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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies Businesses Apple

378 Terabytes Of Star Wars on 600 G5s 416

Mrbill points to this USA Today story on the digital makeover given to the original Star Wars trilogy, noting that the digitized films have also been converted to HD for later release as high-definition DVDs.
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378 Terabytes Of Star Wars on 600 G5s

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  • Great! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Fnkmaster ( 89084 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:43AM (#10232764)
    You can now watch your childhood dreams get stomped on ... in HIGH DEFINITION!
  • Ah (Score:5, Funny)

    by iamdrscience ( 541136 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:44AM (#10232769) Homepage
    Of course. Release the DVDs now. Special edition DVDs next year. Limited Edition DVDs the year after that. Then redo the whole cycle again on high definition DVDs, making it so that people have to buy the trilogy six times, spending a couple hundred bucks.

    Well, at least they're not releasing them both individually and as a set with different special features. That would double the number of times it will be released.

    ...I really hope George Lucas wasn't inspired by my above comment.
    • Re:Ah (Score:5, Funny)

      by jeffkjo1 ( 663413 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:47AM (#10232786) Homepage
      Of course. Release the DVDs now. Special edition DVDs next year. Limited Edition DVDs the year after that. Then redo the whole cycle again on high definition DVDs, making it so that people have to buy the trilogy six times, spending a couple hundred bucks.

      Star Wars HD: The Search For More Money.
      • Re:Ah (Score:3, Funny)

        by d_jedi ( 773213 )
        Nah, that's Space Balls 2 :->
      • Re:Ah (Score:3, Insightful)

        by DrPepper ( 23664 )
        Then when Episode III comes out, release that DVD, then a DVD set of I-III, then the DVD set of Episodes I-VI, then the HD DVDs, then the limited edition HD DVDs...
    • by NTmatter ( 589153 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:52AM (#10232821) Homepage
      Can somebody just post a link to the torrent?
    • Re:Ah (Score:3, Interesting)

      by 0racle ( 667029 )
      You do know that you don't actually need all of them right?
    • Re:Ah (Score:5, Insightful)

      by The Bender ( 801382 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @02:10AM (#10233165) Homepage
      "...people have to buy the trilogy six times..."

      Really?

      As far as I know, nobody is being forced to buy it even once.
    • Re:Ah (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Stucifer ( 758266 )
      He's not holding anyone over hot coals to buy any of them, is he?

      I, for one, will purchase the DVDs for this simple fact. They are entertainment. A way to blow 6-7 hours of time away to be entertained. Not to relive childhood fantasies (I owned a vast majority of the SW universe in action figure form, the first time), not to find historical inaccuracies (enough of the "who shot first?" drama), but to be entertained by one of the best overall stories ever put to film by someone who, although he has suc
  • Links! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Xoro ( 201854 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:44AM (#10232773)
    Anyone got a torrent?
  • Finally (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Nos. ( 179609 ) <andrew@@@thekerrs...ca> on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:45AM (#10232776) Homepage
    Its nice to see that we're finally getting the original 3 films on DVD... it does piss me off a bit that Lucas seems to do everything he can to ear a few more bucks... first we'll redo them and release them in to different VHS boxed sets. Wait a few years, now we'll do them on DVD. Wait a few years, now we'll release the HD versions.
    Though I guess if consumers keep buying them, then you can't really blame Lucas too much.
    • Re:Finally (Score:5, Interesting)

      by The Lynxpro ( 657990 ) <lynxpro@@@gmail...com> on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:08AM (#10232889)
      "Its nice to see that we're finally getting the original 3 films on DVD... it does piss me off a bit that Lucas seems to do everything he can to ear a few more bucks... first we'll redo them and release them in to different VHS boxed sets. Wait a few years, now we'll do them on DVD. Wait a few years, now we'll release the HD versions."

      You know what? I'm sick of listening to people bitch about George Lucas bilking the fan-base with multiple releases. Its not like George is up at Skywalker Ranch snorting his wealth up his nose like most of Hollywood. The man spends his money on making the "film" process better. Look at what ILM has done for films since 1977. How about THX sound? Yeah, thank George Lucas for that. He'll also be one of the reasons why movies will eventually been shown at the theatres in digital form. At such time, it won't matter if you go to the theatre on opening night or two weeks later, the "film" will look the same. No "cigarette burns," vertical strip lines, or any other glaring issues with the projection will you ever deal with again.

