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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Star Wars EP1 On DVD Confirmed By Lucas 191

Posted by Hemos from the back-and-forth-back-and-forth dept.
Bigmell was one of several people to write about a phone call George Lucas made to KROQ Radio in Los Angeles. Ain't-it-cool-news also had a piece running with the same information. In any case, it looks like a DVD is being worked on, with a September release date. Bonus material includes unfinished scenes from Episodes 4-6. Harry @ aintitcool also had a release date of Sept 12.
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Star Wars EP1 On DVD Confirmed By Lucas More

Star Wars EP1 On DVD Confirmed By Lucas

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  • YES! (Score:1)

    by war2k1 ( 15869 )
    I can't believe it. All this time that we thought he was taking advantage of us geeks it was just a put on. I can't wait to get my hands on a dvd copy of that!!!!
  • Now we don't have to hear CmdrTaco whining anymore...well, at least not about this issue.

  • this movie sucked, but COOl
    -------------------------------------------- ---------
  • no, all that is is a vhs copy encoded onto a dvd..
    ------------------------------------------- ----------

  • eh (Score:1)

    by aitala ( 111068 )
    so what? the movie was bad. also, don't believe it 'til you see it...
  • It has been released on videocassette (e.g. VHS) but not on DVD (i.e. disc).

    ========
  • i seriously doubt that. maybse some pirate vcd on the street, but not the dvd. remember, most dvd players will play vcds

  • Comment removed (Score:4)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:13AM (#1127347)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • First they are, then they aren't, then in 2005, now in September. It seems like Lucas has dropped a line and is slowly reeling it in.

    A DVD release is customary of new movies, so how can they spice it up? They stir up their own controversy, by saying that they won't release it. Then once enough people become outraged over the news, far-off release dates are thrown out to lead us on. Once that news has settled, and everyone looks forward to waiting 5 years for it, they find out that it will actually be out in 6 months.

    Sales will probably be triple of what they would if Lucas would release the DVD customarily. And every fan feels a spirit of gratitude to the man for not waiting 5 years to release it.

    IMO, a ploy worthy of Microsoft.

  • Elsewhere I posted last week that I've been quietly boycotting the DVD industry due to the whole DeCSS issue, and not buying any DVD hardware. I mentioned that not having SW on DVD made it much easier, it's pretty much the only thing I'd care to see on DVD.

    Well, so much for that... Someone else suggested that a better way to protest the DVD industry would be to get a player that does not use region locking, and buying used DVDs on secondary markets.

    Ok, so where can I find a list of players on sale in the US that can officially, or unofficially, be unlocked?
    --


  • You might have either seen a vhs-to-dvd copy

    OR

    The legally created, but illegal to be sold outside of South East Asia, VCD. I've seen the VCD boxed set here where I live.

  • ...when I see it. When I have in my hand and when I have watched it at least once. Until then, why are we wasting time on all this speculation?

  • Feature Request... (Score:5)

    by Paranoid Diatribe ( 68959 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:15AM (#1127352)
    I want a menu option to view the movie without Jar-Jar.

    And to think everyone pooh-poohed the petition!

  • Lucas figures it out! (Score:3)

    by RayChuang ( 10181 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:17AM (#1127353)
    I think that the reason why George Lucas has decided to do a DVD version of Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace is simple: there are now enough DVD players and DVD-ROM drives out there to justify the sales that can recoup the investment necessary to master this movie onto DVD (and make a nice, handsome profit).

    With standalone players dropping under US$200 in price, DVD-ROM drives showing up on new computers AND new laptops in a big way, and this fall massive sales of Sony PlayStation 2's that can play DVD movies, not to mention lots of computer geeks wanting to see the movie just for its stunning technical details, I expect DVD sales of TPM to be at least 1 to 2 million copies in a matter of days.

    In fact, now that it appears that Sony will most likely ship the US version of PlayStation 2 on September 9, 2000, wouldn't it be a heck of a tie-in for PS2 owners to get a discount coupon to buy the TPM DVD at the same time?
  • Why is everyone getting so excited about finally being able to buy a DVD of Star Wars ep1, when the MPAA (and its siamese twin the RIAA) are filing lawsuit after lawsuit against geeks to stop us from watching their stuff?

    Hmmm?

    You want to give them more money so they can buy more lawyers?
    --
  • Now that I've forked out for the VHS version.. now he tells me I won't have to wait until the next eon for the DVD version...

    bah.... I don't really care anymore.. LOTR looks good ... and at least I know IT will have a good storyline.
  • This just goes to prove that Lucas is a genius! When I heard there was no DVD, I bought the tape. If I could have I would have avoided the tape and bought the DVD instead. Now there is a DVD and me... the poor dupe that I am... will JUST HAVE to go out and buy the DVD too. Lucas got two sales out of me even though I didn't go to the theater! I've been media-RAPED!

    Well, it's not like I didn't really expect it from George Lucas anyway.

    - // Zarf //

  • To think I will miss the first post for actually thinking...

    No specific release date is definitely odd. But it got me to wondering, why publish a release date in the first place? If I get a release date two months in advance, I just forget about it until I see "In stores now" or my friends tell me how cool it is. Knowing that, say, Mortal Kombat IX-3 will be out in mid-October doesn't really matter to me in September....

  • DeCSS it! For those of us who downloaded the program before the injunction, this should be perfectly legal. Just refrain from distributing anything, and all will be well.
  • Actually I've never once seen /. itself say to boycott the MPAA, I've only seen people posting comments call for this. So its not really hypocritical for /. to say this.

