George Lucas Speaks on Trilogy Changes 759
Warlock7 writes "Yahoo has posted an interview with George Lucas by the AP on the changes to the original trilogy from the new DVD box set. They also discuss the future of the franchise and the direction he intends to take it."
Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
2) Lucas destroyed my childhood.
3) Lucas eats babies.
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
Luke: "Nooooooo!"
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
C3PO: Oh, I'm afraid you were originaly designed as mobile trash compactor.
R2D2: Dweep! Dweep! Dweep! (translation: Noooooooo!)
Even worse: (Score:5, Funny)
Luke: "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
Re:Even worse: (Score:5, Funny)
That one would be sure to piss off some fark.com photoshoppers.
Re:Even worse: (Score:5, Funny)
Han: *BANG*
Re:Even worse: (Score:5, Funny)
Han: *BANG*
Greedo: "Han, I am your...uhhh..."
sorry, can't help it (Score:5, Funny)
Jar-Jar"Noooooooooo! Thasa nasa true thasa imposseeble"
Even worse... (Score:5, Funny)
Luke: (turning lightsaber onto himself) "Nooooooo!"
Re:Even worse... (Score:5, Funny)
Luke: - Oh, no.
Re:Even worse... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm sure there's a naked and petrified somewhere in there... but I refuse, I tell you!
Re:Even worse... (Score:5, Funny)
Is it... Darth Vader ?
Re:Even worse... (Score:5, Funny)
Translated into Star Wars canonical form, that would be:
Luke: I've got a bad feeling about this...
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
Luke:"Nooooooo!"
George Lucas: "Join the darkside and together we can digitially remaster Indiana Jones with more CG."
Luke:"Nooooooo!"
Admiral Ackbar: "Luke, it's a trap!"
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
A furious light sabre duel is under way. DARTH VADER is backing LUKE SKYWALKER toward the end of the gantry. A quick move by Vader, chops off Luke's hand! It goes spinning off into the ventilation shaft. Luke
looks round, but realizes there's nowhere to go but straight down.
DARTH VADER: "Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father."
LUKE: "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"
DARTH VADER: "No! I am your father!"
LUKE: "No, that's not true! That's impossible."
DARTH VADER: "Search your feelings; you know it to be true."
LUKE: "NO!"
DARTH VADER: "Yes, it is true and you know what else? You know that queer brass droid of yours?"
LUKE: "Threepio?"
DARTH VADER: "Yes, Threepio, I built him when I was 7 years old."
LUKE: "No."
DARTH VADER: "Seven years old! And what have you done? Look at yourself, no hand, no job, and couldn't even levitate your own ship
out of the swamp."
LUKE: "I destroyed your precious Death Star!"
DARTH VADER: "When you were 20! When I was 10, I single-handedly destroyed a Trade Federation Droid Control ship!"
LUKE: "Well, it's not my fault."
DARTH VADER: "Oh, here we go. 'Poor me, my father never gave me what I
wanted for my birthday, boo hoo, my daddy's the Dark Lord of the Sith...waahhh wahhh!' You make me sick."
LUKE: "Shut up!"
DARTH VADER: "You're a slacker! By the time I was your age, I had exterminated the Jedi Knights!"
LUKE: "I used to race my T-16 through Beggar's Canyon!"
DARTH VADER: "Oh, for the love of God, 10 years old, winner of the Boonta Eve Open. Only human to ever fly a Pod Racer, right here baby!"
Luke looks down the shaft. Takes a step toward it.
DARTH VADER: "I was wrong. You're not my kid. I don't know whose you are, but you sure ain't mine. Get out of my sight, you loser!"
Luke takes a step off the platform, hesitates, then plunges down the shaft. Darth Vader looks after him.
DARTH VADER: "AND GET A HAIRCUT!"
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
J
No, no, no (Score:5, Funny)
In the new version of Episode 4, the Death Star's beam has been changed into a giant walkie-talkie.
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Funny)
Anakin: EWW!!! I just farked my mom!!!!!!!!!
Padme: Don't be upset, I have some great news!
Anakin: What's that?
Padme: No, I just saved a bunch of money on my speeder insurance by switching to GEICO!!!!!
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:5, Informative)
You know where to go.
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:4, Interesting)
I might point out the petition to get the original Star Wars released in its original edition [originaltrilogy.com]. Sign, sign, sign! XDDDDD
Moll.
