CT Rumor: Disney to Release Unaltered Old Trilogy on BR

I don't even know what that is supposed to mean.

I could tell as a kid that Yoda wasn't really there. It's a puppet. A very good puppet but a puppet none the less. Yoda is ROTS looks like he is actually on set with the actors. He is like a living being. I know it's CGI but he looks like he is there.

The OT looks "fake" in comparison to the PT just as the OT will look "fake" in comparison to all the new movies.

 

For *you*. You can harp as much as you like OT's crap and so much 'worse' than PT but I am not going to agree with you.

 

That's not the argument. The argument is that puppet Yoda is just as fake as CG Yoda. No one is saying that the OT is worse than the PT that I can see here.

 

Not perception wise to everyone though. The props are actually there CGI isn't so for me it reads hollow and very, very fake. I honestly don't care people disagree but I am NOT wrong for ME.

 

With the exception of Jar Jar...

But the thing is that what you feel is true and real, might not be when all is said and done.

 

That's always true of course.

As long as anyone doesn't try and pretend to themselves that applies to EVERYONE.

We know what the audiences judgement is. Not just in regards to Star Wars but to SF and fantasy movies in general and of course all of the movies set in the "real" world that use all the same technologies for all other kinds of movies.

That is why they dominate the box office now and are the normal rather than the exception.

 

In 2017 the franchise will celebrate it's 40th anniversary, i'm not sure we'll see the unaltered original trilogy released this year, but i think 2017 would be the perfect time to release ultimate editions for each one of the originals, with each blu-ray featuring an unaltered version, Lucas's special edition, and maybe a 3rd cut that simply corrects a few things from the originals (like that frame in Episode IV where Obi'Wan's lightsaber doesn't have the light effect). I'm not sure releasing the originals would be that much trouble, i mean, there were other times when different studios joined together in order to release certain films to DVD or Blu-Ray, and i'm sure these releases would give them a lot of money considering the demand.

 

I mean, considering Disney/Lucasfilm/Fox teamed up to release the film's digitally two months ago, I don't think it's much of a stretch to release Blu-rays of the OOT.

 

The biggest trouble would be if Lucas let the original materials degrade to the point where they are no longer viable. I still think 2015 is the best year to release this. This is the year they are relaunching Star Wars as a film property, so let people see the original versions that changed the world.

 

I don't really mind most of the changes except for the extremely out of place Jedi Rocks scene (it is kinda catchy though) and the not so subtle Vader yelling "No!" in ROTJ. Can't recall anything I HATED so much it made me want to destroy Lucas like others.

I guess I'd buy the unaltered versions but I doubt Disney will release them. It's not like Disney's done all these good things for Star Wars excluding the green lighting of Episode VII...and even that's mainly J.J. Abrams and not really being made by Disney directly.

 

Money, money, money. The OOT doesn't currently exist in a state worthy of releasing on Blu-Ray. It should be released on Blu-Ray, but it would involve a costly restoration - for what sort of return?

And as I and a few others have mentioned, just what version of the OOT (largely SW/ANH) would be considered definitive? The May 25, 1977 premiere cut or the wider 1977 release with a few audio tweaks? The 1981 re-release with 'Episode IV: A New Hope' added to the opening scroll and even more audio tweaks?

I live in hope that it'll happen one way or another, but it's not as simple as taking a videotape out of a cabinet and running off a few hundred thousand Blu-Ray discs. The restoration that was done in 1997 produced the initial Special Editions, there's no pristine copies of the OOT existing in an LFL vault.

 

The restoration is not costly, it would cost peanuts (in the tens of thousands, far less than a single episode of rebels). Some people have even offered to do it for free. This thread is full of info about how much it costs.

 

The 1977/1981 crawls can be done easily on the same disc via seamless branching. This might come as a shock, but Blu-Rays can have several different audio mixes on the same disc.

The original negative might have been desecrated to make the Special Editions, but there are inter-positives that can be used to make a quality 4K scan, its been done before.

 

Well, the work Reliant did for their 4K Star Wars involved restoration for at the very least the original film. They posted a restoration showcase about a year ago that showed the before and after of footage of R2 and 3PO next to the escape pod on Tatooine. I'm assuming (because I know very little about film restoration) that they'd have to working from some physical materials, right? So they're either working with the original version of the film, or at the very least the '97 special edition. But some restoration work definitely went on with them, it's just impossible to say how much and with what version of the film because we have next to no information.

