Star Wars Movies Coming to Blu-ray

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I'm not old, you're just 12.
George Lucas sold out.

I wonder what Ewoks taste like?
Ummm, how did Lucas sell out? Star Wars, people conveniently forget, was really insanely, crassly marketed from the get go. Lucas made sure to lock down the merchandising rights for the film before even one frame was shot. Characters were added (ahem, Ewoks) just because they would make good toys. This argument is like telling a prostitute she sold out for getting implants. "You've changed. It used to be about the prostitution."

Now I loved Star Wars as a kid, and I still have a degree of fondness for it as an adult, but I won't kid myself into thinking any artistic merit found in the films had ANYTHING to do with Mr. George Lucas. He's always been sort of mercenary.

And I'd imagine that Ewoks taste like Wookiees, with only half the fat.
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See that? That just makes my point from earlier in the thread. I believe this is all about the money. Always has been. I know that idea upsets some of the more idealistically minded folks but that's just how I feel. I guess I would be inclined to feel differently if he DIDN'T release a brand new version of the film on DVD or Blu-ray EVERY time he makes some ridiculous changes to the films.
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I don't disagree with the idea that this is about money for any idealistic reason. I disagree with the idea that it's about money because, if it were, it'd make way more sense for him to sell every version simultaneously.



Definitely more blind meglomania than capitalism, people would buy them whether they were tinkered with or not. A Blu-Ray release was inevitable so releasing it on the format can't be considered too harshly and tinkering with the product is obviously turning more people of buying them than anything. Don't see it being for the money, he's just delusional .
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The role that revision/remix plays in the identity/experience of an artwork is a legitimately interesting question and one which would probably take us to the depths of the very definition of art itself.
if there isn't one already, someone should start a thread about this.



If Lucas wants to perfect his vision of Star Wars, I'd rather he get Pixar to remake them all or something instead of all these silly tweaks. THAT would be something I'd be interesed in. I can only dream, I guess.
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heh. i just read the above post and assumed it was honeykid because of the Drew avatar, and when i got to the part about "i'd rather see Pixar remake them all" my whole world was nearly shattered to bits.



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While I agree with Pyro and Yoda on the specific point that these revisions are mostly likely not the result of a profit-seeking motive, I cannot disagree more that capitalism is not involved. It is not a simple sell-out or cash-in. It is a kind of reification of value.

Isn't the problem here precisely one of capitalist logic and its utter inadequacy in the realm of art and culture?

The idea of someone amassing enough profit to hold a tyrannical sway over a corporate empire is enough to coimplicate the system with the individual. The question here is not why Lucas would want to do such a thing but rather why not under the conditions of the system? Why not settle into the banal repitition of megalomania when one has himself so much power? By capitalist logic, this power is said to be deservedly so, but is this really correct? Our near-unanimous recoil seems to suggest not. At what point can one be parasitic of themselves? Surely we cannot attribute bouts of creativity to Lucas's moves here, but rather the opposite.

It is the logic of capitalism that enables such one sided tyranny over an artwork which by all accounts has become far more more public than private over its lifetime. Star Wars is more than just a film; it is a critical part of our culture. How could one describe Star Wars as merely the property of a single individual? I think it is very clear that it already, in some sense, belongs to all of us and -- in regards to the necessity of audience in any artwork -- it could even be said that it has always been this way.

Even if Lucas is not looking to maximize profit, his very stagnation and megalomania can be attributed to the false sense of value and ownership that his past profits have conferred upon his relation to Star Wars.
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Capitalism has an answer for that: branding. There are people who straight-up hate George Lucas now and are going to refuse to buy any of these things on principle. I might not even watch the much-hyped TV show now. The "why not" is the fact that people like the man a lot less. And when you have as much money as you could ever want, things like artistic or cultural legacy start to matter more and more. And as more and more products exist, reputation/branding matters more and more, too.

And, as much as I dislike what Lucas is doing, it's not "tryanny" for him to fiddle with his movie, it's just ill-advised. The sense to which it belongs to all of us--to our memories, basically--is the sense he can't touch, anyway, because he can never make us forget what it was like before he changed it. The part that belongs to us is the part he can't change no matter how hard he tries.

"Capitalist logic" (which I think is a fairly obfuscating and unhelpful phrase, but we'll leave that aside for now) does not justify or excuse his choices. The fact that so many people recoil and demand access to the originals suggests the exact opposite, because he's certainly losing money by not selling them. At worst, his current decisions are being "funded" by the incredible good will of his previous decisions, which were much better received. In that case the question becomes: is it good that Star Wars exists, even with these silly tweaks? And I think the answer is clearly yes.



