My Star Wars War

[Geoffrey42]

Why? Because you don't agree with him?

I don't see what the big deal is, personally. The man wanted to remake his movies, so he did, and if you don't like the changes it's not like the originals are gone forever. You can still get them. Even if it is on bitTorrent. If all else fails, you can be like me and pretend it never happened. You people make the guy out to be the devil for doing what he wanted in the first place. Just because Lucas only wanted to re-release the version he thought was superior, doesn't mean he's the spiteful jackass some of you would make him out to be. Honestly, if your favorite Fictitious Universe getting a bad RetCon is the worst thing that ever happens to you, you live a very charmed life. In my opinion, there's too many Shenanigans to get pissed off about in this universe to be getting angry about others.

To your first question, yes. One, I disagree with his attitude, and two, I disagree with his point of view. "It's his _____, he can do whatever he wants with it." In other cases, with more important things, society sometimes deems this untrue (see: monopolies and anti-trust law). Sure, Star Wars isn't that important, but that doesn't necessarily exempt it from the part of society's current moral framework which endorses caveats to the above template statement. In the case of Star Wars, I find fault with the way that Lucas has executed this whole thing, and am much in line with the criticisms in the article.

The originals are not "gone forever", no. But, they have been ghetto-ized. I cannot go out and obtain them legally, in the format of my choosing. They can either be had black-market (Laserdisc DVD copies like the author's, or bit-torrented copies of the Laserdiscs), or, I can get the gimped 4:3 aspect ratio versions from the copies done with the re-release. Neither option appeals to me. As stated by others (including the author), we don't mind Lucas striving to perfect his work, and releasing better versions. We are angered by his schemes to prevent us from obtaining the original, the one we fell in love with, and the entire reason he has an empire at all. In my opinion, that DOES make him the spiteful jackass we claim him to be.

Also, I have plenty of "pissed off" for everything else that is wrong in this world, and plenty of "love" for everything that is right and good. Being angry at Lucas about this neither detracts from the good in the world, or prevents me from directing appropriate amounts of ire at other things. This is NOT the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and I think your implication there is logically unsound.

 

[Echolocating]

We are angered by his schemes to prevent us from obtaining the original, the one we fell in love with, and the entire reason he has an empire at all. In my opinion, that DOES make him the spiteful jackass we claim him to be.

Just be thankful he's not your father...

http://www.fightlinker.com/blog/george-lucas-talks-about-his-daughters-fight-career/

...if that's George's idea of supporting his daughter's career choice ("I can't say I'm enthusiastic about it, but I support her in it. She got trounced, but she got back up and she continues to do it."), no wonder he didn't clue in on how much people (who grew up with Star Wars) love the original just as it was, flaws and all... and how badly he writes dialog.

I don't hate George, I just think he's the most imaginative, creative and greedy idiot ever. ;-)

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I don't hate George, I just think he's the most imaginative, creative and greedy idiot ever. ;-)

Forget imaginative, Star Wars itself is a carbon copy of Joseph Campbell's "A Hero's Journey".

Lucky would be a better word; and it's why the changes are so bad, he's trying to re-write one of the oldest stories in creation.

Just be thankful he's not your father...

Lucas, I am your father...

 

[Arbre]

Notice how the next CGI Star Wars is just a cash in with more pwee pwee (blasters) vwoom vwoom (lightsabers) and twee pee tuluitee (R2D2), where our favorite actor fights Count Docu... I could swear that in the third film of the prequels, him and the young Jedi exchanged words about their last duel where one lost an arm and how it would play out differently then. Well, looks like they were not talking about the duel everyone thought about.
There's also that apprentice chick. Since when that brat has shown any form of maturity besides flashy moves to ever be granted the supervision of a pupil on the battlefield?
Hello?

 

[SilentHunter7]

To your first question, yes. One, I disagree with his attitude, and two, I disagree with his point of view. "It's his _____, he can do whatever he wants with it." In other cases, with more important things, society sometimes deems this untrue (see: monopolies and anti-trust law). Sure, Star Wars isn't that important, but that doesn't necessarily exempt it from the part of society's current moral framework which endorses caveats to the above template statement. In the case of Star Wars, I find fault with the way that Lucas has executed this whole thing, and am much in line with the criticisms in the article.

