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first viewing of the 2006 OOT dvds — Page 3

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Then its over? We've lost? Or is there still hope?

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: Wesyeed
holy shit

I feel the need to punch George Lucas.


anybody else planning to dance on his grave?

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Originally posted by: Mr Bungle
I dont think we will see the originals again in any format, or this will sell well, From what I have read people are avoiding these like the plague and people are seeking bootlegs or keeping existing ones but not paying big money for three separate non laser transfer, the only hope IMO is if Lucasfilm run out of stuff to put on DVD or another format to sell more units of the current definitive edition of the original trilogy and will it treated better then who knows.


OK, my optimism is flairing again...a bit. Check Amazon.com. Considering that it doesn't come out for a few months, its on the first page in terms of sales. There are other forums which I have gone to where people are planning to buy this release. What could the point of this release be? There is only one explanation: They're testing the waters, especially with the boxed set coming up. Why would they restore it if they think that it won't sell well? If laymnen will buy a bad release, imagine how well it would sell if it was restored. This situation makes no sense. Lets not quite lose hope quite yet.

"Now we'll find out where people really wanted the originals or whether they wanted the improved versions. It will all come out in the end ."

George Lucas. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Well, I'm still planning on buying them. As discouraging as all of this is, we can't let GL win. I'm going to buy the DVDs, and send the SE discs back to lucasfilm with a note explaining why. I'm going to tell him that I'd rather watch crappy non-anamorphic DVDs of the OOT (or even p&s vhs copies) than blu-ray dics of the SE.

So, maybe I'll be the only one- but I don't care, I'm doing it anyway. It would be better if we all did it, though. "Hanging onto" your bootlegs isn't going to do any good. We need to make a statement here- thousands of unwanted SE discs pouring into the LFL offices!

You can write F**K YOU, GEORGE! on your DVDs with a sharpie if you like.

Who's with me?!

BTW, I've just re-sent all of my protest emails to Jim Ward, John Singh and Lynne Hale, and I'm going to forward them to Roger Ebert (who may still be in the hospital) and Leonard Maltin as well.

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If this account is true, then some of the Lucas Fan Boys on this forum that were completely in love with the Lucas OOT release might need to get ready to eat their words.... I'm talking about a certain subset of members here that would consistently bad mouth the fan restoration projects and blindly praise Lucas for being so generous.....

I wonder how crow tastes. Yummy.....

I love everybody. Lets all smoke some reefer and chill. Hug and kisses for everybody.

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This is Luca$ flipping his finger at not only the entire OOT fan community but also at the bootlegging industry.

If they can make money by selling sub-standard SW OT dvds, then we can too
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This is the email I'm sending to Roger Ebert (I'll send a similar one to Leonard Maltin):

Dear Mr. Ebert,

As you're probably aware, for the first time the original versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy will be released on September 12th, packaged along with the Special Edition versions. However, as will all things Star Wars, there is a lot of controversy surrounding them, because of the fact that the original version DVDs will be non-anamorphic, made from 13-year-old laserdisc masters. The release is seen as a feeble attempt on the part of George Lucas, to placate fans who have been clamoring for a DVD release of the original, pre-Special Editon films. When the news about the non-anamorphic release started to leak, Lucasfilm publicist Lynne Hale sent out a press release stating, disturbingly, that “The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition”, hence, the use of letterboxed laserdisc masters for the upcoming release.

I would imagine that not only Star Wars fans would be upset by this statement, but ALL film-lovers and preservationists as well.

I have forwarded to you a letter which I sent to Ms. Hale, protesting this sub-standard September 12th release. I've sent it to you, because I thought you would be the best person to inform consumers about this release, and help put pressure on Lucasfilm/Fox to reconsider the manner in which these much beloved films are being treated (I've also forwarded the letter to new Lucasfilm VP Jim Ward).

I hope you're recovering well from your surgery, and I look forward to seeing your review of these newest Star Wars DVDs.

Best wishes,
M. R.

P.S. Please visit originaltrilogy.com run by Jay Sylvester. Over the last few years, his site has collected over 75,000 signatures to get the original Star Wars Trilogy released on DVD. The forums are just full of disappointed fans these days.

I've written to Mr. Ebert before, and received a response...so who knows. If nothing else is accomplished, we need to make sure that George "THX" Lucas is thoroughly embarassed in the press.

