Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Gold Ranger]

Going forward and looking at the much bigger picture, there are more dubious rumors to consider, like Disney potentially phasing out the prequel trilogy by lumping them in with the “Legends” non-canon fodder.

This is where I call BS on this. This is just some random person online that also hates the Prequels because they see the Originals as Flawless, when they very clearly are not.
There is no way that Disney will exclude the Prequels from the Canon. They made a tonne of money and brought in thousands, if not millions of new fans into the Star Wars fanbase.

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

While it may be that the prequels were critical disappointments, the worldwide B/O cume came to $2.5 billion dollars, and even the 3D re-release of Phantom Menace took a handy $43 million so they'd be mad to ex-communicate that IP, not least because of how Clone Wars ties in to it. I know that series is officially over, but it caught the imagination of a new set of young SW fans (my nephew loves it) and with a new animated series designed to bridge the gap between III and IV, the smart move (re: regular civilians, not us nerds on message boards) would be to integrate the prequels ever closer with the saga and the new movies, not to leave them out in the cold.

You have a good point here. For a lot of people now, Episodes 4-6 are not the Star Wars films, the prequels are as those are what they saw in theatres. Those are the freshest things to them. However as I said before, I liked the fact that 1-3 had a very different look than 4-6 as it showed change in the universe and I am hoping 7-9 have a different look yet again with just echos of the other movies. I don't know what you could integrate from the prequels considering that in the Star Wars timeline, they are a good 50 years in the past. You might see the odd old ship but that is like trying to use 1950's stuff in a modern movie - it would seem out of place. Look at the original trilogy - aside from the clone wars mentions in A New Hope and obviously Vader's history, there wasn't much talk about what happened before.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I've gotta take that stuff about them shelving the prequels with a huge rock of salt. Yeah, they were quick to pull the trigger on Clone Wars, but in the words of starwars.com: "[Lucas] set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align". It'd be ironic if Disney/LFL then went back on that, because it'd be an ever bigger about-face than what Lucas EVER came up with him during his time at the helm.

While it may be that the prequels were critical disappointments, the worldwide B/O cume came to $2.5 billion dollars, and even the 3D re-release of Phantom Menace took a handy $43 million so they'd be mad to ex-communicate that IP, not least because of how Clone Wars ties in to it. I know that series is officially over, but it caught the imagination of a new set of young SW fans (my nephew loves it) and with a new animated series designed to bridge the gap between III and IV, the smart move (re: regular civilians, not us nerds on message boards) would be to integrate the prequels ever closer with the saga and the new movies, not to leave them out in the cold.

Except Disney did just say that the only True Star Wars Canon are ONLY the 6 films.

They disregard not only the huge EU, but also the 2 Clone Wars shows and the soon-to-air Rebels.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Except Disney did just say that the only True Star Wars Canon are ONLY the 6 films.

They disregard not only the huge EU, but also the 2 Clone Wars shows and the soon-to-air Rebels.

The Clone Wars series is canon.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Except Disney did just say that the only True Star Wars Canon are ONLY the 6 films.

They disregard not only the huge EU, but also the 2 Clone Wars shows and the soon-to-air Rebels.

One more time: "[Lucas] set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align".

[rexcrk]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

I think a digital copy has value, but the loss of the physical medium changes that value. To me the value is in a combination of the content, carrying medium, and package. For one thing, if the package made no difference, then things like steelbooks and slipcovers wouldn't be such a big deal to so many people. And physical media can be resold, traded, etc. Granted in many cases it may go on to not hold more than a couple/few dollars in value, though in some cases when things go out of print, the value can go up depending on the supply and demand.

Additionally with digital copies, especially when it comes to streaming and/or trying to redownload something, we are at the mercy of the service provider and the content owner continuing to make that content available. If the content owner decides to pull the content from the service provider, you can't restream it, and if the device you originally downloaded something to gets damaged, you can't redownload it, and you are effectively SOL.

