dslartoo

bilditup1 said:

dslartoo said:

I've been saying just that for years. These are Lucas's films, after all. 

 

Meh. If Lucas wants to at once complain about the rights of directors and the prerogatives associated with auteur theory,  then him messing around with the films of two other directors - both now deceased - is pretty dang hypocritical. Empire and Jedi are Lucas' films insofar as he owns them and wrote the story, yes, but they aren't 'his' by Lucas' own rubric. Kershner in particular was not some shmuck for hire! I'll alert YOUR Star Destroyer, Georgie

Do you know, I never even considered that Kershner and Marquand might have objected to all these fiddlings if they had still been around. I guess it really is true that we tend to forget about people very quickly after they've died. That's inexcusable. You're right: these AREN'T just Lucas's films. The prequel trilogy and "Star Wars" may be, but ESB and ROTJ are not.

Good point, sir!

cheers,

Phil

stst415 said:

In all honest, I actually have NO problem at all with Lucas updating his movies to the various special editions.  In some ways, he really did make at least some improvements.  But what I simply want is a choice.  In a perfect world, Lucasfilm would release a box set of the original trilogy that would include the original 1970-80s movies and the special editions.

I've been saying just that for years. These are Lucas's films, after all. He has the right to do what he wants to them, tweak them and fiddle with them and destroy what made them great. In a few (a very few) cases I can even concede that the changes improve the films (mostly visual FX cleanups). But the haphazard way it's all been done (good grief, there are things that have been wrong with the VFX since day one and STILL aren't fixed on the new Blu-rays), and Lucas's inexplicable insistence on adding ridiculous new FX and content, means that I get an unpleasant twitch every time I watch the "special" versions.

Like you, I just want the CHOICE. I'll watch the SEs to see some of the new cool stuff, but I vastly prefer the old originals...mistakes and outdated FX and all. I could never understand Lucas's reasoning on this. Doesn't he realize that he would make bucketloads of money just by offering both versions? Diehards like me would probably buy both, as long as we were given our beloved originals. :)

Anyway, Harmy's hard work has at least ensured that a new generation of viewers can see the films as they were originally released. And for that he deserves a medal or something.

cheers,

Phil

Harmy,

I just wanted to drop in here and say thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your fantastic work in preserving the original unaltered versions of these films I love so much. Like many, many others I have been frustrated beyond belief that George has refused to allow the release of the Original Trilogy in DVD or high-def format. I reluctantly bought the Special Edition versions of the DVDs and was disgusted at the low quality of the rush-job release. I resolved not to buy any future versions unless they were the Original Trilogy I loved, and went back to watching my ancient videotapes. Even though they were lower quality, they were at least non-Special Edition without the attendant unnecessary changes!

Now I've discovered your work (and this thread) through a chance posting on Facebook, and located the AVCHD DVD9 versions of each movie. I'm about an hour into ANH now. I know you're working on a version 2.0, but I can't for the life of me see how this could be improved any further. It looks and sounds AMAZING. Not only is it unaltered, but it's got enormously improved sound and picture quality over the Special Edition DVDs! This is what I'd like to be able to buy from Lucasfilm if only they had the sense to listen to their customers.

Again, thanks so very, very much for your efforts. Harmy's Despecialized Editions are, in fact, the movies I grew up with. They're like old friends, and it is SO nice to see them again.

cheers,

Phil