An interesting (and sane) retort on the SE-only DVD hoopla

From Operation Sombrero (http://www.operationsombrero.com/feature/FBR/ANH.html)

Your New Hope, not Mine.

I'm sure ya'll are familiar with the Digital Bits. Their editor, Bill Hunt, wrote a rant that is being linked to on a lot of sites and it's apparently being held up as THE fans collective opinion on this decision.

of course, I had some issues with Hunt's rant, and wrote him an email. Not that it'll see the amount of readers Hunt's will, hell, apparently even Hunt won't see it..but I figure it needs to be seen somewhere

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa68.html#nowars

That's Hunt's rant. Read that first.

Done reading?

Here's mine.

It's long as ****, of course. And it's going to sound similar to some of my other opinions on this, since I remember getting into it with Blood a similar subject. So you've been warned:

Dear Mr Hunt,

just read your My Two Cents. I've checked your site for awhile now, you guys and DVD File. I was even at the comic-con a couple years ago and saw the great job you did hosting and moderating the DVD Producers presentation there. And through your writings, your appearance, your style of writing, never once did I believe you would succumb to the same kind of histrionic fanboy overreaction that runs roughshod over any shred of common sense on the internet, especially when it comes to Star Wars.

I understand you're a fan. I am too. I help out with quite a few major Star Wars news sites, not the least of which being the Official Site itself. Writing articles, analysis, general BS'ing, making sure the fanboys on the messageboards dont get their panties in too tight of a wad, all of that. And since you're a fan, obviously as evidenced by the outpouring of emotion you unleashed in your article, I think it's best if I just cut the pretense and speak as bluntly and as clearly as possible.

Firstly, the amazement and disgust everyone is registering is baffling to me. Why is this even news? He hasn't been "indirectly hinting" at it for awhile now. Lucas flat out SAID IT. Many times. Since 1995. It was pressed up and stuck to copies of the videotape and sold even. And ever since then, since the SE's were announced, since the SE's were released, since the Prequel movies went into preproduction, never ONCE has he said anything different as to the status of the original versions. If you, and the countless number of fans like you, decided to DISREGARD these concrete statements in the hope that he'd "come around," then that's on you, that's straight up and down YOUR FAULT. That was you sticking your fingers in your ear and singing "mary had a little lamb" for the past 7-8 years straight now. Think about it, that's close to one full decade where you're doing nothing but willfully ignoring what George Lucas has been telling you and grasping at any tease, any straw, any shred of evidence you can find to inflate your hope. Now, if you'd simply just taken what he said at face value, I'd think 7-8 years would have been PLENTY of time to somehow get over the scarring emotional trauma of finding out those versions of the original movies aren't being re-released.

Secondly, ever since 1994 when Lucas started talking about prequels, we've known that he intended for all these movies to share the same look and feel, and that Lucas wants future audiences to be able to watch all of these movies back to back as one huge movie. You could enter that phrase into google and find about 30,000 hits, I'd wager. It's been known for a long time that Lucas has felt that the look of the OT was unsatisfactory, it was just the closest he could get to what he wanted. He didn't like the look. Now, stop and think about that. How are audiences 10 years down the road going to put in the Star Wars saga, start with Episode I and finish with Return of the Jedi, and NOT notice the huge dip in visual quality? You think that isn't going to immediately throw people? To go from the stunning 21st century FX work of the first 3 movies to matte boxes and latex puppets and black blotches? That's going t

 

If he is one of these 'Lucas raped my childhood' types, then he deserves all the roasting you can give him.

Bonus points for the use of the word 'hoopla' in your thread title, too.

 

What a waste of time.

Few people are saying Lucas shouldn't be allowed to release updated versions of the OT at all - most are just saying Lucas shouldn't be forcing people to watch his altered versions and his altered versions alone.

And if someone prefers the original versions of the films to the special editions, that's their business, not yours.

 

"Few people are saying Lucas shouldn't be allowed to release updated versions of the OT at all - most are just saying Lucas shouldn't be forcing people to watch his altered versions and his altered versions alone."

Tell me something I didn't know. That's the whole point of this article. Lucas isn't FORCING anyone to watch his "altered versions", as you put it. You don't have to buy them, after all.

 

Bottom line: Some people take Star Wars WAY too seriously.

 

Wiser words have never been spoken, Durwood.

 

So... saying "I'd quite like both versions of the first three Star Wars films on DVD" is taking things WAY too seriously, but mailing vitriolic 2000 word essays to people you disagree with is perfectly fine? Well, okay then!

 

Despite the fact that some of us are trying to get a campaign going to see if we can get GL to re-consider this, I agree with a lot of points that Fat Boy made. He's right. It should come as no surprise. We aren't owed anything. If GL wants the SE's as the definitive versions then so be it. And it certainly is not the end of the world. I have no doubt that nobody will be permanently damaged.

