Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

All general discussion on the new DVDs in here please!

(Just watching mine now, btw; prompt delivery from Amazon having ordered quite a while ago)

same here
so can we make a complete list of changes? no page review i found had it.

There are way mroe changes than I thought, although most stuff is only 1-5 secs. But what about those green flashes when lightsabres hit?

Again these green flashes... I heard about that. What is that? (I haven't got it yet, two more days...)

I tokk a screenshot of the greenflashes here:http://www.killermovies.com/forums/f5/t308276.html

Hmmm...odd...

Well, I just wanna know ONE thing: did they finally fix the rancor scene?

More or less. It is not done all CGI, but they did something, I don't what they did but they did something. Check out the link if you want to see it:

http://perso.club-internet.fr/willow/Index.html

they digitized the little monster in the trash compactor scene :'(

I'm hearin that Luke's light saber in ANH hasn't been fixed at all. When he gets it at OBI's crib, and when he is on the Falcon they still look like shite! This boggles my mind because they worked on them for the OBI/vader duel, and the rest of the films, but not the worst sequences of lightsaber shots in the whole Star Wars saga. Seriously, What the FUK??

Yeah that really irritated me too.
The lightsaber at Ben's house is still as it used to be, it is still blood on the cantina floor, and in the first scene with the lightsaber in the Falcon it is green, not blue

But look at the DVD menu of the special features.

http://dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=4816&n=1&burl=


It's blue! clear as day. There better be an explanation on the commentary. Why the hell is it green? Is it green in ESB?

that's because the guy who did the menus was working from the old transfers since the film was being restored at the same time he had to do the menus. This was on SW.com. He had to restore the footage he wanted to use himself. plus menus have their own animations put in by the team doing the menu. if that scene is animated, then he just wanted it to look like it should. if it isn't moving, then I guess he just figured they'd fix it on the other end of the dvd production, at ILM or in restoration.

Well here is a screenshot of the scene:
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/4430/green3.th.jpg

But as u see this is not the same scene as the one u showed. Luke turns the lightsaber off. And when he turns it on again it is blue.

So its green, then he turns it on again and its blue? How do you fuk that up?

well the greeness is just for approx. 5 secs, then it turns to this light blue color it has when obi wan gives it to him

What color is it in Empire Strikes Back?

It's not green, it's blue all the way. That's an optical illusion, like everyone seeing lots of purple sabres in AOTC.

What do u mean? It's clearly green.

No it isn't; you are fooling yourself. It is blue throughout the entire sequence.

How much more clearly can I put this?

There are no green sabres at any point in ANH.

It's an optical illusion that has been encountered before. It's simple colour shift in your brain; if someone put a green sabre next to it for contrast you would immediately see it as blue.

It is the same colour all the way, and that colour is blue (or more precisely, cyan, which is why the confusion is possible, and why it also seems to be white sometimes). It does NOT change.

Like I say, we had lots of people thinking that there were loads of purple sabres in the Arena in AOTC- until someone did what I just mentioned; put blue and purple from those scenes next to each other for comparison, and then you could instantly see that the 'purples' were all blue.

NO green in ANH.

Ush, how do you not see that being green?

It's not green, it's cyan. Of course, the more people that say it is green, the more people are going to think it is. Watch the scene carefully, and you will note that what you think is a different colour later is in fact the exact same colour.

Sorry guys- but that's not green.

Why the heck do you think they would be dumb enough to put green in anyway? And even if they DID, Lightsabre green is a much richer and darker green than the light green you are confusing the cyan for.

Do you own the movies already? what time is it over their in the U.K?

It just looks weird USH. On the cover the dvd it is clearly blue.

Yes I own them already; they were delivered at 9 am this morning; it is now seven in the evening.

And in that menu the sabre is a much darker blue and on a cgi background so it won't confuse.

and its green. just compare how the sabre looks a second ago and in that particular scene.

No! It's not green. Look more carefully across the entire scene. No matter how many times you say it is green, that does not change the fact that the sabre does not change colour at any point! Sometimes it appears to be white; that doesn't MAKE it white, any more than it is green; it is light blue.

Maybe there is some different copies going around. At any rate what the sabres look like in the rest of the films?

got two copies today, amazon messed up sent me mine and someone elses (glad it wasn't the other way round) Poor guy!
I haven't watched them yet but will do soon...

What do you mean by laser lock?

http://www.starwars-union.de/bilder/news/20040711otdvd_rotjduell_sm.jpg

No matter what u say Ush, it is still green.