Re:What Does "Han Shoots First" Mean? (Score:5, Informative)
In the "enhanced" version, Greedo shoots first, apparently unable to hit a target at absurdly close range, and Han "returns fire" killing him in "self-defense", and cementing him in our minds as a dumbass, though an insanely lucky one, who was apparantly smart enough to have his hand on his blaster, but dumb enough not to use it proactively against an obvious treacherous slimeball.
Re:What Does "Han Shoots First" Mean? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Let me be the first to say: (Score:4, Interesting)
To pore over the literary shortcomings of twenty years ago, to attempt to patch a faulty work into perfection it missed at its first execution, to spend one's middle age in trying to mend the artistic sins committed and bequeathed by that different person who was oneself in youth - all this is surely vain and futile. And that is why this new Brave New World is the same as the old one. Its defects as a work of art are considerable; but in order to correct them I should have to rewrite the book - and in the process of rewriting, as an older, other person, I should probably get rid not only of some of the faults of the story, but also of such merits as it originally possessed. And so, resisting temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone and to think about something else.
Too bad Lucas didn't read that before engaging in the Special Edition movies.
Of course, the taste of vomit in my mouth, post Lucas abominations, has really gotten quite tolerable.
Quoth George: (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, and then they buy it five times over the next few years.
Re:Quoth George: (Score:5, Funny)
They all think outside the box
Outside the box? These are people that don't remove collectibles from their original packaging.
Re:Quoth George: (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, Mos Eisley canteen also looks a bit like a bikers bar somewhere along Route-66 (in the glorious days of yore). Lucas never really tried to escape from the American pop-cultural icons. Luke Skywalker's frustration on his uncle's farm reflects George's frustration in his youth in Modesto, when he was dreaming of going to study in Los Angeles, but his dad wouldn't accept that. The pod racers from "Phantom Menace" are not really far from hot-rods that Modesto youngsters were building in their garages. The Palpatines' path to power reflects that of Richard Nixon (notice: I don't judge Nixon now, just think how a young bearded liberal California filmmaker percepted Tricky Dick in early 1970's). So - yes, the galaxy Far Far Away is actually America. Hell, they even talk English!
Re:Quoth George: (Score:5, Interesting)
"The secret of great sci fi is that it isn't commenting on the future, its commenting on the present."
Re:Quoth George: (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Quoth George: (Score:4, Interesting)
One must remember that while Star Wars was based on Hidden Fortress, the Mifune character in that case was split to create both Han and Obi Wan (the two sides of a complex character become two separate characters). I think, in turn Mifune's character in Yojimbo and Sanjuro was an influence on Both Han and Obi Wan. I would suggest this to be a very strong argument for Lucas' having Han shoot first - consider the scene we're discussing in front of Seibei's shop - a similar fairly callous approach by our hero.
Jedidiah.
The Missing Question (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The Missing Question (Score:5, Insightful)
A good newspaper journalist writes in an "inverted pyramid", the most important facts first and then the trivial details later on. The idea is that if an editor wants to trim the story he can just start trimming at the end of the story and then he doesn't have to pick through the article to essentially re-write it. The best article will answer all of the 5 most important questions (who, what, where, why, and how) in the first paragraph. An article that has an introductory sentence which doesn't get a start on the 5 questions is probably written by a non-professional journalist.
There are a lot of newspaper writers who obviously never took a journalism course and so they don't write in an "inverted pyramid", it's those writers who repeat and restate things because they have no clue what will get cut out. An editor going through their articles would simply have to cut the stuff that seems least important, at times just randomly cutting stuff because he's in a hurry and doesn't have the time to carefully re-do the article.
the direction he intends to take it ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Special Editions vs. regular (Score:5, Insightful)
Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.
Lucas is going to have a lot of rocks thrown at him. As someone in an earlier post stated, Lucas is a control freak and doesn't seem to grasp that his vision today differs from his vision when he made the movies.
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:5, Interesting)
I really thought that those words were brave, it seemed like he didn't mind alienating the fanbase in favor of his own artistic vision.
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:5, Insightful)
First, OK, so the technology wasn't available to make the movies he wanted to make. I'll buy that, the DS explosion was a lot cooler.. The fact that you can't see through the ships now is cool. He says he wants Han to talk to Jabba at the begining of EP I, OK, I'll buy that too, albeit poorly done. Is he saying that he didn't have the technology to allow greedo to fire first when he made the original EP IV? That's BS, he's rewriting it now as a 'big hollywood name' as opposed to creating a vision and running with it as he did in the first making of the movie.
