If true, George Lucas must really hate the people who made him so rich.
'Star Wars' Fans Upset About DVD Plans for Original Trilogy
Despite earlier reports that Lucasfilm would be re-releasing the original unedited theatrical versions of the first three Star Wars movies on DVD, it now turns out that they will be copied from the laserdiscs of the films released in the mid'90s, formatted for the conventional TV screen and not wide-screen "letterbox" versions. The revelation has provoked anger among Star Wars fans, expressed on such Internet sites as www.thedigitalbits.com, and www.hometheaterforum.com. VideoBusiness.com quoted Lucasfilm spokesman John Singh as saying, "We hoped that by releasing the original movies as a bonus disc, it would be a way to give the fans something that is fun. We certainly didn't want to be become a source of frustration for fans."
Star Wars original trilogy only fullscreen on DVD?
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DavidBanner
This article, which I read on IMDB is not completely true.
Lucasfilm is not putting out fullscreen-only copies of the original Star Wars trilogy of films.
Lucasfilm released a letter including this language: "The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material. Although these are non-anamorphic versions, they do preserve the original widescreen composition of the movies."
So these aren't Pan & Scan versions. They are letterboxed widescreen.
The problem is that they aren't anamorphic widescreen, so in order to see them at a decent size on a widescreen television, you will need to zoom the image, leading to a drop in image quality. The fans are ticked that Lucasfilm didn't take the time to just do an anamorphic fix on the laserdisc masters themselves, or on the interpositive print that had to exist to make the masters. Lucasfilm insists that the films were recut for the Special Editions and that no original prints exist to work with. Further, they don't want to spend the time touching up and restoring the original editions because of the expense incurred to do that for the Special Editions.
Some fans are getting really ticked, because they suspect Lucasfilm DOES have prints and could release them, but is holding back to do so for Hi-Def DVD in whatever format wins. By the same token, many fans also believe Lucasfilm is holding back additional materials including a lot of deleted scenes from all 3 films for a future Hi-Def Special Edition, for no other reason than getting the fans to buy the films again, and again, and again.
I don't know that Lucas is THAT greedy. I believe the Lucasfilm guys when they say they don't have the film to work with, and I believe that Lucas really does prefer his newer Special Editions to the original releases because they allowed him to fix the stuff that he never liked. But I don't see how it would hurt Lucasfilm to just do an anamorphic master from the 1993 lasers without worrying about a full digital restoration.
But I wouldn't be surprised to see Lucas release a full box set for Hi Def in 2010, say, including all the deleted scenes and other goodies as well...
Lucasfilm is not putting out fullscreen-only copies of the original Star Wars trilogy of films.
Lucasfilm released a letter including this language: "The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material. Although these are non-anamorphic versions, they do preserve the original widescreen composition of the movies."
So these aren't Pan & Scan versions. They are letterboxed widescreen.
The problem is that they aren't anamorphic widescreen, so in order to see them at a decent size on a widescreen television, you will need to zoom the image, leading to a drop in image quality. The fans are ticked that Lucasfilm didn't take the time to just do an anamorphic fix on the laserdisc masters themselves, or on the interpositive print that had to exist to make the masters. Lucasfilm insists that the films were recut for the Special Editions and that no original prints exist to work with. Further, they don't want to spend the time touching up and restoring the original editions because of the expense incurred to do that for the Special Editions.
Some fans are getting really ticked, because they suspect Lucasfilm DOES have prints and could release them, but is holding back to do so for Hi-Def DVD in whatever format wins. By the same token, many fans also believe Lucasfilm is holding back additional materials including a lot of deleted scenes from all 3 films for a future Hi-Def Special Edition, for no other reason than getting the fans to buy the films again, and again, and again.
I don't know that Lucas is THAT greedy. I believe the Lucasfilm guys when they say they don't have the film to work with, and I believe that Lucas really does prefer his newer Special Editions to the original releases because they allowed him to fix the stuff that he never liked. But I don't see how it would hurt Lucasfilm to just do an anamorphic master from the 1993 lasers without worrying about a full digital restoration.
But I wouldn't be surprised to see Lucas release a full box set for Hi Def in 2010, say, including all the deleted scenes and other goodies as well...
Bonus discs? So that means we're going to have to re-buy the special editions? Is he adding more junk back into the special editions?
Lucas is THAT greedy and disgusts me. Too bad he doesn't have the character of Steven Spielberg who, as I recall, re-released the ORIGINAL ET film on DVD in a box set as well as the special edition ONCE. He understood people's love of the original theatrical version and although wanted to make changes still gave us the original version which we fell in love with. Spielberg gets cheers.
Too bad Lucas doesn't understand it. At this point I honestly wish he never made the films. Sorry, but I'm sick of him. He complains about the fans never being satisfied- if he did what was right in the first place no one would be complaining. Instead he has this "tortured artist no-one-understands-me" attitude and he can keep it. I'm through with him.
Lucas is THAT greedy and disgusts me. Too bad he doesn't have the character of Steven Spielberg who, as I recall, re-released the ORIGINAL ET film on DVD in a box set as well as the special edition ONCE. He understood people's love of the original theatrical version and although wanted to make changes still gave us the original version which we fell in love with. Spielberg gets cheers.
Too bad Lucas doesn't understand it. At this point I honestly wish he never made the films. Sorry, but I'm sick of him. He complains about the fans never being satisfied- if he did what was right in the first place no one would be complaining. Instead he has this "tortured artist no-one-understands-me" attitude and he can keep it. I'm through with him.