    Also there's a lot of people who don't agree with what the MPAA is doing but still are not boycotting DVDs. Personally I don't think a boycott will do any good, people like movies too much for enough people to ever join to make it mean something. So just because some people on /. are now excited doesn't mean its hypocritical.
  • I can't believe I waited 15 years for that total piece of drek [geocities.com]. I don't know what's worse... that or Blair Witch [geocities.com]!



    --
    J Perry Fecteau, 5-time Mr. Internet
    Ejercisio Perfecto [nai.net]: from Geek to GOD in WEEKS!

  • Don't Trust It (Score:4)

    by Vir ( 51066 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:21AM (#1127361)
    As far as the Aint-it-cool-news [aint-it-cool-news.com] piece, I wouldn't put too much stock in it. First of all, this news comes second hand from a minimum-wage employee of a video store, not the greatest of sources. Also, on the very same page is someone else who seems much more reliable saying that there will be absolutely no DVD in the forseeable future. Furtheremore, Lucas has said time and time again that there will be no Star Wars DVDs until all 6 are finished, so I think it's a safe bet that we still have a long wait ahead of us.
  • So, does this include the deleted scene where Jar-Jar gets a light saber up the ars? Getting away from that for a moment, it still seems to be nothing more than a rumor. I'll believe it when I see it truly announced. I can't understand what would make Lucas come to his senses at this point in the game. Sure, there's buckets of money to be made by releasing each seperately, but he seems to be completely against the idea of releasing his works on digital medium here. I'll just hope it's true, and the $39.95 price is a hoax.
  • Now I can justify the cost of my DVD player

    cant wait for the delux DVD collection of ALL the episodes

    THX baby, yeah!

    Atticka

    (offtopic, this HTML thing is new to me, how do I stop the BOLD text?)

  • As my wife is found of saying, "Get your panties out of a bunch!"

    Wanting to support Lucas and hating the MPAA are not mutually exclusive. Besides... I still won't buy a new DVD of this movie. I'll camp out on the various used DVD sites until one pops up.

    I can be excited about this development and still support the cause.

  • Re:hmm... (Score:5)

    by SgtPepper ( 5548 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:25AM (#1127365)
    The Boycot MPAA page [iag.net] specifically lists LucasFilm Ltd as being a "freezone" film house. Because SUPRISE if you do some research you'd know that LucasFilms Ltd is NOT, yes NOT, a member of the MPAA. So why boycott them?
  • Sony (or some other bug name electronics manufacturer) probably came to him and gave him a nice suitcase of money to release the DVD sooner, in order to hook more first-time DVD player buyers for this xmas season.

    The other (slightly more far-fetched) reason could be that he wants to sell as many digital copies as he can before high bandwidth and huge harddrive space allows (even more) people to pirate movies.

  • Not for real? (Score:3)

    by spludge ( 99050 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:25AM (#1127367)

    According to The Force.net article dated Mon, Apr 17, 00 04:18:47 AM EDT

    The Force.net [theforce.net]

    ***
    Ronald Epstein, who runs the 'home theater forum' of the Digital Bits, confirmed that there won't be an Episode 1 DVD release this year (The editor of The Digital Bits, Bill Hunt, seems to have some undisclosed inside information about the upcoming Star Wars DVDs). According to Epstein, "There are specific reasons why a DVD release is still quite a ways off, though the intent has been announced". However, the final result will be worth the wait: "You will be absolutetly floored!".
    ***
  • Did anyone else hear the call? I live in OC and heard it, and the guys at KROQ are grand pranksters. I wouldnt trust any of that info, seeing as how they have fake celebs calling in all the damn time.

    Sharkey
    www.badassmofo.com [badassmofo.com]


  • Wait till you make a cool million selling it on VHS to people who would have waited to buy it on DVD. Then make another cool million by selling these same people the DVD.

    Adam
  • You are right that we are doing our freedoms injustice to continue to support the CSS.

    But there is one angle that I feel is understated. DVD is a significant improvement in technology over CD's and VCD's. Sound and picture quality is very much improved. To the geek community, this is kind of tech is too important to be associated with encryption technology, to be locked up and used to control access.

    Therein lies the central issue. We care enough about the tech to want to see content on it. That is why we protest against CSS and region locking. If DVD's weren't a technologically superior alternative to VCDs and current CD's nobody would care.

  • hehe - that's why I don't own a VHS player...

    it also stops me from buying Tae-bo and 8 minute abs on a whim :)
  • I heard the call, and believe to be authentic. But so fricking what. All he said was that they were working on it. He didn't mention any release date at all. I can believe /. would fall for a rumor started by some punk kid that works at suncoast. They need a new message header like "Ask Slashdot:" that says "Rumored:". All we know for sure is that Lucas said he was working on it. Nothing more! Nothing less!
  • BWP was worse... it's right there on my list with Howard the Duck - movies that the producers should send me money for, since they wasted my time.
  • and what about 20th century fox?
  • $tar War$: The Profit Motive

    How many SW fans have jumped to buy the tape and will ALSO buy the DVD? If Lucas had released the DVD at the same time, he would have really cut the maximum profit his company will reap.

  • First, he (Lucas) tells everyone he has no plan on working on the DVD until a few years from now, as a result, many people buy the stupid VHS version, and now he announces the DVD version?

    Gimme a break, this was a stunt to make yet MORE MONEY !

    Episode I sucked, continue the boycott I say...

    --Alain

  • check out the page...like it says, some of the film houses aren't part of the MPAA but their distributors are..therefore it's a judgement call. Personally I like the one person's idea about buying used DVDs...
  • I wouldn't be suprised if the lackluster sales of the Star Wars Episode 1 videotape has something to do with it.

