Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

He greatly underestimated people’s love for the original versions. Unlike Lucas, there are plenty that were/are very happy with the films as originally released.

Those people are in the minority and a smaller and smaller minority with each passing year.

[Nicolawicz]

Let me remind the Lucas apologists that the hack didn't even direct Empire and Jedi.

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Nicolawicz

Let me remind the Lucas apologists that the hack didn't even direct Empire and Jedi.

Yeah, he only wrote the treatments, supervised each draft, produced, self-financed, supervised editing and post production, ghost directed large portions of ROTJ, and so on.

It's like he had nothing to do with those films!

[Nicolawicz]

Plenty of films where the director is "only" the director. They're still considered the author of the film (not the executive producer, co-writer, whatever).

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by Class316

If he didn't want her to make money out of them then why release them on DVD in 2006

Because they were released as a bonus feature and bunus features are technically not supposed to charged for so money isn't made off of them, hence no paycheck for Marcia because no money was made.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Because they were released as a bonus feature and bunus features are technically not supposed to charged for so money isn't made off of them, hence no paycheck for Marcia because no money was made.

They were released separately on DVD. Not advertised with bad transfers. Then when no one bought them, Lucas was able to say no one wanted them and then proceeded to bury them.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Because they were released as a bonus feature and bunus features are technically not supposed to charged for so money isn't made off of them, hence no paycheck for Marcia because no money was made.

Do people actually buy this shit? You would be laughed out of court with that argument.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Because they were released as a bonus feature and bunus features are technically not supposed to charged for so money isn't made off of them, hence no paycheck for Marcia because no money was made.

If that logic actually made sense, then all Disney/Lucasfilm would have to do is release the HD/UHD remasters of the original versions as bonus features as well.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Those people are in the minority and a smaller and smaller minority with each passing year.

Which is Lucas's intended goal in withholding the original versions.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the [Special Edition] version."

--George Lucas, 1997

Of course, he's not just depriving fans of their preferred versions, but depriving all of society of a part of their cultural history, as this quote states.

"American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history... In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten."

--George Lucas, 1988

https://savestarwars.com/lucasspeech...aledition.html

[NovaNaut]

So I'm not sure if there's a more complete list anywhere but I've decided to try and compile a list of all the previous documentaries and special features that aren't available with the new releases, for any big nerds like me who want to track down everything! I've not included some things like music videos and the Web docs as I can't find a list of them all but most of this is available on YouTube or the Star Wars website if you search for them (Except Return of the Ewok, though if anyone knows where I can find that ).

The Making of Star Wars (1977)
SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Return of the Ewok (1982)
From Star Wars to Jedi: The making of a Saga (1983)
Leonard Maltin George Lucas Interviews (1993)
Don Bies Archive Tour (1993)
R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2001)
Star Wars: Connections/The Story of Star Wars (2002)
Empire of Dreams (2004)
The Characters of Star Wars (2004)
The Birth of the Lightsaber (2004)
The Force is with Them: The Legacy of Star Wars (2004)
Episode III Preview: The Return of Darth Vader (2004)
The Chosen One (2005)
It’s All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III (2005)
The Wookiees Are Back! (2005)
Animal Icons: Star Wars Creatures (2005)
Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
Star Wars Spoofs (2011)
The Creatures of Episode III (2012)
A Final Alliance (2020)

[Jay G.]

Regarding the original negatives, Lucas has stated that they were altered in 1997 to insert the SE changes. Subsequent changes for the 2004 DVD and 2011 Blu-ray were done digtitally though, from a 2K scan of the negatives. The theory with the recent 4K releases on Disney+, and soon on disc, is that they scanned the original negative with the 97 SE changes in it, then had to digitally re-add all the other changes.

However, the original negative doesn't have to be physically recut or anything to make a version faithful to the original versions. As the UHD versions show, alterations can be made to the digital scan, including restoring original material, from whatever sources are available George Lucas is a bit of a pack rat, so while some elements were cut out of the negative in 97, they likely still exist as individual stems and weren't throw out. Those could be scanned and then re-inserted digitally.

A lot more info on the 97 restoration/alterations, and the possibility of a restoration of the original versions on video:
http://fd.noneinc.com/secrethistoryo...gstarwars.html

[chip75]

I think Disney have said that everything that was trimmed out when they created the Special Editions is safe in the Lucasfilm vault (along with the other original elements).

What the original trilogy needs is a master akin to The Next Generation, digitally re-composited from the ground up.

[Class316]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

They were released separately on DVD. Not advertised with bad transfers. Then when no one bought them, Lucas was able to say no one wanted them and then proceeded to bury them.

Huh? When were the original released separately on DVD? The only release was 2006 which were double packs of 2004 editions and originals

[Neon Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

They were released separately on DVD. Not advertised with bad transfers. Then when no one bought them, Lucas was able to say no one wanted them and then proceeded to bury them.

They were each released in a 2 disc set as "bonus discs" to the 2004 transfers. He released transfers from the 1993 Laserdisc masters in non-anamorphic letterbox with bare minimum effort because he wanted them to look as crappy as possible in comparison to the 2004 discs so that people who watched them side by side and didn't know any better would dismiss them as technically inferior to the SEs.

[Gold Ranger]

I bought them. I lost them years later in a move. I want them again.

[koberulz]

I had them and sold them before I was aware of the history of the re-releases and special editions and such - although I did quickly skim through one of them and the postage-stamping was awful.

But I have 4k77, 4k83, and Harmy's ESB, so I don't miss them.

[Neon Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

I bought them. I lost them years later in a move. I want them again.

I bought them when they were released and I am grateful to have them if only because they are the highest quality release of the original versions that will probably ever be made available for quite some time (which isn't saying much). The best thing about these were the nice individual poster art lithographs that came with these when I bought them at Circuit City.

I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I ever watched them though. They were barely passable on my 50" DLP from 2006, which was a brand new TV I had just bought right before these came out. I shudder to think of what they would look like on my current screen. These have basically just become relics that sit on my shelf ever since I obtained copies of the Despecialized edits.

[Class316]

Originally Posted by Neon Rabbit

I bought them when they were released and I am grateful to have them if only because they are the highest quality release of the original versions that will probably ever be made available for quite some time (which isn't saying much). The best thing about these were the nice individual poster art lithographs that came with these when I bought them at Circuit City.

Can you post a photo of these poster art lithographs? Never heard of them.

update: I think I found pics. https://boards.theforce.net/threads/...ints.50042553/

Damn these are nice. Wonder why I never heard of them at the time.

Originally Posted by koberulz

I had them and sold them before I was aware of the history of the re-releases and special editions and such - although I did quickly skim through one of them and the postage-stamping was awful.

But I have 4k77, 4k83, and Harmy's ESB, so I don't miss them.

I have Harmy for all 3. From screenshots I saw I think they look better than the 4k counterparts.

[crissrudd4554]

Originally Posted by Class316

Huh? When were the original released separately on DVD? The only release was 2006 which were double packs of 2004 editions and originals

I think by separately he meant that they were packaged with the Special Editions in individual sets. Yes there was exceptions like the Best Buy tin case but the 2006 DVDs was the first time IV-VI was available individually and not just exclusively as a box set.

[Bobbyjoe766]

Originally Posted by Roonan

He underestimated nothing. He's well aware that many people are not only fine with the movies the way they were, but prefer the theatrical versions. But the decision is not what what people prefer or not, but what he (as the creator) prefers. Which versions of his works he's confortable with being out there.

And which version would that be, 1997, 2004, 2011 or 2019?

Lucas doesn’t know what he wants.