CT Original unaltered Trilogy on Blu ray?

With Disney purchasing Lucasfilm, does this change the chances of a blu ray release of the original unchanged trilogy?? George has said the original film has been destroyed( yeah sure) It should obviously be remastered but I want to see it the way it was in the theaters, without all the added CGI and with Han shooting first! Is there any chance? Maybe be released just before Episode 7?

 

This thread contains a lot of bitching, moaning & handbags-at-ten-paces, but also a few of the practical aspects regarding a proper release of the OOT:

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...will-never-get-an-unaltered-release.31902788/

The Disney purchase, however, is a new development. I'm really not sure if it will happen - now that GL doesn't own the film, the personal element has been removed, and it'll come down to money. Will restoring the OOT be worth the cost? Are there enough people out there willing to shell out the cash for another set of 30-yo movies, or are the majority happy with the recent Blu-Ray boxset & don't care about the changes as much as purists think? I'd buy it, but just how many others are really out there?

Fox still owns distribution rights for SW/ANH (until 2020, I think), that's another complication, but I'm pretty sure something will be negotiated before then anyway.

 

Lucas said that the originals no longer exsist although he has gone back on other things in the past. Its a real shame because the films we watched back then are why we love SW and the chages are getting out of hand. I thought the special editions were annoying but some of the stuff on the blu rays is just stupid.

watched Jedi the other night, noticed a DUG (poss sebulba) in jabbas palace and another addition to the very annoying music sequence but Vader's NOOOOOO just killed what was previously an iconic scene. Also thought that Jabbas palace looked more intimidating before looks to clean and tidy now.

I'm glad i will always have the un alterted originals on dvd and part of me wishes i hadn't bought the blu-ray.

 

The imagination is a powerful thing.

 

I think we will see a restoration of the original at some point for two reasons:

1) The demand is there for almost anything Star Wars. Maybe it's part of a master set or it's sold separately, but not only SW geeks like us would buy it, but film enthusiasts as well.

2) We've seen with a lot of classic films that viewers want to see the original and there has been a movement to clean up original films to establish them as the original artwork they were. This was seen with Citizen Kane, The Third Man, Touch of Evil (not sure why I'm stuck on Orson Welles right now).

 

I can definitely see the Originals being released by Disney (not sure of the legal issues with FOX/Lucasfilm), so I can't put a timetable on it. Just imagine a Saga Set after the Sequel Trilogy is finished: 3 PT movies, 3 OT/SE movies, 3 ST movies, 3 OOT movies! The circle would finally be complete!

 

George, we made you beyond rich!!! You owe us!!! To destroy the originals was a big slap in the face to all of us who bought the toys, books, games, clothes, tickets and movies!

 

Just to keep things clear, "The Third Man" was directed by Carol Reed, not Orson Welles, although he does steal the show as Harry Lime. "Citizen Kane" was never shown in a studio-tampered version, as far as I know. "Touch of Evil" on the other hand was released in a severely recut version by the studio when it was first finished, which spurred Welles to write a huge memo decrying their changes and outlining how he would've edited the movie, which was later used as the basis for the Walter Murch cut in the 90's. In any case, the impulse with protecting "Citizen Kane" from colorization and Murch's efforts with "Touch of Evil" were to protect the artist's vision of the film from studios-- if we were to follow suit with "Star Wars", the only sensible thing is to leave the films the way Lucas left them and not bow to the wishes of fanboys who don't really care about the integrity of the artist's vision, whether or not it changes over time.

 

Why bother re-releasing the OOT?

Regardless of your opinion of which version of the films is best, it does not fulfill George Lucas's vision. It's his film saga, not ours. Well, I mean it was. But regardless, it's still not ours.

 

It's the version that has made him the most money. I really don't see why he can't release it untouched. He's doing a disservice to culture, I think, before he's doing a disservice to fans.

For the people (such as you), who prefer and or love the special editions, that's totally cool. In fact, I don't see why both versions can't happily exist together in a shelf or a box set.

 

I'm overjoyed to see someone who would accept both. I think Lucas is someone who will never be pleased by his own work, sadly.

 

I don't think I need an OOT anymore. The changes are just a part of the saga. I can't imagine not seeing Biggs Darklighter, or Ian as Palpatine in Empire. Or Mos Eisley looking so much more like a spaceport. So, yeah, I've moved on. I doubt Disney will be releasing it anytime soon. Hell, it could be in a contract, Lucas may have demanded they don't touch the OT. God only knows. But I'm not holding my breath. I have the blu-ray box set already, I'm content.

 

The actual price is a pittance.

http://savestarwars.com/filmpreservation.html

1) The most complete one would be totally restoring the films from the original camera negative. Here is how it would be done. In the past, you would have had to re-conform the negative to remove the Special Edition edits, but this would result in frames lost from un-cementing and re-cementing the assembly, and it would wear it further. Today, the negative would be scanned in 8K and original shots could be pulled from storage and scanned likewise. The original shots would then be edited into the scanned Special Edition negative using non-linear digital editing to re-construct the original assembly. Further digital clean-up could be done to remove scratches and dirt that was not possible in 1997, although this is not strictly mandatory. Because the original shots were not restored for 1997, some may be so damaged that an interpositive scan is necessary instead. Then, Lucas' personal Technicolor print could be used as a colour reference to time the new Digital Intermediate. From there, a new 8K DI could be made, and a new 35mm negative printed out using an ArriLaser for future preservation and duplication for theatrical exhibition. Not rocket science. Pretty much the norm for restoration of classic films, which often have to edit together more than one source. I'm not totally qualified to put a pricetag on this, but I would say maybe a million dollars for the whole trilogy? To put this in perspective, the 2004 boxset sold $100 million on it's first day of release.

