UPDATE! Rumor: Original Star Wars Theatrical Trilogy Possibly Getting a Blu-Ray Release. 4K Remaster For Theaters?

original-trilogy-blu-ray-dvd-set-021-225x3001Original Trilogy enthusiasts, rejoice! Rumors that Disney has plans to re-release the films of Original Trilogy as they originally appeared in theaters back in 1977, 1980, and 1983 on the Blu-Ray format have circulated the web. Nonetheless, things aren’t so cut-and-dry – make the jump for more details.

 

 

From ComicBook.com:

According to our sources, Disney has plans to release the original cut of the Star Wars trilogy on Blu-ray. Our sources indicate that the project has been under way for quite some time, but it’s been challenging because of some damage to the original negatives they are utilizing. The goal is to release A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of Jedi in their complete, unaltered, original form without the redone special edition SFX.

 

Our sources did not have an exact date as to when the original cut of the Star Wars Trilogy would be released on Blu-ray, due to the challenges Disney has encountered in pulling everything together. However, our sources indicated the goal is to have it ready and released before Star Wars Episode VII is released in theaters.

 

However, as I hinted at before, there are complications to this plan. For instance, A New Hope is still technically owned by Twentieth Century Fox, and the legal mumbo-jumbo behind that could mean that they will have the rights to that film as long as the company exists. All of the other films are under a comparatively less drastic copyright hold in regard to theatrical, nontheatrical, and home video rights for the movies… Which expire in May of 2020, meaning that Comic Book’s estimate may be overtly optimistic unless Disney is willing to shell out a boatload of money (and, given that they’ve already spent billions on the franchise, appealing to a comparatively smaller part of the fandom might not be on their immediate to-do list).

 

Georges-Lucas

George Lucas has consistently stated that he wants his franchise to be collectively viewed together, so it’s possible that he could always intervene and chip in some of his own money in order to get the damn box sets released. Even still, George Lucas has been insistent on the idea that the Special Editions of the films are the definitive versions (even if a decent portion of the fandom disagrees), and that he has generally been ambivalent toward releasing the unaltered versions of the films on any format.

 

However, neither of these things are to say that the “Original” Original Trilogy is never going to be remastered for Blu-Ray – just that some concessions are going to have to be made. What will most likely happen is that Disney and Fox will come up with some kind of a deal to produce any box set that features A New Hope, while Disney will still be able to release box sets of the Prequel Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy without any real adversity. George Lucas was able to make a concession by the way of re-releasing the Theatrical Original Trilogy on DVD for a limited time. I get the feeling that George Lucas will eventually repeat this process and release the Theatrical Original Trilogy on Blu-Ray – and indeed, he may have had plans to do this up until Disney’s purchase of the franchise complicated matters.

 

It all boils down to a test of patience (along with figuring out how long the wait will be), and as much as we love to gripe as fans, we can always wait.

 

UPDATE!

 

Frequent Commenter Aras Volodka brought this article to my attention, and he has my thanks. In short, it regards the 4K remastered version of the Original Trilogy that will apparently be released for theaters – though whether or not it’s the original cut or the Special Edition has yet to be seen.

Reliance Media Works, who were previously called Lowry Digital and worked on the earlier DVD and Blu-ray releases of the Star Wars films, as well as the original Indiana Jones movies, have announced on their website that they recently finished a 4K/16-bit restoration of the original Star Wars trilogy.
 
That’s good news on number of levels because not only does that mean there will be 4K masters of the films for any future 4K home video release, assuming the Blu-ray Disc Association ever get there act together, but it almost certainly means that the original trilogy will get a theatrical re-release next year to whet our appetite for J. J. Abrams’ forthcoming Episode VII.
 
So the big question is, which versions of the original Star Wars films have been restored at 4K? Did Reliance Media Works go back to the original camera negative and restore the 1977, 1980 and 1983 versions or are these the ‘special editions’? Perhaps we’ll get both, with a final, final version for a cinema reissue and both that and the original cut for a Blu-ray release.

In any case, though it’s still ambiguous as to whether or not the 4K remasters are going to be for the the original version or the updated version, it’s good to see a sign that Disney and Fox may have already worked out a deal of some kind in regard to distributing the movies to theaters.

+ posts

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

112 thoughts on “UPDATE! Rumor: Original Star Wars Theatrical Trilogy Possibly Getting a Blu-Ray Release. 4K Remaster For Theaters?

  • August 17, 2014 at 3:54 pm
    Permalink

    Awesome!

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:06 pm
    Permalink

    Of course these are great news, but I’ve love the way Mr George Lucas visioned them, which is current Blu-ray versions of films…

    • August 17, 2014 at 8:27 pm
      Permalink

      I agree. I love Star Wars. Lucas created it. Therefore I love his definitive version. Anything else is like saying you prefer the Mona Lisa before Da Vinci filled in the background, because you happened to see it first while he was on a break. If you don’t buy into Lucas’s vision, maybe Star Trek is a better choice. There is only one true Star Wars, and that’s the latest versions of his six groundbreaking films.

      • August 17, 2014 at 9:00 pm
        Permalink

        Bad analogy. What you mean is, you loved the Mona Lisa for twenty years, then DaVinci said “Waitaminute, I have much better brushes now”, then proceeded to paint bright globs all over Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile and then saying “This was how I really wanted the painting to look when I sat down twenty years ago”.

        • August 18, 2014 at 5:31 pm
          Permalink

          Yes…. Or him saying, “I could never get the teeth right for her smile, but now I can.” and then he added teeth

      • August 17, 2014 at 11:26 pm
        Permalink

        This sounds like creepy cult talk.

        Lucas should’ve finished his original vision back in 77, 80 and 83. When you release something that well beloved out into the world, warts and all, you can’t start making changes to it and not expect to piss people off, especially when you go out of your way to deny them the original version.

        And “true” or “real” Star Wars fans aren’t limited to those who only choose Lucas’ version.

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:09 pm
    Permalink

    I understand there is one segment of the fandom that religiously revere the supposedly uncorrupt and pure “original versions”, but personally I would be quite happy to have them as bonus material on a DVD somewhere.