    I'm sure Lucas has some sort of budget set up for expected profits from his various retail enterprises and this one looks to be not returning as much as expected. Thus, while an Ep. 1 tape may not be a must-have an Ep. 1 *DVD*, particularly one with extra material, may well end up being a very big (and profitable) fish in that smaller pool.

    I wouldn't be suprised if he tosses in some supplemental material on his DVD (character bios, alternate takes, production drawings, rotatable 3D models, etc.) and charges something extraordinary for it.

  • Completely Outrageous (Score:5)

    by ecampbel ( 89842 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:42AM (#1127379)
    This move by Lucas is motivated purely by greed. He tells everyone that a DVD will not be released for 4-5 years and that we should all go out and buy the VHS copy bsecause he needed time to create the perfect DVD. Now, after all of his fans have bought the VHS version of his movie, he is now saying that a DVD will made. This is completely outrageous, and no one should buy this version.

    Many people believed Lucas, and bought the VHS version under the false impression that a DVD version was not forthcoming. What Lucas should be required to do is offer all the poor saps who bought the VHS version an option to upgrade their copy to the superior DVD format.

    I imagine that in 4-5 years Lucas is going to come out with a special edition DVD/VHS box set with all Star Wars movies. This means that if you listen to the marketing machine at Lucas films, and bought all of the versions of his Star Wars movies you'll have
    • 3 copies of each of Episode's 4-6 (the regular edition, the special edition, and the DVD/VHS Episodes 1-6 special edition).
    • 3 copies of the Phantom Menace (the VHS version, the DVD version, and the DVD/VHS Episodes 1-6 special edition)
    • 2 copies of Episode's 2 and 3 (the regular DVD/VHS version, and the DVD/VHS Episodes 1-6 special edition).

    If I did my addition and multiplication right, it means you'll have bought 16 copies of the various Star Wars movies for a total price of of at least $400. Pretty amazing.
  • I don't understand why /. has decided to post this information twice. If anybody remembers, there was an article [slashdot.org] on /. two days ago which linked to this [thedigitalbits.com] page at The Digital Bits about the rumor. If anyone bothered to read this page (ie, Hemos), they would've noticed that in the Digital Bits article, it says the exact same thing that this post is about.

    Having said that, I am all for Lucas to release a dvd of TPM. I have been waiting for one to come out since I saw TPM in the theatres. Let's hope this rumor is true (even if the Sept 12 date is wrong).

    ==

  • I remember reading somewhere that the reason Lucas did not want to release Star Wars on DVD was that he did not consider DVD to be a mature enough medium. Which, of course, sounds quite odd, given that the films were released on VHS.

    But, on second thought: DVD is definitely superior to VHS, but is DVD as it is today going to last as long as VHS did? For audio formats, there are now both SACD and DVD-Audio and it is not entirely clear which will prevail (if any). On the video side, specifications for hi-def video, as well as for recordable media are mostly nonexistent (for both technical, but mostly legal and economic reasons).

    Then there are the (somewhat ridiculus) issues of encoding and regions. The main argument for regional coding is that companies do not want to lose revenues: for instance, the same movie that sells for $20 in the US, sells for about $10 in, say, India. Even though companies do have profits in India, they want to maximize the overall profits, esp. given the high production and distribution costs of today's films. So the argument is, more or less, that if they do not do that, they won't be able to stay in business. In the meantime, India (to use the same example) produces about 3-4 films per week, at much lower costs (and keep in mind that costs for SFX etc are but a fraction of the overall costs in making and distributing a movie...).

    However, I don't think the coding schemes will last for long (even now, they seem to rely more on lawyers than on engineers to work ;-). And I do not think that Hollywood is unaware of this (even though they might seem to be). For instance, Lucas himself has been experimenting with various innovations to reduce costs. For instance, the technology for producing SFX might be an obvious one.

    Also, Lucas was the first to experiment with digital distribution of films (the movie is transmitted to a hard disk at your local cinema and then projected -- the monstrous JVC-Hughes lightvalve projectors were used in the experiments, with excellent results). This practically eliminates the costs of producing (physical) copies of the film and allows for simultanous world-wide distribution (no need to share copies etc...)

    So, I believe we will see a lot of changes in the near future and DVDs a few years from now might be entirely different from those of today. But, then again, if Lucas thinks he can make profit today as well as tomorrow... why not? In the meantime, we will satisfy our... addiction. ;-)

  • This is another example of Lucas giving up on his original dreams to make more money.

    He realized he can release a regular dvd now, whicheveryone will buy, and then again the special one he originaly intended when all the movies are done and we will all buy that too.

    Maybe if we are lucky the episode1 special edition will edit out jarjar...

    I dont know why everyone is all excited about this, we havn't won anything.

    NightHawk
  • Am I the only one that is getting really pissed at the marketing and timing decisions on DVD releases? I just bought the VHS of Episode 1, but I would have waited until September for a DVD version. I just saw that Disney is releasing a "Special Edition" of Tarzan, a month or so after the regular version. Is it just me or doesn't it seem like these groups are trying to milk buyers twice for the same thing? Now I can live with Special Editions coming out 1-2 years later, but within *MONTHS* of the first release? That is not an accident. I would buy the special editions, pay more money for them if they were offered up front, but I will not pay a second time for the same thing plus a little bit extra.
  • You can post as "Plain Old Text" or you can also
    use The being the closing "Tag" ;)

    Jeremy
  • BTW: my 3 year-old son loves TPM... especially Jar-Jar. Let's just face it. TPM was to catch a new batch of kids and snare them into Star Wars fandom to keep Star Wars alive. So, TPM was more for 3 year-olds than it was for 25 year-olds. So stop griping about how horrible it was... think "Dumbo", "Bambi", "Barney"... that's what TPM is.

