I agree whole heartedly with your first paragraph. I would suggest, though, that if Disney does this at some point, it won't be motivated by a desire to appease "fans who lost their patience" it will be based purely on economics.
Well, of course. that's been my point. I think you can potentially make an economic case for it, but the question is whether you can do so right this second. It would seem to make more sense to, for example, hold off on the release of any such restoration until at least shortly before or around the same time of Ep. VII. And that's the absolute earliest. There's still the very real consideration of whether it's worthwhile to do so in the BD format, or whether it's worth waiting to see if, for example, 2K sets catch on. Or if and when 4K sets do. Then there's the issue that disc-based formats are -- at least from what I gather -- viewed as a dying format, and meanwhile the broadband infrastructure that's out there isn't QUITE at the point to support higher res streaming. I'm actually not even sure if "HD" streaming is actually 1080p; it might just be 720p, in which case, why bother restoring it right this second?
If the special editions were never utilized again, and the unaltered trilogy in HD was all that was available, who would complain? Anyone?
What if the restored unaltered original trilogy was all that was ever released on any format from this point on, all that was ever on cable, or ever re-released into theaters or converted to 3D?
If Disney is going to "preserve" Star Wars, and I think they should, wouldn't they want to preserve what made the franchise what it is today?
When the next box set comes out, probably Episodes 1-9, let those special editions sit in the back on some sort of special features disc. Put the real Star Wars front and center.
My true hope is that JJ wants Episode VII to look more like the unaltered versions, and so is advising Disney they need restoring.
Honestly, I doubt too many people would complain, but some of the kids who grew up with the SEs might find it curious. For better or worse, it's important to remember that there IS a generation out there that's never seen anything other than, at best, the crappy LD rips from the 2006 packaging.
I wouldn't count on JJ wanting the new film to "look" like IV-VI, though. Technology has moved so far past it, and if you look at his other work, he's perfectly happy to do massive digital effects. Honestly, as much as the prequels get crap for overusing CGI, I think the real issue was that they weren't also supported by a good story. If the CGI had been what it was, but the story had kicked ass, nobody would've cared that things looked overlit or whathaveyou. It's because the story itself is weak that you start focusing on the details in the visuals.
Unless Lucas did something really devious, like keeping no other restored film than the SEs, then they should have a the restored clean film to work from. They cleaned an original print, so I can't see you'd do that and not save it, unaltered, then add the SE stuff on it. I'd be happy with the new ending, minus Hayden and the stupid Jabba song, and the original soundtrack I was used to growing up. Luke should not say "You were lucky to get out of there" or whatever crap he says now on Dagobah when R2 is eaten!
Even if he did, there are other prints out there that exist. Some of which are surely in good condition. As for Luke's line, that was original. One of the weirdnesses of the OOT is that it's actually not JUST one film. There were different sound mixes released even at the time of initial release. For example, I THINK the "Close the blast doors!" line was actually in one of the original audio mixes for Star Wars. And Luke's "You were lucky to get out of there!" line was as well for ESB. I think the reason we tend to believe otherwise is that we grew up with a particular audio mix on the various VHS editions, so that became the "official liturgy," in a manner of speaking.
So...basically they were doing exactly what we do here? Sheesh. This is why I find it somewhat dubious to listen to these "inside news" sites. Half the time I think they're as reliable as the BSing we do here. :lol
i will retract my official boycott of star wars if they release the original trilogy. take that di$ney!
From my end, I'm not "boycotting" anything -- officially or unofficially. I'm just...not interested in spending money on movies I don't want to watch or own. I'm not buying the Hannah Montana movie either, but I wouldn't say I'm "boycotting" it.
