Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I did not forgot that. It's not so much a case of forgotting it as people not knowing what the **** they're talking about.

Lucasfilm owns Star Wars. Fox distribute it for them. LFL says "jump", Fox says "how high". This is nothing new, it's how it's been for several decades and nothing has changed in that respect. Whenever LFL want to release something, Fox do it for them because they're contractually obliged to do so. Fox cannot and will not release anything of their own accord, nor can they 'block' LFL BECAUSE THEY DO NOT OWN THE PROPERTIES THEMSELVES.

I'm using an iPad today, I cut and pasted from this to that ScreenRant forum as it's hard to type on this thing. Just letting you know, Geoff. Hope you're not offended or thought I was stealing your words.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I'm using an iPad today, I cut and pasted from this to that ScreenRant forum as it's hard to type on this thing. Just letting you know, Geoff. Hope you're not offended or thought I was stealing your words.

No worries, I posted a comment myself in much the same vein underneath the SR "article", it'll look like I'm stealing from you or vice versa.

[Ernest Rister]

I posted as The Big Bad Terrier. You gotta watch out for those terriers. Those guys are way too smart.

[MechaGodzilla]

Geoff and Ernest, I don't know why you guys even bother anymore.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I posted as The Big Bad Terrier. You gotta watch out for those terriers. Those guys are way too smart.

Smarter than the average film-review-site-type-person, it seems.

One thing that always gets people's panties in a bunch with this issue is the offhand mention of "Disney" releasing them. Sure, it's ultimately Disney who's highest up the chain because they own Lucasfilm, but that doesn't mean that the latter entity has ceased to exist in a corporate sense. Any existing contracts or covenants between Lucasfilm and their distributors (not just Fox, there's also Warners with seasons 1-5 of the Clone Wars) aren't suddenly null and void just because the company itself has changed hands. Disney could've attempted to buy them all out to end their respective tenures early, but after having dropped $4 billion on acquiring Lucasfilm I think they figured they'd spent quite enough for now. But, crucially, Lucasfilm itself still exists and it controls & directs the SW property on behalf of the Mouse. That's what people just don't seem capable of grasping and it's quite sad, really.

We see this week in, week out with the Marvel movies. They're Disney's by proxy because they own Marvel, true enough, but there's no Disney-related indicia anywhere on the films themselves, not in the movie's opening logos & copyrights nor on their packaging (there's only the very fine print about being distributed by Disney Home Entertainment). Marvel still operates within their own sphere of influence just as Lucasfilm does, not entirely autonomously to be sure (because Fiege and Kennedy still need to bow down at the face of the Iger) but it's telling that Disney have stopped releasing 3D movies on Blu-ray in the US while the Disney-distributed Marvel movies ARE still released in 3D, i.e. Marvel are still making their own business decisions under the aegis of Disney and it's no different for Lucasfilm (hence the upcoming Saga Blu-ray re-releases with no mention of Disney on them whatsoever). So maybe I should stop blaming Disney for the lack of extras on Marvel movies.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

Geoff and Ernest, I don't know why you guys even bother anymore.

I know, I know, it's what the was made for but it's so frustrating. The worst thing is, when the movies get re-released to theaters or on Blu-ray or whatever, all these jackholes will sit there and go "Ah, Disney must've done a deal with Fox then!" instead of realising that a deal already exists between the owners of the SW property (LFL) and the studio which is distributing it for them (Fox).

You'd think that the upcoming Blu-ray re-releases (or "Ep VII cash in" as they're otherwise known) were evidence enough of that but nope, it's just not sinking in. The nutters will think that Fox are doing it to spite Disney, but Fox are releasing it on behalf of Lucasfilm (which is governed by Disney) under the terms of their current agreement.

[Ernest Rister]

It reminds me of the Miramax days....when Miramax released an Oscar-winner like The English Patient or Shakespeare in Love, the headlines were, "Miramax wins Best Picture". When Miramax did something controversial, like Kids or Priest, the press headline was, "Disney to Release Film About Bad Priest". Kevin Smith's Dogma ran head-first into this syndrome, and as soon as he switched distributors, the entire media furor evaporated. No good sensational headlines. The whole controversey was invented.

[seannyd]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Smarter than the average film-review-site-type-person, it seems.

