Update on Unaltered Original Trilogy DVDs...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-11 07:04pm

Since the original thread about these DVDs has long gone off the first page, I've chosed to just make a new one concerning some information from The Digital Bits:

And here's a little something that's very interesting: Our friend Arnaud Calistri, who runs the DVDRama.com website in France, e-mailed me yesterday to say that Fox France has confirmed with him that the original versions of the Star Wars films to be released on DVD there will be in anamorphic widescreen (enhanced for widescreen 16x9 TVs). As many of you know, they were announced for release here in the States and elsewhere in non-anamorphic (letterboxed) widescreen only, causing a furor among fans (and rightly so). This news, if true, means one of two things: Either Lucasfilm quickly got their act together when fans complained and created new anamorphic masters for the DVD release everywhere (and it just hasn't been announced here in the States yet), or France is getting better DVDs that the rest of the world. If they DID get their act together, expect Lucasfilm's fan relations guru, Steve Sansweet, to make a massive deal about it the company's Star Wars panel at Comic-Con next week. If they DIDN'T get their act together, and France IS getting better discs, expect fans to make a massive deal about it. We'll ask all the right people to see if we can find out the truth of the matter. Of course, we'll let you know.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#ice2

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2006-07-12 01:24pm

Hmm, this could mean good news for the rest of us Europeans! Hopefully, LFL has realized that it wasn't a good move and have created an anamorphic transfer.

EDIT: The article has been updated. The information given by FOX France was wrong, the originals are letterboxed.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2006-07-12 04:04pm

I fell a sudden pain my my chest. It's from George Lucas trying to milk my tits till they are raw. This is just another shamless attempt to suck blood from obsessive completists. Worst part is, i'll probobly be in line to buy the fucking things

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-12 07:08pm

Lord Pounder wrote:I fell a sudden pain my my chest. It's from George Lucas trying to milk my tits till they are raw. This is just another shamless attempt to suck blood from obsessive completists. Worst part is, i'll probobly be in line to buy the fucking things

Where were you back in April when these were announced?

Dominus Atheos · Post by **Dominus Atheos** » 2006-07-13 12:10am

Lord Pounder wrote:I fell a sudden pain my my chest. It's from George Lucas trying to milk my tits till they are raw. This is just another shamless attempt to suck blood from obsessive completists. Worst part is, i'll probobly be in line to buy the fucking things

So? Boycott them! That's what I'm doing.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-13 12:12am

Maybe because deep down he actually wants it?

Frankly, I'm going to wait and see how the news turns out, which we'll probably find out sometime next week, as the quoted paragraph in the OP said.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-13 01:47pm

And the followup:

The Digital Bits wrote: We've got some more interesting standard DVD news to report today, starting with a follow-up on that French Star Wars DVD controversy we mentioned the other day. We've gotten a follow-up e-mail from our friend Arnaud at DVDRama in France. It turns out Fox France was wrong. Someone in marketing over there apparently still doesn't know what anamorphic means. The special edition versions of the films on Disc One of each set are anamorphic, but the original theatrical editions on Disc Two of each are definitely NOT anamorphic. They're just letterboxed widescreen as we expected. Fox France has apparently apologized for the confusion, and we definitely appreciate Arnaud's efforts in confirming the truth of the situation. France is getting the same sub-par Star Wars DVDs as the rest of us. 'Nuff said.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#frup

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2006-07-13 01:53pm

I mentioned yesterday that the article had been updated and that it was wrong. I had my hopes up for a few hours yesterday but they fell quickly to the ground. I can't understand why they don't create an anamorphic transfer.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-07-13 01:58pm

Mange wrote:I mentioned yesterday that the article had been updated and that it was wrong. I had my hopes up for a few hours yesterday but they fell quickly to the ground. I can't understand why they don't create an anamorphic transfer.

Because at heart, Lucas doesn't want to admit that his originals are what people have clamored for. So he will do everything to insure that people can be turned off by them. He has admitted time and again the newest versions are his vision, so then ask yourself...why would he primp or prime the old copies?

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2006-07-13 02:00pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Lord Pounder wrote:I fell a sudden pain my my chest. It's from George Lucas trying to milk my tits till they are raw. This is just another shamless attempt to suck blood from obsessive completists. Worst part is, i'll probobly be in line to buy the fucking things
Where were you back in April when these were announced?

Recovering from a top performance in SPAMWORLD!

Cos Dashit · Post by **Cos Dashit** » 2006-07-13 11:52pm

I have a question relating to the dvd box set;

Does it contain both the altered and unaltered OT? I'm a little confused on this.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-13 11:56pm

Cos Dashit wrote:I have a question relating to the dvd box set;

Does it contain both the altered and unaltered OT? I'm a little confused on this.

