Star Wars Trilogy on DVD!

[Spartacus]

(First off, there is no need to bring up Eps 1 & 2. This is a topic about how great it is that we are getting the Trilogy on DVD)

I got an email from starwars.com (starwars.com Homing Beacon), saying that we are finally getting the Original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD! Here are a few quotes from the email.

"We know how long fans have waited for this release and how much they have been looking forward to it, so everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience,"

Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi will be available in a four-disc set that includes a bonus disc filled with all-new special features -- including the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced about the Star Wars saga and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films. Each of the three films in the Star Wars Trilogy has been digitally restored and re-mastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality.

For more info, I guess you can go to starwars.com they should have it on the front page.

So, what do you guys think? I’m hyped for it. And I think most people who follow Star Wars knew that it was going to happen, ‘cause it will generate more hype for EP3. Maybe they will put a trailer for it on one of the discs.


Happy boy I am right now. --~

[Xtreme CHRI$$]

Sounds awesome, I can't wait......It seems kinda like the Indiana Jones trilogy set, with 3 DVDs of the movies and then another bonus DVD. Anyways, I'm hyped up about it too. --~

[ihavelargefeet]

Must have now....

[Boondock Saint]

the bad thing is, though guys, that all of them are the 'special editions' released a few years back. as of this time, no plans have been made AT ALL to put the ORIGINAL films on disc. and, i really think some of the changes were bad. however, lucas contends this was the way they were supposed to be. i probably won't be buying this.

i got the email too, but it didn't say anything about them only being special editions. in all the news releases, though, from AP and whatnot, it says ONLY special editions, which i think is a huge draw back for millions of star wars fans...

[Linque]

Star Trek has more movies...and they are ALREADY on DVD!! So HA!!

Star Trek locks Phasers onto the EPS Conduits leading to the Deuterium tanks of Star Wars...............

"FIRE!!"

The EPS Conduits are destroyed, a plasma fire erupts and races down the line to the Deuteriums tanks; which explode violently destroying all of Star Wars!! Star Trek is saved by a gravimetric-tetrion field raised to block the deadly Thaleron Radiation created by Star Wars in its last moments.


!!!!!

[OutlawAdidas]

All I have to say is Long live Darth Maul!

[Sean-AMN]

They did a amazing job on Indy, I wet myself when I found out bout star wars!!!(one of my teachers told me last week as he works at lucas)

[Monkeylord]

I've heard rumours about this for several months now... but it's good to finally get the official confirmation. It will be a shame if it IS only the Special Editions as they could easily have both versions selectable and still retain an amazing picture and sound quality! , although there was also rumours floating about saying they were going to re-insert even MORE deleted scenes and all the re-done effects were being updated (PLEASE sort out that crappy Jabba in ANH!!!).

Roll on September!!! (and November '06 for the EPIII DVD release ;) )

[Steve-AMN]

Okay it is official...I messed my pants.

[Boondock Saint]

here you go guys, right from the E!online article i read...

"The collection will include only the 1997 special-edition versions of the three films. According to Ward, the box set will feature commentary from Lucas and new interviews with cast members for all three films. The fourth disc will include some never-before-seen footage and a new two-hour documentary, as well as featurettes on storyboarding, production design, costumes and special effects. Each of the flicks has been digitally restored and remastered by THX for superior sound and image quality."

here's (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=794&ncid=799&e=7&u=/eo/20040210/en_movies_eo/13471) the link to the full article, should you decide to check it out...

[thegamecubist]

I see the VHS set constantly at the mall, but I don't buy it. After all, this is the age of the DVD.

I am essentially a Star Wars n00b (only seeing episode IV and I);so I think this would be a good chance to rid myself of the newbie-ness.

[Steve-AMN]

yes....yes it would

[Lovebird]

i own the vhs box aet with no intent of purchasinf the dvds...

