Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Jakdonark]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

I would rather watch a VHS dub with Han shooting Greedo and no "No,NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" than a 4K scan of the Special Editions.

[shinobipopcorn]

Aww yeah, look at those vintage scan lines. Though a Panny was never seen around this house, we could only ever afford RCAs or the busted old Sharps that you had to heat up for 5 minutes before changing the channel (otherwise the picture would scroll).

[B72]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by Jakdonark

I love it.
I hope it has commercials too.
Maybe some Time-Life?

[Jakdonark]

Originally Posted by B72

[Show spoiler]

I love it.
I hope it has commercials too.
Maybe some Time-Life?

No commercials, recorded off the Disney Channel during a free preview week in Spring of 1990. Surprisingly the tape has held up rather well!

[Jakdonark]

How's this for a line up?

[Rodney-2187]

I dialed 1-800-445-7000. It rang and rang with no answer.

[shinobipopcorn]

Originally Posted by Jakdonark

How's this for a line up?

Old style counters...

(well, old to me...)

[Mefan101]

Originally Posted by Jakdonark

How's this for a line up?

This takes me back. I remember having lots of these kind of tapes as a kid.

I had the OT of the Official VHS tapes.

Most of the recorded tapes I had were for TV Specials, and movies we didn't have, like a few of the first 6 Star Trek films.

[Ben Reilly]

Originally Posted by rodneyfaile

I dialed 1-800-445-7000. It rang and rang with no answer.

Nice!

[Michael24]

Flashback! Love those VHS pictures. I still have our VHS recording of From Star Wars to Jedi from the night it first premiered on PBS in 1983. Haven't been able to watch it in about ten years since I no longer have a VCR. But the last time I did it had help up surprisingly well, especially considering how much I watched it as a kid. That was my first real taste of seeing how movies were made, so I found it fascinating and would watch it over and over, probably just as much as the actual movies.

Originally Posted by shinobipopcorn

Old style counters...

(well, old to me...)

I remember those old school counters, too.

[bobbyh64]

Someone explain these "counters" on the VHS tapes please.

[Jakdonark]

Originally Posted by Mefan101

This takes me back. I remember having lots of these kind of tapes as a kid.

I had the OT of the Official VHS tapes.

Most of the recorded tapes I had were for TV Specials, and movies we didn't have, like a few of the first 6 Star Trek films.

I always taped off tv because it was basically free, but around 93 my best friend who was also a huge Star Wars fan had just bought Return of the Jedi and took it over to a friend's house to watch it with his boom box hooked up. Man, that bass! And watching the graphic equalizer going up and down! Anyways, Oola starts fighting with Jabba then he drops her in the Rancor pit. Woah! This wasn't on the TV version! I hadn't seen it in theatres since 85 (saw it in 83 also), so I had forgotten about that scene. Then later there is a shootout with Leia and two scout troopers which was edited from the TV version. After that, I was all about buying the tapes. Then the laserdiscs. And so on.

I still taped a few things after that, like the makings of Star Wars, Empire, and Rotj (classic creatures) and the letterbox versions off the sci fi channel. Again another revelation when I saw Snaggletooth for the first time! And little known fact, the early pan and scam (not an auto correct) versions were formatted differently than the 95 THX versions, but I'm pretty sure Snaggletooth still didn't show up in either version.

[Michael24]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

Someone explain these "counters" on the VHS tapes please.

Early VCRs had simple analog counters like these:



So if you reset the counter to 0000 and started a tape from the very beginning, you'd know about how far to fast-forward to find any programs you had recorded on the tape if you'd marked down the number at which they started. Some of these VCRs even had "remote" controls that were attached with a cable to pause/unpause the tape.

Coincidentally, the VCR in that picture is the exact same one (Panasonic PV-1265) as our family's first in the early-80s. That thing was a beast and lasted well into the mid-90s.

