PT Will Disney Update Prequels?

For the foreseeable future I can not see that even coming close to happening. Fans are free to have their opinion etc, but the PT (like the OT) is considered canon for the story group. Remake the prequels? They may aswell remake the OT while they're at it

 

Except that they've already referenced the Prequels in a ton of media, and everytime I see this it makes me cringe, and even Pablo Hidalgo has confirmed there is not an anti-PT agenda at Disney. This is all based on personal opinions and lack of knowledge of the greater SW media outside the movies.

Mustafar, Coruscant, Anakin's burnt body, Bail Organa, "Clone army", Podracing flags in TFA teaser, Kylo's story being very much like Anakin's, having plans for Hayden to be in 7, using Ewan in 7 & saying his story isn't done yet, we have 2 comics that have taken place during the PT-Era, and a 3rd/4th coming out featuring Maul and Pre-TPM Yoda this year, and using PT-Era characters in Rebels, Catalyst takes place right after ROTS, the director of EP.8 defends them all the time. Yep, totally ignoring them.

 

No.The films are what they are. Flaws and all.

Lucas's six original movies should be left alone.

Well Pablo saying something is not necessarily evidence one way or another. He's on the pay-roll so its not like he's going to say anything other than there's not an anti-PT marketing campaign going on.

For what it's worth I don't think there's an anti-PT campaign happening now but there's no doubt there was an anti-PT marketing campaign happening before Episode VII.

 

But....the evidence points otherwise. Damnit guys, you're really gonna make me defend TFA? Here we go:

TFA had not a whole lot of reason to reference the PT, in-universe this is 60 years after ROTS (I believe?), and so a few here and there are fine. Simon Pegg's comments do not matter, because before, during, and after TFA, he has always and will always slander them and the fans for liking them. He's just a child in a man's body. The "real sets" thing, yes stupid, but it is a common misconception among the GA and even most of the SW fanbase as a whole. Hell, I saw a bunch of PT toys on the shelves during TFA's release! They may not be going out of their way to reference the PT in one out of two movies we have seen, but it's pretty obvious that Kennedy and Abrams respects the fans and the Prequels, even if they don't like them - of which there is no evidence of that either way.

 

I mean the films themselves.

 

Fine. I'll re-iterate my post.

"Mustafar, Coruscant, Anakin's burnt body, Bail Organa, "Clone army", Podracing flags in TFA teaser, Kylo's story being very much like Anakin's, having plans for Hayden to be in 7, using Ewan in 7 & saying his story isn't done yet"

 

Do you expect Pablo to openly admit there's an anti-PT agenda? He's very politically savvy...he'd be in deep trouble with Disney brass if he were to publicly admit to that. It'd be a PR nightmare.

And yes, it's pretty clear that Disney IS doing all it can to minimize references to the PT beyond those which are absolutely necessary, and frankly, I find it a bit distasteful and disrespectful towards George Lucas. Don't get me wrong...I have been an ardent critic of the PT for years, but I've made peace with those films. I respect that Lucas had an ambitious vision and saw it through to the end, fan reaction be damned. The execution was fatally flawed, no doubt about it, but he swung for the fences and was determined not to wallow in nostalgia too much.

Take Lor San Tekka's opening line in TFA, "This will begin to make things right." Wow, could they have slapped George in the face any harder? I walked out of the theater loving TFA, but after ruminating on it for the past year, I increasingly view it as a missed opportunity and opportunistic play on fan nostalgia. I do hope that it was a one-time course correction to regain fan loyalty, and that Episodes VIII and IX are given more freedom to take some chances and expand the mythology.

 

Which is fine. Don't update the effects in the PT. Don't update the effects in the OT any further (shouldn't have been updated to begin with, and the sooner the OOT is released the better). Just leave the films as they are. CGI ages. Effects in general age. Movies age. All forms of art age. Like, I wouldn't want Shakespeare re-written in a modern vernacular just because the plays are several hundred years old. They are what they are.

 

I don't think Lucas updated the effects in the OT primarily just because they had aged. I think he updated them because they fundamentally didn't show the things he wanted to show, in the way he wanted to show them. I think those are valid and respectable reasons for the original artist to want to go back and update his work.

 

That line wasn't about the prequels. And he mentioned "balance of the Force" after that.

 

How do you know that definitively? MANY people (myself included) saw it as a not-so-veiled low blow at the PT.

 

True but the VFX of the OOT are particularly problematic. If they were the only SW films that were ever made then the case for leaving them as they were would be stronger.

They weren't though and in comparison to the PT it wasn't simply about aging and being dated in the normal way but being virtually obsolete. Now that more movies are being made this becomes even more important.

The optical compositing of the OOT simply doesn't hold up to major scrutiny so between the SE re-releases having to be on theatrical screens plus the restoration needed the work had to be redone regardless. The state of the O-Neg was terrible and the VFX work needed to be restored. There would be no point in restoring it to be of inferior quality because they had to do it with optical compositing originally rather than the digital they used for the SE's.

