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A solution to Original Star Wars trilogy fans

Recoil

Regular
As I am sure you know, George Lucas has announced he will not be releasing the ORIGINAL versions of the classic trilogy on DVD, only the Special Edition. Well worry not fans who don't like George's "han solo shoots first" version with other pointless changes there are two options still at your disposal.

1) Laser Disc. They were released on Laser Disc several years ago, and in 5.1 format. While Laser Disc players are obsolete with DVD out there, the players are pretty cheap these days, and if you are a big enough fan, it may be worth it to buy the player and the Laser Discs if you want to have the original. It will play great in any home theater.

2) DVD rips. Yes, there are bootleg DVD rips out there (most taken from the Laser Disc format) that you can download and burn to DVD for use in a DVD player. The quality is supposed to be very good. Yes, they are bootleg copies, but lets face it, if GL isn't going to get us what we want, we need to get it whatever way we can.

I think I am going to try option 2 first and see how the quality is. If I'm not satisfied I may order the Laser Disc versions and go that route.
 
While Laser Disc players are obsolete with DVD out there, the players are pretty cheap these days, and if you are a big enough fan, it may be worth it to buy the player and the Laser Discs if you want to have the original.

True, but I believe the discs themselves are mad expensive.
 
Yea probably about $40 to $50 a disc, and since its a trilogy...but still if its the only way then I suppose its the only way.
 
What is this whole "han solo shoots first" issue? I've seen it mentioned, but don't know.
 
In the original theatrical release back in '77, Han shoots Greedo and makes his getaway. In the Special Edition, Greedo shoots first, somehow manages to miss at point-blank range, and Han kills him. Thus making Han a "nicer" character, which rather defeats the purpose of having him in the movie to begin with....

Ah well. My family won't toss the videos any time soon, that's for sure.
 
I was just curious so I took a peek on Ebay last night and laserdiscs of the original trilogy were going for between $20 and $50.
 
Just to expound and clarify on what Koshfan said:

The "issue" refers to the scene near the beginning of the film in the bar where Obi Wan meets and hires Han Solo to transport them. As Han leaves to prep the ship, he ecounters Greedo the bounty hunter, sent by Jabba the Hutt to kill or capture him. While they're at a table, talking shit to each other with Han at gunpoint, Han pulls a gun under the table and blasts Greedo, gets up, and tosses a coin at the bartender for he "mess."

This establishes him as a rogue, who will do anything to save his skin.

In the special edition, we instead see a blast from Greedo's pistol first which hits the wall next to Han's shoulder. Then we see Han's kill shot.

It is believed by its critics that Lucas did this in order to make Han less of a bad-ass, because Greedo firing first gives Han more of an excuse to kill him. Han's point blank kill shot is now an absolute last resort self-defense maneuvre instead of a preemptive, arguably cold-blooded attack. The problem with this is that it weakens the effect of Han's transformation from rogue to freedom-fighter if he's less of a rogue to begin with.

I personally don't think it's that big of a freakin' deal, but I am disgusted with the mentality behind it. It's bad enough to change how stuff looks, but to change what actually happened... ugh.
 
It is believed by its critics that Lucas did this in order to make Han less of a bad-ass, because Greedo firing first gives Han more of an excuse to kill him. Han's point blank kill shot is now an absolute last resort self-defense maneuvre instead of a preemptive, arguably cold-blooded attack. The problem with this is that it weakens the effect of Han's transformation from rogue to freedom-fighter if he's less of a rogue to begin with.

The other problem is that it establishes Greedo, allegedly a successful and dangerous bounty-hunter, as the worst shot in the universe* because he can't hit a stationary target from three feet away. :)

Regards,

Joe

* (worst shot not currently serving as an Imperial Storm Trooper, anyway)
 
(worst shot not currently serving as an Imperial Storm Trooper, anyway)

Remember in the beginning of the first movie when Obi Wan is all, "Imperial troopers are so precise, they don't make mistakes," etc. Ooh, scary. And then later you see them shooting at the floor and shit and smashing their heads against doors. For a Jedi knight, he sure scares easy.
 
I remember that as one of the great ironies of the series. When they come across the blasted Jawa Transport, Luke says "Sand People? Attacking something this big|?" and Obi Wan replies "No, those blaster marks were not made by Sand People. Only Imperial Storm troopers are so precise"

Yet, they dont land a single shot for the rest of the trilogy, even when there are 10 of them following behind someone at 10 yards away. ;)
 
Nitpickers might say that "precise" and "accurate" aren't the same thing. Somebody can be precise if he hits the same spot five times in a row -- but if he's actually aiming at something twenty yards away, he's not accurate. Even still, that's a bit of a cheap explanation....

Good old stormtroopers. Can't hit the broad side of a barn if a good guy's standing in front of it. Maybe there's the explanation! Jawas, being swindlers, don't qualify for the good-guy protection the heroes and heroines get.
 

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