Unedited Version of Original Star Wars Trilogy Unlikely - Page 2

The original versions were on laser disc and even on DVD (although not animorphic.)

I had all three on laserdisc.

I guess I've moved on and kind of accepted the special editions.

We will see the original versions re-released eventually. It's just a matter of money and striking a deal with Fox. How long have we waiting for WB and Fox to settle terms on the 1966 Batman TV show and that finally happened. In the meantime, Harmy's Despecialized editions aren't bad.

After the second trilogy, who would want him anyway? It's Star Wars/Indiana Jones that people want, not George Lucas.

Ooohhh....absolutely not. We're all entitled to our opinions but revisions were made to, say, Moby Dick, I think that would not be a good thing. Or how about changing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" by using Freddy Kreuger (can't remember the guys first name "something Englind") instead of Vincent Price. It just changes the whole feel of it because there is a memory associated with it. I still have my original Star Wars trading cards and not one shows Han talking to Jabba (or any of the other revisions). My first question to you would be were you there for the original theatrical release (or a reasonable timeframe thereafter)? For us that were, there is an entire memory built around this movie.

Now, I agree 100% with your statement "...big issue out of this for nothing" but in a different context. Many many people like you don't care and even like the revisions. But why does it have to be a "big deal" to give us lonnnnnnnng supporting fans the film we originally fell in love with and changed our lives? Personally, I'd give up ALL of the special features in exchange of disc space to include the unedited original version.

This is only relevant if you believe (or Fox believes) that Lucas has another Star Wars or Indiana Jones blockbuster idea in him. I'm not saying that it's not possible but frankly "...I'm afraid "his" fire has gone out of the universe". Sorry, couldn't resist the Grand Moff Tarkin quote.

You must unlearn what you have learned.

(Yoda, Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back)

The question here is, was the Lucas/Fox deal based on never releasing the original version? Somehow I suspect that is not the deal but just exclusive rights in perpetuity on Ep IV as I believe this deal was done prior to the special editions. If this is the case then Lucas has no more control on what gets released save for a mutual respect between Fox and Lucas.

Agreement details and relationship with Lucas aside, there is simply too much value associated with the original version. And I personally believe that Disney holds the advantage after Fox loses rights to the other films. I say this on the basis that while Fox has exclusive distribution rights forever, Disney can broadcast Ep IV, which is what I understood the agreement to be. (Someone please correct this if I'm wrong). But if after 2021 (or whenever) Disney can broadcast the original version and has release and distribution rights to all other films then Fox's "asset" is greatly diminished. However, with an agreement to restore the original (if it actually hasn't already been done) and package it with all 9 films with a distribution agreement and a broadcast agreement makes for a pretty valuable package.

I maintain that IF this all is the case you won't see the original any sooner than this.

Somebody better start a quote thread now.

The "until May 2020" deal with Fox only covers DVD/BD and theaterical presentations with the exception of #4. It does not include television broadcast rights. Fox owns #4. Disney now owns the other 5.

If in June 2020, Disney wanted to re-release a Star Wars Box set on BD - they could not include #4 without Fox's permission.

When Lucasfilm and Fox redid #4 as a Special Edition with the changes, Lucas could have and probably did a deal with Fox to say; "this is now the only version of Star Wars; A New Hope. Any previous versions are null and void." That is a legal contract. The only one who could change it is Lucas himself because he is the one who feels the 1977 version is gone forever and when people say SW: A new Hope, it is the Special Edition he wants them to see.

Yes, we agree. My point was considering that Lucas does not have such and agreement. I don't know one way or another. Again, if there isn't such and agreement for "special editions only" then I feel Disney will ultimately have the greater leverage come 2020. If there is such an agreement then Fox (or rather George Lucas) retains leverage only for that version of Star Wars and Disney will have to rely on the success of Eps 7,8 & 9 to tip the scales back to their favor.

In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lucas altered his previous statements by announcing that Greedo had always shot first - stating that a combination of bad close-up shots and the audiences' inaccurate perception of the Han Solo character was what actually caused all the confusion: "The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down."[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_shot_first

What does he know?! Han shot first! The end! :D;)

Because some of you think you represent a large majority of fans that would be a large sum of money to Disney. Disney paid $4 billion with a capital B. The revenue they could generate with the UOT is probably under $10M considering the original negatives probably need fixing up prior to all the updates. There's a reason the UOT on DVD was using an outdated LD master. It hasn't been touched in ages.

Even if this agreement exists, it's almost certainly between Fox and Lucasfilm, not Fox and Lucas. Lucasfilm is now owned by Disney, along with all of Lucasfilm's properties and contract rights. If Lucas sold his entire stake in the company, there's nothing Lucas can do to stop Disney and Fox from "altering the deal" and releasing the OT or whatever else.

