Friday, May 05, 2006

God does listen.

Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy Coming to DVD!

It's a major surprise that will please many, Lucasfilm has announced that the original, unaltered theatrical versions of the Star Wars Trilogy will be released on DVD this September. For many years now George Lucas had said he would not release the original cuts of the film, but things have clearly changed, with the press release crediting overwhelming fan demand as the reason.

The new releases of each film in the original trilogy will contain both the original cut and the 2004 digitally remastered version of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The set will be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. Attached is an edited version of the press release from Lucasfilm:

"Fans can look forward to a September filled with classic Star Wars nostalgia with the long-awaited DVD release of the original theatrical incarnations of the classic Star Wars trilogy.

"In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.

"This release will only be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. International release will follow on or about the same day. Each original theatrical version will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround sound, close-captioning, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish for their U.S. release. International sound and subtitling vary by territory.

"Over the years, a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD. This is something that we're very excited to be able to give to fans in response to their continuing enthusiasm for Star Wars. This makes September 12 a red-letter day for Star Wars fans."

So there you have it. Now Han will shoot first, Jabba won't appear until Jedi, Boba Fett won't appear until Empire (and he'll sound like a Cockney and not a Kiwi), Anakin's ghost will be played by Seb Shaw and we'll all be able to sing along with "Come and feel the love- YUB YUB" at the end of it all....

....Okay, maybe not the last one.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

God does listen ... to the sound of $ in the cash register, maybe?
Will the Colonel be buying this soon to be released presentation? Will it sit proudly alongside the other version?
Wonder how many of the regulars here now feel a lil ripped off?

Anonymous said...

Damn it, once more Lucas has mademe his personnal bitch.

Anonymous said...

No, I've wanted this for a long time so I'm happy. Lucas, err.. God said countless times that the originals were flawed (which is why the spent millions redoing them- TWICE) but fan-pressure has made this decision for him. I recall signing one petition of which I was signatory 100,000+!

Anonymous said...

Are you an owner of the "remastered" version?
If so, will you be shelling out extra for the untouched copies, which differ over about 60 seconds? :(

Major General Creedon said...

@ Dr. Fantastico: No blasphemy on this forum.

@ Civvie, Grunt & Sith: It may surprise you to lean that I probably will not most likely be purchasing this 'original' original trilogy, because quite frankly, they are not part of me. Having only ever seen my first film in the cinema in 1984, I missed out on the Star Wars buzz, I did see them on television over the next few years but I had no comprehension of their religious significance.
It was not until the re-releases of the mid '90's when I first saw them on the big screen, thay my eyes were truely opened. It is those films- tweaked to perfection, with proper sound and visual quality that I know to be Star Wars- these are the films God ment us to see, the way he wants us to see them, the way he couldn't before, the old versions have no place in my collection.

Anonymous said...

oh dear god!!! I'm afraid the Colonel is right and I'm agreeing with him, I would love to own a version where Han shoots first but other than that one scene the 97 re edits are better and I get the horrible feeling these "Limited"releases will come round again because of fan demand , I suspect once every two years , so no I will not come and feel the love Nub Nub!

Major General Creedon said...

Indeed, it's not like he's not going to release them all again on HD-DVD is it?

Anonymous said...

Colonel, I remember when a certain person booked the video conference centre for an hour and thought he had enough time to show all three films back to back.

Major General Creedon said...

That was Declan not me, I ain't taking the rap for that. And it wasn't an hour it was more like 5.5 but the muppets that were in there before us delayed the start.

Major General Creedon said...

Friday's Rockwood pokes fun at this announcement.

A Han Shot First T-Shirt has just been made available from StarWars.com.

Anonymous said...

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-04-george-lucas_x.htm


O MY GOD!, I must have one!

Damn!, Lucas has done it to me again.

Anonymous said...

I thought there was already a 'God' action figure?

Major General Creedon said...

Theres been two actually. One was made for Star Wars: Clebration, one of the fan conventions, where Lucas was an X-Wing pilot, it came with a minature X-Wing too.
More recently, the entire Lucas clan was captured in Action Figure form as the characters they all appeared on screen as in ROTS.
The Stormtrooper Lucas is a bit lame, they should have done a verson of Vader with Lucas under his helmet instead.