FF:WA OT Again

Now the OT is available again 'for a limited time only' who plans on buying it. For those who aren't aware, the original trilogy has been released again as a new edition. Each movie has two discs. One has the special edition version and the other disc has the original-original version that was never ever going to be released on DVD. I haven't found any place that sells them as a box set but so far K-mart has the cheapest price I've seen for them.

I am going to buy them but I know a lot of people won't want them. I don't buy things for the sake of buying everything like a fanboy and I already have the originals on VHS with the special editions on DVD so I have enough reasons not to buy them. I'm also aware that the new release of the originals is probably no different from the bootleg laserdisc transfers I already have (and which some of you got from me).
The reasons I will buy them though are that I have a personal objection to piracy. I only condone it in the case of things that can't be bought. Since I have bootleg copies and those versions are now available legally, I think I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I just stuck with a pirate version without getting the one that is legally available (I'll still keep my bootleg copies for the extras they have). Also, for so long, Lucas has gone on about how unimportant the originals are and how the special editions are the only ones that matter. Again I think it would be hypocritical of me to whine about not liking the special editions and then not get the originals now that they've finally got around to releasing them.
So basically, the cynical side of me says that they've waited long enough to make sure everyone buys the other versions before releasing the versions we really wanted (so we all run along like bunnies and buy it twice) but I'll probably get them anyway.

I'll pick them up when I get back from the desert.
JBhiFi will be my best bet.

On that note. I'll buy them when he releases them in good enough quality to do a DVD release service.

Not this circa 1993 laser disc direct rip in non-anamorphic widescreen he's attempting to peddle now.

I for one will not be purchasing these ones.

I have the SE editions on DVD and the originals on VHS so I'm happy to leave it at that.

That and the fact I like the SE's.

I'm having faaaaar too much fun playing Lego Star Wars II to be interested in watching any movies which I already own in more then one form

Exactly.

The reason this did so well on DVD the first time is that we were all told that was the only release on DVD that would ever happen.

Did I mention we'll also probably see an HD-DVD and Bluray release too?

HD-DVD what a crack up.
Hardly anyone here would have nice enough screens to even tell the difference.
It's like when people say that the Xbox360 renders at 1080 when it only does at 720 but upconverts it after the render.

HD-DVD = DVD
Same thing...with the current media being shown on it anyhow.

That will probably happen when enough people have bought this one.

Personally I'm not too excited about the new DVD formats. I'm not that fussed about higher resolution etc. What I'd like to see is a DVD format that's more durable. I'm sick of DVDs (especially from video libraries) with chapters in the middle that are unplayable. I'd be willing to spend more for DVDs that are made of better materials that will last more than just a couple of years like the blank ones some companies are selling now.

The only advantage I see is the higher capacity, so multiple disc DVD sets could be a thing of the past. Although, i don't mind that at all. I do think, however, that Sony are putting alot of pressure on themselves with their Bluray format. It's already forced them to delay the PS3...

Just splitting your post up here for clarity, not for an argument. but...

Alright, two things on that one:

1) I'm of the opinion that this has been set up like this so that Lucas can simultaneously say he finally caved to pressure and released the originals on DVD, but in such poor quality that he can justifiably argue that no one bought them. "Proving" we fanboys don't actually want the originals anyway and that his Special Editions are indeed superior.

2) Why should we all have to buy them to prove we want them? Most of the world with electricity has at least one version already, the fanboys (and girls) have several versions. I'm not seeing the argument we should shill out for an inferior product just to prove our love here.

Of course, take that back to point one, and you'll see the lose-lose situation at work.

That's cool, But with all due respect, I'd say you're in the minority on that one. I'd be watching these (If I bought them) on my widescreen LCD. I apreciate not everyone has either an LCD or a widescreen, but eventually most people will.

These versions, on my widescreen, will generate black bars on all 4 sides of the picture and a very poor resolution.

