So who's excited for the new trilogy DVD release?

[SDNess]

I am!

[Feralia]

it's about time, I've been waiting for this for a long time.

[Ivo]

I wasn't until I burned copies of the original releases from laser disk. I was dismayed greatly that Lucas had decided not to include them. Now that I do I feel my collection will be complete.

[Foxbat]

Me!

[I, Brian]

Sorry, I refuse to buy "soiled" imitations - ie, the new DVD box set release.

The original and best only, thanks.

[Foxbat]

Somehow I knew you were going to post that Brian

[Rane Longfox]

Are these versions actually any different?

[Foxbat]

The versions due for release are the ones with added CGI. Purists prefer the originals (which Lucas states willl never be released again).

Personally, I think Lucasfilms should do the decent thing and give the public a choice by releasing both versions.

[Rane Longfox]

Ah, so better special effects basically? could be cool, but I smell a cheque-monkey

[Foxbat]

Ah, so better special effects basically?

That's about the size of it. It seems strange that they don't think about releasing both versions. I'm sure that there are quite a few anoraks (I include myself in this group) who would probably buy both versions

[I, Brian]

The effects aren't better, though. In Star Wars, TIE Fighters now look like shiny plastic, and Jabba the Hutt looked so unrealistically and comedic it's unreal - much different to the menacing revulsion Jabba carried in Return of the Jedi.

It's not about being purist, as much as the fact that classics are classics, and should be left that way. It's rewriting history otherwise.

Imagine if a ghost-written novelisation of the Peter Jackson movies was the only version of Lord of the Rings that would ever be released - with the original Tolkien burned. Wouldn't that be a good idea? After all, the films made far more money than the books, so surely that justifies it?

The CGI'ed Star Wars versions are not the classic movies we saw as kids. The arrogance of the man dumping those horrendous prequels on us, then changing the original movies, is appalling.

A choice would satisfy me. In my opinion, Lucas is simply going to stoke a strong pirate market for the originals by insisting consumers only have access to the inferior later editions.

Lucas may think he's completing a vision - but as history has shown, Lucas needs strong criticism of his work to make it adequately strong. This is precisely what seems to have been lacking in his more recent work - hence why the sycophants he obviously works with having not protested any of the awful decisions he's made since returning to the sreen.

[Rane Longfox]

Well, I have the originals anyway. Mwahaha.

(Not the original originals, obviously, but copies that are no different...)

[Foxbat]

The effects aren't better

Hmm. Perhaps we should have said 'The effects have been updated'

[I, Brian]

Yes, but...shiny plastic TIE fighters?

Updated does not mean better - as we can see with all the splurge of poor CGI stuffed into popcorn films these days.

[Foxbat]

Updated does not mean better

Very true. And I agree that CGI is being overdone in films - it still has a novelty factor. No doubt things will settle down in time and we will start to see a much more mature blending of all types of special effects. The problem in this case lies solely with Lucas himself. I just cannot understand the man refusing to allow a release of the original versions. What makes it doubly ironic is that when the THX branded CAV Laser Discs were released, the films were lovingly restored for the occasion - so it's not as if he doesn't have a high quality version to put on the market.

I know I would feel aggrieved if they took the old Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films and added new footage so I have some sympathy for your position. Certainly didn't mean to tread on your toes