By contrast, if movie goes out of print, your existing discs will still work fine and continue to do so as long as they aren't lost, stolen, or damanged. And if one of those things does happen to your disc(s), you can buy another copy. Even if it's out of print, you can look for second-hand copies. How much you pay and how easy it is to get will very much depend on supply and demand, but at least the option exists. Granted, this comes with an additional cost that (when the content is still available) redownloading/streaming does not, but if you are properly insured, you should be protected and will have funds in the event of theft or major disaster. If a one-off movie just happens to get scratched or something, it's just one item that needs to be replaced.

For this reason, I still buy my movies and TV shows on Blu-Ray and (when BD isn't available) DVD whenever possible. I don't care if the digital version comes out a month earlier, I'll wait for the disc.

So there is value to me there. And while the content is very much important, the medium (and lack of restrictions of said medium) adds a significant value to me.

This is pretty much 100% how I feel, and why physical media will always be better than digital in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, digital media is super convenient (especially when it comes to music. Having one single device with thousands of songs is so much easier than lugging around CDs) but as you said, if the service provider stops making something available, and what I have anything digital on breaks, I'm screwed.

I always use this example, but I think it's a very valid one. For a long time Netflix had Nicktoons on it including Rugrats. For whatever reason, they took the first three seasons (the only seasons worth watching IMO) off of their streaming service and left everything afterward. This wouldn't bother me if they were available on DVD, but the entire second half of the second season is missing from Amazon's exclusive DVDs. That's so not ok. I could understand them doing that if Nickelodeon/Viacom/Paramount/whoever pressured them to do it to push DVD sales... except they aren't available. Hell, I'd even purchase them digitally from Amazon or iTunes if I could make my own DVDs from them, but as far as I know, I can't. I don't trust my computer to last forever (obviously) so if there was a way to protect that investment, I'd be much more comfortable doing it that way.

With music, though, it's not such a problem, because you can *easily* make backup copies of music on your own discs. This is why I'm so against the idea of DLC for video games. I mean, yeah, extra stuff is cool, but I don't like the idea of game companies releasing "unfinished" games, and then putting out extra content later that we have to pay for. I wouldn't be completely against on-disc extra content however... it just seems more "permanent".

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

The Clone Wars series is canon.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

One more time: "[Lucas] set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align".

Yes, I know. According to Lucas.
Disney just released something, 2 weeks ago, maybe, that says only the 6 movies are canon. I'll look for it in a bit.

It doesn't surprize me though, seeing how Disney canned Arndt almost right away and got JJ to rewrite the whole script.
The story for the next few movies was planned out by George himself with help from Arndt. The way it seems is that Disney and JJ are just ignoring all of it and doing what they want. Kennedy has been very quiet for months now which leads me to suspect that she is being told to not say anything or she will be demoted or fired. She was very vocal when the rumours about a Christmas Delay for Episode 7 were starting to appear and now we hear exactly nothing from her.

[Petey Parker]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I always ask people who think its no big deal to illegally download if they think it would be okay if I came over to their house and stole some of their stuff.

Hell yes I would care because you've come in and taken a physical object thus I have lost that item and will never have it back (unless I re-purchase it) Kind of hard to prove an actual loss has been garnered in the case of a download (unless you use the absurd logic that one download = one lost sale)

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Yes, I know. According to Lucas.
Disney just released something, 2 weeks ago, maybe, that says only the 6 movies are canon. I'll look for it in a bit.

Good luck with that. Maybe you can find those altered '00 editions while you're at it.

Two weeks ago, maybe? Heh. Guess when that EU press release I quoted came out? April 25th. On the starwars.com website which is owned by LFL which is owned by Disney.

[Petey Parker]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

This is where I call BS on this. This is just some random person online that also hates the Prequels because they see the Originals as Flawless, when they very clearly are not.
There is no way that Disney will exclude the Prequels from the Canon. They made a tonne of money and brought in thousands, if not millions of new fans into the Star Wars fanbase.

