Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[oly]

I'm ashamed to say that I've never seen a Star Wars movie until 3 days ago lol I bought the BD collection a couple months back and so far they have been pretty cool. I saw IV, V, VI, and I'm halfway through Phantom Menace before I got tired (not because it was boring).

[Rainet]

Are they ever going to lower the retail prices of the complete saga? Urgh...Always $90-$100 everywhere. And that's the sale price.

Like to see it dip to $50-$60. Other sets like Alien and Rocky dipped alot since their releases. Star Wars must still be selling alot.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by NYorker

If someone would add a zit to the Mona Lisa, would it make a difference...?

Only if it was someone other than Da Vinci. Lucas made these choices himself; that's an important difference.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC

There are MUCH better options than those DVD versions.

Like this?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by wormraper

Any boss worth his salt surrounds himself with people who's opinion he trusts. Then ask those people what their opinions are. Those people should agree with him when they agree, and tell him he's a freaking idiot (more tactfully of course) when they think he's doing something wrong. Without checks and balances a good business can crumble from just having a single voice steering the ship.

ILM and Skywalker Sound doing fine. Prequels each gross $300 million plus, successful Clone Wars series, etc. Pissing off some people on the internet doesn't make for a "crumbling business".

and as for no. As long as I have a good reason I tell my boss if he's making a mistake quite often.

And how do you know nobody says no? Lucas may have heard plenty of 'no' but with his money and his decision being final we're not going to be privvy to that. Just because a disgruntled Gary Kurtz says so doesn't make it so (and just how successful has Kurtz been anyway)?

[The Apocalypse]

With regards to George and preservation, he did say (or imply) as much that it was within the director's prerogative to make said changes, not the studios, which I believe is what he was getting at.

[stvn1974]

Originally Posted by EclipseSSD

With regards to George and preservation, he did say (or imply) as much that it was within the director's prerogative to make said changes, not the studios, which I believe is what he was getting at.

But even this makes no sense. Lucas didn't direct Empire or Jedi even though he owns them so he is basically the studio in this regard. If any one has a right to change a film (not that I think they should) it should be the studio since they own it, not the artist.

[The Apocalypse]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

But even this makes no sense. Lucas didn't direct Empire or Jedi even though he owns them so he is basically the studio in this regard. If any one has a right to change a film (not that I think they should) it should be the studio since they own it, not the artist.

Yes, but he did select the directors. I disagree with quite a few of the changes, however, it's clear to me that the status quo will remain indefinitely with regards to the Original Original Trilogy, as I like to call it, that is, not likely to receive a thorough unaltered restorative release for a long time, if at all. For what it's worth, and given the circumstances, I enjoy the films in their current form, which is why I'm more than content with my Blu-ray release.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

But even this makes no sense. Lucas didn't direct Empire or Jedi even though he owns them so he is basically the studio in this regard. If any one has a right to change a film (not that I think they should) it should be the studio since they own it, not the artist.

He was directly involved with those films in every stage of production. He just brought on other directors because he physically couldn't be in several places at the same time and he now had a business to run as well. And in the case of ROTJ, he directly a lot of the film himself because Marquand was not very comfortable with effects and action.

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

Originally Posted by EclipseSSD

With regards to George and preservation, he did say (or imply) as much that it was within the director's prerogative to make said changes, not the studios, which I believe is what he was getting at.

Again, I have no problems with directors screwing up their creations post release, but the originals need to be released with them, with just as much restorative love as the "new" additions.

Films are a time-stamp of the eras they come out of. They are about the culture of their time, the filming methods and limitations, and so on. That's the entire point of restoring film.

Lucas can justify whatever he would like, but he is wrong. I don't care if he is the creator of Star Wars. He is wrong and everyone knows it, even the fanboys.

Want to see proper restorations that respect the original releases?

Jaws and Blade Runner come to mind. Tron is another one. Same with Alien and Aliens. Notice Sir Ridley and Fox put BOTH the original cut of Ailen and its DC on the blu-ray?

Want to see revisionism done right? Watch Star Trek: The Motion Picture DC, where the new FX were only added to complete incomplete shots (and were retrofitted to match the film) and scenes were only tightened up in very tiny ways to make the film hum. NOTHING was done to alter the original feel of the film—its still more or less the exact same movie.

Lucas has zero excuses to hide behind.