Like you said, Disney owns Lucasfilm's properties and contract rights. They also "own" any previous contract(s) that Lucasfilm did with Fox. Those contracts remain in force. If he has a contract with Fox that says that #4 Special Edition is the only version that they are allowed to distribute forever, then nothing changes by Lucas no longer having any vested interest in the original Star Wars: A New Hope.

I believe they are called "Grandfather Contracts."

This deal is getting worse all the time!

This would be true, which means Lucas himself holds no tangible influence on what happens with Ep IV and Fox remains the sole controlling party. But again, this scenario IMHO potentially bodes well for Disney 10'ish years from now in terms of leverage. I again assume the next three movies are successful along with Disney having broadcast rights of Ep IV.

Fox owns distribution rights to the original Star Wars, No. 4 in the series, in perpetuity in all media worldwide.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tangled-rights-could-tie-up-384541

"in perpetuity" means . . . for ever

The article goes on to say:

Delete post
Edited by Lee Stewart - 11/2/12 at 6:56pm

Like I said....Big Dough!

If there is enough consumer demand (potential $$$), this decision may obviously change. Let 20th Century Fox know that you would pay a premium for a quality release of the original version :-) Forever in business deals often means until the next time they have to boost the bottom line in the quarterly financial statement.

Sell out.

The real leverage we could garner is with any future purchases, which would not be easy to get full support on. I've been kind of middle ground in terms of tolerance about the changes to the movies. They are what they are and even with this most recent saga release, yes I bought it and am glad I have it. Star Wars simply had too big an impact on my life (and developing interest in film and home theater) to not have it in my collection. Having said that, I'm a long way from 7 years old now and am really at the point where I'm kind of tired of "upgrading". From VHS to DVD....yeah, I get that. From DVD to BD, yeah I get that despite more changes plus all the extra video purchases along the way just so I could get that one more behind the scenes clip or whatever. But now.....(even though I said this about the saga BD release because my expectations were different) I'm thinking I won't be buying any more sets unless it includes more or less exactly what I want. And this includes sets that would contain Eps 7,8,9. I'll go to the theater and I'll likely rent a couple of times (as long as I can get full HD Video AND Sound!). As good as the saga set looked I have to be honest with myself and say I was expecting something that looked a little better. I would expect just a touch more polishing with another saga release AND I want a fully restored unedited original theatrical release Star Wars. Include the special editions if you want, no problem, just include the original release. For all of this, include Eps 7,8 and 9, I would commit to one more purchase, even advance purchase if they wanted to go that far. Bonus discs, special features, gag reels, I like all of that stuff but if these things impacted margins that greatly (cynical) then I'd happily go without them for an unaltered original. It would take many more than are on this forum to support this or a similar idea to make it happen.

+1

Is there a way to purchase the DVD's of the original, non-edited versions? Where could you without paying some guy $500 or something. I am assuming the only movies that were edited were the original Star Wars trilogy...

The DVD trilogy of the original episodes have a bonus disc of the "original" releases of each movie. They are not anamorphic, and I'm not sure if some of the purists say that they are the true original, unedited theatrical version. I'm not sure if episode 4 says Star Wars or A New Hope at the opening crawl, but that might be an indicator. However, the sarlacc in ep 6 is the good, ol' puppet I remember from TV recordings. The recording of ep 6 I grew up watching started taping late, so to this day I forget the opening on the second death star; I think the movies begins on Tatooine.

Yes, I have an unopened version of the dvd that Anikun07 is referring to that is the original version as an extra on the disc. I'll sell it to you for $495.00.

This is correct. Also, if buying the DVD edition online, make sure you get the 2006 edition, which is the only DVD release that includes the originals. The 2004 4-disc and 2005 3-disc editions have the SEs only. All will cost you $100+, probably much more. The originals can also be found fairly easily by other means if you're so inclined (Hint: Rhymes with warrant). They're the same quality as the non-anamorphic DVD editions, less than 200p resolution IIRC, but they're as good as we're going to get until Fox and Disney get their acts together.

When all is said and done, the non-anamorphic versions don't look terrible, even on a 50" hdtv, but obviously the picture quality of even the special editions is far better, even on DVD. Since the special edition of Empire has so few changes from the original, I'll generally choose the special edition of Empire over the original, but I find that I still prefer the original versions of ANH and ROTJ, even with the inferior picture quality.

I concur with this. While joking about the $495 I wasn't joking about owning unopened set and I know what's on it because I have a second copy that I have opened and viewed. Back then I was buying two of everything I bought. As mentioned, obviously not the same pic quality as more recent and altered versions but not terrible, and frankly I find it in many regards better than many SD broadcasts of some movies, just not retouched. Beyond this you'd have to go to certain VHS versions, which I also own two sets of and am just waiting on a LED tv/vcr combo that converts 480 VHS to 1080i

Get this set from Amazon. Current used price starts at about $100.

I purchased my set before the blu was announced and I paid around 40 bucks for it.