# Lucas says: no original Star Wars on DVD for you! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609 "2003-02-08T00:14:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/41 "2003-02-10T01:13:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hampshire \* > \*\* > > Yoda was supposed to be the groundbreaking CGI character of the year, but OMG was Gollum incredible!! Put yoda to shame. \*\* My ass puts Yoda to shame. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/42 "2003-02-10T01:27:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RikWriter \* > \*\*“Connections?” > They’re sold on freaking ebay, dude. You just have to catch the auction before the Lucasdrones find it and have it shut down. \*\* Well, color me bemused by this little factoid. Bemused I say. Can they really make ‘all region’ DVDs? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/43 "2003-02-10T02:36:35Z")
I can’t explain exactly why, but the big shockwave coming off the Death Star explosion bothered me even more than Greedo’s shooting first. Maybe it’s because the Greedo scene isn’t at the climax of the movie, or that the _real_ version of the scene is burned into my memory at this point. But the Death Star explosion is the crucial point of the entire movie, and it looked better in 1977 than it did in 199x. (I forget when the special editions came out.) It’s like giving Michaelangelo’s _David_ a Vanilla Ice-style haircut; it replaced something that was a seminal image, one of those perfect movie moments, with just another CGI fad. The shame is that a lot of the stuff in the special editions really does improve the movies – especially the windows on Cloud City in _The Empire Strikes Back_. They just didn’t know when to leave well enough alone. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/44 "2003-02-10T03:00:59Z")
Would those be the impossible windows in Cloud City that show outside even when they should be showing the interior? 🙂 Liked the little touch but like most of the rest of the special editions it was piled on too high. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/45 "2003-02-10T03:20:57Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s his right to make them the way he always wanted to, and I’m all for it. But he still needs to preserve the original versions. **He owes it to the fans** , he owes it to everyone who ever worked on the films, he owes it to film historians and he owes it to generations of film lovers as yet unborn. I have to disagree with this statement. Lucas doesn’t owe the fans original dvd editons of Star Wars any more than MGM owes me restored versions of _For Me and My Gal_ and _Summer Stock_. When a moviegoer buys a ticket to a movie, he/she is entitled to see the movie in the theater that one time. Once the movie is over, the transaction is complete, and neither side owes the other anything else. When the fans buy the merchandising, they are entitled to the toys they are buying, and nothing else. Having spent a lot of money on the theatrical releases, toys, vhs tapes, laserdiscs, novels, and artwork dosesn’t entitle the fans to anything other that exactly what they bought. However, I think Lucas is foolish for not releasing the originals on DVD. Release them as a deluxe boxed set, add a bunch of extras, and charge a premium price for them, and he’d make a buttload of money to use for his technological toys, and he’d make the hardcore fans happy at the same time. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ season sets sell for about $40 compared to ST:TNG for about $100, the difference being the much higher demand for the much higher profile Star Trek. Likewise, Universal expected to make a profit on _Back to the Future_ at $40 a pop; Lucas could price the originals at, say, double that and have a 200-300% profit margin, and sales would still go throught the roof. I think it’s a poor business decision, and artistically bankrupt not to release the originals on dvd; I won’t be buying the SE dvd’s when they come out. I’d pay $100 tomorrow for a boxed set of the original trilogy. But my desire to have it doesn’t mean that I’m entitled to it. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/46 "2003-02-10T09:22:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Well, color me bemused by this little factoid. > > Bemused I say. Can they really make ‘all region’ DVDs? \*\* Region 0 DVDs are sold in the shops, Jonathan. Music discs are often Region 0 - albums being released simultaneously all over the world, there’s no need to up costs by staggering the video release - as are old films. The first Night of the Living Dead release was R0, for example. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/47 "2003-02-11T01:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hampshire \* > **Do you think Lucas cringes at the success of LOTR?** [Nation’s Love Affair With _Lord Of The Rings_ Threatening Its Relationship With _Star Wars_](http://www.theonion.com/onion3904/nations_love_affair.html) Ah, the Onion. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/48 "2003-02-11T04:15:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\*I envy your optimism. I fully expect Super-Special Editions where Han just talks Greedo out of the need for any shooting at all. \*\* Is this where they replace all the blaters with walkie-talkies to make it more kid friendly? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/49 "2003-02-11T04:36:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HPL \* > \*\*Is this where they replace all the blaters with walkie-talkies to make it more kid friendly? \*\* I hear the lightsabers become pillows. Darth and Obi-Wan have a pillowfight on the Death Star. And remember when Han is tortured on Bespin? Now they tickle him. And now Luke just sings the Rancor to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/50 "2003-02-11T07:25:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\* > > In other words, you’ll ultimately have to pay about $150 for the original movies on DVD. \*\* Says you. 😉 I’ve given up on Lucas. He’s washed up and has no ideas left. He’d be on the street if he,. um… didn’t own half of Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/51 "2003-02-11T09:29:30Z")
