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State of the Trilogy/ annual SW depression — Page 4

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BaronLando, that was directed at Fang Zei, not you.

Fang Zei, you just proved my point though. You have the SE. You read all the hype in 2004 with the features and commentary's and such--how do you think the much-anticipated Blu Ray set will be? The one with "hundreds" of hours of documentaries, (according to McCallum), possibly all the deleted scenes we wanted, new features, exlcusive Blu-Ray frills like PIP video features, and the first-ever six-film Saga collection? Thats aside from what the main selling point is--fricking STAR WARS in high-definition! It'll be huge, and hyped to death, and everyone that has Blu-Ray will get it. And it doesn't need the OOT at all. If Lucas wants to smooth over fan relations or whatever reason, then it could be included, but it doesn't seem like he is eager to do that. In fact, with it being the first-ever "Saga" collection, where you finally get Episode I-VI in a single piece, it might be more important than ever to deny the original versions.

It sucks, but what can we do? Put up with it or just learn to like what we have, I guess.
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ah, my mistake.
I pretty much agree with what you're saying, but on the other hand, it seems like what you're describing feels SO far away, (a big, wide market for a Blu-Ray set that costs 200 dollars) it's just hard for me to imagine they wouldn't want to sell...something in the meantime. (not necessarily the OOT, but I really can't think of anything else. Indy, I guess, but don't they have to share a big pile of that dough with Spielberg and Paramount?)
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Fang Zei said:

It wasn't an issue until LFL decided to hang a carrot out in front of us with that stupid GOUT release. It would've been better had he just not released it, unless of course he really does plan on that being the last time he ever does it. But, at the end of the day, I just have to remind myself that it's coming, eventually...


And this is why I believe that the OOT will eventually get a proper release. How many times over the years of VHS and LaserDisc was the trilogy released "for the last time ever!!!"? Gotta be at least a half dozen for VHS, and at least 3 for LD. When the GOUT discs came out, the rumor was that the 4 disc boxes were going away. Still plenty of them on the shelves. You telling me they're ALL 2 to 4 year old stock?

The young fans may be the ones who get the attention, but Lucas knows that the vintage fans are the ones with the real money to spend. Trust me, he's milking the SE's until the next re-release of the OOT for whatever reason he concocts at that time.

My outlook on life - we’re all on the Hindenburg anyway…no point fighting over the window seat.

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zombie84 said:

I would even disagee with "95% of fans prefer the OOT", I don't think thats even close to being accurate, I would say only about 50% of the fans prefer the OOT because 95% of younger fans like the SE and prequels, and this is LFL's primary demographic right now, that under-20 years old crowd, the one that loves Spiderman 3 and Iron Man and The Matrix. .


My bad Zombie, I meant 95% of the fans who have seen the OOT, as most younger kids honestly never saw it, so in that respect, they really dont have a favorite version, since the SE is the only one they have seen.

My nephews are a perfect example of never seeing the OOT, my sister in law bought them the '04 DVD's and they have grown up (all of them under 10) with the SE, and really don't know about the OOT vs SE debate.
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I would hope that the treatment of these high profile catalog releases might make Lucas reconsider only including the final versions of the six films. That's beside the point anyway, since he's already done a release that includes both versions. Granted, the real reason was that they wanted to start selling them individually, but it has happened.

The point I was trying to get across is that I would think by now that enough people wouldn't buy Star Wars on blu-ray unless it has what they really want in it. Maybe I really am deluding myself by thinking that, but I just don't know these days.
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The whole problem is that the films that stated it all are dying a slow, painful, ignored death that should not be happening because Lucas decided to replace it with the SE. Now I'm convinced that the OOT itself is bad.

BTW, did anyone answer my questions I posted this morning??
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You mean these one?

generalfrevious said:

Consider these questions:
Did Lucas even read Joseph Campbell, or even heard of him before the PT?
Is the SW saga supposed to be a modern mythology, or just some homage to cheesy 30's serials?
Did you know that the first star wars was based on the Akira Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress?
Did Lucas think of anything from the PT before 1990?
Why Darth Vader's name means 'father" in Dutch, even though Vader wasn't established as Luke's father until 1978?


I really don't see how they have anything to do with the discussion here. But:
-yes
-both
-thats pretty well known
-yes
-coincidence
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Isn't it ironic, though, that the version of the OT that made that hack rich are now considered unfinished.