    All right, so maybe Han should still be shooting first, but many of the changes were sensible and improved overall continuity. As for the FX, I would not mind a _continual_ gentle “updating” in years and decades to come, simply redoing the original effects with suble improvements to keep ever more sophisticated viewers happy.

    For instance, some of the planets-seen-from-space in IV look like the paintings they are. Replacing them with superior digital mattes (while keeping every feature on the surface of Tattooine exactly as it was) would not constitute blasphemy in my book.

    The Prequels could also be upgraded, in fact, with improved CGI that looks less like … you know, CGI! I particularly noted some aliens and digital sets in Episode II that have aged badly, but improving them should be a straightforward job.

    Then some people will be clamoring to have the “original”, unadulterated versions of the Prequels released again, so that they can show their kids how they “really were”.

    • August 17, 2014 at 4:32 pm
      Permalink

      totally agree….

    • August 17, 2014 at 4:50 pm
      Permalink

      Two words “Jedi Rock” LOL

      Actually in terms of fandom I have always been a loyalist to Star Wars and less of a purist, the special editions have been my Star Wars for as long as i can remember (I grow up on them more so then the unaltered versions) and i like the PT for what the are. What upsets me is that small group of Star Wars fans who dismiss everything that is not the Original Original Trilogy. If the unaltered OT comes out i will buy it because i love everything Star wars. For every two bad changes there is always one really good change when it comes to the special editions.

      • August 17, 2014 at 5:51 pm
        Permalink

        Jedi Rock was so out of place not just because of the CGI. At one point Sy Snootles looks directly into the camera, breaking the Fourth wall.

        • August 17, 2014 at 9:48 pm
          Permalink

          …That’s not breaking the fourth wall. If she said, “Get a load of THIS Hutt!” or something to the effect of actually addressing the audience, then that would be breaking the fourth wall. But simply looking at the camera is not – Stanley Kubrick’s films utilized this cinematic trope all the time.

      • August 18, 2014 at 1:42 am
        Permalink

        The Jedi Rocks sequence in the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi is, in my opinion, no better or worse than the original Lapti Nek scene in the original version which was already silly and a bit horribly out of place for the Star Wars saga. I’ve gotten used to both versions but to say that Jedi Rocks is horrible and yet somehow give a pass to the original Lapti Nek which, at the time, looked more like it belonged in Battlestar Galactica than in Star Wars is to look at the original films with blinders on.

        Actually, Return of the Jedi is the only Special Edition that I greatly prefer to the original version, not because of the silly Jedi Rocks sequence, but because of the wonderful ending which finally gives an epic sweep to the conclusion of this grand trilogy which has now become a grand sextology.

    • August 17, 2014 at 6:11 pm
      Permalink

      Honestly Episode 3 is way more dated than 2- Utapau (sp?) looked terrible from day one- and so did quite a few shots on Grevious’s starship-

    • August 17, 2014 at 9:10 pm
      Permalink

      I was never against visual upgrades to special FX that were clearly dated. As you said including most of the prequels. What once was state of the art is now pretty bad CGI.

      I just can’t stand edits to the original’s scenes. Say what you will but Lucas lost something in his old age. Either he was to surrounded by “Yes men” or simply lost touch with the very series he created.

      So just don’t alter anything but visuals and maybe damaged or poor quality audio. Leave it at that and there would be much more peace between OT and PT fans.

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:18 pm
    Permalink

    Once it’s all sorted out and the films are released, the fans will begin their moaning about which version of Aunt Beru’s voice is used and which line Han utters as he’s stuffing Luke into the Taun-Taun etc etc.
    They’ll find it very difficult indeed to please the fans of the unaltered OT.

    • August 17, 2014 at 4:56 pm
      Permalink

      Did anyone complain in 1995 when they released the The OOT versions on VHS & Laserdisc? Before the SE, nobody complained as the OT fans bought every box set as that helped the growth of VHS & Laserdisc. You are just finding a few statements on the internet of people you never met instead of looking at the facts that the pre-1997 OT boxsets were bestsellers.

      • August 19, 2014 at 4:23 am
        Permalink

        True, but..
        Bear in mind that prior to the SE, there were only ‘Star Wars fans’..
        Just some perspective..

    • August 17, 2014 at 5:00 pm
      Permalink

      Nah, all they need to to is release the version that most people saw and heard when it was originally released.

      • August 17, 2014 at 5:39 pm
        Permalink

        It’s true. If people have slight preferences to the audio version, or title card, they’ll be able to make or download an essentially perfect fanedit for the version they prefer, problem solved.

        That’s not the case when chunks of the movies are only available from grainy, unrestored laser disc masters.

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:19 pm
    Permalink

    Though I like a few of the changes (like the 180 degree pan across the x-wings before the death star battle in ANH) the “Jabba’s rocks” sequence alone totally blots out any virtues that the special editions have

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:34 pm
    Permalink

    I like most of the Special Edition changes, but there were some really bad decisions too.

    But I got an idea. There will be so many Star Wars directors in the coming years. I would like an annual release of the OT, recut by these directors: a recut by Rian Johnson, a recut by Josh Trank, J.J Abrams, etc. It could precede the theatrical release of their own Star Wars movie, and in a couple of years every fan could just pick his/her favorite edition.

    • August 17, 2014 at 11:34 pm
      Permalink

      Aren’t Star Wars fans divided enough as it is?

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:35 pm
    Permalink

    Yeah, the new song of the Max Rebo band is cartoonish, especially the new singer and the shot when he opens his mouth…it felt totally out of place…

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:46 pm
    Permalink

    I hope this is true.

  • August 17, 2014 at 4:51 pm
    Permalink

    The originals should have been released alongside the SE on DVD in 2004 & Bluray in 2011 and all of this nonsense could have been avoided. Some fans like the OOT, some like the ’97 versions, some like ’04 versions, & others like ’11 versions. Just release them all and let the fans decide so we can ALL enjoy the movies again. Lucas needlessly split the fan base and hopefully Disney can reunite us back together!

