gizzy2000

Baronlando said:

It seems possible that if they do it, they'd just slip an IP-sourced simple catalog transfer onto disc 2. Which is fine by me, it's much harder to screw up. And it would be on par with the Blade Runner set and most movies in general, which is mostly what we've been harping on all this time anyway. If they make a big announcement about the originals getting 4k rebuilt, it might be like announcing: "the policy of the last 17 years has been really stupid. We are now spending way, way more money than necessary to correct it!" Which is not a very Lucasfilm-y or Disney-ish thing.

 Well, I think that's something they'd potentially do, since it's simple. I agree with moviefreakedmind that Star Wars does deserve 4k restoration, but I'd be 100% satisfied if we get something that looks good on modern TV's (that's all we've ever really wanted I think). I think it's possible that they'd use an IP, since that'd be a lot more simple than going back to the '97 negative and finding the removed parts of the negative and piecing things back together, and if they use an unaltered print then we wouldn't have to worry about them leaving in any '97 changes by accident.

DuracellEnergizer said:

There are two main types of posters who frequent the TFN forums = fundamentalist Lucas worshippers who aren't really fans of Star Wars itself and fans who are largely indifferent to the OOT/SE debate. Due to this, it's pretty fruitless bothering to post of their forums; there's just no fun trying to have a discussion with people who don't care about your opinions or are completely hostile to them.

 Yes, I definitely noticed the Lucas worshipers (I only went to this site once, and never again for obvious reasons) and I also think TFN is actually a big misrepresentation of what most Star Wars fans are like. OT.com obviously is a place for people who love Star Wars, but are reasonable enough to point out flaws and call foul when Lucas tried to destroy the franchise; TFN on the other hand seems like a place where complete fanatics post about how perfect everything with the Star Wars name on it is, and how Lucas is a god who can't make mistakes and had the whole "Saga" planned out for decades. Not saying there aren't plenty respectful people there, but I certainly didn't see any of them in the thread I looked at.

I should note that my impression is based on one thread, but the thread was just about whether or not Disney should release the OT, and it was full of angry disrespectful people. Maybe I just saw a bad page, but it was definitely a turn off

Well, one could argue that the simple lack of official comment on the unaltered films is hope that they are at least considering it. Seriously, if they never want to release it (something I highly doubt) then I think they'd plainly state that when asked, and, as moviefreakedmind said, they'll be asked whenever the next blu ray release is announced, assuming the next release isn't the unaltered versions.

darklordoftech said:

Giving Yoda and Palpatine lightsabers and giving Dooku Force Lightning were major no-nos. Yoda and Palpatine shouldn't need lightsabers and Dooku using Force Lightning makes Palpatine's use of it less impressive.

Yes I agree, especially with the lightsabers. Yoda never should've had a lightsaber at all; he didn't even train Luke with a lightsaber and told him not to take the weapons with him in the cave. Giving them lightsabers just dumbed down the characters and gave Lucas an excuse to do more lightsaber fights. Also, on theforce.net a forum poster said he hoped the OUT was never released, and that Disney would go back and replace yoda with CGI, and add a scene where Yoda trains Luke (played by a stand in) and teaches him how to lightsaber fight, not even joking (there's a reason I never looked at theforce.net again).  

This has less to do with the movie itself, but I hope they don't advertise it by "Episode VII" and actually advertise it by it's title. That's one thing I hated about the prequels was how they were referred to as I, II, and III. Then that crap seeped into the OT and they started being referred to as IV, V, and VI. I guess they advertised the prequels by their numbers because the titles were so lame.

EDIT: I know they advertise it as Ep. VII now, but once they pick a title I hope they refer to it as that rather than simply, "Star Wars Episode VII"

Mike O said:

I still say it sounds too good to be true, and if it's happening, it's happening to the SEs, since those are not only easier to restore, but probably less costly. This sounds way too good to be true. 

