Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio In Talks To Join ‘X … 
Cannes: Latest Theft Affects China Film Group VP 
UPDATE: Yahoo Board OKs $1.1B Deal To Acquire Tumblr … 
‘Epic’ Toon Begins $14.5M Overseas Rollout 
Cannes: Sony Classics Wins Stateside Rights To Asghar … 
‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In … 
Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As … 
‘Saturday Night Live’ Season Finale Posts … 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $164.5M Global: Lower … 
Cannes: Backup Media, Memento Bring Heat To Fest Helmer Jim … 
Cannes: Sundance Selects Acquires Dardenne Brothers’ … 
Cannes: Wrekin Hill Acquires U.S. On Gabriele … 
Bill Hader’s ‘SNL’ Stefon Farewell: Video 
Cannes: The Weinstein Co. Books ‘Suite … 
BBC Confirms ‘Doctor Who’ Season 8 
Finally, Cannes Dealing! Radius-TWC Nabs Director’s … 
Hammond On Cannes: Wet Fest’s Official Competition … 
‘Vampire Academy’ Adds ‘Modern … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Shark Tank’ Finale Up, … 
Cannes: Worldview Options Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn … 
UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
LucasFilm has confirmed some very controversial changes in its upcoming 9-disc Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga with 40 hours of extras. To hardcore fans, even the concept of changes is hard to fathom. For instance, Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi specifically yells “Nooooo! Nooooo!” when the Emperor is trying to kill Luke. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Krayt Dragon howl is noticeably different in Star Wars aka A New Hope. (One Internet site said the new version “sounds like a pedophile getting his dick caught in a screen door”.) The Ewoks’ eyes have been CGI’ed and now blink. Yoda’s not quite the same Yoda of yore because of digitalized alterations. As you know, this isn’t the first time George Lucas has released special editions, adding new scenes and special effects. But there are widespread online campaigns cropping up to boycott this new Blu-ray collection when it goes on sale September 16th. As Deadline’s Mike Fleming summed up succinctly: “Nobody has found a way to squeeze more cash out of a film franchise than George Lucas has done with Star Wars, and he’s at it again.”
UPDATE: These hardcore fans, reacting to today’s news, are telling me this is ”about film preservation and our cultural heritage. Lucas has every right to make as many new versions of his films as he wants — fine, go crazy, George — but he has no right to replace the original versions of his films.” As Lucas himself, in 1988 testimony before Congress said:
People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society.
In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.
Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.
Read his 1988 Congressional testimony in its entirety here.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
Lucas suckered me in the first time he added new material to the original trilogy, but there’s no way I would buy into this again.
It’s just sad. If you release your film and you’re lucky enough to have made a masterpiece, leave it the hell alone.
I can understand a director’s cut or redux or whatever… But at least have the decency to include the original theatrical version. I mean, that’s why people fell in love with it!!!!!
And don’t blame his ex-wife and Lucas not wanting to give her a dime… That’s B.S.
Let’s be honest. The three StarWars prequels and the last Indiana were TERRIBLE FILMS. Something happened to Lucas. He hasn’t come up with a good story since Willow. (He actually wanted Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade to be a haunted-mansion-movie).
Good Lord.
Willow was good? That was pretty much universally panned from what I recall. Critics called it a Star Wars rehash. Never even watched it.
Willow was awesome. One of my favorite childhood films.
Willow IS awesome!
Willow is/was amazing! One of my favorite films.
I don’t care if he makes changes that are OPTIONS on extended release sets…but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give us the originals!!! I want what I fell in love with as a teen. I want what my kids grew up on before everything went all PC and crappy. I want the original song from the cantina band. HAN SHOT FIRST!!! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I don’t care what anyone says Temple of Doom is still worse than Crystal Skull.
Temple of Doom is beloved. BELOVED. No more parachutes, INDY!
Uhh…no. Temple is a great, dark, gritty, action film.
Although TEMPLE OF DOOM has some problems, I would still take it’s mine car sequence over anything in CRYSTAL SKULL.