All we're trying to do is show GL that there is a lot of support out there ( a large market if you will) for a comprehensive boxed set release to end them all. It's the final curtain. Let's go out with a bang. I'd love to see every deleted scene from all the films, finished or rough footage. Documentaries, commentaries, the lot. And it won't be complete for a lot of people without the original versions included. If everybody had a choice I'm sure every SW fan and film buff who had the choice between a set without and a set with would want the completist version. EVEN IF THEY HAD TO FORK OUT A LITTLE EXTRA. And it doesn't seem to me that it would be for Lucasfilm to do this, making themselves a lot more money, making a lot of fans very happy and regaining once and for all the credibility of the fans. Of course we aren't owed anything, and the raped childhood cry is pathetic, but it would be very little effort on their part for a massive return on ours.

 

Personally, I'd be perfectly content if Lucas took the same route director Robert Wise did with Star Trek: The Motion Picture when he recently released his director's cut. The DVD release is the final version of the film with updated effects and newly edited sequences, but for posterity sake, the alternate versions of the various scenes are included as stand alone special features on the second disc.

 

I'm pretty sure that's all anybody's after, Durwood.

 

If you truly want the nostalgia of the original versions, then GO BUY the videotapes!!! Or do what a good friend did and go on eBay and buy the laserdiscs and a laserdisc player. People interested in Beatles nostalgia should go listen to their albums on record. They shouldn't whine because the Beatles music as it was in the 60s is not available on DVD-Audio.

If you want the original versions, go watch them in their original formats: videotape and laserdisc. No 5.1 sound, no cleaned up picture. Thats not how the films originally were. That's what you say you want. Well you already have it.

For the record, I completely disagree with this guy's take on what the Star Wars films are. There IS much more than effects... they are more than vehicles for Lucas' eye candy. BUT... he is spot on in saying we've had almost a decade to get used this this idea. Hell I have a POSTER that says "The Original ONE LAST TIME." It was advertised on billboards. What does ONE LAST TIME mean to you? One last time except on DVD which isn't out yet? No it bloody well means ONE LAST TIME. EVER. NOT KIDDING. ONE LAST TIME. DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK. ONE LAST TIME. MY MOVIES. I MADE THEM. ONE LAST TIME.

Is this what Star Wars fans need Lucas to say before they stop clinging to their little threads of hope? Man how thick can you get? I'd love to have both versions available and I have said this many times. But I understand that this will not happen and I am fine with it.

 

Why does it bother you so much that some people feel this is worth campaining for Strilo? There are plenty of us out here who think like this who aren't completely ungrateful morons . I don't see myself as particularly whiny or much of a demanding fanboy. I do have the video tapes. There is no way I am going to buy a LD player. I really don't think it is too much to let GL know how much interest there is out there for the originals to be included in a box set. Now personally I would like the re-mastered editions with cleaned up picture and sound. Those versions exist. Why not the best quality versions of those original edits out there. The SE's would still be definitive.

I'm well aware that GL said this would be the case but when he originally said that DVD was not available. Wathcing anything on video is horrific now. It's not a campaign against Lucas at all. It's just I'd rather try and see if we can change anything rather than sitting and whining about it.

I don't mean to sound like I'm having a go so sorry in advance if it comes across like that.

 

I think it bothers some folks because they think the fans should respect Lucas' decision as the creator of Star Wars.

 

Like I said before, I'd be more than glad if the original incarnations of the OT were included in the DVD package. That's not why I posted the above article, though. Some of the venomous insults thrown at Lucas are WAY out of hand. Seriously, alot of folks are forgetting these are simply films. Films you've OWNED for YEARS already. It's like Lucas is the devil now for wanting to polish up his 20 + year old trilogy, and keep it that way. The nasty reaction to Lucas' decision, I think, says enough about the selfishness and out-of-line fans that continue to smear his name over a miniscule issue like this.

 

Wathcing anything on video is horrific now.

Then what you want is a newer updated version of the films. You do not want the originals. The reason I am being boisterous in my opinion is that this is not NEWS ... it is the way it's been for 8 YEARS now. I don't understand what hope people are clinging to. I'd love to see the vintage old pre-SE versions on DVD as well. But it will never happen. I am a realist so I have accepted this and moved on. Complain all you want. Just don't expect Lucas to change his mind.

 

I totally agree with you C3POED-out. Maybe I'm just an optimist. I'll still have a go though. I want the original edits then. The last versions that were available and re-mastered, put onto DVD with the same care that a film of the era such as Jaws was. They are still the originals. We're all on the same side here. I'm totally against spewing venomous insults at Lucas. He doesn't owe me anything. I am not in the least bit disappointed at this. And maybe I am deluding myself but I want to try.

I think what I'm trying to get at is that not everybody who is for some sort of campaign agrees totally with Bill Hunt.