robb
02-10-04, 03:55 PM
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13471,00.html?tnews
"Star Wars" Finally DVD Bound
by Josh Grossberg
Feb 10, 2004, 10:45 AM PT
The Force is going to be with all of us pretty soon.
After years of fan begging, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have finally announced plans to rollout the original Star Wars trilogy as a four-disc DVD box set on Sept. 21.
"We know how long fans have waited for this release and how much they have been looking forward to it, so everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience," says Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's vice president of marketing and distribution who's also an executive producer of the DVD.
George Lucas' original Star Wars saga--that is 1977's Star Wars (aka Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope), 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's The Return of the Jedi--had been the last of Hollywood's megafranchises to make the jump to DVD, and definitely the most requested. The three films rank 1-2-3 on Amazon.com's most-requested DVD list and top the most-wanted polls at several DVD-centric Websites.
No word yet how much the set will retail for, but expect sales to hit hyperspace and easily surpass the $50 million-plus Lucasfilm earned from its other huge DVD set, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, which currently ranks as the title of top-selling box set of all time.
The DVD debut is being timed to revive interest in the blockbuster space opera in the months before May 2005 opening of the final prequel, Star Wars: Episode III. Both 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm also hope the September release date will make the Star Wars box the perfect stocking stuffer. (The first two prequels, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II--The Attack of the Clones, are already available.)
The collection will include only the 1997 special-edition versions of the three films. According to Ward, the box set will feature commentary from Lucas and new interviews with cast members for all three films. The fourth disc will include some never-before-seen footage and a new two-hour documentary, as well as featurettes on storyboarding, production design, costumes and special effects. Each of the flicks has been digitally restored and remastered by THX for superior sound and image quality.
"We want watching this DVD collection to be as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time," says Ward.
Since debuting in 1977, Star Wars has become the biggest movie franchise in Tinseltown history. Fox has sold more than 115 million copies of the films worldwide on VHS and laserdisc.
But while the Star Wars DVDs are bound to do Jabba-like sales, some Force freaks were disturbed by Tuesday's announcement. The diehards believe Lucas has gone over the dark side by only including the special-edition versions of the films, which feature some additional scenes and spiffed-up special effects, and not the original theatrical releases.
According to Peter Bracke, editor of DVDfile.com, some fanatics are griping because Lucas didn't heed some Internet-based petitions to release both versions of the trilogy on DVD, something akin to what Fox did by issuing multiple cuts of Alien on the recent Alien Quadrilogy box set.
"It's actually pretty disappointing. Star Wars is the holy grail of DVD and the most requested title ever, and I think fans were expecting more like the Alien Quadrilogy," says Bracke.
"One extra disc and a couple of hours of supplementary material isn't going to cut it. Hundreds of millions of people saw these movies in the '70s and not to make it available...it's as though history has disappeared."
Of particular ire to original trilogy fans is the cantina confrontation between Han Solo and the bounty hunter Greedo. In the 1977 version of Star Wars, the proactive Han simply outdraws Greedo. In the newer version, Greedo infamously fires his laser first and misses, leading Han to shoot in self-defense. Star Wars hardies say Han would never have let Greedo shoot first. (There's even a site dedicated to Greedo Conspiracy Theory.)
Bracke also compares the Star Wars set unfavorably to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings special-edition discs.
"Extras-wise, every Lord of the Rings film gets a six-hour documentary," says Bracke. "Star Wars deserves more than."
According to Ward, however, it's quality, not quantity that matters.
"The challenge we have is how do you make it fresh and interesting for the hardcore fans and come at it from a different angle," explains Ward. "We can't just pile the world on this."
Ward also says that as much as Lucas appreciates his fans' input, his creative mojo is what matters in the end.
"When George originally created the movies back in '77 he could only take them so far because of the technology, so those [special editions] are the official versions of the films," says Ward. "It's the artist's right to represent his work the way he'd like to, and in George's mind, that's the vision for him."
