The latter COA requires very little investment -- Lucas can pretty much use the same technique he's using now, bundling with an extant product and marketing it as something new. For all the releasing his does, he produces very little, and I expect this to continue. (Barring some technological singularity, like the sudden mass adoption of HD content.)
"It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." -- Tom Shales on Star Wars
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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Originally posted by: Scruffy
Actually, the latter COA is indicated.
Experience from the real world has shown us that he does both, as I said. While there is no doubt that he will happily release sub-par products to maximise profit (we agree on this), he also, for example, made the decision at some point to produce a laserdisk master for a relatively small market. Why did Lucas do this? Generally speaking, he did it because the return on investment makes it pay off in the long run, in the sense that spending money to renew the product from time to time will yield a significantly greater profit than simply exhausting all the marketing possibilities after the initial outlay. Star Wars became a phenomenon, not just because it was good, but also because Lucas cleverly reinvested significant amounts of money into the franchise to keep it going. If he hadn't followed this strategy, Star Wars would have worn off just like any other fad, as evidenced by the relative drought of Star Wars products in the mid to late 1980s. (On a different note, Lucas also has no other products to invest in which can yield him a profit of the same order of magnitude and this has also contributed significantly to the longevity of Star Wars, but that's beside the point.)
The former COA requires a significant investment (finding/striking a good print, scanning it, downrezzing for DVD, QA) and shuts off a future revenue stream (fanboys who think if they buy it the next one will be done right).

As you correctly point out, this does shut off a future revenue stream, so the investment isn't made before this source of income is close to exhausted. The important thing to remember, which you have omitted, is that the investment creates a new product, which can be sold and resold with all the spin offs and special editions you can imagine for the purpose of generating even more profit. The point is that you'll make much more on the bottom line from doing this all over again with the new product rather than trying to squeeze the few last pennies of profit out of the old one. So you go this route, and you do this until the market is saturated once more and the cycle starts over again.
The latter COA requires very little investment -- Lucas can pretty much use the same technique he's using now, bundling with an extant product and marketing it as something new. For all the releasing his does, he produces very little, and I expect this to continue. (Barring some technological singularity, like the sudden mass adoption of HD content.)

The creation of HD content is just one of the potentially upcoming investment and product cycles. Provided there is a viable HD market at some point in the future, Lucas will know how to profit from that as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending what Lucas is doing. I want a proper quality OOT release just as much as you do, and I'm not even willing to buy the stuff he puts out in place of what I want. What I'm saying is that what he's doing makes perfect sense if his goal is to maximise profit, and that's pretty much a given by now. On September 12, Lucas will ride again, and he will be laughing all the way to the bank once more, but at least he won't be carrying any of my hard-earned cash with him.
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Somebody should kill GL becouse we are all sick and tired of his crap !!! DONT BUY THE 2007 BOX SET PLZZ !!!!!!!!!!!!!
May the force be wth you .........
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Originally posted by: SW
Somebody should kill GL

Dude, chill.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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Originally posted by: SW
Somebody should kill GL becouse we are all sick and tired of his crap !!! DONT BUY THE 2007 BOX SET PLZZ !!!!!!!!!!!!!


And what is this 'WE' business? Nobody has permission to speak for ol' Sluggo except Sluggo.
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Originally posted by: SW
Somebody should kill GL becouse we are all sick and tired of his crap !!! DONT BUY THE 2007 BOX SET PLZZ !!!!!!!!!!!!!


Dude, no matter what you think of Lucas and the way he treats Star Wars, it certainly isn't woth his life. I mean, come on, it's a movie. You think he deserves to die over this? Please, do us all a favor and get some help...for yourself.
F Scale score - 3.3333333333333335

You are disciplined but tolerant; a true American.

Pissing off Rob since August 2007.
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Sorry guys and girls we only want the cinema versions of Star wars . Everytime he brings a new set we see more changes its annoying .
May the force be wth you .........
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Originally posted by: Obi Jeewhyen
People have died for less.
(just sayin')


Yeah, releasing a non-anamorphic DVD will get ya killed in some countries.
"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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My response in another thread:


And I am wondering this too: even if Georgie Boy does inlcude an anamorphic version of the OOT in the supposed '07 set, will that STILL be enough to get people to buy it? How many people are going to say, "Eh, the one I have from 09/12 is good enough and I definitely have no need for the other crap." On the eve of a new format becoming the leader and studios taking off with it, I doubt people will even bother.

I'm starting to think the '07 set won't be that spectacular after all, rather, it will be geared towards the people who are new to SW or don't have a complete collection yet. I loved the Matrix trilogy but I already had all 3 movies so I skipped the deluxe set when it came out; I know many that did the same and I am sure SW will be no different.