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The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition


What a bunch of crap!
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Originally posted by: SpecialEditionSaboteur
This is Luca$ flipping his finger at not only the entire OOT fan community but also at the bootlegging industry.

If they can make money by selling sub-standard SW OT dvds, then we can too



I an 100% absotutilutily convinced that the ONLY point of this release is to effectively eliminate and/or commandeer the bootleg market.

40,000 million notches away
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anybody else planning to dance on his grave?



Dance? Wrong verb.

Anyway, there's always hope that once he dies, that the true Star Wars films will once again grace our big screens.

Power to the bootleggers!
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It's a dead horse. Not sure why 'we' keep flogging it.

Most people just don't care. Sad, but true. We are such a tiny tiny group that no-one really gives a crap what we think or how upset we may get. At least half the people that will buy and watch this release won't even notice it's not a decent release. They will just watch it, and then maybe comment to the people at work that it looks like crap compared to the SE, without ever realising why. George gets what he wants all the way.

The majority of people that love the original movies as they were seen in cinemas in the 70's and 80's dont vist sites like this one, or even know they exist. People really just don't know or care.

During the screening at the Comic Con, did the room rise as one and cry " Bullshit!" ? Of course not. That is a large gathering of fans, that probably do have access to web info, and probably did have prior knowledge of the poor release prior to going to the Con...yet, they don't voice any protest. If they don't care enough to cry foul, why on earth is your average dvd buyer or Star Wars fan going to?

Sending disks back might cause a chuckle in the mail room at LFL, but it's just not going to cause anything to change. You've already paid for the disks. Thats why they are being released, to make money. Not to calm the flood of web postings across the net, but to make a few more easy dollars. I don't think they would care if every single copy was sent back with a hole drilled in it, or mint in a case. They won't repackage them as some of suggested. It would cost more to pick them up, check for scratches and send to a factory to repackage than it costs to simply make a new disk. Send back if the idea of owning them turns your guts, but don't expect it to change anything.

Would buying a million of them convince George that people want to see the OT on dvd in a decent release? Not unless he already knows that to be the case anyway, and either way, he has sold a millon of these crap things. I don't think its possible to convince him of anything he doesn't want to be convinced of.

It is just about the money. Not appeasing the fans or judging the market. It's just a release to drain some more money from fans. He will release a better version if he wants to , but I don't think high or low sales or a couple of thousand returned disks with angry letters will make him changes his plans. If he thinks by actually spending the coin and releasing a better print in a decent format will make him more money, then that's what he'll do. He doesn't need or want our admiration anymore. In fact, I think it just annoys him.

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Originally posted by: Windexed
I an 100% absotutilutily convinced that the ONLY point of this release is to effectively eliminate and/or commandeer the bootleg market.

Well, that won't work for obvious reasons. The only way to stamp out the bootlegger's market is to give us decent anamorphic releases. You would think that Lucas would be smart enough to figure that out for himself.

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Originally posted by: Ozkeeper

The majority of people that love the original movies as they were seen in cinemas in the 70's and 80's dont vist sites like this one, or even know they exist. People really just don't know or care.

.



Bingo, and I couldn't have said it better myself. Most fans who loved SW growing up, still love it and still watch it, but have moved on in life. I know so many friends who love the OT who saw TPM, and then checked out of SW-ville for good, they never even got to AOTC. That is the reason TPM was the highest grossing prequel, because every SW fan growing up who saw the OT saw this one, and many never came back.

Every friend I know doesn't go to any SW forum, and that is why we will never get a true gauge of what the people say on the internet, to me it is who is the loudest. I respect everyone that comes here and does their part, we got Lucas to put out O-OT in some DVD quality, so the petition worked in that way. But most older fans just don't give shit at this point cause they are probably married and have kids compared to every PT gusher who doesn't have a job yet, and has time to frequent the internet any time during the day and just dream about more OT changes.

I think it is the ultimate catch 22 for every fan who wants this, and I respect anyone who buys them and respect anyone who makes a principled stand not to buy them. The problem is Sir George has a monoploy on all of us, so he can do whatever the fuck he wants. There is no studio we can write letters to, only Lucasfilm. We are at his mercy, and sadly there is nothing we can do about it.
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I want to see screencaps and video clips, because this is not looking good at all.