[Boondock Saint]

yeah, i own the trilogy on vhs as well (not the special editions, except for 'empire', in which few real changes were made), but i also own the original, so it's all good. i guess i just bought both versions of 'empire' b/c it's my favorite.

anyways, yeah. i have no drive to buy it on dvd unless in its original form, which it clearly will not be. if they ever do release them, though...count me in. until then, the indy box set will be the last bit of money lucas sees from me.

[King_O.F]

Originally posted by Linque
Star Trek has more movies...and they are ALREADY on DVD!! So HA!!

Star Trek locks Phasers onto the EPS Conduits leading to the Deuterium tanks of Star Wars...............

"FIRE!!"

The EPS Conduits are destroyed, a plasma fire erupts and races down the line to the Deuteriums tanks; which explode violently destroying all of Star Wars!! Star Trek is saved by a gravimetric-tetrion field raised to block the deadly Thaleron Radiation created by Star Wars in its last moments.


!!!!!

too bad it wouldn't go down that way. nothing happens in Star trek without an hour of dialoge before hand disscussing what their about to do

*Capt. Kirk: *William Shatner voice*: "set phasers to kill and... prepare to fire! hold on! just...one moment. what do we.... really know.. about these creatures we are... attacking?"

Spock: "I'm a doctor!"

[Sabur]

Ah the great battle of Star Wars Vs Star Trek... just look at the games to decide the victor thought the videos show it all any way... i like them both but you dont see a kirk figure on my computer monitor...just a Yoda that came with my pre-order of the special edition box set of Star wars.. and next will come the pre order of Star wars before i get the Star trek movies

[Linque]

If there's too much talking, its only a tactic to put you to sleep and then attack with your guard down!!

Besides, the Rebellion would've never succeeded if not for magic-like powers by Luke...whereas the Federation succeeds on human intelect!

[King_O.F]

ha!
that's another thing. the Federation is prejudice! all those humans and no aliens...IN SPACE. *shakes head*

[Monkeylord]

Me and my friend used to draw comic strips of what would happen if the Enterprise ever happened upon the Executor (or similar Super Star Destroyer)... it was always amusing, and often involved the infamous word - KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!! lmao

[Steve-AMN]

The problem with Star Trek is that it is too "unrealistic". There is now way humanity would ever come togeather THAT well. There is no way money would ever not be used. Everything is so clean and pristine (sp?) in the Federation (human side that is).

In Star Wars, humanity is more realistic, things look worn and used. There is stupidity (Stormtroopers hitting heads on doors :D). That is what draws me to Star Wars, waaaaay more realistic of a future.

Star Trek is nice...but it would never happen. I always hated how most of the time things ended in nice neat packages and the next episode it would seem like nothing ever happend. I know that wasn't the case 100% of the time but I like shows that continue from story to story and not just when the script for an episode calls for it.

[Monkeylord]

It's just a shame that star Wars is set in the past then (A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...)

Also, the aliens in Star Trek are just people with bits of silly putty on the bridge of their noses and all they ever seem to do is talk talk talk talk talk.

[Steve-AMN]

Yeah I know...but that doesn't stop people from comparing that to the future of humanity :p

I am just sick of having to explain that to everyone so I just gave in and refer it to the future.

[Boondock Saint]

i like both star trek and star wars...in some cases, star trek. i like dialogue. lucas has a nack for writing REALLY bad storylines as well. i mean, he based star wars on basically two things: lord of the rings and the hidden fortress (which really isn't as heavily used as the former)...anyways, the point is that i enjoy both. star trek's good, and star wars is good. all except the special editions of the old ones...even the new ones are passable, even though i recognize they're not good movies, particularly.

[Monkeylord]

I loved the Special Editions (all except that crappy Jabba in EPIV) and so far I've loved both the prequals too. Great stuff. I'm not upset in the slightest that the Special Editions are being released instead of the original cut's, but it would have been soooooo easy for them to put both on the discs giving the buyer a choice. Considering that all the bonus features will be on a seperate disc that frees up more than enough room to add both versions and retain superb image quality!

