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Post by The Captain on May 5, 2020 18:07:12 GMT -5
I recently watched Episode 4 with my older daughter. She had wanted to watch the prequels through Return of the Jedi, but I convinced her after Episode 1 that there was no point to seeing the next two, both of which were horrible.
We sat down to watch it on Disney+, but then I got a bad feeling about it, a feeling that would be confirmed just a little while later after the droids land on Tatooine. IT WAS THE GARBAGE "REDONE" VERSION WITH THE ENHANCED CGI AND ADDED FOOTAGE, not the same movie my father had taken me to see in the theaters when I was five and which I fell in love with. Animated dewbacks, extra crap in Mos Eisley starport and cantina, the frickin' abomination that is the Jabba the Hutt scene, all of it there in its "George Lucas pissing on my childhood" glory.
After gagging my way through it, I explained that it was the "new version" and not the original. She told me it didn't surprise her to hear that, as the CGI was "way too good for the 70s". I will watch Empire and Return with her, even though they are also the "New Coke" versions, because it helps me and her connect in our geekiness and keeps us close as she grows older.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 5, 2020 20:12:58 GMT -5
I recently watched with my 19 year old daughter.. whose seen it before as she was younger, but remembers it more from the Lego games.
I couldn't help but to point out all the stupid changes.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2020 20:53:49 GMT -5
I recently watched Episode 4 with my older daughter. She had wanted to watch the prequels through Return of the Jedi, but I convinced her after Episode 1 that there was no point to seeing the next two, both of which were horrible. We sat down to watch it on Disney+, but then I got a bad feeling about it, a feeling that would be confirmed just a little while later after the droids land on Tatooine. IT WAS THE GARBAGE "REDONE" VERSION WITH THE ENHANCED CGI AND ADDED FOOTAGE, not the same movie my father had taken me to see in the theaters when I was five and which I fell in love with. Animated dewbacks, extra crap in Mos Eisley starport and cantina, the frickin' abomination that is the Jabba the Hutt scene, all of it there in its "George Lucas pissing on my childhood" glory. After gagging my way through it, I explained that it was the "new version" and not the original. She told me it didn't surprise her to hear that, as the CGI was "way too good for the 70s". I will watch Empire and Return with her, even though they are also the "New Coke" versions, because it helps me and her connect in our geekiness and keeps us close as she grows older. I don’t understand why the legions of Star Wars fans who would be ready to pay good money to see the original Star Wars must go to a fan-made despecialized version to get the real thing.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 5, 2020 21:19:52 GMT -5
My understanding is it was Lucas' hubris. He wanted to see his vision with new effects. Maybe now that Disney is in charge we can get a 'ultimate edition' some day
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 6, 2020 6:37:41 GMT -5
My understanding is it was Lucas' hubris. He wanted to see his vision with new effects. Maybe now that Disney is in charge we can get a 'ultimate edition' some day I live in hope. It’s not as if Disney means to stand by Lucas’s vision come hail or high water, since the man disavowed their new trilogy!
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Post by Confessor on May 6, 2020 8:59:56 GMT -5
I recently watched Episode 4 with my older daughter. She had wanted to watch the prequels through Return of the Jedi, but I convinced her after Episode 1 that there was no point to seeing the next two, both of which were horrible. We sat down to watch it on Disney+, but then I got a bad feeling about it, a feeling that would be confirmed just a little while later after the droids land on Tatooine. IT WAS THE GARBAGE "REDONE" VERSION WITH THE ENHANCED CGI AND ADDED FOOTAGE, not the same movie my father had taken me to see in the theaters when I was five and which I fell in love with. Animated dewbacks, extra crap in Mos Eisley starport and cantina, the frickin' abomination that is the Jabba the Hutt scene, all of it there in its "George Lucas pissing on my childhood" glory. I recently watched with my 19 year old daughter.. whose seen it before as she was younger, but remembers it more from the Lego games. I couldn't help but to point out all the stupid changes. Considering the cultural importance of the first Star Wars movie, in terms of it being a seminal piece of 1970s cinema, I've long felt that it is a disgrace that you can't buy or stream a decent quality version of the original cut of the film. Other landmark '70s films, like Taxi Driver, The Godfarther, The Exorcist, Jaws, Dirty Harry, and Apocalypse Now all get the deluxe treatment, with pristine digital transfers and remastered sound to faithfully reproduce the original experience of watching these films in the cinema, with the best possible quality. The original Star Wars trilogy is, as you say, only available in it's bastardized 1997 Special Edition form (with added digital futzing from 2004 and 2011). Even when the original theatrical cut of the movies were made available on DVD for a limited time in 2008, they were directly sourced from a crappy early 1990's laser disc, which had the wrong aspect ratio, resulting in a "squashing" or "stretching" of the picture when watched back at the film's correct aspect ratio. That's shockingly poor treatment for such important films. I don’t understand why the legions of Star Wars fans who would be ready to pay good money to see the original Star Wars must go to a fan-made despecialized version to get the real thing. My understanding is it was Lucas' hubris. He wanted to see his vision with new effects. Maybe now that Disney is in charge we can get a 'ultimate edition' some day Don't hold your breath. I think there's something dodgy behind the fact that, eight years on