The originals are not "gone forever", no. But, they have been ghetto-ized. I cannot go out and obtain them legally, in the format of my choosing. They can either be had black-market (Laserdisc DVD copies like the author's, or bit-torrented copies of the Laserdiscs), or, I can get the gimped 4:3 aspect ratio versions from the copies done with the re-release. Neither option appeals to me. As stated by others (including the author), we don't mind Lucas striving to perfect his work, and releasing better versions. We are angered by his schemes to prevent us from obtaining the original, the one we fell in love with, and the entire reason he has an empire at all. In my opinion, that DOES make him the spiteful jackass we claim him to be.

Also, I have plenty of "pissed off" for everything else that is wrong in this world, and plenty of "love" for everything that is right and good. Being angry at Lucas about this neither detracts from the good in the world, or prevents me from directing appropriate amounts of ire at other things. This is NOT the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and I think your implication there is logically unsound.

Where I start to really disagree with your, and others' arguments is the implication that Lucas not releasing the originals in 16:9 digital format was a part of some underhanded "scheme" to ruin your childhoods. The worst I see it as is extreme misjudgment; No sane man purposely alienates his fanbase with the sole purpose of alienating his fanbase. So I cant agree with the notion that he's a spiteful jackass. However, I'd have a hard time fighting the idea of him being a greedy bastard, considering the recent raping of established canon to expand the franchise. But that's just textbook capitalism, and something I can't really begrudge him for.

 

[Echolocating]

The worst I see it as is extreme misjudgment; No sane man purposely alienates his fanbase with the sole purpose of alienating his fanbase. So I cant agree with the notion that he's a spiteful jackass. However, I'd have a hard time fighting the idea of him being a greedy bastard, considering the recent raping of established canon to expand the franchise. But that's just textbook capitalism, and something I can't really begrudge him for.

Trust me, George knows what he's doing. He's purposefully making it so people have to buy the same product over and over again with something just a little better in it each time. There is no "extreme misjudgment" happening here; just "textbook capitialism."

But hey, as long as it's in the name of capitalism... *cue The Star-Spangled Banner* ...then it's okay, right? ;-)

 

[SilentHunter7]

But hey, as long as it's in the name of capitalism... *cue The Star-Spangled Banner* ...then it's okay, right? ;-)

If there's still idiots who keep buying his crap, I blame them.

 

[Arbre]

Considering that new films are coming out, that more series are being done, and that the lightsaber effects in some of the rereremastered old films suck plain shit, you can be sure to get a new new new edition some time, with maybe a bonus edition with the Journal of Bruce Willis.

 

[Geoffrey42]

Where I start to really disagree with your, and others' arguments is the implication that Lucas not releasing the originals in 16:9 digital format was a part of some underhanded "scheme" to ruin your childhoods. The worst I see it as is extreme misjudgment; No sane man purposely alienates his fanbase with the sole purpose of alienating his fanbase. So I cant agree with the notion that he's a spiteful jackass. However, I'd have a hard time fighting the idea of him being a greedy bastard, considering the recent raping of established canon to expand the franchise. But that's just textbook capitalism, and something I can't really begrudge him for.

What you have to understand, as an assumption of interacting with me, is that I don't believe in evil. I don't believe in people doing what they think is the wrong thing to do. (This does not qualify for Godwin's) I honestly believe that Hitler thought what he was doing was right, and true, and just, and for the betterment of the world. This does not mean I agree with it. I think Lucas is doing what he thinks is best: ridding the world of an inferior product and replacing it with something better. It just turns out that we all really like the "inferior" product, and think his attempt to fix it is heresy. THAT is what makes him a jackass to me. Not because he is an [a href=http://books.google.com/books?id=arC-EJ9tHesC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=john+van+maanen+the+asshole&source=web&ots=grXsgyeokX&sig=0g_5CMZGgicfSoj_Xrz6054W4SE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]asshole in the unsubstantiated John Van Maanen sense[/a], but because he is doing something that I simply can't empathize with.

If Da Vinci were still alive, would it be okay that he took the Mona Lisa and drew his beard on it, to emphasize that it's really his face, and not some merchant's wife? No.

 

[Nodrog]

I felt similarly about Star Wars. It has sparked my interest in science fiction and the arts since an early age. I really liked the special addition (the explosion didn't bother me). The only thing that really bugged me was they made Greedo shoot first and they had that stupid scene with Jaba the Hutt in the first film (or no. 4 depending on how you want to look at it). The way Han just "jumps" on the screen when he steps on Jaba's tail was so fake, and it's just plain offensive. What's next? Are they going to re-release Jedi where Luke's lightsaber is a slightly different shade of green?

