Classic Star Wars Trilogy Finally on DVD

chinton writes "From starwars.com: 'In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie, as well as the original theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.'"

Re:All I want to know is

He's probably referring to Jabba's slave dancer's wardrobe malfunction, in ROTJ, just before he flushes her down the drain.

Re:All I want to know is

Google is your friend. [slipups.com]

Re:All I want to know is

Dunno, we'll have to find out. My VHS copies are dying. There is still good in you, George, I can feel it!

It's a trap!

No. He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil.

Seriously, this isn't about good in the least. Let me do some translating here. From TFA:

"Over the years, a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD. This is something that we're very excited to be able to give to fans in response to their continuing enthusiasm for Star Wars."

Like all PR machines, there's a certain amount of fudging that goes on, let me translate:

"Over the years, a throng of vicious purists have told us that the so called 'improvements' suck balls. What they want to see is the original before we did more damage than repair. There was also a large number of nerds stationed outside George's house chanting, 'Han Shot First.'" said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "Pretty much, all we have to do is take the last VHS release before the special editions and prime it for DVD release. However, don't make the mistake that we're being altruistic to our fans in any way. The fact is, many of these weak willed nerds broke down and bought the first DVD release and now that their failure is complete, we can sock it to them with yet another release. George loves cash, what can we say? We double charge the weak and now even milk the cash out of the purists that were holding out."

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

DVD

Didnt george lucas come out years back with some rhetoric about how DVD was tehsux and lucasfilm would only pump out VCDs or some shit like that? .. yeah .. good plan ..

Re:DVD

Didn't he also say something along the lines of 'The only version that exists now is the version in my head and that's the special edition remakes' and that original versions would never be re-released?

Re:DVD

He did say that, but then his pizza budget hit an all-time high so he decided to milk this withered udder one more time. Until the release on BluRay and HD-DVD are available, that is.

What is it now?

So wouldn't this be the re-re-re-re-re-rerelease?

If only

If only they could now release episodes one through three with remastered versions that don't feature lousy acting, shallow characters and crappy plots.

Re:If only

Exactly!!!!!
It's the kids that ruin sequels.
Look at The Mummy. I really liked the first one.
So i decided to take the family to the 2nd. That god damn kid ruined the entire thing.
Hollywood thinks that if a movie does well, making a sequel and putting an obnoxious 9 year old to bring in the kid audience must make everything even better.

Lucas was one of the first to try this, with those god-damn Ewoks.
He just perfected it with Ep.1

I am waiting for a Fight Club 2 with kids beating up each other and a pg-13 rating to finally bring about the apocalypse .

Re:Yoda is the Jedi Measuring Device

Actually, it seems that pretty much ANY jedi can sense another jedi's strength. Why not just have Yoda et al say "hey! This one's teh strong!".

Two reasons.

First, it becomes impossible to show that Anakin's strongest ever. Sure, Yoda might say that Anakin's the strongest for 900 years, but beyond that, you need some sort of numerical indicator.

And second, Lucas got the retroactive continuity syndrome. It seems to hit to every successfull author who returns to his old stories sooner or later. You start wondering if you couldn't refine some point a little, and before you know it, Takhisis has turned from the Dark Queen to a pathetic punch of neurosis who gets killed by an equally pathetic lovesick elf, the Valheru have stopped being the supreme threat from the past and become little more than puppets on a string, and oh yes, the Force has become something that a rodent (ysalamiri) can nullify and a cell organ (midichlorian) can influence.

That's the most difficult part of writing stories and peeling onions: you have to know when to stop.

Who shot first?

Is it truly the original? Did Han shoot first?

Re:Who shot first?

If this is the original, Han doesn't shoot "first" since, in the original, Greedo NEVER shot!

Re:Who shot first?

If this is the original, Han doesn't shoot "first" since, in the original, Greedo NEVER shot!

That's because Greedo was so coked up at the time. If you look at the original print, Greedo had a white powdery ring around his nose. That's one thing that was digitally changed in the SEs.

Re:Who shot first?

Greedo didn't shoot, but he was sitting there with a gun pointed at Han saying "I'm going to kill you."

Han killing Greedo before Greedo can get a shot off doesn't make Han a bad ass, it just makes Greedo an idiot.

