I did not buy the Star Wars Blu Ray set. Nor do I have any plans on ever doing so.I won't buy them because:
* I find the 3 Prequels completely unwatchable
* Georgie has fucked up 'A New Hope' and 'Return of the Jedi' to the point of them, too, being unwatchable.
The changes to 'Empire' are minimal (and unnecessary)... if he hasn't destroyed that one yet, I might pick it up on blu ray as a single disc... when it becomes available. So far it appears you can only buy the movies in "Trilogy Packs". LAME!!!
The main beef I have is that Lucas refuses to make the unaltered ORIGINALS available. Lucas wants to wipe those versions out of History. He has previously stated, "Even the 35 million [video] tapes out there wont 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." (American Cinematographer, Feb 1997)
But for those who did buy the dvd set and those who do enjoy the Prequels & Special-Special Editions... Enjoy! To each his own. I make no judgements on fans.
SPECIAL EDITION BONUS PIC:
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26 comments:
I gave the Blu-ray's a very wide berth. Watched all the dleted scenes people have been uploading to You Tube and that's all I was interested in seeing, not bothered about the films, especially as he tampered even more with them and fixed things he's already changed one, such as Ben's noise to scare the sandpeople off !!!
Jim, you made a Jabba cos-play once????
;)
I'm with you on this, Jim. Tired of Lucas bedazzling his work like it's a worn out jean jacket.
The funny thing is that the reviews I read have the reviewer bitching about all the problems and the horrid changes to the films, but still bought it all for the special features and recommend it for that.
Sorry, but behind the scenes footage of films that don't exist as they did are not entertaining, just frustrating.
I totally agree, I am not buying them either. I am finding them unwatchable as well. I did watch A New Hope from Star Wars Revisited this weekend, and it was a pretty great edit. Someday I would love a copy of the original untouched films, just color-corrected. Until then I have the revisited edits.
...disagree that the prequel tril is "unwatchable". Darth Maul is the coolest & Ray Park is one of the most genuine badasses ever in film. got to talk w/ the man 2 times and he & his character ALONE make Ep.1 amazing. bitch and moan all they want, but it's still the best out there. no matter how much Lucas wears out his toy, as it is HIS TOY to use as he sees fit.
he'll never, EVER mess w/ it enough to make tasteful & true fans dislike it to the point where any of it is "unwatchable".
...and Ep. III is up there w/ the best of the original tril. i grew up w/ SW and always wondered WHY that guy was in that suit. it's expressed even greater in the books (Ep. III and the one right after, "Rise of the Dark Lord"), but that was as big of a "HOLY SHIT" moment as all the rest in the history of that franchise.
...and, despite people not liking him, seeing Hayden's face look EXACTLY like Luke's right as the mask drops is priceless.
I & II just "allowed the story to be set up", but III is the shit.
i still find I & II more than entertaining, though, and i'm waaaaaaaaaay cooler than the billions of other Sci-Fi geeks, as i am a proud SW geek (as well as a fan of most other Sci-Fi works), so i'll just go w/ my opinion and taste, tyvm!
i mean, his original plan was to NOT MAKE those films like that, because his TRUE VISION for them exceeded what they could do at the time! especially the 1st one w/ that limited budget to go along w/ the limited everything else! so if he DID have the ability to do what he wanted, those movies WOULD HAVE been like they are now!
so you have to have the state of mind to say, "as much as i loved this or that about them, they were UNTRUE to the ARTIST'S VISION".
eh, it's whatever... people who know, just KNOW (me), & those who are gonna hate jes' gonna be miserable w/ their "angry, whiny opinion that pushes the insignificant past the ULTIMATE COOL"!
Back in ~2004 ,when the first set of DVD was about to release, my friend Dan pointed out that the only version worth owning was the THX version on Laserdisc. I don't know why I didn't buy the Laserdisc version when I was talking to him, I had found it online for about $120 dollars for the trilogy (IV, V VI).
At the time we worked for the Museums Exhibits department and could have captured and made DVD of the Laserdiscs... for archive purposes only of course :)
Anonymous,
There's no need to attack others for their opinions.
Giving them a miss too, if he'd brought out un-tampered with originals I may even have considered buying a blu ray player.
Most of the changes on ESB are bearable but he has messed up the ending with that pointless bit of Vader getting his shuttle to the Star destroyer, really messes with the pacing. The rejigged dialog with the Emperoris pretty annoying too.Like you said the other 2 have been really f'ed up!
Darth Maul being cool does not make the movie watchable. It makes the Darth Maul scenes watchable.
Saying that Ep 1 is better than most other crap does not mean Ep 1 is good. It means its better than other crap.
Just because its the artist's vision does not mean its good. It means it is the artist's vision.
In the end, its all personal opinion.
I'm with you Jim, I find the alterations to be teeth-grating; can't part with a wad of cash for a movie I already own if it's been tampered like this. Not interested.
Have to throw in my 5 cent´s too and must say that I was never happy about the alterations of the originals, especially they used CGI at a time where it was not that what it is nowadays.
Anyway I would have been happier, if they would have used practical effects. By then doing so would have been even cheaper then CGI.
Whatever, I have my childhood memories of the "old" ones and that nobody can take away.
About the prequel episodes, well they are nice SiFi and effects spectacles, which gave at least a handful of concept and CG artists a big and incomparable value to their portfolio and their artistic evolvement. I honor these and I´m happy for them.
But the story was unnecessary and anyway nothing, compared to what kids like me who grew up with the SW franchise, made up in their own heads.
The background story of the biggest Villain of movie history should have stayed untold. At least in pictures. Anyway, Obi Wan told all that to Luke and the audience, so why bother throw $$$ to tell stories already told ;)
No offense to anybody, everybody shall be happy his own way and Lucas bank account is the one smiling most. Yippee!
I personally don't mind a few harmless special effects updates, like CGI'ing in a few extra lizard-riders or Jawas in the background to add depth. That sort of stuff I can understand, since you can imagine they would have done that originally anyway had they had the resources available @ the time. But when you add silly dialogue or fundamentally change the nature of a scene or character (Han Solo shooting first, Vader's cheezy and unnecessary "Noooooo!", or cartoonishly digital reduxes of Sy Snootles) then I think Lucas is crossing the line and pooping on fans.
The point is not so much whether it is his "right" to alter his creations; it certainly IS, apparently. But "can" doesn't necessarily mean "should", and part of what makes film-making magical is that once a movie has been released and seen by the public, or a specific fan-base, it becomes something more than just the director's so-called "vision". It becomes a shared thing, for better or for worse. And for as many people to be either casual fans of the original films or die-hard devotees to be disregarded completely in Lucas' pointless tinkering suggests - no, practically screams - what is really already obvious: Lucas is not an artist, because an artist truly knows when something is done and he/she lets that work go on to whatever life it will. Lucas, incapable of doing any such thing, just proves himself a shallow egotist.
...and not to belabor the point of Lucas' obvious disregard for the fans who made his work such a success to begin with, BUT... if he really wanted to avoid all this kerfuffle to begin with, he could just do like what they do all the time on other movies that have alternate versions, or like they did with the ALIEN Quadrilogy for example, and release the altered/"director's original vision" versions in the same package with the original releases. At least fans could then choose, and Lucas could tinker away to his heart's content, and no one would be out anything. Trying something different is one thing, but aiming to actually erase movie history and stamp out something that people used to love and completely replace it with what Lucas thinks is "better", THAT is what is earning him the enmity of fans.
Haven't bought it yet:
a) Personally, I think the Tatooine packaging (for the complete saga) is really horribly fugly. I watched a guy open his set on YouTube... the crappy paintings continue uselessly in the interior. The individual trilogy packs look better.
b) The big "nooooo! nooooo" Darth scream has turned my stomach. It's the same as the previously-added Luke screaming "aaaaaahhh" as he resolved to jump in Cloud City in Empire. GEORGE, QUIT F***ING AROUND WITH THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY!
c) For that amount of money, we could have the original editions included just like the set from a few years ago.
I am happy to hear that Spielberg is releasing the original version of E.T. (with guns rather than flashlights) because of the negative feedback he received. He should give a buddy a call.
Right on the boat with you Jim.
What if Lucas' next changes are to Darth Maul:
* Removes head spikes
* Removes tattoos, just solid red
* Changes eye color to bright blue
* Talks during the entire fight sequence, making jokes in a Gungan voice
* Digitally add more hits to Darth Maul so Obi-Wan & Qui-Gon kick his ass throughout the fight.
