Star Wars Movies finally being released on Bluray

[Truth66]

Yes I was shocked to read that all six Star Wars live action films will finally be released on Bluray. So I guess Lucas will make another few million off these movies.

http://www.starwars.com/themovies/saga/mebd/bluray/index.html

[Jonas]

Yes I was shocked to read that all six Star Wars live action films will finally be released on Bluray. So I guess Lucas will make another few million off these movies.
http://www.starwars.com/themovies/sa...ray/index.html

So? He made them. If people want to have them on Blu-ray, they can buy them. No-one is forcing anyone to buy Star Wars discs.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Is he not making "Blu-Ray Special Editions"? With the barman shooting at Han and Han thinking it was Greedo?

[David Panzer]

So? He made them. If people want to have them on Blu-ray, they can buy them. No-one is forcing anyone to buy Star Wars discs.

So why didn't he direct Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Wait are these non-special edition? That'd be exciting.

[JoeD80]

So why didn't he direct Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?

On some recent special I recall that he didn't do Empire because he was concentrating on all the business aspects of creating Lucasfilm, but apparently he did do some co-directing on Jedi.

[AstroBoy]

Wait are these non-special edition? That'd be exciting.

From what I've read/heard no. they are the special editions that were released in '97 and re-released in 2004.

However Lucas has said that he will take the money from the sales of these BDs and put them into remastering the original movies for Blu-ray. Apparently it will involve a lot of work to get teh original version ready for high def. So you would then have the option of HD original versions (SFX warts and all so those of who like the transparent snow speeders get them) or the cartooney CGId version.

I know which ones I'll watch more.

[Jonas]

So why didn't he direct Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?

Why didn't JMS write and direct every episode of B5?

[David Panzer]

I just think that in movies, the director has final say on the vision for the movie. Not the producer, or creator of the overall story.

[Jonas]

I just think that in movies, the director has final say on the vision for the movie. Not the producer, or creator of the overall story.

That actually varies from movie to movie. There's a reason Best Picture Oscars go to producers.

[David Panzer]

I'm not saying producers don't deserve oscars. It's just that with movies, the director has more say over how the movie looks and shown on-screen than the producer.

With Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, I'd rather have Kershner's and Marquand's version. Though now, Star Wars is gathering dust with Star Trek on the shelf labeled "things I was interested in as a kid, but have moved on"

[vakie]

I'm not saying producers don't deserve oscars. It's just that with movies, the director has more say over how the movie looks and shown on-screen than the producer.

With Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, I'd rather have Kershner's and Marquand's version. Though now, Star Wars is gathering dust with Star Trek on the shelf labeled "things I was interested in as a kid, but have moved on"

With Star Wars, the quality of the films got increasingly worse the more Lucas got rid of other people who were contributing to the films and kept him in check. Even on the first film, the script went through many versions, and other writers worked on it with Lucas. During the filming he didn't really enjoy the directing part, and he didn't really get along that well with the cast and crew.

This was a big reason why he didn't want to direct Empire, and mainly stayed in the US to watch over the effects. Lucas wanted to bring in another director so he wouldn't have to do it, but also someone who would do exactly what he said. Gary Kurtz brought in Kershner, but Lucas found out he didn't have as much control over Kershner as he had hoped. Too much time, energy and money was spent, in Lucas' opinion, on making the story better, while in his opinion they could've just done a simple light adventure film on the cheap with lots of explosions and effects, and would've made as much or more money.

By the time Jedi came along, Kurtz didn't agree with Lucas on what the story should be, and left. This time Lucas made sure he got a director who listened more closely to how Lucas wanted things to be done, and brought in Marquand.

When it came time to do the prequels, Lucas was the king of his empire and no one said no to him anymore. He wrote exactly the story he wanted, and directed them just the way he wanted. The result: a million different CGI things on the screen at all times, no emotion to be found anywhere. But they sold a lot of toys.

Interesting Kurtz interview:

http://www.asitecalledfred.com/2010/08/12/gary-kurtz-interview/

[Jonas]

By the time Jedi came along, Kurtz didn't agree with Lucas on what the story should be, and left. This time Lucas made sure he got a director who listened more closely to how Lucas wanted things to be done, and brought in Marquand.

