DiipuSurotu
Banned
Lucas: "All according to keikaku..."
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Empire: "John Landis says Disney is releasing Theatrical Star Wars cuts"
- Thread starter marrec
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Lucas: "All according to keikaku..."
Tertullian
Member
I absolutely hate that scene. For some reason other Star Wars fans get more worked up about Greedo shooting, and I've seen people on GAF before saying that they don't mind the Episode IV Jabba scene. But for my money the Episode IV Jabba scene is the single worst change in all the special editions.
It's completely redundant with the Greedo scene. It represents an absolutely nonsensical de-escalation from the Greedo scene (from "you won't be able to get near a civilized system" to "O hai Han, yeah, sure, take an extension on your loan, old buddy old pal"). As Power Pad said, it has " fan wank boba fett." It completely ruins Jabba's character: instead of an immensely powerful and decadent gang lord, who spins his dark web from the center of a carnival of grotesqueries, he's apparently so weak and unimportant that he has nothing better to do than go after deadbeat third-rate bounty hunters himself, then cuts generous deals with them. And to top it off, it has the worst, ugliest, most cringeworthy CGI anywhere in Star Wars. When Han steps on Jabba's tail, it doesn't look like they're on the same plane of existence.
Yep, the Harmy Despecialized versions are what I have been watching for years now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHfLX_TMduY
As someone who saw the originals in the theater as a kid, the Special Editions can bite me. The scene where the horrible CGI Ronto blocks the Trooper interrogation in Mos Eisley alone is an eyesore.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Thank you. At least someone else gets it.
WadiumArcadium
Member
It would be great but I'm still pretty skeptical.
FriedConsole
Banned
Great looking forward to watching them again. I haven't seen them since the 90s because I am not watching the new cuts again since watching them in the 90s. I have the VHS tapes but watching that now is horrifying quality.
The Broken Ska Record
Member
The Special Editions from the '90s are when I first watched Star Wars, so I'd be happy with those at least. But I would absolutely take Blu-ray versions of the Theatrical Cuts over the current released ones.
It's still the ending of a movie and a trilogy, even if it's not the ending of the entire franchise forever. It's a lame final musical note.
Ideally Disney/Lucasfilm would restore the 1997 SE of Jedi -- keeping Sebastian Shaw's ghost AND Victory Celebration -- but I know that'll never happen.
Wow I must have blocked that shit out. Haven't watched special edition in yeaaaars. Awful.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Shotting first doesn't mean there are two shots. Come on it's simple English grammar.
Still like it better than the current version #teamyubnub
I prefer Victory Celebration to Yub Nub because it's just nicer to listen to. Plus, it still tonally fits the setting and moment. Sure, Jedi might not be the last movie anymore, but it is the end of the original story arc and the story of Luke and Darth Vader.
One of the most important changes fan edits provide for me is brightening up the movies; for some reason, the current versions of the special editions are really dark compared to the original movies, obscuring some details in dark areas like the Death Star and ruining the look of places like Hoth (which looks more blue than white).
A hypothetical release of the real versions of these movies would be a day one for me.
The despecialized editions. They're fantastic. The image quality is pretty decent all things considered and the edits are all seamless.
The despecialized editions. They're fantastic. The image quality is pretty decent all things considered and the edits are all seamless.
Woody Invincible
Banned
Han shot that fucker in cold blood, and I'd have it no other way.
I agree with this. I don't even care about whether Han shot first or not (you can barely see anything in the original cut anyway, no wonder Lucas went back and re-edited it) but the Jabba scene looks like absolute shit -- and I do mean that in the sense that Jabba is rendered like a giant turd.
Jibbajabbawockky
Member
Yeah, same here. The Special Editions that they released theatrically in the late 90s were the first time I saw Star Wars in a theater, so I'd love it if they even just released that version on Blu-ray. The original versions would be great too of course.
Granted, the Special Editions from the 90s had some terrible early CG like Jabba, so I could maybe do without that.
There was people on here that were so sure it would never happen and that they had no reason to.
Which I thought was hilarious because OF COURSE Disney had a reason to. They knew they could sell the blu-ray twice and sell it to people who haven't bought Star Wars yet. This shit was probably in the back of their head while George was signing the paper.
Which I thought was hilarious because OF COURSE Disney had a reason to. They knew they could sell the blu-ray twice and sell it to people who haven't bought Star Wars yet. This shit was probably in the back of their head while George was signing the paper.
Zippedpinhead
Member
I've got the DVD release of the "original" theatrical cuts (the one where they are special features).
But if they actually come to blu-Ray? Yeah I'll probably pick them up. My two year old woke up and wanted to watch Star Wars... Its all strangely appropriate
But if they actually come to blu-Ray? Yeah I'll probably pick them up. My two year old woke up and wanted to watch Star Wars... Its all strangely appropriate
The laserdisk looks better than that variant.
demosthenes
Member
Where do I line up to buy these?
No, not really. Harmy's fan-edit reconstruction sources from the 2006 bonus DVD (aka the "GOUT") rather than from any laserdisk rip because the quality is slightly better. Even fan attempts to rip the laserdisks from the best players available (like the defunct X0 project) never managed to improve on them.
professor_t
Member
It seems like getting the despecialized editions is a bit of a pain in the ass. I followed the instructions on one site, created an account for forums, got approved, and logged into the forums only to learn that they're no longer sending invites to DL the despecialized editions.