Both Temple of Doom and Crystal Skull are MASSIVE pieces of shit. Not to be crass, I just couldn’t think of a better way to describe them.
No. No no no no no no no. Crystal Skull is mind numbingly awful in every respect. There isn’t a redeeming moment in it. Truth be told, both National Treasure, and yes, even both Tomb Raider movies are better ‘Indiana Jones’ type movies than Crystal Skull.
I will not buy these modified Star Wars movies. Lucas needs to go away and leave his legacy films alone.
The opening sequence of Crystal Skull, up until we cut to Shia, was pretty fun and entertaining. So not in every respect was it mind-numbingly awful. Only mostly!
Praise Jah I still have the original Star Wars trilogy VHS releases in widescreen! Han shoots first!! Yippie-ky-yay.
You’re off your meds
I know you are correct. I am sick of hearing people bashing Geore Lucas. All he has done is taken a great Sci-Fi Movie and turned it into an Icon. As for the Movies, fans may like them, or others may not. Hold onto whatever gets you through the day. If you don’t like a particular change, then watch the previous version. I will say this I love Star Wars and I love the Prequels. Does this make me a loser? I really don’t care. I like what I like – that is my preference. I will continue to watch my favorite movies, and if the fan boys out there, who can’t get over if Han shot first or not, or Darth Vader saying Nooooo! They should get over themselves. Oh My God Vader screams Nooooo! lets call out the troops, because GL has messed with the movies. If that is how you feel then move on, SW is not for you anymore. However if LIke me, you love to thrive on the joy that is Star Wars then enjoy and don’t let all these Posers ruin anything for you.
I can understand defending George but defending those monstrosoities of the prequals. You must’ve seen them when you were 5
I never took part in the Lucas rape accusations or the whole Han shooting arrangement, but this time he has gone too far. The entire series leads up to this pivotal moment which now has become another lauded Lucas 2.0 scene. Who else other than some misfortunate Milliennialls would find it profound that the No echoes through the entire saga ? The new additions stick out like cold sores and ruin a once magical moment. The point Lucas doesn’t get is it wasnt the effects that wove its way into generations it was the story, the characters. I for one certainly won’t be buying the new collection.
“Nobody has found a way to squeeze more cash out of a film franchise than George Lucas has done with Star Wars, and he’s at it again.”
Each Harry Potter movie has two Blu-ray releases, and the Lord Of The Rings is already on it’s second Blu release. Isn’t singling Lucas out a bit hypocritical? The frakkin Evil Dead trilogy and Toy Story trilogy have more home video releases.
If the guy really wanted to squeeze as much money out of people as possible, we’d have the unaltered, 97, and 2004 editions on DVD. But we don’t. We don’t have 4 different releases, nor multiple releases of the prequels or the spin offs. We have one…
Only when concerning George Lucas do people go out of their way (Like this site has done with this article) to bash the guy. When it comes to home video, Lucas is rather conservative compared to most of the studios. How many releases of Wizard Of Oz are there? With he latest Blu-ray having wires digitally removed. Ah, but nobody blinks when the studio takes a dead artists work and alters it. But when the artist himself does it…
I may not like his never ending tweaks. But I’m not going to turn into a fool and trash him for doing once what every other studio has done multiple times with a few titles already.
Oh, and might I add that this already happened in 2004 with the DVD release. Do the nerds really think they’re going to sway him? They really think writing negative reviews on Amazon is going to change anything? Good luck guys. 99% of the people buying this have grown up and don’t care anymore. Practical model effects isn’t why they love the films.
“How many releases of Wizard Of Oz are there?”
It’s not about how many releases…however, No one is going back and electronically altering Wizard Of Oz to add extra dialogue, sound effects and even altering story points each and every time it’s rereleased. It isn’t wanted or needed.