Films decades old are seeing cleaned up, remastered releases in widescreen format that preserve the original edit and look fantastic on screen. If I can see Casablanca in fully restored, faithful to the original theatrical release, DVD then why not the ground breaking trilogy of movies that shaped the face of modern cinema?

Yep, me to.

However, this is more how they are treated than the actual media it's presented on. For me, DVDs are either being watched or in the case they came in. Too many rental DVDs are in the hands of people who just don't know how to treat them or leave them to their kids to hamfistedly jam into their DVD players and slide them around on the insert tray until they fall into place.

Before I gave up entirely on rental DVDs, I was running about an 80% strike rate on unwatchable movies that hit a snag and refused to continue. Thankfully, I have both a JB Hi_Fi and an EasyDVD just across the road. I prefer to just buy them these days.

In any event, I remember each release of these films being showcased in home theatre stores to demonstrate their equipment, because each release was at the cutting edge of theatre technology. It's just sad that it's regressed by miles so that current tech makes these films look like complete ass.

Just a quick note as well on this release. And I know no one here has said it, but any moron saying that we asked for the unaltered trilogy and we got just that, has no damn clue whatsoever.

70 MM film is always going to look better than the crispiest DVD, even if that is in HD or Blue Ray, or quantum laser, Warp ray or whatever they come up with next.

The fact is, we want the originals, but we want them in the best possible presentation. Restoring the film to it's best presentable state and then doing a clean transfer is not altering the film, it's preserving it.

It's probably best that the 0-OT fan bashers actually educate themesleves on film formats before deciding to have a go at their fellow fans for only wanting what should have been released in the first place.

Rental DVDs are certainly the main culprit for no-play chapters but I've got a couple of my own well stored discs that are only a couple of years old, and I pull them out for their 3rd or 4th ever viewing and find that disc rot has taken place. On the other hand I have video tapes that I've had for years and far less of them have play problems. When they do have problems you can at least watch them rather than having to skip entire sections. Poorer quality picture I know but I want a format that's going to last. I've got SE versions and OT versions in DVD format now and I wouldn't be willing to get them in a higher quality format unless I thought it would outlast my trusty VHS versions. I was one of the first people I know to buy DVDs but problems with the longevity mean I won't be in such a rush to take up the next generation.
There's been a lot of talk in PC magazines about concerns with disc rot, since the folks pushing the new formats are talking big about new features etc without much said about durability. I guess they figure it only needs to last long enough for the next format they bring out - hence my comment about the OT DVDs. Probably won't see better quality until GL decides he's sold enough of the current release to bring out another.

70 MM film is always going to look better than the crispiest DVD

Exactly.
This is what pisses me off about Lucasfilm releasing the OT in it's so called 'original' 93 format.
Seeing the OT in 1977 on the big screen would have been just as agood quality as a remastered dvd...pitty GL is a **** head and dosn't realise that.
"Oooh it came out in 1977 so it much be bad quality"


Instead of:

"oooh it was shot on high quality film stock which is not far off from todays standards. That's the way it should be remembered"

****ing idiots.

The excuse I've heard is that the original film has deteriorated but I don't buy that since I'm sure at least one of the thousands of copies which played in cinemas around the world must still be in good enough conditionn for a decent transfer.

The original film stock DID go all crappy, that's why they did the megga remastered version in 1997.
They would have a fully remastered copy on record that they would have made before all the new crap was added in.
GL is just trying to prove a point.

Even if the original prints have been destroyed, (which I have reliable info that it was) there do exist many of the release prints.

Besides which, if they say no source film has existed since '97, where did they get those pristine looking images, presented in anamorphic widescreen, for the "Empire of Dreams" documentary from?

Even if they don't exist, which I highly doubt, film archivist and historian Robert Harris has made an offer to Lucasfilm.

He owns fully restored 35 MM prints of the original versions of Star Wars. He has also aproached LFL making his collection available for an anamorphic widescreen release for DVD.

His offer has yet to be responded to.