from Disney acquairing Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, we still haven't seen them release the original versions of the classic trilogy. There's a worrying fan theory out there, based on comments George Lucas himself made when the Special Editions were coming out in 1997, that the film's original negatives have been destroyed in the process of doing the Special Editions. I forget all the ins and outs of this conspiracy theory, but there were a lot of comments made at the time, along with supposed "evidence" on the extras of the Special Edition DVDs themselves, that suggest that, for some reason, ILM didn't work on copies of the OT when they undertook the Special Editions. They worked directly on the negatives instead. The upshot being that the negatives are now incomplete and butchered beyond repair. I hope that's not true, but if it is, that would be an unparalleled act of cinematic vandalism...especially for such iconic movies as the original SW trilogy. I've also heard rumours that the continued non-appearance of the original versions of those films is down to Disney not having the distribution rights for all three original trilogy films; 20th Century Fox still own the distribution rights to the first Star Wars film, I believe. So that could definitely be a stumblinmg block in getting the OT out there in its original form. I'm dubious about this though because the OT would sell like hot cakes and make a ton of money for both parties, if it were released.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 6, 2020 9:12:42 GMT -5
I think there's something dodgy behind the fact that, eight years on from Disney acquairing Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, we still haven't seen them release the original versions of the classic trilogy. There's a worrying fan theory out there, based on comments George Lucas himself made when the Special Editions were coming out in 1997, that the film's original negatives have been destroyed in the process of doing the Special Editions. That may well be, but from all I've read about the fan-made despecialized editions, they would be perfectly acceptable as a commercial product. Yes, I read the same thing. Empire and Jedi are safe, but as I recall the rights to distribute the original SW on home video are not owned by Disney. Agreed... but the market for the original trilogy might not be that significant if it also means essentially killing the market for the specialized editions. Perhaps it's just seen as too much hassle for too little gain. Which is our collective loss.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2020 10:29:06 GMT -5
But didn't Disney acquire all of 20th Century Fox's assets/properties when they acquired most of Fox. Nothing of 20th Century Fox remained in what portions Fox retained (News & Sports), so wouldn't theyhave the distribution rights to the original film now, which would shoot down that theory.
-M
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 6, 2020 12:06:33 GMT -5
But didn't Disney acquire all of 20th Century Fox's assets/properties when they acquired most of Fox. Nothing of 20th Century Fox remained in what portions Fox retained (News & Sports), so wouldn't theyhave the distribution rights to the original film now, which would shoot down that theory. -M You’re quite correct... The argument is no longer valid since the purchase of Fox. So, Disney, what’s your excuse???
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2020 12:56:16 GMT -5
My guess is that there is a clause in the contract of the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney that limited or prohibited the release of the original versions either without Lucas's permission or at all during his lifetime as a condition of the sale that Disney had to meet before George agreed to the sale. It's not something they would publicize, and Disney is not one to leave dollars on the table unless there is a legal or a PR reason to do so (such as not releasing versions of Song of the South for sale despite demand because of possible PR backlash). They are taking a bit of a PR hit not releasing the originals and leaving money on the table, so I suspect there is some kind of legal reason behind it that wasn't corrected by the acquisition of Fox, which is what leads me to think it is some kind of clause in the terms of sale of Lucasfilm to Disney. However, this is pure speculation on my part and I fully accept I am probably wrong.
-M
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 6, 2020 18:34:44 GMT -5
No Holiday Special blu-ray in the near future either, then?
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Post by sunofdarkchild on May 7, 2020 1:18:25 GMT -5
On May they finally wrapped up Clone Wars 12 years after the series started and and the general consensus seems to be that the final 4 episode arc 'Siege of Mandalore' is the best Star Wars content in many years, featuring one of the best lightsaber duels put to film along with other terrific action sequences and some of the most emotional moments in the entire franchise, as well as probably the best ending scene in all of Star Wars.
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Post by Calidore on May 7, 2020 10:28:38 GMT -5
Possibly they're concerned about what a proper rerelease of the original versions might do to sales of the Special Editions. Or possibly they're working on a super-duper restoration along the lines of Apocalypse Now and Suspiria. One can hope.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2020 16:47:32 GMT -5
Boba Fett is returningTemeura Morrison has been brought on to play Boba Fett on The Mandalorian-he played Jango Fett in the prequels (and since Boba is supposed to be a clone of Jango it makes sense). -M
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 10, 2020 6:49:47 GMT -5
Boba Fett is returningTemeura Morrison has been brought on to play Boba Fett on The Mandalorian-he played Jango Fett in the prequels (and since Boba is supposed to be a clone of Jango it makes sense). -M I was hoping for him to be Rex but I'll take Boba
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