obsession with Detail

Ever since the “Special Edition” versions of the original Star Wars trilogy came out in 1997, George Lucas has sworn that he would never let the original theatrical releases of thoes films be seen again.

Now, Lucasfilm has announced that thoes vintage versions of the films will be released this September. So, once again, George Lucas is a big fat liar.

I already own five copies of the trilogy:

1. Origianl Edition on VHS
2. Special Edition on VHS
3. Original Edition on LaserDisc
4. Special Edition on LaserDisc [the only purchace I've ever made on EBay, by the way]
5. Special Editon plus on DVD (Lucas adulterated them a bit more)

And, yes, I fully expect to pony up for yet another copy.

The thing that irks me about this is what it says about Lucas, or rather re-confirms. I always thought the no-originals policy was dumb, but at least it demonstrated some sense of principle. Lucas could and did argue that he had the right as an artist to maintain control over his movies.

Fine.

Maybe he really even believed that once, or convinced himself he believed it. But this unexplained reversal only goes to show that Lucas cares about nothing except money, as if the entire prequel trilogy weren’t a clear enough demonstration of that.

So what? Don’t most film makers care about money? Probably, but the man who directed THX-1138 and American Graffitti and the original Star Wars clearly cared about something else too. That man is dead and gone. A fat, cynical bussiness man has taken his place.

Fortunately, the unbridled avarice of that old man will permit us to see the unaltered vision of the young artist he once was. See, greed IS good.