Bleeding Cool is notorious for posting false rumors in order to get hits on their site. This portion alone definitely shows that it is BS. An unaltered Blu Ray release of the OT is easily believable. Completely ignoring the PT forever? I highly doubt it (and I'm someone who doesn't like the PT)

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

This is where I call BS on this. This is just some random person online that also hates the Prequels because they see the Originals as Flawless, when they very clearly are not.
There is no way that Disney will exclude the Prequels from the Canon. They made a tonne of money and brought in thousands, if not millions of new fans into the Star Wars fanbase.

As he said "dubious" rumor, I'm guessing he agrees with you - which is why he said "dubious" regarding the PT actually becoming "Legacy" and separated it from the rest of the post.

Everything else, goes along with everything I have heard and/or assumed based on things I have heard from varying corners. Particularly in merchandising - the Prequels aren't being relegated to the EU, but the focus is going to intensely shift from them. And that includes the Clone Wars TV show.

Although creatively I don't mind at all as by far I prefer the OT, and while Clone Wars was neat the episodes I saw, I can't say I was a huge fan (just nothing that caught me really - I've always intended to catch up and I'm sure I will between now and Episode VII), I think this was a purely financial move on Disney's part. They looked at the OK ratings for the Clone Wars (yes, it did very well for an original animated show, but not Star Wars well), and the tanking of the merchandise (so much clearanced out) of Episode I-III stuff that was planned around the aborted 3-D versions and the also "OK" sales of Clone Wars stuff, and were like "We can do better".

As to the OT on Blu-ray, been saying all along - yup, I fully expect it before Episode VII. It fits perfectly into their whole "nostalgia" plan for VII - they are very heavily promoting it already as a "return" to the OT - the actors, the filming style, the production style, etc. And, let's not forget - all the principle players are in a studio right now filming for VII - who wants to bet there are a few days scheduled in there for "first time ever" interviews/commentaries/etc.

It's funny when I see folks say things like "oh not enough people want this, it's just a percentage of fan boys" etc. - I think they forget the big picture. I have some folks I am friendly with from the toy side of things, folks who deal directly with the manufacturers, and I have to keep reminding them of this, too - for so long, we've seen the average Star Wars fan as a niche - a huge slice of the "geek" pie, so to speak but still a niche in the overall pop culture landscape - and because it's been so long, I don't think folks are realizing that Disney fully intends to make 1977 happen all over again - or at least, 1980-1983.

I mean, I have middle-aged women in my office asking me about the latest news - how much weight has Carrie Fisher lost, is Billy Dee coming back, are they really all together again? - etc. About a movie not coming out for more than a year and a half yet. Star Wars is going mainstream, again - and with the power of Disney behind it, no less. They are going to sell the original versions of the OT to folks who don't even know they want it yet. It's brilliant.

So, I can totally see Disney putting out a box set of the OT, unaltered - plus a crap ton of extras that actually would help sell units among those who grew up and maybe away from Star Wars (new interviews with the cast would be a huge seller, it just hasn't been done before). And, this is absolute speculation, as a lot of what turn out to be the more valid rumors end up being translated from other languages or come from folks who don't know the ins and outs of Star Wars (the guy who works in the factory that makes something, for example). I wouldn't be surprised if the confusion about the "Legacy" thing with the PT (which I agree would never happen) was actually about them doing the set without the PT - as in, just a box set of the originals. Again, absolutely no basis for that thought other than it seems plausible and wouldn't be hard to misinterpret along the way somehow.

In any case, what I'm excited about most is even if it doesn't turn out to be true, you know that right now they are filming tons of what will be great extras, even if they are Episode VII focused, with all the cast there. That makes me giddy. Hours of animatics and watching computers run is what passes for extras these days, I'm much more interested in Carrie Fisher's quips and Harrisons grumpy old man disdain.

[HeavyHitter]

What does "canon" mean here?

