Original Unaltered Trilogy DVDs • September 12 2009

[Thundercracker]

Holy shit. It's official! It's going to be a limited release from Sept 12th through Dec 31st




http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060503.html

Fans can look forward to a September filled with classic Star Wars nostalgia, led by the premiere of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy video game and the long-awaited DVD release of the original theatrical incarnations of the classic Star Wars trilogy.
In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie, as well as the original theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.

See the title crawl to Star Wars before it was known as Episode IV; see the pioneering, if dated, motion control model work on the attack on the Death Star; groove to Lapti Nek or the Ewok Celebration song like you did when you were a kid; and yes, see Han Solo shoot first.

This release will only be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. International release will follow on or about the same day. Each original theatrical version will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround sound, close-captioning, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish for their U.S. release. International sound and subtitling vary by territory.

"Over the years, a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD. This is something that we're very excited to be able to give to fans in response to their continuing enthusiasm for Star Wars. Topping it off with a new interactive adventure makes September 12 a red-letter day for Star Wars fans."

That's also the day fans will be able to experience the LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy video game, the action-packed sequel -- filled with tongue-in-cheek humor -- to one of the best selling video games of 2005.

http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060503.html

[hypertext]

Way to give into peer pressure now George

[thecolorsblend]

Maybe now the sheep will finally shut the fuck up.

[Jordan]

I just like the fact that you can have a choice with each film, unaltered or 2004 version.

I'm still going to watch the 2004 versions but it's nice to have the unaltereds as well....

[Raveers]

Maybe now people will finally shut the fuck up.

Here here. You think they'll be restored or just slapped onto a DVD to make them happy?

[Jordan]

Lucas isn't one to half-ass a project. They'll be restored to some form. I'm curious if the tranfers will match or be better than the 2004 editions.

[hypertext]

Well either way it will be in high quality Dolby 2.0 !!!!11

[imtheone]

Lucas isn't one to half-ass a project. They'll be restored to some form. I'm curious if the tranfers will match or be better than the 2004 editions.

Supposedly, these will not be the same pristine transfers you got in 2004, but will be something less. The restoration job that was done for the 2004 versions wer taken from prints of the 1997 Special Editions... not these "original" versions.

Also, the sound will be 2.0 (No 5.1 surround-sound folks !!).

These versions will also be the actual theatricals & not the THX versions released on VHS just before the special editions came out(meaning no "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" in the crawl.)

I can only guess that also means a couple of things: Aunt Buru's original voice will be in instead of the one most of us are used to.
C3PO's explanation of how to dismantle the tractor beam on the death star will also presumably be gone & I'm sure there are others.

All in all... this will about as close as you can get to experiencing what it was like to see Star Wars for the first time in May 1977.

Now riddle me this... all the fan boys that have been crying for this for all these years... were they asking for the original Theatrical Versions, or were they asking for the THX versions that were released on VHS just before the Special Editions? I've never been able to tell.

I know it will likely come as a shock to some people, but the THX versions were anything but the original theatrical editions.

[darthpsychotic]

HOLY SHIT

Here I just posted "elsewhere" about ripping and uploading the Original Editions this summer in the DVDs forums.

[ETandElliott]

Happiest day of my life.

[darthpsychotic]

The only reason why LFL back-peddled and released the Original Trilogy 2004 DVD Editions was because of Internet pressure by way of piracy or "restoration". BITTORRENT pretty much caused this O-OT release.


The return of DarthFirst.

[The Dark Shape]

I swear that when I read the headline at comingsoon.net, I had to check my calendar and make sure it wasn't April 1.

[thecolorsblend]

I guess it's cool that LFL is doing this, but if they're going to issue the original theatrical versions, why not issue them with their original mono soundtracks? I don't care, I'll buy these babies either way, I'd just like some answers.

Also, the 2004 DVD's will be rereissued with the OOT as well. Sorta makes you wonder if they plan to tie them together (ie, similar menus or something).

[darthpsychotic]

Yes, each movie is being sold separately with two discs, one Original Edition and one 2004 DVD Edition, and that will make me if they price it as a two-disc set, which LFL will probably do.

ps: See the title crawl to Star Wars before it was known as Episode IV.

[ETandElliott]

It'd be cool if LFL fixed the obvious defects on the 2004 DVDs for the Special Edition fans, like the ANH sound mix and the lightsabers and screwed up colors. But for some reason, I don't see that happening.