They were going to colorize the Kansas scenes, but public outcry stopped them.
you forgot the half dozen versions of Blade Runner out there for purchase
But in the case of Blade Runner, they made all the versions available on Blu-Ray to watch at your leisure. In my opinion, The Final Cut is the best version of the film.
You’re missing the point by mentioning BLADE RUNNER. Sure there are multiple versions, but the latest doesn’t supersede the previous ones by being the only one available.
what does anyone expect? His buddy Spielberg changed guns into flashlights in E.T. for crying out loud. Right? None of these guys leave well enough alone. As if the Force would allow Vader to say something like that.
In the words of Yoda, “Stupid, it is.”
Actually in a recent interview Spielberg said he regretted that choice and encourages people to watch the original version. I am not a huge fan of ET, but will buy the Blu if it contains both versions.
If you’re “not a huge fan of ET…” why would you buy any version of the movie?
To put in my 2012 vault of course.
Where was this interview. I have repeatedly seen him saying that he felt it was neccessary and the guns in the original never felt right with him.
I hate the changes that come after the fact and wish both versions were available for all these movies, but I’m still getting the Blu-Rays to share the Star Wars experience with my kids
My link got deleted . . . Here is the quote.
Steven Spielberg: When people ask me which E.T. they should look at, I always tell them to look at the original 1982 E.T. If you notice, when we did put out E.T. we put out two E.T.s. We put out the digitally enhanced version with the additional scenes and for no extra money, in the same package, we put out the original ‘82 version. I always tell people to go back to the ’82 version.
He said he replaced the guns with flashlights because he would never aim guns at children anymore in any of his films.
Now I know he didn’t DIRECT Super 8, but holy shit, they actually SHOOT at the kids in that film.
-RnsW
Spielberg left the original version of E.T. available on disc and that’s the one he recommends people watch. He has stated publicly the blu-ray release of ‘Jaws’ will contain no ‘improvements/tampering’.
Speilberg regretted making the changes and only did it because Drew Barrymore asked him to as she hates guns.
You know, Lucas has the right to do whatever he wants with his own property, even though it seems like he’s trying to do a remake without the hassle of making an entirely new movie.
But, and this a Jabba sized but, his refusal to let the original fans of my generation have any decent home video version of the original film that made them fall in love with movies, can only be seen as a combo of greed, egomania, and contempt for those same original fans. I doubt there’d be any controversy if there was a quality DVD/Blu-Ray edition of the unaltered trilogy. I know I wouldn’t be complaining as vociferously as I do as a pompous Internet wonk.
Exactly!
Why does Lucas flat out refuse to release the originals untouched so the fans can decide which ones they want to buy? If he did this, he could go on and release as many tweaked and altered versions of Star Wars he wants to, and I don’t think the hardcore fans would be as pissed. But no, he just won’t do it, and you have to wonder why the guy shows such contempt for the fans who made him such a success.
I’ve always thought there were a couple of potential reasons for this:
1) The original versions no longer exist, and it has been deemed that they can’t be restored from a technological perspective.
2) Ego.
3) Money. If Lucas released the original films in BluRay, he would likely never sell a copy of his altered versions ever again, no matter how many new tweaks he adds. As it currently stands, he can milk fans with altered versions and new special features for as long as he likes, and when it looks like that gravy train is finally slowing down, release the originals – and everyone will buy again.
The first option doesn’t make sense. With the CG powerhouse he’s running, Lucas could very likely render out a 4k frame by frame reproduction of the original trilogy.
It can’t merely be ego, because the guy has got to realize that nobody recognizes his new versions as legitimate works unto themselves.
Which leaves option three. The quicker people stop buying these ridiculous versions, the quicker the original films will be released into the marketplace.
He has David Chase syndrome. He does wahtever he wants,and fans be damned. A little boy with his not-so-little toys.
Incorrect. The original negatives exist, and restored. Fox spent $20 million back in the 1990s to restore the original negatives (there is video documentation/verification of this). They are sitting in the Lucasfilm vault.
It’s just the Lucas ego and craziness that’s preventing an OOT release.
