Most likely. If they'd transferred it anamorphically, they would've been able to deliver it that way for the DVD, but they didn't. In 1993 there wouldn't have been any reason to do anything but a letterboxed transfer (and a pan and scan one, standard practice at the time).
Exactly. Back then, "widescreen" (which was the same as "letterboxed," I believe) was the height of video entertainment because -- for the first time for most people -- you saw the full picture. Most consumers had no idea that their home versions of films were missing a significant portion of the original images. Pan and Scan made sense as a technology for the era (since nobody had widescreen TVs back then), but it's completely obsolete now. The problem is, so is the letterbox format, since it really only works on 4:3 displays. Even computer monitors and handheld devices have moved beyond that.
And which is why Disney, looking at ways to monetize this franchise will consider this bottom of the totem pole.
And for those who have used the Mona Lisa argument, looks like the old Masters altered their work quit a bit.
http://io9.com/these-secret-artistic-masterpieces-were-hidden-beneath-1626834333
Yeah, I agree with this, except insofar as they end up having to restore them for some kind of higher resolution release. If and when that happens, and if and when they can sort out the rights issues, I think they could end up doing that. But for the foreseeable future? It's fan edits/restorations or the '06 DVDs for folks.
Yes, but why produce a DVD of the same thing as the LD-rip bootlegs, when he could have sold a better version of it without much effort? Why just corner the remaining market for the bootlegs when he could be getting the ENTIRE bootleg market to RE-BUY it all?
Under normal circumstances GL would always be thinking with the latter logic. He wrote the book on merchandising. And he has traditionally given some pretty large sh*ts about the way his movies get viewed.
Well, it would've been SOME effort! They would've had to make new transfers of pre-SE prints. Which is totally doable, of course, but they were going with what they had to work with that was already on the shelf. Transfers are a little bit of a biggish thing to go about just for a "DVD extra." Not that I'm not with everyone else in wanting one, of course.
Yeah, it wouldn't have been a trivial expense. In essence, it would've involved rescanning material that had JUST been rescanned for the SEs, possibly redoing various digital enhancements (e.g. removing matte boxes, some of the additional background CGI like Cloud City, etc.). And while
we are passionate Star Wars fans who've bought multiple editions of the discs, I tend to agree with Bryan that
most consumers are casual fans at best, and therefore would've thought twice about buying the original, unedited versions as either a standalone set, or worse, a boxed set with the same discs they just bought.
You'll note that the '06 release was
only released as a combination set, which suggests to me that it was done for the "holdouts" like many of us, who didn't want to spend the money on versions they didn't care to watch. That was done to coax folks like us to invest in the SE by "sweetening the pot" and offering the bonus discs. It's actually a more economical approach, when you think about it. It requires far less effort and money to transfer the masters for the LD set onto DVD and package them with a finished product, then charge maybe $8 more retail for the SEs than it does to rescan and restore the OOT for hi-def release. And, in the process, you get to sell product to people who were already reluctant to buy.
Lastly, I do agree that there's an aspect of this where Lucas is
very concerned with the
artist's right to define their own work. He's been heavily involved in maintaining the artistic integrity of film -- in the sense of studios and third parties not mucking about with the artist's conception of the work. That, however, has never extended to the artist's
own conception of the work, which Lucas holds sacrosanct, and which means that an artist can, effectively, change their mind and subsequently change the work itself. Lucas, I think, believes that people should respect and accept the artist's vision as-is, in whatever format they get it, with whatever changes may accompany the latest release of the work. So, yeah, ultimately, there's an element of "Because I don't wanna" to answering the question, but it's not out of simple petulance or malice towards the fans. It's because Lucas has a very artist-centric view of what art means, and generally disregards the competing view that the audience's participation shapes the meaning of the work. It's your old high school English class debate about artist's intent vs. audience's interpretation, and Lucas -- with his artist-centric view -- hews almost completely towards the former.
One other point. If and when an archival release of the OOT is done, I would be absolutely floored if it was released independently of a megaset, or at least a trilogy set with the SEs. My theory is that releasing an OOT version as a standalone would (A) cause confusion in casual consumers, and (B) lead to competition with your own product. It's a lot easier to just bundle it all together and sell it to people at a higher price than to try to slice and dice the sets so that the hardcore OOT fans can buy JUST that version.