Release to Theatres for Every Generation

You know, there's something undeniably good about Episodes IV, V & VI.

Especially when you see it on the big screen. Unfortunately, I was born in 1982 meaning that I wasn't quite to the point of being able to go see it in theatres when it was released. But the special edition releases changed all that--though the changes George Lucas made did leave me feeling kind of hollow (wtf, Han?).

I would think that the mass turn out to see the special edition movies would be proof enough that releasing the originals to theatres every ten years would be profitable. In fact, I would conjecture that releasing it every ten years would give everyone the chance to see it at an early age and be beneficial to the Star Wars franchise. I know Lucas wouldn't be able to resist changing parts of it but hopefully he'll be preoccupied with destroying the Indiana Jones Trilogy by then.

I did notice that Mr. Lucas isn't cited once in this article and instead we hear from Jim Ward who is perhaps actually interested in what the fans have to say as they are providing his paycheck.

If you were to ask me on any day of the week, "Would you like to go see one of the Star Wars movies on the big screen?" You bet I would. It's immeasurably better than the utter drek [imdb.com] that's in theatres now. Oftentimes my friends propose we go see a movie only to discover that there is nothing but pure crap [imdb.com]. What does Lucasfilm have that so few movies today lack? Timelessness--the ability to surpass the aging of the film and the advances in technology that every movie today uses.

While it's true I'm a fan of Star Wars so my opinion might be biased, I've never found anyone who's outright hated it.

Well, I got original separate movies for my birthday at a young age, the VHS set of this trilogy when I was about 15, I bought the special edition DVDs in wide screen format a couple years ago and now it looks like I'll be purchasing yet another copy of these movies. Boy, Lucasfilm sure has my number.

The Dukes of Hazzard?

Since this is coming from a user with the ID "the_duke_of_hazzard," I don't think you're in any position to complain about plot.

The Dukes of Hazzard had the worst cookie cutter plot lines [everything2.com] ever. From the above link:

The plot of a Dukes Of Hazzard episode is the least essential part of the script. Be creative in the structure of your episode, but adhere to the following rule: If the question "Is this the episode where Boss Hogg comes up with a crazy scheme to put the Dukes in jail or swindle honest folk, but in the end is foiled in part due to his own stupidity?" doesn't apply to your episode, you've got to go back to the drawing board. Remember: there is no "very special episode" where Uncle Jesse reveals that he can't read, or the Dukes learn a special lesson about teenage pregnancy. A "very special episode" of Dukes Of Hazzard is one that features the Oak Ridge Boys.

Re:Release to Theatres for Every Generation

They cropped a lot of incidental violence, as part of Lucas's conversion to namby pambyism. Like a lot of people who get shot, actually "fell down" in the original version. He hacked out a few frames around a lot of the shot people, to "lower the impact" of some nameless badguy getting whacked.

Awesome

I bought the four disc DVD set when it came out, but that POS is hitting half.com when I get my hands on this. Finally, no Jabba, no "whoosh!" at Alderaan, no ring of fire when the Death Star explodes, no interruption of the wonderful "Hyperspace" piece at the end of Empire, and...

HAN FIRES FIRST!

Re:Awesome

no Jabba

Yes! I am surprised that more people haven't bitched about this - and even then, it's always because of how he appears (small, mobile, making goofy facial expressions, etc, etc) and never that the conversation with him is damn near the same conversation Han had with Greedo just a minute before

Here's what bothered me about that scene. Imagine you're the biggest crime boss in the galaxy. You're chewing out some underling that just cost you a lot of money. And he steps on your tail! Don't you think you'd do a little more than give a quick squeal?

BASTARDS!

I should have known they'd eventually cave to milk another buck out of me. I never would have bought the redux trilogy if I'd believed this was coming. Sad thing is, I know I'll buy them...

Re:BASTARDS!

Lucas releases Star Wars Trilogy on DVD!

Slashdot: You suck! We don't want Han to shoot first! Gives us the original version, not the Special Edition!

Lucas releases Classic Star Wars Trilogy on DVD!

Slashdot: You suck! I... uh... asked for this a year ago.

The almighty dollar

Well, now we know that even someone like George Lucas can be influenced by the promise of a ton of money. Well... probably not Lucas himself but all the people who can influence him.

So now we'll have the opportunity to purchase yet another copy, bringing some people up to 5 seperate copies of the same set of movies.

