Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!) — Page 287

see you auntie said:

Well I can't self edit if you quote me Anchorhead.

I take it I missed something.  :-(

Pennsylvania Jones said:

This makes zero sense.

Your dad is okay with you torrenting moves for editing purposes, which pretty much everyone agrees is piracy.  But he won't let you download a preservation of the GOUT even if you buy the GOUT because he says that is piracy?

Head asplode.

Well, he's more indirectly okay with it.  I don't do it with his permission, but he's seen me edit them, asked how I got them, then says "okay."  However, when I directly asked him permission to download the preservation, he said no.  He lets me edit pirated films, but he won't let me get the most awesome Star Wars preservations ever...  I'll make a point of that the next time I get close to him.  Even if it means deleting the movies from my computer.  The projects I'm working on will go bye-bye, if that's the case.  Oh, well.  I guess that'll give me some free time to record my own video to edit.

Makes sense to me. Taking photos of the Mona Lisa to photoshop for an art project is different than stealing the Mona Lisa from the Lourve. (even if I disagree with your pops).

Make you a deal. When you're 18, PM me and I'll make sure you get the reservations. ;-)

And YES, go shoot your own stuff. You learn SO much about editing doing it. And you learn so much about shooting from editing.

TV's Frink said:

see you auntie said:

Well I can't self edit if you quote me Anchorhead.

I take it I missed something.  :-(

I think we all did. Is it a full moon in several places across the globe tonight/today/this morning?

Admiral Kirk says: Yes its true I'm getting married to Stevie Nicks

Captain Spock says: Logically she'll be keeping her stage name?

Admiral Kirk says: Well sort of she wants to be called 'Stevie Shatner Nicks'

J

I re-registered to the forum here.  I remember coming here years ago to vent a bit about the 2004 DVDs.  I forget what username I used back then, so I created a brand new one.

I don't think I will buy Star Wars on Blu-Ray -- it's not a boycott, just that I've shelled so much money buying the 2004 DVDs and only to rebuy the 2006 DVDs with the letterbox original theatrical releases that I don't want to shell out more money all over again.

My hope is that fan backlash will be so great with the current bluray release, that Lucas will finally cave in and release the theatrical editions of the OOT on Blu-Ray.  At that point I _might_ buy them, but I'll probably decide against it.  But I still hope that they do get released so that true Star Wars fans get their well-justified wish.

Lucas should really stop revisiting his previous work.  Some "Director's Cut" or "Special Edition" releases of old movies are justified.  Case in point, the Donner Cut of Superman II.  But the changes being constantly made by LFL are major creative ones.  Like Hayden Christensen in Jedi, Greedo shooting first, Ian McDiarmid replacing Clive Revill in ESB, etc.

I can understand if a director or artist wants to revise or improve a previous work.  But Lucas' changes, to put it succinctly, just plain suck.  The only change to Star Wars I can conceive that actually improved it was putting in Jabba in Episode IV.  "Jedi Rocks" with it's myriad of Monsters Inc-like puppets crooning to the camera that replaced the awesome "Lapti Nek" is so cringe-inducing that I wanted to toss the DVD and smash it into a thousand pieces.

Well, I'm sure what I just wrote has been discussed many times here.  I think that Star Wars' creator has caused me to hate Star Wars.

TheBoost said:

Pennsylvania Jones said:

This makes zero sense.

Your dad is okay with you torrenting moves for editing purposes, which pretty much everyone agrees is piracy.  But he won't let you download a preservation of the GOUT even if you buy the GOUT because he says that is piracy?

Head asplode.

Well, he's more indirectly okay with it.  I don't do it with his permission, but he's seen me edit them, asked how I got them, then says "okay."  However, when I directly asked him permission to download the preservation, he said no.  He lets me edit pirated films, but he won't let me get the most awesome Star Wars preservations ever...  I'll make a point of that the next time I get close to him.  Even if it means deleting the movies from my computer.  The projects I'm working on will go bye-bye, if that's the case.  Oh, well.  I guess that'll give me some free time to record my own video to edit.

