Original Star Wars trilogy DVDs to get LaserDisc masters
Source: MobiusWhen it was recently announced that LucasFilm would be releasing the original, unaltered editions of the Star Wars trilogy on DVD, there was much cause for jubilation for sci-fi nuts the world over. Well, you can calm down now, as it turns out that, instead of creating proper hi-def masters for these releases, they'll simply be using the non-anamorphic masters from the 1993 LaserDisc releases. According to George Lucas' speilbots:
As you may know, an enormous amount of effort was put into digitally restoring the negatives for the Special Editions. In one scene alone, nearly 1 million pieces of dirt had to be removed, and the Special Editions were created through a frame-by-frame digital restoration. The negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions, and existing prints of the first versions are in poor condition.
So many fans have requested the original movies, we wanted to find a way to bring them to you. But since these movies do not represent George's artistic vision, we could not put the extraordinary time and resources into this project as we did with the Special Editions. The 1993 Laserdisc masters represented the best source for providing the original versions as DVD bonus material. Although these are non-anamorphic versions, they do preserve the original widescreen composition of the movies.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans – now or in the future – to restore the earlier versions.
Lucas took the time to explain the "logic" behind this decision.
What a crock! I didn't enjoy Star Wars enough to particularly care, but I can absolutely understand the anger of the fans. Apparently these LaserDisc masters are in better condition than the various prints that have been struck for the films over the years. Excuse me, but I think I know horseshit when I smell it!Let's put it this way: pretty much no-one except George Lucas likes the "special editions" he created for these films, so why doesn't he just play ball and give his fanbase what it actually wants? Instead, he seems intent on playing power games and denying the obvious. What a petty and vindictive little man!
2 Comments:
That really is a bag of shite, isn't it? They make it sound as if the original 3 Star Wars movies are somehow different from all the other tens of thousands of films ever made, so it'll be next-to-impossible to restore them. Never mind the miracles Criterion or Warner have achieved restoring tatty 60- or 70-year-old prints and negatives. Lucas is an utter tosser.
That said, personally I'm not that bothered, as I'm one of those old curmudgeons who couldn't give a flying fuck about the prequels and refuses to call "Star Wars" "Episode IV: A New Hope". It would have been nice to have the 3 films on DVD though.
No doubt this news will inspire one of those 100-comment threads on DVD Times as the Lucas apologists rush to defend his unparalleled genius as usual.
By Philly Q, at 12:52
I liked that phrase "George Lucas' speilbots", by the way!
By Philly Q, at 14:15
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