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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Rumoured DVD Release of Episode One in April, 2000 214

Posted by Hemos from the rumour-mill-rumour-mill dept.
danimal wrote with news for the Star Wars buffs: From the NewsAskew site comes the tidbit that Star Wars Episode I DVD will be coming out in April of 2000. It's a tip from an anonymous source, but the official announcement is supposed to be coming Jan. 4 from the Lucas man himself. The announcement is midway down the NewsAskew page.
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Rumoured DVD Release of Episode One in April, 2000 More

Rumoured DVD Release of Episode One in April, 2000

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  • Best movie!!! I'm glad I'm getting a DVD drive for christmas!
  • I wonder what the special features for the DVD will have.
  • Didn't lucas say he was going to wait until all three were released to release them on DVD? Either way, lucas is pretty mysterious, and unpredicatable.

  • Re:anything cool on there? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    no Jar Jar? I'd pay for that
  • And the plans to release The originals on DVD are? I would really like to watch Star Wars without worrying about destroying it.
  • that's right, when can we expect the trilogy to be released on dvd? i'd much rather prefer than. but then again, this is a start.

  • Now I can prove that there are ETs in the senate scene. And I'll be able to look for all of the other add-ins. I wonder if there are anything like the backwards bounty hunters. An excellent movie to watch in slow motion during those large crowd scenes.

  • Not from what I hear (Score:5)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 22, 1999 @06:03AM (#1452919)
    I work in a fairly high-level position with a large video retailer, and all the major retail chains have been notified by Fox on Monday/Tuesday that it will be released on VHS only on 4/4/00 - with a Widescreen edition only being available as part of a Star Wars Gift Pack. DVD? Lucas says "no way" until there are *at least* 10 million DVD players in consumer's homes in the U.S. What's the current date Fox is quoting? 2006.
  • i, uhm, er, need to learn how to spell i guess. my post SHOULD have read:

    "that's right, when can we expect the trilogy to be released on dvd? i'd much rather prefer them over episode 1, but then again, this is a start."
  • OK. The DVD of Star Wars: Episode One is coming out...woohoo. (sarcasm.) I'm not really sure, but I may be the one person in america who DIDN'T see the blasted movie. Everyone who I talked to about it said the thing sucked, so I decided not to waste my time. Is this really something slashdot needs to be posting? "A rumored DVD release of something that got bad reviews will be out around 4 months from now." I mean, I could at least tolerate if it were the official announcement, but this is just rumors.

    Here comes the flames, and there goes my karma.
  • I know it's probably against geek rules, but I simply can't see what makes this news. The movie was mediocre at best, violating principles previously put forth in the original movies left and right. Hello, midichlorians!? I know that someone else must have seen through Lucas' pathetic, yet successful, quest for more cash.

    Pathetic movie. This news item should have been a mere footnote, if that.
  • There will be a special hidden feature which, when activated, will cause the movie to stop and a copy of "American Beauty" to start playing in its stead.

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • DVD NEEDS Star Wars (Score:3)

    by mhm23x3 ( 30474 ) on Wednesday December 22, 1999 @06:09AM (#1452932) Homepage
    This is a critical time for DVD. With the recent encryption hack and other bad press, it remains to be seen if DVD will finally and truly become the mainstream digital home movie format. People will buy DVD players simply to get the Star Wars series, and the more DVD players there are out there, the less likely the industry will be to turn away.

    I for one hope DVD doesn't die. And I'm not just saying that because I expect to get a DVD player for my birthday and/or Christmas :-).

    I didn't read the story, but I can imagine that the DVD edition of Episode One will contain all kinds of goodies. And when the Original Series comes out... I hope you can get both the original and special edition, but I doubt that. :-(

  • I don't think you fully appreciate the full impact of this anouncement. One one hand, the unrealistic effects (in particular Jar fscking Jar) might be rendered worse than they were on the big screen , on the other hand, this might be a load of crap that isn't going to happen.

    Honestly, some people wouldn't know news if it sat on their face!

  • It was rumored that all three Indy films would be out by next April. Is this still the case?


    I'd rather see those remastered, letterboxed, and supplemented before I go out and pick up TPM.

    "Those people are trying to kill us!" "I know, Dad!" "Well, it's a new experience for me." "Happens to me all the time..."






