Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[tskwerl]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Okay so after not liking Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back my wife reluctantly watched Return of the Jedi tonight to be caught up for the new movie and... she liked it a lot. She teared up when Anakin's ghost appeared (even though she never saw the prequels). She said "I guess I'm a Star Wars fan now."

Explain that one.

One of us! One of us!

It's interesting how adamant some people can be about not wanting to watch a science fiction film or a Star Wars film, but if they open their minds just for a little bit, can end up enjoying themselves. Good on her.

[Falaskan]

That's why I've always liked ROTJ. Besides Ian McDiamond, the movie pulls the biggest emotional punch of the trilogy

[oldgame]

Just watched the trilogy on laserdisc. The originals not the thx discs. It was great to hear the stereo tracks, and see artifacs. It was like watching film again.

[Geoff D]

I loves them PCM tracks on the THX laserdiscs. Loveliness.

[Jonkai]

So a few questions: 1. Does the new Complete Saga set include either digital copy or DVDs? 2. Is there a difference between the complete saga and the two trilogy sets? 3. Do the two trilogy sets still come with DVDs or digital copies?

[jdw89]

Originally Posted by Jonkai

So a few questions: 1. Does the new Complete Saga set include either digital copy or DVDs? 2. Is there a difference between the complete saga and the two trilogy sets? 3. Do the two trilogy sets still come with DVDs or digital copies?

1. No, and no
2. The difference are the 3 bonus disc's that are only found in the complete saga
3. The trilogy sets come with DVDs, no digital copies though.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by JimSmith

If only the original trilogy was released unaltered on Blu-ray then there wouldn't be a need for anything "illegal" as far as these films are concerned! Lots of activities are illegal and that just shows that some laws are just downright stupid!!

While copyright and especially patent laws certainly need revising for the modern age, I'd like to know what bothers you about the concept that an artist or content owner has the exclusive rights to a work and no one else has the rights to that work within the term of the copyright.

One can fault Congress for constantly extending the copyright term (largely at the urging of Disney, by the way, who used the incredible rationale that if Mickey Mouse went into the public domain, people could make pornographic cartoons with Mickey Mouse with the implication that children would see them), but the fact remains that if I create something and copyright it, you don't have the right to do anything with it other than to purchase or rent it for non-commercial viewing with the exception of some limited uses for educational fair use, criticism and satire. And that's as it should be. Just because you want something that the artist/owner isn't giving you doesn't give you the right to steal the work. Grow up.

[Alan_Grant]

I really wish the UOT would be released. As of now, I don't own a single one of these films. I'd love too though.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Kaiju

I would agree with you, but unfortunately, you're wrong.

Vader shouting "NOOOOOO!!!" as he chucks Emperor Palpy completely ruins the scene for me.

Only because you know it wasn't there originally. But if you didn't know that, it wouldn't bother you at all or at least no more than any other of the many instances of trite dialogue in these films. And I'm going to contend that most of the complaints either come from people who never saw the originals or who did see them, but couldn't possibly remember anything but the major changes (although the "NOOOOOO" would be one of them).

Somewhere on the web is this frame-by-frame analysis of the changes, and (without going back and counting), probably 80% were to fix garbage mattes and multi-generation dissolves, 15% were to add objects such as additional fighters, lifeforms and buildings to scenes and only 5% were the stupid changes that he shouldn't have made, but I really think people overreact to, even though some of the criticisms are valid (like showing Hayden Christensen at the end of ROTJ, which would have only made sense if Luke had known what he looked like).

Furthermore, even though fanboys are clamoring for the unaltered originals, my prediction is that if they were released by themselves, they would not sell that well, because the general public really doesn't give a crap either way and those who have bought on BD are not going to double-dip for the OT again. Giving those versions to the streaming services might generate some extra revenue as some people who had never seen the OT in its unaltered form might be curious enough to pay $6 to see what the fuss is about, but getting consumers to lay down another $60 to get the trilogy again - I don't see anyone but the fanboys doing that.

Once people did view the UOT again, I predict a lot of "that's what all the fuss was about?" along with a bunch of "I like the special editions better". They'll certainly be some people who will be excited and claim the unaltered editions are superior, but most of those people have decided that in advance.

