Director Peyton Reed (Ant-Man & the Wasp) has been asking Lucasfilm to release the unmodified 1977 original version of Star Wars on Blu-ray. In fact, fans have also been exhorting them for years to make the original Star Wars trilogy movies available in the most original version, but, so far Disney and Lucasfilm haven’t shown any willingness on their part to do such a thing.
We all know how the father of Star Wars, George Lucas had tampered with the original trilogy fims and converted them into “Special Editions” with massive overhauls such as add on CGI, sound effects etc. He kept playing with the franchise till the time he sold it to Disney. He declared the “Special Edition Star Wars” movies to be the “final” version and he even stated that the original cuts of the film don’t exist anymore.
At one point of time, there was a poor quality bonus feature of the originals. But, if you are someone who wishes to watch the pre-Special Edition films then you will have to either rely on VHS or Laserdisc (or you can check the internet for the illegal fan created “de-specialized” versions if you are game for that).
In fact, Lucasfilm are probably not willing to consider taking the original theatrical versions of that Star Wars trilogy out of the closet and releasing it on HD physical media of the day, however, the fans don’t stop clamouring. Now the fan plea has been joined by the Ant Man&The Wasp director who has effectively begged Lucasfilm to be considerate and do the Blu-ray release of the 1977 Star Wars.
We don’t think that Reed’s appeal will compel Lucasfilm any more than the constant pleas of the common fans. However, since he is the director of MCU films such as Ant-Man and its sequel, he does belong to the same exalted category as Lucasfilm. Still, he is trying and there is nothing wrong with that.
In fact, fans like Reed might have been believing that since George Lucas is no longer a decision maker in the Star Wars universe, Lucasfilm might consider their request and come out with the Blu-ray and DVDs of the original unadulterated trilogy, however, the company still seems to follow the rules laid down by Lucas.
On the face of it, it is a very lucrative thing for them to release the same and make a lot of money on those movies covered with dust, but, they have some very real reasons behind not doing so and those are not cruel reasons. The biggest challenge is the Rights issue with 20th Century Fox that will come into play if the Original versions were to be released and also the technical cost of doing full HD reworks of the original negatives (assuming they exist).
Nostalgia driven fans and Star Wars geeks don’t buy these rights and cost arguments, but, frankly all that happens in Star Wars universe is determined on the scale of cost vs. estimated profit and that’s a parameter even strictly enforced since Disney has come into the picture. Therefore, we would advise Reed to not become too hopeful of seeing those Star Wars originals in the pure 1977 form on Blu-ray. They might not even exist other than the few VHS copies that some old timers might have in store.
