Star Wars Trilogies on Blu-Ray Officially Announced

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

considering how George Lucas likes to forcefeed the prequel trilogy to us, I fully expect the releases to be crammed full the Special Editions crap, including that bs Hayden Christensen insert. I still can't believe that Lucas was so lazy that he refused to get out of his chair to direct a scene. God, men his age still get up in the thick of things to bring film to life, not sit in front of a bloody monitor.

 

[Biscotti187]

can someone explain to me why the consensus seems to be that the prequel trilogy sucks? With the section of one I thought they were at least on par with the original if not always in the same way and going back to the originals from time to time I don't understand the inclination to hold them up as gods (especially to the new ones) they were good but hardly flawless.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Buy it, you will: George Lucas finally announced a high-definition version of his six-part science fiction masterpiece.

The words "masterpiece" and "six-part" don't really belong in the same sentence when you're discussing Star Wars - there's a three-part masterpiece, and the other half you're better off pretending never happened, acknowledging their existence can only lead to disappointment.

With that said, the ability to buy the actual Star Wars and not the horribly grotesque parodies of the mangled corpse of Star Wars is certainly a pleasant enough option - imagine if you had no choice but to purchase that which is best left forgotten: you might subscribe to the sunk-cost fallacy and actually put them in and watch them, and then it's too late.

I don't even know where to begin.

Describe Qui Gon Jinn's character.

Describe Amidala's character.

Edit: Oh, the title of the first film is Star Wars. "A New Hope" was the subtitle added afterwards.

I'm pretty certain that when someone says something like...

You can't discount the prequels. They deepen the Star Wars saga and make you watch the original three in a whole different way.

... then you are in fact interacting with a person who is (shockingly enough) crazy - that they appear to have registered here just to express their single-minded devotion to Star Wars and complete lack of anything even resembling taste by defending the prequels is just further evidence that it's "nod, smile, and back away sloooowwwwllly" time.

But since riling up crazy people can also be hella funny, and since you might not have seen this particular deconstruction of Episode 3 yet, I shall now post this link to the webpage containing all three parts of a 110-minute critique of "Revenge of the Sith" [http://www.redlettermedia.com/sith.html] - it's rather amusing and very aptly sheds light on just why the prequels are rubbish, and the people who tell you that Episode 3 is good are crazy.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

"Special Edition" from the late 90s that added Jabba the Hutt to New Hope

Jabba wasn't in the original New Hope?

Posts like this one sadden me immensely - no, Jabba the Hutt was not originally in Star Wars: Episode IV. The character existed, and he was referred to by other characters in the film (and later in The Empire Strikes Back), but his first on-screen appearance was in Return of the Jedi... until Lucas decided to use a deleted scene they shot with a human stand-in for a character they hadn't even finalized a design for, which did little other than reiterate what we'd just established via the earlier cantina scene with Greedo (in places using identical dialog) and thus didn't really need added at all.

So in exchange for a superfluous and comically obviously CGI scene, and a few shots that were admittedly kind of neat and didn't really change anything (plus some additional effects here and there), what did we get? Greedo shooting first, forever. Not really a fair trade-off.

can someone explain to me why the consensus seems to be that the prequel trilogy sucks? With the section of one I thought they were at least on par with the original if not always in the same way and going back to the originals from time to time I don't understand the inclination to hold them up as gods (especially to the new ones) they were good but hardly flawless.

Go watch this guy explain in exhausting yet hilarious detail [http://www.redlettermedia.com/sith.html]. If you still have questions about why the internet by and large completely derides the prequels after watching that, well then there's really no hope that you'll ever understand why just about everyone who likes films that aren't shit or was not a small child when those films came out will tell you that they're horrible movies. Judging by your apparent age, I'm not holding out much hope that you'll be swayed to the reasonable side of this (not really much of a) debate (since they are in fact objectively bad films) given the age you probably watched them at initially, but I'm an eternal optimist.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

But how would putting it on Blu Ray make a difference? It's already been filmed in SD putting it on an HD format isn't going to magically make it HD.

 

[Tiswas]

So they've been Officially Announced. AGAIN. I recall this being on Amazon this time last year for a similar price-tag and a Nov 2010 release. Then it kinda died and looks like it resurfaced again. Although it's significantly cheaper than what you guys are listing it as.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Complete-Episodes-Blu-ray/dp/B004HYH94K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1294385225&sr=8-4

 

[goldenheart323]

I don't even know where to begin.

Describe Qui Gon Jinn's character.