I stopped giving any more dollars to Lucasfilm years ago after those destructive “special editions” and horrible prequel movies.
I picked up the DVDs he released a few years back — with the enhanced ‘special editions’ of the original movies along with very poor quality transfers of the theatrical versions as part of the bonus features. I watch the scratched, dusty theatrical versions every time.
While I, too, wish he’d leave well enough alone, if all he was interested in doing was to squeeze cash out of the franchise, he needn’t have added all the extras, nor spent the money on rewriting history.
Most overrated, dated film series in history. Lucas has to alter the images because in today’s world the sets look like cardboard, the vfx are cheesy, and the overall staging of the action is a complete joke.
There is little more tiresome than listening to someone pompously deigning films “dated” be they writing for the New York Times or the comments of a net article. ALL films are dated as to when they are made and if one can’t appreciate older films, one shouldn’t waste their me/now time writing about them.
Here’s the thing:
No other filmmaker has been as revisionist as George Lucas, and while to him, his films seem to be some sort of living document, the fans who have given him his wealth (and who continue to be taken by him) look at it as the destruction or deconstruction of what it is that they liked about the films in the first place.
Certainly, Lucas has every right to “refine” the films as he sees fit, and to be sure, some of the changes (removing matte lines) are certainly welcome, however, making changes for changes sake, well, some people just want to see the films they fell in love with from a filmmaker who was able to make the absolute best of what he had at the time he had it.
A man has got to know his limitations, as Eastwood once famously uttered, and as such, just because the ability to edit a film long after it has been released and consumed by fans exists, that doesn’t mean it should be exercised.
If anything, it shows just how much Lucas has abandoned the art and inherent responsibility of filmmaking. And it’s sad, really, because I feel as if Lucas lost sight of what his films were supposed to be years ago, and now only makes changes to satisfy merchandising opportunities or impulsive whims.
Until Lucas releases the original, unaltered films in anamorphic widescreen, he’ll get no more money out of me. Almost every other film that has had a re-edit or directors cut at least comes with the original version. Lucas’ directorial OCD (with lashings of Aspergers) has progressively eroded the things that resonated with the first generation of Star Wars fans. You can say they’re “his” films (except Empire and Jedi were directed by others), but it’s the devotion of the fans that has kept them profitable. Lucas’ staggering arrogance in the way he has treated the fans is a disgrace. It’s time the fans stopped enabling and hit him squarely in the hip pocket.
When the DVD editions came out, what 2003, I think, I swore even if I owned a Blu-ray player, I would not plop down any more cash for another format change. I have a Blu-ray player now, and I’m sticking to my guns. The eye blinking is bad enough, but the whole “Nooooo” is dumber than a box of hair. No more money from me George Wanker.
So far it sounds like the worst changes are the Obi Wan Krayt Dragon yell and the Vader “No, Nooooo!”
If it had just been Ewok eye blinking, new Jabba palace gate, new rocks in front of R2 nobody would give a crap.
BUT the main issue is that there are many FX fixes that COULD be made or were promised to be made (lightsabers) that weren’t. Instead they wasted their time (Years in the making!!) on petty new FX.
I saw the original at 6 years old in ’77 and I would happily pay for ALL versions on Blu. Give the public a choice. Like Blade Runner, Aliens, Close Encounters , , ,
My Amazon preorder is cancelled. I will watch these and the deleted scenes by other means. I am done until we get restored originals.
What Lucas really wants (I think) is to defeat Gone With the Wind in inflation-adjusted domestic gross.
He may do it with the re-release of episode 4 in 3D.
Good point, tsuru.
yeah, that’s a really interesting take.
which would be complete BS. there aren’t a million different versions of GWTW out there. In no version does the South win, or Scarlett and Rhett’s daughter survives, or Scarlett ends up with Ashley or Rhett doesn’t actually leave, or says, “FU” or gives a Shakespearean speech in the final scene.