Also, What the hell is this "It's my movie, It's going to be how I want it, if you guys want the original it's on VHS!" attitude? He's like a spoiled kid, only he's 'rich and powerful' so he's even worse. Don't alienate the people who got you to where you are, it's poor business practice. VHS copies of Star Wars (original edition) are about 10+ years old now and probably don't even play well. Not many people (as said before) are going to buy a LD player in order to play the LD editions, and lucas knows it. He can do what he wants I guess, but it could have been said a lot better. He basically told everybody who wants the original versions of SW to f'off. He's trying to drown the original out of existence, and force people to buy the new versions even though there's a major demand for the originals. They're what made him. Now that I think about it, it surprises me that with his greed (releasing and rereleasing the same thing in a different box to make a buck) that he won't release the originals, people are asking for it, he'd make a mint off of slashdot alone
F' him, I wouldn't buy the trilogy now even if he DID include the originals because he's already butchered it to a point where you don't know WHAT point he's trying to get across. Is it the original? second edition? third? tenth!? Seriously, this movie has been released and edited and rerelased so many f'ing times it's ridiculous. Make up your f'ing mind, take a stance and stand by it.
I swear to god it reminds me of Spielberg's role in Goldmember...
Austin: "That being said I do have a few suggestions"
Lucas (pointing at his emmy): "Really? My friend here thinks it's fine just the way it is."
Lucas has gotten too big and cocky, and his attitude is terrible. He changes these movies to make everything more of what people want (making Han a good guy from the start instead of growing a scoundrel into one through heroism) while telling people he's not going to give them what they want (an original version for the sentamentalists and hardcore fans).... Pick a friggin' side.
-matt
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:5, Insightful)
It's an Oscar or Academy Award, emmy's are for television. Next, really I think it's bullshit every single one of you. If it's not one person selling out, it's another thing of neglecting the fanbase.
Look Star Wars maybe all of ours, but it's not, it's George Lucas's, he's the artist with the vision. After awhile creating the special edition is what he wanted the original edition to be but was limited to 1970's technology. This was the work he wanted to finish. His work, not yours.
The only parallel I can picture:
It's like me screaming at someone's open source project after them adding or changing an API, I can't believe you made that change, you suck. Leave Lucas alone, if you don't like it, it is your right as a consumer and don't buy it.
(By the way Han shooting first sucked, but I'm still buying the SE's on DVD)
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:5, Insightful)
And on the open source project, that's when projects fork. When the creator and the users disagree so much.
It's like the DRM being added to Windows. In the mind of Bill Gates, it's fixing a flaw in Windows. To you, me, and the other guy (some AC, probably), that really cuts back on the legitimate uses of Windows. But since there's no real alternative (for most of us), we'll all just use it and complain.
There's no alternative. I can't buy a DVD of the originals. Lucas' claim that it would "cost millions" is nuts. First, because he couldn't have produced the special editions, without cleaning up the originals first. Second, because he knows that he would more than earn back any investment.
He's being a selfish child. It'd be like if Monet went back and painted a cow taking a giant turd on every one of his masterpieces, and then lectured us about how this was his vision all along.
No. The originals were one piece of art, and you can argue that the special editions are a different piece of art. The fact that he won't sell the old ones on DVD merely goes to show that he doesn't care what other people think - which, admitedly, is his right. That doesn't make it suck any less.
Any privately owned company can decide to stop selling their product at any point, no matter how much harm is caused. Think about it, if Microsoft were private, they could literally just stop selling Windows tomorrow, and there would be nothing we could do to stop them.
Now, sure, Star Wars isn't a OS that millions of people depend on, but I would just like to highlight the importance of things losing their copyright in a timely manner. =)
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:4, Insightful)
> says he wants Han to talk to Jabba at the begining of EP I, OK,
> I'll buy that too, albeit poorly done.
That footage was left on the cutting room floor for the simple reason that it didn't look the way he wanted. I'd hardly say that the rubber Jabba is intrinsically better than the CG Jabba. They both look fake. Luckily, Lucas is fixing this in the DVD version.