      Now compare that to say, MGM, with multiple releases of the James Bond series. Are they getting any better? Not really. Where's the MGM profits going to? Bankrolling sequels to "Legally Blonde"? Yeah, Lucas really bilks us cinema fans alright.

      Go back to bitching about Greedo shooting first. At least that's a valid criticism.

      • Re:Finally (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Babbster ( 107076 ) <aaronbabb AT gmail DOT com> on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:52AM (#10233098) Homepage
        You're most assuredly right on the multiple-release issue. If George were ONLY about bilking people out of cash (I do concede that he's at least partly about that, whatever he happens to spend the money on) we would have had Star Wars on DVD two years ago, and the one coming soon would be the "special special edition" DVD set with the new changes.

        If you want to see what real bilking is all about, take a look at the various versions/packaging of the Die Hard series. Or, how about the hosing taken by those who bought the South Park discs with four episodes a piece while the series is now being released season by season with more extras. In the "for kids" category it gets even worse with shows like Justice League and X-Men released in multiple un-numbered editions only to be collected in yet another edition - at particularly high risk for accidental re-buys since often the parents don't even pay much attention to the cartoons.

        In short, George Lucas is NOT a multiple-release offender except in the imagination of those projecting his future actions. Of course, I don't think taking advantage of new technology (such as HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.) even counts - it would be like complaining that since Star Wars is out on VHS, there's no reason to buy the DVDs (there are other content reasons not to buy the DVDs but that's a different discussion entirely).

      • Re:Finally (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Britz ( 170620 )
        Of course You realise that George Lucas makes truckloads of money on THX licsensing? It is NOT an open standard! Any investment they made on THX was certainly not for an greater good and repaid itself over and over again. I would have loved to be one of the investors on this one.
        But it does make it harder for independent little movie theaters to compete, since they find it hard to come up with the money for the system AND those stiff liscence fees.
        I can make them more dependent on the large studios like MGM
        • "Also a pattern of greed has already been established with Episode 1 first coming out on VHS and then, when every true fan that couldn't hold out, because they wanted to see the movie at least a couple times more had purchased it brought out the DVD of the same shit (I will quickly don the asbestos suit and then admit that Episode 1 sucked IMHO). Now do you really need further proof for greed at its lowest?"

          That's not greed. Not everyone had DVD players back then, so the VHS release was justified. What w
      • Re:Finally (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Reapy ( 688651 )
        I find it pretty funny that people are angry they have more options as to what to buy. It's not like someone is holding a gun to your head, forcing you to buy the new release of star wars. What are people complaining about really? OH NO!! I HAVE THE OPTION TO BUY MORE STAR WARS STUFF!!! LUCAS IS SUCH A JERK!!!!
    • Re:Finally (Score:5, Interesting)

      by 0racle ( 667029 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:08AM (#10232895)
      You want the original films? These [3drealms.com] are not the films your looking for.
    • Re:Finally (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Scrameustache ( 459504 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:19AM (#10232954) Homepage Journal
      Its nice to see that we're finally getting the original 3 films on DVD

      We certainly are not.

      You people are getting something very close to it though. With a few inane and useless change here and there. The orihinal, these are not.
    • Re:Finally (Score:3, Interesting)

      by joib ( 70841 )

      Though I guess if consumers keep buying them, then you can't really blame Lucas too much.


      We have a saying over here that translated to english goes something like "the idiot is not the one who asks, but the one who pays".

      E.g. if you think this is fantastic and all, go buy the set and enjoy it. If you think it's a ripoff and so on, well don't spend your money on it. It's not like you're losing out on anything by Lucas making yet another "rip em off" edition.
  • by IanDanforth ( 753892 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:47AM (#10232788)
    Can someone in the know please answer these questions?

    1. When the much hated special editions were released, were the originals digitized and altered then reprinted?

    2. Is the stock that this company used the original, originals? Meaning that when lucas got the cleaned-up digitized versions he had to go back and redo all the SE stuff?

    finally

    3. Does this give hope to the idea there might someday be a Highdefinition original cut version of the films?

    Thanks in advance!
    • by bottlerocket ( 605232 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:16AM (#10232934) Homepage
      1. Yes. Lucas wasn't on his digital projection kick yet.
      2. Well, the articles claim that they are the original prints. They describe how they've been sitting in storage for more than twenty years. But if they are the originals, that does raise the question of whether all the new special effects had to be reinserted.
      3. Original cut, no. Those are dead and gone and will never be released again. But HD-DVDs of the Special Editions? Oh, you betcha.
      • by Thedalek ( 473015 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @05:33AM (#10233748)
        Original cut, no. Those are dead and gone and will never be released again. But HD-DVDs of the Special Editions? Oh, you betcha.

