"Star Wars" Blu-ray Sets Announced

[JOE SOAP]

I have to admit, all these scenes make me want to buy the blu ray - but I won't. I'll wait until the bootleg collections hit ebay.

Or just download the scenes from youtube, they're in 1080p. I did this directly from youtube and they came down as mp4s.

[locustsofdeath!]

Or just download the scenes from youtube, they're in 1080p. I did this directly from youtube and they came down as mp4s.

Really? I had no idea they'd be that high quality. Thanks!

[JOE SOAP]

If you select the resolution at the bottom of the play montior then download it, should be fine.

[Beaky Smoochies]

I have to admit, all these scenes make me want to buy the blu ray - but I won't. I'll wait until the bootleg collections hit ebay.

I most certainly ain't buying the Blu Ray, but those deleted scenes from ... Jedi (Vader contacting Luke via the Force while Luke builds his new lightsaber, the bunker raid, the alien pilots, the rebel gunners on the Falcon, and the Emperor telling Jerjerrod to target the Endor moon if the shield is disabled) are all top-notch stuff that really shouldn't have been cut, they add a real dynamic quality to the film (and certainly wouldn't have diminished the overall narrative flow, in fact, quite the opposite, IMHO)... or rather would have had they not been trimmed, it would have been interesting if Lucasfilm had provided audio commentaries or introductions to the deleted scenes so we could have a window into the editing process of those movies, alas...

[radiator]

This made me chuckle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JkPKZhXth7M

[Beaky Smoochies]

Wow, that only took about 72 hours, looks like Luca$ has once again called on the Dark Side and gotten the lawyers to prod Youtube into removing the Blu Ray deleted scenes, so anyone who hasn't bought/isn't buying the new box set(s), and just want to have a butcher's at the deleted scenes online, you're outta luck now... thank goodness I watched 'em all by Sunday morning ...

[Robert Frazer]

While the deleted scenes from Return of the Jedi are interesting, I can see why many of them were cut. The fight scene in the bunker doesn't fit - the surrounding scenes are portrayed as a sneaky infiltration (with the later twist that the Empire deliberately let them into the bunker without serious resistance in order to bait the trap) which a big noisy gunfight would certainly have spoiled - not to mention that all of the stormtroopers collapsing into a crumpled pile of laundry in the middle of the corridor looks pretty stupid and undermines the drama. Cutting Luke's construction of his lightsaber makes the shock of him unleashing it on the Sail Barge all the more potent, as well as providing greater depth when Vader studies the weapon on Endor - if we saw Luke building it only an hour of movie-time beforehand he would still be a young pup in the audience's eyes, but in the final cut we have a better appreciation of his growth and development and assured command of himself between films. The sandstorm scene does little more than mark time (not to mention that Han already did the "I can't see anything, my eyes must be getting better" joke in the Sail Barge scenes) and the wipe from rushing from the exploding Barge to roaring into space in the final cut is much more pacy and propels us with greater drive into the next act.

The one exception are the Death Star control room scenes, which hint at something promising - it would have been quite intense to have a high-octane game of reactions through the innards of the Death Star, ping-ponging between the Rebel fighters frantically twisting and turning through the scaffolding, and the Imperial controllers poring over schematics and construction plans as they try to anticipate their routes and shut them off. There isn't enough footage to fully realise that idea, though (or...*deep breath* maybe these scenes could be reshot for the next cut with the advantage of modern CGI? *hides under table*), and the final cut did still successfully convey a sense of the claustrophobia of maneouvring inside the Death Star. On balance, though, I'd say that the cuts are quite sensible and the theatrical edition was better for them.

[Beaky Smoochies]

Great analysis Robert, I think you're probably right about those deleted scenes, it would've been nice to hear or read an introduction to those scenes on the Blu Ray as to why they were actually cut in the first place, but I think you're pretty much dead-on about the reasons for their trimming from the final cut, they are still good and very interesting scenes though...

[Beaky Smoochies]

... although I still respectfully disagree they should have been cut, I genuinely think they would have enhanced rather than detracted from the final theatrical version (excluding the sandstorm sequence, which was rightly cut, in my opinion), but y'know, horses for courses and all that - it's still a hell of a better film than any of the prequels, and in my opinion, is the third AND FINAL Star Wars movie, 'nuff said!

[auxlen]

http://cheezfailbooking.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/funny-facebook-fails-george-lucass-sandwich.jpg

[Goaty]