> Is he saying that he didn't
> have the technology to allow greedo to fire first when he made
> the original EP IV? That's BS, he's rewriting it now as a 'big
> hollywood name' as opposed to creating a vision and running
> with it as he did in the first making of the movie.
Greedo sounds like a make-or-break situation. The fact that people actually care about this is shows that Lucas had to make this a change.
Lucas intended to show Han actually being threatened by Greedo. Lucas probably thought that this would be obvious by the fact that Greedo had his gun drawn and was making threatening statements. In Lucas's mind, this was self-defense, although Han's cavalier attitude towards the killing ("Sorry 'bout the mess") still fit into his pragmatic, mercenary attitude (both you and Leia seem to like a scoundrel).
However, many people took this scene to mean that Han offed a guy who wasn't an imminent threat to him. Those people probably liked the idea, and thus they think that Lucas somehow changed Han's character by clarifying the scene.
Lucas realized that this was clearly ambiguous to the audience. Sometimes you want ambiguity: Why did Obi Wan allow himself to be struck down? What did Shmi really mean when she said Anakin had no father? Why did Darth Vader stop Boba Fett from shooting Chewie? Why were the Ewoks so fucking ANNOYING??
In this case, Lucas did not want this ambiguity. He did not want people to think that Han was a murderer. So Lucas made a change to remove the ambiguity.
The fact that so many people think that Lucas changed Han's character proves that Lucas had to make the change because people did not understand what was going on.
Fine, if you now hate the movie and Lucas and the world because Lucas never intended Han to be a sociopath, that's fine. There are plenty of copies of Starship Troopers for you to purchase and enjoy.
> you don't know WHAT point he's trying to get across
Lucas hasn't made any fundamental changes to his movies. Better special effects, better music, some character clarification all go towards making his movies today what he wanted them to be back then. In fact, with Episodes I-III (presumably), he's actually clarified his message for his movies -- i.e. you can't be a serial killer and then convert on your deathbed. He says fundamentally good people can make horrible decisions, but eventually make a choice to be good again.
But maybe his real message is, "Chill, pal. It's just a movie."
Response (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Response (Score:5, Insightful)
IMO this is also where the Wachowski Bros. went wrong: they assumed that it was the creative vision behind their movie that people loved, and not the movie itself. So by that assumption, producing two movies that adhere to their creative whims will result in movies that people love - which is evidently false.
In fairness .... (Score:4, Interesting)
I can also see why he's not willing to spend millions of dollars and a lot of time touching up the original version. But that's because he would want to give it the whole THX treatment as well as the digital touch up.
However, if he just did zero work on it and just put it on disk, I can't see it being too difficult to do. Not that Lucas would ever release a completely stripped down, un-fancy movie.
Re:In fairness .... (Score:5, Insightful)
they have a word for it now (Score:4, Funny)
It's called vaginoplasty [scotsman.com] and it's becoming increasingly fashionable these days...
Re:In fairness .... (Score:4, Funny)
You've just made the original much more sinister to my eyes...
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:3, Funny)
Here's a clue to Lucas, from a non-SW fan... (Score:5, Insightful)
The real horror of this is... (Score:5, Interesting)
Back when I was in college, I got the letterbox VHS versions (this is right before the first "special editions" were reissued) and my college ACM chapter had a fund-raiser where we showed the films on a big-screen TV with a big sound system and pizza and whatever.
To my surprise, the main people who showed weren't students, but parents who were bringing their little kids to watch Star Wars for the first time. It was really cool to watch someone's first reaction to this stuff that a lot of us knew by heart.
I have to wonder: Will my kids be able to see the real version of the films, or are they going to be stuck with these inferior versions? How long can my VHS versions last? I watched 'em again last month -- they're already showing wear.
It's a cultural loss on the same level as if Wells had burned "Citizen Kane" after it got a few bad reviews. These are *the* defining movies of that generation.
Re:The real horror of this is... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's one of the larger complaints I have about the refurbished Star Wars movies: in some sense, they're historical documents. They were revolutionary when they came out, and spawned a whole new direction in what a science fiction movie could look like.
I of course have my own stylistic objections to Han not shooting first, and I might even be willing to float an argument that Lucas, by receiving a copyright on the movies, has likewise agreed to allow it to pass into the public domain some day (some day long after I'm dead by the look of things, but that's a whole 'nuther argument), and he shouldn't be doing his level best to make sure that the original movies are not available to anyone ever. But further, how about historians in the future? Film and art students? Anthropologists from the year 2525? Isn't it kind of sad that they'll never be able to see the actual film that caused a revolution in filmmaking?