    So, the DVD thing is really just "sauce" to Lucas, what matters is he's assimilated the kiddies for another 10 to 20 years... DVD doesn't help or hurt that much and he probably could care less.

    Genius, sheer genius... unlike the Star Trek franchise, he's managed to find a way to exploit his Star Wars fan base without overloading them so horribly that only the ultimately loyal fans will cling-on. He's also created a new generation of loyal followers to cling-on to the legacy of Star Wars since the happy-memories of a child glow in their minds beyond all reality, millions of kids will grow up with this epic story-line embedded in their brains that is far more amazing in their memories than on the screen.

    - // Zarf //
  • Do you have any facts to back up this claim? Are you a lawyer? Can you cite statutes or court rulings to establish your facts?

    I'm waiting...

    Still waiting...

    I didn't think so. You are a thief and an ass.

  • No!

    We want to give them legit sales so they can't whine that they are losing money to DeCSS! If they increase sales while claiming that DeCSS will cause rampant piracy (Harrr maties!) it's just a pie in the face!

    Larry, Curly, Moe and the other two would be proud!

  • I had an opportunity to see a pre-screening of Jedi, complete with a survey to fill out regarding the bits that were good or bad.

    It was quite interesting to see the movie "in the rough", including half-finished special effects and lots of footage that didn't make it into the final cut.

    Two extended scenes of note that were trimmed down in the final cut were Sy Snootles' song in Jabba's palace and Luke's electrocution by the Emperor's zappy fingers. Please, George, leave those on the cutting room floor where they belong. Sy Snootles' song lasted longer that Stairway to Heaven, and Luke's electric encounter was a movie in itself. You could almost smell roasted Jedi in the theater.

  • Re:hmm... (Score:3)

    by Kagato ( 116051 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:48AM (#1127389)
    The Star Wars films are a bit different than most films. Usually films are pretty much owned by Fox, Disney, Paramount, etc. Even if a smaller production company did the film the bucks usually came from the large studio. The film is now their bitch so to speak. In the case of Star Wars Lucas funded the movie privately. Fox own nothing of the franchise. It has distribution rights, and takes a small skim of the box office, but most of the money goes to Lucas. Do you think if Fox owned the rights to the movie on DVD that they would let Lucas sit on it that long? Hell no. They'd have a new edition come out ever other year and milk it for all it's worth. So, the whole question is how much will fox be involved. In the world of DVD's you could go to Image Entertainment and have them distribute. Besides, if you're going to ban any one company you should go after Dreamworks. They give more Softmoney to politics than any other studio. (Source: opensecrets.org)
  • Heh My girlfriend bought the Tae-bo DVD.

    "Honey it was a great deal all 3 plus a bonus movie for $50!!!!"

  • Yes, but will Circuit City be carrying the original Apex model that can do what you say? Because, according to this [ign.com] article, the Apex 600A has been modified so this cannot be done. So I'm guessing that, if Circuit City just got these back in stock, they will be moded models, and therefore not worth it.

    ==

  • Re:Tapes not selling as well as expected (Score:4)

    by ostiguy ( 63618 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @08:53AM (#1127392)
    What on *EARTH* are you talking about?

    Go to www.imdb.com, and see the second headline:
    Over $100 million in VHS sales in its first two days of release!

    This is ridiculous. This is informative?

    matt
  • Lucas is a marketing genius.

    Let's face it. Who else could have released the same movie so many times and still make a huge profit?

    Let's see, in home video only, the final version of Starwars, then the new version with new computer effects. He's only doing it again with this DVD contraversy. Most movies are released on both DVD and VHS at the same time, and now even more on DVD before VHS. So what does Lucas do? He releases SW:E1 on VHS ONLY, then waits till everybody has a copy and then releases the DVD with "extra" stuff on it. So every REAL SW fan has to go out and buy the DVD after they already own the VHS. It is a well thought plan out and all designed to take your money without you realizing it.

    Axiom
  • George Lucas made me buy seven copies of the original trilogy! What a total bastard! There I was, innocently wandering the aisles of my local video store, when in walks George Lucas, carrying a board with a nail sticking out of it! He... he... oh god, the pain... Jeezus, people. No one is making you buy every version of the Star Wars trilogy. I'm one of the uberdorks who saw Ep. 1 multiple times DESPITE the digital tomfoolery (read: Jar Jar, who reminds me of that whore in Full Metal Jacket, dont ask me why), and I have yet to buy it on VHS? Why? Because I can wait until it comes out on DVD (yeah, even if I'm 60 when it happens). Don't bitch at George Lucas because of your lack of self-restraint. Bitch at him because he desperately needs a screenwriter.
  • I for one will be floored simply by a release of the DVD at all. What a ridiculous/ingenious marketing ploy.

    --

  • Pir8 (Score:1)

    by jafac ( 1449 )
    Well, I just bought my Apex DVD player with the secret menu on eBay, so bring on that Ep1 DVD, I'm ready for it - heh heh heh

    I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said "Information wants to be free".
  • Considering Lucas has taken so long with the release, and that all countries have already shown the current episodes what are the chances that they release it as region zero? Okay it is probably 0%, though they could make a fair few friends if they did.
  • hm. But if one bought all of those like that, then one would be a dumbass, would one not?

    Force me to buy schlocky VHS once, shame on you.
    Force me to buy schlocky VHS twice, shame on me.