That's pretty impressive.

Can he do that?

I seem to remember back when they were selling the original films on VHS in the UK shortly before the remastered version came out the advertising said that this was the last chance to buy this version of the film.

Re:Can he do that?

Yeah, I wonder if they can after having announced this...
Maybe they'll hire actors and cut together a new edition, calling it the original one. :-p

Seriously, the only thing that claim would tell me is that:
1. We don't plan to release the original one in more editions => this is your last chance.
2. We changed our minds.
3. Profit.

Awesome!

It pissed me off to no end when I got the original trilogy on DVD, and they'd replaced the ghost of the "old" Anakin Skywalker with the ghost of the "young" Anakin Skywalker at the end of RotJ.

No thanks

I am still waiting for the Jar Jar Binks edition. The one where the movies are done as they were meant to be, with Luke being replaced by Jar Jar Binks.

I was so waiting for this news story!

Just so I could say "May the 4th be with you".

*drumroll* *cymbals*

Thank you, thank you, try the lobster.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force...

as if millions of hells had frozen over and were suddenly silenced.

Nice to see

Nice to see that they're relasing the original versions in the same boxes. Now I can show my kids the versions I saw, and not the "digitally enhanced" (read:bastardized) versions where they cut/rearranged scenes.

See http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/star-w ars-the-changes-part-one.html [dvdactive.com] for a listing of the changes between thr original Star Wars and the 2004 "digitally enhanced" version. No doubt, the DVD release will match those of 2004.

I imagine he's bastardized Empire and Jedi as well.

We saw this coming, right?

Come on. Let's not kid ourselves. As much as George likes to pretend he's taking the high ground and being true to his artistic vision (which annoyed me, but at least I could respect), we all knew this would come down to $$$$. In the grand scheme, it's a trivial amount of work to get these DVDs ready to go and the cost of production is trivial. This decision will bring in millions upon millions of dollars into Lucasfilm and there's no way they could turn that down.

It has nothing to do with the pressure we collectively put on them. It has nothing to do with George caving on his desire to keep tweaking his movies.

It has to do with bringing in more moolah. Just keep milking the cash cow.

Um... and I... um.... well... I'll probably be first in line to squeeze the teet.

-S

Pricing and the MPAA

They are "attractively priced" at $200 so the MPAA can recoup the losses that occur when someone who buys the set makes a copy of each disk for individual usage, at 6 disks, $35 for each disk (conservative estimate by the MPAA), they lose $210 (What does the MPAA expect? A user to buy 2 copies?). The MPAA, in their generosity and wisdom, is prepared to accept losing $10 per sale, hence the price of $200

This was Palpatine's idea

I, for one, am happy with the remastered, remixed, redone versions. In fact, I think that Lucas should make even more random changes in the next versions. Like changing it so that when Itchy plays Scratchy's rib twice in succession, it makes three different tones!

However, if Lucas wants to put out new DVDs, more power to him. However, you know what's funny? Sure, Lucas is releasing DVDs that have the original uncut versions of the OT on them. But note:

Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film.

If you absolutely have to have the original versions, you have to buy the Special Editions to get them. So if you've already bought the DVD collection, you get to buy it again. So the "OMG!!1! HAN DIDN'T SHOOT FIRST?? I'M SO BUMMED!!" crowd get to buy the version they hate *twice*.

Sure, those consumers will put the other versions up for sale on Ebay as fast as possible. But by the time they sell, the Bluray/HD-DVD version comes out.

The circle is now complete!

Twenty-nine years of accumulated spoilers

It's not possible to "enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977."

Watching a DVD is NOT the same as watching projected film on a screen in a theatre.

But the big problem is, I don't know of any safe way to erase, then subsequently restore, my memories of the past couple of decades so that I can see the film knowing nothing about the movie except a Time magazine review and a friend saying it was great.

How can I watch the 1977 Star Wars without the burden of twenty-nine-years'-worth of accumulated "spoilers?."

Re:Twenty-nine years of accumulated spoilers

Do what I did. Have a kid and raise him until he's around 8-9 years old. Get the original trilogy in DVD. Sit down on a Sunday afternoon and watch it with him. Relive the moment.