"Star Wars" Finally DVD Bound
by Josh Grossberg
Feb 10, 2004, 10:45 AM PT
The Force is going to be with all of us pretty soon.
After years of fan begging, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have finally announced plans to rollout the original Star Wars trilogy as a four-disc DVD box set on Sept. 21.
"We know how long fans have waited for this release and how much they have been looking forward to it, so everyone has been working overtime to make sure that the Star Wars trilogy on DVD is an awesome experience," says Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's vice president of marketing and distribution who's also an executive producer of the DVD.
George Lucas' original Star Wars saga--that is 1977's Star Wars (aka Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope), 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's The Return of the Jedi--had been the last of Hollywood's megafranchises to make the jump to DVD, and definitely the most requested. The three films rank 1-2-3 on Amazon.com's most-requested DVD list and top the most-wanted polls at several DVD-centric Websites.
No word yet how much the set will retail for, but expect sales to hit hyperspace and easily surpass the $50 million-plus Lucasfilm earned from its other huge DVD set, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, which currently ranks as the title of top-selling box set of all time.
The DVD debut is being timed to revive interest in the blockbuster space opera in the months before May 2005 opening of the final prequel, Star Wars: Episode III. Both 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm also hope the September release date will make the Star Wars box the perfect stocking stuffer. (The first two prequels, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II--The Attack of the Clones, are already available.)
The collection will include only the 1997 special-edition versions of the three films. According to Ward, the box set will feature commentary from Lucas and new interviews with cast members for all three films. The fourth disc will include some never-before-seen footage and a new two-hour documentary, as well as featurettes on storyboarding, production design, costumes and special effects. Each of the flicks has been digitally restored and remastered by THX for superior sound and image quality.
"We want watching this DVD collection to be as memorable as seeing the movies for the first time," says Ward.
Since debuting in 1977, Star Wars has become the biggest movie franchise in Tinseltown history. Fox has sold more than 115 million copies of the films worldwide on VHS and laserdisc.
But while the Star Wars DVDs are bound to do Jabba-like sales, some Force freaks were disturbed by Tuesday's announcement. The diehards believe Lucas has gone over the dark side by only including the special-edition versions of the films, which feature some additional scenes and spiffed-up special effects, and not the original theatrical releases.
According to Peter Bracke, editor of DVDfile.com, some fanatics are griping because Lucas didn't heed some Internet-based petitions to release both versions of the trilogy on DVD, something akin to what Fox did by issuing multiple cuts of Alien on the recent Alien Quadrilogy box set.
"It's actually pretty disappointing. Star Wars is the holy grail of DVD and the most requested title ever, and I think fans were expecting more like the Alien Quadrilogy," says Bracke.
"One extra disc and a couple of hours of supplementary material isn't going to cut it. Hundreds of millions of people saw these movies in the '70s and not to make it available...it's as though history has disappeared."
Of particular ire to original trilogy fans is the cantina confrontation between Han Solo and the bounty hunter Greedo. In the 1977 version of Star Wars, the proactive Han simply outdraws Greedo. In the newer version, Greedo infamously fires his laser first and misses, leading Han to shoot in self-defense. Star Wars hardies say Han would never have let Greedo shoot first. (There's even a site dedicated to Greedo Conspiracy Theory.)
Bracke also compares the Star Wars set unfavorably to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings special-edition discs.
"Extras-wise, every Lord of the Rings film gets a six-hour documentary," says Bracke. "Star Wars deserves more than."
According to Ward, however, it's quality, not quantity that matters.
"The challenge we have is how do you make it fresh and interesting for the hardcore fans and come at it from a different angle," explains Ward. "We can't just pile the world on this."
Ward also says that as much as Lucas appreciates his fans' input, his creative mojo is what matters in the end.
"When George originally created the movies back in '77 he could only take them so far because of the technology, so those [special editions] are the official versions of the films," says Ward. "It's the artist's right to represent his work the way he'd like to, and in George's mind, that's the vision for him."