[CloneCommander]

Hopefully they will clean these copies up as well. I'd prefer to have it in 5.1, but I'm not complaining as it's coming out. You know the reason they did this is because GL got pissed at all the money he's losing to the people at conventions selling the badly dubbed transfers.

[THXTHX1138]

I really don't look forward to buying another set of the Special Editions just to get the O-OT versions, but if I gotta do it to get the O-OT then I gotta do it.

[klm42]

Well either way it will be in high quality Dolby 2.0 !!!!11

Could you bitch a little more?

[Ayatollah Krispies]

Maybe now the sheep will finally shut the fuck up.

Aren't you dreaming.

Now riddle me this... all the fan boys that have been crying for this for all these years... were they asking for the original Theatrical Versions, or were they asking for the THX versions that were released on VHS just before the Special Editions? I've never been able to tell.

From what I've been able to tell, most of the hair-pulling and shirt-rending has been in service to getting these as fully restored and cleaned up as is currently possible with modern technology, but without the editorial changes made in the SEs. Since that's not happening, no, the sheep will not shut the fuck up. In fact, it shouldn't be too long before they start crying that Lucas is ripping them off again.

[darthpsychotic]

Bittorrent, along with restoration "slash" piracy is responsible for this grand day. Speaking of which, what will happen to all the restoration projects.

[ETandElliott]

I just noticed LFL is now selling "Han Shot First" t-shirts as well. This is all extremely bizarre.

[Thundercracker]

Unless LFL start to shut down restoration and other similar projects now because of this set there will no doubt always be a few projects out there.

I'm sure once these sets come out somebody will find something wrong with them and want to fix it so that a line of dialogue can be preserved from some alternate mono mix or something.

Mike's restoration project will probably continue, He seems to be doing what the 04 set should have done, fixing all the technical errors, bad lightsabers, bad mattes, color timing issues but without the SE material of course.

Depending on the visual quality of these versions it probably won't be a problem to edit together a "best of both worlds 04 and 06" version to suit one's individual tastes for an ultimate edition. I'm sure the fan-editing community will have fun with the possibilities.

[darthpsychotic]

I just noticed LFL is now selling "Han Shot First" t-shirts as well. This is all extremely bizarre.

This is not really directed to you but just in general.

The shirt picture embedded in my previous post is swlegacy.com and didn't mean to imply that mad bank is being made off it. It's just for novetly sales I'm sure.

Since starwarsshop.com came online whenever there was a big announcement on starwars.com, the site admins: Ghent, Pabawan, and BonnieGril made sure to have cafeexpress-style merchandise immediately available alongside. Lucasfilm has dictated that Starwars.com become self-sufficient hence the $40 a year HyperSpace members area and flash banner ads all the fuck over.

Mike's restoration project will probably continue, He seems to be doing what the 04 set should have done, fixing all the technical errors, bad lightsabers, bad mattes, color timing issues but without the SE material of course.

Depending on the visual quality of these versions it probably won't be a problem to edit together a "best of both worlds 04 and 06" version to suit one's individual tastes for an ultimate edition. I'm sure the fan-editing community will have fun with the possibilities.

Mike Verta, who is known as mverta here and at OriginalTrilogy.com says on his website swlegacy.com that the results of his project would be for his own personal use, not to be seen by the general public. Yes, with this Original Edition - Unaltered DVD Set, the masses can start their own project.

[kane_starkiller]

upon reading this... I can now say, "Balance has been brought to the Force" because now people can choose between the 1977 film and the 2004 Editions.

yes it has!

[Artmaul]

My sources tell me that this is in fact the BLU-RAY release, designed in part to increase BLU-RAY hardware sales. Also, think about it -- even a dual layer DVD still wouldn't be able to handle 2 versions of a film and all the animated menus Lucasfilm will make. That would mean 6 DVDs otherwise.

[Thundercracker]

Couple quotes from USA Today's article

This new set of DVDs does not constitute "George changing his mind," says Lucasfilm's Jim Ward. "What we've always said is George viewed the revised versions of the films as the definitive versions."

The original films' video quality will not match up to that of the restored versions. "It is state of the art, as of 1993, and that's not as good as state of the art 2006," Ward says.



Article:
[hr]
Die-hard Star Wars fans soon can see the original theatrical versions of the first three Star Wars films on DVD.

