So the news comes out that, this September, after enduring nonstop complaints from fans, Lucasfilms will be releasing DVDs of the original theatrical versions of the first three Star Wars movies. You know, the ones without the dodgy CGI and where Greedo doesn't shoot first. Now we hear that the DVDs are simply going to be ports of the 1993 laserdisc transfers, and are not even going to be encoded for 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. They will be released as 4:3 letterbox transfers only. They're not even putting in the tiniest effort to bring the source materials up to current levels of quality.
So basically, here's George, acting all magnanimous in throwing a bone to his legion of fans who have wanted the original movies we all grew up with on DVD for years and years, simultaneously showing his contempt for those same fans by releasing the movies in the crappiest substandard quality he can get away with. You can read the whole ugly story on The Digital Bits.
If The Phantom Menace didn't make me say this already: Bite me, George.
4 comments:
I find it interesting that as soon as the news of the new DVD set was announced, every fan online jumped up and went "Yeeha!" followed by "Man, he SUCKS." It's your choice to buy it, not his ;) If you're that hardcore, buy the original reels on eBay, or wait for your local art theatre to show it sometime.
Yeah, yeah, I'm standing up for the mega-millionaire's decision to withhold one of the best movies ever. I like the guy, what can I say. He's pleasant and slightly evil.
Well, I think you've missed the point by a light year. This isn't about anal-retentive fanboys being "hardcore," this is about Lucasfilms simply refusing to release a DVD product of the same, basic level of quality that every other major film released on DVD in 2006 gets. There's no reason at all — technological, financial — why they simply couldn't do a quick remaster of the laserdisc transfers for 16:9. None. Zero. Except one: to quote Eminem, they just don't give a fuck. About the films, about the fans, anything.
Lucas is a megamillionaire because of the support he has gotten over the last 30 years from the fan base he's now flipping the bird to. If you find that a likable quality, well, whatever.
I actually like him more on a personal level, as a person, than as the Almighty God of Star Wars. What he does with his own creations doesn't bother me all that much since, while I like Star Wars, I'm not balls to the wall crazy over it.
As for what he's doing with DVDs and so on, it's not personal, it's business ;)
Bad business, as it's alienating and losing potential buyers.
I'm sure he's a nice fellow in person. Why he thumbs his nose at his core fan base over and over is a nonstop source of bafflement.
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