[The Apocalypse]

Of course his excuse that they'd be "too expensive" is pure garbage, says the billionaire. I'd like the OOT as well, but until that day, some people are just content with current circumstances. As I've said before, I don't believe the films are altered in such a fundamental way so as to make them completely unrecognisable, so as not to be able to call it Star Wars any longer.

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

Maybe for the upcoming Lawrence of Arabia release we should have some dewbacks added into the background and some CGI F22s strafing the arab camp with lasers instead of biplanes with machine guns because that's what the director always intended.*

Then all copies of the original should be burned and the director to declare that its impossible to go back.

Sounds like a plan.

*

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

But even this makes no sense. Lucas didn't direct Empire or Jedi even though he owns them so he is basically the studio in this regard. If any one has a right to change a film (not that I think they should) it should be the studio since they own it, not the artist.

Kirshner & Marquand were hired by Lucas, and worked for Lucasfilm, not any other company. George even wound up personally overseeing the work on "Empire", and directing segments of "Jedi" uncredited. The films are his babies.

[greg_achen]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Kirshner & Marquand were hired by Lucas, and worked for Lucasfilm, not any other company. George even wound up personally overseeing the work on "Empire", and directing segments of "Jedi" uncredited. The films are his babies.

Seems like kind of a stretch. Empire and Jedi had different directors and different screenplay writers. George Lucas may own them and oversaw the production (as most Producers do), but he hardly qualifies as the "auteur" of those two HIGHLY collaborative films. His meddling with Empire and Jedi goes against the claim he is only meddling with his own work.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by greg_achen

Seems like kind of a stretch. Empire and Jedi had different directors and different screenplay writers. George Lucas may own them and oversaw the production (as most Producers do), but he hardly qualifies as the "auteur" of those two HIGHLY collaborative films. His meddling with Empire and Jedi goes against the claim he is only meddling with his own work.

No disrespect intended, but Kirshner and Marquand were basically glorified assistant directors. Lucas praised Kirshner for his work on "Empire", but in the end, George is the king of all things "Star Wars". He invented it, and he worked his butt off to make sure no one could take it away from him.

[greg_achen]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

No disrespect intended, but Kirshner and Marquand were basically glorified assistant directors. Lucas praised Kirshner for his work on "Empire", but in the end, George is the king of all things "Star Wars". He invented it, and he worked his butt off to make sure no one could take it away from him.

I respect George Lucas, but that is a very simplistic view of how the OT was made. I will give Lucas full auteur credit for the PT, but you can't take away the collaborative effort of many people in the OT that helped make it the classic that it is. Revisionist history does little to help anyone's argument.

[The Apocalypse]

The film cell thing for this release was fine, but er.... how come we didn't get special packaging or a limited editon thing?

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by wormraper

Any boss worth his salt surrounds himself with people who's opinion he trusts. Then ask those people what their opinions are. Those people should agree with him when they agree, and tell him he's a freaking idiot (more tactfully of course) when they think he's doing something wrong. Without checks and balances a good business can crumble from just having a single voice steering the ship.

and as for no. As long as I have a good reason I tell my boss if he's making a mistake quite often.

As far as I could tell from the documentaries, people did suggest a lot of things, but George, ever since he could afford to, has always been adamant about his own sensibilities, and in the end they are his films, his visions.
If you don't like them, then just don't watch them.
It's really that simple.

Originally Posted by mrpink134

No, its because SS cares about his fans and doesn't surround himself with yes men and he cares about his original artwork unlike GL

Right, Steven wants to please everyone. He and George are very different in that respect.

[Howdy]

Originally Posted by greg_achen

I respect George Lucas, but that is a very simplistic view of how the OT was made. I will give Lucas full auteur credit for the PT, but you can't take away the collaborative effort of many people in the OT that helped make it the classic that it is. Revisionist history does little to help anyone's argument.

George Lucas was a huge influence on how ESB and RotJ were made though! I'm paraphrasing here, but in an interview I saw, he did say he ran ESB and RotJ like an executive producer does in the television business. He went on to explain that in TV, the executive producer is the head honcho making all the creative decisions and runs the show, and the director is just there to film the thing and follow the lead basically. He had way more input on those two films than alot of people realize!

[HylianBowcaster]

Originally Posted by EclipseSSD

The film cell thing for this release was fine, but er.... how come we didn't get special packaging or a limited editon thing?

Yeah, I'm more interested in this. I'm just hoping when they release the 3D editions, which I'm guessing will come in trilogy packs after they're released in theaters, they'll do some sort of special edition or exclusive of some sort.