    • August 17, 2014 at 5:21 pm
      Permalink

      That would be one epic box set to have all the different versions of the films over the years remastered 4k scanned. I would pay any amount of money for that. Though that will never happen. As great as the Blu-rays look and sound the 2004 DVD are my personal favorite versions of the films(with the exception of Jedi Rocks).

  • August 17, 2014 at 5:07 pm
    Permalink

    Lucas should’ve done what they did with the original “Star Trek” series on blu, which has both the new FX and original versions on the same set. There would’ve been a lot of good will if he had.

  • August 17, 2014 at 5:08 pm
    Permalink

    Bad jabba in anh, jedi rocks, beaky sarralac… Those 3 were the only changes I didn’t like. Wider mos Isley shots, cities at the end of jedi and clean up of practical effects were all good. Even new palpatine was good in esp.

    • August 17, 2014 at 5:25 pm
      Permalink

      Don’t forget put back Han shooting first

    • August 17, 2014 at 10:06 pm
      Permalink

      Yes, putting Ian McDermod in TESB was a good and appropriate and inevitable feeling revision but not worth Han saying “I love you too”!

    • August 17, 2014 at 10:40 pm
      Permalink

      What about the frog/toad-like creature belching outside the building housing Jabba’s lair? I don’t know why everybody always forgets that particular misstep. It may have only lasted just a few seconds, but it seemed so, so very tone-deaf and inconsistent with the rest of the movie…much like “Jabba Rocks”…

  • August 17, 2014 at 5:35 pm
    Permalink

    I’d like to have the original films, because they are the original films. Anything else is just a fan edit or fan revision. Like them or not, they aren’t the real deal. All these releases are nothing other than, as they say themselves, ‘special’ editions. The constant tinkering to try and ‘improve’ them just drag them through the mud. Just let them be and embrace the films that changed the face of cinema.

  • August 17, 2014 at 5:35 pm
    Permalink

    Finally… Now I can destroy my Special Editions.

  • August 17, 2014 at 5:36 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve been listening to a small slice of fans bitch and whine for years about getting unaltered versions of the OT. But where were those supposed fans when they DID release it on DVD? Funny, I have that set, has 2 discs each, one unaltered movie, and one tweaked-as-of-that-moment version. Hell, the original crawl to Star Wars didn’t even have A New Hope or Episode IV at the top of it.

    These people could go buy this release on ebay TO THIS DAY. If they were fans that is.

    • August 17, 2014 at 6:00 pm
      Permalink

      Wow how arrogant. Don’t You realize the OT versions on the DVD were just taken from the laserdisc transfer? It’s terrible quality.

    • August 17, 2014 at 6:07 pm
      Permalink

      The 2006 OOT DVD sets were non-anamorphic transfers taken from 1993 Laserdisc. I hate to break it to you but today’s standard is Bluray that are played on HDTV’s, not 1993 non anamorphic transfers! Its goes to show how uneducated some SW fans are and have NO idea what they are talking about!

      • August 17, 2014 at 6:26 pm
        Permalink

        So you didn’t buy it, is what you are saying.

        • August 17, 2014 at 8:54 pm
          Permalink

          No what we are saying is that you don’t understand what outdated formats are.

          • August 19, 2014 at 5:27 am
            Permalink

            Sounds to me like you got what you wanted and now you’re angry that Lucasfilm didn’t put a spitshine on them.

  • August 17, 2014 at 6:03 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks, but for now, I’m sticking with harmy’s despecialized editions.

    • August 17, 2014 at 9:15 pm
      Permalink

      Off to google to understand what this means… and slightly excited to find out!

      • August 17, 2014 at 11:38 pm
        Permalink

        You will be, YOU WILL BE!

    • August 17, 2014 at 6:14 pm
      Permalink

      this is another classic non-article- non-issue being posted on this site – at some point this site needs to realize the responsibility they have with star wars fans to not put up garbage like this-

      This is all straight 100% opinion with no fact. – do a little fact checking please…

      Disney wants money, and so does 20th Fox…. The films have already been remastered in 4k- and they will be released.

      • August 17, 2014 at 10:16 pm
        Permalink

        “This is all straight 100% opinion with no fact. – do a little fact checking please…”

        With due respect, a lot of what I wrote *is* based on fact. The copyright issue was directly lifted from the article I linked to in question, and the OOT did have a brief DVD run, even if it wasn’t completely remastered. Perhaps I should have made more of a distinction as to speculation regarding the possibility of the release, but you can’t call it a 100% opinion piece given that I actually did have some hard facts to back my statement up.

        Nonetheless, I am going to update the article to account for the 4K news.

        • August 18, 2014 at 2:08 am
          Permalink

          Look – you just need to appreciate how much your work affects fanboys- they take these rumors as facts- Just from a purely legal point of view, do you this coming back on the site when someone out there involved with the restoration gets upset with the information you are stating?

          Just be responsible- it will make the site better and also give it more credibility.

          thanks for the hard work.

  • August 17, 2014 at 6:25 pm
    Permalink

    What are you even talking about? This isn’t an opinion… Reliance Media Works made the announcement, they have a partnership with Disney… do the math, and some fact checking yourself.

    I just mentioned it because people are talking about the OT as if they still need to be transferred… but they already have been.

    • August 17, 2014 at 7:03 pm
      Permalink

      @ Aras Volodka I’m talking about this site’s posting not yours- I was agreeing with you- your comment and the avs link is extremely informative and fact based- thank you for the good comments as always- you are a voice of reason on these boards.

      • August 17, 2014 at 8:53 pm
        Permalink

        Woops I apologize, I’m very sorry! I misunderstood your comment… can’t wait to see the 4k transfer 🙂

  • August 17, 2014 at 6:31 pm
    Permalink

    While I do want the original theatrical versions of the films – including both the original “Star Wars” and “Episode 4: A New Hope” variations of the original film – to be preserved and released for posterity, I would rather see a “Special Edition Lite” version of each film with only a few changes that replace badly aged effects like obvious matte lines (the matte lines on the Rancor always bugged me as it was my favorite moment in the films for a long time), bad lightsaber effects (specifically in EP4), some bad ship effects shots (again, mostly in EP4), and the terrible effects for entering Mos Eisley. To me (putting aside preservation purposes) continuity and the believability of the Universe across the films is more important than seeing what the original effects were like when it comes to home media viewing. Both the original and Special Edition version ruin that continuity and believability for me; one doesn’t go far enough and the other goes too far.