How about the death star space battle in ANH. Anything new or worth mentioning in their?

Nothing which comes to mind now. Exept that it was a faint bluish glow in the Death Star explosion, probably some bad blue screen.

Nope, you arev totally wrong. Use your eyes and do not jump to conclusions.

Who are you going to believe? Me, or your eyes?

Hey everybody. I have the Star Wars DVD's till later tonight...then I have to turn them back to the store so they can put them on the shelves for tomorrow so people can rent them...I have looked at them very closely...and as for the lighstaber...when Luke has it on the Millenium Falcon, it is very much green tinted...in the closer shots its still kinda whitish...but funny thing...in one of the menus, it has the same scene for the background of the menu and the lightsaber is blue...odd huh...

See, that there is the scene from the movie...now let me get a pic of the menu when it is blue to show you a comparison for those color blind people out there...

probably should have posted this here instead of finti's link:

i got the box set yesterday. oh, the joys of pre ordering. and no, i am not lying.

has anyone played the battlefront demo yet? oh my god! it is sick!
luckily i have an xbox!

*thrusts pelvis into air*

i have noticed that the ROTJ luke saber looks like theyve just gone into photoshop and painted over them again! it looks crappier than the original green saber.

and this:

by the way, i havent watched rotj all the way through yet, but does hayden appear at the end as a ghost? i am not sure whether this is true or a big fat lie. if its true, can someone post a screenshot?

Hey, I have the DVDs also...and I have played the battlefront demo...you can play the Endor level...it seems like an awesome game from what I could tell. Also, I noticed that they made the ROTJ lightsabers kinda crappy looking too...I have not also finished Return of the Jedi, but I have skimmed through it, and looked at the ending...it does in fact, as many know, include Hayden as Anakin...very badly inserted in...although, despite what some said, it IS in fact his real body...not the older actor's, as you can see Hayden isn't as big as him...but it still looks bad...and saying Hayden in the old trilogy...yikes...and also the bit with Naboo and a Gungan (possibly Jar Jar) yelling "Wesa Free!" Again, yikes...here's a screenshot of Hayden as Anakin...

and lukes saber is not green. compare that saber with ROTJ saber. the blade leans more towards the blue side than green side. its much clearer on the link than the thumbnail preview you guys are posting.
its a colour distortion.

Dude I have the DVDs...its freakin Green.

thanks for the pic hunchy. i'll have a look tonight at the saber but from the screenshots posted, it dont look green.

hey hunchy, have you used the atst in battlefront? its damn hard to control. hope they fix it up for the actual release. when is the release anyway?

Hey Mist,
yeah Battlefront is cool. It comes out tomorrow along with the DVDs! Did you say you had the DVDs too?

yeah, sweet im buying battlefront. should i get it on pc or xbox? ( i dont have LIVE in case you were wondering, so no online for me)

I don't know, I have XBOX...so that's what I'd get it on...I have a Mac too...not a PC...so its up to you...but I'd get it on XBOX personally...

Hey Hunchy, got your PM. Don't worry about it man I'll hav'em in my hand by tomorrow evening. By then this place will flooded with rants and raves and praise. I'm also debating on getting Battlefront tomorrow. That'll be about hundred bucks total. Decesions Decesions.

Gotta love 24 Hr Wal Mart.

http://www.corsicas.com/corys/swstuff.jpg

I was intrigued when I saw one guy walking out of the store with the display, then I saw another one and just did a little "inspectigating", and the stocker told me I could have it. Right time, right place.

If I were still a huge SW collector, I'd be geeked out right now, but, this one will probably go to eBay or one of my old collecting pals.

MAKE SURE YOU BUY WIDESCREEN. It's bad enough that these aren't the "real" movies, buying it in foolscreen will only make it worse.

yea, Im gonna swing by Borders tommorow and pick it up.
Been saving a while for this...

freggin awesome

Empire of dreams is also interesting.
I didn't know they had that much trouble making A new hope. I will see the rest of EOD later, if anyone has some question.

I WOULD have it right now, had I not had to spend my available cash on other things. First chance I get I'm picking up the DVDs.

