Star War fans everywhere join hands and rejoice! Cinemax has struck a deal with Lucasfilm to broadcast all six Star War movies in high-def for the very first time come this November. Sure, there have been times in the past when the
Attack of the Clones and
Revenge of the Sith have ran on both HBO and Cinemax in high def, but Lucasfilms have never allowed the original trilogy to be aired in the higher resolution. Plus, this makes the first time all six films will be shown on the same station. The deal apparently allows the station to run a few times throughout the month so if ya got to work for the first time through, there is sure to come a time again in a few days that will allow you to sit back and enjoy 15-hours of Star Wars in HD.
Dare we speculate that maybe this signals George Lucas's bow to everything that is good and just about high definition?
[Via
HomeTheaterBlog]
posted August 17th 2006 5:35PM
This is great news!
More to the point, however: how does this bode for a Blu-Ray release? (Presuming BD camper Fox will retain home video distribution.) This would be a huge salvo in the format war!
Personally, I'm betting Lucas will hold out for another few years at least... based on his past track record.
-Pie
thanks for this information.
LucasFilm better not hold out on HD *Star Wars*. It would be wise to pump all 6 out on Blu-Ray asap because it won't be very hard to get the copies in a not-to-legal fashion via the Comcast Motorola DVR box and their lovely Firewire output port.
I predict a lot of people will be signing up for the Comcast DVR in November... :)
This is cool news. I'am star wars fan number one )
there is a god!
My only problem with this is that Cinemax HD is the most bit-starved of all the HD channels I get. I'm (luckily) with a very good second-tier cable provider, but even they can't help. AVS forums in the past (haven't kept up lately) have had many criticisms of Cinemax. An example; I've seen War of the Worlds blocking atrociously on Cinemax, and later it premiered on HBO looking great.
Maybe Lucas can edit out all the action scenes--"The all talk, no action Star Wars series coming to Cinemax!"
this ISN'T the 1st time they will all be shown on the same channel, Sky in the UK are also showing them all on Sky Movies 1 (and episodes 1 to 3 on Sky Movies 10 HD), but they are showing them next month, which correct me if I'm wrong is before you get them in November!
I saw a little teaser on Cinemax HD that mentioned Star Wars and was wondering what it was about. I recall seeing clips of the original trilogy in HD on Discovery HD Theater on a show called Science of Star Wars where they compare the technology in Star Wars to real life. Seeing bits and pieces of the films in HD made me really hope that they'd be available in some HD form soon.
Great news!
Episodes I through III should look great since they were shot in HD video with digital projection in mind. Now, if only they didn't suck so much.
I really want to see these on hidef disc (and since its Fox, I guess that's Blu-ray). Next year's the 30th Anniversary, so I'd love to see a 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Saga Boxed Set. Even if they want to sell me another version down the line again...
All I have to do is hope that DirecTV picks up CinemaxHD before then but I won't be holding my breath.
No, it were Episodes II & III that were shot on HD. Episode I was shot on film because the HD cameras and lenses had not progressed to the level that Lucas was satisfied with at the time of the film's production.
They're most probably going to play the crap-tacular "super special edition". I want to see it like I saw it in the theaters oh so many years ago... but in HD
Mmmmm, "The Empire Strikes Back". One of my favorite films ever.
I am sure it will be a delight to see those in hi-def. But why Cinemax. How many people have Cinemax in HD?
Sean, almost anyone that has cable can get CinemaxHD. Ditch D* or E* and you can get some Star Wars HD loving.
Actually, Comcast has also negotiated the exclusive right to have all 6 Star Wars films that will be on CinemaxHD, to also be available at the same time, in HD, on Comcast ON Demand. So if you have Comcast, no need to worry about scheduling around CinemaxHD. Comcast will also be having the HD premiere of "The Chronicles of Narnia" on their ON Demand service before it's broadcast debut. They're trying....
Yeah, Why Not HBO-HD.. Why Max.. Im gunna have to bug some ppl at work to add that to our line up b4 it shows..