Describe Amidala's character.

Edit: Oh, the title of the first film is Star Wars. "A New Hope" was the subtitle added afterwards.

You beat me to posting that awesome vid.

For those who don't know, that was made by RedLetterMedia on Youtube. He does an outstanding job of dissecting the prequels & pointing out why they're so bad. His points are right on the money, and he backs everything he says up with clips. Best of all, he's hilarious while he does it. The 1st one starts a little slow, but it sets up a solid foundation for the rest of his videos.

can someone explain to me why the consensus seems to be that the prequel trilogy sucks? With the section of one I thought they were at least on par with the original if not always in the same way and going back to the originals from time to time I don't understand the inclination to hold them up as gods (especially to the new ones) they were good but hardly flawless.

The vid quoted above starts to answer that question.

Flaws/problems I remember the most:
-Who's the main character on Episode I? (There is none.)

-What's the Trade Federation? How are they related to the Republic? What exactly is the dispute? I've never heard of an embargo being "legal". What are the rules of a "legal" embargo? (None of that's ever explained.)

-The entire story of Episode I doesn't make sense. Part 2 of that video starts to explain
s that more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1AWVLnl48&feature=related

Part 3 really gets into the detailed breakdown of the story's problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdQwKPVGQsY&feature=related

-When they go into town to try to find parts to repair the ship, and they don't want to draw attention to themselves, why do they take an attractive young woman and the accident prone moronic Jar-Jar with them? Why do the 2 most plain, level headed guys just stay in the ship?

-Padme asks for help from the Senate, but they don't believe her claim Naboo's under attack. Why doesn't she have the two JEDI who were there testify???

-How does one single vote of no confidence remove a guy from power immediately? How can Jar-Jar, an outsider nobody, stand in for a queen in the senate?

-Why don't they ever go back and free Anakin's mother?

-Episode IV tells us Anakin was a good man and a good friend of Obi Wan, but he was seduced by the dark side. However, the prequels show us Anakin's heart is pretty dark from the beginning. We also only see him bickering and back-talking to Obi Wan. Where's this good friendship we heard about?

-How the heck does Anakin win Padme's heart when all he does is whine, complain, & admit to slaughtering a whole village of sand people in a cold hearted rage???
Part 5 of his critique of Episode 2 examines the "love" story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1L63TdhC8&feature=related

-How's Padme go from a queen to just a senator, and why are senators forbidden to love???

-The Republic learns of a clone army being grown in secret. They know nothing about this army other than what the sellers tell them. "A droid army is attacking us? Well then, we have no choice but to let this other army we know nothing about into our territory to fight them." Sorry, but that makes no sense to me. For all they know, it's a trick. How do they know they won't end up having to fight off both armies?

I've probably gone on for too long already. When I saw the prequels, these massive failures in logic stood out enough to keep me from enjoying the movies much. I don't expect everything to make sense in movies, but I do expect the basic story to make sense and at least some effort to keep the plot holes at a minimum. I hope I've at least begun to answer your question about why everyone thinks the prequels suck. As to why the original trilogy is treated as Holy, I don't know. I only saw them as a kid. I thought they were ok.

 

[goldenheart323]

But how would putting it on Blu Ray make a difference? It's already been filmed in SD putting it on an HD format isn't going to magically make it HD.

Because it was filmed on FILM. It wasn't recorded on SD video tape. Quality stock film has a much higher resolution and color range than even blu-ray.

However, a lot of 80's movies were made on cheap film that had a lot of grain. It's still a better picture than a 480p DVD can provide, but the improvement isn't as noticeable as older or newer films. I've read some classic movies like Casablanca and 2001: A Space Odyssey look awesome in HD.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

But how would putting it on Blu Ray make a difference? It's already been filmed in SD putting it on an HD format isn't going to magically make it HD.

Because it was filmed on FILM. It wasn't recorded on SD video tape. Quality stock film has a much higher resolution and color range than even blu-ray.

However, a lot of 80's movies were made on cheap film that had a lot of grain. It's still a better picture than a 480p DVD can provide, but the improvement isn't as noticeable as older or newer films. I've read some classic movies like Casablanca and 2001: A Space Odyssey look awesome in HD.

Well that would make sense, but I've seen 2001 on Blu Ray. I wasn't seeing anything amazing, honestly.

 

[The Atomic Lamp]

Not science fiction!