Four words. (Score:4, Insightful)
Four words: Laser Disc Definitive Collection.
Re:The real horror of this is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Culture provides the context of history.
Lucas is no genius! (Score:5, Insightful)
So basically what he says is, he got lucky with Star Wars. Because what he wanted to make was garbage. Look at the prequels - he had much more control over these, and comparatively they sucked. They are tripe on their own, without using the original three as a crutch.
So the movies that people loved, and built his "empire" (so to speak) were not his true vision. We have seen his vision, and it isn't that great. So I think it is time to stop giving Lucas any credit for the first three movies. He doesn't want it, and he apparently doesn't deserve it. Actually, the more control he had, the worse the movies got. It was kind of obvious to me that he had more control with ROTJ, because of the Ewoks and some of the direction the story took. I am almost looking forward to EPIII - not to see it, but just to see how bad it is.
Re:Special Editions vs. regular (Score:4, Funny)
Harrison's Opinion (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Harrison's Opinion (Score:5, Insightful)
To SW fans, from Lucas. (Score:5, Insightful)
While the above is paraphrased, its more or less whats in the interview.
Re:To SW fans, from Lucas. (Score:5, Insightful)
Article in Brief - Luca$ Direction (Score:5, Funny)
A: Straight to the bank!
ironic hilarity (Score:5, Interesting)
post at IMDb [imdb.com]
Choice quote from the master of looks over substance: (Hollywood is) "making hugely inefficient movies for great amounts of money and they aren't creatively very interesting."
I wonder if the people who say one thing and do another (like Lucas and the Douchebag of Liberty, Robert Novak) realize they are doing it or if they truly think they are special and doing the right thing.
Re:ironic hilarity (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember, unlike in the movies no one ever thinks that they are evil. Everyone (Caesar, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Pinochet, etc.) thinks that they are doing the right thing and anyone who opposes them is evil. Not that I think George Lucas is evil, of course.
Juicy and stupid quote (Score:5, Interesting)
Yeah. Suuuure. You're an artiste, and you must complete your work! That must be it. Nevermind that to most artists, integrity means keeping their original work untainted. And nevermind how your tweaks and changes, well, are largely either stupid glitz or just plain stupid. Han shoots first, damnit.
Please please please, don't reward Lucas's shenanigans by buying the DVDs.
Re:Juicy and stupid quote (Score:4, Insightful)
Alright, that said, movies are an artform where the artist cannot afford to sit on the project until it's finished. It would certainly seem odd if Michalangelo decided recently to amend David, saying "I never liked this hair. It's got an odd wave to it from this one particular angle."
Anyway, I don't want Lucas directly compared to Michalangelo, it just seems unfair to blanketly define artist integrity and artist idiological desire as such.
Talking about others' take on the SW universe (Score:5, Insightful)
Some of it is DAMN good and much better than anything you'd ever come up with. Come on, George, give credit to people who've already taken your universe and made it better.
An artist's work is never done? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:An artist's work is never done? (Score:5, Insightful)
No, but I do recall an article recently about how Edvard Munch's The Scream actually exists as six or eight different, broadly identical paintings, all of which are by his hand. Or how George Seurat made changes to Sunday on the Island of La Grand Jatte, most noticably adding the pointillist frame around the canvas, long after he'd completed the actual work. Or how Renaissance painters routinely created multiple copies of their works on demand, and they were often created by students of the original artist's studio but signed by the artist himself.
The statement "An artist's work is never done" is even more true in the world of painting than in most other media, historically speaking.
Oh boy, here it comes... (Score:4, Insightful)
Revisionist BS artist (Score:5, Interesting)
Read the unauthorized bio, Sky Walking, to get an idea of the changes that _Star Wars_ went through during its conception. No, the whole thing didn't occur to him in a flash with only technology holding him back from implementing it.
Like pretty much everybody, he made it up as he went along.
Even more pathetic: Why hasn't he done anything elese? Speilberg, love him or hate him, has gone beyond his kiddie-film origins, branched out and done lots of different sorts of films. He's grown up. He doesn't deal in comfortable bullshit any more.