One thing that always gets people's panties in a bunch with this issue is the offhand mention of "Disney" releasing them. Sure, it's ultimately Disney who's highest up the chain because they own Lucasfilm, but that doesn't mean that the latter entity has ceased to exist in a corporate sense. Any existing contracts or covenants between Lucasfilm and their distributors (not just Fox, there's also Warners with seasons 1-5 of the Clone Wars) aren't suddenly null and void just because the company itself has changed hands. Disney could've attempted to buy them all out to end their respective tenures early, but after having dropped $4 billion on acquiring Lucasfilm I think they figured they'd spent quite enough for now. But, crucially, Lucasfilm itself still exists and it controls & directs the SW property on behalf of the Mouse. That's what people just don't seem capable of grasping and it's quite sad, really.

We see this week in, week out with the Marvel movies. They're Disney's by proxy because they own Marvel, true enough, but there's no Disney-related indicia anywhere on the films themselves, not in the movie's opening logos & copyrights nor on their packaging (there's only the very fine print about being distributed by Disney Home Entertainment). Marvel still operates within their own sphere of influence just as Lucasfilm does, not entirely autonomously to be sure (because Fiege and Kennedy still need to bow down at the face of the Iger) but it's telling that Disney have stopped releasing 3D movies on Blu-ray in the US while the Disney-distributed Marvel movies ARE still released in 3D, i.e. Marvel are still making their own business decisions under the aegis of Disney and it's no different for Lucasfilm (hence the upcoming Saga Blu-ray re-releases with no mention of Disney on them whatsoever). So maybe I should stop blaming Disney for the lack of extras on Marvel movies.

The thing about the Extras on Marvel vs. Disney though is that there appears to be a VERY similar correlation between their bonus features. The only seemingly significant difference is that Marvel tends to add a commentary. Other than that, on both there's typically 20 minutes or so of "behind the scenes" fluff and 5-10 or so minutes of deleted scenes. And given that this didn't happen until Disney took the reigns makes me feel like they're guiding that production.

In addition, I wonder if the reason that Marvel still does 3D movies is because their market research shows a higher percentage of Marvel fans are interested in purchasing 3D versions without a need for a DVD-combo whereas standard Disney fare (Maleficent, Frozen, etc.) wouldn't sell enough to justify the printing of those 3D discs for them, but DVD-combos still make sense.

Clearly these are all speculations, but with the massive amounts of data that I imagine Disney has at their disposal, I don't think it's impossible to assume it's the case.

[Freezeup]

Ideally, I'd like the originals with the 1997 versions included as an alternative.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by seannyd

The thing about the Extras on Marvel vs. Disney though is that there appears to be a VERY similar correlation between their bonus features. The only seemingly significant difference is that Marvel tends to add a commentary. Other than that, on both there's typically 20 minutes or so of "behind the scenes" fluff and 5-10 or so minutes of deleted scenes. And given that this didn't happen until Disney took the reigns makes me feel like they're guiding that production.

True, there's definitely something of the powder-puff Disney stuff about it but Marvel were starting to tone down the extras before Disney showed up, and with the loss of the One-Shots owing to the expansion of the brand in general that's another 10-15 minutes of content lost from every disc anyway. At least Marvel are still getting them commentaries through.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Freezeup

Ideally, I'd like the originals with the 1997 versions included as an alternative.

Yes please.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by seannyd

The thing about the Extras on Marvel vs. Disney though is that there appears to be a VERY similar correlation between their bonus features. The only seemingly significant difference is that Marvel tends to add a commentary. Other than that, on both there's typically 20 minutes or so of "behind the scenes" fluff and 5-10 or so minutes of deleted scenes. And given that this didn't happen until Disney took the reigns makes me feel like they're guiding that production.

In addition, I wonder if the reason that Marvel still does 3D movies is because their market research shows a higher percentage of Marvel fans are interested in purchasing 3D versions without a need for a DVD-combo whereas standard Disney fare (Maleficent, Frozen, etc.) wouldn't sell enough to justify the printing of those 3D discs for them, but DVD-combos still make sense.

Clearly these are all speculations, but with the massive amounts of data that I imagine Disney has at their disposal, I don't think it's impossible to assume it's the case.

No idea if this is true, but one my buds said Disney signed an exclusive deal for 3D content for a streaming site, and that's why there's no Frozen, Maleficent, or Big Hero Six stateside, but available everywhere else. Pixar and Marvel are stil releasing 3D discs, and I wouldn't be surprised to see LucasFilm release the 3D versions of the prequels.

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Freezeup

Ideally, I'd like the originals with the 1997 versions included as an alternative.

That could be a nice way of doing things, especially since the '11 "final Lucas versions" are already out there. So those new theatrical/'97 SE sets would complement the existing releases rather than make people sigh in frustration at having to double dip.