 

[maddog015]

But since riling up crazy people can also be hella funny, and since you might not have seen this particular deconstruction of Episode 3 yet, I shall now post this link to the webpage containing all three parts of a 110-minute critique of "Revenge of the Sith" [http://www.redlettermedia.com/sith.html] - it's rather amusing and very aptly sheds light on just why the prequels are rubbish, and the people who tell you that Episode 3 is good are crazy.

Agreed. All the Red Letter Media reviews of the three prequels are both hilarious and true. Just look at his anal-sis.

 

[KarmicToast]

I wish I could remember where so I could link it, but I read an interview about this a few months ago with Lucas where he went into detail about this endeavor. In it, he did confirm that only the "special edition" would be on blu-ray. He even went so far as to explain the reasoning, claiming that the process was so expensive that he may as well do it to the "better" version of the films. (Yeah right George) He also said he would be re-releasing the entire six films in theaters in 3-D, also citing that it would be done for the special edition versions only. Sorry for the bad news...

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Even if you hated the prequels like I did, the $140 pricetag for all six films seems like a real bargain considering Blu-Ray discs average around $30/movie.

Seriously? I don't know where you buy your movies, but I don't think I've spent over $16 on any movie I own on BD, and most were closer to $12. I've seen them sold for much more, but there's no way I'm paying that much, and most things seem to go on sale on a somewhat regular basis if you're patient enough to wait a few weeks. Either way, the average seems to be closer to $20 unless you only look at big-name stuff right when it's released.

Oh, and [insert obligatory comment here about the prequels and special editions being crap]. Heh.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

I think George Lucas should digitally add Jar Jar Binks into the originals.

*Troll face*

 

[Something Amyss]

in '04 they were a bonus disc of the dvd's
EDIT: it may have been sooner than that but it was a few years ago.

Yeah, it was a more recent version. The first release was JUST the new versions.

Honestly, I have my "original" versions on DVD now, so I don't really give a damn. Blu-Ray would be nice, but hardly necessary. Lucas can re-envision every single second, but he can't take my DVDs from me.

 

[bulldogftw]

i dont think blu ray makes a difference so i wont be buying them

 

[goldenheart323]

I think George Lucas should digitally add Jar Jar Binks into the originals.

*Troll face*

X-D Great idea! lol. Oh, and also add some more blindfolded children swinging death sticks, err... I mean light sabers 2 feet from each other. Oh! I know, have blindfolded children swinging light sabers 1 foot from Jar-Jar!

... Lucas can re-envision every single second, but he can't take my DVDs from me.

Another good reason FOR hard copies and AGAINST DRM'd, licensed, "use for only as long as The Man gives you permission to" downloaded content.

It occurs to me that people call Lucas a sell out, but he won't release a movie version his consumers--I mean fans--are downright demanding. He has to know he's losing sales by sticking to only releasing the "better" version. The excuse of "it's not cost effective" is total bull. That's almost like saying "we had to save money somewhere, so we decided not to re-do the credits in HD". (Actually, that would make more sense than not including parts of a movie fans are clamoring for.)

 

[Something Amyss]

Another good reason FOR hard copies and AGAINST DRM'd, licensed, "use for only as long as The Man gives you permission to" downloaded content.

It occurs to me that people call Lucas a sell out, but he won't release a movie version his consumers--I mean fans--are downright demanding. He has to know he's losing sales by sticking to only releasing the "better" version. The excuse of "it's not cost effective" is total bull. That's almost like saying "we had to save money somewhere, so we decided not to re-do the credits in HD". (Actually, that would make more sense than not including parts of a movie fans are clamoring for.)

I never thought of that as a reason for actual copies, but really, you're right.

I think "sold out" is a misnomer in this case, because it's not so much that he actually changed things for commercial gain, so much as he changed things because his head got so big that there was nobody around to stop him. Lucas seems to legitimately believe that his ideas are good.

But to play Devil's Advocate here, I can see the "sell out" thing working. Remember, he wasn't going to release the original versions to DVD, either. He waited until the market was saturated with the new versions, then released the original versions--in a format that required you to buy the new ones, no less. If you assume Lucas is at all business savvy, which you kind of have to when you look at how much milk he's got out of this cash cow without a truly good core franchise element in decades, it's safe to assume this was no accident. Not only is it likely it was no accident again, but also that it will be no accident should it happen again. Like, say, in 3-4 years with new "Bonus original" BD content.

No doubt this new version will also feature "Neither Greedo Nor Han shoots, they opt to have a tea party instead!" Just as "Lucas always imagined it." But he'll sell a million copies of the version because people will want the originals remastered.