George Lucas rips off his fans

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Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

From today's Digital Bits:

As for that other thing... you remember how a while back I told you in The Rumor Mill that Lucasfilm was going to be wanting to sell you the Star Wars movies on DVD again next year, to commemorate the original film's 30th Anniversary? And I told you they'd be releasing a box set of all 6 films? Yeah... well our friends over at The Force.net may have found the first official confirmation of that. And yes, I will say I told ya so. Come on, did anyone really doubt it was happening? Hell... if it DOESN'T happen, I'll eat a Boba Fett action figure and post the pictures in this column
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Post by 99-1100896887 »

Nik: I don't know how old you are, but when they were released, American Graffiti and (the original) Star Wars were like breaths of fresh air. They may seem stale and old-hat to you now,but Care Bears? Come on! I suspect that if you were a young man in the 70s, you would feel the same about these two movies as I did then.
Granted, the other Star Wars films I have not bothered to see. The mystery is gone.
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Post by Nik »

kaytodd wrote:This is something obvious and it is hardly profound but I will say it anyway: I guess the talented filmmaker who did American Graffiti and the original Star Wars is gone forever.
"Talented filmmaker?" That appellation is hardly one I would ever use to describe Lucas - then or now. Everyone agrees he has fallen far but I have to say (and I realize I may stand alone here) I never found his work remarkable or interesting in the least. American Graffiti is ok but vastly overrated and I actively disliked the Star Wars films. Yes even the originals. Dull, dull puerile indulgence. I can't imagine anyone over the age of 12 watching them again and not realizing how childish and uninspired they are. I know that there are "children's films" that transcend their genre - you can view them eyars later as an adult and still appreciate their magic or even rediscover it by appreciating new elements you did not notice as a child. Many Disney films retain this quality - Dumbo, Pinnochio, The Little Mermaid, and of course my favorite Beauty and the Beast. The same goes with almost any Hiyao Miyazaki film or the original Looney Tunes.

One cannot however say the same thing about oh, I dunno, say any of the Care Bear films. Yes I am comparing Star Wars to Care Bears. Despite its nerd-cool (is that an oxmoron?) sheen and its "man-boy" appeal, Star Wars really is just as simple-minded and insipid as a Care Bear film.

I hope the "obvious" failure of his recent Star Wars films encourages Lucas to take his millions go off somewhere and help a needy cause and just leave the film world alone. It will survive BETTER without him.
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Post by dws1982 »

I guess Lucas can make another cash ploy and repeat the entire re-release process with Blu-Ray. And, if HD-DVD wins the format war, and Fox has to support it (they only support Blu-Ray right now), he can do it AGAIN with HD-DVD. This makes me glad I'm not a Star Wars fan, because if I were, I'd no doubt have spent hundreds of dollars trying to keep up with the various versions he keeps releasing.

As for the Star Wars TV series, there's no need for that with Battlestar Galactica on the air. Galactica is grown-up Sci-Fi, and the Star Wars series would probably just end up looking like a pale imitation. (Odd, since the producers of the 70's Galactica were sued by the Star Wars producers for stealing their idea.)
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Post by kaytodd »

This is something obvious and it is hardly profound but I will say it anyway: I guess the talented filmmaker who did American Graffiti and the original Star Wars is gone forever. I don't know if the huge success of Star Wars caused him to focus on little else in his career or if did not like being a filmmaker that much (I always considered the Indiana Jones franchise to be Spielberg's creation).

If Lucas decides to come up with a new idea for a film and actually bring it to fruition, I will be very surprised. He is only 61 years old and appears to be in good health so he can do it if he wants to. Sad to say, he has decided not to.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Big Magilla wrote:I'm not sure Lucas is entirely to blame for this. I see Fox's hand in it as well.

While Fox was one of the first studios to release their classic films in anything approaching large numbers, they've slowed down considerably. On the other hand they can't seem to stop repackaging their blockbusters. In the past few weeks we've had the third releases of Planet of the Apes and M*A*S*H. This week they're releasing special editons of The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure and have special editions of Patton, The Longest Day and Tora! Tora! Tora! coming out before Memorial Day. The Omen is also coming at us again.
It's a good point, but I think in this case it is entirely Lucas' doing. Before the release of Star Wars, Lucas made a deal with 20th Century. He gave up most of his pay in exchange for complete control of the film and the sequels, as well as 40% of the gross and merchandising. Fox agreed, and who wouldn't? It was practically an invitation to allow the studio to rip off the director. Since then, Lucas has been in complete control of his saga.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

And is everyone aware of the live-action Star Wars TV series under development?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458291/

It's set to debut in 2008, and it's supposed to take place in the period between Episodes 1 and 2 (or movies 4 and 5). It's about how the rebel alliance formed... as opposed to the entire second trilogy which was about Darth Vader's development and descent into the dark side, which I always thought was a very odd thing to want to devote half the franchise to. Wouldn't fans rather see a trilogy devoted to the good guys that they cheered on in the first three movies? Anyway, it's possible Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz will be involved.