And I know, I should have ordered it on Amazon a while ago so I wouldn't have had this problem

EoD is damn nice, though it has too much "Lucas is a visionary, and r0x and we love him and hooray lucas" moments for my taste.

btw did you guys notice that shine sometimes on c3po while he is on tatooine during ANH

They finally removed the awful matte lines in the rancor scene. PLus they changed the colour of the lighting and the difference in focus. Judging by the screenshots it look a little better. I;m getting my DVD's tomorrow, I'll check that scene first! And then ANH. I can only hope GL didn't make anymore changes to my beloved ESB... that scene with Vader going to his shuttle was sooooo obsolete...

Oh yeah. I am totally blown away by the picture and sound on this one. Probably the best remastered version of a movie to hit DVD in those categories. Can't wait to delve into the rest of 'em.

There were a few surprises in ANH, content wise;

* Temuera Morrison apparently DID NOT end up doing the voice of the Stormtroopers.

* Han vs Greedo was cleaned up BEAUTIFULLY with Han leaning over.

* The lightsaber ignition scenes w/ Luke, when he recieved the saber from Obi Wan, and after Han's "Good blaster" line, were both condensed almost seamlessly.

* Ponda Baba's severed arm in Wuher's Cantina was still gory, despite a lightsaber cauterizing the wound.

Of course there were a few others. There was one HUGE glaring error in Wuher's Cantina during Max Rebo Band's second set where the soundtrack lapsed as if a record skipped, during the close up on one of the Modal Nodes.

Anywho..incredible transfer and clean up job on Lucas' behalf. Well worth the $44 so far.

So far?

well guys, play have failed to deliver on time, I am very disapointed, all my mates have there copys from HMV. Damm play! Are the DVDs in individual plastic cases inside the card board packaging? The SE were in cheesy card ones

he did, there is new dialogue

Vader
What is thy bidding, my master?

The Emperor
There is a great disturbance in the force.

Vader
I have felt it.
The Emperor
We have a new enemy, the young rebel who destroyed the death star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker.

Vader
How is that possible?

The Emperor
Search your feelings Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us.

Vader
He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.

The Emperor
The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a jedi.

Vader
If he could be turned, he could be a powerful ally.

The Emperor
Yesssss. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?

Vader
He will join us or die, master.

all single plastic packages

OK I just got done watching ANH on DVD.
Before I say the first thought that came to my mind, it should be noted that I have only seen these movies in their original theatrical form and Ive never seen the Special Editions.

Now I started watching ANH and the first and actually the last thought I
had at the end was

Wheres my Star Wars? crybaby


I know alot of you guys have discussed this to death but for me whos watched this movie the same way for 27 years now it was just such a shock.

The color was beautiful to be sure, but the CGI was just wrong, wrong wrong. And the Han/Greedo scene...well just crybaby.
I may have to ease into the other 2 slowly I think.

The bonus disk is KILLER tho.

yup, it's clear you haven't seen the SE

AAAARGGHH!!!!!! Why the hell did GL place Hayden at the end of ROTJ?!?!?! Hello?!?!?! For continuity sake? Bull! There's no logic in it. I mean why not place Ewan in there as well?!?! Sheesh... I don't really see the point in changing the original actor.

It's understood He's the same Anakin in the prequels. GL, your audiences are not that dumb for you to point it out.

with the new added lines between The Emperor and Vader in ESB I got the impression that Vader maybe had an agenda of his own going on.
What that agenda might be I dont now but one can only speculate that he maybe prepared to overthrow the emperor

Yeah, and do what he suggested to Luke. Destroy the Emperor and let them rule the galaxy as father as son, I've allways thought it was more to that sentence then just something to say to persuade Luke.

Anakin Skywalker died before he became Darth Vader, which would be the 21-23 year old version of himself. Not the elder Jedi in the form of Sebastian Shaw, who never existed.

It makes perfect sense.

it sucks though
Carboard Man aka Hayden is just lousy, and i dont want to see him.

Anakin didnt die, probably close but he didnt die

But u have to look at it in a more spiritual way. The spirit of anikin did kinda die then, and Vader was born.

ben kenobi must have been sooooo jealous.
"why does he get to look young?"

The colour blind people are the ones who think that is green, and are also dumb enough to think that they put a green sabre in there.

People should learn to observe properly rather than jumping to conclusions in this odd urge to make hasty criticisms that people seem to have these days.

It is green. It is not the usual lightsaber green color, but it is 100% (if u don't count the white) green, not blue. I don't undertsand your argument for it being blu in that shot Ush. What has this to do with people seeing multiple purple lightsabers (I've never heard of this untill u mentioned it) in AOTC?

