[Rumour] Unaltered Original Star Wars Trilogy to Be Re-Released Before Last Jedi

[FireGilbert]

I used to go to the theatres at Southcentre all the time too! I also seem to remember theatres on the other side of MacLeod on Southport Road near the Superstore.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

I used to go to the theatres at Southcentre all the time too! I also seem to remember theatres on the other side of MacLeod on Southport Road near the Superstore.

Yeah, there was a theater there too and then they were the cheap theaters and now I think they're a sushi restaurant.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, there was a theater there too and then they were the cheap theaters and now I think they're a sushi restaurant.

I thought that the Southport theatres were kind of the low rent cheap theatres.

I still remember 2.50 Tuesdays.

And seeing the Rocky Horror Picture show in the theatre and coming out covered in wet newspaper toast and rice.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Locke

I watched them at SouthCentre.

Yes kids, thats right, there used to be theatres at SouthCentre, but they'd only let you in if you were wearing your onionskin belts which was the style at the time.

I thought I was the only one old enough to remember those belts. Classic reference

[Wormius]

I thought Lucas claimed the unedited films were lost or unsalvageable or some such unbelievable nonsense that allowed his monstrous refactoring to be the only thing available.

I think in retaliation for Lucas' lies they should release the Star Wars Holiday Special in BluRay. Or maybe not. Nobody really wins in that situation.

[CaptainCrunch]

Actually there was a documentary a few years ago that showed how the original prints were pretty close to unusable they were dim and had surface markings.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Actually there was a documentary a few years ago that showed how the original prints were pretty close to unusable they were dim and had surface markings.

Of all the movies? That just seems unbelievable. I just don't buy that being the reason he couldn't release the unedited versions on BluRay.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Of all the movies? That just seems unbelievable. I just don't buy that being the reason he couldn't release the unedited versions on BluRay.

At one point I saw a comparison where they showed the ANH prints and they were barely distinguishable. They had mentioned that ESB wasn't in good shape either. Not sure about ROTJ.

It makes me wonder about the other classic prints that might be beyond savings and just not star wars movies.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

At one point I saw a comparison where they showed the ANH prints and they were barely distinguishable. They had mentioned that ESB wasn't in good shape either. Not sure about ROTJ.

It makes me wonder about the other classic prints that might be beyond savings and just not star wars movies.

Yeah. That's what I don't get. They were in good enough shape for the re-release with the edits? They must have must have copied / digitized them at some point in their unadulterated state prior to adding and modifying the scenes. If they were in such rough shape. How did he do the edits?

The fact that the original film is degraded shouldn't have any impact. His reasons for not releasing the unedited on DVD or BluRay wasn't because of the film's quality, it was that he thought his new cut was better.

[FireGilbert]

Another interesting thing is that both Star Wars and Empire have been selected by the National Film Register for preservation however they are not actually stored in the register because George Lucas refused to send them the originals. He did offer to send in the Special Editions however the Register only accepts films for preservation in their original theatrical form.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

It was fun going back to the theaters to see them for the 20th anniversary, even though they were the Special Editions. Weird that the Special Editions have almost been around longer than the originals.

Anyone else here line up at the North Hill Theatre to watch the Special Editions 20 years ago?

Yup!

I also remember Southcentre, I'm not sure why, but that is the one we ended up at when my mom would drive us into Calgary. Maybe because there was a Consumer Distributing there? Saw Batman and I think Flight of the Navigator there. My best memory of the place though is when we went there for the Nintendo Challenge with the big truck full of Super Mario, and you got 30 seconds to prove your worth. They also had the Pepsi Challenge there that day. Ah 'member berries.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Yeah. That's what I don't get. They were in good enough shape for the re-release with the edits? They must have must have copied / digitized them at some point in their unadulterated state prior to adding and modifying the scenes. If they were in such rough shape. How did he do the edits?

The fact that the original film is degraded shouldn't have any impact. His reasons for not releasing the unedited on DVD or BluRay wasn't because of the film's quality, it was that he thought his new cut was better.

He can't actually believe the new cut is better. It's got to be an epic troll job.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GGG

He can't actually believe the new cut is better. It's got to be an epic troll job.

Well, he did think that the new Indiana Jones was a nearly perfect piece of filmmaking...

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

The original theatricals were released in a special trilogy edition dvd set a number of years ago (I've got it). The release had 2 discs per movie, Disc 1 was the special editions and Disc 2 was the theatrical cut.

...that being said, if this is true - I'll definitely be buying the blu ray set.

I always heard these had not been released; been holding onto my laser disc copies for years and had no idea a good DVD was available.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

I always heard these had not been released; been holding onto my laser disc copies for years and had no idea a good DVD was available.

I wouldn't call them a good DVD. They were presented as 4:3 but letterboxed with no 5.1 and they hadn't been remastered or even transferred to DVD very well, so they looked and sounded really bad.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by GGG

He can't actually believe the new cut is better. It's got to be an epic troll job.

Where the new cuts in my mind were better were the effects corrections where he could fix effects that didn't look good.

But things like the musical number, and some of the other plot changes like Han shoots first really over shadows those fixes.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I wouldn't call them a good DVD. They were presented as 4:3 but letterboxed with no 5.1 and they hadn't been remastered or even transferred to DVD very well, so they looked and sounded really bad.

But remastering would alter the presentation originally experienced in the theater!

[killer_carlson]

throw the new dvd's into a machine and put them through the projector. I don't care. Just let me sit in front of a big screen with my kids and some popcorn so they can truly get a sense of the original trilogy.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

But remastering would alter the presentation originally experienced in the theater!

Haha ok fair enough but those DVDs of the original trilogy look like they were copied from an 8th generation VHS copy of the movies via a Sanyo VHS to DVD burner from the late 90s.

[CroFlames]

I've never seen the originals. It would be nice if there was an easy legal way to access them.