    • August 17, 2014 at 6:36 pm
      Permalink

      I may have clicked like on my own comment when trying to edit.

      • August 17, 2014 at 7:05 pm
        Permalink

        click it again and remove it-

  • August 17, 2014 at 7:21 pm
    Permalink

    I rented them from Blockbuster back in 2006 just to see if the reviews were right about the bad quality and they were taken from laserdisc masters. So they essentially released a transfer that was standard in 1993 laserdisc for 2006 DVD! It was laughable and insulting!

  • August 17, 2014 at 7:43 pm
    Permalink

    I don’t want the originals. I just want the special edition of ANH with “Han shooting first” and the “Jabba-Boba” scene removed. The rest I can live with. ROTJ was not very good to begin with.

  • August 17, 2014 at 7:45 pm
    Permalink

    Meh. I prefer the current Blu-ray versions. Besides, this rumor is probably not true.

  • August 17, 2014 at 7:49 pm
    Permalink

    The beauty of this country is that you don’t have to buy them and can enjoy the version you like on Bluray. I can’t say that about OOT fans until these versions are finally released.

  • August 17, 2014 at 8:05 pm
    Permalink

    I actually very much like the 1997 Special Editions with the following exceptions.

    I’d like the original Han shoots first sequence.

    I’d rather have Luke’s scream as he fell on Cloud City taken out.

    Mostly I don’t care for any changes to plot or character. But when the changes are mostly cosmetic I think they’re great.

    I don’t really care for the updated Sy Snootles sequences.

    All the rest are great updates that generally improve the OT.

    I haven’t seen subsequent updates to the films though, which I understand were done to subsequent DVD releases, so I can’t comment on those.

  • August 17, 2014 at 8:54 pm
    Permalink

    Best news ever! I don’t care what it costs. Original versions? That’s like a dream come true.

    I hated the edits that forced nonsensical prequel things like Anakin’s force ghost and changing Boba’s voice.

    Seriously if they need to charge $100 for this collection or more… I’ll pay it. Hell even if the new trilogy isn’t that good I’ll love Disney for restoring the OT.

    • August 17, 2014 at 8:56 pm
      Permalink

      I don’t like the changes since the special edition- but I really don’t want a version with Matte lines around space ships- that will look horrid in HD.

  • August 17, 2014 at 8:57 pm
    Permalink

    why buy OT in blu-ray? In my opinion too much definition (seems all fake) doesn’t work in a film like Star Wars. I prefer watch them in my old vhs or a copy i have in dvd(unaltered trilogy).

    • August 18, 2014 at 2:51 am
      Permalink

      Blu-ray is still lower definition than it had in the theatre in 1977…

  • August 17, 2014 at 9:01 pm
    Permalink

    If anyone thinks the PT looks dated then the OT looks ancient by comparison.

    Everything dates so that is hardly an argument. Of course what is so funny is that many of the people who talked about how “dated” the PT looks complain because “it’s all CG” which of course it isn’t. They are real sets extended with matte paintings and miniatures with various CG enhancements.

    It’s inevitable the theatrical versions will come out. A deal with FOX over distribution will be cut over I-III, V and VI and then some arrangement with IV which Fox owns will be worked out.

    The reality is that they will not likely truly be the “real” versions but more akin to the fan despecialized editions ie they will present a modern day representation of the original cuts. VFX shots will be cleaned up, various errors that would be noticed on HD screens will be fixed. Anything that they can’t get off of the O-Neg will probably use the recomposited versions created for the SE’s. These were recreations of the original shots using the original elements done to match the original footage.

    Personally I would fix all the problems with various Lightsabers shots. Too often Vader’s saber comes out pinkish and orange as opposed to red and then in other shots the core is too small or large.

    So really I’d rather have a technically perfected version of the movies than all the inherent flaws in the originals.

    I will default to the SE’s of I, IV-VI but I would like theatrical like cuts for reference (TPM as well since the BD IS a SE). Too bad Lucas wasn’t a greedy guy who could have made how many millions more releasing the films in all versions over and over and over again.

    As soon as Disney bought it I knew that was going to happen someday.

    • August 17, 2014 at 9:21 pm
      Permalink

      Actually I feel the PT looks more dated, perhaps because CGI effects are still evolving. Look at Jar Jar, he looks so fake it is patethic. Or any scene in ROTS involving clone troopers. It just isn’t convincing at all anymore. The cgi overkill in many scenes makes the prequels look like cartoons, while the OT ~ mostly ~ looks and feels real. For a direct comparison, note how real Chewbacca feels when he is inside the Millenium Falcon, tinkering with actual stuff. Then look at Chewbacca standing against a green screen in ROTS. And carrying Yoda around, to confound any lover of decent stories just a little extra.

      And the Special Editions? I’ll burn the VHS, DVD and blu-rays the moment I can buy the originals because aside from some matte line fixing all of Lucas’ additions shat all over what was already excellent. I’ll miss, perhaps the cool ANH space battle additional shots but Han will shoot first, Boba will be cool again, and nobody has to prepare the Star Destroyer for Darth Vader’s arrival; I won’t have to see Hayden appear as a ghost, I don’t have to see happy Gungans, and I don’t have to watch Jabba until Ep VI where he belongs.

      • August 18, 2014 at 2:53 am
        Permalink

        I really, really hope you are right about that

  • August 17, 2014 at 9:09 pm
    Permalink

    Here’s what I hope they do with the eventual 4k bluray release of the OT to make everyone happy:

    1 version of the OOT with 4k transfer unaltered

    1 version of the OOT with modern color grading for HDR TV’s + a Dolby Atmos mix

    1 version with a harmy-esque despecialized edition/HDR/ Atmos and without

    1 version with Lucas’s rendition /HDR/ Atmos and without

    + Any other versions I might have missed.

