A lot of people recieved their dvd in the office this morning and i have to say its a hugely disappointing set of discs.
Ignoring the already known ‘touch ups’ putting it kindly the bonus disc offers nothing apart from maybe an interesting casting reel showing Kurt Russell etc.
The documentary, Empire of Dreams, doesnt do enough for me, there should have been more interviews with the cast AT THE TIME of making it as well as present interviews, there is also a lack of deleted footage and to be fair, not enough backstage and location footage for a supposed free haul of lucasfilms archives.
What this package should have been should have been like this:
The Lucas cuts plus the original cuts, giving the viewer the choice.
The bonus disc as well as the nice trailers for every film should have contained the making of documentaries of all three films, that were released on video and broadcast on tv in the 1980’s.
There should have been a feature on all the deleted scenes everyone has been talking about over the last twenty odd years and maybe optionally, there should have been the holiday special, although i guess lucas would not have wanted that.
The way i see it, and this is my opinion, those who say Lucas has the right to do whatever he pleases is wrong. The way i see it this setup is a 50-50 partnership, a two way street if you will. Without Lucas’s creativity, we would never have had star wars, i grant him that and thats fine, however, without the likes of you me and whoever, investing over the years in his films and tie-ins, he would never have been in the position he is to do what he wants, and i think that its sad that he thinks its all me, me, me, and that goes for the fans who bemoan our reasons for wanting a perfect release.
He owes the fans as much as we do him, that he would do the very, very best in providing a quality release for all to enjoy, but he’s only thought about himself which is a crying shame, and what makes it worse is that he comes across as if he is milking the fans, i mean i saw lots of people buying the dvd today in our local dvd store and just how many peple realised of the changes made in the films and that they werent the originals? I mean not everyone has the internet or are as clued up as to finding out for themselves what this release contains.
Well, as for me i have held back my cash, i know i would be disappointed viewing them, i may get the originals on bootleg, a risk i know, but the originals ARE STAR WARS.
cheers
AD