Even though George Lucas adamantly declared 2004's digitally restored Star Wars Trilogy DVDs the definitive versions of his movies, fans have held out hope for DVDs of the originals.

Their wishes will be granted Sept. 12 when Fox releases new two-disc DVDs ($30 each) of Star Wars (since retitled as Episode IV: A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that include the films as they first appeared in theaters, along with the new, restored versions (now available in the four-disc $70 Star Wars Trilogy).

The individual DVDs will be taken off the market on Dec. 31, a strategy that Disney uses on many of its classic releases.

Lucas re-released his original three Star Wars films in theaters in 1997 with inserted scenes and improved special effects. Those "special editions" were further enhanced for the four-disc DVD set. With the original versions coming to DVD, here's what you'll see again:

• In Star Wars, Han Solo shoots a bounty hunter named Greedo. Lucas changed the scene later so it seemed that Greedo draws first, and changed it again for the DVD so that they appear to shoot simultaneously.

• In Empire Strikes Back, the ice creature that captures Luke Skywalker gets less screen time.

• In Jedi, Sebastian Shaw returns as Anakin in the movie's final scene. Lucas substituted Hayden Christiansen, who plays Anakin in the more recent films, for the 2004 DVD.

Back in 2004, Lucas told the New York Post, "The special edition is the one I wanted out there."

This new set of DVDs does not constitute "George changing his mind," says Lucasfilm's Jim Ward. "What we've always said is George viewed the revised versions of the films as the definitive versions."

Fan attachment to the originals is strong. The movies topped entertainment website IGN.com's recent chart of Top 25 Most Wanted DVDs.

"People want the option of having the movies that they remember and people are opposed to George Lucas' revisionist tendencies," says the site's Chris Carle.

The original films' video quality will not match up to that of the restored versions. "It is state of the art, as of 1993, and that's not as good as state of the art 2006," Ward says.
[hr]

[Devil Dodo]

They better fix the lightsaber effects for the 2004 versions or I'm not going anywhere near them... And get better cover art too.

And fingers crossed for more bonus features for each film as well... Deleted scenes and doco's preferably.

[thecolorsblend]

The video quality will be different between each version? Ha! So much for the fan edits!

Oh this is great, LFL is forcing every single whiner to put his money where his mouth is. If they *really* want the "original theatrical versions", well, that's precisely what they're getting. I can already see the whining about the lack of a new remaster or 5.1 remix. We'll see how many of them truly are "purists".

Ohhhh, this is gonna be good!

[Ayatollah Krispies]

even a dual layer DVD still wouldn't be able to handle 2 versions of a film and all the animated menus Lucasfilm will make.

The releases are clearly described as two-disc editions on the OS.

The original films' video quality will not match up to that of the restored versions. "It is state of the art, as of 1993, and that's not as good as state of the art 2006," Ward says.

"As of 1993" indicates that they're using the Definitive Collection LD remasters as their source -- which is interesting, seeing as how the initial statement said they were releasing the original theatrical versions. Guess we'll have THX certification and some touch-ups after all.

[Artmaul]

Well the info could be incorrect. In any case, enjoy.

[DarthFirst]

It's not BluRay.

What a fucking fantastic day!

[ETandElliott]

Some of that article has been removed on the OS (talking about the Episode IV title not being in the crawl). Made me wonder if they'll just be releasing the 1993 remasters, and not in fact the original theatrical versions.

[Raveers]

Here on every message board that I have visited sheep finally get what they want and all they do is BITCH about it? Seems NOTHING pleases you sheep...

The video quality will be different between each version? Ha! So much for the fan edits!

Oh this is great, LFL is forcing every single whiner to put his money where his mouth is. If they *really* want the "original theatrical versions", well, that's precisely what they're getting. I can already see the whining about the lack of a new remaster or 5.1 remix. We'll see how many of them truly are "purists".

Ohhhh, this is gonna be good!

Indeed. Hence why I said above that nothing ever pleases these sheep even after getting what they want.

A lot of the jwfaners are pissed off at this news as well.


Yes Lucas did say that he wouldn't release these versions on DVD. However it seems the pressure by the sheep finally won and he gave in. Also too this is a limited edition event, not something that will always be produced in the masses.

I will pick this set up just for completion sakes. I will also buy my brother Mike a copy since I don't think he has even the 2004 set yet on DVD.