    Sell them in separate online packages or as a huge box set Disney could charge 200 bucks for… win win for everyone.

    • August 17, 2014 at 10:34 pm
      Permalink

      At the second 1 i have been lost.
      That’s why i simply don’t care anything about blu-rays
      I’m very happy with my DVD collection

      • August 17, 2014 at 11:10 pm
        Permalink

        Oh man you don’t know what you are missing… 1080p looks way better! Have you seen bluray movies at a friend’s house or anything like that?

        This winter (if the bluray disc association can get the 4k standards nailed down) You will see much higher levels of contrast, color, and clarity if you browse your local best buy. The difference between current blurays and the next generation of Bluray will be as dramatic as the difference between VHS and DVD.

        • August 18, 2014 at 10:52 pm
          Permalink

          Will the next gen BluRay require a new player, too?

          • August 19, 2014 at 1:12 am
            Permalink

            Unfortunately yes (for 4k bluray discs)… though if you have a fast internet connection you might not even need discs to watch the content. (I think 30 mbps sustained or something like that).

            I’m not sure if HDR/dolby vision will be specific to 4k bluray discs, since so many people will still be using 1080p blurays for a while. Though I’m pretty sure only 4k TV’s will have HDR/dolby vision. Dolby vision is the next big leap visually, the images on the screen will look waaaay more real due to darker blacks and brighter lights with everything in between, and expanded color 🙂

            If I had to take a guess I’d say current gen 1080p bluray players could handle dolby vision with a firmware upgrade.

            Though online content will be here before 4k blurays.

          • August 19, 2014 at 5:38 am
            Permalink

            Minor correction: I was reading an article that said PS4 & Xbox One will handle 4k bluray with firmware updates… I’m curious why a standard player wouldn’t be able to unless I’m mistaken.

          • August 19, 2014 at 7:16 pm
            Permalink

            Thanks Areas. Co a nontechnical guy like me, I appreciate the superior knowledge.

          • August 19, 2014 at 11:49 pm
            Permalink

            No problem! I’m not super technical either, I just listen to geeks talk about this stuff… if you are into home theater at all check out this podcast… some of the newer episodes get really geeky but if you go to pages 2, 3, 4 there are some real accessible episodes that are really fascinating!
            + if you are in the market to get a new TV, audio system, or even just knowing more about different types of projectors in theaters then this will be a great resource… especially if you have an hour long drive home in the car:

            http://twit.tv/show/home-theater-geeks

    • August 18, 2014 at 12:14 am
      Permalink

      You’re welcome!

  • August 17, 2014 at 11:19 pm
    Permalink

    What we need is an announcement of clone wars season 6 on blu ray already.

  • August 18, 2014 at 12:36 am
    Permalink

    I have to agree that the mistake was not making the original versions available. I just watched the entire Saga – Episode I, II, TCE (in correct order, III, IV, V, VI – and for the most part the changes make for a better experience. But people love the old versions, GL should’ve let them have it.

  • August 18, 2014 at 12:41 am
    Permalink

    Fans would be all over a remastered box set of the original cuts, so I would see it as a no-brainer at some point. Throw in the Holiday Special as a bonus disc!

  • August 18, 2014 at 12:50 am
    Permalink

    Some of the responses are quite scary. Is this what happened when a generation grew up on the PT and SEs? Toadies and idiots with no taste?
    This is why Episode 7 will be a great thing. It will ensure the next generation has real Star Wars. Any new fans deserve to see the OOT, and have it be their own. The PT/SE generation is lost.

    • August 18, 2014 at 2:50 am
      Permalink

      I think that might be the most pretentious post I’ve ever seen. Bravo on being an elitist.

      • August 18, 2014 at 7:02 am
        Permalink

        Why thank you, but i’m not an elitist. I welcome more people to discover the OOT and learn how Lucas butchered the movies to create his “Special Editions.”

        Ever since Disney bought the company, they have worked hard to restore Star Wars’ good name. A focus on the characters and the situations of the OT, instead of the glut of Prequel crap that was 1999-2013. A new film that focuses on what made Star Wars special. Now an effort to undo Lucas’ changes and present the movies as people loved them for decades.

        It’s funny how the PT and SE fans were ok when we got treated like crap, but throw a fit when it happens to them. Notice how we don’t care if your stupid SEs are made available- more power to you.

        • August 18, 2014 at 7:15 am
          Permalink

          You say you aren’t elitist and yet you immediately call the Special Editions stupid, pointing out that you believe that children should only see the original cuts of the film. I think you might not be getting why you were called that to begin with.

          Nothing Disney has done so far has been to make sure that newer fans of the series are “treated like crap” (which I find to be an entitled statement, considering that receiving altered versions of the films and receiving additional films that didn’t tickle your fancy hardly sounds like you were forsaken). Quite contrary, given that there are still plans to publish Clone Wars stories into the foreseeable future and that they’re not ignoring roughly seven hours worth of film in order to appease a crowd that pretends they don’t exist (even if the Sequel Trilogy doesn’t necessarily allude to them, the events in said movies still have an impact on what happens later on). Right now they’re pandering more to the Original Trilogy crowd, but that’s because the Sequel Trilogy will have more in common given that, well, it’s a sequel.

          • August 18, 2014 at 7:46 am
            Permalink

            Besides more Clone Wars stuff, what kind of PT pandering do you think Disney would do later on?

            Make some of the movies’ visuals look more like video games? Give us faster lightsaber fights? PT-style dialogue? More political scenes? Increase the amount of goofy aliens and droids?

          • August 18, 2014 at 9:42 am
            Permalink

            I would love (in a twisted way) to see a remake of the OT using the PT’s fantastic dialogue.

            INT. MILLENIUM FALCON:

            Princess Leia and Han Solo in the machine room. Leia tries to fix stuff. Han tries to help Leia.

            HAN SOLO:
            “I don’t care what universe you are from, that’s gotta hurt.”

