Star Wars Original Trilogy Gets DVD Release Date

Angry Black Man writes "The Digital Bits is reporting that there is finally some official information from Lucasfilm regarding the release of the Star Wars OT (episodes IV, V, and VI) on DVD. The movies are coming to DVD in September of 2004. The animated series of Clone Wars shorts appearing soon on the Cartoon Network will also be released on DVD, possibly before the end of this year. The teaser campaign for Episode III will begin in January of 2005, leading up to the May theatrical release. Finally... Episode III will hit DVD in November of 2005."

WE'LL STOP ONCE MICHAEL SIMS IS FIRED

[Anonymous Coward]

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Re:Nifty.

[realdpk]

Yeah. I'm surprised the story didn't mention that. These are definitely not the original trilogy movies.

Re:DVD

[Johnathon_Dough]

The problem with the original form, is that Lucas has stated, over and over again, that they will not be seen that way. Lucas considers the current "Special Editions" to be the definitive version.
Supposedly he has even gone so far as to petition the Directors Guild for co-direction credits on Return of the Jedi based on the changes he has made to this film.
I still love the films, although many of the changes i find annoying. But Lucas is not going to change his views now, he has proven time and again that he could care less what the fans of the original trilogy feel.

Hong Kong is your friend...

[aussersterne]

There are bootleg DVDs around, encoded from the widescreen LaserDisc versions of the original trilogy. They're actually quite good, all things considered, and cheap. I got all three for about the price of a light lunch about two years ago.

Check eBay, look around the 'net. Maybe if "unofficial" sales of the original version outnumber sales of the special edition DVDs, Lucas will develop sense and release the proper, original films.

or Malaysia

[WiseWeasel]

I got the set from dvdmoviebox.com, Fed-Exed from Malaysia for about $30. Unfortunately, the quality isn't so hot, definitely not your standard DVD quality. There does appear to be surround sound, however, the image is interlaced, and the transfer and encoding are less than professional grade. They arrived in a flat document mailer, with the DVD sleeves and discs in a flat plastic sleeve, so you'll have to get your own DVD case. The image format is 4x3 letterboxed. The region is 0 (region free), and there is no CSS encryption (a sign of quality). In short, you get what you pay for, but I'll probably have to get the official set when that's released, just for the full DVD resolution and progressive image quality.

Re:Please, please please please . . .

[IthnkImParanoid]

In the original release of the film, Han shot Greedo in Mos Eisley before Greedo shot him. Ergo, Han is a bold blooded outlaw.

In the re-release in the late nineties, Greedo shoots first, misses by almost exactly one baseball stadium, and then Han shoots. Ergo, Han is a lucky fool with slow reactions.

Lucas completely changed the introduction we have to Han in order to make it more "kid friendly," a la the walkie-talkies for guns bit in E.T.

Re:Nifty.

[LordBodak]

Although it won't be enough to make any difference I'm sure, if they don't release the original they won't be seeing any of my money.

I hope Lucas is paying attention to the upcoming Alien Quadrilogy box set. All four movies, original cuts and extended cuts, each on a separate DVD, plus a bonus disc-- 9 DVD box set for a retail of $99.95. I'll be buying that and if Lucas does Star Wars like that they will sell tons and tons. Although they probably will anyway.

Re:Nifty.

[timeOday]

Not to mention that originally the VHS cost around $100. I don't remember the exact price, but it was horribly steep.

Possible DVD features?

[Anonymous Coward]

These were listed on the Star Wars Galaxies forums, so take them as you will. The guy who posted 'em swore they were legit, but we all know how that goes.

Got this off of a site that talks about movies, 411mania.com. I kept in the post the actual site they got their info from. Sounds good...and bad......the endings of Return of the Jedi I'm sure you'll hate now. Anyways, here it is:

CREDIT: AICN news

Episode IV: A New Hope

01. The Imperial March has been added to Darth Vader's first appearance on Princess Leia's ship.
02. When Obi-Wan is talking to Luke about his father Anakin's Theme plays in the background and then it turns into the Imperial March as he talks about Vader.
03. The lightsaber effects have been redone and the frame jumps of lightsabers being turned on has been removed.
04. There's a new scene which has been shot during the filming of Episode III in which the Emperor dissolves the Senate.
05. In the Cantina, the Duros(green aliens guys) have been replaced with Neimoidians and some aliens from the prequels have been added.
06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it's now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds.
07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.
08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tale.
09. In place of R2 wobbling down the stairs to the Falcon's hangar, a CG R2 navigating the stairs like he does in Attack of the Clones was added.
10. The white boxes around space ships have been removed and new CG shots have been added.
11. The scene of the Falcon being chased by the two Star Destroyers was modified. The Falcon now does spinning moves, avoiding the Star Destroyers' fire.
12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.
13. The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and were are now able to see more of the creature.
14. The Death Star's paneling and computers have been slightly altered to show similar displays to those in the prequels.
15. The words "Tractor Beam" with Aurebesh lettering.
16. More stormtroopers have been added to the Death Star.
17. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for use with all the stormtroopers.
18. The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene.
19. The Death Star plans that are taken from R2 have been updated. When the Rebels are reviewing the Death Star plans they look similar to the plans we see in Attack of the Clones.
20. The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels.
21. There's a new scene(shot during Episode III) where Darth Vader goes to Coruscant and lands his ship in the same building Count Dooku does at the end of Attack of the Clones. Except now the building is all fixed up and it is now Palpatine's palace. He meets with Palpatine to ask for forgiveness for his failure and inform him of a new potential who is strong in the Force.
22. Chewbacca now gets a medal.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

01. The taun-tauns are now CG.
02. The battle of Hoth is much more epic. We see the Imperial ships land on Hoth and release AT-ATs. The AT-ATs have been sped up a bit. There's a ground battle between the Rebel soldiers and stormtroopers featuring new ships and vehicles.
03. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for the older Boba Fett and all the stormtroopers.
04. The white boxes around space ships have been removed.
05. The slug monster is CG.
06. Ian McDiarmid has refilmed scenes as the Emperor. The conversations between Vader and Palpatine is now longer and features a few connections to the prequels.
07. Yoda's face is

Re:HAN SHOT FIRST!!!

[smackjer]

You know the scene in the Mos Eisley cantina where Han is confronted by Greedo, a bounty hunter? In the original film, Han shot Greedo first, and strolled his cocky ass out of the joint.

In the Special (as in Olympics) Edition, Greedo shoots first, misses from 2 feet away, and THEN Han kills the sumbitch.

The problem with Greedo shooting first is that the original version put Han on the edge of good/bad. He changes in the movie to be a great ally to Luke and Leia, but only after some FUD (fear/uncertainty/doubt) experienced by the audience. In the new version, Han loses the bad-guy edge and is a bit less interesting a character.

Re:HAN SHOT FIRST!!!

[motardo]

www.originaltrilogy.com has a nice explanation, and a petition

Re:Nifty.

[asparagus]

Slightly simpler than that. An old friend of Lucas', first name Stevie, had an investment in an alternate dvd standard known as Divx, which died a slow, horrible death. Stevie, not wanting to kill his own tech, never released his male-Lara Croft movies on DVD, and got his good pal Georgie to keep his space opera off as well.

That is, until recently, when Stevie finally saw the writing on the wall and said "#(*$ it."

Which results in nifty new merchandise for you, the loyal consumer. Go forth! Buy shiny round things!

Re:Nifty.

[TotallyUseless]

You are correct. Back then, the starting price for a VHS copy of a movie was ~$80 if you were lucky. Most were $90-$100.