A man can dream *sigh*

[Sabur]

Yeah. that jabba scene was horrible.... i wish they would at least put some of the delted scenes on the 4th disc that most people never saw since they werent included in any version of Star wars on video... ive only seen one of them and wouldnt mind seeing more

[Monkeylord]

Apparently GL is gonna do more to the original trilogy to make them gel better with the prequals. Then he'll release them in a huge boxset of all 6 movies! It's currently being dubbed as the "Star Wars: Ultimate Edition" or "Star Wars: Archive Edition" (depending on which websites you see info at). The same list of updates keep coming up - here's a breakdown (by the way it's worded a lot are already completed!) :-

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
01. The Imperial March has been added to Darth Vader's first appearance on Princess Leia's ship.
02. When Obi-Wan is talking to Luke about his father Anakin's Theme plays in the background and then it turns into the Imperial March as he talks about Vader. 03. The lightsaber effects have been redone and the frame jumps of lightsabers being turned on has been removed .
04. There's a new scene which has been shot during the filming of Episode III in which the Emperor dissolves the Senate.
05. In the Cantina, the Duros(green aliens guys) have been replaced with Neimoidians and some aliens from the prequels have been added.
06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it's now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds.
07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.
08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tale.
09. In place of R2 wobbling down the stairs to the Falcon's hangar, a CG R2 navigating the stairs like he does in Attack of the Clones was added.
10 . The white boxes around space ships have been removed and new CG shots have been added.
11 . The scene of the Falcon being chased by the two Star Destroyers was modified. The Falcon now does spinning moves, avoiding the Star Destroyers' fire.
12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbence in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.
13 . The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and we're now able to see more of the creature.
14 . The Death Star's paneling and computers have been slightly altered to show similar displays to those in the prequels.
15 . The words "Tractor Beam" have been replaced with Aurebesh lettering.
16 . More stormtroopers have been added to the Death Star.
17 . Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for use with all the stormtroopers.
18 . The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene.
19. The Death Star plans that are taken from R2 have been updated. When the Rebels are reviewing the Death Star plans they look similar to the plans we see in Attack of the Clones.
20 . The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels.
21 . There's a new scene(shot during Episode III) where Darth Vader goes to Coruscant and lands his ship in the same building Count Dooku does at the end of Attack of the Clones. Except now the building is all fixed up and it is now Palpatine's palace. He meets with Palpatine to ask for forgiveness for his failure and inform him of a new pontential who is strong in the Force.
22 . Chewbacca now gets a medal.

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
01. The taun-tauns are now CG.
02. The battle of Hoth is much more epic. We see the Imperial ships land on Hoth and release AT-ATs. The AT-ATs have been sped up a bit. There's a ground battle between the Rebel soldiers and stormtroopers featuring new ships and vechicles.
03. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for the older Boba Fett and all the stormtroopers.
04. The white boxes around space ships have been removed.
05. The space slug is CG.
06. George Lucas has refilmed the Emperor's conversation with Vader using Ian McDiarmid in the makeup. Their meeting is now much longer and features a few connections to the prequels. The plan is for James Earl Jones to record the new dialogue when he comes in to do Episode III.
07. Yoda's face is now animated in CG allowing more expression of emotions, yet his movements remain the same. Also two deleted scenes featuring Yoda instructing Luke have been restored.
08. A new scene was shot in which the stormtroopers, after they capture Han, Leia and Chewie, bring Vader the box containing C-3PO in pieces. Vader orders the stormtroopers to bring the broken droid to Chewbacca's cell so that he can fix him.
09. The lightsaber effects have been redone in certain parts.
10. Luke's fall from Cloud City has been reshot against bluescreen using a stuntman and Mark Hammil has been to the ranch to record a new scream.