Only thing is, the '04 versions would get left out in that case and I think that's a bit of a shame. They were the best middle ground in some ways, improving on some of the worse '97 changes and not yet having the most ridiculous '11 alterations.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

No idea if this is true, but one my buds said Disney signed an exclusive deal for 3D content for a streaming site, and that's why there's no Frozen, Maleficent, or Big Hero Six stateside, but available everywhere else. Pixar and Marvel are stil releasing 3D discs, and I wouldn't be surprised to see LucasFilm release the 3D versions of the prequels.

I've heard that said also, but their 3D movies are apparently available on multiple streaming sites Stateside so if it's exclusive it's not aligned to one party in general.

I'm more inclined to go with the theory that they were sick of people splitting up combo packs and selling the 3D disc off, which is why they then experimented with releasing Maleficent 3D on its own, only the lack of on-disc extras (common to most 3D discs) pissed people right off. So Disney threw their toys out of the pram and took future 3D releases to OTT services where they could guarantee that they wouldn't lose out on 3D 'after market' sales.

But clearly Pixar and Marvel have no such compunctions and, as you say, I doubt LFL will either and so there will be a 3D Blu-ray of Ep VII.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

That could be a nice way of doing things, especially since the '11 "final Lucas versions" are already out there. So those new theatrical/'97 SE sets would complement the existing releases rather than make people sigh in frustration at having to double dip.

Only thing is, the '04 versions would get left out in that case and I think that's a bit of a shame. They were the best middle ground in some ways, improving on some of the worse '97 changes and not yet having the most ridiculous '11 alterations.

I really like the '04 Jabba but pretty much everything else they brought to the table I could live without, like the McDiarmid Emperor and HaydenGhost. The '04 sound mix for Star Wars with the missing cues and flopped music in the rears was fubar as well, I'd hope they wouldn't port that over!

Speaking of which, it'd be nice to get new mixes of Empire and Jedi that don't sound as ridiculously overcooked as the '04/'11 mixes do.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I really like the '04 Jabba but pretty much everything else they brought to the table I could live without, like the McDiarmid Emperor and HaydenGhost. The '04 sound mix for Star Wars with the missing cues and flopped music in the rears was fubar as well, I'd hope they wouldn't port that over!

Speaking of which, it'd be nice to get new mixes of Empire and Jedi that don't sound as ridiculously overcooked as the '04/'11 mixes do.

Remember when LucasFilm said the flopped rear surrounds on the '04 DVDs were an intentional choice?

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I really like the '04 Jabba but pretty much everything else they brought to the table I could live without, like the McDiarmid Emperor and HaydenGhost. The '04 sound mix for Star Wars with the missing cues and flopped music in the rears was fubar as well, I'd hope they wouldn't port that over!

Speaking of which, it'd be nice to get new mixes of Empire and Jedi that don't sound as ridiculously overcooked as the '04/'11 mixes do.

The Jabba is an improvement, Obi-Wan's "krayt dragon call" is the most believable and subtle one of the three, I like McDiarmid in Empire, I like that Luke's scream was removed, I like that Naboo was added to the victory celebration montage, etc. The '11 versions retain many of the '04 changes, but also add some dumb new ones, especially in Jedi.

You're right about the messed up sound mix, but then, they could just use the '11 mix for the '04 version as well on that hypothetical BD release.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Remember when LucasFilm said the flopped rear surrounds on the '04 DVDs were an intentional choice?

Yeah, complete with that "Well done for spotting it!" kinda tone. Apparently it was an intentional choice, in so far as it was a completely bone-headed one. IIRC Matthew Wood said that the music stems lacked surround information so they had to bleed it into the rears and flop it to create a kind of false reverb effect.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yeah, complete with that "Well done for spotting it!" kinda tone. Apparently it was an intentional choice, in so far as it was a completely bone-headed one. IIRC Matthew Wood said that the music stems lacked surround information so they had to bleed it into the rears and flop it to create a kind of false reverb effect.

He said that?

[Alfred E. Neumann]

I pray for the original theatrical openings (+ foreign [Krieg der Sterne in german for example]) + 5.1 and 2.0 stereo DTS-HD MA of the original mixes + 1.0 mono mix.
A 4k remaster with finally correct color timing (orange-pinkish skin colors like the Indiana Jones films of the same era instead of pink-violet, no awful Special Edition "color correction" & black crush).
No frozen grain, digital "DNR" smoothing or fake grain!
Finally correct lightsabers, or at least the original colors, no purple and pink hue for Vader's lightsaber.