Also, Zombie, if it was a coincidence that Vader was not Luke's father before 1978, why did Lucas choose that name and not some other menacing name?
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I thought it was because it sounded like invader. He likes those threatening words for villains like insidious, maul, grievous etc.
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Well, count me as one person who WILL NOT buy the OT on blu-ray unless the OOT is included.

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Mielr said:

Well, count me as one person who WILL NOT buy the OT on blu-ray unless the OOT is included.


This is what I'm getting at. If we're so convinced already that the OOT won't be included on the blu-ray, why don't we just start the new petition right now? Why wait?
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I think zombie's got it bang on. And what's more, Lucas could double-dip and probably even triple-dip the fans on the SE Blu-ray without even going near the OT, drip feeding us with 'special' features, 'unseen' documentaries and deleted scenes for many years to come. The first one's a given - the SE on BR as a bare bones set.

“I love Darth Editous and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” ~ADigitalMan

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I still would like the find out the specifics on when Lucas got the rights to the OOT in the 90's from Fox, specifically SW'77, as he owned the rights to ESB & ROTJ. I remember he negotiated to get the rights to the OT films, and by having the 'SE', which wasn't the same cut as the Originals, he wouldn't have to give a dime to Marcia Lucas. And he was able to release them in '06 as bonus versions, and someway not have to pay Fox or Marcia for that set too.

I don't know the whole story, but I remember reading about this in the summer of '06, and wonder how much this contributes to Lucas 'sticking by vision' mostly so he doesn't have to pay his ex-wife a dime. If this is true, I can understand the man doesn't want to give anymore money to a women who left him, in that respect, I don't blame him.
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I think Zombie is right about the Blu-Ray release of Star Wars. The first release will be mostly bare-bones, with maybe a few interesting extras. Later Blu-Ray releases will have added extras, with a small possibility of the OOT.

However, if there is a DVD ONLY box set planned in the very near future, I don't see how it will sell without the OOT or some really, really interesting deleted scenes. The DVD market has been saturated at this point, so any DVD releases will have to appeal to hardcore fans.

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

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Even if the Marcia story is true, I don't really see how that would prevent Lucas from remastering the damn thing. All this does is bring us back to the question of why he didn't do exactly that. I mean, if he was going to have to give Marcia money from the '06 release either way, sorry, but his ego shouldn't get in the way. That's why, especially considering his little "it'll all come out in the end" comment, there's nothing really preventing him from eventually giving us what we want.

Guys, I might just be overthinking things what with the economy not doing so well and all, but you can only go back to the Well so many times. Maybe I'm not seeing things the way they are and the franchise is doing fine as ever, but the prequels were not the cinematic equivalent of the second coming the way people were half-joking they were going to be back in 1998.

This is part of the problem when you're not a part of the hollywood system and you're your own system. Maybe we will have to wait another 20 years to finally see it, I'm just hoping not.
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Are people still stalking about that Marcia Lucas thing? Guys, come on, the stench of bullshit is so strong I can smell it over the internet.

Actually, its interesting though--Lucas' aquiring of the original film was never reported. Not in press releases, AFAIK, and not in any LFL books released since. It was very quiet, almost secretive. And it happened right around the time Fox got the deal to distribute the PT. Because Lucas didn't have to go with Fox, he was free to take SW to Warner or whomever, but he chose Fox--and then mysteriously was the new owner of Star Wars. My theory is that it was part of the deal--you can distribute the PT, sure to be the most lucrative trilogy of all time, but only if you give me ownership of the original film. And Fox couldn't resist. Lucas is a very brilliant businessman.
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With Indiana Jones now announced for blu-ray, I'm sure Star Wars (at least the SE wont be far behind).

http://www.1080b.com/

“I love Darth Editous and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” ~ADigitalMan

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Bastards.

“I love Darth Editous and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” ~ADigitalMan

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speaking of Indy, apparently when they showed Raiders on USA over the weekend, it had a new cgi shot of the nazis going over the cliff.
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What? No...who said that? You mean that matte shot of the jeep plunging off the cliff? Maybe it just looked different because it was on TV.
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It sure looked like a different shot to me (but it's not on the new dvds). Nobody's recorded it so far, no one expected it or noticed. But they're showing it again on scifi this weekend. the forums of theraider.net are discussing it.