In the figurative sense, Anakin is dead, which gave birth to Darth Vader. That's what I was implying.

Oh yeah, I just finished ESB. The overall quality of Episode 5 is double that of ANH. The sound track especially, because it's devoid of the 1 channel soundtracks that apparently couldn't be cleaned up. The picture was just incredible, expecially all of Hoth. The colors literally jumped off of the screen, and coupled with the audio..mm mm mmm. I'm lovin' it.

Kind of odd to hear Temuera Morrison doing the voice of Jango Fett, and it still has Clive Revell credited as the voice of the Emporer? Did Ian McDiarmid not do both the voice and new Emporer hologram? If so, Lucas forgot to amend the credits for the 1997 SE of ESB.

P.S. No green sabres in ANH. At first, it looks white. Of course, only green sabre is Luke's retooled sabre in ROTJ. The green flashes were in ANH, where as there were bright yellow/faint white flashes in ESB during Vader vs Luke in the CFC.

Yep, I forget which thread, but I and a few others discussed this. Since Vader obviously was looking for Luke in the beginning, and he appears clueless now, it'd be interesting to see if any of this ties into Episode III, which it just might...

It's really odd considering that they didn't use him. It's the same old Boba as allways.

*puts on referees shirt*

Upon furthur review, Luke's lightsaber is inded green. Fast forward to the scene after Alderaan is blown up, and shows Luke training before Obi Wan feels faint, and sits down. It's green, after the Dejarik cut scene, the his lightsaber is then a very faint green/white, followed by a light blue saber.

The only possible explanation is that Obi Wan allowed him to train with his lightsaber at times. Or, Lucas could have just overlooked the entire thing. It may be explained in the audio commentary, which I'll get to later this week.

But, Ben's lightsaber was also blue. So it couldn't be his.

Then lightsabre color has absolutely no designation other than Red. All this time, I was lead to believe than Green actually reflected a Master Jedi Knight.

I used to belive so before, but have later understood that the color has nothing to do with Jedi rank. Remmeber the Younglings in episode II, several had green sabers.

Mine hasn't turned up yet

Has the duel of the fates theme been added anywhere? Everyone was speculating that it might be added to the light sabre fight in ANH.

I would like to think that the over the top band had been removed from jabbas palace in ROTJ but I know it wont of been. I liked the original reebo band. I didn't like any of the comedy that was added to the OT ie the jawa falling from the creature, the droid hitting a smaller droid with a sledge hammer, the band... The only bit of comic relief needed was that from R2 and 3PO. Things got even worse in the PT with the introduction or JaJ Jar but thats another story.

The saber probably looked white/faint blue like the other shots, but when uping the color levels (i.e. cyan--photoshop users, I KNOW you know what I'm talkn' bout, cmyk?) the print had cyan added to it to bring up the picture quality and put a slight tint on the whitish/blue blade, hence the slightly more green appearance. It is blue, with the cyan tint from them increasing the cmyk levels in the shot. Ush is right.
The menu screen of luke training had an animated blade done by the DVD production crew. It is NOT the same as the film version. That's why they look different.

In other news, the matte lines in ANH look f**king great now. In the Falcon shots, watch your old VHS versions, Han and co., in the shadows, don't look right. Now they look clean and crisp with clear cut black shadows and no more slightly grey/black space outside. Now space is black like it should be. Also did anyone else notice they fixed the damn gun noises in the death star chasm scene? finally, that was one of my biggest complaints about the ANH SE. They took a shot of Leia shooting that looked better, but the sound effect on the gun was different. Ben Burtt replied to this saying some prints they had used a .45 pistol for sound effects for the guns. But in the ANH SE, it only happened when Leia shot at the stormtroopers. BUT NOW its has gone BACK to sounding like a blaster and not a handgun. Watch the VHS ANH SE for comparrison if you have know idea what i'm talking about. But overall, I am damn impressed. They look so utterly great now.

No it's not.

Buddy that saber is definitely green.

There were purple sabers in AOTC as well

myself included.

the saber's green, and in one of the shots, you can see a definitive green reflection on some machinery to the left

did they fix Boba's jet pack so it looks more realistic?

i got mine today

great restoration! the only thing i hate is the bad lightsaber rotoscoping, the only good rotoscoping was the obi wan vader seen

but here is the crappy lightsabers

look at this crap...

http://img5.exs.cx/img5/6996/SW_Changes_20_2004.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/9637/ESB_Changes_01_2004.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/218/ROTJ_Changes_07_2004.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/3189/ROTJ_Changes_09_2004.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/5550/ROTJ_Changes_11_2004_01.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/3770/ROTJ_Changes_11_2004_02.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/3498/ROTJ_Changes_11_2004_04.jpg

vaders looks pink

It looks fine when I play it on my TV, so I'm not complatining

is there any special features of ROTS?

