Interview with George Lucas on the SE SE DVDs

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-09-17 12:36pm

Some will be miffed that the original theatrical versions are not included in the "Star Wars" boxed set, which features only the special-edition versions Lucas issued in the late 1990s, with added effects and footage, including a scene between Harrison Ford's Han Solo and crime lord Jabba the Hutt in the first "Star Wars."

AP: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?

Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.

AP: Why did you rework the original trilogy into the special-edition versions in the late 1990s?

Lucas: To me, the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make. Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown into the marketplace, never finished. It's a very rare experience where you find a filmmaker who says, "That's exactly what I wanted. I got everything I needed. I made it just perfect. I'm going to put it out there." And even most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done. ... I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it. At the beginning, people went, "Don't you like it?" I said, "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be." They said, "What are you talking about?" So finally, I stopped saying that, b! ut if you read any interviews for about an eight- or nine-year period there, it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was. You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it. So this was my chance to finish it.

AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?

Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.

AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?

Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are. ... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.

AP: After "Episode III," will you ever revisit "Star Wars"?

Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things. You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2004-09-17 12:38pm

That´s the most interesting GL interview I´ve read in a long time, finally gets some answers out.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-09-17 01:09pm

To be honest it seems like he still doesn't understand the market.

I mean he's saying oh if you want the real originals, it's on VHS. At this point people expect DVD. DVD has become the collector's format in a way that video didn't.

And, can you even get the originals on VHS anymore?

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-09-17 01:14pm

GL has a point in that if he doesn't think the movies exist anymore and his SE are the definitive vision why should he spend millions to bring the originals to market on DVD.

At the same time, I'm more than a little disturbed that he now is going around saying that he no longer cares what critics and fans think, he's paid his dues by making mass market appeal films (hey George bet your wallet didn't mind that much either ass.) and now that he has his financial freedom (Thanks solely to the mass market films he seems to dislike) he can make movies the he wants to make for his own enjoyment.

In other words "I am George Lucas watch me wank."

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-09-17 01:36pm

Stravo wrote:GL has a point in that if he doesn't think the movies exist anymore and his SE are the definitive vision why should he spend millions to bring the originals to market on DVD.

But he is saying that it is on another format and so people can go buy that. Which from looking at amazon.com doesn't seem accurate.

The tapes I saw were for the special editions.

Edit: He does have a point about his vision. But truthfully, the fans made it what it is. He doesn't owe them anything, but it would show that he actually cares about the fans that brought him to the point where he doesn't have to worry about fans or critics.

Mark S · Post by **Mark S** » 2004-09-17 01:42pm

Just wait for him to die, then his kids will pump out the Classic Originals.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-09-17 01:45pm

Mark S wrote:Just wait for him to die, then his kids will pump out the Classic Originals.

Assuming they exist in a recoverable format! Did you see how badly it had degraded from '79 to when they did restoration for the SE?

Mark S · Post by **Mark S** » 2004-09-17 01:51pm

I have a set of the Classic VHS. Anyone want to start the bidding.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-09-17 01:58pm

Indeed That why I ripped my LDs onto a better format.

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2004-09-17 04:51pm

Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2004-09-17 05:54pm

Basically George is saying that he doesn't consider the original movies to be....well.....movies.

The only thing that bugs me is that he said the films where finished when they were redone in 1998. But he has made changes for the DVD release.

So one has to wonder if he is going to constantly keep redo-ing these films until they are totally removed from what originally came out.

Or if he is going to treat the PT in this way.

I can understand his point about not wanting to release the un-tarted-up OT on DVD because it is his money that would be spent on catering to what is effectively a speciallity market.

A good interview, i look forward to collecting my DVD set on Monday!

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-09-17 06:33pm

The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that

GAH! How fucking stupid can he be! The point is people DO NOT WANT THE OT REFURBISHED. Take the original bloody movie, put it on DVD, and be done with it. Its not that bloody expensive. Expecting people to put up with VHS is assinine.

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2004-09-17 06:41pm

The point is people DO NOT WANT THE OT REFURBISHED

I fairness the amount of people who do care is insourmountable compared to the power...I mean.....number of people who don't care. Its crap.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-09-17 07:01pm

Alyeska wrote:GAH! How fucking stupid can he be! The point is people DO NOT WANT THE OT REFURBISHED. Take the original bloody movie, put it on DVD, and be done with it. Its not that bloody expensive. Expecting people to put up with VHS is assinine.

For the OT SE DVD release, they went through frame by frame cleaning it up and rebalancing the colors, etc. This is not cheap.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-09-17 07:27pm

phongn wrote:
Alyeska wrote:GAH! How fucking stupid can he be! The point is people DO NOT WANT THE OT REFURBISHED. Take the original bloody movie, put it on DVD, and be done with it. Its not that bloody expensive. Expecting people to put up with VHS is assinine.
For the OT SE DVD release, they went through frame by frame cleaning it up and rebalancing the colors, etc. This is not cheap.