 Does it really seem like that crazy of an idea though? I agree that if this rumor came up when George Lucas was in charge I would say it's not true. But I don't think the idea of Disney restoring the OUT is something that's, "way too good to be true." I'm not saying that this project is the OUT, but what would Disney really have to gain from restoring in 4K the recent, and most criticized, version of the SE, and then release it again on blu ray when the SE's have already been released on blu ray? It's a bad way to get people to re-buy movies that've already been released, and including the OUT is an excellent way to justify another release of the OT. I'm just saying, the idea that Disney would want to release the OUT is not something that's at all hard for me to believe, pretty much all Star Wars fans would buy it (even SE fans), not only that but I'm sure if the marketing is clever they could get a lot of ordinary people who just put up with the SE changes to get it too. I'm not going to bet money on getting the OUT next year, but the more I think about it I just can't see Disney releasing the SE's without the OUT being included in some form. Also, anyone who doesn't care about the SE changes isn't going to care about the absence of SE changes, especially since 99% of the changes are completely terrible looking and pointless, so people who are unaware aren't going to not buy this version just because it doesn't include the SE's.

TMBTM said:

I don't even understand why someone would want to "de-canonize" the PT or the Clone Wars. It would just add more mess to the whole thing in the mind of the audience. It would look like they do not know what they're doing. They'd de-canonize some of the movies of the series to remove some concepts that some fans don't like so they could...what? It does not make any sens. Not only from a marketing point of view but also from a storytelling point of view. You can't tell the audience a tale, then, when you arrive to some chapters, sundenly say "wait, no, forget about those early chapters I told you before. What I really wanted to tell you is THIS." It would look so unprofessional... So bad. It would be WAY worse than keeping the PT the way they are and find good stories to tell anyway. THAT would look professional, and maybe working with some concepts that you don't like much can lead to some creativity.

 Well, if they're working based on looking professional then they could prove that by releasing the OUT as well. I'd take back every bad thing i've ever said about the PT if the OUT were made available.

DuracellEnergizer said:

^Think so? No. Fear so? Yes.

 Well, I think we all have that fear left over from when Lucas was in charge. No matter which way I think about the situation I absolutely can't see any reason for Disney to refuse to release the OOT. I think we've all been permanently scarred for life by George Lucas's treatment of the OT. I'm trying to remain cautiously optimistic as far as a Disney OUT release goes though, and if we're lucky, they'll release it before Episode VII... Fingers crossed 

Does anyone here think that Disney will never release the OUT?

Ryan McAvoy said:

Tobar said:

the second half of the article dives straight into fantasy with the notion that the prequels could be deemed Legends and scrapped. As much as I personally would love that, there's not a snowballs chance in hades of it ever happening.

 What you are forgetting is that Disney bought this property to suck every last penny out of it. The PT will be remade/rebooted (and in all likelyhood so will the OT) It's just a question of when really (I'm not saying the when will be anytime soon though).

After the ST makes more money than god they only have two ways to go for another trilogy. Forwards or backwards? Episode X, or Episode I?

I could see them remaking the PT because nobody really cares about those movies, I've seen some die hard PT fans on the internet, but I've never met a single person in the real world (teen or adult) who has said that the prequels are better than the originals. However, I don't think they'd ever directly remake the OT because Star Wars and Empire are just too beloved of classics to be remade. I could picture them going the "Oz the Great and Powerful" route and making a lame tie in thing like that, but never a direct remake where Luke leaves Tatoine with Han and Obi-Wan and then gets trapped on the Death Star ect. ect., because I think they know that remaking a classic like that is a bad move. IF (that's a big if) the Bleeding Cool email was from someone who works at LFL or Disney, they may have heard talk of releasing the OUT (which is a believable move I could see Disney making), and they may have also heard that Disney wants to stay away from the prequels and phase out that era, and the employee writing the email may have misunderstood and took that as meaning that the PT was going to be completely retcon. That's just my take on the rumor.

Tobar said:

And then the second half of the article dives straight into fantasy with the notion that the prequels could be deemed Legends and scrapped. As much as I personally would love that, there's not a snowballs chance in hades of it ever happening.