Granted, my boy is only two right now, so my plan won't come to fruition for a few more years. Also, I don't know what to do whith the kid afterwards. Oh, those pesky details.

Don't get too proud of this technological terror

Lucas is essentially releasing a high grade dvd bootleg of the Uber 1993 Laserdisc release. The picture quality will be 1993 and the sound 2.0 stereo AND you still have to essentially re-buy the crappy 2004 release which comes in the same set. Lucas is such a cock. I know damn well he has perfect, unaltered, un-CGI'ed, versions of Star Wars; he has to have them. But, instead, he is pretending that they were somehow destroyed.

I want the ultra configurable version

Options:

Han shoots first.
Greedo shoots first.
Both shoot at the same time.
Greedo doesn't shoot.
Han doesn't shoot. Greedo accidentally shoots himself.
Nobody shoots. Greedo declares the life of a rogue is not for him, and goes off to enjoy the sunshine
Jabba shoots first.

But I thought....

AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?

Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore.

Source (9/15/2004) [msn.com]

Re:But I thought....

Well hell, if it doesn't exist, then he shouldn't mind if I make a few hundred copies and hand them out at conventions.
As far as I can tell, the original trilogy had been the subject of more "labor of love" really well done fan DVD sets than anything else I can think of. I personally have three different DVD sets, all well done, some with nice extras and good menus.

Honestly, I've already bought the original trilogy at least 3 times, once on CED videodisc (!), once on VHS, then again on VHS special edition (I recently put that box set on a "freebies" table at a convention and nobody took it). I'd probably buy the original series on DVD, but I'm not buying a combo original+SE copy; I wouldn't want anyone to think that I actually bought it because of the SE.

The classic saga

Ben Kenobi: For almost two decades the star wars movies were enjoyed by all. Before the dark times. Before the Edits.

Luke Skywalker: How did the movies die?

Ben Kenobi: A film producer named George Lucas, who was an idol of mine until he turned to evil, helped the industry change the scenes. He betrayed and murdered the Star Wars movies.

---------------------

Darth Vader: "There is no escape. Don't make me edit you. Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You've only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will edit your training. With our combined strength we can end this great film series and bring profit to the company"

Luke Skywalker: "I'll never join you!"

Darth Vader: "If you only knew the power of the Movie Business. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to the movies."

Luke Skywalker: "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"

Darth Vader: "No. I am the movies."

Luke Skywalker: "No. That's not true! That's impossible!"

Darth Vader: "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."

Luke Skywalker: "Noooooooo!"

Darth Vader: "Luke, you can destroy the Movie Business. It has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we shall rule Hollywood as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way."

---------------

Luke Skywalker: "Search your feelings, Lucas. You can't do this. I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate."

Darth Vader: "It is too late for me, consumers. The Movie Business will show you the true nature of money. It is your master now."

Luke Skywalker: "Then my movies are truly dead."

-------------------

Anakin Skywalker: "Luke, help me take these edits off."

Luke Skywalker: "But you'll die."

Anakin Skywalker: "Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on you with my original film."

(Luke disconnects and releases the original films on dvd.)

Anakin Skywalker: "Now, go my consumer. Leave me."

Luke Skywalker: "I won't leave you here; I've got to save the movies!"

Anakin Skywalker: "You already have, Luke. You were right, you were right about me. Tell your fellow consumers you were right..."

What about Biggs at the beginning?

I know that the scenes were filmed, and I seem to remember seeing the scenes with Luke's friends in Anchorhead, where Biggs told him he was joining the rebellion (leaving Luke behind on Tattooine). Sure, it's 29 years ago, and I was only nine years old at the time, but I can still remember later reports saying that it was in the original theater release (and the first victim of George's redacting desires). It was one of those things that Lucas didn't want to do, but added because he was told just having the 'droids would remind people of THX 1138 in a bad way.

I personally liked the scenes. It made it easier for the audience to feel Luke's feeling of being left behind while important things happened Elsewhere, and made Bigg's death in the trench more painful.

Re:What about Biggs at the beginning?

Like this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=srf68SEuyJM&search=star %20wars%20biggs [youtube.com]

Episode VII: Repackaging of the Clones

Finally! Another way to donate to one of my favourite charities: The Lucas Family Inheritance

I wonder if he will be re-releasing Star Wars in 3-D in the original, and altered formats? [comingsoon.net]

The money will never run out at this rate ;)

OriginalTrilogy.com

Come take a look at http://originaltrilogy.com/ [originaltrilogy.com] - these are real fans who've taken the original Laserdiscs(!) and created DVDs with ALL the original content in them.

