What is Digg?153 Comments
- Bogtha, on 10/12/2007, -28/+175Of course they are. It goes like this:
Cinematic release
TV broadcast licensing
Video release
Laserdisc release
Cinematic release (new effects)
TV broadcast licensing (new effects)
Video release (new effects)
DVD release (new effects)
DVD boxed set release (new effects)
DVD special edition release (new effects)
DVD super-duper-extra-special edition release (new effects)
... and now DVD release (what you saw in the original cinematic release)
They are simply selling the same film to the same fanboys over and over again. And the fanboys are lapping it up. It's like a license to print money. Why wouldn't they take this free money? In case the fanboys complain? Sure, they'll complain alright... and then go out and buy the film again anyway.
And you know what? Unless people keep hold of copies of the original media, this delays the film's entrance into the public domain. All the little touch-ups and massaging that the film studio does to get it onto DVD are probably copyrightable in themselves, so unless you can find an original VHS decades from now, this will add an extra 30-odd years on to the copyright term.
But hey, these days people will put up with just about *any* crap a corporation throws their way if it involves their beloved film stars. I swear, every day it becomes more clear to me that society is *addicted* to mass-media entertainment.
> Children in the United States watch an average of three to four hours of television a day. By the time of high school graduation, they will have spent more time watching television than they have in the classroom.
http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/tv.htm
> Fewer Than Half of American Adults Now Read Literature
> "America can no longer take active and engaged literacy for granted," according to Gioia. "As more Americans lose this capability, our nation becomes less informed, active, and independent minded. These are not qualities that a free, innovative, or productive society can afford to lose.
http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html
Rant over. But please, try caring about stupid stories a little less and the world around you a little more. - BloodJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -10/+81FINALLY...another revenue stream for Lucas. It's about bloody time.
- jeblis, on 10/12/2007, -6/+58Lucky fo me I haven't bought any of them yet. Now these I will buy. Awesome news.
I'd also buy the christmas special, but that's because I'm into wookie porn. - boscorelle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26official source:
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060503.html - ohnnyj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23...until you buy it on blu-ray or hd-dvd.
- Plopfish, on 10/12/2007, -4/+25As for the time in classroom vs. TV, the math is roughly:
8 hrs of school - 2 hrs (gym and lunch) = 6 hrs classroom
3-4hrs TV = avg of 3.5hrs TV
School = 185 days = 1110 hrs/yr ::(185*6)
TV = 365 days = 1277.5 hrs/yr ::(365*3.5)
Of course these are rough numbers, but that is how it works.
I'm not sure how correct that 3.5hrs watching TV statement is and there are educational shows on TV, so take it all with a grain of salt. - rhthekida, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17I know this is a ploy to make money but they have me diving in head first.
Han Shoots First? No Hayden at the end of Jedi...count me in. - brysmi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I'm pretty sure on the list of ways to change the sad state of affairs in the world, ranting in the comments area of a web page on the internet about Star Wars doesn't rate very high. Anyone got a state on the number of hours a week geeks spend posting stuff like this instead of teaching illiterate prostitute immigrant endangered monkeys how to balance checkbooks?
Sorry, I don't disagree with you. And really I'm just depressed because I'm frickin' responding to it.
Sigh. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+22I swear you guys just wait around for a chance to use "fanboy".
Oh that guy, he is such an oxygen fanboy, and a water fanboy too. Always walking around, breathing air, drinking liquid - ***** off you shelter fanboy!
Just because people like other things then yourself doesn't make them a "fanboy". You on the other hand are a fanboy fanboy, which is pretty gay. - ScottJG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Finally we can go back to a time when Jar Jar was just a nightmare in George Lucas's brain
- paiguy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Sweet! Han shoots first. Self defense my a$$. Harrison Ford is one bad mother *shutyomouth*!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11What about the bigger news of the premiere of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy video game!
- Nick22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9They sure know how to suck money out of the first 3 films...
- Strahd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Glad to see that there's an official way to get the un-enhanced releases on DVD now. Fans have been converting their laserdiscs and posting them on bittorrent for some time because they didn't care for the latest Star Wars Episode 4.1.057 beta (now with a flabbier Jabba the Hutt!). They just wanted what they saw in theaters for the first time (just with cleaned up picture and sound) and I can't blame them.
- stalky14, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Well, he's now given you A New Hope.
I'm here all week, tip your waitresses, etc. - dave_colorado, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8i have the theatrical vcr's from 1994 or so...the DVD's would be nice. who rewinds anymore? cavemen?
- stark23x, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Why are they acting like they broke a story here?
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060503.html
Full details. - Leftyshields, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Yoda says: "Buy my new DVD. Bitches come cheap they don't. Hmm?"
- raitchison, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I still have the original trilogy on VHS, I held off on buying the DVDs until the unaltered version was offered. I will likely buy this (presuming it's not priced like Star Trek TV episodes) and that will be the second, and last time I buy the original trilogy.
- lendrick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8This is no joke and we've bent over backwards to confirm it's the real deal. Our very best industry sources have been checking in over the last couple of days - independently, I might add - with word that Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox are finally going to be releasing the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars films on DVD, in late 2006.
**
So, I have to know... how many Bothans died to get us this information? - VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14After all these years, it's finally being released upon the verge of obsolescence of the DVD format. Good job.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8what, thats just so they can release it on blu-ray/hd-dvd later for even more profit, indeed a "good job"- of makng money!