[Mefan101]

Originally Posted by Jakdonark

I always taped off tv because it was basically free, but around 93 my best friend who was also a huge Star Wars fan had just bought Return of the Jedi and took it over to a friend's house to watch it with his boom box hooked up. Man, that bass! And watching the graphic equalizer going up and down! Anyways, Oola starts fighting with Jabba then he drops her in the Rancor pit. Woah! This wasn't on the TV version! I hadn't seen it in theatres since 85 (saw it in 83 also), so I had forgotten about that scene. Then later there is a shootout with Leia and two scout troopers which was edited from the TV version. After that, I was all about buying the tapes. Then the laserdiscs. And so on.

I still taped a few things after that, like the makings of Star Wars, Empire, and Rotj (classic creatures) and the letterbox versions off the sci fi channel. Again another revelation when I saw Snaggletooth for the first time! And little known fact, the early pan and scam (not an auto correct) versions were formatted differently than the 95 THX versions, but I'm pretty sure Snaggletooth still didn't show up in either version.

As I got older, there was a time when I realized that some of the movies I had (the ones recorded) were actually longer then I remembered. The ones I had were obviously edited for television. Some scene had alternate takes.

For example: the only copy I had of Star Trek III was a recording from TV it was the third "movie" on the VHS. Later on, I found out that many scenes were cut short. It took awhile getting used to watching the official release.

Man, this nostalgia is hitting hard!

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

Someone explain these "counters" on the VHS tapes please.

[bobbyh64]

Originally Posted by Michael24

Early VCRs had simple analog counters like these:



So if you reset the counter to 0000 and started a tape from the very beginning, you'd know about how far to fast-forward to find any programs you had recorded on the tape if you'd marked down the number at which they started. Some of these VCRs even had "remote" controls that were attached with a cable to pause/unpause the tape during playback.

Coincidentally, the VCR in that picture is the exact same one as our family's first in the early-80s. That thing was a beast and lasted well into the mid-90s.

Thanks! That picture gave me a very vague but powerful sense of deja vu. I believe I had one with a counter like that. Does it count seconds?

[StingingVelvet]

Just read the no original cuts news. Really a bummer for me. Not only because I overall prefer them (though there's a lot of cool SE changes), but also because I feel it's really disrespectful to film preservation. I feel film is a collaborative medium and just because Lucas owns them doesn't mean he can trash others' work. It really makes me sad.

Oh well, at least I'm not a massive Star Wars fan so I don't get as emotional about it as I otherwise would.

[Jakdonark]

Also forgot, I have the whole Ewoks and Droids animated series taped off Sci-Fi as well. Where are those on blu? Let alone complete on DVD?

Finally watched the Clone Wars series over the weekend. Never was interested when they came out, but found vol 2 for $2 at a liquidation store, then got vol 1 off eBay. I was really impressed. They had the feel and slight look of the 80s cartoons, but the direction Tartakovsky took with them was crazy. That's what I was expecting with the prequels, but it took a cartoon to actually do it right. I'm not sure how much Lucas was involved, and obviously they had knowledge of key points for ROTS, but there were some moments that gave me chills. Like when it started to rain during a lightsaber duel and the drops were steaming off the blades, or Anakin's vision in vol 2, no spoilers but it was kind of scary.

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Just read the no original cuts news. Really a bummer for me. Not only because I overall prefer them (though there's a lot of cool SE changes), but also because I feel it's really disrespectful to film preservation. I feel film is a collaborative medium and just because Lucas owns them doesn't mean he can trash others' work. It really makes me sad.

Oh well, at least I'm not a massive Star Wars fan so I don't get as emotional about it as I otherwise would.

It's not news. It's "news." And it's only "news" because people are spinning it that way. Kennedy wasn't asked about the original cuts but people are spinning it that way and running with it. She was asked a vague question and said that she'd never touch the original trilogy. She never said she'd never restore it.

[bobbyh64]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Just read the no original cuts news. Really a bummer for me. Not only because I overall prefer them (though there's a lot of cool SE changes), but also because I feel it's really disrespectful to film preservation. I feel film is a collaborative medium and just because Lucas owns them doesn't mean he can trash others' work. It really makes me sad.

Oh well, at least I'm not a massive Star Wars fan so I don't get as emotional about it as I otherwise would.

I think you're in denial.