How do you fuk up the lightsabers? I mean how?

well what ya do is......take a classic movie and then f*ck around with it and then release it on DVD in a form OTHER that the theatrical release and piss off your fans.

Does he ever think of how much money he could make if released the OT on it original format. With just better picture quality.

Noticed another fuk up. In ANH when the X-wing pilot captain guys says "I'm going cut across the axis and try to draw their fire" Then it bust into that shot of the X-wings barrol rolling, and it bust into that music. Well the music is gone! You can barely hear it.

Ok about the upset with lukes supposed green saber . You guys keep trying to compare shots , saying its green , white, blue etc. So you have that one pic where obi wan is about to sit down and luke is training with the droid. Then you have the menu one where its clearly blue. They are completly different scenes. When the saber looks green its when its just obi and luke. When it looks more blue its when HANS in the room. Just wanted to clear that up. Im sorry but im not fooled the saber just looks like crap, and i dont understand why they couldnt fix this.

He only pissed off the fans who have no life other than to moan and complain that he ruined his own movies and pick apart every detail instead of enjoying a movie.

original version
http://img77.exs.cx/img77/3205/SW_Changes_20_OV.jpg

special edition
http://img77.exs.cx/img77/8261/SW_Changes_20_SE.jpg

2004 edition
http://img77.exs.cx/img77/338/SW_Changes_20_2004222.jpg




oh and also, when threepio crosses the droid sensor in the cantina, they took out that sensor sound..sorry, im a little nit picky

Not as much as the Special editions, you'd be surprised how few actually like the O-OT better than the special editions which are far superior.

this is all they had to do!

http://img70.exs.cx/img70/9393/Untitled-1copy71.jpg

but NOOOOOOO!!!!

As far as those pictures go, it looks blue to me.

This might be just me, but maybe the green saber might have something to do with the color restoration. If not their is major fuk ups with these movies, and I'm not talkin about Jabba and Hayden (I'm fine with that stuff I don't really care). But green and pink light sabers, and missing music I am not okay with.

You guys with the sound problems, and other complaints I think there is a possibily we will have recall on our hands. Maybe

Did they fix the way Luke looks when he falls in Empire Strikes Back? Because that has always bothered me...

http://img38.exs.cx/img38/2315/die4.jpg

ooooo fun fun, fun with photoshop!

that's great, Moonwalker...

Seriously, I could have redone those lightsabers in 5 minutes in Photoshop and it have looked better...

I think it looks Damn good.
The OT is probably SO old taht they Had to add some more stuff. and completly change it.
But I thought I was cool how they added stuff, like the womp rats in ANH to fill up a scene

I sold my VHS set, but where the Dejarik pieces always colored? I may confusing them with the holograms, thinking ALL the pieces were blue.

so many new additions to the movies, its not the same as the old triliogy.

i still havwent gotten used to seeing heyden in rotj.

lukes saber doesnt look as bad while watching the movie.

He has all of 7 seconds of screen time. Are you people seriously obsessing over this?

Frame by frame? You would have had to quit your day job buddy.

when Obi and Vader fight there is this greenish light occuring when the sabers clash

Cal, this isnt true, I personally dont give a damn about these kinds of things, in fact I dont understand the Rancor lines that people complain about I've never seen them.

But what I do NOT understand is why people who obviously arent serious fans of SW feel the need to attack the rest of us who are?
I have supported GL's right to make HIS movies the way he saw fit, but the dvd release was quite a shock for me who has never seen the SE's and was completely suprised at a movie thats been revised twice now.

I think that the only group that prefers the SE's to the Original version are the people that saw them first. If you saw the OT in its theatrical release back in the 70's & 80's the SE's suck IMHO.

I agree that some of the changes are quite unnecessary, but Lucas isn't always going to listen to what the fans want, he's going to do what he wants to do, and obviously by what's happened, nobody's going to stop him. I thought you would've seen the SE's, JP. I can imagine the shock to see the 2004 editions and skip the 1997 SE But they made Jabba look so much better than in 1997 in ANH, so look back at that and be happy that there was something legitimate.

