This thread may be Pit certified, but I figure it’ll get more replies in here. We’ll see if it needs to be moved or not.
Did you hear that the Phantom Menace is going to be released on video only? It will not be released on DVD, because Lucas decided to bring out the trilogy on DVD, in 2006, when it’s complete. The nerve of that guy. Obviously, DVD is far superior to VHS in every way, but he just wanted to make that extra buck.
Any thoughts? (If this had been covered before, I apologize)
I have no idea whether the rumors of plots by the nefarious Lucas are true. However,
I’m curious how you think he will make more money by holding a product off the market. Do you think that the whole world will run out and buy VHS this year, then run out and buy DVD in six years? I’m trying to figure out how this scheme would work. Disney “retires” their stock on a rotating basis, but that allows them to reduce inventory on slow-selling items (then hyping them each time they’re brought out of retirement). Lucas hardly has the same sort of inventory issues. So wussup?
tomndebb, I’m sure there are some people that will do just that.
Why: George Lucas may very well do some more special effects work before the movie is release on video, similarly to the Star Wars re-releases that preceded “The Phantom Menace.” Also, DVDs usually have many extra features (director commentary, theatrical trailers, documentaries, etc…) that videos don’t have.
I should have provided more info in the OP. This is an excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:
He’ll make a bundle now, then make a bundle later when everyone wants the nice trilogy set on DVD.
BTW, I won’t buy the movie. It wasn’t that good to begin with. But, I’m sure many fans are quite upset that they won’t be able to view the film on high quality DVD. (Well, they’ll have to wait 6 long years)
George Lucas will make a bundle off of this movie however he releases it.
George Lucas will be criticized and called wicked however he releases it.
As far as I can tell, LucasFilm hasn’t released any of their films on DVD. I am not sure whether Lucas is afraid people will be able to get crystal clear slow motion to criticize his special effects (one rumor) or if the company doesn’t want there to be such an easy way to pirate high quality versions of its films (another rumor)
These conjectures make more sense to me than the internet rumors that he is waiting until they are all out so he can make extra money ten years from now. When the trilogy is finished there will be a six movie box set. Fans will buy it, even if they already bought the video. LucasFilm doesn’t have to go to extreme measure to get the movie sold twice.
Star Wars is space fantasy, it really shouldn’t be called sci-fi. You can find some Lucas sci-fi by watching THX-1138. I like the Star Wars films for what they are, fun romps. I think Lucas has created a fun fantastical world that is easy to enjoy. His dialouge leaves alot to be desired. (Empire Strikes Back has had the best dialogoue of any of the Star Wars films, so far. Not surprisingly it was helped along by the able hand of Leigh Brackett.)
I enjoyed the Phantom Menace and I ordered the video last week. It didn’t change my life, but I don’t think any movie could do that. (Unless they make a futuristic Mary Poppins with Attack umbrellas and tap dance routines)
Call me crazy, call me stupid and gullible (pauses while the insults fly…) but my husband and I own the original trilogy individually. We own the originally trilogy in a special box set. We own the digitally remastered box set of the original. We now own the Phantom Menace on video. We will own the other two on video. We will also own all six on DVD. Why? Why does a crack addict buy crack? We need them!
I don’t really feel like I’m being bilked out of money because I do own a DVD player and a VCR. I have multiple televisions. Plus, my husband and I got in to see the re-released movies and the new one for free due to a perk of his job. So, I didn’t spend $7-10 a pop to see the movies numerous times–it all equals out, I guess.
“You don’t have insurance? Well, just have a seat and someone will be with you after you die.” --Yes, another quality sig custom created by Wally!
A Jesusfied sig: Next time I covet thine opinion, I’ll ask for it!
For the record: Lucas has put out at least one of his movies on DVD: American Graffiti. And it’s a very special edition too, with an hour-long documentary and other extras.
He’s just another greedy billionaire. He wants everyone to buy it twice. Even those of you who say, “Well, I don’t own a DVD player, why should I care,” can’t say that you won’t buy one in 2002, or 2004, and be in the same boat as current owners. If you want it now, you have to buy VHS; if you want the best/cleanest version possible, you’ll have to buy the DVD when it’s released.
Lucas’s official excuse is that he’s “too busy” working on parts II and III to work on a DVD. Does he not have a staff? Does he have to oversee every little thing himself? Can’t he just sign off on a completed product? He’s just jerkin’ us around.
I would hazard to guess that though George Lucas directed American Grafitti it isn’t owned by his corporation, Lucasfilm. In fact, it’s a Universal Pictures release and a production of The Coppola Company (Francis Ford C’s predecessor to Zeotrope).
A bit of quick sluething reveals that with the exception of a couple of children’s films (i.e., The Land Before Time, etc.), no LucasFilm productions have been released on DVD. Certainly none of the big names (Indiana Jones, Star Wars and the ilk).
George is definitely holding out, as a general policy, but why?
Ah, I thought this topic was going to be about George Lucas’ other agenda. See David Brin’s article, “Star Wars” despots vs. “Star Trek” populists (“By now it’s grown clear that George Lucas has an agenda, one that he takes very seriously.”)
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned what I’m about to relate. Surprised because it’s the facts of the matter.
When George releases the entire six movie saga on DVD, he is going to include a shitload, and I mean a total overwhelming steaming shitload of extras that the world will have never seen before.