Top stuff for any fan.

Everyone forgets

the most important thing lost from the original 3.

We'll finally be able to dance to the Yub Nub song at the end of Jedi again

Sorry Lucas - I've owned these for FIVE YEARS

Sorry George. I bought bootleg copies (very nice bootlegs) a half a decade ago when you stated publicly that you would NEVER release these.

Now that you've changed your mind, I'm not just going to run out and buy them. Why should I? I already have them. Sure, they may have a bit better video quality, but I'm refusing to give you my $ just because you realized you needed the cash and it meant more than your supposed "artistic integrity".

Too little, too late. You had a good 15 years of me buying everything you put out (FS VHS, Widescreen VHS box set, Definitive Collection LD's, "face" CLV LD's)....but your attitude towards fans, in spite of this 11th hour reversal, just make me not care.

I have no problem paying good money for great product, but conversely when someone like Lucas dicks fans over and over I have no problem going the bootleg/download route. I bet the BitTorrent sites will have it before it even comes out. :) And it's all Lucasfilms fault that I'm not giving them any more of my cash. I didn't buy the 2004 editions (raping the memory of dead actors by replacing them digitally was the limit for me), and I won't buy these.

AE

X0 edition

So, does this mean that those guys can stop the work they've done on the X0 laserdisc rips?

I have this to say about the "special editions"

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a movie is insignificant next to the power of the Force."

with my apologies to Lord Vader.

Re:In response to overwhelming demand ...

Sorry, in this modern world, you can't shoot *first* unless you're the baddy...

You'll have to wait till the SW fans try to shoot you and miss.

Justin.

Re:In response to overwhelming demand ...

You're acting like George Lucas, insisting that one needs an excuse (Lucas's official line is that Han shooting Greedo first makes him seem cold and heartless, nevermind the fact that Greedo had a gun pointed at him, and besides, "cold and heartless" is how we like Han, anyway). To counter that lame line, someone put together this page: Top 10 Other Things that Han Shot that Didn't Shoot at Him First [fecundity.com].

To the GP — your thoughts about Han and Greedo might be slightly altered after you see this [wurzeltod.ch] alternate version ;)

Re:In response to overwhelming demand ...

When I revealed that I (a) bought the 2004 versions and (b) liked them... a lot, there were people I knew who didn't want to talk to me, and I got some barbed comments against the notion in my journal.

There are a lot of people who have a particular memory of how things were, and want that memory respected. I think, in all seriousness, there's only one serious flaw in the 2004 remakes, the whole Han-on-Jabba's-tail thing. The Han and Greedo shoot each other simultaneously is, really, nothing. It doesn't matter. It would never have been an issue, nor changed anyone's view of Han as a character, had it been that way in 1977. It only matters because it's a change, and because it replaced an even bigger change in the (awful) 1990s releases. For the most part, the 2004 versions fixed the ugliness of the 1990s versions. The CGI is fixed. There are no serious characterization issues (beyond Jabba's tail.)

I think this release is a good thing. There are people who'll watch both and will say "1977's for me, it's the real deal, I'm never going to like anything else", and there are others who'll watch both and say "You know, now I've seen it, I don't think my fears about the 2004 version are realised." We'll see.

Hopefully the number of valueless idiots who keep comparing Lucas's wish to keep his movies true to his vision to an act of terrible violence perpetuating largely against women will dwindle too. There's no excuse any more for it.

Re:In response to overwhelming demand ...

3. I don't remember seeing Episodes IV through VI (I was more into Star Trek as a kid) and I'd like to pick them up to find out what happens with this whole Darth Vader guy from Episode III that I just watched last week for the first time. Does he ever figure out he has two kids? Will he make up with Obi Wan? Whatever happened to the Jedi order? Did it die off or are there still Jedi out there? What about Yoda? Whatever happens to him? I think I'm officially hooked on this whole Star Wars thing and I'm dying to know how it all turns out so I'll be sure to pick up these DVDs. For example, whatever happens to Jar Jar Binks after Episode III? Hopefully Episode IV will clear that up.