Lucas always claimed he wasnt satisfied with the end product when it came to the films

Sorry, JP, but in my opinion, only irritating purists think like this. I saw the originals first and I have no cloud of nostalgia making me think they are better. GL has done the right thing.

And I am sorry... but all of you are proudly displaying these ridiculously juvenile pics and still not seeing, as mephisto so clearly described earlier, that the colour of the sabre in that scene is NOT green! In case you missed what he said:

"The saber probably looked white/faint blue like the other shots, but when uping the color levels (i.e. cyan--photoshop users, I KNOW you know what I'm talkn' bout, cmyk?) the print had cyan added to it to bring up the picture quality and put a slight tint on the whitish/blue blade, hence the slightly more green appearance. It is blue, with the cyan tint from them increasing the cmyk levels in the shot. Ush is right.
The menu screen of luke training had an animated blade done by the DVD production crew. It is NOT the same as the film version. That's why they look different."

And the thing about the purple sabres is simple. Given a shot from AOTC bfore its realse, people swore blind that there were at least three or four other purple sabres in the arena. No amount of of screenshots would dissuade them from this thinking, no matter how much the same colour-shift point we are making here was pointed out.

Well, they were wrong, and they never saw it. The sabres were blue, but in those particular frames they looked purple. The same here- Luke's bright cyan sabre is cyan all the way, but for a few moments you can easily confuse it for light green, or white. But it is NOT. It is cyan, and everyone who thinks different has a simple problem with observing colour- and anyone who thinks that by re-colouring a SINGLE frame they have proven anything, is an idiot.

And SS... no you couldn't, don't be silly.

I don't know who told you that, but only rather presumptuous fans ever had that odd idea.

Well, if Anakin was "dead", you could also say he was "reborn" when he helped Luke kill the emperor. We could go on and on with the stupid reasoning, so I still say it's CRAAAAPPP!!!! It's simply stupid. I can't help think that Luke is looking at a child, who's supposed to be his "father".

And yes, I believe they changed Boba Fett's voice specially the "..he's worth a lot to me" part. I've watched these movies (in the unmolested versions) a lot of times to notice it.

I think the only way to stop fickle-minded Lucas from making continuous changes to his films is to kill him.

Or not buy the damn film, if you don't want changes. This moaning is ridiculous. He hasn't gone around and mangled all your old copies; if you preferred them, you still HAVE them. That being the case, you shouldn't give a damn what changes he makes subsequently; if you don't like, don't get; all this 'we must stop Lucas making changes' crud is simply juvenile.

OOooh... temper temper.... THis is still a free forum, people can have their opinion.
On the bright side... I have it to. It's still in plastic and hope to check out the rancor scene and ANH tonight. IMHO ANH was the only one (apart from the Rancor Scene in ROTJ) that was in dire need of some touch ups. The old ANH was already dependent on special effects in an age where they still had to be invented. Now that technology allows those effects to look they way they should have, is fine with me. Also, Mos Eisley looks a tad daft in comparisons to all otyher films. I loved what GL did to it in the SE and am looking forward to what he did here. Taking out matte lines, make snow and sand look pretty: great changes. I saw what they did to classics like Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago and who can be mad with anyone making the films look prettier and more pristine, as if you're looking at the first copy off the negative.

However, I find little things disturbing like the Emperor dialogue in ESB... that is more like Gl clearing his tracks for changes he makes in the PT. Now if he changed it with some good lines and good dialogue, well, ya know... maybe. But this is no improvement and all to make it fit with ROTS. I'd say: be creative and make ROTS fits ESB. THat change has nothing to do with "this is the movie I always wanted to make". Just be honest and say: the PT's are changing my perspective on the OT, so I'm making changes so the OT fits the PT I want it to be. (But be a sport and give us the originals as well ;-) )

Last I heard, Lucas still owns the rights to everything Star Wars. He should be allowed to make changes as he sees fit. If anybody really can't stand the newer versions, the choice is simple; don't spend your money. As for adding the originals on DVD, Lucas has stated numerous times that the original prints are too far gone to convert to a new medium. I recommend searching ebay for the original VHS tapes and watching those. No offense, but all the nitpicking really comes off as juvenile whining. Just an observation.

sorry, but to me the scenes in ANH SE of Mos Eisley with that speeder is just terrible, no chances there with the DVD

During the falcon/tie fight in ANH after escaping the death star, the boxes around the tie ships that were removed for the S.E, are now back on them.