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
01. Jabba the Hutt is now a combination of the puppet and CG.
02. The Rancor is CG and looks disgusting as ever.
03. Yoda is CG. Yoda disappears leaving his clothes behind like Obi-Wan now.
04. The ewoks are now mostly CG and there are a lot more of them.
05. The plan is to insert the love theme Across the Stars when Luke is talking with Leia about their mother.
06. Temuera Morrison's like before is now the voice for Boba Fett and all the stormtroopers.
07. In the battle of Endor there are thousands of Ewoks and they are more vicious than there midgets-in-suits counterparts. More bite the dust now.
08. White boxes around ships removed.
09. The black blotches around Palpatine's face are gone and some new footage of the Emperor has been shot using Ian.
10. The lightsaber effects have been redone. The shadows that the lightsabers made on the floor are gone.
11. During Anakin's death scene it starts with a sad rendition of the Imperial March and slowly evolves into Anakin's Theme. John Williams recorded his redition of it on the piano and it is now being used as a temp track until he can properly orchestrate it.
12. Sebastion Shaw who played Anakin when he was unmasked has been replaced with Hayden Christenson in make-up to make him look older. Anakin has much more dialogue. He apologizes for the destruction he caused, he thanks his son for turning him back to the light, he tells his son to rebuild the Jedi and he says he loves him and his sister. Just before he dies he says, "It is finished...".
13. We see more planets celebrating at the end of the movie on Naboo celebrating with the people of Naboo and the Gungans. We see an old Watto, who is now unable to fly, sitting in a hover chair cheering on Tatooine. During these scenes Across the Stars plays transitioning to the victory celebration music at the Ewok tree village.
14. Anakin's spirit is now played by Hayden Christenson with make-up to make him look his age.
15. George Lucas, during the filming of Episode III, shot a new final scene that he thought would be a perfect end to his saga. The new scene features Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO exiting the Millenium Falcon on one of the floating landing platforms of Coruscant, in front of the Senate. A large crowd of greatful people applaud them. We see camera droids recording the arrival of the heroes for the galaxy to see. Luke raises his arms in the air with his lightsaber in his hand and ignites it. Credits role. The scene was shot using the best doubles that could be found. The new scene already looks great as is but the shots are now being worked on by a crew at ILM, who intend to recreate the actors faces circa 1982 and won't be satisfied until it's perfect.

(P.s. - before anyone starts on me, I'm also treating this all as rumour at the mo!!!)

[Boondock Saint]

awesome...even MORE crap i don't want. why can't i just have the original movie? you know, how he released it first?

[Spartacus]

That's an old rumor. I doubt it is true. I wouldn't mind something like that if he released the OT first, then that.

[Linque]

o.k., I want both now.

I want the originals for nostalgic purposes (original stormtrooper voices, no hayden, etc.)

But I also want the new ones just as much b/c I always enjoy seeing directors take the time to make a movie series flow from start to finish. Just look at Star Trek: TMP, they could have left it in its original form, but even the director said that was not the movie he wanted to make, so they updated it to the the TRUE movie the director intended b/c of advances in tech.

I just hope the rumored new stuff doesn't come across overly cheesy, I don't like the sound of that new ending scene, it feels contrived and uninspired. I know its all rumor and I'm treating it as such, but I'm speculating in the event its true.

[Monkeylord]

I think it all sounds like great improvements. anything that helps retain continuity and the directors original vision.

Main point is, it's GL who owns the films. GL who created them, and the universe they're set in. GL who want's to make these changes so they fit more with the new movies he's filmed. He's got every right to make these changes, and I think that it's a good idea to do it too.

[Boondock Saint]

but the thing is, it's NOT his vision. it's his vision thirty years later. that's not the same thing...

it's EXACTLY like when spielberg re-released 'ET' in theaters and digitally edited out the guns the agents were carrying and made them flashlights or walkie-talkies or whatever they were...if he had meant to put that in, then he would've done so at the time.

now, i understand that george lucas had budget constraints, but his vision was put forth on film. there are changes that there's no way he could've wanted back then (i.e. - greedo shooting first). if he'd really wanted these sequences, then he could have shot them that way at the time he originally made the movie.

there's a HUGE difference between special editions and directors' cuts...mainly that director's cuts include footage that the director shot at the time of filming, and actually wanted in the film, but couldn't do it (hence, i think it's justifiable that the jabba scene is included, despite it's being horrible, because it was written and filmed at the time) and special editions create entirely NEW material that wasn't in the original shoot (the goddamned song/dance sequence in 'jedi'). the latter is what i have a problem with, and it really changes the entire movie. i hate george lucas. thank GOD he never messed with the indiana jones series, i would've hired an assassin.