Lucas, he's put a clothespin on his nose, settled in a bed of comfortable bullshit, and thinks he's doing us a favor by inviting us in.
Stefan
Re:Revisionist BS artist (Score:5, Insightful)
Typical line from the early drafts: "LUKE STARKILLER slashes through the IMPERIAL BAD-GUY with his LAZER-SWORD. IMPERIAL BAD-GUY SCREAMS TO A VIOLENT DEATH."
Well, you get the idea. But if you do read them, you'll discover why the prequels are so awful. This is George Lucas's true talent right here folks, and after seeing it, you understand why he doesn't do anything else these days.
On a side note, Lucas can cram all that CGI right up his ass. A lot of the best special effects in the original trilogy were the simplest. Remember how everyone was wowed by Vader's force-telekinesis at the end of Empire? Yeah, a couple of guys throwing boxes at Mark Hamill, but cool on screen nonetheless.
I think a lot of filmmakers are forgetting one of the principles of SFX: If the audience notices them, then they've failed to do their job. For instance, in the original Star Wars SE, it's pretty obvious that Jabba the Hutt is a poorly rendered CGI blob. I notice this right off the bat, and it destroys the illusion. On the other hand, if I watch RotJ, released in the dark ages of the 1980s, Jabba's merely a "primitive" puppet, but damnit he seems real.
Lucas originally created a universe that all of felt we could visit, if we had a light-speed ship and maybe a time machine. The prequels feel more like an example of why LSD and children's breakfast cereal don't mix.
What a clueless assclown (Score:5, Insightful)
AP: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
No, George, there may very well not be a market for this in three years. And not because of piracy. Because Star Wars is dead. 20 years ago I was into Star Wars as a kid, I bought the toys and had light saber duels in the playground with the other kids.
20 years later, and my kids really don't give a shit about Star Wars. This time around, you lost their interest to such notable franchises as "Spy Kids".
I'm not kidding. I tried to take my boy to Star Wars when it was re-released in theatres. He was bored, and couldn't sit through it's dated effects and cheesy dialog. I know Jar-Jar was supposed to suck the little kids into the Star Wars world, but he didn't. My kids thought him as annoying as I did.
There will be no market for Star Wars in 3 years, simply because it's uncompelling poorly written and over-marketted crap.
Much like Star Wars, it's original hardcore fanbase is growing up and dying off. The new stuff is not attracting new fans.
There's no market for a sequel to Citizen Kane either.
But of course, this idiot is inable to comprehend the writing on the wall, and follows the industry standard of blaming it all on piracy.
Make a good movie, and I'll pay to watch it.
Re:What a clueless assclown (Score:5, Interesting)
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. "
Oh man, my bullshit-0-meter just went off the scale. Time to use 'Lucasian' calibration...
The first time I saw Star Wars at home was when a certain relative of mine showed his in-theatre shot Beta version of it - that was in 1980. It's not like piracy is some new phenomenon - it's been around in various forms since media became available.
He's releasing it now because it's the perfect time to do so. With the THX-1138 remake and the 'Sith' movie around the corner, this is the ultimate 'hype' time. Well, at least until the HD versions appear...
buy, Buy, BUY CONSUMER!
Lucas Interview Special Edition (Orig. rereleased) (Score:5, Funny)
AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
Lucas: Not really. The movies are what the movies are.
Special edition scenes..
AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
Lucas: I'm George Lucas, bitch!
AP: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
Lucas: Yes, in fact I have a joke for the fans. What did the five fingers say to the face?
AP: Uhh..
Lucas smacks AP
Lucas: SLAP!
AP:
Lucas: I'm George Lucas, bitch!
Re:Lucas Interview Special Edition (Orig. rereleas (Score:4, Funny)
Lucas: Well... cocaine is a hell of a drug.
A Job Half-Done ?? (Score:5, Funny)
George, do us all a favor:
Envision Star Wars, exactly the way you would want it:
Then go on a drug-induced bender of unprecedented proportions while making it.
The end result: Half of a half-assed attempt at putting together the film in your visions, and possibly the greatest achievement of your career.
Lucas sucks. (Score:5, Insightful)
And the worst part is that, based on the way he opened the interview, if we all decide to *not* buy this crap, they will blame the poor sales on PIRACY - not the fact that he is making a high priced product that people don't REALLY want (again).
where does the line start? (Score:4, Funny)
where does the line to throw rocks at him start? do i need a ticket?
what a pompous ass
I call bullshit.. (Score:4, Interesting)
they'd like to do NEW WORK...