Seriously, I might just have to stick with the XO project, since i'm SURE it will look better.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Originally posted by: SpecialEditionSaboteur
The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition


What a bunch of crap!


I know. That statement=total bullshit. They remastered them between 1993-1995, copy the new negatives to a SE master and made there changes.
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I've got a lower quality set of LD boots. They're okay, but I want better. However, I will NOT be buying this release. Why pay for what amounts to a slap in the face? I'd rather support the hard work and efforts of fans out there who care enough about these films to put forth the effort to restore them as best they can when the creator of said films refuses to do so.
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Yep. That's it for me . . . I'm checking out of this release. I'll have nothing to do with it; if I want pixelated and washed out, my TR47s and Editdroids will do okay. X0 is where it's at, and no more Lucas tripe is ever going to be purchased by me.

God, the tone of the Lucasfilm PR is the thing that pisses me off most. They're so snide and dismissive of everything. I wish they'd all go stuff these new dvd's up their arses and maybe jump off a cliff for good measure. *shakes head*

I never imagined, when the special editions came out, that it would ever come to this. To think I actually preferred those pieces of tripe at one time! But even they, in '97, were far less bad than what became of them in '04.
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Originally posted by: Hal 9000
I want to see screencaps


Screen captures from a (highly compressed) quicktime movie of the "DVD Singles" trailer for the 9/12 DVDs:

http://hiddenfortress.free.fr/outdvd1.png

http://hiddenfortress.free.fr/outdvd2.png

http://hiddenfortress.free.fr/outdvd3.png

http://hiddenfortress.free.fr/outdvd4.png

(the year numbers are in the trailer)

Enjoy...

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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Ugh that looks terrrible . Can you pm me the video by chance?
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Ozkeeper and CO are pretty much on the money...

We're a small group and we're at the mercy of Lucas here. I do believe that if it sells well, then there may be some hope, but there was an earlier poster about this killing the bootleg market that I agree with too.

This release amounts to pretty much a legal bootleg. It's the same thing that all the bootlegs are, maybe just a tad bit better. This will take a huge chunk out of the bootleg market at conventions and such. But doesn't it also mean that LFL can go after bootleggers now, if they choose? I just can't help but think that this really could end the bootleg market...especially if LFL turns into total dicks and starts hunting down the people on this site who've worked so hard to preserve the OOT.

I find it unsettling...that's all...
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Better than nothing at this point though...but I agree....nothing to applaud here.
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That's funny, the article said the same thing I made mention in a thread on another board. I was in Las Vegas a few weeks back and we were in the local Suncoast and on all the advertisements it said "Un-Altered Trilogy on DVD in September!". NO mention what so ever that these Un-Altered versions are actually "bonus" material.

Those screen shots do look pretty terrible.....they aren't going to be that bad are they? Come on that's ridiculous. Hell you might as well watch VHS copies of the O-OT if that's the case (which I just may!)

P.S. I want one of those Han Shoots First pins...
http://img416.imageshack.us/img416/7823/starwarssuppersmallerxx5.jpg
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nevermind....LOL

I love everybody. Lets all smoke some reefer and chill. Hug and kisses for everybody.

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Originally posted by: garethxxgod
Those screen shots do look pretty terrible.....they aren't going to be that bad are they?


As I said, they are from a quicktime movie (the "DVD Singles Trailer" available in the Hyperspace section of the official site), and they really show too much compression (DVDs have a far better resolution and aren't as much compressed).

To everyone who like to see this trailer (but it's not worth it), it has been posted to alt.binaries.starwars on Usenet. You'll need a newsgroup reader software for that (I use Unison on Mac OS X).

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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For bonus material, the offical releases in September sure are getting advertised quite a bit. I've seen ads for them at a couple of local music/video stores around here. I think its pretty funny, actually. Especially with the treatment that they are getting. I'm beginning to think that this might backfire on them. Most people have no idea that the new releases will be so lousy yet. So they will buy them and get a consumer backlash for the bad quality discs. I doubt the "bonus material" line will get them very far. Remember when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out on DVD? They made sure to advertise that it would have deleted scenes in it. But the scenes ended up being hidden away as easter eggs. They got a good deal of bad press and angry customers, and ended up having to apologize and publicize the way to access the hidden scenes. Maybe something similar will happen with this, and maybe we'll see a quality release before too long.