[Ternian]

WOO HOO!

I'm excited.

[SVTCobra]

[Ayatollah Krispies]

Some of that article has been removed on the OS (talking about the Episode IV title not being in the crawl). Made me wonder if they'll just be releasing the 1993 remasters, and not in fact the original theatrical versions.

If that turns out to be the case, I wish they'd just repackage that whole set on DVD with all of its original extras. I don't really need an extra copy of the 21st century editions.

[Topeka]

If that turns out to be the case, I wish they'd just repackage that whole set on DVD with all of its original extras. I don't really need an extra copy of the 21st century editions.

Yes, but that would be cheaper, and Lucas wouldn't be able to suck as much money out of the fans who want the originals. And so much for the hard-line stance of never releasing the originals again. I pray this isn't rushed or half-assed like the last DVD set.

That being said I'll be in line at the store before the doors open

[thecolorsblend]

If that turns out to be the case, I wish they'd just repackage that whole set on DVD with all of its original extras. I don't really need an extra copy of the 21st century editions.

Yes, but that would be cheaper, and Lucas wouldn't be able to suck as much money out of the fans who want the originals. And so much for the hard-line stance of never releasing the originals again. I pray this isn't rushed or half-assed like the last DVD set.

That being said I'll be in line at the store before the doors open

I read a quote from Lucas shortly after the '04 DVD's were released where he said something like "well, the originals will probably be released eventually but I won't invest very much money in them" or something. I didn't think he'd actually do it though.

I'm going to download some custom DVD art for a megaset- the '04 DVD's, the prequels and now the OOT. Sure hope I can find a thirteen disc DVD box...

[MuK]

Maybe now the sheep will finally shut the fuck up.

Wishful thinking.

... it would be nice to imagine that they would.

But Lucas will restore something wrong, the sky will be the wrong hue of pink, or the alarm won't be the same level as the original.

There's always something

[Raveers]

My fucking god there's nothing but constant bitching by the sheep on every single board. You'd think they would have been happy.

Stupid mother fuckers.

[Thundercracker]

I'm very excited about this. It seems a lot people are now worrying about the video quality but if those two screenshots are from the actual transfer, I think they look pretty good. I compared them with my copy of laserdisc rips and they're definetely much sharper and clearer.

I'm been reading the comments at other mb's and the reaction is certainly all over the spectrum. It seems George Lucas will forever be damned if he does, damned if he don't.

The only thing I'm wondering about now is why they took that quote about the original non-ANH crawl out of the press release.

[Ayatollah Krispies]

Yes, but that would be cheaper, and Lucas wouldn't be able to suck as much money out of the fans who want the originals. And so much for the hard-line stance of never releasing the originals again. I pray this isn't rushed or half-assed like the last DVD set.

That being said I'll be in line at the store before the doors open

I read a quote from Lucas shortly after the '04 DVD's were released where he said something like "well, the originals will probably be released eventually but I won't invest very much money in them" or something. I didn't think he'd actually do it though.

If LFL isn't doing any kind of updating to the '93 remasters, then this wouldn't cost them much to just throw it out there. Even as it is, the 2-disc sets each have list prices of $30, so we'll probably be able to get them first day of release for about $16.

You have to figure they did a little bit of marketing research here, and maybe they determined that the demand for the OOT isn't really as high as some in the fanbase would like to believe. Note that in the press release, they're describing the original cuts as "bonus features" -- basically saying that this is just another limited release of the 2004 set with some different features. It's almost like they think the OOT wouldn't sell worth a damn on its own, and they may well be right; I'll probably buy the original cut of ANH the day it hits the stores, but the changes to ESB and ROTJ just don't matter enough to me to buy another version.

I'm guessing that, rather than this being the first Blu-Ray release as Art has speculated, this is instead the kiss-off to the DVD format. These 1993 cuts, if they're presented as is, won't look terrible on DVD (though we're already being told, as if we needed to be told, that they won't look as good as the 2004 cuts), but they'd look like pure shit on Blu-Ray. If Lucas really doesn't plan to revisit them in the future, this would pretty much be the last chance to dump them off in a format they're somewhat suited to.

[Ayatollah Krispies]

The only thing I'm wondering about now is why they took that quote about the original non-ANH crawl out of the press release.

Most likely because someone realized that that WASN'T going to be on the version that's being released.

