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Dpp1978 -> RE: The Force Is Strong With... Disney (31/10/2012 11:04:44 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Brundlesflies
One thing I doubt we'll see anytime soon though is the OT-non-special editions on Blu-Ray
Firstly there'd need to be a huge expenditure involved to release anything half decent - let's face it the Laserdisc versions added to the DVD release were pretty ropey. As I understand it, when the Spec Eds were produced they had to completely restore the negative and then the extra stuff was spliced in. To release a HD version where Han shoots first, there's no Jabba etc, wouldn't Disney have to get hold of an unaltered negative and carry out the same work? - really can't see them coughing up to do that. They didn't seem too bothered about fan-feelings when they released The Avengers Blu-ray.
Disney have a world class, well funded, asset management and preservation programme. Assuming part of the deal is the transfer of the original production elements, and I can't see how it wouldn't be, they are probably in better hands at Disney than they ever were at Lucasfilm. Even the stuff Disney has no intention of ever letting back into the light again (Song of the South, the uncensored version of Fantasia, etc.) is preserved and safe. It is the difference between the preservation of a film for posterity and the remastering for re-release. There is an unaltered archival restoration, recorded back to film, for all Disney titles, and the release masters which we ultimately get on Blu-ray and DVD. They are different things with different purposes.
All the material for the Original Trilogy still exists, it just needs to be re-assembled. While it is expensive: probably too expensive for a relatively small company like Lucasfilm, for a major media corporation the economy of scale comes into play. The budget, equipment and staff to carry out this sort of work is already in place. It only requires the will to do so
That doesn't mean they'll release the '77 cut, even if they were to rebuild it, but I'm more hopeful now than I've been for a long time. Disney has a duty to its shareholders whereas Lucas only had a duty to himself. It is one of the key differences between a private and a public company. It becomes less about fan feelings, and more about whether the bean counters think it is financially advantageous to release it.
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