Official Star Wars Thread

[GeorgeC]

You're welcome, Bill!

Glad you found the Kurtz interview illuminating.

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I don't personally care about the Expanded/Extended Universe -- whatever anybody chooses to call it.

I find most licensed novel tie-ins to just be awful no matter what movie or TV series they're tied into. It's just cash to burn for the IP owner. They've also had a denigrating effect on original fiction sales since people generally are drawn to and buy what they're familiar with. There's been relatively little great science fiction written since Star Wars and Star Trek became big licensing franchises. Lots of great writers have tapped into either of those series to make a living because they can't sell books with their own original characters and ideas!

The thing about novels, videogame tie-ins, and comic books is that it's up to the IP owner to decide what is canon and what is not. If LucasFilm (LFL) really wanted to, they could declare 95% or ALL of these tie-ins to be non-canon/"alternate universe" stories... And in a few cases (namely some Dark Horse licensed comics), they are alternate universe stories.

The first licensed Star Wars novel, "Splinter of the Mind's Eye," was originally set up to be the basis for a cheap Star Wars sequel IF the original 1977 film wasn't a hit. (This is according to what Ben told me... His family has been involved in the film business forever in Great Britain and has crossed paths with LFL a few times...) Star Wars was a much bigger hit than anyone anticipated and the idea of a cheap sequel vanished. There were events portrayed in "Splinter" that just could not have happened prior to Empire so it became non-canon. Ditto for a number of Marvel Comics stories including one where Luke met Vader prior to The Empire Strikes Back! They didn't battle but were in the same area virtually face-to-face (more like 20 to 40 feet away).

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The only things that are truly canon are the motion pictures... and that's what drives people crazy. The prequels contradict so much of what was relayed in the original films that either the writer of these movies is schizophrenic, wasn't paying attention to the rules of his own universe, or truly wasn't the sole creator that he's portrayed as in the mainstream and fan press.

There are so many people that contribute something to movies that it's dumb to say it's all one person's creation. One guy visualized the look of the films (Ralph McQuarrie), another fellow wrote the music (John Williams), and of course the model makers and actors contributed a lot, too...

[GeorgeC]

The Guardian weighs in with an op-ed about the Blu ray release and fan commentary follows...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog ... -ray-lucas

Message: Man up Lucas and just put the originals on the FIRST release of the set, please!

[Ben]

What a load of cr*p!

There are several quotes in there attributed to Lucas which are just bull.

Alexandre Philippe says it best: "We've heard all the excuses: they don't represent George's 'original vision'; the negatives of the movies were permanently altered for the creation of the Special Editions; they can't or won't put in the time and resources needed to properly restore the films. Now, we're told that releasing the originals is an oxymoron. As the reasons for not releasing the originals pile up, they simply don't add up to anything coherent any more."

And most of those reasons don't make sense! How on Earth do you "alter a negative"! Tell you what...Lucas' journey to the dark side is down to one man: Rick McCallum.

Some of those feedbacks are spot on, too. But, basically, just remember that the Library Of Congress pulled the original Star Wars into its preservation archives way back when. And it was the original original. If nothing else, there's a very valid source for the original version of at least the first film right there!

Bogus!

[spaz]

yeah!!! i can't believe it !! Star Wars released on Blu Ray!! we're all saved !!!.

[Randall]

The "oxymoron" comment is really weird. Surely the SW negatives couldn't be in any worse shape than Casablanca, King Kong, Adv. of Robin Hood, Wizard of Oz, and other older classics that have or will come to Blu-ray. It's a load of crap indeed.

I wish George L. would just say "because I don't wanna" and quit making nonsensical excuses.

[GeorgeC]

The upshot and irony of all of this is that George Lucas endorsed the film preservation act and protested classic B & W film colorization!!!

He's altered his own films and NOT released the original versions for a long time (in a quality presentation) under fan protest and is acting like the other executives he called hypocrites back in the 1980s.

Furthermore, he's just behaving like a bad businessman and ignoring the commentary and wants of a bunch of fans who would like to see the films they saw in theaters released on home video again intact and unaltered.


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That was the whole point of the National Film Registry and Film Preservation Act, Mr. Lucas! Are you not listening, Mr. Lucas, or are you just feigning ignorance and total stupidity on how it relates to the original Star Wars trilogy theatrical cuts?

There needs to be someone at LFL to explain the situation to you instead of just a bunch of yes-men. I would imagine even a couple of your friends have told you your position just cannot hold over the long term; it's at the very least bad business on top of poor public relations. You're losing the P.R. battle no matter what you think about the success of your franchise. You've alienated a significant number of the people that gave you the money to build your empire in Northern California...