 Agreed, Disney will NEVER officially scrap the prequels, they may ignore them and let them be forgotten, but there's no way they'll say they aren't canon anymore. Thats what makes that bleeding cool rumor difficult for me to believe on any level. I still think that the idea of Disney refusing to ever release the OUT is completely unlikely though, I have hope we'll see an official release of that eventually.

moviefreakedmind said:

G E Predator said:

gizzy2000 said:

G E Predator said:

I did read about Disney and Lucasfilms working out a deal with 20th Century Fox to get the original theatrical versions released on HD Blu-Ray and DVD.  Knowing how Disney promotes their films, they may very well have them out in time for the release of Episode 7.

 When did you read this, do you have a link to it? Was it just speculation, or was there some kind of inside information?

 About a few weeks ago.  At the time, I found it, I was searching for a download link for Star Wars De-specialized Edition(mission accomplished BTW)

http://wegotthiscovered.com/blu-ray/theatrical-cuts-original-star-wars-trilogy-possibly-heading-bluray/#!btq9Ee

At this point, it's simply a rumor but it's highly plausible.

 I hope you're right.

Well, there is still plenty of hope for an OUT release. This thread is just speculation. All we know is that a 4K restoration happened around the time when Disney bought LFL, and that the light-sabers in the RMW video look like the '04 light-sabers. Other than that, we know nothing except that RMW removed all references to Star Wars in 4K from their website, and apparently Disney acknowledges the existence of the unaltered versions of the films.

I vaguely remember some kind of N64 podracing game that came out right before Phantom Menace hit theaters. It was fun if I remember right, but looking back on it, it was clearly just an advertisement for the movie. 

G E Predator said:

I did read about Disney and Lucasfilms working out a deal with 20th Century Fox to get the original theatrical versions released on HD Blu-Ray and DVD.  Knowing how Disney promotes their films, they may very well have them out in time for the release of Episode 7.

 When did you read this, do you have a link to it? Was it just speculation, or was there some kind of inside information?

GlastoEls said:

I think if Lucasfilm announced the OUT at Celebration the attendee nerd-gasms would last for a thousand generations!

I agree. Celebration could be a perfect time to announce it if it's something they're doing. If they do release the OUT I think it'll either be released Christmas 2014, or Fall 2015 at the latest. If they do decide on a later release date then Celebration would be a great time to announce it, especially since that audience would love something like that.

darklordoftech said:

There is one thing that I'll never understand: the idea that the Jedi were stupid for not realizing the truth about Palpatine earlier. Just because someone wants to be a dictator doesn't mean that they're behind everything that they're using as an excuse to increase their power. 

 I think it's more the fact that they just sort of sat back and let it all happen without really making any effort to intervene.

Fang Zei said:

Maybe that's exactly why the prequels haven't been released individually: They know Eps I and II wouldn't sell nearly as well as III.

I'm the crazy guy who would buy all six films on blu-ray if the theatrical cuts were included. The blu-ray of RotS already is the theatrical cut if I'm not mistaken.

 ROTS is the original version yes, and I'd definitely buy all six if the OUT was included. I honestly don't think we have to worry about that though. If Disney has to spend time and money restoring the OUT they won't want to overprice it so much that they'd lose customers, especially since the complete saga has already been released and most of the people who would buy the OUT wouldn't want the prequels anyway. If they release the OUT before Ep. VII, they will want to package it and advertise it in a way that will get people to impulse buy something they've already bought since a lot of people already own the SE's on blu ray, but that's just my prediction on the subject. 

Fang Zei said:

For some reason, the fact that the movies haven't been released individually on blu-ray gets my hopes up. It could mean that we might eventually get the blu-ray equivalent of the 2006 release, only done right this time.

 This is kind of off topic but I'm surprised that they haven't released the PT individually, since the only one people seem to like is Sith and even then I can't see many people buying all three just to watch that one. As for individual blu rays including the OUT, I could see that happening, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they release another box set of the trilogy with the OUT in it. I don't want to pretend that the OUT is some kind of goldmine for Disney, but since the whole "Saga" has already been released on blu ray, including the OUT is probably the best way to get people to double dip and re-buy the movies, as well as draw in people who didn't buy them before. I think 95% of Star Wars fans would buy an OUT release (even people who like the SE's).