And let's not forget that especially with Episode IV, there were three different audio versions of that film: the 70mm 6-track mix, the 35mm Dolby Optical 4-track mix and the 35mm mono mix. It's not just a matter that some sounds got buried or were more distinctive in the different mixes, there were actually slight dialog and SFX changes. Some sources claim Lucas thought the mono mix was the "real" mix. I, for one, see the 70mm 6-track mix as "canon" as that's how the film was released in the most important theaters. But if they were to release a new BD in mono or in stereo but with mono surround, as the 70mm was, the same fans who only want the film unaltered would freak out. So there's also a bit of hypocrisy.

The reaction would be similar to what's happening now with VII. There are certainly people who love the new film but there's also some backlash as I've been predicting for a long time: people claiming that Lucas would have handled the story better and that the new story is just a

[Show spoiler]rehash of Episode IV and that J.J. is a hack.

So in spite of the apparent incredible success of the new film, we might see Lucas looked upon favorably again for a time.

[stvn1974]

Originally Posted by oldgame

Just watched the trilogy on laserdisc. The originals not the thx discs. It was great to hear the stereo tracks, and see artifacs. It was like watching film again.

I watched the OT so many times as a kid on VHS and in 4:3 that I decided to put them on the other day. Took me back but I am glad to have the DS versions as my go to now.

I love how defensive some people get when other point out how much they hate the changes made to the films. It has already started with The Force Awakens, those same prequel/Lucas lovers are giving it 1 out of 5 and probably had their negative reviews written before the movie started.

[Mavrick]

Wasn't the NOOOOOOOO added to Jedi because every other film has a "NOOOOOOOOO" except for Jedi? Guess they wanted some consistency.

[Geoff D]

The 'NOOOOoooOOOOOOooowwww' was added to ROTJ because Lucas is a pillock.

[stvn1974]

I am convinced that Lucas knew how much people hated the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in Sith and decided to add it to Jedi as a last middle finger to fans.

[Falaskan]

The first short no I actually like, but was unneeded. The second was bad but not the worst change to the OT. Adding Hayden as a force ghost is the one change I will never be able to adapt to, personally.

[stvn1974]

"No, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" ruined Jedi.

Hayden at the end ruined the entire saga.


I can't watch the current Lucas version of Star Wars, the prequels are crimes against cinema and the changes to the original trilogy makes me not want to watch them. For me it is going to be the UOT and the new films. Hopefully we don't get anything that links to the prequels that can't be ignored.

[crissrudd4554]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

Only because you know it wasn't there originally. But if you didn't know that, it wouldn't bother you at all or at least no more than any other of the many instances of trite dialogue in these films. And I'm going to contend that most of the complaints either come from people who never saw the originals or who did see them, but couldn't possibly remember anything but the major changes (although the "NOOOOOO" would be one of them).

Somewhere on the web is this frame-by-frame analysis of the changes, and (without going back and counting), probably 80% were to fix garbage mattes and multi-generation dissolves, 15% were to add objects such as additional fighters, lifeforms and buildings to scenes and only 5% were the stupid changes that he shouldn't have made, but I really think people overreact to, even though some of the criticisms are valid (like showing Hayden Christensen at the end of ROTJ, which would have only made sense if Luke had known what he looked like).

Furthermore, even though fanboys are clamoring for the unaltered originals, my prediction is that if they were released by themselves, they would not sell that well, because the general public really doesn't give a crap either way and those who have bought on BD are not going to double-dip for the OT again. Giving those versions to the streaming services might generate some extra revenue as some people who had never seen the OT in its unaltered form might be curious enough to pay $6 to see what the fuss is about, but getting consumers to lay down another $60 to get the trilogy again - I don't see anyone but the fanboys doing that.

Once people did view the UOT again, I predict a lot of "that's what all the fuss was about?" along with a bunch of "I like the special editions better". They'll certainly be some people who will be excited and claim the unaltered editions are superior, but most of those people have decided that in advance.

And let's not forget that especially with Episode IV, there were three different audio versions of that film: the 70mm 6-track mix, the 35mm Dolby Optical 4-track mix and the 35mm mono mix. It's not just a matter that some sounds got buried or were more distinctive in the different mixes, there were actually slight dialog and SFX changes. Some sources claim Lucas thought the mono mix was the "real" mix. I, for one, see the 70mm 6-track mix as "canon" as that's how the film was released in the most important theaters. But if they were to release a new BD in mono or in stereo but with mono surround, as the 70mm was, the same fans who only want the film unaltered would freak out. So there's also a bit of hypocrisy.