        That's a little misleading. The original cut may not exist in assembled form (although I suspect it actually does, despite Lucas' claims otherwise), but the original stock that comprises it almost certainly does. That, or the SE stock sans CG effects (that is, cleanup only) still exists. I seriously doubt that Lucas took original archival material which would provide for a better source in the event of additional changes and thrown it in a fire or something.

        After all, he may eventually want to run with the idea of Jabba being a humanoid.

        Anyway, if such material still exists, it will almost certainly be released immediately following GL's death. But please, don't kill him. I wouldn't want the legal backlash of giving you the idea.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:48AM (#10232800)
    Scratches and loss of color is not the only degredation to SW that seems to have developed over time. A copy I watched recently seemed to have developed small cute computer animated characters that detracted from the development of suspense in the film..
  • by AvantLegion ( 595806 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:49AM (#10232805) Journal
    ... not only does Greedo shoot first, he shoots TWICE!

  • Restore again? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by iamdrscience ( 541136 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:50AM (#10232808) Homepage
    Why exactly did it need to be restored again anyways? I mean, wasn't it restored for the THX video re-releases a decade ago and further restored for the theatrical re-releases with new scenes?
  • Now.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Laimbrane ( 665175 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:50AM (#10232809)
    If they could only digitally remaster Lucas to restore him to his original 1970's form. I'd pay 70 bucks for that.
  • by lothar97 ( 768215 ) * <owen@NOSpAM.smigelski.org> on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:51AM (#10232815) Homepage Journal
    The office has 80 employees, running 600 networked Power Mac G5. Assuming no bulk discounts, that's about $1.8 million total, or $22,500 per employee. I wish I worked for a company with those resources. Any chance they're running Seti@home when not working on any projects? ;-)
  • Oho (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:52AM (#10232820)
    So that's how Lucas intends to discourage piracy.

    I have to hand it to him; Between not having enough space and bandwidth, and not wanting to see how he's butchered Star Wars this time, I don't think I would bother trying to share the 378TB of video.

    I tip my pirate hat to you. Arr.
  • by dancingmad ( 128588 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:52AM (#10232826)
    I have been refusing to give any more money to Lucas, be it the new DVDs or Episode III, but the commercials for the trilogy DVDs almost (ALMOST!) changed my mind) they change is very apparent, even if you've watched the LDs or especially on cable. All three films look much crisper and brighter - I almost thought for a second that Lucas had added some new stuff.

    I still won't be buying the trilogy, but I'm amazed at how good the restoration looks.
    • I watched the stolen versions of the DVD and it convinced me to buy the trilogy.

      When the SE came out, I was so agitated by Greedo shooting first and the distracting eye candy that I didn't even go to see Empire and Jedi on the big screen. The eye candy is still there but the Greedo scene passes muster with me.

      In this version, they shoot almost simultaneously (boys, boys), so close that Greedo's first shot could be a mere relativistic side-effect of photons crossing at a certain angle.

      Empire seemed pretty

  • Misleading (Score:3, Informative)

    by jeffkjo1 ( 663413 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:52AM (#10232829) Homepage
    Note: The article summary is misleading. While the 'original' (Han shoots first) prints may have been restored by this company, this is not the print that will be on the DVD. Lucas is not releasing the original trilogy, only the special edition
    • by bersl2 ( 689221 )
      Lucas is not releasing the original trilogy, only the special edition

      WHAT!?!? No 5.1 version of the original ending sequence of Return of the Jedi?!?! I am sorely disappointed.
  • Come on (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SavedLinuXgeeK ( 769306 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:53AM (#10232830) Homepage
    Like honestly, I understand keeping with the original, but in retrospect if you really wanted the true triology, you would pull out your VHS tapes, and watch it into oblivion. When you put in a dvd that is low-quality, poor sound, yeah the novelty will be pretty cool, and the story carries it, but it would get old fast. In comparison to everything we have now, the late 1970's were not known for their technological feats. And while I would rather him not add the extra scenes to the movie, the fact that he remastered the audio, and is hidef'ing the video is a plus. Basically its either original and crappy, or hidef sweetness and alterations.
    • Re:Come on (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Golias ( 176380 )
      Plenty of movies from the 70s and early 80s have been released on perfectly acceptable DVDs.