Does anyone have any suggestions (via PM or otherwise) on how to get my hands on these versions of the film? If it helps, I own the Blu-Ray version of the entire saga (in addition to almost every other version of Star Wars ever released).
PeskyToaster
Member
I don't have a copy of the original releases. I was too young so I'd definitely want them.
You're talking about extracting and usage for editing. Seeing the Star Wars films in laserdisk was a bigger deal than being disappointed in 2006 with ugly releases.
The laserdisk still hold up, but you are likely watching them on a CRT or older device.
thecouncil
Banned
Holding on to something is what Star Wars fans are best at.
vagabondarts
Member
Haha this is what I expected
xXBetter Off DadXx
Member
My sleep-deprived mind is trying to correctly recall this but,
The unaltered trilogy has NEVER been released on Blu-Ray, correct?
And although it was at one point available on DVD, those are out of print?
The unaltered trilogy has NEVER been released on Blu-Ray, correct?
And although it was at one point available on DVD, those are out of print?
This is correct.
The non-anamorphic discs featuring the unaltered films were packed as a bonus disc along with the 2006 DVD release of the films. Though out-of-print, they appear to be still widely available. Look for the 2-disc editions and it should be easy enough to find them.
Yeah. The DVD is a laserdisc rip on a bonus disc to the Special Edition versions.
FreeMufasa
Junior Member
Why did obi wan die? Looked bare random and like he was holding his own
Sectorseven
Member
Why wouldn't they restore the theatrical versions, even if they have no plans to release them? Seems like something they'd want for archival purposes if nothing else.
this version is good enough for me. I don't care what Disney does with the original trilogy.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
I don't know man. Like I said upthread, this whole things is weird an annoying. It always has been.
Any other company, this wouldn't have been a question. But Lucasfilm was run for a very long time by a guy who was really weird about the Special Editioning of things, and as such, even under new ownership. the prospect is still iffy. You've got a guy working on restoring the Empire of Dreams documentary for a future release, and Lucasfilm is specifically asking them to make it hi-def, but can't actually provide them with the hi-def materials they need.
I think that had more to do with Lucas' plans for a museum more than anything?
The problem with that is the sources we're discussing (collector's prints of 35mm) are likely not viable for a couple reasons. 1) Some of those prints aren't all that great 2) the people owning them are technically not supposed to even have them, so you'd have to find a collector who is willing to essentially give up their ownership (at no cost to them) for the sake of Lucasfilm having a 35mm print to work backwards from.
True. Which makes the Empire of Dreams restoration they're having done fit a little better. And 2017 gives them some time to use these new remasters as a basis for reverting all the changes, if they still have the original effects plates (which I've heard they have) for re-scanning and recompositing, if not simply (and this would be ironic) using CGI to re-create the original effects precisely.
Like I said: It's always been possible that they could do it in some way or another. It's just whether they really wanna put in that work to make it possible. Right now, it seems like they're not really inclined to do so.
This would all be so much easier, honestly, if any of the major news outlets/websites who report on this everytime it comes up would do something other than just report on the rumor, and would actually attempt contacting the people involved about it.
xXBetter Off DadXx
Member
gutter_trash
Banned
finally, new generation of kids can finally appreciate the real Star Wars
Sorry, that was really poorly phrased on my part. The film archive DID go to Disney as part of the sale. So what I meant to say is it would be crazy for them to keep an archival department at LFL when they have a world class one at Disney.
The private restoration I was referring to was based on professional 4K scans of release prints which were cleaned and graded on professional grade equipment. From what i can gather it is now done and has been printed back to film. The guy who did it has worked for LFL before and was done with their knowledge but under the understanding it will never be made public. He has pretty much stated they can have it and release it should they wish to.
his video blog is here:
https://vimeo.com/channels/877597
If he can do that with third generation prints imagine what would be possible with better sources.
That is pretty much what happened for the Special Editions. Every optical, (be it effects shot, wipe or dissolve) was re-done from the original plates. Even the original effects shots they kept were re-done as the stock the originals were done on had completely degraded. However there are original elements from 1977 which could be used.
The plan for the '06 DVDs was a quick scan of the best film version they could get. But when it became clear that getting the scan up to a reasonable standard would be too expensive they went back to the '92 Laserdisc master.
It wasn't that the materials weren't there it was that the budget was far too small to get a workable master. which is why we ended up with the half-arsed release we did.
It isn't a matter of wanting to make it happen it is a matter of company policy. Disney has one of the best, if not the best, asset protection ethos in Hollywood. Every film asset they have, even the stuff they will never release (Song of the South, Fantasia's unedited Pastoral Symphony) has been scanned and preserved both as data and as new film assets. this is ongoing and Snow White has had at least three large scale restorations thus far. I find it unthinkable that they would buy something as iconic as Star Wars and not preserve it.
I couldn't agree more.
Michael F. Assbender
Banned
I doubt this is going to happen anytime soon.
If/when it does, I'm there day one (and I'm not even that big a Star Wars fan).
Someone else mentioned maybe releasing a version where you can turn special features on and off on the fly. I'd preorder that shit today.
If/when it does, I'm there day one (and I'm not even that big a Star Wars fan).
Someone else mentioned maybe releasing a version where you can turn special features on and off on the fly. I'd preorder that shit today.
MagnaderAlpha
Member
Seconded!
#yubnub4lyfe
Either one or the other, you get. A middle, there is not.
thecouncil
Banned
lol. that's a good one.
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