Star Wars Blu-ray: Not to distant future

[Anth1888]

Over at C2E2 Lucasfilm Director of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet reveals upcoming information of the Star Wars franchise coming to Blu-ray.

"We have been at work for a couple of years working on—I won't call it the Ultimate Set because we keep finding stuff—but, a very full set of all six movies on Blu-ray with lots of extra material. We're finding all kinds of scenes from dailies that have never been seen before. Beyond all of those things that you know about… there are some real treasures."

When will the set come out? Sansweet says, "We're not ready to announce exactly when it's coming out, but it won't be in the too distant future."

Sounds very promising

http://uk.bluray.ign.com/articles/108/1084415p1.html

[Zippyfan]

I hope it includes archival extras

[bananek]

I hope it includes proper versions of the movies...

[lewwyt]

I hope you get a real lightsaber with it...

[OrlandoEastwood]

I hope you all don't b**** about the quality of it.

[Damage Inc.]

I'll just start it off:

- No buy for me, cause they're not the Theatrical Cuts!
- And also because the prequels are included!

But seriously, I don't really care as long as they put as much as possible in it.
I mean, I would like if the fans of the originals were happy and then also throw in the Remastered versions.
Kind of like what they did with 'Star Trek' perhaps.

I'm not a huge fan or anything, but I hope the fans will be happy with it when it's out.
And I'd sure would love to see them again, but then in HD.
Including the prequels, I loved "I", and "II" I kinda forgot, but I want to give them all a view at least.

[groundgamer]

Yes! Cannot wait for this. Although, I would of liked two individual sets, one with the first three movies and the second with the latest, and poorest, movies. I'd also of liked individual releases of each movie. But, still, it's a purchase in my books.

[MokaBear]

I say December.

[Melodious Thunk]

To make sure the fans are pleased, they're digitally removing all the stuff that was digitally added in 1997. When asked why they didn't simply use the original masters, George Lucas replied "uhh..."

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Melodious Thunk

To make sure the fans are pleased, they're digitally removing all the stuff that was digitally added in 1997. When asked why they didn't simply use the original masters, George Lucas replied "uhh..."

Really guys? This man worked on these films for at least half his life and is now putting in the hard work to give them to us on blu-ray and you still have to take shots at him? Some people will never be happy, I guess.

[Anth1888]

I think this will be another step to introduce everyone to blu-ray. I think it will be next year as the end of the year seems pretty packed as the Alien Quadrilogy due at the end of the year.

I hope it is the 'ultimate set' which includes literally everything. Personally i'm really looking forward to it

[groundgamer]

Originally Posted by Anth1888

I think this will be another step to introduce everyone to blu-ray. I think it will be next year as the end of the year seems pretty packed as it is as the Alien Quadrilogy due at the end of the year.

I hope it is the ultimate set which includes literally everything. Personally i'm really looking forward to it

I think the Alien set will really deliver. Just look at the amazing transfer quality of Predator 2 and Aliens Vs Predator. I think your right, this is another step forward for Blu-ray. Everyone loves a bit of Star Wars, and there are loads of Alien fans. Hopefully, horrible DVD will stop production late next year.

[Anth1888]

Yeah Alien Quad is a defiantly in the 'must buy' category along with the Star Wars saga.

With more and more major franchises coming soon or already out there isn't many left - someone say Jurassic Park Trilogy

[Blodskur]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

Really guys? This man worked on these films for at least half his life and is now putting in the hard work to give them to us on blu-ray and you still have to take shots at him? Some people will never be happy, I guess.

Will someone leave that poor, poor billionaire alone?

[walter stark]

Originally Posted by Anth1888

Yeah Alien Quad is a defiantly in the 'must buy' category along with the Star Wars saga.

With more and more major franchises coming soon or already out there isn't many left - someone say Jurassic Park Trilogy

i think the one thing that puts tiny bit of doubt is the fact there have been so many versions of the films on DVD and when it says in the article, they keep finding stuff which means there could be another version in the future.

i totally agree, Alien Quad for Blu Ray

[AlT_3D]

I acquired some HD versions of a six films, of varying quality, but each better than the DVD's, but I cannot wait for the Blu's.

Concerning the HD version of a New Hope, in the special ed's they changed the sound that Ben makes when he first appears (a Krayt dragon apparently) in the special ed's, yet in this version it has the original sound fx. Also, the notorious Han shot first scene is here in it's original form, apart from that the Special ed additions are there. Weird?

[nametag]

Originally Posted by Blodskur

Will someone leave that poor, poor billionaire alone?

Or teach him how to direct films, write dialogue, and give him other things to do with his career than pimp the Star Wars franchise for all eternity...

I'll be happy to have the first (original) three... I used to have the special editions on VHS when I was a kid, never ended up getting them on DVD. I kind of have lost track with the different versions and all the changes, obviously I understand people's preference for the original theatricals, but I would be happy with the ones I grew up with... especially sans Hayden Christensen ghost.

