Lucasfilm has announced that this September fans can look forward to the long-awaited DVD release of the original theatrical incarnations of the classic "Star Wars" trilogy!
In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie, as well as the original theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy "Star Wars" as it first appeared in 1977, "Empire" in 1980, and "Jedi" in 1983.
See the title crawl to "Star Wars" before it was known as "Episode IV"; see the pioneering, if dated, motion control model work on the attack on the Death Star; groove to Lapti Nek or the Ewok Celebration song like you did when you were a kid; and yes, see Han Solo shoot first.
Huh. Releasing the original, non-special edition OT on DVD. Now why didn't I think of that?
"Over the years, a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD. This is something that we're very excited to be able to give to fans in response to their continuing enthusiasm for Star Wars. Topping it off with a new interactive adventure makes September 12 a red-letter day for Star Wars fans."
Blow it out your exhaust port, Jim. I'm not sure what happened to make Lucas change his mind (he probably bet on the Seahawks), and that assumes this was never his intention in the first place, but I can guaran-goddamn-tee you Star Wars fans have been special featured out the ying-yang. Screw your interactive adventures, your making-of documentaries, your poorly CG’ed Jabbas, and your digitally enhanced lightsabers and give me the movies the way they were when they were released. You know, the versions that made Lucas richer than Croesus and allowed him to ignore the fans in the first place.
Still no chance of a Holiday Special DVD release, I take it?
I'm not much of a Star Wars fan... but I'll buy this one. Especially if Lucas joins the dark side.
Those three little words--"Greedo shot first"--fueled my burning hatred of all things Star Wars for, lo, unto a decade, and Lucas was my all-purpose bugaboo on which to blame the commercial pop-cultural strip-mining of my youth. I wore it with a badge of pride that I was one of the few in the sordid World o' Nerds who didn't buy into any of the Special Edition chicanery, and scorned, from my ivory tower, those soul-sucked herd-animals who did.
But this news...this news....
Do I embrace my cynical wrath, and wallow in maniacal self-satisfaction that Lucas is, in fact, the gluttonous, calculating monster I knew him to be all along?
Or do I cloak myself in my original Star Wars topsheet, and weep with joy at the miraculous way Lucas' heart grew, Grinch-like, at the entreaties of diehard and spurned fan alike?
So confused...and so very, very tired....
(Sunnuvabitch.
I may have to buy that adorable LEGO Sandcrawler after all.)
I didn't buy the SE tapes or the DVDs, though I did watch the copies a friend burned for me.
I'll buy these, simply because I want decent digital copies of the first three films.
Although if I hadn't loaned out my DVD copies of the laserdisc, I wouldn't even be doing that.
When I was 6, Star Wars rocked! When I saw the re-release in the theater a few years ago, I realized how BAD the script was. Recently, I saw a documentary on the making of the first movie, and the British production crew all thought they were making a real piece o' crap.
Also, the merchandising was part of the money making equation from the get-go.
A while ago, someone posted a video of a really bad Star Wars special that was released around Christmas of 1977 that was a blatant ad for all the action figures & stuff. It was called "Life Day" or something. A real stinker. It had a little kid wookie waiting for his dad Chewbacca to come home, and a really off-key Princess Leia singing.
The title to this post made me jump up and down and clap my hands-- YIPPEE ORIGINAL STAR WARS!!!!