...with whom he famously had tons of problems, unlike with Kershner, his old mentor/friend.

Too much time, energy and money was spent, in Lucas' opinion, on making the story better, while in his opinion they could've just done a simple light adventure film on the cheap with lots of explosions and effects, and would've made as much or more money.

I'm sure that's exactly what Lucas thought. That's why he put so much political content in the new trilogy.

The result: a million different CGI things on the screen at all times, no emotion to be found anywhere. But they sold a lot of toys.

You know, not everyone thinks that. Neither does everyone have a problem with the use of CGI to create worlds and settings.

If all Lucas wanted to do was make money, why didn't he fulfil every fanboy's wet dream and make three new movies that are just clones of the old ones? If it's really about toys, all he needed to do was appeal to nostalgia.

It's fine not to like the new movies, but I think this demonization of George Lucas (as well as the desperate attempts to make everyone else in the world responsible for the quality of the first three movies) is rather depressing.

[vakie]

...with whom he famously had tons of problems, unlike with Kershner, his old mentor/friend.

But the fact remains, Lucas was disappointed that Kershner & co fought him on decisions, so he didn't have as much control on Empire as he thought.

I'm sure that's exactly what Lucas thought. That's why he put so much political content in the new trilogy.

What Lucas thought in 1980, is probably not the same he thought in the late 90's. I'm just going by what Kurtz said: at the time, Lucas became convinced that all the audience wanted was a roller coaster ride at the movies, story didn't matter.

You know, not everyone thinks that. Neither does everyone have a problem with the use of CGI to create worlds and settings.

If all Lucas wanted to do was make money, why didn't he fulfil every fanboy's wet dream and make three new movies that are just clones of the old ones? If it's really about toys, all he needed to do was appeal to nostalgia.

It's fine not to like the new movies, but I think this demonization of George Lucas (as well as the desperate attempts to make everyone else in the world responsible for the quality of the first three movies) is rather depressing.

Where did I say I specifically have a problem with the use of CGI to create worlds and settings? You're extrapolating too much. If used right, CGI is great, like any tool. But if you only have CGI, and no engaging story to go with it, it's all just pretty pictures. When CGI and effects become the driving force of your franchise, you've lost the plot.

It's clearly not all about money to Lucas, he has faith in his own abilities and he does exactly what he wants to do, not what the fans want. He made the prequels, and not sequels, because that's what he had planned all along, already in the 70's.

I'm not trying to demonize Lucas, I'm saying he lost the plot along the way. He's a talented guy, and without him there wouldn't be any Star Wars to begin with. But with the first film, he was smart. He didn't just film the first draft, he showed the script to his friends, and through collaboration made it better. By his own admission, writing isn't his greatest strength. And neither is directing really.

With Empire, the collaboration continued, with other people who added their own insight into what makes the story better, and the results are on the screen.

But with Jedi, and the prequels, Lucas' weaknesses start showing through. When he isolates himself from all the people who give him feedback and are brave enough to tell him when he is wrong, all his first ideas show up on the screen. He is a great guy and filmmaker, a visionary. But he needs the right people to bounce ideas off from, and who tell him how to make it even better.

I don't hate the prequels, but they could be so much more. There's so much wasted potential. Compared to Star Wars and Empire, the scripts are just a mess.

[David Panzer]

I know it's a year old bump over a topic that has essentially died. I have gone back and watched the prequels, that Clone Wars microseries and the original trilogy.

The original trilogy are still solid films, though Jedi is still the weaker one. Regarding the prequels, my hatred and loathing of them has diminished and instead is replaced by disappointment. The disappointment is over changing the original trilogy to fit with the prequels, rather than the other way around. Also I feel that Lucas is facing a losing battle if he's trying to make 30 year old movies look like they were shot yesterday. Another disappointment is that the stories told in the prequels could have been told better. I feel that's the strength of the Clone Wars microseries.

As for the current Clone Wars series, I haven't seen anything so I don't know what to think. I was able to snag the 2-disc version of the movie and both seasons for reasonable prices, 50 bucks all-together for used copies.

So, the dust on Star Wars is being blown off but I'm not as excited about it as I was growing up.