  • i heard this morning on TV and radio that ONLY the VHS tape will be available April 2000, there will be no DVD for SWTPM at all!
    --
    http://www.beroute.tzo.com
  • The significance of this 'leakage' is lost on me entirely. Just about everyone was disappointed by the movie, and now we're supposed to leap up and cheer that it's being released on dvd? Oh, the sheer joy. I can revel in the clumsy story line and horrendous dialog again and again and again! I can even MEMORIZE lines of hideous dialog to IMPRESS MY FRIENDS! That'll be EXCELLENT! I can pick out continuity mistakes and memorize those too as TRIVIA! KEWL! By fawning over the credits, I can trace the familial lineage of the BEST BOY and all the KEY GRIPS! HEY! I can PAUSE the film at any moment and act out seens myself with my vast army of COLLECTIBLE ACTION FIGURES, while guzzling TAB and VODKA out of my VINTAGE BOBA FETT SLURPY CUP!!!

    Sorry. That last bit was uncalled for. I apologize.

  • Yeah, but then again, you've got to deal with the crappy logo in the corner, the bad picture quality, and the crappy audio... unless whoever recorded it... could record THX. I think the DVD is a little better. =P
  • He sent his Death Squad out back in May, I thought, to stop all the evil internet pirates. You must be one of the lucky few who survived.

    Me too. :)

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • If they can make use of the multiple angles and soundtracks to allow the movie to be shown with Jar-Jar turned off I'll buy it. Episode One was ok, but it had enough annoying bits that I wouldn't want to watch it over and over. There's no point in buying the DVD, but I might rent it once.
  • Uhm, I don't know what the hell your talking about but... this hasn't been released yet.. and what the hell.. 5 Different DVD's of one movie.. it seems like your being sarcastic... but it really doesn't make sense.
  • I guess he worked out the economics of it:

    • Release them now, and for II and III, release as usual.
    • Once all of them are out, release a special edition box set with extra features.
    Chances are, a load of people who buy the first releases will then buy the box set for the features => more $$$.
    Lucas is, after all, the king of tie-ins and other cash-cow-beating schemes.

    Ever the cynic..
  • Maybe he'll start things out with a few cartoons, like the old days, and then a news reel or something, and maybe a 3 Stooges episode. Now THAT would be cool, and would help take the sting out of the shocking dismality (gnu word!) of the feature picture. Maybe they could make the 3 stooges episode interactive, and we could have Moe pimp-slap Jar Jar while Curly ruins the Meeting of the Jedi Masters with an extended warbling shuffle on the meeting room floor. Larry can go to the NPortman character and say, "Aw gee, what a DOLL! Gimme a kiss, willya?" At which point she slaps him and tears out a fist full of hair.

    (belch) Excuse me.

  • There's nothing terribly mysterious about the lure of money. :)
  • Who cares? Linux gets bad reviews all the time. I'm sure you wouldn't mind reading about some rumored release of some new Linux software.

    PEACE
  • I don't know which is funnier, this post or the fact that it is marked "Informative."

    _________________________

    Mello like the Yello, but without the fizz.

  • This could be the early start of a bad April Fools joke. Maybe?
  • You lucky devil...now you'll be able to see Jar-Jar Binks in full digital obnoxiousness!
  • ..all 6 episodes are out. Lucas himself said that he will not be releasing them on DVD until he can present a complete 6 episode arc.
  • I agree that DVD is waaay better then VHS, and my DVD library is already nicely stocked. But what will happen to it when HDTV rolls around?

    Doesn't HDTV have a higher quality than the current dvd movie format?

    A: Will there be another new media for movies, which will force us to ditch our dvd player?

    or B: Aren't DVD movies just Mpeg2 encoded data? Which could just have the resolution scaled up to hdtv quality (perportional to size, and cpu usage, IIRC).

    I'm just curious about the subject because I've been kinda reluctant to buy a lot of movies for the fear that this will just be another technology that goes the way of the Dodo in a few years.

    -nick

  • sorry anonymous coward but i don't consider cashier at blockbuster to be a high-level position in the movie industry. they originaly said they would wait till all the movies were done before releasing them for home viewing.
  • Yeah, probably VHS, like was mentioned in a previous post but I've heard/read from numerous sources that we won't be seeing *any* of the Star Wars films on DVD until the whole collection (Eps: 1-6) are complete.

    Now, that is assuming someone doesn't decide to swipe a roll of film and burn a few copies to DVD.

    Marketing, ya gotta love it!

    -Vel
  • Actually, this isn't too surprising.