Whatever. My run on sentence could be endless. Lucas isn’t cleaning up these films, he is making completely different ones. They should just be completely renamed (and not just the way it has been to make the prequels come first.
All George Lucas is doing now is trying to milk the cow for more money. I am having second thoughts about buying the Blu-Ray because of the fact that again…..George is trying to mess around with this franchise yet again. I would have thought of purchasing this series again for BluRay but only if the orginial releases were out for these editions. Sadly, George won’t do this and for that reason alone…..I won’t waste my money on either Blu-Ray set for Star Wars(Prequels and Orginial Trilogy).
Um, hold on, excuse me, but… WHERE THE FRAK IS THE DGA ON THIS?
Sorry George, but you didn’t direct THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK or RETURN OF THE JEDI. Yes, those directors have sadly passed away (Irvin Kerschner and Richard Marquand, RIP), but that doesn’t mean George can bury their legacies and replace them with his own bastardized, revisionist versions of them.
This is really, really SICK AND WRONG.
What I’ve been wondering is “Where is the Library of Congress in all this?” Wasn’t the original ‘Star Wars’ declared some kind of national cultural treasure to be preserved/protected in perpetuity? If a film is to remain on that list shouldn’t it be unalterable, or at very least, continue to be available in its original form?
Good question my friend, where is the DGA on this?
They were both puppet directors – and you know how Lucas feels about puppets these days.
Lucas has never been a member of the DGA.
He hasn’t touched TESB, just a few subtle effects tweaks here and there. The biggest thing he did in TESB was add in the wampa beast for the 1997 special edition, of which Kershner was a part of.
As for ROTJ, I agree somewhat, but he hasn’t added in any whole new sequences or anything like that. The one that’s been altered the most is ANH, which he directed so it doesn’t matter.
Are you smoking crack or something? TESB has been changed considerably. Certainly far beyond just a few “tweaks”. Framing is different, scenes are different, pacing is different, visual effects are different, music score is different.
Obviously, you are not a fan.
Lucas is a coaster.
He keeps changing the films, because he knows people will pay money to buy the new sets he puts out. Over and over again.
I recently read that the reason Lucas doesn’t release the originals on DVD or blu has to do with his ex-wife owning a large percentage of the rights. If the originals make money, she makes money, and he doesn’t want that. With the remastered ones he doesn’t owe her anything. Can anyone corroborate that?
The amount of money she could possibly get is limited by the sales. If this is the case, why wouldn’t he just have bought her out? It doesn’t sound remotely plausible.
I don’t think People would be so mad at George Lucas if he had sort of “moved-on” from Star Wars. Instead of just “revising” his old movies (Star Wars) over-and-over again, he should make some new movies, then People wouldn’t think all he is doing is trying to “milk” his Star Wars Movies to death. I personally think he is “milking” and would not buy anything other than the first Original Copy as it was released in the theaters with mistakes and all.
The films “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back” are two of the greatest fantasy films ever produced. But the more I read about this release and George Lucas’ continued tampering, the less enthusiastic I became. Yesterday I cancelled my Amazon order. I still own the two disc sets that were released previously on DVD which also contain the non-tinkered and unfortunately non-anamorphic versions of the original trilogy. I probably won’t be upgrading to the high definition set. George has succeeded in turning off the people who have helped make him a very wealthy man.
Unfortunately even those are “Tinkered”, being the Special Editions with added CGI and the infamous “Greedo shoots first” change. The only home versions of the unaltered trilogy are on out-of-print VHS, Beta and Laserdisc, and all of those are panned-and-scanned 4:3.
And the 2006 DVDs, which included the original cuts on the second disc. The picture quality is equivalent to the Laserdiscs from what I understand.
That’s inaccurate: the first edition 2-disc DVDs of the OT do indeed contain the unmolested theatrical versions from 1977/1980/1983 on the respective bonus discs. Subsequent DVD reissues were single-disc versions of the Special Editions only.
That post is wildly inaccurate.