The argument is more around putting out some versions akin to the originals as well as a restored/special edition version. If they SE's had simply been restored to look like the originals while not actually being them then I doubt there would be much talk of anyone wanting the "OOT" because they would think they had it already.

The difference between the OT and PT is this regard is that for the OT Lucas knew he had to release work that was the best they could do at the time but not as good as he knew it would be able to be done in with digital compositing. The difference between them goes beyond simply normal dating. It's about a massive technological jump that transforms the entire industry. The PT is digital movie just like TFA and R1 are. Their are advances of course but nothing equivalent to the massive gap between optical and digital movie-making. The overall work of the PT is still far beyond most movies that come out now and certainly well beyond what they even dare to conceive or attempt in the first place.

Then they must consider a ton of things "absolutely necessary". Outside of some of the nonsense marketing for TFA the PT is EVERYWHERE in the movies, animation, books, comics, non-fiction etc etc. either that or they are doing a terrible job of minimizing.

In TFA alone we have Anakin's Lighsaber and Rey and Kylo Ren both reflections of Anakin's light and dark sides. I don't know how more evident that can be.

I think the execution was fatally terrific but regardless the way they have so been ingrained is displayed to me over and over again because when those I know who don't like the movies talk about how they would rewrite them they keep them about 95% the same and then argue over the other 5%.

I don't see how at all. How much money could someone have won if you would bet the first line of TFA would include the term Balance of the Force?

This will begin to make things right.I've traveled too far, and seen too much, to ignore the despair in the galaxy. Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force.


There are people who thought that the prequels would be completely forgotten for some reason. They could have never imagined that TFA would so completely tie into them and they can't get a handle on it or deny it to themselves or say that it was unintentional or come up with some deflection.

The weird thing is that by the very nature of TFA's story the thing that has been "forgotten" is the OT. It happened but in a way it now has unhappened and we are basically in a similar situation to where things left off in ROTS. So now the importance of the prequels is actually doubled because it still all goes back to Anakin's story of how he turned into Vader.

As Lucas intended the key piece in all of the Star Wars saga is now found in ROTS which TFA has more than a few connections to in terms of tone and texture. This is also found even stronger in R1 which is very much a sequel to ROTS in terms of the overall galactic part of the saga while ANH is part that but also the personal family saga.

 

I think eventually Disney may authorize Lucasfilm to create special editions of the PT.

 

The point is that old effects don't need to hold up to scrutiny. The OT movies were products of their time and their visuals should reflect that. Do all of their effects hold up to today's standards? Of course not. Similarly, the PT movies were also products of their time and not all of their effects hold up either. I don't think either looks "obsolete" for modern audiences, and this is seen by how a lot of kids are getting into Star Wars by starting with the OOT (thanks to things like Despecialized); and due to the episodic numbering on the movies, many even get into the PT first and, again, don't have issues with the visuals. Of course, both trilogies have moments that look excellent (Battle of Endor, TPM space battle) and other moments that look pretty fake (some of the matte painting backgrounds in the OT, some of the CG locations/aliens in the PT).

But I highly doubt that visual shortcomings will be a reason why someone wouldn't watch either the OOT or OPT. There's a reason why the OT movies are timeless, and it isn't because of the numerous "upgrades" made to them. It's because they're able to stand on their own even when the initial hype of their visuals subsides. They get people thinking about the universe, characters, relationships, background lore, and mythology (we'll see in 20-30 years if this holds true for the PT & ST). And in their original forms, they also provide a highly important context for people to watch them in.

So to answer the thread question, I don't think Disney will update the prequels. From a corporate standpoint, that would cost money. And would it be worth the investment? I don't think so because the amount of sales would probably not be affected with or without the upgrades. So if you're a Disney executive, and you see that you can make the same money without spending a dime, then you'll probably take that route of maximum profit. The only scenario where I can see any of the movies being further modified is with Lucas' involvement. From what Pablo Hidalgo has said, Lucas commissioned a 4K version of ANH to be made before he sold the company. Who knows if he did the same for the other movies. From a cultural/historical standpoint though, Disney shouldn't modify any of the movies. Like I said, they're products of their time and should thus reflect that. I don't really care about visual consistency across the films; instead, I care about the films as individual movies, even the ones I'm more critical of. And if we really think about it, it's impossible to create visual consistency anyway unless you completely remake the films.

Plus, even when looking at it from a "unified saga" standpoint, the cannon materials actually span 3 different mediums which are drastically different from one another: movies (OT, PT, ST/Anthology), animated television shows (TCW, Rebels), and the numerous books that are part of the new cannon. So consistency is definitely not the name of the game here (and that's not a bad thing). And finally, there's no point in updating anything when said update will look outdated in a few years anyway. Technology is constantly evolving and visual effects are continually getting better and better. So trying to visually play "catch up" with old movies is just not going to go well because the game would never end. As someone wise once said, "always in motion, is the future", and that certainly applies to film technology. To make another analogy, Disney trying to modernize old films would be like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner; they might get really close, but would ultimately fail in the end.

 

Depends who needs them to. I don't see Disney-Lucasfilm ever joyously releasing the "OOT" in it's original form even if they can at some point (which I doubt). At best it'd be a modern restored version.