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

As to the OT on Blu-ray, been saying all along - yup, I fully expect it before Episode VII. It fits perfectly into their whole "nostalgia" plan for VII - they are very heavily promoting it already as a "return" to the OT - the actors, the filming style, the production style, etc. And, let's not forget - all the principle players are in a studio right now filming for VII - who wants to bet there are a few days scheduled in there for "first time ever" interviews/commentaries/etc.

It's funny when I see folks say things like "oh not enough people want this, it's just a percentage of fan boys" etc. - I think they forget the big picture. I have some folks I am friendly with from the toy side of things, folks who deal directly with the manufacturers, and I have to keep reminding them of this, too - for so long, we've seen the average Star Wars fan as a niche - a huge slice of the "geek" pie, so to speak but still a niche in the overall pop culture landscape - and because it's been so long, I don't think folks are realizing that Disney fully intends to make 1977 happen all over again - or at least, 1980-1983.

I mean, I have middle-aged women in my office asking me about the latest news - how much weight has Carrie Fisher lost, is Billy Dee coming back, are they really all together again? - etc. About a movie not coming out for more than a year and a half yet. Star Wars is going mainstream, again - and with the power of Disney behind it, no less. They are going to sell the original versions of the OT to folks who don't even know they want it yet. It's brilliant.

So, I can totally see Disney putting out a box set of the OT, unaltered - plus a crap ton of extras that actually would help sell units among those who grew up and maybe away from Star Wars (new interviews with the cast would be a huge seller, it just hasn't been done before). And, this is absolute speculation, as a lot of what turn out to be the more valid rumors end up being translated from other languages or come from folks who don't know the ins and outs of Star Wars (the guy who works in the factory that makes something, for example). I wouldn't be surprised if the confusion about the "Legacy" thing with the PT (which I agree would never happen) was actually about them doing the set without the PT - as in, just a box set of the originals. Again, absolutely no basis for that thought other than it seems plausible and wouldn't be hard to misinterpret along the way somehow.

Good points and given Disney's vast experience in restoring movies, I have confidence they would handle Star Wars restorations in the state-of-the-art manner unlike the previous parties.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

What does "canon" mean here?

Canon pretty much means the officially sanctioned plot/story. All of the movies, for instance, are considered part of the canon.

And in this case, what Disney/Lucasflim is saying is that past novels, comic books, and so forth.... most everything that makes up what is known as the Star Wars "expanded universe," are not considered canon. Meaning that those events don't necessarily take place in the official story line. While those EU stories may have been intended by their respective authors/creators to continue and/or compliment some aspect of the official Star Wars canon that already existed at the time of their creation (i.e. the OT for most any expanded universe content that came out before the prequels were made), they may not necessarily hold up as true if a new film or other piece of official canon comes out that contradicts them.

As of now the only things considered canon are the 6 movies, the Clone Wars series, and the upcoming Rebels series, as I understand the case to be.

[Riddler95]

Has anybody else seen this?

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/...-wars-we-want/

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

Has anybody else seen this?

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/...-wars-we-want/

Very good summary of the challenges. However I think they exaggerate the issue with Fox. Studios work together to create collection sets all the time, and there is so much money to be made from a gift set with both versions of each film released around Episode VII's theatrical debut. They will likely work together to make that happen, if you ask me.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Very good summary of the challenges. However I think they exaggerate the issue with Fox. Studios work together to create collection sets all the time, and there is so much money to be made from a gift set with both versions of each film released around Episode VII's theatrical debut. They will likely work together to make that happen, if you ask me.

Agreed. A distribution deal is worthless unless there's something to, you know, distribute.

Fox isn't going to just roll over and do whatever Disney wants but blocking releases isn't in their interest either.

[Thomas Guycott]

If Fox can work together with Warner Bros on Batman I think they could amicably negotiate something with Disney on Star Wars.

[stvn1974]

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

If Fox can work together with Warner Bros on Batman I think they could amicably negotiate something with Disney on Star Wars.

Sure, it only took 50 years but it is doable.

[Gold Ranger]

I went back and looked for the article, and the interview that I read earlier has been updated.
It was over at ScreenRant.
They added some new Quote Boxes.