bgx90

User Group: Members
Join date: 19-Jul-2006
Last activity: 25-Jul-2006
Posts: 6

Post History

Post: #227610
Topic: $36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/227610/action/topic#227610
Time: 20-Jul-2006 11:47 AM

But that would require a new transfer. Apparently, they're not willing to do that this time around.

Not yet anyways.

They may never decide to do it. Remember that email from Lucasfilms saying that they have no plan to ever do restore the OOT because it's not *sarcastic whiny artist voice* "George's artistic vision." Every time I go over this whole mess in my head, I keep coming back to that line that LFL has drawn in the sand. Sure it may not last, but who knows.

Post: #227424
Topic: $36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/227424/action/topic#227424
Time: 19-Jul-2006 6:18 PM

Interesting, but I wonder if he is bating us to see if there is a market or if it's for some other reason. I saw this in a story linked in the interview:

The original, unedited films will appear in stores on September 12 and, Disney-like, will return to Lucas' "vault" three months later. The startling news of the films' pending release will undoubtedly have diehard fans busting out in Ewok celebration dances and tossing their overtaxed VHS tapes into the trash.

I'm probably being a little paranoid when I say this but it could be that this is part of his plan to eradicate all traces of the OOT. After all, these DVD's will only be sold for three months, so there won't be as many copies of them as there are of old tapes and LD's.

But I would like to believe that Lucas is being sincere when he says he is trying to bate us to see how many people want these films on DVD instead of trying to appease us. It could be that he would re-release a better version later if these sell well. However, it could mean that he's just trying to bate us into buy the SE versions by packaging them with OOT. The fact remains that this is a consumer-provider relationship in a capitalist society which means the provider gets paid for producing a good product, not for testing the water with a low quality product and then deciding based on sales whether or not to give consumers the privilege of paying for a better version of the same product.

After reading that, I am cautiously optimistic that a better version may follow, but I am still discouraged by the fact that LFL is using the "ONE LAST TIME" ploy.

Post: #227410
Topic: $36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/227410/action/topic#227410
Time: 19-Jul-2006 5:55 PM

It's good that LFL is feeling the pressure, but I still say we shouldn't give them money for garbage. I haven't seen the MTV interview to which you are referring, but it sounds interesting. Can you provide a link?

Post: #227400
Topic: $36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/227400/action/topic#227400
Time: 19-Jul-2006 5:35 PM

I believe that the new DVD's will be more durable than available bootlegs; pressed DVD's always are. I just think that while they were doing all of this editing of the LD masters, they should have removed the most glaring artifact: the letterboxes and made the picture anamorphic. And, while we're on the subject of sources, LD transfers are the kind of thing I would expect from smalltime fly-by-night outfits or someone in a situation where there is nothing better that can be used. I mean, people can do this in their basement for crying out loud. There simply is no excuse Lucasfilms can give with all of the latest technology they claim to employ to treat these films this way. These monumental films are owned by a company that has film sources and the means to restore them; it is the height of insanity that a company in this situation would release such influential masterpieces in the form of LD transfers. Furthermore it is even more ridiculous that people would fall all over themselves to buy said transfers and justify Lucasfilms' view that substandard is good enough.

I read an interview with producer Gary Kurtz who produced ANH and Empire. From comments made in the interview concerning Star Wars and George Lucas, it is glaringly obvious to anyone reading that George Lucas' current philosophy is to make the most money possible while doing the least amount of work on a film. The only exception to this philosophy seems to be the "Special Edition" that has become his obsession. In other words, if George Lucas sees he can make as much money from these bad DVD's, he won't be very inclined to release a set that at least comes up to some sembelance of an industry standard.

Post: #227388
Topic: $36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/227388/action/topic#227388
Time: 19-Jul-2006 4:47 PM

Still, I would expect whatever introduced elements exist on the LD's, even if they are just black screens, will also exist on the DVD's, because they said that they were using the masters for the 1993 laserdiscs. That sounds like they are using the movie as edited for laserdisc to make the DVD's. If that were not the case, I would think that they would say they are using the masters for the 1993 release of the movies, rather than the specifically noting that the sources are from laserdisc masters, but the VHS and LD releases had different masters because of the differences in the two media. Also, as I and LFL have both said before but in different words, they aren't putting any effort into these releases at all, so I still expect there to be introduced artifacts from the laserdiscs that weren't on the original film prints or VHS tapes. I still say that these DVD's are no better than bootlegs and are being used as a gimmick to push more copies of "Special Edition" onto fans. I think Lucasfilms is the worst company I have seen in terms of how they value fans and customers.

Post: #227322
Topic: $36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/227322/action/topic#227322
Time: 19-Jul-2006 1:11 PM

No one seems to have mentioned that, since LFL is using laserdisc masters as the source for these DVD's, there will be those fade ins and fade outs that were added to the laserdisc versions as transitions between disc changes. For me, this alone would make the DVD's unwatchable and not worth buying; I could have almost tolerated a cheap letterboxed release if not for that. At least when fans make versions of the films from laserdisc sources, they eliminate the fades, although it is at the cost of a few frames, but those frames were ruined by the fades anyway. I have lived without Star Wars since my Faces tapes died and I can continue to do so. What I will not do is pay George Lucas for authorized bootlegs that can only claim to be better than fan-made versions in terms of resolution. I agree with those that have said that buying these DVD's will only send the message that we'll pay for any garbage LFL is willing to toss out there. LFL knows from countless emails, letters, petitions, etc. that there is a huge market desperate to own the OOT on DVD; that's why they're confident that they can make money on this substandard release. By not putting any effort or resources into them, they will make an even bigger profit from these DVD's. Add to that the frenzy LFL creates by threatening never to release the OOT again, and they get a money-making juggernaut for three months powered by the mania they have created in OOT fans with their unrelenting insistance in the past that the OOT is gone for good. Make no mistake, they have thought this out very well. Not buying the September release won't send the message that demand for the OOT doesn't exist; it will send the message that fans want a release of the OOT that is a transfered from the restored film sources and treated with the respect it deserves.