      The effects from the original print of Star Wars were remarkable. Everything was done with models, hand-drawn animation cels, and inserted footage for things like explosions. It was painstaking work done by an army of special effect technicians, and stands as an important moment in Hollywood film history. In fact, many would say it rivals Citizen Kane in terms of landmark technical achievement in cinematography.
  • Same films? (Score:5, Funny)

    by iamdrscience ( 541136 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:53AM (#10232832) Homepage
    So now that it's been restored 3 times, had scenes added once and re-edited twice, how many re-releases do you think it will take before it contains no shred of the original film and it becomes a romantic comedy set in a hospital?
  • by Mulletproof ( 513805 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:55AM (#10232847) Homepage Journal
    So does being done on Apple G5's constitute a washing away of all of lucas' sins, or will they have to burn the hardware in order to keep the contamination from spreding???

    • The RDF (Reality Distortion Field) prevents one from taking conscious note of the differences between this new version and the original, so you really don't _mind_ Han & Greedo firing simultaneously (that's what I've heard this new (third) version shows). Good ole RDF!
  • High Def of Low Def (Score:5, Informative)

    by airider ( 728197 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:55AM (#10232848)
    So the question I've been dying to find out from all the high def zealots out there is... does making a high definition recording of something originally recorded in some other definition (in this case celluloid) going to look "better"? It's been my experience dealing with image processing of "analog" imagery that the higher up in resolution you go, the more "anomolies" can be detected...i.e. there is only so much you can do with the original baseline, and going up in resolution requires huge amounts of post processing to clean up those anomolies. AAANNND the final product is still limited by the originals. So even if we get more lines of resolution from the celluloid, the celluloid is still the limit on how good you can go. So will high def DVD STAR WARS look better than standard DVD STAR WARS. Probably, but not any better than the original and not THAT much better than standard DVD. I think the movie industry (and music too) have lost the fact that we aren't clamoring for higer resolutions of our recorded media, we just want ones that don't wear out. That's why I think SACD and DVD-A haven't taken off.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      analog film is inherently 'higher' def than normal video signals, or even HD video signals, becuase it has no 'pixel' resolution, beyond the atomic structure of the film media itself (which you can beleive is pretty damn high def)

      If they were taking a VHS tape and trying to convert it to 'high def', your comment might make sense.
    • It's been my experience dealing with image processing of "analog" imagery that the higher up in resolution you go, the more "anomolies" can be detected...i.e. there is only so much you can do with the original baseline, and going up in resolution requires huge amounts of post processing to clean up those anomolies.

      The article is about the company that does the post-processing to clean up the anomolies.

      AAANNND the final product is still limited by the originals.

      To some extent but perhaps not as muc

    • does making a high definition recording of something originally recorded in some other definition (in this case celluloid) going to look "better"?
      At the risk of my bandwidth limit, here [cornbread.org] is your answer with full-resolution captures from Fellowship of the Ring.

  • Heh (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:57AM (#10232855)
    Dear George,

    Could you please stop using our computers? You are lame. We are leet.

    Thanks.

    Steve
  • I wonder... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Johnny Fusion ( 658094 ) <zenmondo@@@gmail...com> on Monday September 13, 2004 @12:57AM (#10232857) Homepage Journal
    I bet if the restoration was done on a beowulf cluster of old amigas running Linux, everyone would start saying Greedo shooting first was the best thing that ever happened to the trilogy...

    (Holy Karma-Risk Batman!)
  • by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:01AM (#10232864)
    The sad thing is that the original Start Wars, in it's original form, was one of the best sci-fi films made. It stood on it's own fine, and certainly didn't need the digital make over it got for it's release a few years ago. Sure, a good high quality copy on DVD would be great, a HD DVD someday might be even better. But if Lucas continues to destroy waht he did in the first movie, who needs it? I would rather have a VHS tape of the movie in it's original form that shows what he acomplished in the 70's than a DVD that does a makeover of a great film that didn't need one.