The one's I find truly disgusting are the new films. They are a horrible horrible blight on an otherwise great story, and while the prequels were demanded by the audience, they could have done so much more than the bad acting, CG cluster**** that was the final product. Like Alien Resurection, I just like to pretend that these films never existed.

 

[Archon]

Geoffrey42, I'm curious if you actually mean what you say without exception when you say you "don't believe in people doing what they think is the wrong thing to do"? There are many case studies of serial killers who openly acknowledge that what they are doing is evil, but do it anyway. Jeffrey Dahmer was one such. In his confession he called himself "evil" and said "it's hard to believe a human being could have done what I've done." Yet he did it anyway because he felt like it. Isn't doing what you think is the wrong thing to do just because you feel like it the very definition of evil? (Sorry to de-rail, that was just a a broad thesis to include as a throwaway line in your argument!)

 

[Geoffrey42]

Geoffrey42, I'm curious if you actually mean what you say without exception when you say you "don't believe in people doing what they think is the wrong thing to do"? There are many case studies of serial killers who openly acknowledge that what they are doing is evil, but do it anyway. Jeffrey Dahmer was one such. In his confession he called himself "evil" and said "it's hard to believe a human being could have done what I've done." Yet he did it anyway because he felt like it. Isn't doing what you think is the wrong thing to do just because you feel like it the very definition of evil? (Sorry to de-rail, that was just a a broad thesis to include as a throwaway line in your argument!)

I don't mind the derailing, especially if you're the one acting as the derailleur; less likely to get in trouble for it, as I see it. Also, I did not intend it as a throw-away line, simply one that I felt helped to set expectations about why I believed what I did about Lucas. Oftentimes I find that my internal ruleset differs enough from others that making some of my assumptions known helps out.

The bit you quoted, I don't believe, as it was poorly phrased. People do what they think they shouldn't do all the time. Myself included. So scratch that. Let's focus on "evil" and whether or not it exists. I'm not sure I like your definition though, so I proffer the following alternative: Evil is the motive or force behind doing the wrong thing, specifically because it is the wrong thing to do. (Even this is wishy-washy. I have a friend who does things specifically because there is a societal stigma to not do that thing; she has no real rationale for kissing her ex, but knows that society says she shouldn't, and she has a thing about giving into societal pressure. Not really evil, just really messed-up.)

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Let's put it in a Yahtzee context.

"Imagine you're in your favourite restaurant and you order a big plate of sausage and mash, but as soon as you've tasted a little, the chef runs out and pours sticky honey all over it, because he wasn't happy with it.

Now you've got to contend with the lingering taste of heaven in your mouth as well as trying to finish the overglazed nonsense ahead of you. No jury would convict you of chef-a-cide in those circumstances."

 

[Mauller]

I couldn't stand the rediculous "special editions". I, like you, was furious with his total disregard for the fan base that if it weren't for them, his career would have been over a long time ago. I bought the special editions because of my overwhelming love of the series but I still to this day watch my original VHS editions that my dad passed on to me.

 

[lousyshot55]

I first saw the Original Star Wars (Favorite one) when I was attending a space camp at a local elementary school. I loved it because it had everything a hyperactive, nerdy kid like me could enjoy, spaceships, aliens, and an evil dude with a kickass red lightsaber. I then went on to go see Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi which made me fall in love with Sci-fi and Star Wars even more. I can only say that forcing fans to buy what the movies "should" have been instead of what they orinially ARE is a metephorical slap to the face. Sorry, just really thought this article touched on something that has really bothered me for a while.

 

[Guyonator]

To the author:

I wholeheartedly agree my star wars loving friend.

I also went to the "special" editions in theaters when they came back as a hope that it would be like the Star Wars I missed in theaters when it first came out, as sort of my generation's tip of the hat to the good days. I was also horribly saddened. Unfortunately it seems that the only gems that can come from Lucas now, is when someone holds him by the hand and smacks it when he gets manic.

We can just pretend that the very "special" editions and the depressingly contrived prequels don't exist and thank that at the very least it has kept them alive for the newer generations to stumble into.

On a brighter note, I am a little curious to see what the clone wars movie will be like, I have heard that the cartoon show was a wonderful tip of the hat to the originals with the feel of the novels and interesting writing. More importantly less repeated decrepit and exhausted one liners you'd come to expect.

To sum up:
I don't have a bad feeling about this... yet

Anyone else?

 

[lousyshot55]

I agree, I like to think the "Special editions" were for younger kids and not me.........and I also like to think the star wars christmas special was something a crackhead made.