"I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore." umm. yeah sure.
"Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it." -> "I've noticed that pokemon is a hell of a money making machine and that it's really important to get to the kids every saturday morning"
disclaimer: the special editions aren't really that bad(they're done professionally after all and there's no yar yar..), but the reasoning the guy makes is just weak. though, for me the best stuff in the star wars universe were the games(more specifially, tie fighter) and books(the few good ones of them) - neither of which really happened in lucas's universe.
in 3 years from now, no more DVDs? (Score:5, Interesting)
My bold. I wonder what the MPAA's take is on this...
Who read to the bottom of the article? (Score:5, Interesting)
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things. You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
The Clone Wars cartoons on Cartoon Network are really good; here's hoping that more product like that comes out in the future.
How Lucas Respects His Fans... (Score:5, Funny)
Lucas: "Not really."
Boy, I just feel all warm-and-fuzzy when I think of Lucas now... and I sure am looking forward to seeing "lava surfing" in "Revenge of the Sithians from Outer Space".
no WMD on Death Star (Score:5, Funny)
If Lucas has updated the original films for timeliness, he'd have the Rebel Alliance blow up the death star and all of its inhabitants, then afterwards find out that in fact there were no weapons of mass distruction on board. Additionally, Luke would revisit Tantooine and find that his Aunt and Uncle as well as the Jawas were actually all killed by some irate sand people, with no connection to the Empire.
Zahn Trilogy (Score:5, Interesting)
Too much whining (Score:5, Interesting)
The fact that you can still see the original movie if you want is what takes my sympathy away from the whiners. It's not as if Leonardo was painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. At worst it's like Leonardo using new technology to make a Mona Lisa II with a mustache and then selling it. Who cares. The original is still the original.
If you are that desparate for DVD, find the best available source (laserdisc, old print) and pay for the transfer yourself. Why does he have to subsidize the transfer for you?
(End rant. Willing to take a karma hit to get a clean swipe at the whiners.)
Re:Too much whining (Score:4, Insightful)
But you're missing the point. "Why does he have to subsidize the transfer for you?" Answer: HE DOESN'T. He would make a BLOODY FUCKING HUGE PROFIT if he would release the originals.
90% of the people I know--geeks and nongeeks, fanboys and non-fanboys, would *rather* have the ORIGINALS. Period. The fanboys, well, we know why we want the originals. Everyone else, even if they don't know the finer points of han-shoots-first, just WANT the originals, for reasons they can't quite put their fingers on. Some thing the additions look tacky and added-on, other just, for some reason, like the IDEA that these are ORIGINAL. For the same reason some people would rather have a painting than a litho, or a *real* antique and not a repro.
Think of it this way: there are X people who will buy Star Wars no matter what. But there are Y people that will NOT buy it because it's not the original. I suppose there are a few (we'll call them Z) who really *like* the new editions and *wouldn't* buy the originals. Do you really think that Z is greater than Y? Lucas *spent* all this money on TWO (!!!) rounds of retreads just to PISS OFF (and lose sales from) group Y.
And remember these things: 1) the originals are ALREADY THERE. He can transfer them and clean them up a bit, THAT'S IT. He;s actually investing *more* money to change them! 2) DVD technology allows you to 'branch' as much as desired. Even Spielberg lets you see guns or walkie-talkies in ET. And no sense mentioning--3) he could release TWO WHOLE DVDs, one with the original version, and one with the new version. And there is a small group of collectors (um, group Q) that will buy both. Hell, my friend did--he has the trilogy TWICE on laserdisc--the pre-SE *and* the special editions.
Lucas is acting like a spoiled child, that if you aren't going to play with his toys HIS WAY, you aren't goin to play with them at all. Really, it comes down to this: it would cost practically nothing to release the originals. He would make a buttload of money by doing so. Why isn't he?
Re:Too much whining (Score:4, Insightful)
Even if this were true (and the other two masters would be circa 1981 and 1984), it still would not be hard. Consider this: the SE editions are already cleaned up and digitized. The original footage from the scenes that have been changed must also be digitized, since they needed to integrate the new SFX into those scenes, and thus they are already cleaned up.
