Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by crissrudd4554

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucas ok’d this just because he knew fans would find the originals unbearable in non-anamorphic form compared to the 16:9 enhanced SE’s.

Fully agreed.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by crissrudd4554

The reason the 2006 DVDs came out was because fans kept bootlegging the originals on DVD via the Laserdiscs and Fox wanted to put an end to it. Lucas agreed as long as he didn’t have to spend money on restoring them hence why we got 4:3 letterboxed Laserdisc masters which was only a minor improvement over what fans had been bootlegging anyways. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucas ok’d this just because he knew fans would find the originals unbearable in non-anamorphic form compared to the 16:9 enhanced SE’s.

In one interview or another the subject was brought up and Lucas actually said (not exact quote) "we put the originals out there on DVD but people didn't want them" so I fully believe that the reaction to those reheated Laserdisc transfers played right into his confirmation bias that all people wanted was the revised versions.

[crissrudd4554]

Originally Posted by rexcrk

Ah, I remember a decade ago when those DVDs came out. At the time, I still had a standard def TV and I remember wondering why some people were upset with the PQ on those theatrical cuts. All I knew at the time was “we actually have the unaltered cuts, in widescreen, on disc! This is amazing!”

Then the first time I watched one of them on my HDTV, I was like “...ohhhh” lol.

It’s still nice having them on disc.. but, god, I wish they’d at least put out proper anamorphic releases, even if they didn’t give them an extreme overhaul.

I was the exact same way. I still was using a 4:3 TV in 2006 so I was truly thrilled we were getting the originals on DVD period. I never even understood what anamorphic widescreen meant until the whole criticism over those unaltered DVDs came about. Just the same it didnt matter since I didnt have a widescreen TV anyways so I just ignored the complaints and to be fair I was ecstatic when I first popped those DVDs in. To finally watch these on an official DVD release was almost too good to be true. However, much of that enthusiasm did die away once I upgraded my TV but in a way I am still glad to have those DVDs since it is likely they are the last we will see the originals released at all as controversial as those DVDs may have been.

[SarahS]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Kathleen Kennedy stated in an interview last year that there is no arrangement in place that dictates which versions of which films can or cannot be released. She also said there will be no more alterations and no plans to rerelease anything.

Who cares...it's all moot at this point. We don't need an official release of an UOT. It has been taken care of already by others and they are wonderful.

[bobbyh64]

I still need to watch the Silver Screen Edition.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It may very well not be a matter of official contractual record but more of a 'gentleman's (and lady's ) agreement' that LFL wouldn't move on restoring the original originals while Lucas is still breathing. He hand-picked Kathy Kennedy to take over the firm and she's known George a looooong time so she's not about to start violating his wishes. The "no more alterations" line in itself could have a double meaning, not just stating that there will be no more changes on top of the current creator-approved versions but also inferring that they won't be reverse-engineered back to their original state any time soon...

Agree, I think it's just an "honoring George" thing. Won't happen until Lucas dies, and maybe not even then. We've always said no Poltergeist tell-all until Hooper passes and no one's run to a microphone yet.

[Galactus123]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Kathleen Kennedy stated in an interview last year that there is no arrangement in place that dictates which versions of which films can or cannot be released. She also said there will be no more alterations and no plans to rerelease anything.

Do you have a link?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Agree, I think it's just an "honoring George" thing. Won't happen until Lucas dies, and maybe not even then. We've always said no Poltergeist tell-all until Hooper passes and no one's run to a microphone yet.

Moviedom is strange like that though, especially when it comes to people ghost-directing (heh) something that was ascribed to someone else. There's never been some thorough exposé for, say, Tombstone either. Sure, Kurt said that he basically directed it but there still hasn't been some in-depth dissection of it. In most cases the parties involved are happy to let sleeping dogs lie, but when it comes to movies being suppressed by their creators - their true creators - it's surprising how quickly things can happen when they pass on.

Kubrick was wounded by the British reaction to Clockwork Orange, keeping the subsequent UK embargo in place for the rest of his life, but hardly a year had gone by after his death and there I was, watching a brand new print of it in my local cinema. I still wouldn't put it beyond Lucas to stick a further 5 or 10 year moratorium on the originals after he dies, mind you.

[TheBoss062]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

It has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with the fact that I store and handle my discs properly.

That doesn't always work, I treated the Alien digibook like it was made of glass and the cardboard pages still left hairline scratches on the discs.

[Neon Rabbit]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

I still need to watch the Silver Screen Edition.

It's Excellent! It's my go to version. The Despecialized are really nice too, I just like the idea of being able to see exactly what theater goers saw in 1977, after years of minor audio and visual teaks even before the full blown Special Editions came out.

[bobbyh64]

I just watched ROTJ on Blu-ray for the first time and those obvious CGI changes are horrible. The band in Jabba’s palace and all those shots at the end showing various planets celebrating were atrocious. Doesn’t fit the rest of the film at all. It’s like a few random shots from the prequels were pasted in.

I also don’t think the Hayden Force ghost works. The emotion of that scene is greatly reduced without the original actor who played Anakin with the mask off. We associate Vader’s redemption with that face (at least I do), so I feel the original actor works much better and the Hayden one is just awkward.

Now that I’ve seen the six films in episode order on Blu-ray, I don’t think the changes to the OT help to unify the saga. I’ve heard that argument before and in theory it seems like it would work, but I feel having drastic and obvious changes like these is out of place and makes the OT seem weird. I think the saga works better just watching the unaltered OT after (or before) the prequels. This is probably because the six films don’t feel like they’re from the same series since they’re so drastically different.

