"THE SPECIAL SPECIAL EDITION: George Lucas finally planning to release the Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD on Sept. 21. While it will include director's commentary for all three flicks and a making-of documentary, the original theatrical versions however will not be included in the collection."
"THE SPECIAL SPECIAL EDITION: George Lucas finally planning to release the Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD on Sept. 21. While it will include director's commentary for all three flicks and a making-of documentary, the original theatrical versions however will not be included in the collection."
Hey, I think the value of my laserdiscs just went up again. :)
Something tells me that the original versions will be included in the Episodes 1 thru 6 set that's sure to make it's way into the 2005 or 2006 holiday shopping season.
I don't know. Watching the original set will just make the newer ones seem that much paler. The new set would have been much better if he had had the same technological limitations he had on the first three. The new ones aren't back but they seem ponderous and too much stuff in them just because he could do it. The first three were just great, especially Star Wars and Return of the Jedi.
"THE SPECIAL SPECIAL EDITION: George Lucas finally planning to release the Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD on Sept. 21. While it will include director's commentary for all three flicks and a making-of documentary, the original theatrical versions however will not be included in the collection."
Hey, I think the value of my laserdiscs just went up again. :)
And I've got those on DVD.
Regardless, I'll get this release, as well as any future ones Georgie decides to throw at us.
The director's commentary has me sold on this already. The stuff he has put on the Episode I & II DVDs has been pretty interesting, and it'll be cool if they include a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff.
A lot of the "making of" Return of the Jedi stuff is especially interesting, because of the elaborate miniature sets that they constructed for the Death Star run.
I remember a special that was on TV a long time ago, hosted by either Billy Dee or Mark Hammill (maybe I'm thinking of two seperate ones), where they showed all of the work that went into making Jabba the Hutt and Jabba's Palace and I thought all of those guys were in Jabba's stomach because I was a stupid kid.
But, the soul was ripped out of ROTJ and ANH in the SEs, unfortunately. I really miss the seedy Jabba's palace disco funk underground scene that he axed in favor of the over-the-top musical scene. It's also irritating, because the live footage that was shot doesn't match up with Jabba's Palace originally. And the complete removal of "YUB YUB" at the end in favor of Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute's inane closing music was a real disappointment.
It doesn't look like a theatrical cut of star wars will ever be released on DVD in the near future. Even the prequels on DVD aren't the theatrical versions.
"Just a humble bounty hunter, ma'am." -Spike Spiegel
Originally posted by The Vile1It doesn't look like a theatrical cut of star wars will ever be released on DVD in the near future. Even the prequels on DVD aren't the theatrical versions.
Yup, we're never getting the orignal version. George has gone on record as stating (sorry I don't have a souce to link to, but I read it somewhere a couple years back- might have been Star Wars Insider) that he considers the original version of the trilogy to be an "incomplete" version. In his mind, the Special Editions are the final, and only versions, and how he intended them to be all along. Which of course I find that hard to believe that he intended all that stuff in the special edition to be like that in the original. Boba Fett being flirty and mugging for the camera in ROTJ? Han shooting first in ANH? I highly doubt that he had that stuff in mind in the 70s and 80s, but couldn't do it due to the special effects constraints. I mean I can see some of the stuff like the Jabba scene in ANH being part of his original intentions, but most of it is clearly afterthought. There's definitely some upside to the SE, though: the wampa in ESB, the explosion of the Death Star in ANH (but I do kinda miss the original explosion too), the extended celebration in ROTJ (even if they did bastardize the song). One thing I always wish they could have fixed somehow is how terrible it looks in ROTJ when the Rancor picks Luke up. That scena always made me cringe with how bad the blue screening looks. I'm surprsied Lucas never tried to fix that somehow.
I ain't gonna complain anymore though 'cause any Orignal Trilogy on DVD is better than none. I'm am so psyched for Sept 21. Maybe someone will preorder it for me for my birthday in early Sept.
(edited by Eradicator on 10.2.04 1520) "The Universe is shaped exactly like the Earth- if you go straight long enough you end up where you were."
Originally posted by The Vile1Even the prequels on DVD aren't the theatrical versions.
I only saw the prequels once each in the theater, so I didn't notice any differences in the DVD versions. Do you have specifics as to what was changed? It wouldbe interesting to know.
Originally posted by The Vile1Even the prequels on DVD aren't the theatrical versions.
I only saw the prequels once each in the theater, so I didn't notice any differences in the DVD versions. Do you have specifics as to what was changed? It wouldbe interesting to know.
It's just minor, special effects stuff for the most part. The only one I can even think of off hand is at the very end of Attack of the Clones. In the theatrical version they didn't have enough time to finish animating Anakin's new robotic hand during the wedding scene, so it just sits there limp. In the DVD version (as well in the IMAX version, which is much shorter than the regular film) his hand is fully animated and there is a closeup of it gripping Padme's hand.
"The Universe is shaped exactly like the Earth- if you go straight long enough you end up where you were."
TPM has an extended podrace intro scene (Just what they made DVD for!), an extended arrival on Coruscant, some extra stuff on Tatooine, and an extended arrival in Theed for more wacky Jar Jar antics. All in the final edit on the DVD.
My personal ranking system is ESB, ROTJ, ANH, AOTC, and TPM. I'm thinking Episode III will be an easy #3 or even #2 when it's all said and done.
This is annoying, Lucas knows he's got us Wars fans hooked so he can screw with the films all he wants. Han SHOT FIRST, that was a vital part of his character for crying out loud. Nonetheless, I'll be salivating over this set like a madman.
ESB, ANH, ROTJ, AOTC, TPM and like Skloka, Episode III even with the prequel stench is gonna rule hard.
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