I wonder if they did the changes GL wanted after they had cleaned it up.

Which would mean that an already restored original print would exist.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-09-17 07:39pm

Lucas has been saying that he doesn't really care what film critics or movie goers think of his films since at least 1973, so that part comes to no surprise to me.

When he's done with RotS, and thus with Star Wars cinema forever, he basically wants to return to his artistic roots as a director. By saying that he wants to make films without caring how they're critically or popularly received or how much money they earn: to me that doesn't come across as "I am a perfect director" but as "I want to be free again".

After 2005, it sounds like Lucas will be living the filmmaker's dream, and I personally can't think of much that's any better than that...

DoctorPhanan · Post by **DoctorPhanan** » 2004-09-17 08:51pm

Well most people who swear by the OT and give the finger to the SE already own the OT on VHS anyway. So it's not that difficult to use a DVD recorder to convert all the VHS to DVD format, well minus the cost of a DVD recorder. But in a couple of years, I would expect the DVD recorder to be as common place as the VHS recorder is today.

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2004-09-18 01:24am

I pretty much agree with everything Lucas is saying in that interview. Only things that are a bit worrying are that when he says he decided to bring it out now instead of a few years later, does this mean he is saying their may not be a true High Definition version? (HD formats are going to be replacing DVD in a few years)

Also, if he does decide to allow further stories to be brought to TV, he better damn well make sure its in good hands and also with his input on certain things.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2004-09-18 12:17pm

GAH! How fucking stupid can he be! The point is people DO NOT WANT THE OT REFURBISHED. Take the original bloody movie, put it on DVD, and be done with it. Its not that bloody expensive. Expecting people to put up with VHS is assinine.

Speak for yourself. I've been a Star Wars fan for over twenty years. I'm glad that changes has been made, and I will be happy to see the DVD's with their changes on Monday when the box is released here in Sweden.
I watched the unaltered ANH VHS a few months back, and found it to be old and lacking. To me, the pre-SE editions no longer exists. If the box had contained the unaltered trilogy, I wouldn't buy it.
Put up with VHS? Whenever I think of the unaltered trilogy after '83, it's in term of VHS. To get the feel of the O-OT for me is looking at it on VHS (but I will never do that again). Stop thinking that just because a few persons wants something, that all people wants it. Only about 60.000 has signed the O-OT petition, when 2 millions have done so, I'll get impressed, but I won't change my opinion.

It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.

GL is somewhat vague here. I would like to see a Finished Edition someday.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-09-18 12:36pm

Stravo wrote:In other words "I am George Lucas watch me wank."

Better words have yet to be spoken about the Falleneled one.

The biggest disgust I have of the whole affair is that the '77,'80,'83 movies are what gave him his fanbase. Not the SE.

The SE only gave people a look at a restored version.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-09-18 01:07pm

Depends on what you mean by "refurbished". If the originals were ever to be put on DVD, I would expect them to put it through an extensive, rigorous cleaning process, fix up all the lightsabres, especially Obi-Wan's lightsabre in ANH (all of em in ANH, really) and get rid of the wierd TESB Emperor.

None of the SE changes were particularly important to me.

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2004-09-18 02:59pm

LOL...just watching ANH on DVD and Vader's voice is still out of time with his hand movements when he is talking to Tarkin. And Lukes saber IS green for a split second when he is training on the falcon. Its a dodgy whitey-blue for the rest of the scene.

Some final vision by the beardy one.

vakundok · Post by **vakundok** » 2004-09-20 09:58am

... and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it.

Sad.

"I know I lett you, encouraged you and you actually did fall in love with my daughter, but I allways wanted her to be the wife of my young alter-ego and it is going to happen since I am her father. All I can say is: sorry."

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2004-09-20 10:53am

How bloody hard would it have been to include the OT in the remake for the DVDs?

95% of it is the exact same footage. All they have to do is cleen the extra frames from the masters for these bits.

And I guess they DID this anyway for the DVD's, then just inserted the SE footage when appropriate from the newer vault copies.

Bloody hell what a wanker.
"The mass market fans can go to hell because I'm a rich barstard who got rich off the mass market fans! The circle is complete!"

Persoanly I like most of the SE changes. But I don't see why you can't have BOTH on the same disk.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-09-20 11:03am

LOL...just watching ANH on DVD and Vader's voice is still out of time with his hand movements when he is talking to Tarkin.

Do you mean the bit just before Tarkin gives the order to terminate Leia? I always thought that Vader was making a "kill" gesture, that's all.

And Lukes saber IS green for a split second when he is training on the falcon. Its a dodgy whitey-blue for the rest of the scene.

Some final vision by the beardy one.

At least it's only a split-second. Damn stupid mistake. And I always thought George Lucas was referred to as the Flannelled One?

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Interview with George Lucas on the SE SE DVDs

Interview with George Lucas on the SE SE DVDs

Re: Interview with George Lucas on the SE SE DVDs