A way to make the saga feel more unified would be to remake the PT.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by TheBoss062

That doesn't always work, I treated the Alien digibook like it was made of glass and the cardboard pages still left hairline scratches on the discs.

I had the same problem with the Alien set, the Indy set & the original Friday the 13th set. I take care of all my discs & those dumb packaging still left scratches on my discs. Luckily I was able to replace them with sets that came in normal cases. In the case of the SW set I held off on the original releases until the slip box edition with Darth on it before I bought it.

[Bobbyjoe766]

The only reason I own the STAR WARS Blu-ray box set is for the supplements.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

The only reason I own the STAR WARS Blu-ray box set is for the supplements.

That and so I don't feel too guilty watching the Despecialized trilogy

[svenge]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

The only reason I own the STAR WARS Blu-ray box set is for the supplements.

Indeed. The Japanese LDs of the three contemporary documentaries (The Making of Star Wars, SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back, and Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi) on the box set would have cost quite a bit more than the $60 I paid for my BD copy a few years back. Only the first two of those three was available on the US market to begin with, and only the first one was produced in any significant numbers.

Of course it should have had in addition the one other contemporary documentary from the OT era (From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga), but it didn't make it over most likely due to two "reasons":

1) Half the puppets used in ROTJ and thus featured in the documentary were replaced by that god-awful "Jedi Rocks" sequence in the SE.
2) The entire "a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing" anecdote by Lucas that inadvertently became a prescient self-indictment of the prequels as a whole.

[Bobbyjoe766]

Originally Posted by svenge

Indeed. The Japanese LDs of the three contemporary documentaries (The Making of Star Wars, SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back, and Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi) on the box set would have cost quite a bit more than the $60 I paid for my BD copy a few years back. Only the first two of those three was available on the US market to begin with, and only the first one was produced in any significant numbers.

Of course it should have had in addition the one other contemporary documentary from the OT era (From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga), but it didn't make it over most likely due to two "reasons":

1) Half the puppets used in ROTJ and thus featured in the documentary were replaced by that god-awful "Jedi Rocks" sequence in the SE.
2) The entire "a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing" anecdote by Lucas that inadvertently became a prescient self-indictment of his entire PT as a whole.

Don't know what the reasons were for not including it, but disc space was wasted on crap like: Star Wars Spoofs, Star Warriors and Anatomy of a Dewback.

[Arawn]

Originally Posted by svenge

The entire "a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing" anecdote by Lucas that inadvertently became a prescient self-indictment of his entire PT as a whole.

There was a story in the PT. It just wasn't the OT rehash that people wanted. They had to wait for the ST for that.

[Vandal Savage]

The PT had an interesting story, it was just poorly told. Being overwhelmed by CGI is just one of its problems.

[Class316]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

I just watched ROTJ on Blu-ray for the first time and those obvious CGI changes are horrible. The band in Jabba’s palace and all those shots at the end showing various planets celebrating were atrocious. Doesn’t fit the rest of the film at all. It’s like a few random shots from the prequels were pasted in.

I also don’t think the Hayden Force ghost works. The emotion of that scene is greatly reduced without the original actor who played Anakin with the mask off. We associate Vader’s redemption with that face (at least I do), so I feel the original actor works much better and the Hayden one is just awkward.

Now that I’ve seen the six films in episode order on Blu-ray, I don’t think the changes to the OT help to unify the saga. I’ve heard that argument before and in theory it seems like it would work, but I feel having drastic and obvious changes like these is out of place and makes the OT seem weird. I think the saga works better just watching the unaltered OT after (or before) the prequels. This is probably because the six films don’t feel like they’re from the same series since they’re so drastically different.

A way to make the saga feel more unified would be to remake the PT.

I still think some of the changes are good. Though all the ones you mentioned are obvious abominations. If I show someone Star Wars for the first time I show them the semi specialized editions. Removes the abominations, but keeps some modern touches.

Originally Posted by Arawn

There was a story in the PT. It just wasn't the OT rehash that people wanted. They had to wait for the ST for that.

Originally Posted by Vandal Savage

The PT had an interesting story, it was just poorly told. Being overwhelmed by CGI is just one of its problems.

PT has their own story, unlike the SQ.

Besides the mentioned problems, there was also the fact that the actors had basically no character. Character is one thing that made the OT such a hit.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by bobbyh64

I just watched ROTJ on Blu-ray for the first time and those obvious CGI changes are horrible. The band in Jabba’s palace and all those shots at the end showing various planets celebrating were atrocious. Doesn’t fit the rest of the film at all. It’s like a few random shots from the prequels were pasted in.

I also don’t think the Hayden Force ghost works. The emotion of that scene is greatly reduced without the original actor who played Anakin with the mask off. We associate Vader’s redemption with that face (at least I do), so I feel the original actor works much better and the Hayden one is just awkward.

Now that I’ve seen the six films in episode order on Blu-ray, I don’t think the changes to the OT help to unify the saga. I’ve heard that argument before and in theory it seems like it would work, but I feel having drastic and obvious changes like these is out of place and makes the OT seem weird. I think the saga works better just watching the unaltered OT after (or before) the prequels. This is probably because the six films don’t feel like they’re from the same series since they’re so drastically different.

A way to make the saga feel more unified would be to remake the PT.

Despite all of that the worst addendum is Vader's: "No. Nooooooo!"

I kept the 2004 DVD set mainly because of that change and the Empire of Dreams documentary.