[Enterprise Captain]

Originally Posted by horatio

By the way, if Lucas is really such a greedy, soulless bastard he should react to the demand for the original Wars. But obviously he doesn't because he cares first and above all about his vision, independent of whether it is liked or not. Real art is not an on-demand product.

Never said he was. He is probably a nice guy, but he is still a hypocrite:

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the [Special Edition] version." -George Lucas, 1997

"American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history... In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten." - George Lucas, 1988

Request Denied: Lucas Refuses to Co-Operate with Government Film Preservation Organizations

Originally Posted by horatio

All you can do is vote with your purse and criticize a movie.

That's why I didn't buy Star Wars on blu-ray.

[kevin]

Sometimes it's tempting to use the word 'pathological' about his drive. But it seems that if he won't provide suitable prints of the versions which were specifically selected for the registry - you take them off the registry and say 'bye, bye George'.

The original '77 and '80 films are the versions which had the very cultural impact that led to their selection for preservation in the first place. Which is why it is relevant those versions are stored for everyone. It isn't the tinkered with versions which were chosen, therefore they are not sought for storage.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

It's like he doesn't even realize what he's doing with some of these changes either. Han shooting first tells you about the character, changing that changes the movie. Adding all kinds of hustle and bustle to Tattoine destroys the point made in the original, that this is a desolate out of the way little corner of the galaxy. He's not just making subtle changes, he's changing the flavor of the films.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Although, as I have said in the past I do like changing the Emperor in Empire to be consistent with the other films. That is the one and only change I actually approve of.

[horatio]

Originally Posted by Enterprise Captain

Never said he was. He is probably a nice guy, but he is still a hypocrite:


Request Denied: Lucas Refuses to Co-Operate with Government Film Preservation Organizations

That's why I didn't buy Star Wars on blu-ray.

A change of opinion has nothing to do with hypocrisy and if the film preservation club doesn't accept the version of the movie which the director chose it is their loss.
It is a gift and not a duty to give them a copy of your movie. I don't wanna live in a world where artists are restricted by their corporate overlords (we all know what happened when Roddenberry had to Western-ify his second pilot in order to meet the demands of the studio, quality seriously declined) or their stupid consumers or even worse, some movie preservation club which has the audacity to tell the artist which piece of art is the final one.
That's like telling an author to deliver a manuscript which he doesn't like anymore because he has reworked it, an utterly disrespectful attitude towards creative work. It can be worse than the first version, the entire world can dislike it but this doesn't imply that he doesn't have absolute power over his creation and his property.

Strange world in which a lefty has to argue for basic property rights.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

They are his movies and he is free to do with them as he pleases, but we are just as free to decide how to feel about it.

[horatio]

I am all for ruthless critique and Wars fans making their demand for the original versions heard. But the site EC linked to basically implies that Lucas messed with our "cultural heritage", that the public has a right to view the original versions in the future. It doesn't, at least not while Lucas and his company are alive.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

I would not go so far as to say it's a right, but I will go so far as to say Lucas is an *** for not making them available.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

They are his movies and he is free to do with them as he pleases, but we are just as free to decide how to feel about it.

Absolutely, this is quite true. But in critiquing him I think his attitude about those originals is questionable.

I also don't disagree with the arguments made by the site author who seems perfectly reasonable and agreeable. I think preserving these things does matter, and it's not about the dull legality of who owns what. It's about responsibility for protecting them down the line. But there's nothing can be done re Lucas. He's not banned from making changes by any means or by anyone, and his films are not the only ones selected for such preservation. All that they sought was a print of the unaltered originals for that preservation effort. I find absolutely nothing unreasonable about that from said preservation perspective as in another forty years or so when copyright expires any versions left may possibly be too far gone to actually be preserved in a proper, viewable state.

Which, let's not beat about the bush - is likely what Lucas knows and wants to have happen.

Thing is, you can't really hit him in the pockets anymore since he has too much money. So probably the entire thing is moot.

[horatio]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

I would not go so far as to say it's a right, but I will go so far as to say Lucas is an *** for not making them available.

It is his creation (at least IV if you assume a Hitchcockian 'the director has absolute power' position) and he wants it. Even if one totally loathes the decision, artistic independence is more important.
A Swiss author has written in his autobiography that he burnt his manuscripts together with his secretary once per year. Many gems might have been lost in the fire but one has to respect it.
But once the author is dead the interest of the public should become more important. It's the old Kafka-Brod issue and I don't think that anybody disagrees with Brod who did not implement the wish of his friend but preserved his texts.

The same clear-cut approach can be used in the case of Lucas. While he lives one has to respect that he wants to undo the original versions but once he is dead (from a common-sensical point of view, from a legal perspective the copyright runs out 70 years later) every copy of the original version which is found should be preserved for the public.