Makes sense to me. Taking photos of the Mona Lisa to photoshop for an art project is different than stealing the Mona Lisa from the Lourve. (even if I disagree with your pops).

Downloading a torrent of a movie is stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, not taking pictures of it.  Doesn't matter if it's for an art project or not.

TV's Frink said:

Downloading a torrent of a movie is stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, not taking pictures of it.  Doesn't matter if it's for an art project or not.

It's more like stealing a book from the Louvre gift shop about the Mona Lisa, but it's still stealing.

It would be different if the French Government had taken the Mona Lisa from exhibition and had banned all books about it but somehow a copy of a book about the Mona Lisa had escaped the purge and the only way to read and preserve it was to steal it from the Louvre gift shop.

THIS IS A FAKE.

Bingowings said:

TV's Frink said:

Downloading a torrent of a movie is stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, not taking pictures of it.  Doesn't matter if it's for an art project or not.

It's more like stealing a book from the Louvre gift shop about the Mona Lisa, but it's still stealing.

It's TheBoost's analogy, not mine ;-)

Disappointing that Bill Hunt gave the movie a big shrug and a, "Well, it's Star Wars on Blu-Ray" like everyone else. From everything we've seen, read and heard, this release sounds objectively off-putting (SE changes or no). I can't imagine anything other than Star Wars being given such a lazy pass, considering all the quality inconsistencies and missing bits this set seems to have.

My god, Predator sent shockwaves the world 'round (I'm exaggerating, I know), and a substandard release of the biggest movie franchise in history is, apparently, going to be successful regardless of quality.

It's not that I'm shocked and horrified—but I am disappointed.

Hi folks! Longtime lurker here. I don't think I've posted here before, at least not in a long while. Wanted to pop out from the shadows and say howdy.

CO said:

Tomorrow the Blurays come out, and this will be the first big SW release that I am not a part of.  Pretty sad, that i have to be a martyr towards these movies, but I would honestly feel dirty if I went out and bought the Bluray set and just keep thinking Lucas is laughing at me that I caved in again.

It should have never came to this, as he had a person like me for life.

I share the sentiment above. I love Star Wars enough that I troop charity events as part of the 501st Legion but, as far as this blu-ray release is concerned, just don't feel like financially supporting something that hasn't been given the care and treatment I feel it should be.

As part of our symbiotic relationship with LFL, the 501st helps out in promoting official SW related events and video releases when asked. Back in '06, I trooped a couple events for the OT & prequel DVDs. Makes me feel a bit dirty now, that I was helping support such a disappointing release.

I (to a point) understand that it's Lucas' world to tinker with (even though it was a collaborative effort of a lot of filmmakers, and he didn't direct Empire or Jedi), but each time things change, it moves further away from the original movies I've always enjoyed.

I have the original VHS copies, the widescreen pre-THX VHS and LaserDisc set, pre-SE THX LaserDisc set, and the DVDs with the poor LaserDisc OT transfers. At this point, I'm more than happy to sit out this blu-ray release, and enjoy the fan restorations and Adywan's excellent Revisited.

This just my opinion, of course. I know the Special Edition and continuing changes don't bother a lot of folks. That's cool. To each, their own. It's just not my cup of tea anymore...

A couple of interesting tidbits from Hunt's review....

I think most fans wouldn't mind the changes at all as long as the original versions were available on the Blu-rays as well (perhaps via seamless branching). But Lucas seems determined to erase them from history, going to far as to outright lie in claiming that the negatives were destroyed when he made the Special Editions - a claim so outrageous and blatantly false to anyone who understands how films are edited and preserved in the modern era that for me... well, that was the last straw.

I know a lot of people think Hunt says whatever he has to so that he can stay in Lucas' good graces, but he did just call him a liar/lair.