[Ben]

Actually, it's only true to form. Remember that Star Wars was altered weeks into its first run, with Episode IV added to the prints.

By the time the film came out in Europe, some other changes had occurred (some VFX shots re-done as far as I can remember, certainly a newer sound mix). And then for the SW/Empire double bill in 1980, there were more changes to FX and sound. The film has basically never been seen in its original state since even the original theatrical run!

But it's the 1997 and post changes that have been the most redundant. Some of those don't even make sense, prequel trilogy or not!

[EricJ]

Actually, it's only true to form. Remember that Star Wars was altered weeks into its first run, with Episode IV added to the prints.

(Yeah, about 94 weeks, and all the way into a third run...)

[Ben]

Actually, it was less than a year before Ep IV started to appear on prints. I seem to recall it was even on the prints that came three months after initial release, when the film went into wide release.

But then, Eric, when have you ever let information get in the way of a snide remark? And, to be honest, the "fun" in "fun bickering" kind of evaporated a few months back. When I see pointless comments like the one above I often feel just like deleting them instead of even replying. Perhaps you could change your entire attitude on this particular board (I care nothing about your real life or conduct on other boards), because it's not just me who has basically had enough of the negativity. It's not even as if you know what you're talking about, mostly.

So brighten up, swap the dark for light...or say goodbye (voluntarily, or not).

[EricJ]

Actually, it was less than a year before Ep IV started to appear on prints. I seem to recall it was even on the prints that came three months after initial release, when the film went into wide release.

I don't know what it got overseas, but ISTR two theaterical re-releases:
One fresh off the year-long first-run, now to promote "exclusive peek" at Empire scenes after the movie, and a second one after Empire to unveil the Ep. IV title.
As my memory fails me, they could have been the same re-release, but it was definitely a separate trip back into theaters.

But then, that's why we have the Wookieepedia:

Theatrical Releases
Although not as obvious as the 1997 Special Edition re-release of the trilogy, there were still some alterations made between versions.
A New Hope
* The line "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" was added to the opening crawl from 1981 forward. The crawl was also reformatted for the music to stay in synchronization. In addition to the reformatting, the new opening crawl also capitalized the word "rebel" in "rebel spies", which was not capitalized in the original 1977 crawl.

[droosan]

The first time I'd heard about the "Episode IV" re-titling was on Leonard Nimoy's behind-the-scenes TV show Lights! Camera! Action! .. a year or so after ESB came out.

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I only saw each Star Wars movie once, during their original theatrical runs. I had very frugal parents, who would dismiss requests to see a movie a second time with "You saw that one, already."

And in those pre-home-video days, all you could do was hope it might air on TV, someday.

Someday when my dad wasn't watching the only TV in the house, that is.

[GeorgeC]

Droo,

I had always heard that the opening intro was changed AFTER Empire was officially announced. Before then, none of the "Episode IV" business.

Of course, when my family drove to the drive-in in 1977 to see Star Wars, my dad managed to get us there 15 minutes into the film!

(Note that I never got a chance to see the film again until 1979. Made a huge, huge impact on me... I was still a wee kid and not even 7 when it was originally released!)

I didn't see the opening crawl until 1979 when the film was re-released and came back to the area. I've always thought that Episode IV didn't show up in US prints of the film at any rate until 1979. I've always seen Episode IV every time I've watched the entire original film since 1979 in theaters or on home video.

I don't know that the original crawl was released on any of the laserdisc editions including the famous 1992 boxset which I still have. (Been a long time since I've watched those discs. Heck, it's been close to a year now since I touched the LD player!) I do know that it's only been recently that I've seen the 1977 original crawl... and that was on the 2006 DVD release of the SE's with the original theatrical cuts on the bonus DVDs.

[EricJ]

I only saw each Star Wars movie once, during their original theatrical runs. I had very frugal parents, who would dismiss requests to see a movie a second time with "You saw that one, already."
And in those pre-home-video days, all you could do was hope it might air on TV, someday.

I remembered two separate re-releases, since I'd seen the first re-release (and the "artwork" teaser), but when I'd seen ads for the second re-release between Empire and Raiders of the Lost Ark, I didn't know about the "Ep. IV" addition, and thought "Oh, what freakin' NOW?...Let it go to TV!"

[Ben]

As far as I know, the Ep IV addition was in the international release prints from day one of their release. I didn't know about the Rebel/REBEL change: pretty pointless, no? I mean, not like he couldn't have gotten THAT right the first time!

[gaastra]

Till we know more, take this with a grain of salt folks.

http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_co ... &Itemid=71