    I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said "Information wants to be free".
  • Don't always believe the studio numbers touted in the press release. Read this article at DVDFile [dvdfile.com] for a little more information regarding actual sales numbers.
  • damn it! all everyone talks about is DVD, or VHS!! I want a beta version!
  • As much as I hated the movie, I am so relieved to see this. The thing that really irked me was the relentless posting of unsubstantiated, fabricated rumors. At least now there is some modicum of "fact" to the story, so maybe we can stop hearing about it until September (or maybe altogether! I can dream, can't I?).

    __________________________________________________ ___

  • Latest reports on the Apex mailing list are that the newly stocked 600A's have not been modded. The best way to be sure is to buy one and check it out. Last time I checked, Circuit City had an unlimited 30 day return policy. You can return anything for any reason within 30 days (okay, not software). So, get it, see if you can do the mod, and return it on the off chance that you can't.
  • I had made the painful decision to buycot the VHS release of TPM. I loved the movie, Jar-Jar and all, but I was not going to pay for this AWESOME movie on crappy VHS. Looks like I may end up being one of the lucky few to not get hosed with buying both the VHS and DVD versions.

    On a side note... All of the SW movies have had annoying, to you and me, characters. Many found C3-PO very annoying, and what about those furry little Ewoks... Jar-Jar is just continueing that SW tradition. If not for Jar-Jar, my wife would have COMPLETELY hated the movie.
  • Hey GL deserves much respect for his independence from the big studios. His methods are a great blueprint for "how to make art AND money without selling your soul to a huge lumbering corporation....FOX begged him to just receive a few scraps of the distribution revenue. I don't hesitate to support the man for those cojones!

  • slashdot is not boycotting anything! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I can't stand you fucking idiots. Yes, Slashdot is hypocritical, but not about this! Just because 90% of the comment posters say "boycott this!" doesn't mean the Slashdot admins are going to do it!!! You are so fucking ignorant and obtuse!

    Honestly, I don't think any of the people who say "boycott this!" even boycott anything. They just want to sound cool so they say "I'm boycotting XYZ because of ABC!" and then go out and buy hundreds of XYZs. YOU ARE THE FUCKING HYPOCRITES, NOT SLASHDOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Can anyone explain to me what the red maze was at the end? I know this is just a movie, but what was the point of this maze thing? Do the creatures on this planet normally create mazes with little chambers to run through in the middle of thier castle? I liked the whole garbage disposal idea on the starships in the first trilogy but it made sense to think they might dump junk in the middle of space. The red maze thing had no obvious purpose other than to create a setting for the chase scene. Why would all the doors open and close at the same time? I hope GL includes some alternate endings on the DVD when it comes out...but if the second movie ends anything like the first then I bet the lord of the rings will be the trilogy of the '00's

    • 3 copies of each of Episode's 4-6 (the regular edition, the special edition, and the DVD/VHS Episodes 1-6 special edition).

    Actually there are even more variations. Don't forget about the normal and widescreen versions of the regular edition and the normal and widescreen versions of the THX-enhanced regular edition. Will we ever see the original theater cut of Episode IV in a home format? Sadly, no.

  • Well, I still want the "Natalie Portman Naked and Petrified" version that Lucas promised me in this fake genuine email he sent to me [slashdot.org]B...

    --
  • Perfect timing for Lucas to make a load of cash. PS2's release date is Sept 9th.

  • Re: Feature Request... (Score:3)

    by hwj ( 79083 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @09:34AM (#1127410)
    I want a menu option to view the movie without Jar-Jar.

    Or, even better:

    Using a combination of multiple audio tracks and the multi-angle feature, let the viewer choose which beloved CGI/cartoon character will accompany Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on their wacky adventure:

    • Max Headroom
    • the T-Rex from Jurassic Park
    • Cartman
    • Buzz Lightyear
    • Jessica Rabbit (can be disabled with parental lockout)
    Are you listening, George?
  • Oh great (A Tae-bo DVD?!?!)... now whattamIgonnado?

    That's right - just have another Mountain Dew - the extra caffeine keeps me fidgeting all day... it more than makes up for the Tae-bo that I've missed out on ;-)

    Personally, I'd think one would benefit more from doing a real martial art, that has other benefits besides dripping sweat on the living room floor... Ultimate Frisbee is a martial art... right?!

  • I hope the DVD includes a No Jar Jar option, a No Racial Stereotype Muppet option and a feature that removes Jake Lloyd and substitues him with Haley Joel Osment (Sixth Sense). Seriously.
  • I have to say that if you are so desperate for your own copy of The Phantom Menace that you rush out and buy it, you deserve to get screwed like this. There has been adequate notice that you will be throwing your money away on a tape of this. All along LucasFilm has said that there would be a DVD release eventually. There was never any doubt about if, just when. Fans who are eager to watch TPM over and over should consider being patient for awhile -- just rent a copy if you need a fix. As far as I see it, there's no reason to purchase a VHS copy.

    Only through hard work and perseverence can one truly suffer.