            LEIA:
            “I don’t like this machine. It is irritating and I don’t understand.”

            HAN SOLO:
            “Don’t try it, Leia. This machine has the high ground…are you an angel?”

            LEIA:
            “How wude!”

            HAN:
            “I am haunted by the kiss I am going to give you now.”

            *Kissing*

            HAN:
            “Now this is podracing!”

            LEIA:
            “No loose wire jokes.”

          • August 18, 2014 at 10:03 am
            Permalink

            You completely fail to see my point. I never said there would be any pandering of the PT, but that it would be folly to just ignore an entire era of Star Wars content. There’s money to be made there, and the PT was in fact the more profitable trilogy of the two released so far.

            Of course, *then* you go into a bunch of generic and uninspired criticisms of the PT, many of which are also in the OT. The “CGI looks like video games” argument is so stupid that I’m not even going to bother with it. The lightsaber fights in the PT were considerably better than those in the OT in that they actually involved a greater degree of stuntwork and a greater use of the environment than those in the OT (seriously, look at the fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in A New Hope and compare that with the fight in Revenge Of The Sith and try to tell me that there wasn’t an improvement in the way the duels played out). The dialogue in the PT is essentially the same as the dialogue that was written for the OT, except the OT cast improvised and altered a lot of it – in other words, it was a flaw inherent in the system. The political scenes actually added texture to the Star Wars universe when they weren’t bogged down by boring bureaucratic stuff like taxation. And the only “goofy alien” worth a damn in the PT is Jar Jar, who basically disappeared after The Phantom Menace.

          • August 18, 2014 at 1:14 pm
            Permalink

            The light saber fights in the pt sucked. Te scenes were week and devoid of drama. If darth maul had flipped around an did acrobats because that was his particular style of fighting that would have been fine. But to have everyone including old men cgi’ed into the same kind of gymnastics was ridiculous. And they sucked any drama from the scenes

          • August 18, 2014 at 4:38 pm
            Permalink

            “It would be folly to just ignore an entire era of Star Wars content” :
            – This “entire era” is liked by approximately 0.0002% of the movie-going public. Wiser to focus on the actually well-liked Star Wars era of content.
            “The “CGI looks like video games” argument is so stupid that I’m not even going to bother with it.“
            – Which means you don’t even have an argument against it. The CGI *does* look like video game scenery
            “The lightsaber fights in the PT were considerably better than those in the OT in that they actually involved a greater degree of stuntwork and a greater use of the environment than those in the OT”
            – They were flashier, not better. In the OT, each lightsaber duel was a confrontation that changed the story, and they did not need to do all these crazy acrobatics that look fake (except Darth Maul); using the environment would be interesting if those environments were believable. But having the epic duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan as they surf on droids over lava is just so inane it hurts. It was so devoid of drama. It hurt the eyes. Heartless, soulless, pointless.
            “The dialogue in the PT is essentially the same as the dialogue that was written for the OT,”
            – The originals are quoted over and over again in popular culture. The originals are littered with great one-liners, and some clumsier bits that may resemble the PT dialogue. In the PT however there’s only bad dialogue, almost exclusively. A lot of the dialogue is out-of-character and sometimes even doesn’t make sense at all within the context. Like Padmé’s fantastic “I think Count Dooku was behind it!”
            “The political scenes actually added texture“
            – The only texture I noticed was an extremely shoddy script full of plotholes that made the politics quite uninteresting and unbelievable. It *could* have been good, but it just didn’t work at all. We were left with endless scenes of people talking to each other, moving to a window to continue the talk, and whatever they talked about was just boring. The taxation of the trade routes was the only properly political piece in the whole prequel trilogy and could have served as a nice backdrop to a conflict if said conflict was interesting or at least coherent plot-wise.

          • August 18, 2014 at 8:23 pm
            Permalink

            Pomojema:

            Much of the PT, like the arena on Geonosis or Obi-Wan fighting Grievous while riding a wacky lizard, does look like a giant video game.

            I didn’t care for the PT fights because they mostly lacked emotion and looked a lot more like dancing than fighting to me. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon didn’t even know Maul’s name, and Obi-Wan and Anakin’s fight in III was over-the-top and lasted so long it became boring.

            I get people’s criticism of Ben and Vader’s fight in IV, but I give it a pass because it was the first one in the franchise and was between an old man and a guy in a clunky suit. Plus, I really got to feel the history between these iconic characters in that scene.

            I was referring to the PT’s general lack of punchiness and emotion in its delivery. No way in hell do I buy the idea that the OT’s dialogue, imperfect as it may be, is anywhere near as bad as the PT’s.

            You mean all those political scenes where Palpatine easily fooled the dumbed down and uncritical masses with his speeches? The same crowd who trusted Jar Jar’s judgment in II? The same pack of brainless idiots who agreed to use an army they never authorized or believed Palpatine’s lies about the Jedi Order without any evidence? The same order that had protected them for a thousand generations?

            There were plenty of goofy aliens and droids, like Dexter Jettster, the battle droids, that lizard on Utapau, Watto, the Geonosians and alien leaders of the Separatist Movement, Trade Federation Neimodians, Grievous, Kaminoans, most of the aliens and droids from the podrace scene, etc.

          • August 18, 2014 at 9:55 pm
            Permalink

            I agree too, PT does look very video-game-ish. Rian Johnson said it best:

            “I think more and more people are hitting a critical mass as far as the CG-driven action scene, lending itself towards a very specific type of action film, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick, and I probably sound like a grumpy old man talking about it.”

            Granted… generic as the statement is there’s a lot of that anti-physics stuff going on in the PT, like when Jar Jar does those multi-flips in the air and some of those actions during the battle of Naboo.

            Though sometimes it’s nice to see that kind of quick action, like when Obi-wan and Anakin boarded Grevious’ vessel, I thought it was badass how they jumped out of their fighters and not a second later were already shredding robots apart, but in most other scenes it just turns into a visual cacophony of flat looking CGI. A few scenes later when Anakin frees Palpatine from the handcuffs with his light saber I thought that looked pretty fake. I guess what I’m hinting at is to use those ultra quick physics defying moments as “accents”.