[Damage Inc.]

Originally Posted by Melodious Thunk

To make sure the fans are pleased, they're digitally removing all the stuff that was digitally added in 1997. When asked why they didn't simply use the original masters, George Lucas replied "uhh..."

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

Really guys? This man worked on these films for at least half his life and is now putting in the hard work to give them to us on blu-ray and you still have to take shots at him? Some people will never be happy, I guess.

Originally Posted by Blodskur

Will someone leave that poor, poor billionaire alone?

Originally Posted by nametag

Or teach him how to direct films, write dialogue, and give him other things to do with his career than pimp the Star Wars franchise for all eternity...

I'll be happy to have the first (original) three... I used to have the special editions on VHS when I was a kid, never ended up getting them on DVD. I kind of have lost track with the different versions and all the changes, obviously I understand people's preference for the original theatricals, but I would be happy with the ones I grew up with... especially sans Hayden Christensen ghost.

You guys... you know what I think it's like?:


George Lucas had this vision of this futuristic epic story.
So he made it, it was different and amazing and everything to many people.
These people, like some fans here, hold those original classics dear to their hearts.

But, what I think the case is, George Lucas wasn't happy with the way things looked.
He probably wished that he had waited a couple of decades and used much better technologies available today.

The thing is, he tried to keep improving his original films,
because he wants them to be even more like he imagined them in the first place.
Most fans don't realize this and get ticked off because of newer cheesier special effects.
And that hurts the fans because they're used to the originals.
While it's not the creator's goal, but rather to, again, improve his creation,
closer to the point he actually wanted it to be.

And I agree, don't change around too much and don't fall for trends too much.
But I think it's still quite acceptable to see some upgrades or improvements here and there.
I mean, come on, it's not like he totally redid the films through and through.


Now, I'm not like totally defending George Lucas here, I'm not some kind of fanboy or anything.
But I do think people should give a break with the ripping on him.
Cause I'm pretty sure by now he got the message.

Also, how he reacted with that "uhhh" as to why he wouldn't just use the original masters,
that's either because he simply doesn't like them, or something terrible happened to them.


But I still think they should do something similar to the BDs of the 'Star Trek'-series.

[nametag]

Originally Posted by Damage Inc.

...

The thing is, that once it's made - that's it, it's out there. In many ways it isn't George Lucas's anymore - he has released it to his audience. AND he had final cut on all of them. It is self-centered and disrespectful to his audience to continually revise them in this manner - they are good enough for the audience in their original incarnations, regardless of whether they aren't quite perfect enough for him.

If he wants to tinker with it then nobody is stopping him, but he shouldn't pretend that previous versions don't exist. Films date, they get old, they are always products of their time and should be viewed as such. If he is going to release new versions, always the originals should still be released as well. The more he plays around with them, and revises them, the more the identity of the films gets lost and we have loads of different versions that are hard to keep track of. One theatrical, and one director's cut, I can handle. I think he did release the original versions of the trilogy on DVD, though they weren't as well presented as the new versions I seem to recall? If he does release the original versions (or at least a very close version of the original versions) and they have had just as much care taken over them than any new revised versions, then I won't begrudge him any.

Besides, it still doesn't get around the fact that he is a pretty bad director. He directed the original one, fair enough, that was good. All of the prequels he directed really badly... full of people sitting in rooms explaining the plot to each other, threads that don't come together properly, everything CGId to the max so it loses its human element. It's telling that everyone thinks Empire Strikes Back is the best when that's one of the only ones he didn't direct, nor did he write any of the screenplay. The dialogue in the prequels is just appalling as well, the love story between Anakin and Padme especially, and the action loses its weight due to the fake CGI of everything. Out of the 6 films, 4 of them were written and directed by Lucas and only one of them (A New Hope) was any good. The overarching storyline of Star Wars is great, but he really should handed someone else the reins more often when it came to scripting and directing.

[Damage Inc.]

Well, I agree, like I said, if you change an original "classic" too much
it won't be what the fans became fan of in the first place.
Still, while it may be self-centered to some extent,
he probably wants to change it so that it would become more like
what he wanted it to become in the first place too.
And he wants to put it out there. It isn't a re-release for nothing either.
If it turns into something that would not have been as successful is a different story.
But he's free to do with his creation as he likes and he's not stopped to release them.
However, we should be informed enough on how it's different.
Cause, yes, depending on what is changed, it could make it a quite different film.
Still, doesn't give us the right to "rip" on this person just because he doesn't release them as they were.
But if you insist on him releasing the films like people got to know them initially, just keep requesting that...
There's no use to going like "You frickin'¡@$!... ". That's all I'm saying.

I would like for the fans to see the originals come up again though.
I'd like to see them too, but I just don't care AS much.


And yeah, I also never really saw him as a film-maker or anything.
I always saw him more as a producer... and a company-founder.
You don't really see like "A George Lucas Film" on a cover, you know.