La Force was with the Cannes Film Festival as the 77th edition drew to a close. On the eve of receiving the palm of honor, which was presented by his friend Francis Ford Coppola, who came a few days earlier to the presentation of his Megalopolis, George Lucas held a master class, during which he reviewed the great moments of his career for an hour and for twenty minutes, in front of a captivated audience.
If THX 1138 or American Graffiti were mentioned, as well as the new Hollywood in which it was involved, several questions clearly focused on Star Wars, the saga that changed pop culture forever. And especially his reaction when he first heard the iconic theme music composed by John Williams.
But he was also asked if he planned to release restored versions of the original Star Wars on 4K Blu-Ray. That is, the films that the public discovered in the cinema between 1977 and 1983, before the director added digital scenes and special effects in 1997 and replaced Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen in the Return of the Jedi finale.
“We released the original Star Wars on laserdisc and everyone freaked out”The creator of the saga recalls. “They said it looked terrible, and I told them I knew that. When we watched the films, the colors were washed out, there were streaks in the image. It was scary because they were the best copies we could find in the world, because that’s how we do restorations.”
“What we had was of poor quality, so as with the film fund, the idea was to restore the beauty of old films by restoring them. It all started from there. And I told myself that as we go along. To do that, I wanted to fix what I couldn’t do at the time I managed to finish.
I strongly believe that a director or a screenwriter has the right to make a movie the way he wants.
“When Lasedisc came out, I was criticized for making the movies look terrible, when they weren’t. Unfortunately, they did. It cost $6 million to restore each movie, even though I couldn’t make more, it’s expensive. So I wanted to fix them. and digital experiments to see what was possible as ILM studied the reasons for doing this technology.
“I firmly believe that a director or a screenwriter has the right to make a film the way he wants. Then he came down, looked at the result and said he was going to do it.
“So I don’t think my decision was that outrageous. But it’s true: when you create something, when you work on it, you want it to be done well. Not just right.” So you have to face the facts: unless you own the DVDs from the 2000s that combined both, now only the Star Wars special editions will be visible, whether in theaters, on Disney+, or in future video releases.
Comments collected by Maximilien Pierret in Cannes on May 24, 2024
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