No, the box set contains only the 2004 versions of the Special Edition.

Cos Dashit · Post by **Cos Dashit** » 2006-07-14 12:00am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Cos Dashit wrote:I have a question relating to the dvd box set;

Does it contain both the altered and unaltered OT? I'm a little confused on this.
No, the box set contains only the 2004 versions of the Special Edition.

I think my question was confusing, I didn't mean the box set, sorry. I was referring to the new releases of the unaltered versions; will the set they come in also contain the altered versions?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-14 12:23am

Yeah, these upcoming DVDs, which are all seperate and not a boxed set, will have two discs: the anamorphic 2004 version, and the non-anamorphic original theatrical version.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-07-14 01:02am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Yeah, these upcoming DVDs, which are all seperate and not a boxed set, will have two discs: the anamorphic 2004 version, and the non-anamorphic original theatrical version.

Using 30 words or less, can you tell me what anamorphic means?

Civil War Man · Post by **Civil War Man** » 2006-07-14 01:29am

Stofsk wrote:Using 30 words or less, can you tell me what anamorphic means?

American Heritage's definition wrote:Relating to, having, or producing different optical imaging effects along mutually perpendicular radii: an anamorphic lens.

If you want that in English, though, I don't think I can help you.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-07-14 01:37am

Stofsk wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Yeah, these upcoming DVDs, which are all seperate and not a boxed set, will have two discs: the anamorphic 2004 version, and the non-anamorphic original theatrical version.
Using 30 words or less, can you tell me what anamorphic means?

Anamorphic means that the image is formated so that it can fit on widescreen televisions, insteat of being hard-matted in a full-frame letterbox.

Here's a set of pages which explains it very well:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... index.html

And another which shows off the basics:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... 5demo.html

Cos Dashit · Post by **Cos Dashit** » 2006-07-14 06:43am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:which are all seperate and not a boxed set,

I think that's a shame. Is there a reason they are not in a box set, or at least available in boxed set?

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2006-07-14 07:30am

Cos Dashit wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:which are all seperate and not a boxed set,
I think that's a shame. Is there a reason they are not in a box set, or at least available in boxed set?

Yes to squeeze that last wee bit of money from my red and bleeding tits.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2006-07-14 09:15am

Stofsk wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Yeah, these upcoming DVDs, which are all seperate and not a boxed set, will have two discs: the anamorphic 2004 version, and the non-anamorphic original theatrical version.
Using 30 words or less, can you tell me what anamorphic means?

Spanky wrote an excellent explanation, but in terms of DVDs it can be simply summarized like this: A movie in anamorphic widescreen is formatted to fit a 16:9 television (widescreen television sets) while letterbox is widescreen formatted to fit 4:3 (standard television sets). Anamorphic widescreen fits all screens while letterbox looks horrible on 16:9 television sets.

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-07-14 09:33am

Does anyone know if they are going to include the unaltered movies in the big box set (includes all six movies) that is due to come out this Winter? If they include them in the big box set, I will wait to buy it then.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2006-07-14 09:38am

General Deathdealer wrote:Does anyone know if they are going to include the unaltered movies in the big box set (includes all six movies) that is due to come out this Winter? If they include them in the big box set, I will wait to buy it then.

No, the unaltered versions are released for a limited time only. Has the big box set been confirmed?

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-07-14 09:43am

Mange wrote:
General Deathdealer wrote:Does anyone know if they are going to include the unaltered movies in the big box set (includes all six movies) that is due to come out this Winter? If they include them in the big box set, I will wait to buy it then.
No, the unaltered versions are released for a limited time only. Has the big box set been confirmed?

I was told it was to be released at the beginning of December. That is what was in the computer at a local video retailer I went to about a week ago. They have been pretty reliable for the past year or so on they release dates they have.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2006-07-14 09:44am

Mange wrote:
General Deathdealer wrote:Does anyone know if they are going to include the unaltered movies in the big box set (includes all six movies) that is due to come out this Winter? If they include them in the big box set, I will wait to buy it then.
No, the unaltered versions are released for a limited time only. Has the big box set been confirmed?

Is the big box set going to just be all the previous "special" editions combined into 1 box or will he sprinkle some useless extras throughout the disks to make it seem like its worth it to buy again.

This is getting almost laughable. For 6 movies he sure is getting a hell of alot of mielage out of them. I have the 6 movies as far as I'm concerned and GL gets no more of my money.

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-07-14 09:51am

I know it will have all six special edition movies (no unaltered as I just found out from Mange). He will more than likely put in some special extra stuff to make it seem like it is worth the money to go out and buy it. Anything to sqeeze a few more bucks out of us.