- theblackgecko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You mean those Trade Federation guys in charge of the ship?
- Anth, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Only DD2.0 sound? No DD5.1? Bah, I'm going to have to buy another set after this one. (from the official website)
- thatsiebguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Can I trade in the first three on DVD for these originals on DVD? :P
- GregMote, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Let me think...I'd have to say it would be around 99.999% of digg users.
- lightningrod220, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Dude, better be careful. We have a large caveman readership on Digg. Don't want to offend them!
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"upon the verge of obsolescence of the DVD format"
nah, I don't want either of these "next-gen" formats. DVD offers everything I could want. At the end of the day its not about how great a new format is, it's about what the consumer wants. I see 0 need to "upgrade" from DVD to anything else. - Saintlink, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Excellent post. People need to turn off the darn TV and turn on reality. The country is going to hell in a handbasket and people are lapping up Housewives and American Idol. WAKE UP AMERICA.
- carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6ahh, and in 5 years they'll rehash ep.1-3 to remove any and all traces of jar jar. he will be replaced by an even more racially slanted character, a yellow skinned short ground dweller from naboo who happens to have an asian sounding accent
- draegloth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Coincidentally, Joseph Campbell (mentioned above) was Lucas' mythology consultant on the first two films, but he died before Jedi. That's pretty much why they've all sucked since then.
- pinnette, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think its foolish to be upset w/Lucas b/c he is doing what the fans have asked him to do. There are plenty of people out there who will pay again for this version. There were 4 or 5 releases on laser disc and that was a niche market format. Its actually pretty amazing that the films have only been released once on DVD thus far if you look at it in those terms. BTW, he is making a new movie( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367882/ ) and I'm sure this release will not actually consume any of his time since the product is complete and only needs to be pressed on some discs. Personally, I think I will wait for the HD DVD before I think about getting the series again as I have the originals on LD and the current DVD set.
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"All my life I thought Star Wars was great art and Lucas was a sort of modern day Rembrant. Then comes the prequels -- turns out it was just pulp all along.
Episodes IV and V are great movies, but that's it. The rest is pulp, pure and simple. Clones is easily one of the worst movies ever made."
To be fair, Lucas never claimed that the Star Wars movies were anything BUT pulp. A lot of the nostalgia for the original series is just that - nostalgia. Even Episode IV isn't the great work of art that a lot of us remember it being. For instance, the dialogue was horrible. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher basically saved that one (and James Earl Jones :) ).
And I'd agree that Episode V was a great movie. It was also the only one that wasn't written by Lucas. That's no coincidence, imho. Lucas should have written an outline for the prequels and handed it off to some really talented script writers. Still, if you think AOTC was one of the worst films ever made, you clearly need to see more films. - danormsby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You missed out;
HD-DVD released.
Start cycle again. - xLiKx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4for purists who've seen the original, this is a dream come true. whether you're a fanboy or not, or whether you simply enjoy the movie, having the original untouched versions is what everyone wants. this is what people need to see to understand the appeal of the original before CGI took over.
i bet most kids here never saw the original untampered versions so maybe they'll now see the true original classics and hear some of the original tunes like the last scene in RotJ. - lordsandwich, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Finally I can put my Laserdisc transfers to rest! The only issue is whether they remastered the footage, since the article implies that they didn't.
- ErifNeerg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3like the clip from 'the trail of Han solo', most of Lucas creative/editing seems to have been effected once his wife left him (which was between episodes V and VI).
- drw2583, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5How many times can you honestly watch these movies and not get tired of them?
- myxyplik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Original versions remastered only in Dolby Surround 2.0. The home-theater geeks won't like this.
EDIT: @lordsandwich, as I recall, they were all restored before their VHS release, so they should be of that same quality. - OSXpert, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I don't have much of an appetite, thank you
- knupso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What just talking about the solo.
- Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I can't wait to be able to watch Return of the Jedin without that godawful music video in Jabba's Palace...
- aiwha, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"by the time they graduate from high school they will have spent 1939.5 more hours in the class room than in front of the TV. "
Actually, I heard that some kids begin watching television before they enter school. Maybe someone here can confirm this. - antron, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I'll have the roasted duck with mango sauce...
...next time do a little research - karel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I so want this to be true. I really want the original versions, with all their "flaws". Its those versions that I watched a thousand times. In fact the only reason I still have a VCR is so that I can watch the VHS original editions. I refused to buy the "special" edition DVDs 'cause in my mind special means "completely trashing my childhood memories with crap".
- RobbieCrash, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5This is the reason that there is any fight against "pirating." If you're like the rest of the people who love the product they download, you'd be willing to spend the money on a perfect copy.
I've got 100+ dvds, and all of those I consider money well spent. Yes, I could've downloaded them for free (and many I did prior to buying them), but regardless of anything anyone says: You cannot get the same quality movie for free online, that you can get by buying it.
If the product is good, buy it. End of story. - samdu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Apparently you give enough of a crap to comment. >shrug
- rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hey, they gotta remove all that "midi-chlorian" BS too, please!!!
- chris_allen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is a result of the fans wanting the original versions of the classic trilogy released, so to complain that it is a money making scheme is irrelevant. This is for the true Star Wars fan and nobody is forcing anyone to buy these DVDs, it's as simple as that. George Lucas never forced anyone to buy into Star Wars and consumers/fans made it into what it is today.
"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." - Emanon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It is about time we are able to buy the films we saw in the theaters! My VHS collection has been just about played to death.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 152 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is