A number of fans have complained about the fact that the original theatrical versions of the classic films are not included in this Blu-ray set. While it's true and is certainly a legitimate complaint, no fan in their right mind could seriously have expected them to be included, given Lucas' attitude in the past. Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that Lucas is going to have to release the original versions of the films at some point in the future. The reason I've started to believe that is because of the deleted scenes that WERE included on these Blu-rays. This is material that Lucas has been reluctant to make available in the past, but they were needed for this Blu-ray set simply to give fans a compelling reason to buy the films again. After this Blu-ray release, I just don't see ANYONE buying these films again for any reason (certainly not for 3D!) unless those original versions are part of the package. Regardless, even if there's never an authorized release, rest assured that so many prints of those original films exist in the hands of film archives (and even private collectors) around the world that, sooner or later, someone is going to throw them up on an HD scanner, make high-quality HD masters and release them as bootlegs - either for free online, or on BD-R or other digital media sold at conventions. How do I know that? Well, I've actually had bootleg HD copies of the "special edition" Star Wars films for a couple years now, mastered from European HD satellite broadcasts, made available online and burned to BD-R media. Trust me, the original versions WILL be available eventually in HD, legally or not. Frankly, the sooner Lucas realizes this and takes proactive steps to release them himself the better.

Interesting theory about having to release the OOT if he wants to sell another set.  I hope he's right.

You also get the new Star Wars Spoofs compilation (98 mins), which includes clips from scores of fun, funny and infamous spoofs of the Star Wars films. Included are clips from Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, Robot Chicken, The Muppet Show and many more. This gets major points for including Bill Murray singing a lounge version of the Star Wars theme on classic SNL

Oh man, I spent a couple bucks to download the Robert Klein SNL episode this is on so I could put the song in my edit, and I could have just spent $80 on the Blu set instead! ;-)

Lestrade said:

Disappointing that Bill Hunt gave the movie a big shrug and a, "Well, it's Star Wars on Blu-Ray" like everyone else. From everything we've seen, read and heard, this release sounds objectively off-putting (SE changes or no). I can't imagine anything other than Star Wars being given such a lazy pass, considering all the quality inconsistencies and missing bits this set seems to have.

My god, Predator sent shockwaves the world 'round (I'm exaggerating, I know), and a substandard release of the biggest movie franchise in history is, apparently, going to be successful regardless of quality.

It's not that I'm shocked and horrified—but I am disappointed.

Lucasfilm clouds everything. The truth is that these BD's have absolutely no value. But since GL is so greedy for more money, he has to force every reviewer to give this a positive review, or else. Could you imagine what would happen if Michael Bay or Uwe Boll forced all film critics to give their films a four-star/A rating, or theres would be serious negative consequences? This is exactly what GL is doing, for no other reason that it is SW, which has ceased to become a film and is now a consumer brand no one can question.

I caved in and bought the set. The deleted scenes were also - rightfully, in my opinion - very influential. Before you yell at me, let me say that I grew up with the 1997 SE. I had previously viewed the original theatrical presentations on VHS and on TV, but the 1997 presentations were the one I actually saw in the cinema, as a very impressionable 9-year old. The memories of those screenings will stick for me forever. Indeed, a lot of the changes have been cringeworthy. Greedo shooting first, "NO" being Darth Vader's new catchphrase, Hayden in ROTJ, etc. But I'm probably somewhat moderate when it comes to the changes. It'll take a lot more to ruin the saga for me. Changed or not, these films are still solid entertainment.

Of course, that doesn't mean I believe George Lucas should simply have his way with some of the most important films of all time. Not at all. But I do agree with the view that we will get a proper release of the OOT at one point. It just has to happen at some point. George Lucas is a shrewd businessman more than anything else, and making both versions available would be the ultimate Star Wars money machine. Certainly the recent freebie screening of "Star Wars" showed us that there are still great-condition prints in existance. Hell, "Empire of Dreams" did that back in 2004 by showing the original crawl in crystal clear quality. GOUT was a dumb little provocation, but nonetheless a step in the right direction.

Either way, I'm not gonna deny myself the "Star Wars" saga on Blu-ray. It's not the ideal box set, but I'm prepared to pay for that when/if that arrives. And I do plan on buying a decent LD player and the OOT on that format as well sometime. Till then, I am probably gonna enjoy the BD more than I'm going to hate them.

I'm waiting for a better boxset and avoiding the waste of time and money. I'll just watch other BDs until then.