The reaction would be similar to what's happening now with VII. There are certainly people who love the new film but there's also some backlash as I've been predicting for a long time: people claiming that Lucas would have handled the story better and that the new story is just a

[Show spoiler]rehash of Episode IV and that J.J. is a hack.

So in spite of the apparent incredible success of the new film, we might see Lucas looked upon favorably again for a time.

Just release the two together and there is no issue. If the originals were remastered and released theyd sell like hot cakes. The only ones who wouldnt is fans a) who dont like the originals b) dont wanna buy the Special Editions again c) all the above. You obviously fall into those categories. People can like the Special Editions but theres a very large fanbase who loves the originals and would most likely buy the SE's again if the originals were included. The only reason the 2006 DVDs flopped, if i can say that, is because fans knew in advance that no effort was made to remaster the films. We were given cheap 4:3 Laserdiscs tranfers which was nothing new to fans who either had those Laserdiscs or cheap DVD-R'd versions of the Laserdiscs. But there is still a market for them and there always will be. Sites like originaltrilogy.com probably wouldnt exist if there wasnt such a huge demand for the old cuts. And as far as new fans not liking the new prints, well theyre the same people who will dislike black and white films simply cause its black and white or say the shark in Jaws looks fake. Everyone is critical to a degree of old stuff but the reality is the SE's of SW are not representational of the era they were created. If u dont like it dont watch it but have respesct or those who will watch it.

[Falaskan]

They'll maximize sales by releasing the UOT once on its own, once with the SE, once with the PT, once with both the PT and SE, once with the ST, and at least once as part of the entire saga collection. Disney isn't dumb lol

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

Only because you know it wasn't there originally. But if you didn't know that, it wouldn't bother you at all or at least no more than any other of the many instances of trite dialogue in these films. And I'm going to contend that most of the complaints either come from people who never saw the originals or who did see them, but couldn't possibly remember anything but the major changes (although the "NOOOOOO" would be one of them).

Somewhere on the web is this frame-by-frame analysis of the changes, and (without going back and counting), probably 80% were to fix garbage mattes and multi-generation dissolves, 15% were to add objects such as additional fighters, lifeforms and buildings to scenes and only 5% were the stupid changes that he shouldn't have made, but I really think people overreact to, even though some of the criticisms are valid (like showing Hayden Christensen at the end of ROTJ, which would have only made sense if Luke had known what he looked like).

Furthermore, even though fanboys are clamoring for the unaltered originals, my prediction is that if they were released by themselves, they would not sell that well, because the general public really doesn't give a crap either way and those who have bought on BD are not going to double-dip for the OT again. Giving those versions to the streaming services might generate some extra revenue as some people who had never seen the OT in its unaltered form might be curious enough to pay $6 to see what the fuss is about, but getting consumers to lay down another $60 to get the trilogy again - I don't see anyone but the fanboys doing that.

Once people did view the UOT again, I predict a lot of "that's what all the fuss was about?" along with a bunch of "I like the special editions better". They'll certainly be some people who will be excited and claim the unaltered editions are superior, but most of those people have decided that in advance.

And let's not forget that especially with Episode IV, there were three different audio versions of that film: the 70mm 6-track mix, the 35mm Dolby Optical 4-track mix and the 35mm mono mix. It's not just a matter that some sounds got buried or were more distinctive in the different mixes, there were actually slight dialog and SFX changes. Some sources claim Lucas thought the mono mix was the "real" mix. I, for one, see the 70mm 6-track mix as "canon" as that's how the film was released in the most important theaters. But if they were to release a new BD in mono or in stereo but with mono surround, as the 70mm was, the same fans who only want the film unaltered would freak out. So there's also a bit of hypocrisy.

The reaction would be similar to what's happening now with VII. There are certainly people who love the new film but there's also some backlash as I've been predicting for a long time: people claiming that Lucas would have handled the story better and that the new story is just a

[Show spoiler]rehash of Episode IV and that J.J. is a hack.

So in spite of the apparent incredible success of the new film, we might see Lucas looked upon favorably again for a time.

Excellent post! I agree 100%

I can save you some time: some people will find fault in anything.

[stvn1974]

People would have hated the "No, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" if it was originally in Jedi just as much as they do the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in Sith. But keep on telling yourself differently.

[StingingVelvet]

The idea that no one would really care if the OT theatricals were released with a new 4k scan is so laughable. I know some people love posting stuff like "shut up complainers!" in every thread, but when you act like the holy grail of the biggest franchise on the planet wouldn't sell enough to bother with, you make yourself look so silly.