The 'Original' Original Trilogy on DVD!

If you haven't seen the TF.N link yet, SW.com is officially reporting that this fall unaltered versions of ANH, ESB, and ROTJ will be available individually on 2-disc sets. One disc will contain the 2004 versions already on DVD and the other disc will contain an unaltered cut of the same movie from when it was first released.

More info available here: http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060503.html

 

I think this is a great idea! Not only will it give the younger fans a chance to see the trilogy the same way us 20-30 somethings did when we were kids, but it will also make all of the radical fanboy groups happy after picking apart the SE, the recent trilogy box set, and not to mention the PT as well .

 

what???? is this a "may fool's joke"? i thought lucas told everyone in the world that SE ARE his "definitive artistic cut" and that the original unaltered films will "NEVER" see the light of day. and now here we are... this is so twisted!

 

I am so excited, I can hardly wait! I only have the OT on VHS-SE... I really want my children to be able to see what I saw 30 years ago (wow... now I feel old)!

It's like a friend of mine over on SW.com said... doesn't matter if we own it already or not - we'll still buy it and GL knows that!

Have a wonderful day and May the 4th be with you!

 

/\ Bump
This is exciting!! Finally!!

 

More info is coming to light about the new DVD's of the OT and it's got people all stirred up for some reason. Apparently what LFL is going to be releasing is a truly unaltered version of the 3 movies. There will be no enhancing of the video quality or sound quality, it will basically be an exact copy of what is on VHS and the Laserdisc editions. Here's a link to the page that can explain this better. For some strange reason this has some people upset. This new set of OT DVD's will basically solve everyone's problems. You can have the OT in it's original form on DVD AND the OT on it's enhanced 2004 edition DVD. It just seems like no matter what is released there are some people that are never happy.

 

I read that same story the other day and couldn't figure out what the big deal was. Did people really think Lucas was going to go back and clean these versions up? That's what people have been asking for. The original versions, like they saw in the theater back in the 70's & 80's.

This is EXACTLY what Lucas wants to do. Give the uberfans what they want while at the same time (in the same package)giving them his 'improved' edition of the same movies as if to show everyone that his version is better than 'theirs'.

Personally I think it would be kind of cool to see the movie the way it was shown in the theater, complete with muddy sound and matte lines. I just don't know if I'm going to shell out $19.99 for each of them to experience it.

Actually, now that I think of it, I still own a boxed trilogy (albeit on VHS) that I got back in the early-mid 90's that is free and clear of the technological improvements of the Special Editions.

 

The only thing that I have against this idea is the packaging. IMO they should just have all three of the OT movies, in their untouched format, boxed together as a set. Selling each one separately with a copy of the 2004 version is excess. Sure if you buy the 2004 box set you also get all of the extra stuff, but to have that and to end up with another copy of the same thing just because you want the untouched version is overkill merchandising.

 

True, but they probably want the money from selling two dvds together in one box.

 

I agree with you Mike. I would be far more receptive to the idea of rebuying all 3 movies (yet again) if it were only the 'original' version boxed together. For whatever reason, I guess that's not what Lucas wants. I guess we can chalk it up to 'Lucas being Lucas'

 

From what I have been hearing people aren't happy with the fact that these dvds won't be of the same quality as normal dvds. These ones supposedly won't be compatible with a HD system. So the people that have the best of the best systems would be screwed in a sense. It would be nice to have them but if they aren't going to be compatible with the modern technology why bother doing them.

I for one am not sure I will buy these. Part of me wants them for the sure fact that they are the originals and another part of me doesn't want to waste time on them if the quality isn't going to be as good as a regular dvd. I am also holding out for a complete set of all 6 movies that have all the deleted scenes in put back in. That would be the best for me. After reading the books and listening to the radio versions of the OT I know that there was a lot removed from the movies that would have helped explained things. I know that added material would make the movies be longer but it would be well worth it I do believe.

 

I'm not an expert on this type of thing but I believe that any new DVD players will play any DVD regardless of the format quality. Kind of the the backwards compatibility that PC's have with older software.

All of this could be mute in a couple of months. LFL might hear some of the feedback and make some changes to their approach on this new release. Maybe they will stick with the 2-disc packaging but instead of the current planned configuration (disc 1 being the untouched version and disc 2 being the 2004 SE version) they will do something like disc 1 being the untouched version and disc 2 being untouched as far as the film but with the digital video and audio enhancements on it. Now that I would buy without question!