    Now if I were George Lucas, I'd:

    • Release Episode 1 on VHS only in 2000. Pull a "Disney" move and sell a limited number, citing that "this classic will only be on sale for a limited time". This will allow the price to be driven up a few dollars more. Hey, it works for cartoons...
    • Wait until Episode 2 is ready to hit the theaters. Release the Ep1 DVD, cashing in on the renewed Star Wars frenzy. Again, make this a "limited offer".
    • Nine months after Ep2 comes out, release the "limited" VHS version.
    • Right before Ep3 is released, release the Ep2 DVD "limited" version.
    • Nine months after Ep3 comes out, release the "Star Wars Collection": all six Star Wars movies on VHS. Do not sell Episode 3 by itself.
    • Six months later, release the Ep3 DVD.
    • Two years later, release a "Director's Cut" of each of the first three Star Wars movies on both DVD and VHS.
    • Two years after that, release the "digitally remastered" versions of Episode 1.
    • One year later, announce that Lucasfilm will do Episodes 7 through 9.
    • Lather, rinse, repeat. Of course, if I were George Lucas I'd also have a full beard and scare the Hell out of my wife when she woke up in the morning...but that's neither here nor there.
  • Do you mean to say that you're worried about destroying a video tape every time you play it? If that's the case, don't worry. That thing'll be toast in another 10 or so years whether you play it or not. Watch the next Superbowl and pay attention to the flash backs. The footage for the 1968 Superbowl will look great, because it was shot on film, wheras the 1987 footage will look like absolute krap because it was shot on videotape. Digital video should help this in the future, but trying to 'preserve' and 'maintain' a video tape collection is a lost cause. Watch 'em while you can.



  • whoever recorded it... could record THX. I think the DVD is a little better

    I think more to the point would be: Unless whoever watches the movie has a THX theatre, I think both versions would be about the same.

    THX is a specification for movie theatres, not a digital sound format.

  • Yeah, but the bad Linux reviews are wrong. The bad PM reviews are right.

    Luckily PM has an excuse -- it's a movie for kids.

    No, seriously -- all the star wars films are bound to come out on DVD and video sometime. Why is it news when they do. All movies do it.

    --
  • I don't know about the DVDs, but the VHS versions are out now, THX remastered and letterboxed.
  • > I don't know about the DVDs, but the VHS versions
    > are out now, THX remastered and letterboxed.

    I've debated picking those up, but I'm holding out for the DVD version. Paramount seems to finally have caught on that people want more than just the movie on their DVDs, so hopefully they won't just rush out a quickie transfer but take the time to add the supplements as well.

    They're among the most requested DVD tiitles (right up there w/ the original Star Wars movies and "The Princess Bride"), so there is hope. Maybe.

    Then again, there's no public commitment to releasing either "Airplane!" or "Buckaroo Banzai," so I'm still bummin'. :-[



  • > you do know that all movies are already widescreen, right?


    Sigh...um, yes, I know that. And have you ever watched the video version of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?" Check out the scene with Indy letting his father know where to begin the search for the Grail. You're supposed to be seeing them side-by-side, but the transfer cuts between their faces. The movie is widescreen, the transfer is what's not.

    Be that as it may, you are correct about me being fucking brilliant. Now convince my employer in time for my next review....

  • I agree that DVD is waaay better then VHS, and my DVD library is already nicely stocked. But what will happen to it when HDTV rolls around?

    It won't look any less nice...

    Essentially there's a level of detail captured in the MPEG data stream, and that's your "not to be exceeded" quality level. If it captures Natalie Portman's pores in that detail level, you'll see them in HDTV; if it doesn't, you won't. MPEG2 allows for variability in data rates, and thus it would be possible to recreate the data stream at a higher quality level, and thus get an HDTV quality data stream that does look better. But it's a big question as to whether this will happen, just as S-VHS hasn't taken over the VHS market. As-is, DVD is at a sort of "magic" level -- a disk format that can handle 2 hours of movie. And I've seen players that will take 200 disks, so DVD's size isn't much of an issue. It would take a lot for a new format to push current DVD and its MPEG quality out of the market.

    You might end up wanting a new player that puts out an HDTV signal rather than an NTSC signal that gets converted. The new player should still play your old disks, but it may also work with "Ultra" DVDs that use a higher compression. Odds are you'll only notice the difference if you're looking for it or doing image capture.
  • You might be waiting awhile for PPV. I heard, about a month after the movie came out, that it would hit network television first since Fox owns a network channel.

    George Lucas said himself, Star Wars was done for kids. From what I've heard, lots of kids loved the movie and Jar Jar (I personally think he's worse than an Ewok). Jar Jar was designed for kids and kids love him.

