Star Wars: The Original Trilogy

Salomé wrote:

We're about five years away from Lucas literally putting his excrement in cans and selling them to the highest bidder à la Piero Manzoni.

*Awaits joke about the prequel trilogy*

Oh, icky icky goo!

How can you follow that?

I suppose, ring-a-ding-ding
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It's depressing really I was vaguely interested in the box at one point despite never really being a fan of blu-ray. Still, good at least to see some of those scenes like the Tatooine one. well, the sandstorm one

Tubes wrote:

Salomé wrote:

Are people seriously going to buy a whole new box-set for a few seconds of crappy, never-before-seen footage?

It's pretty clear that Lucas has gone completely shameless in terms of milking this thing dry.

I think most buyers will be more interested in the visual and audio improvements than anything else. The deleted scenes are icing on the cake.

Yep, the fact that it's the saga's Blu Ray debut is just as big (if not bigger) a selling point than the deleted scenes. People want to see how good the films look on Blu Ray. Anyone solely after the deleted scenes (that would be me, among others) I'd assume would have the sense to save themselves 70 quid and just watch them on YouTube where they'll doubtless appear on the day of the Blu Ray release.

It would cost me far more than 70 quid though, in fact it would cost me hundreds to buy and watch this boxset, as I don't have a Blu Ray player nor a HD TV, and I'm sure there are many other fans in the same boat. Wonder why Lucas passed on the cash from a potential standard DVD release of this set? Surely people won't fork out to upgrade their entire entertainment set up just for this release? Especially when the original trilogy contained therein is still just the mutilated versions.

Tubes wrote:

Not gonna argue about Lucas milking Star Wars dry, though. Chances are in 4 years he will "miraculously" find the original camera negatives and finally release the theatrical editions remastered.

Yep. Though we might get the 3D releases first. Actually I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3D Phantom Menace DVD being the Lucas "Christmas present" forced on fans next year, followed by another Star Wars 3D flick on DVD every Christmas for the five years after that. Come to think of it, I can't see him ever giving fans the original unaltered trilogy on Blu Ray, as it would probably leave too many fans wanting nothing more from him once that's done. Still, I don't want to watch Star Wars in digitally arse-raped form anyway TBH; If I want that, I've got the prequels. And as far as bonus features go, I've got enough stuff documentary and TV archive-wise to put this Blu Ray box set to shame ten times over and then some, so I can't see how he's ever gonna sell me these films again. Hell, I'm even struggling to motivate myself to go and see Empire, one of my all-time fave films, when it turns up in 3D, such is my level of pissed off-ness at what he's done to the fucking thing with his meddling.

Yeah, I've got the original trilogy unaltered on those Limited Edition DVDs he released. Yeah, it's not anamorphic and its just the laserdisc transfer but at least I can watch them. And that's all I'm ever buying.

Salomé wrote:

It's pretty clear that Lucas has gone completely shameless in terms of milking this thing dry.

Is it Lucas though, or the studio? Strikes me that there's more than just Lucas' pockets being lined ...

I haven't got a Blue-Ray player, luddite that I am!

I see Carrie Fisher's lost all that weight she was carrying at the back end of last year when she went on that Jenny Craig diet.

Then....



Now....







She's lost 50lb, her target originally being to lose 30. Rumours are going round that she's had some work done, but she's still definitely on my "would" list, even in her 50s. And yes, as with everything else, blame Star Wars for that.

I'd bang her.

Mainly because I've got nothing better going on at the moment.

That's better.

First clip of CGI Yoda in THE PHANTOM MENACE. http://www.slashfilm.com/compare-cgi-yoda-the-phantom-menace-original-version/

While I'm not a fan of the TPM puppet, the CGI Yoda always looked worse IMO. Looked too cheap even for 2002. Plus he seems less expressive in the CGI version of the scene.

The TPM puppet was awful, in my opinion, so this is one of the few modifications by Lucas that I completely approve of. Since there's obviously far more room for improvement in the prequel trilogy than in the original films, changes like this are much more likely to help Episodes I-III (I'd go so far as to say that there's no risk involved in fiddling with Attack of the Clones; apart from damaging John Williams's score, the film can barely be made less enjoyable already is). As far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever he wants with them.