Mike O said:

I think it translates roughly as "we aren't restoring those versions."

 No I don't think so. They probably send a similar email to all people who ask for a title with no re-release date. I was more emailing them to see if they'd say something along the lines of, "Star Wars Episodes IV-VI are already available..." or something like, "The current versions of the films are the official versions." The fact that they referred to the unaltered versions as a separate product, and as a part of their catalogue is actually a fairly reassuring statement in my book.

I also think that if there was something that was preventing them from ever releasing the OUT (contractual or not) we'd have heard by now. Also, if they truly will not ever consider releasing the OUT then I think they may have said something like, "Hello Robby, the current versions of Star Wars are the official versions bla bla bla..." or something along those lines.

Beatleboy99 said:

gizzy2000 said:

Yawn. I wasn't expecting a real answer, but I figured I'd send 'em a title request anyway. Clearly the same e-mail they send everyone who asks for a specific movie

Their response:

"Hello Robby,

Thank you for your email. We value your interest in Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment!

The Star Wars (unaltered) are currently unavailable and no re-release date has been set. We are happy to share your movie request with the rest of our team. Your feedback helps us build a better experience for all of our guests and it is truly appreciated! 

To find a list of our upcoming releases, and those currently available to enjoy, please visit us online atwww.disneydvd.com.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email. You may also contact us at 1-800-723-4763 (US)/1-888-877-2843 (Canada) Monday 9:30-7:30 and Tuesday through Friday 9:30-6:30 CST.

Thank You"

 I like how they call it "The" Star Wars.

 If it's some kind of automated response then "The Star Wars" may have just been what it was able to gather from my email. Strange that they put unaltered in parenthesis though since I'm pretty sure I referred to the films as the "original versions" and then specifically explained, "the versions before the 1997 special editions"; I don't think I used the word unaltered in the email, but i don't know

Yawn. I wasn't expecting a real answer, but I figured I'd send 'em a title request anyway. Clearly the same e-mail they send everyone who asks for a specific movie

Their response:

"Hello Robby,

Thank you for your email. We value your interest in Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment!

The Star Wars (unaltered) are currently unavailable and no re-release date has been set. We are happy to share your movie request with the rest of our team. Your feedback helps us build a better experience for all of our guests and it is truly appreciated! 

To find a list of our upcoming releases, and those currently available to enjoy, please visit us online atwww.disneydvd.com.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email. You may also contact us at 1-800-723-4763 (US)/1-888-877-2843 (Canada) Monday 9:30-7:30 and Tuesday through Friday 9:30-6:30 CST.

Thank You"

At this point I'm convinced the 4K is likely the SE. What I think will happen is whenever the next blu ray release of the OT is, they'll include the unaltered versions as a bonus disc, just like the GOUT except hopefully this time it'll be somewhat acceptable and in HD. If Lucas could be convince to release them (as insulting as that release was), then I'm sure Disney will be willing to release them.

As far as Song of the South goes, it's an example of a big business not wanting to offend anyone and subsequently lose customers. Whatever they decide to do (or not do) with Star Wars will be based on money, PR, marketing, and things like that that businesses think about. I don't want to get my hopes up either, but remember, Star Wars is no longer controlled by a man who wants the OT to be erased from existence, so if Disney thinks it's a logical decision to release the OOT, they'll do it.

One of the reasons I think we'll see an OOT restoration eventually is because it's relatively simple compared to some film restorations that were much more difficult, not to mention we are talking about Star Wars here, Disney isn't against preserving classics like Lucas was and there is a DEFINITE market for the non-SE's. With a price tag of approximately 1 million US dollars there's no way to not make a significant amount of money. I'm not saying they'll make back their 4 billion from this but it'll still make for good blu ray sales