Star Wars on Blu-Ray

[Dean1700 4]

Pretty self-explanatory. I took one look at them and thought "wtf?"

[Trent Hoyt 13]

Who cares?

Yes I am going to buy this. Why does cover art and bonus materials really mater? They are giving us a bunch of materials that have never been released on dvd/blu; and how many bonus materials do you really need?

[Ollie 859]

Judging by the reaction I'm seeing and reading, quite a few people care enough to express their disappointment.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

Cover art is not something to get too riled up over, but really good cover art is the perfect icing on the cake.

What I would have liked to have seen in this set:

1. The original theatrical versions

2. A making-of documentary focusing solely on the music of the saga.

[Jilal 436]

I imagine George Lucas talking: "I like to butcher music".

[Quintus 5,391]

I've only seen the collection casing, which looks pretty good to me. Let me guess - the individual cases feature rubbish photoshopped art? Lol.

[Brónach 490]

As far as I can see it's a disappointing release. Not for me. Plus I've already seen the films enough times to feel incredibly lazy to go and buy them.

[Quintus 5,391]

There's absolutely no chance of me ever buying these releases.

If they ever got around to releasing the untouched OT, cleaned up and with digital sound, on Blu (which they probably will do in the end) then I'll at least toy with the idea of getting them.

[gkgyver 1,638]

I bought the prequels on DVD once, the originals on DVD twice.

And that's already once more than necessary.

No way.

[davros72 1]

There's absolutely no chance of me ever buying these releases.

If they ever got around to releasing the untouched OT, cleaned up and with digital sound, on Blu (which they probably will do in the end) then I'll at least toy with the idea of getting them.

I doubt we'll ever see the original, original, untinkered OT again. At least not in a pristine, cleaned up, properly formatted version. What a wasted opportunity that DVD release from a few years ago was.

[Brónach 490]

I only hope George Lucas' testament isn't against a release like that.

[Quintus 5,391]

The untouched OT re-release will happen. Patience.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

Imagine if Criterion would get their hands on it? Ooh mama!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

1. The original theatrical versions

2. A making-of documentary focusing solely on the music of the saga.

Yeah, why not?

It's interesting how selective they were with the documentaries. Classic Creatures?! That 501st thing...yawn. Anatomy of a Dewback...what in the hell? Okay, I watched grainy little Quicktime videos of that last one years ago when the internet was all new to me and 56k. Still, how about some other archival stuff from the Special Edition? I think the MIA From Star Wars to Jedi is clearly a fan favorite.

I was honestly expecting more. Big mistake, I know. But the way they were half-assedly viral marketing it with that May the Fourth site and the countdown, I imagined a Close Encounters ultimate style set with the various versions.

[Delorean90 32]

GL really should take his cue from Close Encounters and Blade Runner. If Ridley Scott can release his workprint, you can release your "workprint," Georgie.

[AC1 3,565]

Well said, because that's exactly how he appears to be looking at the original theatrical version.

BTW, did Lucas already apply some new and juicy color grading on the Blu versions?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

What is Star Wars without an added cold blue tint?

It's how Lucas always wanted these films to look.

[TownerFan 4,548]

It's interesting how selective they were with the documentaries. Classic Creatures?! That 501st thing...yawn. Anatomy of a Dewback...what in the hell? Okay, I watched grainy little Quicktime videos of that last one years ago when the internet was all new to me and 56k. Still, how about some other archival stuff from the Special Edition? I think the MIA From Star Wars to Jedi is clearly a fan favorite.

I think this is a quite clear sign that there will be other releases down the line in the future, on Blu-Ray or whatever new format there will be. They should be at least more honest and save us all the "this will be the ultimate-definitive-ubercool-edition that every fan expects" kind of blabber they always do. For being a company that almost invented modern movie marketing and merchandise, it's perplexing to see how much wrong the percepetion of their consumers is.

In fact, what I really don't get is WHY Lucasfilm leaves lots of interesting archival material rotting in their warehouses for years.

As for a decent release of the original theatrical versions, I too think it's only a matter of time. When Lucas and/or his people will finally understand that this kind of blind revisionism toward film history is really pointless, I guess we'll see something. However, I think we have to wait a few years because Lucas is still pretty adamant on it.

[Andy 1,492]

Good post, Maurizio. I too think we will eventually see the original theatrical versions. Even Lucas' recent comments at Celebration V suggested he may be yielding a bit on the idea, pointing out that a restoration is "expensive", which I would interpret more as "time consuming". But they better hurry the hell up before Blu Ray is obsolete, and the idea of "owning" movies becomes a thing of the past.

I too can't figure out why there isn't a greater effort to preserve and archive vintage material. In fact, we've all heard and seen evidence of the original edit of Star Wars, which features, according to David West Reynolds, something like 40% different footage. That's the kind of historical stuff that should be honored, shared, and celebrated with a home video release.

I wonder how the content decisions get made, and by whom. Is it licensing and marketing by committee? It almost feels like they need to employ someone like J.W. Rinzler or Pete Vilmur as a consultant on assembling a comprehensive archive of true vintage footage and treasures.

[Ollie 859]

My hope would be for the sales to be poor / disappointing for this set and the feedback would be that fans want the originals and not these ridiculous versions with unnecessary CGI effects that don't even match the rest of the film. I can't believe a whole feature is being devoted to a scene that didn't need to be changed and that's the Dewback. The original scene was fine.

I'm not holding my breath for the originals.

[Roll the Bones 2,967]

only thing I want is the deleted scene (and any unreleased music in the many menus, if there is any at all)

[Koray Savas 2,095]

My hope would be for the sales to be poor / disappointing for this set and the feedback would be that fans want the originals and not these ridiculous versions with unnecessary CGI effects that don't even match the rest of the film. I can't believe a whole feature is being devoted to a scene that didn't need to be changed and that's the Dewback. The original scene was fine.

I'm not holding my breath for the originals.

The problem with crap is that massive amounts of people pay for it regardless. It's why The Fast And The Furious 6 is in production. It's why Saw lasted eight films or whatever the number was, and why more will be made. It's why all those godawful "Genre Movie" flicks kept getting made. Thank goodness they seemed to have stopped.

These sets were the top pre-ordered items on Amazon when they were announced. Then after a couple weeks they dropped off the charts, now with all the details it's back into the Top 5.