That's just one option of several.

 

Well said sir.
I live in hope of the very first film being properly, lovingly restored.
That's all I need.
Then I'll be happy.

 

I would love to see a totally cleaned up, pristine version of the unaltered OT, the way I saw them when they were originally released but if it never happens then I'm just as happy watching the SE's. They're the ones my kids have been brought up with and the ones we still watch now and whether Greedo shoots first or Han does, whether Vader shouts Nooo or stays quiet, whether a dug wanders through Jabbas palace or not, whether a cgi Sy Snootles now sings a dreadful song or a puppet version sang a stone groove, it's still Star Wars and to see my wee guy's eyes light up everytime it plays dispells any bad feeling I have for George's constant tinkering.

 

There's nothing quite like introducing a 3 year old to Star Wars. One of the greatest, most cherished and moving experiences of my life.

 

The OT blu ray release should have been an ultimate edition. Include all the different versions of the film. The viewer can then have a choice which version he wants to watch.The Blade Runner dvd set gave multiple versions of the film. Watch whatever version you want to and still have all the versions available as a collector. A Star Wars release including all versions of the films could even be seen as a work in progress and I'm sure Lucas would be happy with that idea, to show how his vision has now been realised. I am an original release fan, but I have no problem with anybody who wishes to watch a 97' version or a 2006 version or whatever. I just want to watch the original theatrical versions in the best possible quality.

 

I would back off on the vision part by Lucas, as I will give you an example:

1980 ESB Theatrical Version: Luke does NOT scream when he falls from Cloud City

1997 ESB Special Edition: Luke DOES scream when he falls from Cloud City.

2004 ESB DVD Edition: Luke does NOT scream when he falls from Cloud City


This isn't about Lucas's vision, this is about Lucas tinkering and can't make his mind up!

 

One example in which he changed his mind.

 

You do? Did you buy that set that came out several years ago? I was turned off because you had to buy them along with the Special Editions (money grab) plus I'd heard a lot of negative things about them being nonanamorphic. In retrospect, I kinda wish I'd bought them.

 

You can still buy them.
I wondered why everyone was so pissed off about them [I didn't understand the whole anamorphic blah blah stuff]

Last year, we finally joined the modern age and got a new TV. I popped in the old version of the '77 film in and it didn't take me long to realise that they're virtually unwatchable.

You either can watch it as

• a miniscule horizontal slit [I think]
• or with the sides chopped off
• or with a distorted aspect ratio

It's an appalling state of affairs for one of the most important movies of all time. But George simply will not listen to anyone. He's independent, just as he always wanted to be.
John

 

I'd be surprised if there isn't a copy of the originals in a vault somewhere. I think once the Fox deal expires (or if Disney and Fox can do a deal) then we might well see the originals released on Bluray, for the simple reason that Disney like money and re-releasing the "Ultimate Archival Edition" or whatever marketing BS they want to call it would be a relatively non-risky way to make quite a lot.

The special editions were what I first watched so I'm not as excised about this stuff as a lot of the older fans are, but that copy-pasted Nooooo! in Return of the Jedi, the most emotional scene in the saga...

Let's just say the words "masterpiece", "three year-old" and "crayons" come to mind.

 

I bought a blu ray player and a 42" tv last year and was fearing the worst as regards the dvd quality of the original theatrical cuts. I have no problem with watching them, I just zoom the tv and watch normally. It is still a widescreen picture.No abnormal picture problems.
The problem is the picture quality, but I was suprised how it looks. It really does not look all that bad on my set up and I still only watch these releases with no problems at all.

 

I have to respectfully disagree, as it is unwatchable on my 55" HDTV and BluRay player. If you zoom it, you see ever spec of dirt that was uncleaned from the negative and the colors are just dull compared to any fully restored DVD or BluRay movie. Especially when you watch a great quality DVD or BluRay, you pop in the 2006 OOT Versions, and it is insulting how bad they are. I rented them a few years ago and ESB was probably the worst, especially the Hoth scenes. It would be like buying a Widescreen HDTV, and then watching a regular old TV you had as you will notice the quality drop the first minute.

It's really a shame that Lucas couldn't put multiple cuts on the DVD's and BluRays because all the great Franchises have them: Lord of the Rings, T2, ET, Superman/Superman II Donnor Cut/Bladerunner/Aliens, etc. None of those directors care which version you watch as they are content with any version a fan chooses. It's really a shame because all it did was divide the SW fanbase even more.

 

Yeah, I agree that the picture is dull with washed out colours. I just try to make it look better. Yes, when you put in any other reamastered dvd or blu ray you can see straight away how bad the release is. I just gotta stick with it until something better comes along because these are the only versions I want to watch. I just don't understand why Lucas seems to want to wipe all memories of the original releases of the face of the earth. All version can sit happy side by side.