As before you and I can agree but I don't exactly see that likely from Disney-Lucasfilm as above. As ever I would like the "OOT" originals, restored versions as well as the current (or even further updated SE's).

Not much point into getting into what is fake because for some they see digital Yoda as fake and puppet as real. Barely moving puppets are fine while fully interactive CGI creatures aren't.

Endor or Hoth are cases in point. From a VFX stand-point the SE's win in a no contest but that won't stop some from preferring the originals.

The special position of the OT as the OT is not going to last though in story terms. The PT and OT will be the original six from Lucas and the start of the saga so their position will be based on that but in 20 years there will be another 20 movies. In historical terms that will be still there but much like the lack of the OOT isn't going to bother the general audience.

Everything becomes "old movies" at some point. The good thing is that much like the PT revived the OT's importance to the regular audience the new movies will do the same for each other over time.

 

The thing is, Disney doesn't care about a "modern" presentation. In previous posts, you've brought up this notion of an industry standard for restoring old movies, but there simply isn't one; some old movies are modified and some aren't, but there's no reputation to uphold on Disney's end regardless of which they choose to do. They care about money though, that's for sure. For them to make a "modern restored version" they'd have to first restore the true original elements and then digitally "modernize" them afterwards. That's two whole (money-consuming) steps. Now if you were a Disney executive, would you put out something that costs more money or something that costs less money, given that both would probably sell the same? For me, the latter option seems to make more sense, especially since there's been such a clamoring for the OOT from fans (the vocal ones at least), and we've seen from the past that Disney likes to appease its fans.

Like I said, the point isn't to determine which between the originals and modified versions looks better. The point is that both trilogies were pushing the envelope of visual effects, and it's neat to see what they were able to accomplish with the technology they had at the time. Now, there are of course some fake-looking moments in both trilogies, but there aren't enough to turn away newcomers on their visual shortcomings alone. (and regarding your "no contest" comment, while some of the VFX additions do look good, others horribly detract from the experience and make things look worse, like the added CG Jabba scene or the cartoon dinosaurs in Mos Eisley; if they weren't there, the movie would look better....no contest )

From a historical standpoint, the OT, especially the OOT, is what will be looked on with the most importance in the future. Everything else is just....everything else. For sure the PT will have its place in Star Wars history, as will the ST, but not as much as the originals.

 

That actually isn't the point. The point is to have a version that adequately expresses the artist's vision as he feels it should be expressed. That's what art is all about: personal expression. It's not about technology. Technology is just a tool.

It's not George Lucas's job to make the original versions available any more than it's his job to make John Jympson's original rough cut available. It's not his job to act as a historical preservationist of every version of his own damn films that's ever existed. He's the one making the film history. You have no right to tell him how to do that. You have no right to tell him how he should be remembered as an artist.

If you want to preserve the OOT for future generations for purely historical purposes, you can do it. It's not that hard. It's already been done in countless ways. I'm sure you can even obtain a copy of it yourself right now, completely legally. Just don't copy and distribute it.

Lucas doesn't owe you or anyone else a fully-restored commercial release. And make no mistake, what you and many others are asking for is a commercial release for your own entertainment pleasure. It has nothing to do with preserving the OOT for future generations of film historians, because that's already been accomplished.

 

No, that's actually a separate point to what I'm talking about. I'm talking about cultural, technological, and historical context; I believe it's important for movies to maintain these. You're talking about artistic expression. Both are valid approaches to this issue.

Thanks for informing me of my rights but uh....... I'm talking about the films and Disney, not Lucas. I never said anything about what George Lucas should do. Read my posts again.

Hmmm, this is really sounding like you didn't actually read my posts. I'm not talking about preserving it for "purely historical purposes", I'm talking about context, which I think is important for viewers to have when they watch the films. And I'm not saying anything whatsoever about what Lucas owes me; my posts were, again, about context and speculation about what decisions Disney would make regarding the films. How in the world did you interpret that as me "demanding an OOT release from Lucas for my own entertainment pleasure"? Lol I can already watch the OOT in high definition whenever I want. So to reiterate, my posts are about the films and what decisions Disney might make in the future, not at all about Lucas, I promise.

One more time (because I want to make it super clear):

Saying "The films shouldn't be updated since they would lose their cultural/historical/technological context" is not equivalent to saying "I demand an OOT release from George Lucas!"

Saying "Some of changes in the modified/SE versions look good, while others do not" is not equivalent to saying "It's George Lucas' job to be a historical preservationist and he should release the OOT right now!"

 

Are you serious? There were clearly several prequel connections in both TFA and R1(MUSTAFAR for Vader's lair any clearer a prequel connection?)so this whole "low blow to Lucas" is completely unfounded. Not only that, but the person in charge of Lucasfilm, Kathy Kennedy, is a lifelong friend and personal pick of Lucas to succeed him. And John Knoll and everybody else at ILM still admire the hell out of the guy. R1 was based on his opening crawl for Star Wars and Knoll has said so many times.

 

*canon