I thought I imagined that one on one Tie yes

What utter BS. You don't need the original prints, as long as you have the original negatives and he sure has those or he could never have made neither the SE's or the current DVD's. If they completely restore films like Lawrenceof Arabia, Gne with the Wind etc. etc.... they sure can fix up the original ANH.

He just doesn't WANT to release them because he feels the current DVD versions are as close as they get to his vision (at this time). The older ones are, in his opinion, unfinished versions. However, in a decade or three the VHS tapes become rather useless because the magnetic quality of the tape material itself deteriorates, and film historians will never be able to show the world what movie exactly conquered the world...
SW is history, why not keep some good copies around?

Its on laserdisk and has been transfered from there to DVD in numerous places around the world.

And you people saying "give us the original" are dreaming. it costs MILLIONS of dollars to restore a movie from the old prints to DVD quality. Just a simple transfer, if not done properly, can destroy the original. So why is Lucas going to spend money on something only a fraction of the buying populace would invest in?
The amount of rabid fanboys who would actually pay money for a restored version of the Originals would not cover the enourmous cost of cleaning them and transfering them. Most people would just whine that Lucas is trying to make even more money by doing so, and wouldn't understand that maybe 3% of the buying public is foaming at the mouth.
Here's an idea. One of you invest several millions to convert an "obsolete" version of the film to dvd and see how much money you recoup. Lucas ain't interested in lossing money on something he doesn't consider to be a finnished product anyway.
It's like asking Warhol to take one of his unfisnished sketches, spend $30k to clean it up and make it presentable, and then hope that he can sell it for may a half of what he just invested.
Not gonna happen, so buy your bootlegs and shut up.

P.S. Luke's sabre is blue, it's his eyes that they made green in that shot.

Ever heard of negatives?

Plus GL is gonna MAKE millions if he releases it on DVD. Lots would buy it. In the end that is NOT the argument. GL doesn't want it out, because in his opinion the do not count anymore. History begs to differ.

Laserdiscs... yes, good point. But where does one get a player?

Seriously - you dont need one - they released a gleaming clean version of the ' 77 OT on laserdisk and it's been produced from that to DVD in various places around the world.

Im not an advocate of piracy, but if you want it - check ebay (wait for the star wars fuss to die down as its inflated the OT price) and you can pick it up easy.

I loved the new Emperor scene in ESB. Ian McDirmid (however that's spelled) is a great actor who's voice added a lot to that scene. I loved how he says Lord Vader in that scene, it sounded like in the PT when he says "Lord Maul" or "Lord Tyranus", thus keeping up the continuity and making it sound more like a title.
The new Boba Fett recordings didn't bother me, I do kinda miss the old voice that sounded pretty mean, but I can get used to the new one. I liked Boba first, I liked Jango just as much, so it doesn't really matter. And again, this does add to continuity. I'm glad he didn't change the stormtrooper dialogue for one reason-the clones get that genetic manipulation, and don't grow up around Jango and his accent (as Boba did) so they shouldn't have his accent.
As for Hayden at the end of ROTJ, I actually found myself really liking it. I think its because, in my thinking, its not that he died at a certain time, or that there are such strict rules FOR NON PHYSICAL APPARITIONS. I liked it because, to me, Anakin may have been redeemed at the end, but neither we nor he would know exactly what he'd look like old now. And Vader has seen himself as this twisted version of himself. And I'm sure, now that he's redeemed at the time of death, he wants to appear the way he did before his huge f up. Sort of turn back the clock moment where he gets to be himself again, free of the last twenty odd years. He appears as he did at the end of the clone wars because thats the last time he remebers being Anakin. I know I would like to appear as if my time as Vader had never happened because it would sicken me that I had become so grotesque, both physically and figuratively. So I think it makes sense, not because of any stupid rules (oh, you can't do that because it clearly states here that you must). I mean c'mon, once he's dead, I'm sure he can appear as he chooses. And wouldn't you want to appear as you did BEFORE you became a twisted evil Sith?
Overall, I'm very impressed, almost all matte lines and resulting discolorations from using mattes and blue screen have been corrected save for the Falcon cockpit shots as it flew out of the asteroid worm. I did notice some of the tracking boxes on Tie's in ANH. Maybe they'll fix them later. I really loved Naboo added to ROTJ. It really ties it all together. And they finally fixed those black shadows in the Emperor's hood in ROTJ, where they had animated extra shadow to better shroud his face. Now its all one color. It doesn't look like they re-rotoed all the lightsabers, but I thought they did look brighter in the ESB fight. In ROTJ, the beams looked tighter and more focused (all beit at the expense of brightness, but that's minor). Someone mentioned extra shots in the ESB Hoth scenes. There weren't any. Somebody said the shot of Han grabbing parts of the "shelter" he was gonna build, I just think the storm shots were so muddy before that they had never seen it before cuz that's in my old THX versions. But yeah, picture for all 3 was just astounding. They can really hold up to the prequels. now. So now when my kids watch them they won't ask why 4,5, & 6 look so much older. They look absolutely great now. I'm really pleased with them. They adequetly dealt with all the SE changes I used to ***** about. I like the new Jabba, I can come to grips with the new Han/Greedo, and Luke's pansy-@$$ scream is gone from ESB. Now if they'd just ditch that SE music segment in Jabba's palace, I wouldn't have anything to complain about...