The original versions exist in widescreen as:
- widescreen VHS boxset
- numerous widescreen laserdisc releases
- widescreen DVD (sadly not 16:9) on the bonus discs of the 2006 DVDs.
Also, the widescreen DVDs represent the films as they were originally released, without even the minor changes that happened in the 80s and 90s. For example, unlike the VHS and laserdiscs, the DVD for STAR WARS just says STAR WARS in the opening crawl. The subtitle EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE was not originally present but was added for a re-release in the 80s. The DVD is accurate to the original 1977 release, which is cool.
Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fool that follows him?
The latter.
Damn set isn’t even out yet and everyone is all pissy-pants. Look, I get it, George is fucking with his movies and in turn, your childhood or whatever. But, let’s be real here: YOU’RE ALL GONNA BUY IT ANYWAY.
Actually, you’re wrong. I’m a big fan but don’t want the updated versions, regardless of price point or format. Period.
Why in hell would I want to spend $ for movies that aren’t how I originally saw and liked them the first time around?
F Lucas.
I don’t get the claim that George Lucas is making these changes out of greed. Stupidity, contempt, and an inability to understand that his works are made for an AUDIENCE, yes. But greed? Not really. It’s not like we are talking about some raunchy PG-13 comedy that flopped at the box office and releases A SPECIAL UNRATED DVD THAT WAS TOO HOT FOR THEATERS!!!!!! in the vain hopes that some side-boob will make a crappy movie less crappy. We are talking about Star Wars. SImply releasing the Star Wars movies in a new format is enough reason for most people to buy them. They are still among the most popular movies in the world. As evidenced by the continued fan rejection of Lucas’s revisions, people buy these new DVDs in spite of the changes not because of them. If only Lucas were more greedy, then he would know to leave them alone and simply release the originals (although I personally wouldn’t mind a simply restoration). Lucas is definitely not making this inane changes for the money, he’s making them because he is a twit.
Oddly, I think the logic is backwards there. I think, sadly, the vast majority of consumers find the new changes kind of cool, and continue to buy the spiffy endless new editions. As evidenced by how well these films always sell.
I think those of us who actually care about getting the original versions are a very, very small but very, very VOCAL minority. I think the group of people who are regularly on internet chatrooms/boards just happens to overlap completely with the group of people who would hate these changes, giving a wildly inaccurate result to any internet search.
The vast majority of people just buy these movies, like any movies, to pop into the machine to entertain themselves and their kids after a long day/week. I don’t think 90% of consumers really care what changes are made and I think -that’s- what Lucas banks on.
Also, think about this…
Every time Lucas re-releases these films for the holiday buying season, the minimal, relatively inexpensive and easy changes his people make to the movies generate MOUNTAINS of free press.
What other catalog video title is being written up the way these are. The controversy SELLS DVDS, and I’m convinced that’s why there’s always a controversy.
For my money, Return of the Jedi sucked donkey dick when it came out in 1983.
From Luke’s stupid plan for getting Han away from Jabba to the last ridiculous moments of Luke looking meaningfully at his sister after grieving for his genocidal father to the sounds of Ewoks yapping away in the night… On big long borefest of mischaracterization and limp dramatic let downs.
Why this movie has so many fans who consider it a masterpiece continues to baffle me.
It all went sour when they changed the title prior to release from Revenge of the Jedi to Return of the Jedi. All of the revisionism began right there — with a title change. That’s when I knew something was amiss…
Does Lucas have complete ownership of this property? Also, the DGA probably can’t do anything because none of the directors had final cut (I assume).
I was wondering the same thing about the DGA. Just because the director doesn’t have final cut, does that mean the producer can make changes to the original movie without the director’s consent? Seems like the DGA should protect the filmmaker, or we’ll see a lot more “tweaks” to other movies.
Lucas has never been a member of the DGA or of most Hollywood organizations (except, of course, the Academy, so they could bestow honors upon him). So, DGA rules don’t apply in the slightest.