[Chefelf]

This could be met with some criticism -- admittedly it isn't the STRONGEST argument in the world -- but I think it is worth mentioning.

Lucas refuses to release the original unedited versions of the movies, YET he releases the movie in widescreen AND full screen. Granted the added production costs of this are not huge, however keeping stores stocked with both copies and offering both does add a much higher cost than just one. What I would like to see instead is Widescreen Special Edition or Widescreen Original. No full screen.

Who wants full screen anyway? Who wants to not see everything in the movie? It sucks on smaller TVs but I have a 20" and I always get Widescreen.

[civilian_number_two]

Oh, he's just a bastard, no question. The effort to produce a quality pan and scan video (and it will be quality pan and scan) is greater than the effort to release the remastered print from which you derived the thing.

Lucas has moved into the realm of "total asshole" with his comment that there are financial considerations keeping him from releasing the films unchanged. That's like the story of the two guys in the elevator. See, one of them farts, and then blames the other guy.

We all know the truth! Why bother lying!!!!

[Give Me The Originals Dammit]

Lucas has moved into the realm of "total asshole" with his comment that there are financial considerations keeping him from releasing the films unchanged.

I wonder what those financial considerations are, funding his next epic crapfest? Perhaps it's that special edition of American Graffiti that he plans on releasing with the added scene where Ron Howard's character is revealed to be Darth Vader's other son sent to earth from a galaxy far far away. This of course will be digitally remastered with the 50's soundtrack replace by songs from vanilla ice... just as Lucas's "artistic vision" originally intended.

I guess there are other financial considerations as well. What if he did release the original versions along with the special edition DVD's? I don't think pan and scan or widescreen is the real question, but which of these two versions, the originals or "Georgy's vision" are going to sell better? I just don't think George Lucas's ego could take it if the originals outsold his "new and improved" versions.
Just a thought.

[Just your average movie goer]

I imagine Lucas would handle that with all the maturity of a two year old whose parents won't let him have an ice-cream.

[Give Me The Originals Dammit]

I imagine Lucas would handle that with all the maturity of a two year old whose parents won't let him have an ice-cream.

LOL! I suppose that would be the case. I'm wondering how fast those unsold versions of his upgraded version would go into the bargain bin if they went head to head against the originals.

[Chefelf]

Oh, he's just a bastard, no question. The effort to produce a quality pan and scan video (and it will be quality pan and scan) is greater than the effort to release the remastered print from which you derived the thing.

Yeah, that's the thing. I'd be MORE than happy to take a lesser quality OT on DVD. The quality of the "Last time in original form" trilogy set he released prior to the SE releases was fine with me. Just some tweaks to clean up the film quality but no additions to any scenes. I'd be more than happy with that.

I'll probably end up just having to make my own.

[Just your average movie goer]

I've said this before somewhere else... but releasing the original versions would come at no real extra expense, even if one ignored the fact that they would sell by the truckload.

He had to restore them anyway before adding in all the extra stuff. He could have saved a copy of each restored film, archived it somewhere and then proceeded to insert his wanky new additions and changes.

And if the problem is that he couldn't handle it if people preferred the originals over his new editions, then why not release one set that contained both versions of the trilogy? That way, he could always kid himself that people liked his new versions better.

His friend Steven Spielberg let people decide which version of the film they wanted to watch when he released ET on DVD. Why couldn't Lucas give the same consideration? I guess another question is why didn't Steven talk some sense into him? I thought friends don't let friends act like total dickheads.

[Helena]

Lucas is mad with power - I doubt that anyone could talk sense into him these days. To say that he's gone to the Dark Side is a surprisingly apt analogy. I read an interview with him in the Guardian newspaper the other day, in which he complained about the rampant consumerism of modern society, then proceeded - with a straight face - to defend the way he's made millions from Star Wars merchandising.

Isn't there an irony in the director of the Star Wars trilogy and the founder of LucasArtsLicencing, which earned a fortune from merchandising, lecturing us on the perils of consumerism? "Well, probably," Lucas cheerily replies. According to him, all those Darth Vader toys weren't just about making money but about sparking children's imaginations. "Toys give children the chance to extend the experience from the movie theatre into reality. They could take those toys, play and tell different stories. They could build fantasy worlds."

Yeah, right, George. Of course it's always different for you, isn't it?

[Just your average movie goer]

"In fact, after my new additions, the only way anyone will be able to relive the original movies is through performances by the Chefelf community, using the old Star Wars action figures and doing the voices."

[Helena]

Hey, we should get together sometime and do just that...

[Give Me The Originals Dammit]

I'm surprised he hasn't outright said that the original trilogy never existed, much like he claims there was never a Star Wars holiday special. Man this guy certainly does have a God complex.

[Paladin]

the more I read stuff like this, the more I start to believe that George Lucas has truely gone insane.

[Stongbah]

...much like he claims there was never a Star Wars holiday special...

A lot of people claim he's tried convince people there is no Holiday Special, but I've never actually seen a quote that supports it. Find me a quote and you shall be commended.

[Just your average movie goer]

Unfortunately, much as I would like to blame Lucas for the holiday special, I read that he was not involved in it. The Star Wars Holiday Special was the work of an evil third party. Perhaps Lucas gave them permission to make it but he didn't have a hand in how it turned out.

So if the problem with Lucas is that he has gone insane over time, then it must have started after 1982, at which point, both The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark had been released.

In 1983, he turned Star Wars into a standard Hollywood commercial venture with a lot of slapstick stupidity, muppets and Ewoks. And in 1984, he made his very first prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And we all know how that went.

Anyway, we can't blame Lucas for the holiday special. But that's okay, we've got enough dirt on him already.

[Give Me The Originals Dammit]

A lot of people claim he's tried convince people there is no Holiday Special, but I've never actually seen a quote that supports it. Find me a quote and you shall be commended.

Well I did try to find an exact quote, and I'm sad to say I could not find an exact quote from Lucas himself denying it's existance. (Found a lot of sites which claim he denies it, but no actual quote.) Guess I got so caught up in the bashing. LOL, Now that I think about it, my post could have been mistaken for me actually liking that The Star Wars Holiday Special. Yikes!!!!