The movies might feel like they belong to all of us, but as I was saying before, we are not going to live forever. Star Wars belongs to the world - and the world has a much longer lifespan - and the world is not just us that are living right now. George Lucas' name also belongs to the world -- although he'll be dead in the future, he won't be forgotten. As long as the actual George Lucas is still alive, he still has time to "perfect" these movies if he sees it fit. This business of being angry at the changes and feeling it's tarnished the films is only temporary -- unless, of course, you have a case for why the changes have artistically ruined the films. I'm sure people - from today and from the future - will have reasons.

But it is also very possible that people in the future will come to cherish the Star Wars movies after all of the revisions more than the original versions. Why? Because their asses never sat down in theatres in 1977 and all the other years these films came out. There are a lot of people who take great pride in having been there when this film came out -- witnessing it when it was first unveiled. And many people fell in love with that and, of course, they often think it's perfect and don't want it messed with. Yoda is right that their good memories of the original versions will always be with them, but it is understandable how they would be angry at not having the original versions for purchase. They cannot sit at home and recreate their 1977 experience if they want to. That is frustrating to many people.



See that? That just makes my point from earlier in the thread. I believe this is all about the money. Always has been. I know that idea upsets some of the more idealistically minded folks but that's just how I feel. I guess I would be inclined to feel differently if he DIDN'T release a brand new version of the film on DVD or Blu-ray EVERY time he makes some ridiculous changes to the films.
No, the point of re-releasing them on a new format is to make money. Making aterations to them is about being a lunatic who surrounds himself with yes-men.

EDIT: @Sexy Celebrity Changing the scene to making Greedo shoot first changes the character of Han Solo. That's not a temporary angry, that's a fundamental change to the character and that is a forever angry in my book. Plus, the added scene between Jaba and Han in Episode 4 looks like crap. I can't see those as being a temporary thing.

Also, I still disagree that the youth are going to love the edited versions. Besides, I'm going to live forever, so I'll still be praising the original cuts long into the future.
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EDIT: @Sexy Celebrity Changing the scene to making Greedo shoot first changes the character of Han Solo. That's not a temporary angry, that's a fundamental change to the character and that is a forever angry in my book. Plus, the added scene between Jaba and Han in Episode 4 looks like crap. I can't see those as being a temporary thing.

Also, I still disagree that the youth are going to love the edited versions. Besides, I'm going to live forever, so I'll still be praising the original cuts long into the future.
Not every child will love the edited versions, particularly those who see both cuts. Although, I do wonder where the opinions will really originate from -- their own minds or the minds of their parents, friends, etc. that show it to them and say, "This is better." But a lot of people will see the edited versions and love them right from the start. Sometimes - shock - people don't get heavily invested in movie criticism and just love things without being too critical about them. The types that jump up and go, "I liked it!" automatically.

Now, as for your beef with the scenes you mentioned -- talk about it! Get it all out. Everybody is. What I mean by the "temporary angry" is that I strongly suspect that this will all cool down, particularly by 100 years from now, definitely. Lucas will be dead, we will be dead -- I think -- the original fans will be dead. Yeah, history of our anger will exist, but that's a book -- or an internet page. There will be a fresh start. There will be new blood. And these revisions that Lucas is making to the movies -- they aren't going away. They're here. They're queer. Get used to it!

There will be new theses written up in regards to how great the changes are in the Star Wars movies. There will be pro and anti-Star Wars revision parties. I don't know exactly how long for, but I feel it's temporary in the grand scheme of things. Maybe not -- if I'm wrong, though, Star Wars is bigger than we even think. And that, I think, should grant George Lucas to do whatever he wants. He has this marvelous power thanks to Star Wars -- power not many people ever receive. Let the man throw the balls down into the air -- let us beneath him scramble to pick them up.



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Oo, I just learned Hamill's face changed after IV because of a car accident. (I thought it was just some really weird growing pains or something). More importantly tho, this prevented Lucas from filming reshoots...

Several Star Wars facts I really shoulda known

...Quick, someone punch JaJa in the face!
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I think it's fair to say future generations will love them in spite of the new cuts. But sure, none of them ruin the films. I think people who say that are probably exaggerating.

But really, at some point the originals are going to be available, and most people will probably watch those. People come on here all the time to ask which cut of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or Blade Runner they should watch. When someone in 50 years asks which version of Star Wars to watch while riding in their self-driving hover cars on Holo-Movie Forums (users: "HoMoFos"), our grandchildren will tell them to watch the originals.



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He has this marvelous power thanks to Star Wars -- power not many people ever receive. Let the man throw the balls down into the air -- let us beneath him scramble to pick them up.


What the hell is wrong with you, man?