Er, don’t go to Ebay for bootleg discs. Do a little searching on Google for “Star Wars DVD” and a bounty of helpful and reliable links will appear… ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/52 "2003-02-11T10:53:50Z")
Having recently come into a big of Star Wars (and various other movie trivia) I feel I have the perfect answer to Lucas statement. [sound=wilhelmscream] ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/53 "2003-02-11T15:18:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Death \* > \*\*Region 0 DVDs are sold in the shops, Jonathan. Music discs are often Region 0 - albums being released simultaneously all over the world, there’s no need to up costs by staggering the video release - as are old films. The first Night of the Living Dead release was R0, for example. \*\* I did a story about counterfeit DVDs just a couple of weeks ago. There are no legal “Region: All” DVDs. It’ll be a number from 1 to 5. – That’s according to the Motion Picture Distributor’s Assn. Now, anyone can _make_ a DVD that will play in all regions, but it won’t be legally indicated as such. As for counterfeits, most of 'em are pretty crap, but some are _perfect_. Perfect artwork on the case, and the master DVD code has been copied. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/54 "2003-02-11T15:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barbarian \* > \*\*I did a story about counterfeit DVDs just a couple of weeks ago. There are no legal “Region: All” DVDs. It’ll be a number from 1 to 5. – That’s according to the Motion Picture Distributor’s Assn. > > Now, anyone can _make_ a DVD that will play in all regions, but it won’t be legally indicated as such. \*\* I’m a little unclear on what you’re saying here. Are you saying that some law, somewhere, _requires_ that a DVD be indicated as specific to one region? If so, I’m calling bullshit. Region coding isn’t legally mandated, and the only labeling restriction would be that the label be truthful and not harmful to consumers – you could probably label an all-region disc as “Region 1,” but couldn’t label a Region 1 disc as “all-region.” If, say, Warner Bros. wanted to release its next film as an all-region disc, there is nothing legally preventing it from doing so. And if I’m misunderstanding you, color me whooshed and please clarify your remarks. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/55 "2003-02-11T15:50:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\*I’m a little unclear on what you’re saying here. Are you saying that some law, somewhere, _requires_ that a DVD be indicated as specific to one region? If so, I’m calling bullshit. > > Region coding isn’t legally mandated, and the only labeling restriction would be that the label be truthful and not harmful to consumers – you could probably label an all-region disc as “Region 1,” but couldn’t label a Region 1 disc as “all-region.” > > If, say, Warner Bros. wanted to release its next film as an all-region disc, there is nothing legally preventing it from doing so. > > And if I’m misunderstanding you, color me whooshed and please clarify your remarks. \*\* Agreed. I have several legit all-region discs, such as the older version of _Grave of the Firefies_ and _Trinity and Beyond_, and several multiregion discs that are marked 1, 2, and 4. This is off the top of my head without looking at my collection. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/56 "2003-02-11T15:54:37Z")
[quote] I did a story about counterfeit DVDs just a couple of weeks ago. There are no legal “Region: All” DVDs. It’ll be a number from 1 to 5. – That’s according to the Motion Picture Distributor’s Assn. Now, anyone can make a DVD that will play in all regions, but it won’t be legally indicated as such. [/uoqte] Absoultely wrong, Barbarian. I’ve got piles of perfectly legal region 0 DVD’s. Several smaller DVD publishers in the US put out many titles as region 0 including the aforementioned Night of the Living Dead release (from Scimitar, IIRC). Also, legitimate DVD releases in Hong Kong are also region 0 (though with those you have to know what publishers don’t pirate the movie; I stick with the ones who distribute the movie in the US as well since major chains like Suncoast and Best Buy aren’t going to intentionally carry pirated films). The major studios avoid putting out region 0 movies and some of my films from Paramount won’t play on a region free player but they’re not the only people out there. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/57 "2003-02-11T15:58:49Z")
I should mention that Hong Kong is actually region 4, but just about the only movies released there with that region coding are the Hollywood big studio films. I guess the presses are just set for region 0 and they keep them at it no matter what they’re turning out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/58 "2003-02-11T16:01:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Just Some Guy \* > \*\*I should mention that Hong Kong is actually region 4, but just about the only movies released there with that region coding are the Hollywood big studio films. I guess the presses are just set for region 0 and they keep them at it no matter what they’re turning out. 🙂 \*\* Nope, Australia is R4, as are Latin and South America. Hong Kong is mashed in with the rest of Southeast Asia as R3, instead of being with China as R6. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/59 "2003-02-11T16:32:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barbarian \* > \*\*I did a story about counterfeit DVDs just a couple of weeks ago. There are no legal “Region: All” DVDs. It’ll be a number from 1 to 5. – That’s according to the Motion Picture Distributor’s Assn. > \*\* Then the MPDA are talking utter wank, and so are you. For a start, there are _six_ DVD regions, not five. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609/60 "2003-02-11T17:17:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Do you think Lucas cringes at the success of LOTR? Lucas said that LOTR:TTT had the best special effects he’s ever seen. [sorry, I have no cite. He said it on the phone to someone I know.] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-says-no-original-star-wars-on-dvd-for-you/153609.md?page=4)