    I don't think Mr. Lucas is stuck in a rut. When he created Star Wars, he did it to give kids a modern myth since there weren't any. TPM is the beginning of the story and we still have two more episodes to see before we get the whole story. I hear people complain about the lack of closure and how they didn't like it. Well, the first one had to have closure because he didn't know if he'd be able to make the next two after that. This one didn't need closure because the next two were already going to be made.

    You say a movie doesn't have to have special effects to wow us. I don't believe you. If you take the special effects out of every movie made in the last 5 years, I think you'll have some pretty boring movies.
  • There is more information about Phantom Menace release here [videostoremag.com]
  • I wasn't talking from major sources....I was talking mainly about my friends whose opinions I trust. If one of my friends didn't like Linux, they probably wouldn't be my friend. And, reading about rumored release of linux software is completely different than a movie coming out to a new format. Do I really need to explain why? If so, I guess umm....just don't talk to me then.
    I always like a closing before my sig, so just insert whatever nice little diddy of a phrase that you'd want here.
  • I'm sure you saw a few of the vcds that were floating around the net. If they happen to be on dvd (in asia, probably) they would be really poor quality. I did see one of the screeners that was pretty comparable to vhs.
  • while guzzling TAB and VODKA out of my VINTAGE BOBA FETT SLURPY CUP!!!

    Sorry. That last bit was uncalled for. I apologize.

    Yeah man, don't be dissin' Boba Fett.
  • Ever since DVD has come out, some "person in the know" on USENET has popped up and said "Star Wars in three months!" Then they go on and on about "a warehouse full of boxes" [deja.com] or "their dear, dear friend at Skywalker Ranch said it was so" or some other bunk [deja.com].

    Every time they have said it, it ain't true. I will bet all 51 of my karma points that it ain't true this time either.
  • It saddens me to think that anything controversial will be labled as a troll if some moderator disagrees with their opinion.

    Trolls are for first posts, not opinion pieces, as you said. If this keeps up /. will be a mild little place where only the common opinions will be supported. We could loose some thought provoking opinions if we keep punishing people for having a different opinions.
  • this sounds like a good setup for an april fools hoax to me.

    JB
  • You obviously haven't read the book. That is why the Queen's face is usually covered with white makeup, so that she can dress as a handmaiden and not be noticed. The audience knew because we are supposed to know. Qui-Gon didn't know because he has only ever seen the Queen in white makeup so he couldn't tell by looking at her (although that doesn't explain why he couldn't tell through the Force, unless he wasn't trying).

    I agree with you about the lightsaber though. Even though it was used offensively, it seemed to be more suited as a defensive weapon than anything else.
  • Now all that's left is to borrow the $70 for a DVD drive, but even if the software existed to play back DVDs in Linux I would buy Titanic before Star Wars.
  • I hope it's 2.35:1 scope anamorphic, I'd hate to see such a widely-regarded release suffer from a bad transfer and formatting.

  • And it'll be the Jar Jar-free version!

    Place your orders!!
  • Now, where the hell are people getting this "GL says not until x number of players" thing? When all this Star Wars on DVD stuff started way back when, it was "GL and SS are not releasing stuff until there are one million players!" Then it was two million. Then five million. Now it is ten million? My guess is that in a month and a half the number will be raised to 15 million.

    In other words, the rumors have been bunk so far, and until there is a press release posted by Fox on their website, they will continue to be bunk.
  • Why was Episode I shitty? Oh well... (cracking knuckles)

    There was no STORY! Lucas writing a long sequence of scenes, loosely tying them together (sometimes not), and masking the whole thing with dazzling visuals, and calling _that_ a movie was insulting to the general audience. Eyecandy, yes. Entertaining, maybe. Good story, hardly! I don't care if he says 'Episode I' was geared for children, they still deserve a good story!

    Talking about children, I despised Lucas' way of handling "war" in Episode I. Showing children that war is fun, that funny things happen constantly in war, and that wars are won with comic accidents shows that Lucas is totally out of touch with reality. I'm not saying there should've been blood and gore, but giving us one line of "isa therea peoplea gonna diea?" to portray the horror of war is not enough.

    And acting! Or rather the lack of it. Nobody, _nobody_ did even a decent job of acting in the movie. And I'm not talking about Jar Jar; I think the CGI programmers actually did the best job of "acting" in the movie. The sad thing is that the movie was filled with good actors and actresses: Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson etc. I don't know what the reason for this was, but my speculation is that maybe the actors had trouble relating to green screens. Or maybe Lucas was too restricting in his directing...

    George Lucas hasn't directed a feature movie in more than twenty years, and it shows. It seems like he was too totalitarian in his effort. According to the 'Making of's I've seen, he was involved in every single aspect of the movie, starting from the design of the aliens and space ships down to the musical score. This might have been great for a small budget movie like the original 'Star Wars', but when were talking about 100+ million dollar budget, he is just in the way, and restricts the creativity and distracts himself and the people who do this stuff for living. It looks like him being busy with all kinds of stuff that is not his stuff kept him too busy with writing a good story! Or writing a story at all. The movie suffered from a desperate attempt to lay the groundwork for the next five (eight?) movies. Not an easy job obviously, but if you can't handle something, why do it alone?

    George Lucas really disappointed me with this one. I kinda liked episodes 4-6, but this was a real flop in every sense of the word, except financially. I went to see it in the theater just for the incredible truel, the choreography by stunt co-ordinator/swordmaster Nick Gillard was just out of this world. It was like totally, awesome! Made my balls itch!

    If Lucas does not come up with a good story for the next two episodes, I will not ruin a perfectly good two hours, which I would be better off doing something more productive. Like sleeping. That of course only in the case Natalie Portman will not be in the next episodes!


    MotorMachineMercenary
    --
    Hey, shit is good! One billion trillion flies can't be wrong! -MMM
  • By the time all of this happens, DVD will be standard, and VHS old news like 8-Track tape.
  • If you really think Luke didn't win that lightsaber fight, you are dillusional. Vader had lost, the only reason Luke didn't kill him is because he would've turned to the Dark Side if he had.

    Darth Maul was very skilled. If you read the book, you find out that when Obi-Wan went back to the Jedi Council, they tell him that he shouldn't have been able to kill Maul and that he should be dead. That is when they decide that he is ready and they make him a master and give him Anakin as his apprentice.

    Also, the first movie was only cryptic because you didn't know anything about the Star Wars universe at all. This one's a little more blatant because you already know some things. It was also done to give people a way to tie it in with the originals. I've heard that the next two won't be so blatant since they've tied everything in and introduced all the main characters so they're going to concentrate more on continuing the story.
  • The 'significance' is that instead of waiting until about 2004 like he first said, we could see it now in a few months. For the large number of Star Wars fans out there, this is significant.
  • Hmm, you know I intended not to see the movie, but my Mom, Dad, Brother and Sister kidnapped me and dragged me to the theater to see it. My Mom took me aside and said, "Look, your brother has been looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time, you'd better not say anything bad about." When I left the movie I was completely silent about it.

    My brother loves movies, DVDs and the original trilogy. However, while he might get it as part of a set, I doubt The Phantom Menace is something he will ever buy before the first three movies. (Which he already owns on tape 3 times over.)

    The Phantom Menace, perfect choice for a first Star Wars DVD? I think not. Well, on the other hand it is Episode One... but I still think Lucas should come out with them in chronological order.

    Now here's a really serious question, if/when Lucas comes out with the original trilogy on DVD, should he release the digitally enhanced versions or the original versions as they were shown in theaters? I go for the "as they were shown in theaters originally" versions, but that's because of personal nostalgia. what does everyone else think?

  • > If one of my friends didn't like Linux they probably wouldn't be my friend.

    Thats really sad.

    I used to be a religeous NeXT fan. My best friend didn't care for them (had lots of reasons). He was still my friend.

    By the way, if I said that I don't care for Linux, I prefer FreeBSD instead, you'd not want to be my friend? Sniff... I feel all broken up inside. )-:
  • Re: Episodes 7-9

    By that time John Williams and Frank Oz will be DEAD.

    Oh, yeah, VII VIII and IX will be real thrillers. GL is probably stock recording Oz saying stuff like "Hard it is, the path of Good," "Be strong in your feelings, but not so strong that use them the Dark Side can," and "Anger: bad it is unless help you defeat the bad guy it can."

    He's probably also computer-analyzing John Williams soundtracks so that they can be spat out automatically by a computer for later episodes.

    I can hardly wait. Roz Skywalker-Solo sets out to defeat the evil Darth Turnicate. Or some such.
  • I agree that DVD is waaay better then VHS, and my DVD library is already nicely stocked. But what will happen to it when HDTV rolls around?

    DVD isn't capable of delivering the bit rates that the max resolution HDTV format uses. Eventually there will probably be some sort of enhanced DVD with a higher storage density and bit delivery rate. Whether or not you will be able to notice the difference has yet to be determined. It may also be a few years away.

    DVD is not showing it's full capability with because of NTSC limitations; eventually I expect that you will have a DVD player with a Firewire interface to your HDTV monitor. How good this will be compared full HDTV I don't know. It may be a case where most of the original software isn't as good as the display hardware.

  • I wonder if a LaserDisc edition would be released. With the good 'ol Pioneer LD/DVD player I enjoy the best of both worlds and new LD titles are still being released! Star Wars 4,5,&6 are still best viewed on LD. Why not release it on LD?!?!?! I'd buy it.
  • Now here's a really serious question, if/when Lucas comes out with the original trilogy on DVD, should he release the digitally enhanced versions or the original versions as they were shown in theaters? I go for the "as they were shown in theaters originally" versions, but that's because of personal nostalgia. what does everyone else think?

    Funny, this was on lugnet today. When Lucas rereleased Ep IV, he made Greedo shoot first at Han, rather than Han shoot Greedo unexpectedly.

    That sucks, it weakens Han's character and makes his personality change less interesting.

    What's next, let the Death Star shoot first to be sporting?

    (Most of this shamelessly lifted from Lugnet).

    George

  • A week after I saw The phantom menace here, they had it in the mall, in mulitple formats, Japanese, English, English with Japanese subtitles, all of which varied in quality, one was of at least VHS quality though... most sucked though. Funny to go into a mall with signs all over the place for a movie that hadn't opened yet (at least it hadn't there) and then be able to watch the movie in front of the store upstairs. Then watch them shut down all of the shops when the cops came around...


    seibed
  • In the special DVD edition they include the scene where everyone: darth maul, palpatine, anakin, r2, etc takes turns killing jar jar binks! Now that I've got to see
  • I'm not really sure, but I may be the one person in america who DIDN'T see the blasted movie.

    Ha! I didn't see ep1 or Titanic.

  • No ewok yub yub song at the end. I hate the ewoks as much as the next guy, but c'mon. Yub yub, man, yub yub. Yub yub, yo.

    p.s. I thought the coolest thing to do for special edition would be to add in some good cursing that would have been too much for the original.

    ex. Luke (after blowing up death star) "May the force fscking be with you!"

  • the new one was terrible. When will the original movies be on DVD?
  • Just like eating cotton candy.

    It looks big. It tastes really candy sweet. But when eating it, you realize it is just a lot of fluff and air, and you are left still feeling hungry afterwards.

    Throw in an annoying horse-tooth jackass CGI character and you've got yourself TPM!

    --
    PanDuh!

  • Buy 'em on LaserDisc!
    I don't have an LD player (yet) but I'll be damned if I ever watch those friggin' "Special Edition" of the Star Wars Trilogy ever again.
    eBay has lots of LD players for sale, so when I pay off the XMas VISA bill :) I'll be in luck.
    Oh, BTW the place I ordered the 3 LD's from, had them for $8 a piece, or $23 (US) when you ordered the whole batch! Even with shipping and currency exchange to CAN$, I still came out ahead of getting them here, that is if I could find them anywhere.


    Pope
  • I might actually get it, if the new feature is a totally redone plot (or rather, the introduction of a plot) and maybe, just maybe, a few less pathetic marketing attempts at tie-ins (wouldn't be suprised if in Episode II, not only does Han Solo's Father and Amadala meet for tea, but they do it on Endor with all the little fury bastards)
    Or.... how about a interactive Quake type game where you shoot all the toys/stickers/food/Fast Food trinkets...
  • Plus the fact that the actors are never quite looking directly at the CGI characters when they speak to them. Liam Neeson always looks like he's looking somewhere next to or above Jar Jar's head.

    --
    PanDuh!

  • How about that two-headed pod-race commentator? Wow, I guess Nascar has a much larger fan base than I thought! Galaxy far far away my ass. Maturity level of this film is on par with a Barney film.

    --
    PanDuh!

  • No, THX is not just a theater specification. I would suggest checking out http://www.thx.com at the "Consumer Products" section. THX is just a standard, and if products live up to that standard (whatever it is), then they are "THX certified".
  • Lucas has always said that the movies, books, and radio dramas of Episodes 1-6 are considered authoritative. All other books after 6 and before 1 are not and he has said many times that if he does something inconsistent with them, that his part is true and the book is rendered false. The only book to break this rule is Shadows of the Emire, which he said specifically is canon. So I'd say the novelization of Ep 1 is pretty authoritative in his eyes.

  • Here's your chance (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    (DVD_ripper + lots_of_hard_drive + editing_software) = no_more_Jar_Jar
  • He's probably also computer-analyzing John Williams soundtracks so that they can be spat out automatically by a computer for later episodes

    You mean that's not already how they're done?

  • Although the earlier response of "retard" is pretty close to the mark, one may want to read the article series, The THX Factor [dvdfile.com], that was posted a while back at dvdfile.com [dvdfile.com] ...

    NB: This is a three-parter, so look for the embedded links to get to the remaining two-thirds of the article series!
  • Even so, i doubt the release would be 2006, that's too far off. Think about all the people who own a playstation/n64. The next generation consoles would have DVD movie playing capability. Millions of those consoles have been sold. Both are coming out at the end of Y2K. I would think mid-2001 would have at least 10 million =)... at least I hope so.
  • You people complain and complain about the movie and everything, but you all know you'll go buy the VHS when it comes out, the DVD too, and you'll go see the next two. If you really thought it was that bad, you wouldn't care about the DVD or the VHS. Unfortunately, most of you don't know how to go to a movie and become a kid again. You go see a movie and keep in your 18+ mentallity. If you want to enjoy Star Wars, you have to think like a kid. I don't hear anybody here complaining about how lightsabers aren't possibly and the fact that there is no sound in space. You all make me sick.
  • LD is doubtful. Lucas considers LD a dying format and will probably not release any of them on LD again.
  • Now here's a really serious question, if/when Lucas comes out with the original trilogy on DVD, should he release the digitally enhanced versions or the original versions as they were shown in theaters? I go for the "as they were shown in theaters originally" versions, but that's because of personal nostalgia. what does everyone else think?


    [ Reply to This | Parent ]


    How about both on the same DVD? There is plenty of room.

    Kintanon
  • Lucas also said, many times (as far back as 1990-1991), that he would never make the prequels, either. Lucas is a bit mercurial that way, so I wouldn't put that much stock in the six-episode statement.
  • Okay, still offtopic. THX is not something that is typically assigned to the media, but rather what reproduces what is on that media (speakers, amplifier, DVD/LD player etc) -- so therefore, transferring a film to a dvd typically hasn't been called "THX Certified"....

    and to be really nitpicky, THX can be any kind of "Theatre" specification. :)
  • At the risk of pulling a Katz, Star Wars is pretty closely tied to geek culture, like it or not. A lot of us grew up loving Star Wars, and a lot of people liked Phantom Menace. As for "does Slashdot really need to be posting this story" -- I think the ubiquity of "first posts," the infinite pretty widgets of the user customization, a moderation system -and- a meta-moderation system is pretty much testament to the fact that the typical Slashdotter's time is not all that valuable.
  • Baloney!
    There are lots of "Kids" movies out there that don't insult the intellegence of adult watchers.
    Anything by PIXAR springs to mind.
    As for "lightsabers aren't possible," that is the essence of good fiction, right?
    There's a certain amount of 'suspension of disbelief' that happend with any good work of fiction, regardless of genre. What gets tricky is when that gets compromised by ridiculous plot points and illogical character actions, both of which TPM had in spades. "Star Wars" was a great afternoon popcorn matinee kind of flick, but had a simple plot, engaging characters, and good action when needed. It created a whole universe in one big gulp that was easy to take and made sense within its INNER logic. TPM introduced a lot of hocus pocus "plot" and a kid-aimed character, Jar Jar, whose comic antics grated on the majority of adults in the audience.
    Have you seen Toy Story 1 or 2? There's an awful log of comic action WITHOUT any annoying characters. Are you going to tell me that I can't enjoy Toy Story because toys don't really come to life when I'm not around?

    Pope
  • ahem.

    DVD players could be "THX Certified"... but the DVD's in and of themselves aren't.

    Of course, if the DV disc was cert'd, you'd gain nothing by playing in non-cert'd equipment... but that's not the point.
  • Thats sounds about right, except for the whole 10 million DVD thing. I read an interview with George Lucas and he said that the plan was to wait for releasing any Star Wars DVD's until it could be a complete set. Which means no Star Wars DVDs until after Episode 3.
  • Actually, you are completely wrong about special effects. If anything, some of the most special-effects intensive movies, such as Episode I and the Jurassic Park films, have been the worst of the bunch. The most interesting movies over the past 5 years haven't had this same sort of dependence. Vacuous special-effects-intensive movies have become something of a cliche.

    It's not that Lucas is stuck in a rut, it's that he has simply realized what the necessary lowest energy state is for the purpose of producing "good movies" these days. Back before he had figured this out, the movies had interesting characters and a plot. 20 years later, he's realized that these things really aren't that necessary, especially if you're trying to attract little kids.

    (as an aside regarding the "it was for kids" claim, read the May '99 issue of Wired with Lucas on the cover... he talks about how the movie was all about his desire to tell stories and create myths... he doesn't mention the "it was for kids" thing until _after_ the backlash started)

    -Dean
  • I was at J&R in NYC last week picking up (at last!) The Wall on DVD.. Someone had scrawled on the upcoming releases board 'Star Wars - 2006?' I think this sums it up very well.
  • yes, and...?
  • ...especially if you leave out all of the 'making of' and other trailers and such. If you included BOTH SE and the originals on a DVD, you could put the extra crap on a separate DVD (4 DVD SET! Now only $89.95).

    Of course, in doing that George couldn't make 2x+ the profits from selling them as separate entities (and boxed sets).
  • You know, one thing I never understand is why no one holds movies to the same standards of books when it comes to story-telling. Why is the universal reply to a complaint about TPM, "it's just a movie" ?

    One of my labmates theorizes that this is because some people are still amazed by the miracle that the pictures actually move.

    -Dean

  • Looking at the release schedules of the first three SW films, it is hard to imagine Lucas passing up all that revenue by prematurely releasing Ep. 1 on DVD.

    All three of the first movies were released on VHS in a timely fashion. Everyone rushed out to buy them. Then a few years ago, they were released again, with new cover art, slightly remastered (if I recall correctly), and with interviews of Lucas. Everyone rushed out to buy them.

    Soon after, they were completely remastered and released in the theatres. Everyone rushed out to see them. The completely remastered versions were then released to video. Everyone rushed out to buy them.

    Episode 1 was then released in the theatres. Everyone rushed out to see it.

    Fast forward to the future. Lucas releases Episode 1 on VHS. Everyone rushes out to buy it. Lucas then waits a year or more to release the original trilogy on DVD. Everyone rushes out to buy them.

    At some point, Episode 1 will be released to DVD...but I wouldn't count on that being anytime soon. Lucas is all about the money folks. He knows he has a huge fan base for the Star Wars movie series that will buy anything he puts out. How do you make the really big money from that? You make those folks pay for the same damn thing over and over again.

    It's brilliant.
  • What, you mean flipping over discs like my Good Fellas DVD? And you're right. That's why I got a LD player that plays both sides. But for some reason it doesn't work with DVD's and I still have to flip them over - oh well....
  • I'm rather certain that Ben-Hur was longer then three hours.

    And if you think that movies should only be eye candy, you obviously haven't watched many movies that haven't been made in Hollywood.
  • This is almost exactly what cinescape.com [cinescape.com] is reporting.

    And why the hostility? He said Fox is quoting 2006, which would be about 10 Mos or so after the finishing of the prequels. So his story jibes.
  • Bah, get "The Matrix" instead. And I am able to watch it in Linux, although the sound is desynced .

    Check out LinuxVideo [linuxvideo.org] under LiVid. Get dvd_play, ac3dec and nist, follow the dvd_play instructions. Unfortunately, you do need lots of CPU cycles since the code is not optimized (oh, and a G200/G400 with BES helps too ;-)

    -adnans
  • Are you crazy? Why do you need to insult the intelligence of sub-18 year olds?

    First of all: Do you think that just because a movie is geared towards adolescents and teens it is OK for it to be resoundingly stupid?

    Here are just *some* movies and TV shows made for teens and kids that *aren't* stupid:

    1.) Iron Giant
    2.) Toy Story, Toy Story 2
    3.) Tarzan
    4.) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
    5.) Batman TV Series
    6.) Superman TV Series
    7.) Beast Wars/Beast Machines
    8.) DragonBall Z
    9.) X-Men
    10.) Gargoyles (great, now defunct, series)

    etc..etc.. I am sure there are a ton of them out there.

    Second of all:

    Would you like to explain the entire plot of TPM for me, huh? Why don't you try, and then tell me that its a movie made for kids. Also, don't tell me that slicing someone in half with a light sabre is also kids-oriented material.

    --
    PanDuh!

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