I'd be willing to watch an episode if they could get James Earl Jones to make a vocal contribution. Otherwise, it looks like Young Indiana Jones in Space.
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Post by rain Bard »

Well, there's apparantly a 3-D version in the pipeline for theatrical release.
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Post by Reza »

George Lucas needs to get a life and move beyond this franchise he has created. How many versions of this wretched franchise is he going to inflict on the public?
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Post by Big Magilla »

Actually these will not be exactly the versions originally shown in theatres - they will be the remastered THX certified ediitons produced for the 1993 laser discs later released on VHS. The good news is that the assinine new title of "Star Wars IV- A New Hope" will be removed from the first film, which will go back to being called simply "Star Wars".
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Post by Precious Doll »

Well it could be said that George Lucas has been ripping off the movie going public since The Empire Strikes Back.

I for one am very happy about this. The only film of the series I like is Star Wars and now I will be able to purchase it as it was and without buying all those others.

I sometimes buy box sets which include films I don't particularly care for just to get one or two particular films. In the case of Star Wars I didn't. My wait has paid off.
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Post by Big Magilla »

I'm not sure Lucas is entirely to blame for this. I see Fox's hand in it as well.

While Fox was one of the first studios to release their classic films in anything approaching large numbers, they've slowed down considerably. On the other hand they can't seem to stop repackaging their blockbusters. In the past few weeks we've had the third releases of Planet of the Apes and M*A*S*H. This week they're releasing special editons of The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure and have special editions of Patton, The Longest Day and Tora! Tora! Tora! coming out before Memorial Day. The Omen is also coming at us again.
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Post by kaytodd »

It is a shame Lucas is getting away with this, but there is one scene from the original trilogy I miss very much and am looking forward to seeing again in its original form.

It is the scene near the beginning of Return Of The Jedi in which Jabba brings the whole gang out to the desert to force Luke and Hans to jump into this pit so they can be devoured by a creature called something like Sarlac. The original version was so creepy. We never saw the creature, just this disgusting looking orifice in which we could barely see what looked sort of like muscles or tendons. Seeing this, after hearing a description of how people who jump into the pit were slowly digested, caused my imagination to create wonderfully horrible ideas of what the creature must look like.

But, in the digitally "improved" version, we see the creature. Emerging from the orifice is a silly looking thing with tentacles and a large dark tounge surrounded by two things that look like leaves. It always reminds me of something from Little Shop Of Horrors. Why Lucas decided this was an improvement over the oringinal scene, I'll never understand.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Original Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy on DVD!
Source: Lucasfilm May 4, 2006
Comingsoon.com



Lucasfilm has announced that this September fans can look forward to the long-awaited DVD release of the original theatrical incarnations of the classic "Star Wars" trilogy!

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.

See the title crawl to "Star Wars" before it was known as "Episode IV"; see the pioneering, if dated, motion control model work on the attack on the Death Star; groove to Lapti Nek or the Ewok Celebration song like you did when you were a kid; and yes, see Han Solo shoot first.

This release will only be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. The international release will follow on or about the same day. Each original theatrical version will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround sound, close-captioning, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish for their U.S. release. International sound and subtitling vary by territory.

"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. Topping it off with a new interactive adventure makes September 12 a red-letter day for Star Wars fans."

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


Soooo.... the first three films are available on video for many years, until the 90s. Then, Lucas declared they fell short of his original vision, took them off the market and re-relesed brand new versions of the originals, with "improved" effects and additional scenes. Now he's releasing the originals on DVD for all the fools willing to part with their money again. Psyche!

Maybe they'll come out as a set just in time for the holidays. And then there can be the Complete Special Collection, containing all three movies in BOTH versions! Then next year, Lucas can discontinue the 'improved' versions, saying they are a debasement of his original vision... and then a decade from now, he will announce the re-release of his 'revised' vision of these films. God, I hate con men.
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