  • Hey GL deserves much respect for his independence from the big studios
    If you're small time and then make it big without the studios 'help', then you deserve some respect, but when you have enough Liquid wealth to spend $200,000,000.00(US) on a movie, it's not that difficult. Add the fact that you're releasing a film people have been looking forward to for over 20 years, its a cinch. Hell GL could of released it as a sock puppet show, and still made $100,000,000(us):)
    The movie has grossed approx. $400,000,000 dollars, BUT, if GL had to pay Lucusstudios the same as anybody else, it would have cost $500,000,000(US) to make. So if I had made the exact same movie, and had the exact same reputation as GL, I would have lost $100,000,000(US)
    His methods are a great blueprint for "how to make art AND money without selling your soul to a huge lumbering corporation
    You mean use the studios to make you huge money, then cut them out of the picture? not much of a blueprint if you ask me.
    It must go something like this:
    1:Make movie that gross's over 10 times it's cost
    2:Be sure nobody believes it will be worth a dime so you can keep the merchindise money
    3:use your Billions to make 'Independant movies'
    There is a rule in 'the business'(and by The Business' I mean 'The industry':) ), that says never use your own money. I think TPM may have been the exception do to everybodies high hopes. I still believe that if TPM was the first to be released, then it would have been lucky to break even. The critics(in general) couldn't wait to use this opportunity to kiss his butt.
  • AICN is the worst of the worst when it comes to Fan-Boy hype.
    Harry has gone to premieres and given rave reviews to a flick (ie Godzilla) then come back a few days later to publish a "retraction" or not quite-so-positive review.
    AICN.com is in severe need of some Slash-style moderation. Once these raving fan-boys start getting and giving the smack, they might smarten up.

    OTOH, I'll believe this DVD crap when I see it.
    Does the first link in the story actually go anywhere? I got a big story about how much money studios are making off of DVD, nothing about Lucas phone call...


    Pope
  • If you really dislike what's happening with the DeCSS issue, then it shouldn't matter what they release, you should stick to your beliefs.
    It's easy to be for/against something that doesn't directly effect you. The real challenge doesn't come until you have to give up something for your beliefs.
    If you give up a 'belief' the moment it becomes even slightly difficult or inconvenient, then you never really had those beliefs, did you?
    Lets face it, a movie coming out on DVD is hardly something to compromise your principles for, especially one that you can get in a format that you(probably) already own.
    This is in no way a flame against your beliefs, just pointing out the philosophical implications of your situation.
    The fact that you buy a DVD player that can circumnavigate the region coding, doesn't mean you made strives to help the DeCSS issue, just that you found a way to placate your guilt. Now that I said that, I hope your guilt will be more difficult to placate. Yes, I'm a mean bastard, but I have to stand up for my beliefs.
  • I looked around on the net for prices on the LTBX edition of PM, and here's what I found:
    Amazon.com: US$29.95
    HMV.com: CAN$31.99

    Bwah hah hah!
    Sometimes, living in Canada can be good. Not that I'm buying VHS anymore, but good to know.

    Pope
  • I simply wouldn't know what to do if Phantom Menace wasn't released on DVD. Thanks to Georgie, now all of us can be irritated and annoyed by Jar Jar in full digital sound and video! :)

    Thanks, but no thanks. I'll wait for Lucas to release a 100% Jar-Jar Free Directors Cut of the film. Oh wait, he already did. That was the 2-minute trailer. :)



    Bowie J. Poag
    Project Founder, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://metalab.unc.edu/propaganda [unc.edu])

  • Re:Completely Outrageous (Score:3)

    by frantzdb ( 22281 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @10:42AM (#1127433) Homepage
    ``God willing, we'll all meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.''
  • Maybe I'm just a cynical old chap, but doesn't anyone out there think that this is just an exercise in fleecing the public, in particular die-hard Star Wars fans ?

    I think I must be about the only person on the planet not to have seen the film. In fact, I've deliberately chosen not to watch it. The more the Star Wars mania continues, the more it'll continue to push me away from the notion. I hate hype. My basis for this reasoning is the popular vs good theory. A thing can either be one or the other. For example, the British Tabloid papers are popular - but they are not good journalism. Over hyped films (and this most certainly was one of them) will be at the bottom of my viewing list.

    Give it 10 years, and I might watch it, on my Betamax video.....

    M.

  • Rumor or Fact? (Score:4)

    by Wanker ( 17907 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @11:11AM (#1127443)

    Let's consider the options on whether to believe this. I figure there are two options:

    Option one, Lucas decides to release the DVD version of Episode 1. By doing this, he goes back on several years of announcing there would be no DVD version until the series was complete. In addition, he decides not to make a general announcement but instead leaks the information to one distributor, forgoing the chance to make a big deal of the fact that this will indeed be the first Star Wars DVD released.

    Option two, Suncoast messed up by announcing something that doesn't really exist, which happens all the time

    Seriously, in all likelihood this is just a misunderstanding based on a mistake made at Suncoast.

  • Comment removed (Score:4)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @11:19AM (#1127445)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Re:hey dumbass (Score:3)

    by Darchmare ( 5387 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @11:26AM (#1127448)
    What gets me is how retarded this whole thing about 'racism' is. Yeah, Jar Jar had an accent. Some people say it sounds Jamaican, but I don't see it. For the sake of argument, we'll say that it was meant to sound like that.

    Then you've got the Trade Federation, with their strange accents. These I could see as having been based on Mandarin or something.

    These characters are either considered 'bad/evil', or 'foolish/stupid'.

    So what?

    In the original trilogy, how did all of Vader's henchmen speak? In a very clear British accent. They were considered bad/evil type people. How did C3P0 speak? Something like a British butler, and he was the fool throughout the series. All of the 'good guys' more or less spoke with normal American accents - not exactly unexpected, given that these were American movies.

    Why isn't anyone complaining about the unfair treatment of the British in the original trilogy? Because they are apparently fair game according to the PC crowd, and the British actually have a sense of humor and didn't care.

    People seem intent on turning anything into a racial issue. Give me a break - there are plenty of cases of real racism and injustice out there to go after, you don't need to make them up.

    - Jeff A. Campbell
    - VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com [velocinews.com])
  • Do you think if Fox owned the rights to the movie on DVD that they would let Lucas sit on it that long? Hell no. They'd have a new edition come out ever other year and milk it for all it's worth.