          • August 18, 2014 at 10:21 pm
            Permalink

            (this is a follow up to my statement @ 21:55) If VII is produced the way I think it will be it may set a new precedent. The movies over the last 15 years will be marked visually by their over-the-topness… I mean this has happened before if you’ve ever seen parodies of 80’s action flicks, things go out of style. When CGI became a practical tool for directors to use it was abused because directors could now just make armies of 10,000 people without hiring actors. Initially that was pretty cool… I remember being blown away by that when the first LOTR film came out and seeing that opening sequence. But before too long that became a novelty. I think the desire for immersion will take us other places, and we’ll look back at the 2000-2014 movies and laugh before too long. There will of course be timeless exceptions… saving private ryan & the dark knight will be among those I believe.

  • August 18, 2014 at 1:54 am
    Permalink

    Wow! All of these comments and I don’t think one person has mentioned the TRULY EXCITING news in this post! The original trilogy is coming back to theaters next year, in whatever form, for the first time in 18 years!

    I hope it’s the original versions and I really, REALLY hope that Jedi doesnt have a young Anakin’s ghost next to an old Obi-wan’s ghost at the ending, but the really important thing is that we will get to see these classic films the way they were intended to be seen – on the big screen, hopefully with cheering crowds!

    With luck, my daughter can steer clear of hearing about Luke’s dad until then and she can experience Star Wars for the first time the way I did – in a theater! Thank the Force! This is the best news I’ve heard in months!

  • August 18, 2014 at 8:47 am
    Permalink

    Happy happy joy joy

  • August 18, 2014 at 12:18 pm
    Permalink

    Harmy’s Despecialized. All you need.

  • August 18, 2014 at 4:17 pm
    Permalink

    I’m going to wait for the ‘everything everything’ box set, you know, the one with all 3 trilogies, every version, the holiday special, making-of documentaries and set of postcards.

  • August 18, 2014 at 9:50 pm
    Permalink

    O.K. I’ll admit that Greedo shooting first was a stupid idea. Also, I can’t stand that stupid Jawas slapstick scene added to Ep4 (when Luke drives into Mos Eisley). Other than that, I have no problem with the Original trilogy Special Editions; if anything, they stiil need additional tweeks to bring them up to par with the quality of effects in the Prequels. The one change that I feel needs to be made is the saber duel between Kenobi and Darth Vader. It looks ridiculously lame compared to the fights in the other movies. These guys are Jedi masters! We get to see the full extent of their skill and power in Ep.3 yet Lucas has Kenobi and Vader fight like oldtimers in 4 while in the Prequels,the decrepit trio of Yoda,Dooku and the Emperor are able to do somersaults and backflips. It doesn’t make sense.

      • August 18, 2014 at 11:14 pm
        Permalink

        This is cool although the music is overly epic for this duel – not for the importance of the duel to the story, of course, but to the way it was choreographed and shot. Still, this is a really terrific effort to try to bring the duel up to the intensity of some of the later duels in the saga. When the movie originally came out, this duel was about the coolest thing I’d ever seen and I can’t tell you the hours my friends and I spent re-enacting it. But, coming chronologically after Obi-wan and Vader’s duel in Revenge of the Sith, it does now feel a bit lacking. So I applaud the effort! Of course, I don’t want the movie actually changed but this is fun.

        • August 20, 2014 at 12:23 am
          Permalink

          I just saw this for the first time. WOW! Talk about schooling George Lucas on how to do a special edition, he he..
          To hell with the original cut, I want this one!

    • August 18, 2014 at 11:06 pm
      Permalink

      The duel in IV at least looks real, and as someone mentioned above somewhere, the scene gives a sense of history between the two characters, and their dialogue breaking up the fight only adds to this.

      Compare this to III, where the duel we all were waiting for is just one endless sequence of unbelievable actions in an unbelievable environment. Examples:

      – There’s a bit where Anakin and Obi Wan are actually swinging their swords around furiously without either hitting each other or parrying/blocking. It looks so stupid words can’t describe how epically this fails.

      – Anakin is in close proximity to lava for ten minutes and then all of a sudden he bursts into flame…while he is a little farther away from the lava than he was to begin with.

      – Obi Wan yelling about the high ground, contradicting his scene with Maul in EP1 and he even had the high ground earlier in the SAME fricking sequence.

      – Those lame, fake cgi droids flying about

      – No dialogue to give any drama to the sequence before it is essentially over.

      The duel would have been much more dramatic and exciting if, WHILE THEY WERE FIGHTING in slightly believable environments, Obi-Wan tried to convince Anakin, you know,
      “ANAKIN! You are my brother! Stop this!”
      “No! You have been lying behind my back! Palpatine was right about you!”
      “Please, Anakin, don’t do this! I am the master here!”
      “And I am but a learner! But you just wait”

      (Ok didn’t mean that last bit).

      Anyway.

      “The full extent of their skill and power” in Ep3 really isn’t that much. So Yoda can bounce around like crazy. So Sidious has a lightsaber. It all flies directly in the face of the established story in Ep IV-VI, and it’s the PT that should be attacked for not showing consistency, NOT “A new Hope”.

      • August 19, 2014 at 1:22 am
        Permalink

        Yeah now that I think of it it’s one of the more boring parts of that film, I feel like I’m watching Mario in Bowser’s castle when they are jumping around on those platforms over lava. Anyone who’s played videogames with other people knows that watching other people trying to get through bowser’s castle is yawnville. But yeah I mean either way that was supposed to be the defining moment of the trilogy. I mean like everyone I know who was looking forwards to that film said “I can’t wait to see Obiwan fucks Anakin up! I wonder how it happens?”

        I hated those droids too haha.

        I actually think the most dramatic moment on mustafar was when Anakin went in and killed the trade federation people… I kind of felt sorry for them even though they were bad guys.

        • August 19, 2014 at 3:46 pm
          Permalink

          In a sense, the Neimodians were the Jar Jar of bad guys.