    This is a somewhat biased point of view from someone who saw the first film on the Friday of the week it opened, and several times in the same theater after that, where it ran for a full year! And I compare it with seeing "episode 1", which made such an impression that I refuse to ever watch episodes 2 or 3.

    • This is about George Lucas's vision of the film and him laying out a huge wad of cash to get the film closer to what he originally wanted. Sure - it's one of the classic films from our childhood, but at least he's the one making the changes, not some Turnerized producer who just wants to colorize Casablanca.
  • by Class Act Dynamo ( 802223 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:05AM (#10232877) Homepage
    virtually guaranteeing that the Hans/Greedo controversy will continue. At this rate, soon Hans will not have even shot Greedo. It will turn out that due to a high fat diet and sedentary life-style befitting a rich assasin, Greedo's arteries were clogged full of cholesterol. Hans didn't shoot Greedo, he was dead before he hit the table!!
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:07AM (#10232886)
    Quick summary of posts to follow:

    1) Lucas is a money-grubbing third-rate director.
    2) Can they wipe out Jar-Jar?
    3) Jar-Jar is not in these episodes, you moron.
    4) Who you calling a moron? Lucas is a money-grubbing moron.
    5) Why are they doing it on Macs when it is cheaper to do it on Linux?
    6) No, it's not. Look at Virginia Tech.
    7) Teh MACS suck.
    8) Nope, you idiot, M$ sucks.
    9) You are all idiots, Lucas sucks.

    Nothing else to see here. Move along now.

  • by rokzy ( 687636 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:15AM (#10232930)
    ....how would Star Wars fans (I'm not one) feel about an entire new reshoot of the film (assuming original script)?

    Maybe Luke would turn out less of an annoying brat this time, or is that one of the central plot themes?

    CGI Yoda?

    Bullet-time fight sequences?
  • And you know what? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:19AM (#10232953) Homepage
    I'm still far, far happier with my little cardboard box containing a digitally remastered but unaltered Star Wars Trilogy on VHS tapes.
  • by koelpien ( 639319 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @01:20AM (#10232956)
    And the newly enhanced, more humane Stormtroopers will all carry flashlights instead of blasters.
  • Some more details (Score:5, Interesting)

    by smallpaul ( 65919 ) <paul&prescod,net> on Monday September 13, 2004 @02:14AM (#10233179)

    Ian Caven is a regular member of the Vancouver Python User's Group and he spoke about this amazing system at our conference a month ago.

    One intersting bit is that the vast majority of this system is written in Python using numpy. Ian says "he doesn't know how they would have done it" otherwise. C is used for the inner loops but Python does the majority of the algorithmic stuff that makes one image processing job (e.g. removing dust) different from another (e.g. correcting for film degradation). Python also manages all of the distributed processing.

    Another interesting bit is that they are using Python, Zope and HTTP to make a virtual file system for managing the frames and movies. This will help with the storage management problems that arise from working with such massive files.

    There are other amazing facts but it is hard to know which are competitive secrets that are better not divulged. One hint I'll give is that the productivity of the programmers at this company would shock you. They've obviously benefitted from building on a very high-level language and they also have some very sharp tools they've built themselves to make these amazing jobs possible.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 13, 2004 @03:06AM (#10233356)
    I first saw the unedited, original cut of Star Wars in late 1976, when it consisted of the original reels fresh out of the cameras from the various sets. That was the best version - the definitive version.. I mean, Han shot Gredo fifteen times in subsequent takes.

    Damn you to hell, George, for cutting that original 52 hour uncut version! What were you thinking, you butcher!?? Do you think you had the right to cut and change things AFTER THEY WERE FILMED? It's almost as if you had something else in your head about what the films should be, and when the filmed material didn't suit, you cut it and changed it, you bastard, until they fit what you wanted.. how could you? Who do you think you are?

    So, I'll be hanging on to my 27 reels of original film, and ignore some new version that's been changed by some idiot who really had nothing to do with the films at all..
  • Incorrect Title (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Manip ( 656104 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @03:34AM (#10233422)
    If whoever had RTFA correctly they would have noticed that it did *not say the new star wars was 378TBs but instead said that in total that is what all the Mac workstations can hold. Conclusion - New Star Wars 378TB
  • by Jugalator ( 259273 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @04:40AM (#10233573) Journal
    Oh my god, that must be real high definition!!

    But why the heck do you need 600 G5s to view it?