* When gets cut in half, says "Eegadsa! and then whimpers and starts crying
* As he falls down the shaft, he explains, "Yousa gonna pay, Jedi Pooooo-doooooooo.....!"
"Yousa gonna pay, Jedi Pooooo-doooooooo.....!"... this is why we love you, Jim.
Jim, that would be Lucas' right to change Darth Maul like that. It's his vision and you would have to accept those changes with a smile. If you don't like this changes and voice your opinion if not liking it, then you are a pathetic whining fanboy and are stupid. This is the Law. Now embrace the new improved Jar Jar Maul - he's still better than most sci-fi characters out there.
Lucas won't re-release the original cuts of the original trilogy simply because if he does, his ex-wife will get a piece of it.
They were able to be squeezed into the earlier DVD's as "bonus features" but that's it.
Sad but that's what I've been told.
Pure vindictiveness.
- to first anonymous...
Sorry to disagree, but just bc Episode I had a cool character, his 15 minutes in the film do not make up for 2 hours of bad acting, horrible supporting characters( qui-gon, and Obi-wan,,the only 2 acceptable bc they seem to actually have the ability to act..), bad casting, ridiculous dialogue, piss poor directing and story telling , and ridiculous plot holes, ( Vader built 3Po, Anikin is the Sith Jesus, piss poor robot/craft design, EVERYTHING being tied together in a neat little bow, EVERYONE fights like ninjas, Tatooine even being in the story,, and....medacloridians????REALLY????...and that's just off the top of my head,..)
2) Revenge of the Sith was crap. pure, crap...( "Frankenstein Vader???) it may have looked pretty , but it's a crap story, and poorly thought out. the villains are non threatening, and comedic at best. And, the fact EVERYTHING is tied together?( Chewie new Yoda??, really???,) the dialogue is sophomoric, and there are so many unnecessary, useless characters, scenes, and creatures. it's just ridiculous. Given the scope of what could have been, and what was,...it's truly a weak film. ( and seriously don't get anyone started on how Bobba Fett, a once AWESOME character, was totally ruined in these things. ( YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHO HE IS and WHERE HE CAME FROM....it's the mystery of him that made him cool,..AND if you HAVE to do an origin,..how about do something GOOD!!!!!...)
- sorry those film really sucked, you could write dissertations on how bad those films dropped the ball ( i think someone actually has..)
-Lucas turned the franchise into what was a character driven, serious toned, plausible, fantasy "space western/drama"
into a unintelligent, friggin, glorified Saturday morning cartoon for kids And he will be the first to admit he's more about making money on toys and franchising than actually caring about how good the story is.
if you need a supporting argument,..heres a whole series..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI
ps, if you "know" then you also 'know" he had other directors direct his first films ( Irvin Kershner directed Empire,.the consensus greatest of them all), and which is why the are better,.... they are great 'films', not a bunch if cool looking scenes strung together like a music video to keep the A.D.D. audiences occupied saying.." COOL,..that looks "AWESOME"
....AND that he himself admitted
1) " he didn't know why everyone liked Bobba Fett, he was just supposed to be the guy who caught Han"
2) he never had anything written down other than a mild treatment for his "pre-quels" So when he claims this whole " I've had this story in my head the whole time" is complete bunk.
Lucas had a great IDEA, and other people made it legend. He saw the money flowing and decided to take control ( started with Jedi replacing Wookies with Ewoks and Kirshner leaving due to 'creative differences" ( there's a great article on how Lucas told Kirshner that he (Kirshner) could have made just as much money on Empire and didn't have to work as hard to make as good a film...)
Jim, I'm sure you would buy the boxset if they used the original cover Lucas wanted:
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e81/Tokus/starwarsbluraybox.jpg
Do you own the DVD Limited Editions with the original unaltered versions?
I see both sides. I'm 34 years old so I grew up with the OT and still have the VHS set...thank god. However, I love Star Wars so much that I also enjoy the PT, just not nearly as much. I also love the Star Wars books, comics, and video games. Lucas' vision was too great for what could be done at the time so his tinkering is what he always wanted as a finished product. However, I do think he should let the people who want the untouched originals to be able to get them.
"However, I do think he should let the people who want the untouched originals to be able to get them."
Yeah, that's the main issue here for me. Just let me be able to watch the movie I loved as a kid. The one that influenced and shaped me. The one I'd like to share with my children. Just give me the option, Lucas. You're robbing an experience from me and others.
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