  • August 19, 2014 at 12:37 am
    Permalink

    When George Lucas made Star Wars, the lightsaber duel blew my mind. It was one of my favorite scenes and a key point I looked forward to each of the fifty or so times I saw Star Wars in theaters that first year.

    But let’s face it, the duels had to get more exciting and Empire’s succeeded brilliantly at this while Jedi’s, with Marquand deciding that he didn’t really need an epic duel because Empire had already done that, did not succeed nearly so well.

    Now, I’ve heard TONS of complaints about the prequels but rarely have I heard anyone complain about the quality of their lightsaber duels! The fight with Darth Maul and Obi-wan’s final duel with Anakin are particularly memorable.

    So, yes, the duel in the original Star Wars feels a bit tame now by comparison and, coming in the middle of the chronological order of the films, this is now a tad awkward, especially given the importance of what’s taking place.

    But Alec Guiness is dead and there’s really not much to be done about it, nor do I think that anything really SHOULD be done about it. Yes, if George had made them in episodic order, he would have done a much more exciting duel for A New Hope but one must appreciate it for what it is – the first lightsaber duel ever shot – and understand that it was originally the height of awesomeness! As for the story, I just assume that most of the duel going on between Vader and Ben is a duel of the Force and that we can’t actually see the main struggle between them. They’re really beyond the need for flashy physicality at this point in their lives.

    It’s still a great scene and a great duel. But really, isn’t EVERY lightsaber duel a great scene?

    • August 19, 2014 at 5:51 am
      Permalink

      The Episode II light saber duels SUCKED, dude.

      • August 19, 2014 at 3:57 pm
        Permalink

        AlanDSanborn:

        IV’s lightsaber fight properly built up the audience with anticipation and excitement with scenes of Ben and Vader talking about their former relationship as master and student.

        Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan didn’t even know Maul’s name, nor did they speak one word to each other during their fight in I. Yawn.

        • August 19, 2014 at 8:09 pm
          Permalink

          So.. What exactly did you want Darth Maul to talk about? Serious question too; not being rhetorical here.

          Maul, how I see him, is the opposite of Vader. He’s not interested in chitchat, sees no value in it.

          • August 20, 2014 at 12:46 am
            Permalink

            I just wished they had developed Maul to where there was some sort of history between them, even if it was recent. Something they could use to build up emotionally towards the fight.

            Instead, we get Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fighting a complete stranger. Again, they didn’t even know the dude’s name.

            In the OT, the focus is mostly on the story and inner struggle. In the PT, it’s mostly about flashy lightsaber dancing.

          • August 20, 2014 at 10:45 am
            Permalink

            Do you want every lightsaber duel in Star Wars to work the same way? After the epic (in story, at least) lightsaber duels between Vader and Obi-wan in Star Wars and then between Vader and Luke in Empire and Jedi, I thought it was kind of refreshing in Phantom Menace to see the Jedi just doing what Jedi do – taking on the bad guy, even if they didn’t have a big history with him.

            That doesn’t mean that I don’t love the epic clashes between family members and old friends but I don’t think they ALL have to be that. And, while for most of us, the Phantom Menace was something of a disappointment, the duel with Maul is one of the few times that the film really got the audience pumped up on opening night to the sort of levels that they were during the movies of the original trilogy. It showed us what things were like back when the Jedi were the true guardians of the galaxy and not lonely hermits, hiding from the Empire.

            So, yes, the duels in the original trilogy and in Episode 3 are more important to the story but the duel in Episode 1 holds it’s own as one of the visually coolest lightsaber duels in the Saga so far.

      • August 20, 2014 at 10:56 am
        Permalink

        The duel between Anakin and Dooku is a little self-consciously artsy for my tastes but I love Yoda’s duel with Dooku. It was one of those great crowd-pleasing moments that have helped make the Star Wars saga what it is.

    • August 20, 2014 at 1:04 am
      Permalink

      The slow, measured lightsaber duel between Ben and Vader on the Death Star can be taken as an indication that both of them are in a sense savoring the moment. Finally, after all these years, they meet again. Neither one wants it to be over too soon. Certainly not Ben, who is buying time for the others so that they can make it back to the Falcon while Vader is distracted.

      At this stage of their lives, Ben/Vader feel no need for a furious, dramatic confrontation. So they fight in a measured, patient, rather cerebral way, somewhat like a chess game, only that the loser will still end up dead.

      • August 20, 2014 at 10:49 am
        Permalink

        Yeah, I’ll buy that. Many things in the Star Wars saga require a certain amount of justification on the part of the viewers. This one is pretty good.

  • August 19, 2014 at 2:28 am
    Permalink

    “Ever since Disney bought the company, they have worked hard to restore Star Wars’ good name.”

    Well that’s dead easy as Star Wars good name was never anything but good. I know a very small group of people don’t like to hear this but the prequels were incredible successes in the theaters, on DVD, Blu-Ray and merchandise. They created a whole new generation of fans and continued that with The Clone Wars TV series. These are the same fans that are going to watch Rebels and the sequels.

    This new era is going to be most influence by…George Lucas. Filoni is GL’s student. He learned for almost 10 years how to make Star Wars. All of the upcoming movies are going to be based on treatments from… George Lucas. All the people involved in Lucasfilm love… George Lucas. He is a great film-maker and they look to him for guidance about his universe. That is the way it’s going to be.

    As for the new masters.

    It was confirmed a while ago that they were doing 4K versions of the OT.

    That this is for a theatrical re-release this means to me that these are the current SE’s.

    It’s a conversion which likely means these are not new masters but the same ones simply upconverted to 4K.

    What exactly 4K means is open to interpretation depending who you talk to.

    • August 19, 2014 at 4:15 am
      Permalink

      It will be better resolution on the big screen (if released in theaters), and at home might have the added benefit of dolby vision if they chose to grade it with an expanded color gamut/ contrast… that would make a huge difference.

      Keep in mind 4k is actually sort of a downconversion for film, which I think has an effective resolution of up to 6k (I think?). But 4k projectors will bring out more detail for the OT than what people would have originally seen when the films came out.

      I’m sorry but Filoni=ewww.

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET