Disney To Re-Release Theatrical Cuts Of The Original Star Wars Trilogy

Megalith

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If recent tweets from Empire are to be believed, Han will shoot first again in theaters. I believe the Despecialized Editions can finally be put to rest if Disney goes as far as to release the originals on Blu-ray.

During the question and answer session, film director/producer John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), revealed to the audience some unexpected and major news regarding Star Wars of all things. Empire is reporting: "At a Q&A tonight John Landis dropped that Disney are finally going to re-release the theatrical cuts of the original Star Wars trilogy." Landis then added, the information was provided to him by his old pal George Lucas.
 
This just screams "we need to make some fast cash, but don't actually wan to do any work" to me.
 
Been waiting a long time, just release them on Blu already...

No, first they'll release them on tape, then laserdisc, then dvd and finally on bluray... in fullscreen. Widescreen releases will come next year.
 
Clean up the visual and up the resolution. That is what I have been waiting for. The old VHS copies just don't work anymore.
 
Wow - I'm surprised by this. I had given up hope of getting the unmodified versions in a new format. Count me in - I don't really buy movies anymore - but I'll buy these.
 
Disney Exec: "Hey, I missed out on the original Star Wars in theaters, and now that we own it, let's release it! Also, it'll make us a shit ton of money!"

They do it because they're selfish, not for the fans. For the fans, it'd be free to watch.
 
This is a business investment, and they're doing it for the money. But if the fans didn't want it, they wouldn't be doing it.

Who cares why they're doing it, we're getting it. Nothing wrong with Disney making a buck or millions giving us what we've been asking for.
 
Ive got all three theatrical versions via a laserdisk copy put on DVD. I really love em!
 
They do it because they're selfish, not for the fans. For the fans, it'd be free to watch.

This is proof as to why you do not own or run a business. No business can exist if it gives away its products for free.

The fans have been begging for the original theatrical releases (cleaned up and properly transfered, of course) on blu-ray for some time now. It costs Disney money to create such things, and true fans understand this and are willing to pay for it. Disney can give us what we want and make money while doing it.

Disney can gain good will from the fans by giving us what we want while making money dong it. There really is no down side here.
 
Clean up the visual and up the resolution. That is what I have been waiting for. The old VHS copies just don't work anymore.

The square boxes have to go and I'd prefer updated FX. That said, if they could make the CGI look better, I wouldn't mind it either. Han shooting first is preferred, but I can pretend he shot first either way. What I don't want is the kid as Anakin at the end of Jedi (not that I see the end very often). It makes nose sense. We don't see a young Obi Wan or a young Yoda.
 
Disney Exec: "Hey, I missed out on the original Star Wars in theaters, and now that we own it, let's release it! Also, it'll make us a shit ton of money!"
They do it because they're selfish, not for the fans. For the fans, it'd be free to watch.

Wah? Fans have been demanding this for YEARS! Yes, Disney will make money, but they're giving the old fans what they want: the star wars they grew up on.

Personally, I'd only get it if it had all the upgraded FX. Honestly, it'd have to look better than what the original SE DVDs looked like, because there was still square boxes around the fighters, though far less noticeable than pre SE versions, which looked awful on TV.
 
Very good news.

Now we're all set for a prequel trilogy reboot. I can't see any reason for them not to do it other than not wanting to hurt George's feelings.
 
Ive got all three theatrical versions via a laserdisk copy put on DVD. I really love em!

I had all 3 on Laser back in the day. They were expensive, $69.99 each. I got them for $29.99 each since an employee priced them wrong.
I am not sure what I did with my copies though, last time I looked at the discs I had left, they were just my Disney films and a couple of Playboy ones my friend had me keep at my place.
 
Disney Exec: "Hey, I missed out on the original Star Wars in theaters, and now that we own it, let's release it! Also, it'll make us a shit ton of money!"

They do it because they're selfish, not for the fans. For the fans, it'd be free to watch.

Why would you say that? Who would release one of the greatest franchises in the history of cinema for free?
 
I had all 3 on Laser back in the day. They were expensive, $69.99 each. I got them for $29.99 each since an employee priced them wrong.
I am not sure what I did with my copies though, last time I looked at the discs I had left, they were just my Disney films and a couple of Playboy ones my friend had me keep at my place.

Gotta be proud of those works of art!

IMG_0673.JPG
 
BTW, the REAL travesty? Of that group of movies above, True Lies is NOT nor is planned to be released on Blueray....all because it could offend the terrorists.

True Bullshit!

Thats Arnie's best movie! And I do not say that lightly considering the other movie in that group.
 
For what Disney paid Lucas....you'd be looking to make cash any way possible too.

Disney’s $4 billion purchase of LucasFilm was one hell of a bargain. The Star Wars franchise has sold over $20 billion in licensed merchandise over the span of the series’ existence on top of $4.4 billion in tickets and $3.8 billion in home entertainment products.
 
I have two different sets of the Star Wars trilogy on laserdisc. I actually like the new versions better though. I can understand the nostalgia aspect of preferring the older versions, but the changes to the new versions make the films a lot less hokey for any potential new viewer who hasn't seen them yet (aka future generations). I guess it depends on if you care about the original trilogy continuing to be relevant long into the future, or if you are simply content to let it fade into history like so many other 70's sci-fi movies which are now incredibly dated and make for an almost cringe-worthy viewing experience.
 
The theatrical versions don't have CGI. And they shouldn't in this re-release.

They had animation to make the sticks that Luke/Obi Wan/Vader held look like light sabers. I don't care how they implemented the effect.
 
BTW, the REAL travesty? Of that group of movies above, True Lies is NOT nor is planned to be released on Blueray....all because it could offend the terrorists.

True Bullshit!

Thats Arnie's best movie! And I do not say that lightly considering the other movie in that group.

I suspect it's got more to do with a lack of interest in True Lies. I love it, but it wasn't his biggest hit by any stretch. I definitely don't think it has jack to do with offending terrorists. If that was the case, 24 would never have aired, much less been released on video.
 
Obviously not Disney.

Or any other studio. Hell, if you GAVE me the franchise, I wouldn't give it to you for free. The movies have value. If you don't agree, then don't buy them. I probably wn't buy them, because I want the effect fixed, but if the original cut had fixed FX, then I'd pay for them. Art has value. I'm not sure why those younger than me feel they do not.
 
This is proof as to why you do not own or run a business. No business can exist if it gives away its products for free.

The fans have been begging for the original theatrical releases (cleaned up and properly transfered, of course) on blu-ray for some time now. It costs Disney money to create such things, and true fans understand this and are willing to pay for it. Disney can give us what we want and make money while doing it.

Disney can gain good will from the fans by giving us what we want while making money dong it. There really is no down side here.

This right here. I only own the original trilogy in vhs. I haven't had a functional vcr in easily 10 years and no plans to buy one. I keep the tapes for nostalgia, but they are stored. I dare say it would be a huge risk to even try to play them. I will buy a blu-ray version of those in a heartbeat.
 
This is proof as to why you do not own or run a business. No business can exist if it gives away its products for free.

The fans have been begging for the original theatrical releases (cleaned up and properly transfered, of course) on blu-ray for some time now. It costs Disney money to create such things, and true fans understand this and are willing to pay for it. Disney can give us what we want and make money while doing it.

Disney can gain good will from the fans by giving us what we want while making money dong it. There really is no down side here.

I don't understand why everyone thinks the only way to gain fan goodwill is to give things away for free. As soon as I saw this, I thought "Well, there's Dad's Christmas present" as I got him the original (remastered sound, images were left alone I believe) trilogy on VHS way back in the day.
 
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