    It is cool that George Lucas exists somewhat outside the major "studio" system. But come on, just because he wears flannel doesn't mean he's any less greedy then the guys in Armani suits. The recent announcements were a calculated, deliberate move to push hard core fans into owning two identical copies of the same film. Lucas has already proven that fans will buy another copy of a film if he makes minimal changes to it, and he wants to see how far he can go.
    My prediction is that if Episode 2 is not better than Episode 1, Mr. Lucas's quater century of glory will be over and his legions of die hard fans will start defecting en mass. Matrix prequels anyone?

    -B

  • Here is the facts (Score:3)

    by geekoid ( 135745 ) <dadinportland&yahoo,com> on Monday April 17, 2000 @11:31AM (#1127451) Homepage Journal
    GL was on KROQ radio(Los Angeles) and was asked about DVD. He said that it was "in the works. but Episode 2 is taking to much of his time" He said nothing about a release date, and I would presume(no fact in this at all) that it won't be released until after episode 2 at the earliest.
    If any employee, outside the highest levels of management, knew of a release date you would here about it in the news.As sad as that is.
  • I'm pretty sure that wasn't a maze, but rather a long straight hallway with several force-fields of some sort. I'm guessing they were some sort of blast shield or something to keep fire/radiation out.

    - Jeff A. Campbell
    - VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com [velocinews.com])
  • The "Red Maze" is, in my opinion only, part of the main reactor for the city.
    Yes, I feel that it's placement next to the hangar could've been rethought, but if you look at all the bright towers all over the place, they could only be for power distribution.
    The red "doors" could very well be a timed channel for capacitance and overflow. The "pit" might well have been the heat dissipation exhaust.
    (Jedi and Sith can resist temperature extremes...)

    Mind you, this is only conjecture.

    HEWOLF

  • Lucas also isn't a member of the Director's Guild either. He resigned his membership shortly after SW:ANH was released. Why? The guild wanted him to insert opening credits and he refused. So he quit the guild and made the film his own way.

    Also like it or not, SW:TPM is an independent film. He paid for it himself.

  • In all seriousness: this is not news (Score:4)

    by Junks Jerzey ( 54586 ) on Monday April 17, 2000 @12:31PM (#1127468)
    Sadly, the Star Wars news needs to be laid to rest. I didn't see TPM when it was released, because there was just too much hype, and I didn't want to get sucked in by it. I have great memories of the first three movies, so I was certainly eager to see it, but I didn't. I finally saw TPM recently and, in all honesty, there's only one thing that can be said about it: It's a bad movie.

    The characters were flat; you didn't care about them at all. The acting was wooden, with no exceptions. The plot was poorly written and suspenseless. It jumped all over the place, throwing out names and terms like crazy, but I just didn't *care* about what was going on. The presentation waffled between trying to be complex--with all the diplomatic nonsense and so on--and trying to be a kids movie, with goofy characters that used comedy accents (Italian, Asian, JarJar's faux Jamaican). Nothing was played up like it should have been. Darth Maul was just sort of thrown into the plot in a casual way and didn't seem to fit. And yet he turned out to be in the climactic battle at the end? Strange. Anakin accidentally blows up the control ship to save the planet? Uh, I guess that was supposed to be the force guiding him but that was never brought up. An army is exterminating JarJar's people, yet he's making pratfalls throughout the scene. Come on, why didn't Saving Private Ryan bring out the vaudeville during battles? And that oh, so sophisticated droid army doesn't seem to have advanced beyond US revolutionary war tactics: get in a big line and march forward so to be easy targets.

    The CG effects were nice, but they didn't save the rest of the movie. I like SF, but I have to admit that TPM was abysmal. To say otherwise would be to belittle the good movies I've seen in the last few years.
  • Q: Which is louder? The sound of one hand clapping, or the sound of a few dozen geeks boycotting?

    A: Neither! Both make about the same amount of noise in the real world--which is to say, very nearly none at all.

    Q: If a few dozen geeks boycott DVD and nobody's there to hear them, do they make a sound?

    A: Not very much of one! I am certain that studios and DVD producers get much more angry mail about "how dare they put these black bars over the movie I paid good money for!" than they do about the evil DVDCCA and DMCA which are preventing people from legally watching movies on Linux.

    Get with it, people. If you want to boycott DVD until the cows come home, that's your choice. But if you honestly expect it to have any impact at all on the behavior of (or funding of) the groups you're boycotting, you're fooling yourself. According to the editorial page linked in the above article, DVDs accounted for 13% of all video sales last year. That's an awful lot of DVDs bought by people who presumably couldn't care less. Unless you can get a pretty substantial amount of people to join your boycott, the only people who will be affected by it are you. (Free clue: if you want to reach the numbers of people who would actually do any good, you'd be better off buying ad space in national papers or magazines than spouting about it on Slashdot.)

  • Buying a DVD does not really effect the DeCSS issue, in that there is so much money flying around already the lack of even a million people buying a particular DVD would have little impact on how much money they spend on evil lawsuits (and how would they know the million people just didn't want that movie?).

    I said it before in a previous post, but I'll repeat - I think the best way to help is to buy region free players, and support the EFF monetarily so they can continue to throw lawyers at the problem.

    Supporting a good cause has a better effect than sitting by the sidelines waiting for the game to finish (I can't believe I just used a sports metaphor. Sorry about that!).

    I still think that anyone not buying DVD's right now is only hurting themselves - the DVD industry does not miss you.
  • Actually, I don't think a web server and a bunch or Perl code is going to care one way or the other about DVD boycotts.
  • I have this image of Lando, at age seven, as a tough-talking gansta wanna-be, before learning that you can catch more flies with honey and evolving into soopa-slick Billy Dee.