Not just commentary by several of the influential creative minds that went into making these movies possible, not just annotated screenplays, not just behind the scenes images, not just the trailers and making-of documentaries, not just interviews with cast and crew, not just storyboards, production designs, animatics, costume images, prop photos, and special effects descriptions…
But he’s also going to go into infinite detail about every creative decision that was ever made while these movies were being made - script writing, character changes, shot lists, compromises, production meetings, design alterations, crew decisions…
I am talking everything he can to make the most of the medium that is DVD, for the fans, the filmmakers, for the people who love just that whole aspect of making movies.
And something that mega can’t be done until all the Star Wars movies are completed.
Also, what are the people who liked Phantom Menace supposed to do when they want to see it again? Wait six years? Rent it everytime? Buying it on both VHS and DVD makes sense.
“You don’t have insurance? Well, just have a seat and someone will be with you after you die.” --Yes, another quality sig custom created by Wally!
A Jesusfied sig: Next time I covet thine opinion, I’ll ask for it!
O.K. For those of you who are semi-defending Lucas, here is one of his monopolistic deals. Hasbro bought the toy rights to The Phantom Menace for a large sum, mostly stock. Later, Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast. Wizards is the Maker of Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, and owners of TSR and Legend of the Five Rings Group.
Not even a month after the acquisition, Lucas sells the exclusive gaming rights for all Star Wars based games to Wizards and basically pulls the silences from West End Games.
If a deal like this was pulled in any other industry, an anti-trust suit would be filed.
If there is genuine monopolistic activity going on, here, someone will sue. This isn’t baseball. I’m perfectly willing to concede that Lucas is greedy, not idealistic. So what? Throwing “evil” into the mix requires a bit more support. He’s just making money the best way he knows how (and doing a fairly good job of it).
there are bootlegs of the original trilogy and episode one available on dvd. they were made from laserdisc versions of the movies. obviously the quality isn’t quite the same, but it sure beats vhs.
you just have to know where to find them. with the internet that shouldn’t be too hard.
GuanoLad, what’s your source? How do you know this?
History shows that giving away tons o’ free stuff is not the Lucas way. Even the current ‘very special widescreen VHS edition’ of TPM contains a booklet with art that’s just a reproduction of art already published by Lucas, merely repackaged. Yeah, THAT’S worth the extra $25…
Speculation at the moment is that Lucas is really waiting until the ‘next generation’ of home video players. It’s unclear what that’ll be, but at present there are several likely candidates, one being a fluorescent-light-read disc-based system that can hold half a terabyte (500 gigabytes, or more than 50 double-layer DVDs) on one disc. Lucas made statements to the effect that he wanted to wait for the next big thing after DVD before releasing the Star Wars movies, but then changed his tune to ‘until all six films are finished.’ Conveniently, the timeframe is about the same.
Yes, he owns the series; yes, he can do what he wants with the films. And yes, I have the right to bitch about it and try to get him to change his mind, unlikely though that may be.
I’m fairly sure it’s all about money. If you will recall, Lucasfilm had been planning to release the Star Wars trilogy on DIVX back when they thought that would be the format that took market dominance.
So let’s think about this…he says it’s all about quality, so he can give us more extras, better SFX, etc, so he can release all six at the same time in a set…
But at the same time, he was perfectly willing to release parts 4,5, and 6 when he thought he could get away with doing it as a pay-per-view.
Nope, I’m thinkin it has to be the money.
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Um, wasn’t that 'cus West End Games essentially went under? I don’t know about anybody else, but my friends who play the Star Wars roleplaying game are happy that somebody is now supporting it. Incidentally, Wizards did not get the exclusive game rights, as the card game rights are still with Decipher, who makes the popular Star Wars trading card game.
Tom: Yes, I think a lot of people will buy the VHS tape now and the DVD later. I know of a number of such people myself.
ARG: You forgot one piece of the money puzzle. They only released the widescreen version in a special collector’s edition pack, for $30 and up (depending on where you get it). I don’t want all the extra crap – just the widescreen version. But I ain’t paying $30 to see Jar Jar. (Others, however, might.)
Guano, neither one of those links says anything about the ‘shitload of extras’ that you list. Not one word about commentaries, storyboards, screenplays, interviews, costumes, or anything else. What I do see is Rick McCallum talking about ‘exploiting the medium,’ which, based on Lucasfilm’s current attitude, appears to mean ‘exploit home video for ever dollar we can wring out.’
I’ll ask again: what’s your source? What did you read that led you to believe that the things you list will actually be included on a Star Wars DVD?
The second link actually brings up a point I’ve been pondering: TPM was shown in a few theaters by digital projection. That being the case, that means that the movie has already been digitally encoded. That means that, for a bare-bones DVD release, all that’s left is the compression and making menus. So why the hell won’t he do it? I’d rather buy a bare-bones DVD today, and a special edition in six years, than VHS today and maybe a DVD when George manages to dig his way out from under his giant pile of money.
And, as some argue, what happens if George gets hit by a truck tomorrow? Parts 2 and 3 will never get made, and we’ll never see our ‘very special’ DVDs. Hey, it almost happened to Stephen King.
Screw Lucas. I’ll hoist the Jolly Roger before I buy his VHS tapes.