I wonder, as well, if we're going to see the original bit in ANH with the rebel pilot telling Luke that he knew his father. I'm guessing not.

[darthpsychotic]

FYI:

I contacted one of MF's superspies last night and the source informed me they heard of this new DVD set release last week. The source said that they would do the best to get out info just like they have for us in the past.

[Raveers]

Who knows if this set will have the words ANH or not. We really can't tell for sure. All we can do is just speculate until someone gets ahold of the DVD's early before their release and provides us with some either A: screencaps, B: video or C: Very informative information. Hopefully DP's sources will be able to do that.

It does make me wonder though if they'll correct the audio problems for ANH from the 2004 set or if this set that has the 2004 release will just be another re-elease with out any corrections.

Edit: Also who knows why they edited the page on the site. Only the people at StarWars.com knows and they've been known to edit news pages before so I don't know why this should be a shocker to anyone.

[CoGro]

obviously this was going to happen.


I dont know why people are so excited. The video and audio is going to be just about as good as your 1995 video re-issue. Congragdufuckinglations.


enjoy your 2.0 audio.

[Biggs]

Amazing, you look around the internet...and you're damned if you don't - and then damned when you do.

I would say the whole REASON it's being released in 2.0 sound (...and I know a little bit about this sorta thing) is because LF is giving you the original sound-recording release that was in cinemas (which wouldn't have been in 5.1) so it's about as original-to-the-original-trilogy as you're going to get.

Original Sound, Video, SFX...the entire thing.

Why for the crazed sheep would they bitch at this news? Because they obviously wanted "some" things altered and some not...which is stupid. You either want the original versions, or the altered versions (which IMO are better anyways) so just suck it up and deal with it.

Now the option is out there, it's great news...and people should be pleased.

For the average DVD-buying-non-starwars sheep, they'll pick up the disks and go "cool...a version which sucks compared the Prequel Trilogy" and you'll find it in bargain bins a few months later.

It's not going to be a "huge" product-mover for Lucas Film, because the majority of people already own the versions that George Lucas prefers...and the versions that the MAJORITY of the public prefer. He's just giving the "purisits" what they want...and people who want both versions for "archive" the ability to have both on one disk.

Interesting news, but like most SW-news, 1 out of every 3 people are going to have a hernia over SOMETHING.

Sigh.

[ETandElliott]

I'm very excited about this.

So am I. I'm an O-OT sheep. Regardless of whether this is the original theatrical version or the 1993 version, I'll buy it, if it's better than what I already have (though I may be putting a little too much faith in LFL here). The only thing about this I don't like is that it's just a triple dip of the 2004 DVDs with these included as bonus content. This raises the question of why the first DVD release (or the second...) wasn't this set.

I don't really need an extra copy of the 21st century editions.

Exactly.

[Devil Dodo]

Going back to what Biggs said, I'm all for the celaning up of the films... the better quality sound and picture, the getting rid of the black boxes around the TIE Fighters, the fixing of the VFX. What I don't see the neccessity for is stupid little people falling off dinosaurs, singing and dancing aliens, and the words "Wesa free".

Maybe that does make me a whiny sheep... whatever. I know it'll never happen... Can't have the cake and eat it too. Maybe I'll just raid Mike Verta's house once he's finished his versions and steal them...

[Ayatollah Krispies]

I would say the whole REASON it's being released in 2.0 sound (...and I know a little bit about this sorta thing) is because LF is giving you the original sound-recording release that was in cinemas (which wouldn't have been in 5.1) so it's about as original-to-the-original-trilogy as you're going to get.

No offense, dude, but you know a littler bit than you realize. Dolby Surround for cinemas did exist in 1977 -- in fact, Star Wars was one of the first films to really help put Dolby theater sound on the map (and it was released in many theaters on opening day with Dolby Surround, so everyone who talks about "the original mono mix" isn't quite getting it right either). But 2.0 is a designation for Dolby Digital, and that didn't start to appear until the early 90's.

The reason it's being released in 2.0 sound is because that's the mix that was made for the "Definitive Collection" laserdisc box set that was released in 1993. As Jim Ward as has already said -- we're getting state-of-the-art circa 1993.

These aren't really unaltered. They're altered more than some would prefer, and not as altered as some others would have them. So the bitching will never stop. If I were Lucas, my next film would be a documentary about Gungans, just to really stick it to the crybabies. You know, people in Darfur really don't give a shit.