[Monkeylord]

Whether it's his vision now or 30yrs ago doesn't matter. fact is he's made these new films and he wants to alter them slightly to bring the later ones into line. he's got every right to do that.

Yes, Spielberg altered ET - but no-one was forced into seeing the altered version and BOTH versions are available to buy. If you think that un-altered versions of the original Star Wars trilogy will never be available again then I'm afraid I'm forced into laughing. Of course he'll bring un-altered versions out - there are several petitions online that can easily be signed and he knows it.

I can't wait for the new versions, mainly cause after the prequals, the original trilogy looks utter arse... infact the 1997 Special Editions looks arse as well! And I was pissed that no scenes were enhanced for Indiana Jones and loved all the stuff that was done for E.T

The way I see it, when these types of films were made at the time, they were excellent films but were too ahead of their time... they didn't have the technology or budgets to do stuff properly so I love it when they redo crap, tired looking FX...

Also, if George wanted to do scenes a particular way, he would of done them at the time? but that just isn't the case... he made them by just moving along filming anything he could think of... it's not until 30 years later that he's fully opened up the SW universe with goverments and all that... stuff he didn't even think about the time. look at the stuff in the prequals with the Jedis on Coruscant, and all the stuff with the Senate... that's real story stuff to me. The orginal films just had ships flying, planets blowing up and fuzzy bears... fantastic as they were... they had no real story

He made the Special Editions as a celebration, but more to just show everyone how visual fx had moved along in 20 years... ILM was set up SOLELY to make those films. The Original Star Wars was just a visual treat with some dialogue thrown in. I also don't see what all this fuss is with Greedo shooting first... I could have sworn (granted, it's been a long time since I last saw the original) that you hear a laser go off, smoke appears next to solo, then Greedo's dead.

Oh and about ET... the guns removal is actually a very good move - they're just kids on bikes, not masked gunmen so arming the police with rifles and that was silly, Spielberg said so himself.

[Boondock Saint]

Originally posted by Monkeylord
If you think that un-altered versions of the original Star Wars trilogy will never be available again then I'm afraid I'm forced into laughing. Of course he'll bring un-altered versions out - there are several petitions online that can easily be signed and he knows it.

lucas has publicly said in interviews that he will not release the originals because the new ones are the 'real versions'. whatever. the real version is what came out thirty years ago.

[Sabur]

I think what is out now is the real version.. its what he wanted the real version to be...besides its not like he would do what the fans want he already has stated many times that hes tired of the whole series. I just hope that EP3 will be nice and dark and cool for once... i doubt it will be as cool as Empire (my fav of the trilogy)

[Monkeylord]

Originally posted by Boondock Saint
lucas has publicly said in interviews that he will not release the originals because the new ones are the 'real versions'. whatever. the real version is what came out thirty years ago.

Lucas has publicly said in interviews that he will not release any Star Wars movies on DVD till all 6 were complete...

Whoops! I coulda sworn that 2 were released already... hmmmm...

[Donnagh]

I really don't mind things being changed. I've done my share of work in film, and the fact is that once the film is done there is often about a hundred million things you want to add or change. If you want the original trilogy, unaltered, get the VHS or Laser Disc (or a DVD copy from the Laser version). I'd like to see 4/5/6 with all (well, maybe not all) those extra things done so it flows nicely as a single 13 hour film.

06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it's now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds.
Um, this can't be right, as in Episode one when Darth Maul is cut in two there is a clearly visible spray (like a mist) of blood. It's cannon (I think) that a lightsaber partially cauterizes wounds.

[Wh|tE gUy]

I dont think films should be altered once they go to DVD. Anyone else hear about how they took the line "*****-breath" out of ET once they made the DVD?