That puppet was an abomination. I hate the CGI Yoda too, but in this case, it's actually an improvement.

But it's a lousy performance, if you know what I mean. Yoda on valium in that clip.

Lazenby. wrote:

Surely people won't fork out to upgrade their entire entertainment set up just for this release?

Well, it depends. Obviously, few people would do so just for STAR WARS, but at the same time STAR WARS is surely one of the most eagerly-anticipated Blu-ray releases and therefore one of the big draws for the format (along with such titles as THE DARK KNIGHT and AVATAR).

I spent a lot of money a couple of years ago buying an HDTV and a Blu-ray player, but while I don't regret it there's actually relatively little stuff that I watch in hi-def. I don't subscribe to any hi-def TV channels, and so the only hi-def content I get is via Blu-ray, and even then (as any Blu-ray enthusiast will have discovered) relatively few Blu-rays provide an appreciable high definition viewing experience worthy of the name - many Blu-rays look identical to their DVD counterparts, if you ask me.

There are, however, a few Blu-ray titles out there that really do look terrific and provide the sort of mindblowing visual feast that's allegedly the whole point of the format. Titles such as the abovementioned DARK KNIGHT and AVATAR, plus the Bonds, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, my personal favourite Blu-ray BARAKA, and a few others.

If the STAR WARS Blu-rays are in the same league of visual excellence, then I'd be extremely tempted to buy them, even though I'm not a STAR WARS fan, if only to get more of my money's worth out of my HDTV and Blu-ray player.

2001 looks outstanding on Blu-ray.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

2001 looks outstanding on Blu-ray.

It sure does.

But the one Blu-ray title that I'd urge anyone who owns a Blu-ray player and an HDTV to get hold of is BARAKA. I've never seen another Blu-ray that comes close to its awesome picture quality, with the possible exception of AVATAR. I think it's mostly to do with the way BARAKA was originally shot - it was filmed in some fancy hi-def process anyway. Terrrific film as well.

A guy named Ron something shot nearly the whole thing in 65mm as I recall, but yeah, I've seen BARAKA as a demo disk for bigscreen TVs, and it looks incredible (there's a crystal cathedral thing near the end that is like something out of the conclusion of THE BLACK HOLE ... but it's REAL!!)

I haven't gone bluray yet because I'm still trying to find a TV that plays movies so they still look like movies, without all this no-blur stuff designed to wow sportsfans. But I'm really glad to hear that 2001's BR looks great, because that is usually the first movie I rebuy with any new format (went through both the Criterion and MGM-mastered-from-65 on the laserdisk versions)

I think all TVs have an option to turn off that blur motion thingy. When we got the 60 inch Sony in our house I tested it and BOY the motion blur was just AWFUL. I immediately turned it off and made sure each channel/input had no motion blur setting.

I have a somewhat bargain TV, but 2001 still looks great. My TV is an Insignia (eek!) 720p 32-inch one. It's the only one I could afford with a headphone connection that actually worked. It's not a bad TV, though. It's better than wearing out my laptop.

Yes, headphone jack is a must for me. I've been watching stuff with headphones (good ones, usually Sony) for about 10 years. I can blast it as high as I want and I can hear everything. :)

And you don't have to worry about disturbing someone's sleep on the other side of the wall at night. Christmas 10 years ago I got a Panasonic SA-AK100 5 CD Changer with AUX input which I always connect with the audio outputs on my TV. The speakers are incredible whenever I have the opportunity to use them but the headphones are just as good.

Well, the other side of the floor. I'm living at my dad's place in my old room from high school, a converted attic.

http://www.chud.com/65668/george-lucas-is-finally-told-no-or-not/






Deckard said it best.

"I was quit when I came in. I'm twice as quit now."

We have seen Lucas regress from legitimate alterations to minor tinkering to "Fuck you, I can do whatever I want". Shame that he felt the need to saddle the series with unnecessary bullshit.

At least he's kept the fan-editing community alive for another 15 years or so.