So George takes the scenes that were unchanged from the originals to the SE and throws them on a DVD, along with the remastered original footage that archived at ILM somewhere from when they added more CGI. Then he takes the THXified SE soundtrack, modifies it slightly to take out the new music, and viola! the originals are ready for transfer to DVD. The whole process might take ILM a week.
Recipe for Star Wars Box Set Brilliance:
- Take original and SE versions of Episodes IV, V and VI, and bake together on three discs (switchable through the menu).
- Fold in the prequel discs once Episode III: Revenge of the Bad Title is available on DVD and stir.
- Sprinkle 20 Clone Wars shorts on a disc.
- Add four or five discs of special features (to taste).
- Wrap each disc in a matching, sleekly designed plastic case.
- Pour entire mixture into an elegant wood box.
- Charge $200 for the whole set.
Everyone needs to pipe down... (Score:4, Insightful)
If Picasso decided he didn't like the finished product of one of his paintings, he can take the thing, paint over it, and hang it back up. It's his choice.
I have never understood the "purist" standpoint that everyone else has, when everyone else didn't start this thing in the first place. Granted, it would be nice to have the original VHS movies available on DVD, but hell, even those aren't the original THEATRICAL releases.
Anyone who thinks Lucas sucks, needs to go get a life. Start complaining about how JK Rowling messes up Harry in her next book. Sheesh...
"There may not be a market" (Score:4, Interesting)
Lucas: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
Does this strike anyone else as incredibly short-sighted? Never mind that he's saying right out that the reason for putting out the DVDs are purely financial. But he also suspects that nobody will be making money on publishing movies in three years' time. He clearly doesn't care about putting out a physical box set for fans to cherish on their mantelpieces, before the time comes when publishing anything physical is no longer feasible: he's talking about money.
Episodes 7-9 (Score:4, Insightful)
From the interview:
Lucas: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things. You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
Translation: I want to be the only one who gets to make cannon (movies), but I might let others spin off side stuff. I don't think this is a bad thing, as it might delay SW becomming the steaming pile of poop that Star Trek has become.
Here's my prediction: GL dies in another 10-20 years of a heart attack or something. GL's daughter wastes all the republic credits on fast cars and blow, and then in a effort to scrape up some more money, sells off the rights to a studio to make more films, merchandise, etc. One way or another, more SW WILL be made. It's just a question of when and by who.
Star Wars TV: Apprentice: Sith Lord (Score:4, Funny)
Colorization hypocrisy (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Anybody cares? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Coming soon! Star Wars SE directors cut PLATINU (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The future... (Score:4, Funny)
It reads:
"Squeal piggy!"
Re:The future... (Score:5, Funny)
Your geek license has been revoked.
Re:Extra-Special Director's Cut III (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, I want the original Star Wars back, the first release from 1977 without any mucking with the plotline, the visuals, or the soundtrack (which was pretty well fucked up by the re-release in 1978 -- if you didn't see it 1977, you've never heard the original soundtrack). I'm not interested in CGI "updates". I don't care if there's a tennis shoe and a potato floating in deep space. I'm not shocked that one of the Good Guys[tm] shoots first. But I *don't* want the flow of the movie interrupted by George's notions of how to "perfect" it.
Bah, sometimes people get things right the first time and just don't realise it. As Orson Scott Card said (and proceeds to violate regularly himself), the most important part of writing is knowing when to STOP.
Re:Trilogy Changes (Score:5, Informative)
in the 90's they added a sequence of Han Solo talking to Jaba the Hutt at the space port. Jaba was added through computer animation, but the live shot of Harrison Ford was from the original filming. Upon reflection it added nothing to the story or the film that wasn't already apparently clear.
Not seeing Jaba gave the impression of something menacing. The CG Jaba looked small and rendered on a sheet of Saran Wrap which seemed to shift in the breeze and looked terrible.
Re:direction he intends to take it... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:but what happens when Han wlaks over jabbas tai (Score:4, Insightful)
What are you talking about? Did they even have CGI in 1977? It was all models and latex and puppets!
The scene wasn't even in the original version, and Jabba was portrayed as a human. No tail at all, and left on the cutting room floor.
You're remembering TV specials about the restoration of Star Wars and the creation of the CGI Jabba and mistakenly ascribing it to the original version.
This is one of the problems with these revised versions: people don't remember the original accurately anymore. Enough repetition of "Han shoots first!" and people forget that originally only Han shot!