Oh yeah, to second what Ush mentioned earlier, the lightsaber colors, other than red, have no designation whatsoever. I mean, qui-gon had green as a master. Luke had green as barely a knight, if that even. Plo-koon, a master on the council had blue, as did Ki and several others. Blue and green mean this and ONLY this: the jedi prefers the color they have chosen to the other option. Don't listen to video games like KOTOR. Color means nothing more than the asthetic preferences of the Jedi wielding it.

Yeah, Jah Yowza is golden.



It only cost $10 Million to clean up and render the 1997 S.E.'s, so get off of your soap box. Lucas, if he were to sell anywhere near the amount of OT DVD's in one day as "Finding Nemo" (8 Million copies), stands to make $320 Million gross..IN ONE DAY.



Pure speculation.


Not gonna happen, so buy your bootlegs and shut up.


George? Is that you? Can't be, he wouldn't urge us to buy lesser quality versions of his movies, muchless bootlegged copies, or on VHS.



But how does the sound and picture measure up to that of the 2004 version, with over 100,000 frames being cleaned up, with DD 6.1 THX sound?

Price won't be coming down for years, unless you catch a sale at Deep Discount DVD or eBay.

I'm happy with what's available now, personally, but to mock people who appreciate the nostalgia of the "original" Star Wars is wrong. It's a personal preference, and as you can see, Lucas is as callous as ever. A "perfectionist", indeed.

Glad to see you don't think 10 million is a lot.
You can make the 5 mil check out to Haywood Jabloughmie.

Im only basing this on cinemadications copy but does it come with a poster?

10 million's not a lot when it comes to making a movie...

I was joking about the lightsabers, guys...and on the color...I was just watching part of the DVD (thank you sci-fi club!) and it is certainly blue.

And I've never even seen the SE's so I'm kinda wondering what to expect when I finally get to watch the DVDs...are the changes really THAT bad?

No, it's not a lot. But if you're like George, and you consider the original theatrical release to be shite, then why would you spend even 10k on them?

And I can have contempt for it, which I do so for people who say GL has to be 'stopped'.

The only value of the earlier editions, in my opinion, is historical curiosity. I don't think he would make as much as some people thinm by releasing them, though ti amsuses me that some (not you, queeq) have used this as a lever for criticism, saying:

"Duh, why don't you release the Originals, you'll make all this money, I am returning my copy, that is $50 you aren't getting, you idiot..."

And are the same people that say at other times that George Lucas has sold out and will do anything for money, overriding any principle. A good demonstration of the nature of fanboyism, there...

I've just watched my bonus disc. I've always known Mark Mamill was a funny guy and this proves it. The guy should do stand up.

Wouldn't be a bad idea.. what else did he do after SW?

Looks like he has done much cartoons. Look here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000434/

Never heard these publicized much... just looked up that page after I posted

You're right, a lot of cartoons...

I most certainly noticed this too.

I had a DVD night with about 15 friends and when Lukes much maligned "green" lightsaber came on screen, everyone in the room gasped!

One of you here on this forum seems to think it "looks" green simply because of the original tinge that is now supposedly accentuated because of the increase in contrast due to the new transfer and restoration. This is probably true but never the less, it remains GREEN.

I suggest any of you who think it looks blue in that scene either:
1) get your eyes checked immediately at your nearest optometrist
2) don't become electricians or bombsquad members, as you are clearly colourblind
3) check yourselves into DARPA because you are the next stage of human evolution that can supposedly see other colours to the rest of us.