    This "locking viewers in with Apple hardware" bullshit must go!
  • Restored THX1138 (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Danathar ( 267989 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @05:26AM (#10233730) Journal
    I just saw the restored (and enhanced) version of THX1138 at the theater and I was pretty impressed. It looked like the film was done yesterday.

    The enhancements are questionable, but the restoration process worked wonderfuly. The newer process Lowry uses is able to keep some "grain" in the film depending on how much the director wants.

    It did not have the "hard" look of a digital film.
  • by antifoidulus ( 807088 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @06:16AM (#10233874) Homepage Journal
    stating that every time someone comes out with a re-release of a classic work, they have to include in it the South Park episode where the boys try to stop George Lucas and Steven Speilberg from ruining classic films by trying to "enhance" them. Maybe they could learn a lesson from that :P
  • by Quizo69 ( 659678 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @06:33AM (#10233949) Homepage
    There is one silver lining to the new super- duper- special- editions coming out on DVD:

    It is only a matter of time before an enterprising team of audiovisual specialists takes the DVD content and edits it to re-insert the original footage (as was done with Episode I to get rid of Jar Jar). There are thousands of people with the skills and technology to do this, and given the historical importance of the originals (they won Oscars!) deserve nothing less.

    Alternatively, I wonder how much of a donations fund could be set up somewhere, with the full proceeds going to the first Lucasfilm employee (who would then be an ex-Lucasfilm employee) who uploads the cleaned up, ORIGINAL DVD masters to the internet for people to convert to DVD. It might be interesting to see how much money could be raised to do such a thing.

    So, if any Lucasfilm employee wants to become an instant millionaire, here's your chance to nominate a price at which you will upload the cleaned up, original trilogy (which are dead according to Lucas) for the world to turn into proper, ORIGINAL TRILOGY DVDs.
  • Vivid-Schmivid (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Deslock ( 86955 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @06:50AM (#10234015)
    Just get the Asian version [ebay.com] of the DVDs of the original series (not SE) and be done with it. Sure, the picture quality isn't as good, but Greedo doesn't shoot first (or "almost simaltaneously" or whatever he does in this new DVD version).
  • 6ology (Score:3, Funny)

    by smallguy78 ( 775828 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @08:02AM (#10234483) Homepage
    Just wait for the sexology (that's like trilogy but with 6, right?) to come out on a single disc on blu-ray, and save your groats till then.
  • Butchered? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dfj225 ( 587560 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @08:20AM (#10234633) Homepage Journal
    You know, as a Star Wars fan I tend to dislike some of the changes made in the SE of the original series. So people even go as far as to say that Lucas butchered the series. I don't really see how this could be considered butchering the series. If you enjoyed the movies in their original form, you should still be able to enjoy them now. The core of the movies remains untouched, and only a few scenes had small alterations. Star Wars is still great in my mind, it still has a great story, battles that were way before its time, and an engulfing universe that continues to be expanded today. If a few changes ruined the movies for you, then you must not have enjoyed them that much in the first place.
  • Has to be said... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rdt21 ( 788715 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @08:44AM (#10234866)
    With the obvious exception of Greedo shooting first I actually prefer the Special Edition with all the snazzy special effects.

    Really.

    Both editions should be available, though, for those whose fanaticism is more religious than mine. That is, if LucasFilm even bothered saving a digital version of the original print during the Special Edition restoration.

  • by funkdid ( 780888 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @09:04AM (#10235072)
    Clue my in if I'm clueless here, but if you convert the grainy low res film of the original star wars to HD won't it not be HD?

    For example if I take pictures with a 2 Megapixel camera, then san the images at some insane resolution, they're still crappy photos.

    • Your mistake is in thinking that the original film is "grainy low res." Remember, film is analog not digital. Even 35mm film (I believe SW was filmed in 70mm) can be resolved to something like 5000 dpi.

      Lucas did an insane scan of insanely detailed film -- and then this guy mentioned in the article cleaned it up.
  • by Quatermass ( 579087 ) on Monday September 13, 2004 @09:43AM (#10235530)
    Nice article. But nothing new.

    If you are interested in reading more on how the experts restore old stock then you can't do better than visit the 'Doctor Who Restoration' web site.
    These bunch of guys have to restore awful video and film masters from the sixties.

    http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/

    Look up in the DVD releases section:
    'Lost in Time' or the detailed 'The Seeds of Death' article.

    They have before and after examples that will blow your mind!

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