TNMC
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16 July, 2001
Do, or do not. There is no try...
I hate to say this, but has anyone thought in depth about the news and release of the Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD? Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased to hear that "the worst one in the series" will be released on DVD, it gives fans a taste, however, as I noted in my Kubrick article, perhaps Lucas is just setting us up for a good old screw so he can market Episode II.
Rumors have been circulating the web for the past year about an Episode I DVD and Lucas claimed, time after time, he would hold out until all six movies were released. Why has he suddenly decided to release the DVD in October? I have heard it's part of the Episode II advertisement kick off. (Look at what Universal is doing with The Mummy DVD, reissuing it before The Mummy Returns hit theaters, they are doing the same thing with American Pie.) Earlier this year we witnessed a second reissue of the "holy trilogy":Special Edition on VHS. Something Lucas claimed he would never do. (The older sets were up to around fifty dollars on E-Bay.) What came on the VHS tapes that hadn't been on the previous set? A five minute behind the scenes documentary of Episode II that cause some fans to spend another thirty bucks on the VHS copy. (I, did indeed buy the second set, however, I did not spend thirty bucks on it. I conned ShopKo in one of the most entertaining stories I have to tell... They did it to themselves. Plus, I didn't have a widescreen copy.) What would stop Lucas from releasing Episode II before Episode III's release? It's the logical thing to do and I would almost bet on it. That's all fine and dandy, it's what happens after Episode III that bothers me.
I plan on buying the Episode I DVD because I love Star Wars, I would do the same with Episode II if it came out before Episode III. When will the originals be released? After Episode III, in a big box set with the other three movies. This set may or may not have more bonus features than the DVDs released earlier. Maybe Lucas will even issue one set of the prequels, then one set of the sequels, then one big set all together to give the consumer a good going over. I mean, I love the Star Wars movies and would probably buy them three times, but that will get mighty expensive. I don't want to sound like an Oliver Stone clone and act like it's some big conspiracy, but let's just see what happens. I hope I provoked some thoughts and maybe saved some people money. If only I could persuade myself to be patient and wait, but, as Yoda once said "The boy has no patience".
- Dr. Strangelove (aka Drew Morton)
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