 

Oh how I wish Disney would release the OOT.


If it's the only thing they ever did with the entire franchise, I'd be happy.

 

That was a Jawa falling off a ronto, the unnecessary CGI dewbacks and stormtroopers are much more dignified.

 

I noticed that ANH is incredibly cluttered now with needless blasterfire and filling in space with people now in my watch yesterday.

 

There's the Jawa falling off the ronto, and there's also a quick shot of a stormtrooper trying to climb up a dewback and slipping off, if memory serves correct.

 

Lol never noticed that. Is it during the "look sir droids" scene?

 

It's in Mos Eisley, after Luke and Ben talk with Han, before Han smokes Greedo. I actually had it backwards; the stormtrooper is dismounting the dewback, and slips and falls off as he does so.

 

Actually, that works. It shows that the Empire relies on technology a lot, and very rarely will it use living creatures as transport. Note we never see them riding Taun Tauns on Hoth and they use Speeder Bikes on Endor. It works as a contrast to the Jedi who have used living creatures, as well as Han using a Taun Taun himself.

 

No, he doesn't. He's simply dismounting.

 

I don't think you understand what "preposterous" means. CGI dewbacks which saunter around bearing stormtroopers on their backs are more preposterous than stationary dewback statues which don't move and can really barely even be seen. To say otherwise is, I think, to twist the meanings of words beyond all recognition.

Why are the dewbacks even there if you're not supposed to focus on them? Why did Lucas put them there? What was the point?

Clearly (and this is what Lucas, the man who decided to put them there in the first place, has said) the intent was to show stormtroopers on patrol riding exotic native beasts. It was to show that the Imperial search party was organized, intimately familiar with the native environment, and on the move. The original scene didn't accomplish any this, because you can barely see the dewbacks (and the overriding impression is of a few lonesome stormtroopers milling around in the middle of a desert, not a large search party). That's because they were unable to figure out a way to get proper movement out of the practical dewbacks, forcing them into a background role. I know a lot of fans would rather see Lucas's dashed hopes and frustrated ambitions preserved forever for future generations to gawk at, but I think Lucas's feelings on the matter trump their feelings.

I know, to you it's the magic of cinema, it's a sacred snapshot of a particular unique moment in film history which can never be repeated or replicated. But Lucas was there. He made the movie. He remembers what happened. And what happened is that he didn't have enough time or money to do what he really wanted. That's not magic, that's not sacred--that's Twentieth Century Fox being cheap. If you want to romanticize something, then romanticize the creator's freedom to pursue his artistic vision to the fullest extent possible. Don't romanticize silly studio politics and petty cash flow problems.

 

^ Its easy for this argument to descend into a "crappy 97 CGI effects' vs the OOT version" and its nice to see someone preaching from their high-dewback and being condescending. Yes we all know about Lucas not meeting his original vision due to monetary and time constrainsts and anyone can trot out that party line as a defence for the OOT never being released.

However its those versions that appeared in cinemas back in the day that established the saga in cinema history, its those original versions that fans fell in love with, to many people those original versions are perfect. Equally there are fans who probably first experienced the OT when they saw the SE at the cinema. But there is nothing wrong whatsoever with wanting to see the original films as they saw them back in the day before they were modifed, cut, altered etc etc. If I'm right you weren't even born when people were experiencing these films for the first time in their original glory at the cinema and I appreciate you may not be able to relate to that moment in time and cinema history. However surely you can relate to it when you saw the SE? But who are you to mock those that want the originals and their 'sacred' and 'romantic' views on them?

No one is trying to make the OOT the definitve version, that and the SE can exist together, its not a competition.

But heres the one simple question - 'please can we have the originals in HD quality so we can choose what version to watch at home'.

Lets not lose sight of that question in amongst the CGI defending / bashing and Lucas defending / bashing.

 

That is two different things though. One is the cinematic history angle and the other is the fan angle. I find the cinematic angle a far stronger argument than the fan one as that is wrapped in far too much subjectivity as to what is original as this thread has shown.

So the cinematic argument is far stronger. By that debate them the 97 SE's should also be released in HD since they have their own place in cinema history.

It's a no contest. The "SE's" are the definitive versions.

As I have said many times I highly doubt that will ever happen. Many would be satisfied with authenthic seeming versions that in fact are not the "perfect" versions at all.