    "You say people gonna die? I'll tell you who's gonna die - it's always the white Naboo who start wars, and the black men who get killed. F**k that s**t, b***h, this n***a ain't fighting!"

    I would have paid serious money to see that.
  • I like to watch star wars when I'm washing my ass out in the sink. I have the TV positioned just outside the door so I can pick poo and watch TV too, ( hehe that rhymed ). I'm happy about the dvd thing too cause I like the playstation and picking me butt at the same time too.. which means I won't have to drag the playstation, tv, AND vcr,.. just the tv and playstation and I'll be able to watch it through the play station while i pick poo. Cool stuff!
  • There are alot more then a few dozen geeks who are shouting about this.
    Oh, I'm sure. That's why only twenty showed up at the great anti-DMCA protest [slashdot.org]? If there are three digits' worth of protesters, I'll be mildly surprised, and if there are four, I'll be stunned.
    I believe the more we shout the more others will join us in this fight. Just because you can watch a movie in a high quality format is no reason to sarifice your rights.
    Oh, please. Shout about it on Slashdot all you like. Maybe you'll get a few dozen more geeks.
    (Free clue: a minority of people change laws all the time)
    Then I'm sure the DMCA is as good as dead. How can it possibly stand up to being ranted about on Slashdot??? (BTW, in case you missed it, that's sarcasm.)
    You want to sell out your rights and your childrens rights just so you can watch a prettier movie, go right a head. Comply like a little drone. When you're ready to fight let me know, I'll be happy to give you a list of things you can do to help.
    Dude, I'm not selling anything. The fact is, you simply don't have enough people to make a difference. Where's the acknowledgement of your boycott? Where's the news coverage (that doesn't make fun of you)? I've not seen anyone suggest a DVD boycott anywhere except Slashdot, and I would think that if you were as effective at getting the word out as you think you are, there would be articles and banner ads and such all over the place. I'll happily write my congressmen and send nasty letters to the DVD companies, as I think there's a slight chance that would help affect the DVDCCA. But simply not buying DVDs won't do anything, because there are ten thousand other people for every one of you who still will.
    If I have 0% effect at least I can stand up and say I tried. You, on the other hand, can say you help them stamp out are rights by not acting. how proud you must be.
    Good for you. Try all you like. I have confidence in the government and the courts to do the right thing, with or without a boycott, and when they do, I'll have my DVD collection already, and the enjoyment I have had and will have out of watching the movies on it.
  • The URL in the above post should be http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35178,00.ht ml [wired.com]. Don't know why it didn't show up properly.
  • It is hurting you in the sense that you are not going to get some movies for a very long time. Did you want the directors cut with commentary of Army Of Darkness? You better have an e-bay account and a lot of cash. Same goes for Hard Boiled, and a number of other great movies that have either gone out of print already or are cycled out of the market on purpose (Disney).

    Those might come out again, someday - but right now they are here with really great quality and great commentary tracks besides. I've watched DVD's on my home TV, as well as projected out to about a five or six foot diagonal on the projectors at work (sometimes I bring in the DVD player and we have after hour movie shows). Frankly it's worth having a DVD player just to watch "The Matrix", and all the extra things that come with it.

    I personally also dislike the MPAA, but do not feel that my buying DVD's supports them that much compared to the actions I take against them.

    I've donated money to the EFF (and will do so again this year) so they can fight them. My next DVD player will be a player that supports MP3's and easy region free playing (Ok that's a bit of a lie in that I plan to get a PS2 as soon as they come out, just not to replace my DVD player...). I also tell as many people as I can about the evils of the MPAA, and like you find that most are outraged when they hear what is really going on.

    I also stand up, but do so in a different way that I feel is just as effective as a boycott. I don't think one has to choose between a love of movies and principals in this fight...
  • The Slashdot community does indeed say one thing, and do another, but that is merely a subset of what really happens which is that the Slashdot community says a couple dozen different things and does a few hundred different things.
  • If you are really serious about that facet of the boycott, you can buy all your DVD's used.

    Hypocracy is arguing for one thing but doing another that actively contradicts what you say (I'll admit I slanted that definition to my benefit). While I admit my line is a grey one, I sumbit that most issues in life are not really clear-cut black and white issues. By taking a stance further along and saying that I vigorously support legal action against the MPAA and also region-free DVD players, I feel that in the end the weight of my actions rest firmly against the MPAA, just as I speak against them - thus there is no hypocracy.

    They may get a small sum of money (though even there I've taken to renting movies if I can, and buying only the ones likley to go away or ones that I feel compelled to watch again and again - Matrix!), but the EFF probably gets a much larger sum from me than the MPAA will ever see.

    Furthermore, if you really didn't like the MPAA and wanted to prevent any of your money from getting to them, wouldn't that mean avoiding movies altogether? Not even buying VHS tapes? I do not hear people calling for boycotts against these things as well, but I do not think of that stance as hypocritical.

    I see the non-buying of DVD's as more a symbolic action than one that can lead to change - it might be effective but the simple fact is that there is essentially no way to get enough backing for such a cause to make a difference.

    I admire the people that are purists and buy no DVD's. However, I wish more people would also advocate measures that were more proactive - like donating money to the EFF!! Not enough people seem to try spreading that message.

    One last closing argument - by not buying DVD's you are also hurting one other group of people, the movie makers! Don't you want to see the guys that made "The Matrx" do well? Especially the makers of smaller films like Pi, they could really use your money and by not buying DVD's you are hurting them a lot more than the MPAA!

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